Thursday 31 December 2015

Falls Creek Days 5 and 6

On the morning of day 5, back was feeling right but okay to run on, so I did the Tower run from our house to a water tower along dirt trails. Great run, 13.3 in 62 minutes or thereabouts. 

Then, throughout the day, Trevor and Lesley held interviews to discuss training schedules, goals and what we can do to improve. Unfortunately for JB, that meant double runs on Monday Wednesdays, but for me, more kilometres, longer easy runs and Friday running.

Both of them were really keen and I got pretty motivated to start this regime. Here's a photo of what was written.

Following day, I was planning on doing a session, but the warm up made known that the back was still way too sore, worse than the previous day, so unfortunately had to pull the pin. 

I'll rest up for a few days before getting back into it. Looking forward to seeing what this year brings. 


Monday 28 December 2015

Falls Creek Day 3 and 4

Skipped the run yesterday morning and went for another ride instead. Same one as the day before, but not as chilly. 

The arvo was a talk about running which was pretty interesting although a lack of seats made for lots of standing. Rolled loads last night and I started to feel a lot better, decided to get out for the afternoon run and it went well. Did 7km in 30:40 and felt the altitude a bit. 

Great to be running though. This morning was the 6 x 1km session, but I did an easy run instead as I didn't want to push too hard coming back. 

I did 12.8km in an hour, while watching everyone train. Great to see all the elites like Ben St Lawrence and Collis Birmingham looking like they weren't even trying. 

Need to get more photos.

Saturday 26 December 2015

Falls Creek day 1 and 2

Drove up with Will, Heather and Trev yesterday for the Falls creek training camp. Heather and Stacey kindly had a look at my back to see what the problem was, hoping for an easy fix. But unfortunately, they predicted nerve damage along the sciatic nerve in my lower back so it's a potential long haul back, but who knows. I could be back tomorrow if it goes as quickly as it came on. No one really knows what caused it.

I'm pretty devastated, it has come at pretty much the worst time ever and it's rough seeing everyone else train while I'm stuck inside. I shouldn't complain though, it'll seem pathetic if something works out this week. 

They all did the long run today. I went for a cycle with Trev and Heather but I could even feel it a bit then. Nice ride though. Went up to the Aquaduct where the sessions will happen. Across a dam at altitude and lots of off road. 


Thursday 24 December 2015

Star Wars

Training Wednesday night was an attempt to get us ready for Falls, so we did the same session that is likely to be on the cards next Thursday. 8 x 400m with 200m jog recovery. Times weren't great but hung onto Will for most of the way. 

Back has been sore all week but haven't really thought about it. After training it really stiffened up and was quite painful. Dale gave me some exercises and told me to get on the foam roller. It has eased a lot, but not going to run as o don't want to risk it.

If it's bad at Falls, I'll get the painkillers in and hopefully I'll be right.

Star Wars was amazing. 

Tuesday 22 December 2015

A bit slack from me

Sunday depicted the remenants of the heat wave, being really hot in the morning before raining heavily on the afternoon. I waited for the cool change as Ferny was cancelled because of fire risk in the dandenongs.

Met Dad 6km in and ran with him for the remaining 14. Just over 20 in 1:30:40.

Monday night was 800, 600, 400, 4 x 200 and 4 x 100. Felt awful after the warm up but the session ended up being okay. Stuck with Will for most of it, the recoveries of the 100s saw me drop back but glad I managed the hard part. 12.8km all up. 

Times went 2:26, 1:51, 1:11, 32, 31, 31, 32 and I didn't time the 100s. Only the 2s and 1s were on the track while the longer reps were on the outside loop. 

Yesterday got down to the beach with JB to go for a jog. Just over 40 minutes plus some strides. Was still really feeling the previous day's efforts. 

Star Wars tonight so hopefully that lives up to expectations. We'll see how training goes tonight.

Saturday 19 December 2015

Fuuaaaarr

Massage yesterday which was characteristically more than painful once again. 

The heat wave has continued, 38 today apparently. The morning proved to be little opposition to the heat, so sweating profusely on the warm up. The watch started playing up and wouldn't give split times, so I have no idea what the reps were. Only know the full time for the session which was 23:48. 

Looking forward to falls. Have come down pretty stuffy this arvo, but I reckon it's the heat and wind inciting the hay fever rather than a cold. Here are some pictures from this morning. 


Wednesday 16 December 2015

Christmas Special

Really warm once again. Wasn't feeling it during the strides, but managed to pull through. Session was 10 x 200m, with 200m jog recovery. Stayed with Will and somehow the leaders up until the 7th one, where their recovery pace was too much for me. 11.2km all up. 

Watch was playing up, but other than the first one which was 30s, the rest lurked at around 31 or 32 for the remainder. 

Had our squads Christmas party afterwards, as well as a Kris Kringle. I came away with a mini golf set and some bright shoelaces that I might get onto the flats. 

Today was forecast to be 33, so down to the beach with Sam and JB for an easy 40 minutes. Covered 8.4km once again plus some strides. 

Tuesday 15 December 2015

The heat

Bit of a heat wave has hit Melbourne so yesterday was a haul. 8.4km by myself, got home and got down some M and M's convincing myself that I needed the sugar. Fair play to those M and M's though, they definitely pulled my build through. 

Monday 14 December 2015

Ja ha ha

Yesterday was the day year 12 results came out, so it could be said I had nothing more than a restless sleep Sunday night. Got the text and I managed to pull a 92.65 ATAR which I'm stoked with. 

Pretty jubilant for the remainder of the day, only to be quelled by the knowledge that 3 minute efforts was the session for Monday night. 

The Garmin threw a tantrum so I was waiting on the start line while everyone hoyted off without me. Managed to get close enough to Will so that we did the session together. 

The 1 minute recovery definitely takes it out of you. We did 6 and covered 6.2km in the 23 minutes. Great session though. Did some strides on the track too which can't have been faster than 4 minute k's. 

Cooled down with JB, Mahoney and Will for 12.2km all up. 

Saturday 12 December 2015

Ferny love

Long run today, after which my grandfather candidly informed me that it "wasn't long enough". I enjoyed it though. 19.2km in 1:34:21.

Mahoney's race pace for the 5km which I paced him for. I'll never get anything as consistent as that for the rest of my life. 

Paintball


Drive up to hills this morning after struggling to get out of bed. Bit of a disaster on the way there as I was pulling into park, realised the fuel needle was hovering over empty, so spent the first 5 minutes of the warm up attempting to find out where the nearest petrol station is so I could hit it up straight after the session.

I do love hills though, it's a great run, and you always feel like you've worked hard afterwards. Pretty perfect conditions, the times went:

1:08, 1:11, 1:09, 1:09, 1:09, 1:09, 1:10, 1:09 and 22:28 for the session. 

Then this arvo went to play some paintball and it was more than intense. A few bruises now, but it's really great fun. Adrenaline really gets going. Here's a few photos from this morning.




Thursday 10 December 2015

Twilight Shield

Bit of an unorthodox time for a shield race but there you go. Arrived at around 6 thirt, before doing a warm up with Sam for the 800m.

Supposedly quality conditions but a large headwind greeted us as we went out ontk the track. I was planning to go in the third heat based on the time I thought I'd run, but they were low on runners so I ended up in the second, with Sam and a bunch of elite looking devils, inciting a bit of nervousness. Hadn't tapered so wasn't expecting anything special.

I was put into lane 7. Quick start, slipped in behind Beau who was also in our race. But I was running too wide, went by Beau way into lane two, to lock in behind Sam along the home straight. Hung onto him until 350m to go where I started dropping. 

Sam went by a guy and so did I with 200 to go. But Sam's gap on me was growing. Then 150m to go and the headwind. Brutal with no cover. 

Even the arms were lactic by the end. I think I ran 2:06 or 2:07. Still not sure of the time. So damn painful though. 

Cooled down with some of the others in the slower heat. The temperature did the same thing and it became pretty chilly as the sun went down. 

Then warmed up again with Mahoney for the 5000m. I had offered to pace him round as that would be a great threshold run for me and it would help him run a lot faster, as I could cop the headwind and he could tuck in behind.

The instructions were 90 second laps and that would give us 18:45. This is the qualifying time to become an AFL umpire for 5km so I think the Marn wanted to break that. 

We were spot on up until 2.5km where he let me know he was feeling good, so we stepped it up a touch. He hung right in there until 800 to go where we really started rolling. Last lap was even better, I ended up running 18:31 and the Marn came through in 18:32 so he's stoked. 

I felt comfortable the whole time even when upping the pace slightly. Really enjoyed pacing though, I might sign up to do it in some more races as well. 12km all up, lots of warm ups and cool downs. 


Tuesday 8 December 2015

Barsk

Did an easy run by myself last night. Forgot my watch but it was 9.6km. Went to a bar with some mates in the evening which was a good time. Who knows how everyone managed to get in. 

Monday 7 December 2015

6 x 400m, 4 x 200m

With the same jog recovery. Really humid and overcast, the trickle of rain at the end of the session definitely helped. 

Neither JB not Will rocked up so a bit lonely training out the back of Beau and Sam. 

Last few 400s really hurt before moving into the 2's. Times went: 

68s, 67s, 66s, 67s, 68s, 67s

All 4 were of the 2s were then 32s.

Think I might be doing a shield 800m Thursday evening. 

Saturday 5 December 2015

Zatopek

Last night was the Zatopek so cashed in to watch some of the best. Highlight was definitely Eloise Wellings running an Olympic Qualifier. Glad I saw that, it was pretty special. 

Then in the men's, David McNeil put down a 28:02 which is just silly really. 

The U20 3km had an aggressive finish which was great to watch, the winner, a guy my age, running 8:09. What a joke. 

Anyway it was a great night, atmosphere was fantastic, almost a tunnel of noise as the athletes hammered past. Even got a high five off Wellings in the victory lap. 

This morning, drove up to Ferny with Mahoney for the long run. Managed to hang onto JB up potato patch which was good. The hills feeling a bit easier today. 

Only 64.7 this week.

Friday 4 December 2015

Hills ft No Trev

Really warm this morning so tops off on the hill. Trevor wasn't there unfortunately for the second time since the Middle Ages. Felt good at the start but slowly blew up on the 6th, 7th and 8th. 

The gardening is taking its toll, but it'll help with fitness once I get used to it. Times went: 

1:08, 1:08, 1:09, 1:10, 1:11, 1:14, 1:15, 1:14

Overall time was 23:53, knackered now. Zatopek 10 is tonight so looking forward to watching some fast people.

Wednesday 2 December 2015

Feeling the pinch

Tuesday I did an easy run of 9.6km after some more gardening. Ran into Simon half way around and we discussed getting an easy run squad together, so hopefully that'll be good. 

Last night was a more aerobic session after the recent speed work. 5 x 800m with 400m jog recovery. Not my best but not my worst. 

Times went: 2:26, 2:33, 2:33, 2:31, 2:34

Session all up was 20:38. Not on the track either and the sharp hill that DMK is infamous for definitely took its toll. No rest day for 12 days so definitely feeling it now. 13.6 all up yesterday so I'll have today off and see how I feel tomorrow. 

Monday 30 November 2015

The 100

Did some gardening with a neighbor this afternoon, in an attempt to reel in a bit of money as being out of school has proven to be fairly pricey. 

A bit tired going into training but nonetheless got it done. Session was 10 x 200m hard, with a 200m jog recovery in between.

Times lurked between 31 and 33 which was good. Really windy and warm tonight which is never a good combination, but the cool change has now come through. 

A lot of mates are up in Byron for schoolies and apparently it's been pretty mental. According to the paper, on day one, the police seized over 260 ecstasy tablets and made four arrests so that's aggressive. 

Also, I've been getting around a TV show called the 100 in my after school stupor,  lacking things to do. It's called The 100 and it is set in a post apocalyptic world where, after 97 years of living in a space station, the remainder of the human race has survived, however, the station is running out of resources so they opt to send 100 criminals back down to earth to see if the once radiation contaminated planet is now to live on. The story continues from there, as the 100, discover what the earth has turned into in their absence. It's pretty brutal in some segments, but nothing as bad as GOT. Encourage you to get around it, it's intense as. 

Saturday 28 November 2015

AR?

Ferny this morning, Beau and Sam stormed off ahead while JB and I sat back with Cassy. 

Everything went swimmingly, lots of people are tapering at the moment for the Zatopek next Saturday and Vic Milers on Tuesday so I had to do the last 10 minutes solo. 

Mum ran in the 4 x 1500m relays last year on the track for the masters age category, the same race for 2015 was run yesterday. Talking to Cass after the run today, apparently the Knox team yesterday ran a quality time so Cassy looked up last year's race to see what time Mum's team did. Turns out Mum held an Australian record for a year and didn't even know! 

The Knox girls topped it yesterday but now everyone is keen for next year to see if they can take it down once more. Nobody even knew about the record until yesterday, probably because the 4 x 1500m is a fairly obscure event. So mum held an Australian record, that's pretty special. 

Last year mum's team ( which had Sonia O' Sullivan in it- holder of the women's 2km world record - around 5:25 I think) ran 20:49, and the Knox team ran 20:29 this year, so it should be a great race next year. 

Also we saw some monks having a silent stroll after hills yesterday, at first we thought they were a squad in bear onesies, but unfortunately not. Also Trevor got this photo yesterday. 79.1km for the week.



Friday 27 November 2015

Catch up

Thursday we made the return from Sorrento. Came home and did 9.6km in 43 something plus some strides. 

Then yesterday was an early start, and with Mahoney did only 4.8km on a meant to be rest day but felt alright. 

Hills this morning, great to do a session with some people. Times went:

1:08, 1:08, 1:09, 1:09, 1:10, 1:16, 1:14, 1:08

Really died during 6 and 7, I'd say that's due to the big week and big nights. 23:41 for the session, all up 12.1 km. 

Ferny tomorrow. 

Wednesday 25 November 2015

Getting through

So yesterday was a struggle because of the alcohol and the dehydrashe. Did 50 mins by myself and covered about 10.6km. Definitely a grind.

Today we had a slow morning before going into Sorrento. Came back and did a session in the humidity. 12 x 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy, so much better than the other runs this week. About 12km. The build up to falls creek has begun.

Sunday 22 November 2015

Schoolies

Right so up in Cape Schank with 7 mates for 5 days so it's a good time. Yesterday, we drove up here so went for a run after lunch. 1 hour 26 minutes around the golf course before a bit of beer pong and some pretty spectacular views from the house. 



Up at 9:30 this morning to do a bit of a session. Did some mono Fartlek which was 2 x 90s, 4 x 60s, 4 x 30s, 4 x 15s with the same recovery and a couple of impromptu 60m hills to finish. Definitely made me feel better. 10.6km al up. 

Thursday 19 November 2015

Atlas Hands

Right so I'm going to get back on top of this so much more regular updates in the future. 

Wednesday night, feeling really good in the warm up after a hard earned rest day on Tuesday. Wednesday is always on the track so nothing changed in regards to that. 

It was 2 x 400m, 4 x 300m, 3 x 200m with 75 seconds between the 4's and the 3's and a minute of passive between the 2's.

Times went like this:
400s - 61s, 63s
300s - 47s, 47s, 48s, 48
200s - 29s, 30s, 27s

The 1500's might be looking okay after that but hills on Saturday morning will be tough after a bit of a break. 10km all up. 

Yesterday went for 40 minutes and covered 8.8km. Sweating way too much for way too long. 

Monday 16 November 2015

Easier

Monday session tonight, but after this weekends efforts, I was knackered so took it a bit easier. Did modified monos and cruised. I'll take a rest day tomorrow and do some core. 

Last exam tomorrow so that'll be a relief to finish. I think it's the first night clubbing too tomorrow, so I'll attempt the impossible and recover for Wednesday night. 


Saturday 14 November 2015

High- Peking Duk

So shield 5000m yesterday. The thing about shield is that they aren't particularly inspirational meets. After 4 laps of the race, there was a total of 10 people and 3 dogs on the edge of the track, so the atmosphere isn't conducive to good times unfortunately. It's good race experience though, I didn't taper and therefore wasn't expecting anything special. 

Sam offered to pace me round, on 80 seconds a lap. The first 200m felt so easy, I'm not used to track season yet. 3:19 at 1km, 9:54 at 3km. It's looking good. 3 laps left and I blew it a bit and dropped a 1:26 which was pretty gross from myself. 

Finished in 16:54 and I'm pretty content. I can build from there. Cooled down for 9km for the day. 

Ferny this morning so the P plates came in handy for the first time, hoyted Mahoney and my build up there. Pretty sore from yesterday's run so the hills stung. 

19.4 in 1:38:33. 65.2km for the week. 

Thursday 12 November 2015

Tchami -Promesses

Tuesday
Went for a run with Mahoney in the afternoon. 8.4km feeling good. That evening was the Vic Milers 800m and 3km so run of the day would have to go to Sammy who put down a massive 8:42. The atmosphere was so good, it made me want to run fast so I'll hopefully sign up for the next Vic Milers and it's a 1500m on the cards. 

Wednesday
Was training and inspired after the previous night's elite times and was keen to train hard. We were given 5 x 400m with 2 minutes passive recovery and 4 x 200m with 1 minute passive. Felt pretty good and these were the times:

400s - 66s, 64s, 64s, 64s, 63s

200s - 28s, 29s, 29s, 28s

Pretty stoked to be honest. 10km all up.

Thursday
Easy run of another 8.4km with Sam plus some strides at the end. Decided I'll race the shield 5000m on the track Saturday so should be good. Not tapering at all so nothing special should be expected.

Friday
Got my P plates today so getting around just got a lot easier. Bit nervous for tomorrow, had a chat lunch so feeling a bit gross, hopefully sweat it out tomorrow.


Monday 9 November 2015

Runaway- Galantis

Well bit of an update this evening due to the lack of posts recently. Saturday morning was hills. Got Tom McFarlane down for a session so had a bit of a catch up with him. 

Trevor's absence from the session for the first time in 498 years unsettled everyone a bit so we were all a bit unsure when to start. Got to the hill feeling good, left feeling knackered but that's what we're looking.

Times went: 1:06, 1:10, 1:11, 1:12, 1:12, 1:12, 1:14, 1:09

All up it was 23:46. The 4.5km cool down was less of a grind than usual and a good chat with the fellas.

Ferny on Sunday morning, after last week's disaster I was skeptical as to how it was going to go. Cut out potato patch as many are tapering for Vic Milers Tuesday night. Got my build up the big hill though and around the loops of the top section to do 18km in just over 90 mins. Found out some 16 year old at the Sydney 3000m champs ran 8:11 off 130 km a week which is a bit silly really, but a mental time. 

Tonight it was really warm up at the track, but we received the key to the rooms so air condish should be on the cards for Wednesday arvo. Session was Monos again but renovations incited Lesley to be generous allowing passive recovery for each of the reps. Times went like this.

600s - 1:47, 1:43( stoked with that) with 2 minute passive.
400s - 67, 66, 66, 70 with 90s passive.
200s - 31s, 30s, 32s, 31s with a minute passive.
100s no idea but tried not to do a hammie. 
 
Also, lucky enough to get a new bike this weekend and I'm loving it. It's a cycle cross so road bike frame with slimmer, grippier tires of some off road getting around. Going to the race tomorrow night so hopefully everyone runs PB's, I'll let you know how it goes. 

Thursday 5 November 2015

Flume - Gold

Wednesday night was track session night. 3.6 warm up followed by strides. The session was 6 x 200m, 4 x 100m, 2 x 200m, with jog recovery corresponding to the distance of the effort as is characteristic of Lesley's sessions.

Times went: 

31, 31, 31, 31, 31, 31, no idea for the 1's, 28, 28

Nice bit of speedier stuff there. Trained with Matt, managed to run faster on the middle reps, however he edged away from me on that last one, must've hit low 27 so he has the pace. 

Yesterday, finished the methods exam 2, which is a great feeling. Only French left which is on the 17th, so with everyone finishing completely now, the wait will be a grind. 

Only so much I can do for French as well so I'll do my bit and relax for the rest. I think I'm going up to watch Sam and JB race Vic milers on Tuesday night so that should be good. It would be good to see Sam hit that qualifier. 

Anyway, yesterday did 8.4km easy in 39 or so, hamstrings were a bit tight but nothing to worry about. Hills tomorrow. 

Tuesday 3 November 2015

House every weekend

So I've run out of titles for blog posts, so unless I've found the perfect word choice to depict the session, we're going with quality tunes. 

Yesterday, feeling much better than the weekend. 6 x 600m with 400m on the cards. The new facility is up at DMK so all we need now is a key and we've got warm rooms, but it looks pretty spectacular. There's a 300 degree glass room on the second story looking out over the track. A large grandstand and even a filming box for filming races which is nice. All they need now is to relay the track and they'll be running shield there.

Trained with Matt. Times went:

1:49, 1:51, 1:49, 1:55, 1:52, 1:47

Then tonight, easy run with JB, Sam and Will on the beach trail. 8.4 in around 39:30. 

Sunday 1 November 2015

Woes

Ferny this morning was fast from everyone except me. I couldn't stay with them, same feeling as yesterday. Exam legs apparently is a thing and it has hit me this morning. Absolutely exhausted now so looking forward to catching up on some sleep. 


Saturday 31 October 2015

The rainy season

So up to Duncan this morning for a threshold and a good old cardio sesh as a reminisce on the old days.

Lugged my build through 4km in 15:27, really nothing special. Then absolutely died in the cardio sesh. Everyone walked all over me. Fairly embarrassing but not everyday is a good day. 

Ferny tomorrow, feeling good now. Congrats to the Devils out at shield today. Despite the wet track, Sam lay down a 4:05 1500m, the man is only 17, JB 4:06 and Will a 4:16. No wucken forries. 

Friday 30 October 2015

Settling down

Took Wednesday off because I was feeling the week of training. English exam went well though, I think, but who knows.

Jogged yesterday 8.4km in 38 something and did some strides. Psych and bio both down now. We're nearly there. 

Tuesday 27 October 2015

Here we go

Last night was the same session as the other week. 2 x 600m, 4 x 400m, 4 x 200m and 4 x 100m, but it was on the outside loop instead of on the track. Jog recovery was the same distance as the reps, however only 400m for the 600m reps.

I was running with Matt Wynne, pretty tired after Ferny but I trained well enough.  600's were just under 2 mins, 400's varied between 75 and 80 while the 2's resided around 36 seconds and I didn't time the 1's. 

Exhausted afterwards, but got 2 laps cool down done. 13.6km all up. Feeling fit, but a bit nervous I'm losing some speed with all these jog recoveries. I'll swap out a hills session for some 300's or something similar, one week. 

Tonight, stomach was lurking on a jog with Mahoney, so only did 7.2km. English tomorrow, feeling slightly nauseous. 

Sunday 25 October 2015

Combinaish

Ferny this morning, it was really tough after hills yesterday. Some great runs yesterday, JB ran 2 flat for 800m, Tom 1:58, Sam ran 9:00 in tough conditions but I feel like he'll get the qualifier by the end of November. 

19.4km in 1:33, a bit faster than the usual. I missing competition a fair amount but I will race on the 14th, nothing too serious though. 

Schoolies is set up, a few of us are off to Sorento so should be good. 3 days till Englsih. 

Friday 23 October 2015

Last days

Had Valedictory Monday night so I couldn't train, did an easy run of around 9.6km with Mahoney who has joined the squad which is good to hear. 

So Monday night was another large one, so took Tuesday morning off. 

Wednesday was training, and I trained well. Definitely felt like I was hitting old form. The session was 200, 220, 240, 260, 280, 300 with a progressively decreasing jog recovery to take us back to the 400 start. That was 1 set and we did two sets. 

Feeling great throughout the whole thing, even had something left for a quality last 300m so things are going swimmingly. Then Thursday was an easy run of 8km and Friday was an easy run of 9km to make up for Tuesday. 

This morning was hills but because of the Shield meet today, it wasn't a large turnout. Again, felt magic, didn't go out too hard because there's nothing worse than blowing up on hills. First 4 went by really quick and I was just behind Tarli Bird, who loves marathons. 

Even the recoveries were looking strong. Times went like this: 

1:11, 1:13, 1:13, 1:13, 1:12, 1:12, 1:12, 1:10

Stoked, but it's the Ferny killer and hill killer combination tomorrow so hopefully I make it home alive. Good luck to Sammy Toll who I believe is attempting to break that 8:50 barrier to qualify for the Zatopek 3km. Here's some photos of the last week.

Sunday 18 October 2015

More reminiscing


Right so again, another mental week. Had my French oral exam on Wednesday and that went well so I'm happy. Did an easy run I the Tuesday after the beep test. 8km, felt good.

The following night was Lesley's training. It was one of the toughest things I've done and I'd give you the full rundown but I have forgotten most of it. It was 2 x 600m, 4 x 400m, 4 x 200m, 4 x 100m and the heat was draining. 

Stoked with how I went though, considering Sam lapped me twice over 8 km which was fairly aggressive. Then last day of school on Thursday forever which was a bit surreal. Did another easy run in the evening after pooling for a few hours. 

Then Friday was the year 12 assembly which was such a good time. 6:30 wake up to get to Pre's in the morning, before a loud journey up to school and getting up and about for the assembly. Videos were ripper. Our one was called "Squares : The Mckinnon Edition" and I think it's on you tube and it goes in depth on the greatest and most loved sport the world has ever seen. Look for squares at Rio 2016.

So the big night started at 12 noon and the idea was to put in a 12 hour stint of beers and bangers. I lasted until 3 before it caught up with me. Shot home, grabbed a shower and changed, got some of a practice exam done and headed back out for 7. Rolled back to Falcon's for one of the greatest. Must've been close to 200 people there. Mental. Realised as I was falling asleep that hills would not be a great call in the morning due that current state. 

Went for a jog in the evening instead and reminisced on high school's finest moments. 

Got down to Ferny this morning though for a solid 19.4km in 1:36. Feeling great  now. 11 days till English. Here's some photos of Friday and the last few days of school.


Sunday 11 October 2015

More updates

Apologies once more, time is short for the final weeks before exams so updating will be back to normal shortly. Stretching back to last Tuesday, did an easy 8km along the beach.

Had training the next day, in which we did 10 x 200m on, 200m off. Really tough, probably averaged around 33s for each one.

Then easy run on Thursday, but both arches in the feet really started hurting. Rested up all day Friday to train on Saturday morning. Did the hill session with times of:

1:11, 1:16, 1:16, 1:17, 1:22, 1:17, 1:21, 1:16

So times definitely came down from last week which was good, although my overall time was 24:50 for the session which wasn't as great. Both feet really sore for the rest of Saturday which didn't bode well for a ferny long run. Dad reckoned it was my shoes as I only have one pair and they were getting really old. This seemed fair so we went out to get 2 pairs so I could rotate, making both pairs last longer and getting a bit of variety for the muscles.

Didn't risk the long run on Sunday and went to a spin class instead. That was genuinely one of the toughest things I've ever done. Went in there expecting it to be easy, but as soon as the instructor introduced himself, saying his name was "Randal" I realised it had to be aggressive if a person involved had that kind of name.

That was 45 mins of high intensity. Seemed like some really quality corss training though, so I'll keep that consistent after year 12.

Today in school had the beep test challenge, but my heart wasn't in it. Ran 14.8 I think, so a bit disappointed but the feet have stopped hurting off the new shoes. Won't train tonight as I've got work to do and the beep test was today so I'll go for an easy run tomorrow.

16 days till English.

Monday 5 October 2015

Pretty happy

Well after the hammie problems on Wednesday, it came good luckily. Went to hills Saturday morning for the first session in more than 2 weeks. Summer is coming as well so it was really warm. Tops off training after the first rep. Probably the hardest session I've ever done. Hills are killer. Times dipped after the break which is fair enough, the big night on the Friday wasn't ideal however, house parties won't last long.

Times went: 1:14, 1:14, 1:17, 1:21, 1:21, 1:22, 1:26, 1:22

Definitely struggled. Quick warm down as well, while Sam rolled only nicely, I let him do the talking while focused on sucking in oxygen.

Done in for the rest of the day. Went for a longer run on Sunday morning to the beach. 16km in 1:12 or so. I'll slowly build up the km's again for Sunday runs.

Tonight was training. Ridiculously warm again. I'm going to have to get used to the aggressive temperature. Tops off again, we did Mono Fartlek which is 2 x 90s, 4 x 60s, 4 x 30s, 4 x 15s with equal recoveries. Real tough, I got dropped off after the 90s, and did my best to keep a solid pace. Finished with 4.8 km on the watch and happy enough. 11km for the session.

Friday 2 October 2015

Update

This week has been fairly stressful with practice exams for the last few days. Did 8.5km runs on both Monday and Tuesday. But then on Wednesday, I was planning to train properly however I woke up with a sore hamstring.

Did the warm up feeling alright but 2 400's into the session called it a day because the hammie was slowly becoming tighter. Had a chat to lesley about it and she reckons it's the study which is fair enough. So in a month or so, once it's all over, hopefully the hammie stuff will settle down.

Went for a run yesterday though with dad, as it was okay to run easy on. 8km in 36 minutes I think.

Sunday 27 September 2015

Sort of

Well I'm sort of back. I've been sick for the last 2 weeks and it has been really frustrating and even now I feel weird. Yesterday I went for a 3km jog and that wasn't too bad. Today I did 6.5km, feeling pretty good but my test feels tight and it seems like my lungs aren't completely clear. I'll take it easy up until Wednesday this week and then hopefully a session will clear me out.

Thursday 17 September 2015

Okay

Went for a run this evening. Finished all school exams today, forever, so that's good news. Feeling a bit better so did just over 6km, felt alright, nothing special. Got home and throat's really sore again which is a worry.

Wednesday 16 September 2015

Work mate

So Sunday morning attempted a long run but could only manage 8km with a throat on fire and feeling very much worse for wear. Got home and thought it was fatigue but everything became worse all day. Dinner was brutal to get down. Shivering by the time 8 came so hoyted off to bed.

 Best bit is that 4 exams coming up this week so being sick is exactly what I need. Didn't run Monday because it was still awful, struggled through the first exam that afternoon. Took yesterday off to sleep more and study for the rest of the week. Today I'm back at school but not going to run. Hopefully I'll do some leg exercises to keep some strength up. Feeling shite and jealous as everyone is getting prepared for regionals. Wanting this all to be over.

Saturday 12 September 2015

Slowly

Went for a 3km jog last night to test the hammie. It was okay, but then went out for a fairly large night and woke up feeling rough.

Was planning on doing a threshold but I just wasn't up for it. Did 8.5km doing an easy 200m on, 200m off for most of it. Feeling pretty average.

Had a sports massage this morning. Apparently that why I keep getting niggles because my muscles are too tight. So hopefully I'll keep them consistent as well. Fairly painful though.

Wednesday 9 September 2015

Good and bad

Last 2 weeks of term are mental with 7 exams in 2 weeks. What a joke. Anyway rocked up to training Monday night feeling great and the session followed suit. Most people were recovering from the Burnley half and performance of the day would have to go to Cass who ran a spectacular 76 before getting on a plane to Europe.

So it was Sam, Will and I training together, but it had more to do with me attempting to hold on. Session was 5 x 600 on, 600 jog followed by 4 x 200m on , 200m off. Started well, I set a goal of sub 1:50 for all the 6's and managed to get there although it was a tight finish.

All the reps had me right there until 200m, then they'd slowly pull away, Sam would take the corner fast and accelerate again while I dragged myself to the end in Will's footsteps. Times went: 

1:48, 1:48, 1:49, 1:49, 1:50

2's were real good as well, I managed to stay with them on these because it was less aerobic I reckon. Not sure of the times but Sam seemed happy. 

Did 40minutes easy yesterday and covered 8 and a half. Did the leg program and a bit of core. 

In bad news, the hammy felt tight all day today, did the warm up and 1 rep tonight before pulling the pin. Scared to develop something worse, so hopefully it's just tight. Really frustrated as it seems every time I'm getting somewhere something goes wrong. Hopefully it's just the skeptical final year vibes. 49 days till English. 

Sunday 6 September 2015

Cards against

So after Thursday's pitiful run, pumped a really solid core and legs session. Pretty sore on the Friday, but took a rest day.

Saturday morning was hills, which I have grown to love. Feeling really good, I bettered my times from last week.

They went: 1:08, 1:09, 1:12, 1:11, 1:11, 1:11, 1:14, 1:13

Stoked with that. We flew home on the cool down which felt threshold with the lactic still there. Heard that the qualifier for the Zatopek 10: U/20 3km in 2016, which is a massive meet at the end of the year is 8:50. So I've set the sights on that. After school I'll have way more time to stay consistent so that's the goal.

Played an aggressive few rounds of cards against humanity that evening. Yeah real aggressive, but real classic.

This morning cycled to the beach to meet Sam. Burnley Half Marathon was on this morning so nobody was up at ferny. We did 20km along the beach. Stepped up the pace the last 3km, hitting close to four minutes for each individual k. Felt good though. Went in the sea afterwards for 10 mins to ease the muscles. Real chilly but it was worth it. 66km for the week.

Thursday 3 September 2015

Easier

Had a day off on Tuesday, so ran in the morning 8.6km and did some legs exercises in the afternoon. Yesterday, I normally would have trained but it's the districts 1500m today so I just did another easy run. 8.4km with Will and Sam. 5 strides as well for a bit of intensity so hopefully today goes well. 55 days till English.

Joke

Got to the track for the 1500m today. They were running half an hour late which was irritating considering I needed to be at school. Got to my race and it turns out it was just Me and mahone racing. That's it. Bit silly really. I ran 4:38 and won, feeling crap because I wanted to race and missed training last night for this. What a joke. Anyway, next round will be better.

Monday 31 August 2015

Catch up

Hills on Saturday morning. A solid session by all means. Early start and had to hammer on the warm up to catch the pack before the hill. Went out a bit more conservatively for fear of pulling a similar stint to last time and blowing up after 5.

Turned out to be a good decision as the splits were fairly even bottom to top. Times went:

1:12, 1:12, 1:12, 1:13, 1:11, 1:13, 1:14, 1:12

Felt great afterwards so I'll run faster next time, but it hit me after the car ride home. 

Some French thing in the City Sunday morning so I couldn't make ferny unfortunately. Ran in the evening instead, caught up with Sam at DMK and talked about his national cross country race that he and Will qualified for last Saturday. They came 16th and 17th in Australia with Sam edging out Will by 2 seconds. 

Great race apparently and lucky as it was in Melbourne. Qualifying for nationals is definitely a goal for next year once school is over. We'll see if I can make top 20 in Victoria first though. 

Anyway Sam did 7km with me as he had the national relays today although I'm not sure how Vic did. I did 19.7km in 1:31:15. The flat, easy paths were real easy to navigate after weeks of ferny and barely felt the longer distance. I used to really hurt on these runs before the dandenongs so the trails must be helping.

Psychology exam after school today so rushed home, grabbed some raisin toast got out the door to cycle to running club. There's a club half marathon this weekend so lots of people are tapering for that. I'm not getting involved so I did a longer version of everyone else's session.

2 laps of acceleration, followed by 400, 200, 400 with the same distance jog between. Hung onto Matt for the first two laps before going the last bit on my own as he stopped. We were much closer to the leaders than usual which was good to see although Sam wasn't there to push their pace. 

Really pushed on my last section and struggled to jog back to the track entrance. Great session though, 12km all up, 73km for last week. 

Thursday 27 August 2015

100 on 100 off

Training last night with Lesley's squad. Came straight from a methods exam so wasn't feeling great. Did the warm up no worries, and the strides were okay. The session was on the track, bit of a strange on but 100m hard, 100m easy. Started off strong with the leaders but dropped off as I began to feel rubbish.

After 5 laps, Matt caught me and dropped me after 7. Then caught by another guy so the session was disintegrating. After 9 laps, ran straight of the track to the toilet to aid the stomach which was real sore. Only meant to do 10, but the bigger break guilted me into doing an extra one.

Felt magic on the cool down. 11.6km all up. A bit irratated with 2 sessions going wrong in a row.

Had periods 1 and 2 off this morning so got up early and did 8.6km easy. Felt better and better as I went through. Glad I did it this morning as the weather is pretty poor now.

Wednesday 26 August 2015

Evan

Did just over 40 minutes easy straight after school yesterday. Hit about 9km, and felt really good. Did some core and length strengthening when I got in as well. Jager should have taken it out harder if he wanted to win, I reckon he was in some spectacular form after his American Record and Sub 8 was the way to go, especially considering Kemboi's mental kick. Really feel bad for Jenny Simpson though, a lost shoe is so unlucky.

Tuesday 25 August 2015

Back training

Lesley's squad last night. It was nice all day before it started drizzling a bit on the bike ride there. Stopped for the warm up though. Did some strides before finding out the session was 5 x 800m off 400m jog.

We started at the top of the hill to avoid the huge headwind. I trained okay although I struggled on the last one. Great feeling to do a session though.

Times went: 2:32, 2:33, 2:37, 2:37, 2:48

So really blew up on the last one unfortunately but other than that, good session. Before our third one, JB, Beau and Jake came flying by on the recovery because they started after we did. But had a chat to them about that afterwards and apparently they were runnning 3:40 pace for the slow parts, although I have a feeling we were a bit faster on the quick section. 3:40's though, what a joke. 12km all up.

Sunday 23 August 2015

Mo Knows

Big night last night and it was a quality one. Jonno did a good job. Taped it and watched the race at 1 in the morning and it was pretty good. Unsure about the tactics from the Kenyans although they did try and push the pace. I reckon, in order to beat Mo, they would've had to go suicide pace and switch the lead between 2 of the 3 Kenyans, try and drop Mo, or hope that the remaining Kenyan had the legs for the last 400. Either way, they would have had to sacrifice some of the team for someone to beat him.

Anyway, legs felt much better today so got out for almost 7km to get them ticking over. Felt great after a bit of a rest. Training tomorrow.

Saturday 22 August 2015

World Championships

Watching the marathon at the moment on a beautiful day. I'm hoping Kipsang pulls through.  Hammie is feeling a bit better although I'll give it an ice in a bit. Also better make you all aware of Flotrack which is a website which has everything to do with running and athletics. It's based in the US so there is a lot of focus on College, but if you make an account there's some really interesting short films about famous runners. Will probably rest up tomorrow again and hopefully train on Monday.

Friday 21 August 2015

Mad

Kicked the footy at lunch today and must have really hurt my hammie. Tried training last night but the back of my knee was on fire. Iced it all last night and this morning but no improvement. Really frustrating. Also on the walk home yesterday, lower left calf started hurting out of no where and hasn't stopped. So I'm a bit of a wreck. What am I doing wrong? I'm training with kids my age and younger and many of them are doing the same mileage as me? But every month I seem to have calf issues and can't train. Passed my Hazards test this morning, 68 days till English.

Wednesday 19 August 2015

Real Tired

Study has killed me this week so pretty knackered and it's only Wednesday. Just did 8km in 38 something this afternoon. Hammies are still really sore after the sprints on Monday. Training tomorrow night so hopefully the endorphins force the stress out. 70 days till English.

Tuesday 18 August 2015

Accelerating

Training last night after a bit of a wishy washy day, so there was a requirement of rain shortly after arrival. It wasn't too bad though and didn't last too long. I was feeling really average actually so I decided to make the most of it and attempt to stay with the front guys.

We were doing the acceleration session which is done on the outside 1.2km loop. Starts off with 200m fast, then 200m jog, then 200m 10km pace, transitioning into 200m 3km pace, before a final all out 200m, then another 200m jog recovery. Apparently Lesley said to do 5 laps but I was told to do only 4, so next time I'll have to do the extra one.

Managed to hang on for 2 laps before coming breaking slower than usual which was good. Really cold so legs were numb after a lap. Did the third one by myself before a triathlon build came by. I was determined to hang on, so upped the recovery pace to stay with him. Really moving on the 10km pace section and stepped it up even more. Made loads of ground on JB and Beau, finishing right behind them on the all out part.

Jogged back to the warmth of the rooms to grab a jumper. Everyone else finished their 5 laps and we were told to do some 60m strides. They went well although the hammies are pretty tight now.

11km all up. Did 10km after school today and felt really strong. 46:40 for that one plus some leg work and core when I got home.

Sunday 16 August 2015

So Ferny

Up in the Dandenongs once more this morning. Sophie's first time training at Ferny and I think she enjoyed it. Sam had a bit of a disaster apparently yesterday, blowing up in the final 2km of his race and having to see paramedics because collapsing was on the cards. He seemed alright today though although he didn't push it. Their team came second though so great effort.

Went pretty well, felt really strong throughout most of the run, but there was more stopping and starting than usual. Really muddy once again but that's what makes it so good. 19.4km in 1:36:02.
70.2 for the week. Feeling great. 73 days till English.

Saturday 15 August 2015

Easy Saturday

Didn't make hills this morning because there was the Anglesea relays today so the numbers would have been minimum. Did an easy run instead to recover the sore calves from yesterday. 11km in 51 something. Did some core and leg exercises afterwards to keep the injuries to a minimum and studied all day. 74 days till English. Ferny tomorrow.

Last School Athletics

After aths being cancelled on Wednesday because of predicted poor weather, it was rescheduled for Friday morning, not the whole day like normal, so everything was a bit of a rush. Arrived and looked at the schedule and realised 1500m was right at the start so got out for a warm up with Will.

Will, who is normally in U16, ran in the open race so we could attempt a decent time, hopefully so one of us could run a school record. Did a few strides before we were toeing the line. I had a faster start than usual, keen to not get stuck behind anyone. Will snuck in ahead of me as we slowly reeled back some devil who thought he was in the 100m.

Wasn't too sure about the pace at the start, but we split through in 67s so right about where I would want to be. Will was still leading it out and I was getting worried I wasn't going to be able to hold on. All of a sudden I felt great and pushed right up to his shoulder and the pace surged a bit once more. Not sure what we split 800m in but I was still feeling magic. Took the lead here into the wind and it started getting tougher. Through the km and hit the final lap feeling pretty solid.

Upped the ante here, but I reckon I should've gone all out with 300 to go instead of injecting pace slowly. Pushing hard now as Will went by with 300 to go. Hung on until 100 where he edged away. He must've had a second on me by the end.

Great race though, I really enjoyed it. Time was 4:24 as well so a tied PB on a tiny race so it's looking good for aths season.

Didn't do the 400m but got pretty pumped for the 8 so warmed up for that around an hour later. Will was in this as well because of a lack of time so it was Yr's 10, 11 and 12 together. Corey offered to give me the split which was nice of him. Got out hard for the same reason as earlier and took the lead. Felt rough at the start but as I got into it, everything got better. Corey called 66 as I went by so I continued to work hard.

Reached the final straight fully expecting to be passed but nothing happened so stopped the watch at 2:13. Nothing special but pretty happy with how leading worked. Really good day, I had a great time.

Thursday 13 August 2015

Back on Track

Track session last night which was good as the outside loop was a bit of a mess. The clubhouse is being renovated into a huge double story stands and inside areas. It looks pretty amazing with a 300 degree glass room looking out over the athletics track and the netball courts. However there are lots of construction things around so the outside loop was blocked off with building equipment.

Apparently there are plans to replace the track at the end of the year as well as it is in a bit of a sorry state. Once everything is finished DMK will be an amazing facility. There's even a filming and commentating box for filming races and getting photo finishes.

Did the warm up and some strides on the grass before starting out. Lesley told us the session of 6 x 400m, 4 x 200m with 1 minute passive between the 4's and 200m float for the 2's. Sam and Will out the front, then Matt and I following behind. I did the recoveries with Matt as my watch really struggles with recoveries.

Times for the 400's went : 68s, 71s, 69s, 69s, 69s, 69s

Matt started really fast on all of them so I tried to hold on and kick down the back straight. Worked well and I got a gap during the 200 jogs. I'm starting to get used to these faster recoveries. Apparently the last one was really close with him starting ab 10 yrds behind and gaining the whole way around. I few shouts spurred me on and I managed to stay ahead although if we started together, it wouldn't have happened.

Times were: 31s, 31s, 30s, 30s

Great training although it tipped down on the cool down. 10.8 all together.

House aths was meant to be Wednesday but it was cancelled because of weather worries. Turned out to be an amazing day but it was rescheduled to Friday, so we'll see how that goes.

Tuesday 11 August 2015

Not bad

Training last night with Lesley's squad. Felt good, but so did everyone else obviously so Sam, JB, Jake and Will flew ahead while I stayed with Matt and Cass. Normally I'm ahead of them but Cass was right by me in the Albert 10k so I'll take it.

Session was 2 x 800, 400, 2 x 800, 400, 200 with 400 jog between each. Felt okay but the recoveries were fast so the reps suffered, but it was good to train with fast recoveries. Variety keeps me interested so I'll try that again Saturday morning.

Times went: 2:38, 2:40, 1:17, 2:41, 2:43, 1:11, 28

I went really well on that second last rep and dropped Matt but he came by on the last 200. Having a good chat with Sam on the cool down so did more than normal for 14.4 all up.

Did 10km today after school in 47 something. Enjoyed it and attempted to survive the wind. Feeling great now.

Monday 10 August 2015

Pretty Perfect

Early start yesterday morning to drive up to ferny with JB and Sam. Fairly cloudy but the temperature was amazing for running. I'll give the in depth analysis of the usual long run course as I haven't done so for a while.

Starts at the Ferny Creek car park before we head out in the direction of Grants picnic ground. Bit the first 3km is mainly downhill with lots of mud and a reasonable amount of flat. We then hit the bottom, after descending the joke of a hill I used to run up when I came to ferny with Cheyne. It's pretty slippery all the way down so around once a month someone takes a tumble, so I'll attempt to avoid it for as long as I can.

We then reach the road hill which is the first one, about 500m long it's a bit of relief from the mud but it's tough enough to get the lactic flowing. I was with Sam and Simon at this point and hung on until the summit. Then a short bit of downhill before getting back onto a trail and another hill which doesn't have a name. It's usually referred to as the second hill which makes sense.

It's just over a km I'd say in length and not as steep but it's tough right after the road hill. I stayed with Sam and Simon and caught some early starters up here. We then reached Grants picnic ground, just under 8km in and grabbed a drink before doing the potato patch loop.

Even after some investigation, nobody is sure why it's called potato patch but all we know is there is about an acre of empty grass right next to the trail for a bit which may or may not have yielded potatoes during the course of its existence. Anyway before this so called potato patch, the third hill makes it's appearance. Steepest hill yet and at around 400m it's pretty tough this far in. I let Sam go here partly because he's fitter than me and partly because I had the excuse of first long run in 2 weeks so I was nervous about dying in the final k's.

Continued on after catching Sam on the flat, ups and downs everywhere before a long downhill section leading into a shorter up hill bit before reaching Grants picnic ground again. Here we stopped for the toilet and JB, Cassy and Matt caught up.

Continued on, through the small number of Ferny Creek shops and back onto the trail. Before reaching another road hill which climbs for about a k but isn't too steep. Then reached the large house, surrounding gardens and lake at which the largest adversary awaits. About 800m long and steep this needs conquering to make it back to the car park. Let Sam go again and got it done. Real killer that one although hopefully I'll get better at it soon.

Finished off with a 15 minute loop with another hill which surprised me and hurt a lot but finished 19.3km in 1:36:21. 69.9 km for the week. Great run.

Saturday 8 August 2015

Mountains

Rocked up to hills this morning a tad late so faster warm up than usual to catch the pack. Feeling okay, soon fell off of Sam, JB and Ben. After 4, I was knackered and after 6 I was thinking about throwing in the towel. Really glad I finished the session though, small victories.

Times went: 1:08, 1:10, 1:13, 1:12, 1:15, 1:24, 1:19, 1:16

Talking to Ben afterwards and he reckons just focus on school and keep running consistent for the remainder of this year and I feel like that's a good idea. Dad thinks I run too much off time and not enough off feel so I might give both of these things a crack from now on. 12.1km all up.

Thursday 6 August 2015

300's

First session back so feeling really good now. Tom, Jasper and I. Pretty dodgy weather all day today with on and off rain but luckily it didn't hit us until the cool down. Bit nervous to be honest as I really didn't know how I would go.

So we did 300m on, 100m off for 4.8km. On the first 1200m loop we sorted out where the starting and stopping points were so the next 3.6k, we didn't have to think as hard. Goal was to just stick with Tom which thankfully I just managed.

First 2 laps went well, but it started to hurt on the third. Starting counting them down with 4 300's to go to try and hold on. Reckon we averaged around 54 seconds for each one, so pretty happy. 9.6km all up.

Wednesday 5 August 2015

Just jogging

Pulled up really sore from Monday's run which was weird, but the plan was to keep doing easy runs to get back into it. Did 10km yesterday and 10km again today but with some strides at the end. Times were both loitering around 45 mins. Also did the leg exercises the physio gave me yesterday which went pretty well.  Still really sore now though, so maybe a bit of rolling will help.


Monday 3 August 2015

Back out

Longest lasting sickness in ages, so first time back out today. Easy 8 and a half k, felt pretty good after the week off. Finished off with some strides. Forgot what it was like to be on the hop.

Wednesday 29 July 2015

Major update

Ran hills Saturday morning and it was a solid session, however at Ferny the next day for a long run and just couldn't do it. 7 minutes in I pulled the pin, I was exhausted. Got home and hit the hay for a couple of hours and woke up feeling rough as. The whole body was aching and moving was a pain.

Took it easy Monday and felt a bit better but Tuesday, the proper cold hit. Nose was a mess, throat was killer, lungs were shot to bits and heart rate was 90 so I was in a spot of bother. Took the day off school and slept most of the day away.

Feeling much better today though although I'm still coughing up junk. The big party is on Saturday night though so hopefully I'm feeling better by then. Probably will take the week off exercise and get back into it when after the weekend. Next race is aths day and I probably should be focusing on school anyway.

Friday 24 July 2015

5,3,5,2,5,1

Due to an abundance of work tonight decided to train by myself. Really tired so just took it easy, but not too easy. 5 mins, 3 mins, 5 mins, 2mins, 5 mins, 1 min with 2 mins jog recovery between each.

Started off easy and sped a up as the session went on. Pretty perfect weather conditions, ran around the local footy oval on the grass so a bit better for the knees. 12km all up.

Thursday 23 July 2015

Mental Week

This week has been really full on so I've had no time to update this. Trained on Monday with Lesley's squad. Sam and Will had this brilliant idea to take the recoveries easier so I managed to keep up which was great. We did 800m on 400m jog x 5.

Can't quite recall what happened but a quick look at the watch told me times went: 2:26, 2:28, 2:29, 2:33, 2:28.

Happy to train well then because of the stressful week. 12km all up.  Had methods exam on Tuesday, so trained after that with Chappo who's doing a half marathon this Sunday. Just did a 10.8km easy run.

Then Wednesday was English exam which was worth a fair portion of the final mark. Tried to train afterwards but ran out of time really fast so only managed 3km. It was Corey's 18th so we went out to a bar at Crown to celebrate.

Then turned up to school, pretty knackered after last night,  to realise that I was meant to be on an excursion and that everyone was waiting for me at the station. Bit of a mess.

Training tonight so we'll see how that goes. Then physio tomorrow for injury prevention and hopefully a run after that to make up for Wednesday. I'm exhausted already.

Sunday 19 July 2015

Nice day

Did 8.5km easy this morning in 39:46 to finish off the easy weekend. Get back into the tough stuff tomorrow. Lovely weather this morning.

Saturday 18 July 2015

Saturday struggles

Did a threshold this morning but really didn't have it in me. Felt lethargic and dehydrated but so does everyone Saturday morning. Couldn't stay concentrated for long which was weird so the pace kept dropping, them I had to work to get it back up again. Time was 23:31 so way off my normal threshold pace but ah well. Study for the rest of the day. 11.2 all up.

Friday 17 July 2015

State Schools Cross Country 2015

Up to Bundoora for the second time this year for my last state school race ever. Warmed up with Sam before putting on spikes, grabbing my number last minute and getting over to the start line.

Gun went and it was a rough start with pushing and shoving all over as everyone was right in the pack. After the initial scramble the pace really slowed so I worked my way up to the front and was running in second place for a while. Then the leaders started off strong before we went through 2km and I let them go, knowing the form they're in.

Course is made up of a 2km loop then a 3km loop or just under. There's the same major hill in both of them at the start of. Each loop however it isn't too bad, it's just the biggest in the course. I was hanging around the 10th position mark and holding my spot, battling it out with another devil from my region. I managed to go by him and continued pushing up the hill feeling pretty good.

Tight corner going down and I suddenly realised I need to shit. Pretty poor timing to be fair but I continued the haul. Down the hill I stretched out, maintained my spot, but at the turn around some guys came by me. Back up the hill for a short distance before turning again to head towards the finish. Lost some places here as well, but that was then all up until the end.

Pretty disappointed in that race, I feel like I didn't push myself anywhere near to what I normally do.  Feel like I threw it in the bag after km 3 and I definitely don't feel like I ran hard enough, although my splits are all well under 3:20's, a race I'd normally be stoked with. Did 15:19 for 4.7k but I just don't know. Not racing for a while now, and this weekend is study filled so I'll just take an easy one and get training again next week. Aths season is on the approach now so I'll make sure I'm killing myself in all the big races.

Tuesday 14 July 2015

Feeling good

Pouring all day yesterday and all day today. Killed the motivation but managed to do 8.6km yesterday and 8km this afternoon. Finished up with some strides tonight for some intensity before Thursday. Looking forward to it.

Sunday 12 July 2015

Mud, mud, glorious mud

Up at ferny creek this morning for a long run. It's been pretty wet recently so the track was a nightmare to negotiate. No one took a tumble but I came fairly close. It's really great running in the woods though.

Rain started coming down at around halfway but I didn't really notice it. The hills were present and tough as always, but I hung on a bit better this time. Definitely glad I wore gloves. 19.4 all up and 72.2 for the week. Tired now.

Saturday 11 July 2015

Sandown Relays 2015

As always, I've been slack on updating recently so I'll try and keep on top of it this week. Thursday night, I trained with Cheyne. Pushed back training to 5:30 as Tom's work finished late and it was worth having someone to push you through the 400's that Cheyne had us doing.

The first 6, we did on the outside tan loop so they are always slower, off 1 minute passive recovery. The idea is that we build up this session more and more and track season comes closer. Felt good on the first 3 and before the second 3 started hurting more. Cheyne is pretty picky about this session so we had to make sure we didn't start too fast. Times went like this:

73s, 71s, 68s, 73s, 67s, 66s

We then went onto the track for the next 3 off 2 minutes passive recovery. They speed up so much on the track with there exactly the same effort. Times went :

66s, 66s, 65s.

The last one I had to work hard to hang onto Tom and I was really hurting at this point. Cheyne's favourite is to encourage a finishing kick so for the last one, We had 5 minutes recovery. I've never had that much for such a short distance so it was pretty strange. Tom reckoned we let the heart rate go  down before we went, but I knew how hard we had to run so the adrenaline was pumping through me. By the time we lined up I was already breathing heavily just from the nerves. Cheyne offered $100 for whoever went under 60s.

Tom led it out, I had so much adrenaline that I felt really shaky and all over the place but it wasn't hurting at all after 100m or 200m, apparently we split 31s. Or at 250m. Then at 260m all the adrenaline left me at one moment and the lactic hit me like a train. It was unbelievable. I kicked as hard as I could and got right up to Tom's shoulder. Then he accelerated and I couldn't hold him, I kept hammering and slowly gained a bit, but I didn't have enough time. He had half a second on me in the end. Tom was 60 flat low and I was 60 flat high. Stoked that I managed that after 9, 4's but the recovery definitely helped. 8.8 all up, a few less km's before this morning which was Sandown relays, but the quality was there.


I was lucky enough to be put in a team with JB from Lesley's squad and Ben Kelly who won the state championships 8km race that I did a few weeks back. It's the same race as last year but we ran it backwards to change it up a bit. Pretty poor weather, windy and rainy but it held up okay.

I was the first leg which I was happy about because it's easier when there are people all around you. The course is 3.15 km's but I had to do 2 laps this year instead of only a single lap like last year. So 6.3 of racing. Normally, the course is a car racing track so it's pretty sick to run on. Asphalt all the way around though which does tighten the calves up. Gun went and I made sure I didn't go out too hard but apparently I split 3:08 first k and I didn't feel it too much which is a great sign.

The course loops around back uphill, before a downhill section along the back straight. The lead woman went by here but I'm aware of her talent so didn't try to stay with. Instead I focus on form and feeling good. Turned into the headwind with 750m left in the lap and all of a sudden felt great. Stretched out down hill, turned into the straight and kept going. Split the first lap in 10:27. Last year's one lap time was 10:03 so I'm doing alright for myself so far.

3.5k in and it starts to hurt more. Grit my teeth here and attempt to hang onto a guy uphill which I manage. Downhill, I let gravity do the work and feel a but better for it. Back on the flat section another women goes by and I hang onto her for almost a k before the wind beats me. Back onto the straight and I just give it everything. Touch JB's hand for the change in runners and I'm finished. Time ended up being 21:24 for the 6.3k so really happy with that. Second split was 10:57 so not as bad as my Jells relays disaster. JB hit 21:42 and Ben Kelly kept us in it for fifth in 19:34 which was truly unbelievable.

Our age group is so strong so it's disappointing we didn't medal. At the tan though, we should have a strong chance if everything goes well. 10.3 km all up for today.



Wednesday 8 July 2015

Regular

Training with Cheyne last night and it was pretty good to be honest. Tom, Jasper and I training so it was good to see some familiar faces. The session was Kenyan so 8 x 2 mins hard, 2 mins easy and 6 x 1 min hard, 1 min easy.

Started off well, I felt really comfortable up until 6 where it started to hurt. Pace dropped at 7 but no too badly and we picked it right up on the 8th. Jasper stopped after 6 as he is younger. The 7th was toughest I reckon into the headwind, I pushed early but then settled back as Tom took over.  The 8th looked after itself as it was the last, I've missed doing the last rep the fastest.

Longer session than I've been doing the past few weeks so I definitely felt it then, as well as now. Tom stopped after the 2's for fear of aggravating a foot injury. Jasper jumped back in though which helped me loads. He pushed hard the first 4 making the last 2, 1 minuters tough for me. Gave it everything on the last one. Did 2k cool down on the grass with Jasp for 14.7 all up.

Did 8k easy this morning in 36:50 or so. Felt fit but pretty tired from last night. Sandown relays this weekend followed by the big one of State Schools cross country next week. Then a bit of a break after that from racing I think.

Monday 6 July 2015

Gentle monday

11km in just under 50 mins this morning. Felt good. Did some glute work as well, training with Shermo tomorrow for the first time in a while.

Sunday 5 July 2015

Sydney Summary

Ended up doing a hill session yesterday on the recommended Darley Rd hill which lived up to expectations. I chose the bottom section of 360m which involved varying gradients, roads and a small staircase to conquer during each ascent. Really steep which made me nervous but I got through it okay.

Kept it really consistent which was good news, times went like this:

1:36, 1:37, 1:36, 1:35, 1:36, 1:39, 1:40, 1:34

Used the jog back down the hill as the recovery. Killer session, sore all day, but feeling fit. Cool down back to the apartment for 9.7km all up.


Didn't end up meeting with the Sydney squad which was disappointing but definitely next time. Did an easier long run by myself. 17km in around 1:20. Ran along the beach and up a trail leading into the heart of the peninsula thing. Then continued on the road around a loop and back. Ran up and back a hilly side street to get a bit of hard stuff in as well as turning around and running yesterday's hill again. 67.5km for the week. Not a bad one at all.

Friday 3 July 2015

General News

Bit of a catch up of what's been happening. On Wednesday night I trained with Lesley's squad and we  did the acceleration session which was new to me but apparently and old favourite with the rest of the squad. It's done on the 1200m loop and it's starts with 200m hard, 200m jog, 400m at 5k pace, then 200m flat out then 200m jog and repeat. Felt pretty good and held onto the leaders for 1 and a half laps.

Died a bit and was caught by some people who I shouldn't have been caught by. Unsure whether I should continue to push hard to stay with the leaders and hang on for as long as I can, or run the session at my own pace. I think mixing it up would be the best way to go, but does anyone recommend one or the other??

10.8k all up for that one and I was pretty sore the next day. Did just under 10k with Will on Thursday followed by some strides on the grass. Then cycled up Ormond for some Shwarma with Jb, Will and Sam which was pretty high quality for a tenner and I've got a feeling it might become tradish. It's a bit like a souvlaki.

Flew up to Sydney Thursday night and took a rest day on today. Uncle Tom, who's running Gold Coast set me up with his squad so I'm trying to organise a long run with them on Sunday. Tomorrow I'll try and get out to do the Curl Curl park run but if not,I'll do a hill session instead. Had a really good dinner tonight at the Manly Grill in which I got down enough protein for the next 17 years.


Tuesday 30 June 2015

Recovering

Quads sore and calves shot to bits. Did an easy run last night up with all the guys trying to recover from Saturday. Did 5 strides as well on the grass to mix it up.

Went for another easy this morning by myself and I'm still so sore. I'll have to do some serious rolling today. 10km all up both times.

Monday 29 June 2015

Albert Park XCR 15 10km

Early start yesterday morning to get to Albert park early so Sophie could warm up for her 3km road race. I warmed up, doing 2km with some of the Glenhuntly guys while she was racing. Didn't feel the calf which was great, but I was still sceptical about how I would go because of this week's minimal running. Sophie ran 11:25 for the 3km which I think she was happy with.

The start line was a bit of a mess with the Div 1 and 2 men and women being given access to the front line although the Div 2 most of the U/20's are faster than Div 2's. I lined up with Will and JB, the gun went and it was really compacted. I stayed on the tail of Will while he weaved himself through the crowds. Felt really easy and the watch gave me a 3:16 first km. The plan was to go out with everyone then reel it in so I didn't go out too fast. Kept the pace easy and the watch gave me another 3:16 and then a 3:20 odd. Bit nervous now as I had gone out too quickly, just staying with Will and JB. I settled back into a rhythm of around 3:30's at around km 5 which what I was meant to do after km 1.

Split through 5km in around 16:45 on this flat course and headed out for my second lap. Passed a few guys here who were pretty good so I felt pretty solid. Will and JB were ahead of me now but after km 6, the fast start caught up to me. Dragging myself along, my breathing was really fast but I focused on my form. Each time someone went by I stuck with them for as long as I could and I felt like this really helped.

3:35 - 3:40 was the pace now and coming into 2km to go, I was really hurting. Lost focus here and more and more people came by. Into the stadium for the last 300m I told myself to hold my place. Did so until 20m to go when I got outdone by some speed demon. Absolutely finished on the line with a time of 34:51 so first time breaking 35 mins! 50s PB so stoked with that after this week of inconsistency. Definitely went out too fast, so I'll keep that in mind for my next longer race. Will ran incredibly in a time of 33:39 and he's only in year 10. JB was at about 34 flat, big Sammy Toll managed a 33:07 and Beau was mid 33's with Will as well.

I think I was 19th in U/20 and I'm still bottom age so good stuff. Both calf's are stupidly sore now so I'll jog this evening to hopefully stretch them out a bit.

Here's a classic snap of me on the line attempting to fend off even more speed demons.

Saturday 27 June 2015

Update

To give you a bit of a recap, trained on Thursday, did a 10 minute threshy followed by 2 x 1200m efforts. I was meant to do 3 but the calf started hurting after the second so I gave it a miss just in case. Didn't run yesterday and I doubt I will today so we'll see how the race goes tomorrow. Times were pretty quality on Thursday so I think the fitness is still there. Calf is feeling really good since Friday morning so hopefully I'm over that hurdle. I reckon it was the quick jump in from one week to another. I'll try and easy back into it next week so the same thing doesn't happen again.

Wednesday 24 June 2015

Testing

Jogged just over 3km this afternoon in just under 15 mins to test out the calf. Still a bit sore but it's also definitely on the mend. I'll run properly tomorrow and I'll do some core and glute work in the meantime to make up for it.

Tuesday 23 June 2015

Sketchy as

So the calf kept up its soreness so didn't run tonight as I didn't want to push it before the weekend. Fair I reckon as the past 3 days have been pretty filled with strain on the poor calf. Hopefully I'll do an easy run tomorrow and train on Thursday. Been icing it all evening.

Monday 22 June 2015

Tough stuff

Tonight was with Lesley's squad as it's Monday and ended up training pretty well. Freezing again, pretty thankful for the running gloves. We were doing 6 x 400m with 400m jog recovery and 4 x 200m with 200m jog recovery. Started off with Will while Jack and Beau stormed off. Managed to stay with Will until the fifth four when he started to pull away,  I always forget quickly how much it hurts but I feel now like I can push harder to stay with him. The middle stage of the race is what counts.

Times went : 400's- 1:13, 1:11, 1:11, 1:16, 1:13, 1:18. The jog recovery between made it much harder to run faster during the reps so that's where the time suffered.

200's- 38s, 37s, 30s, 33s- these were unsure as the distances were different for each so I think I would have hit around 35/36 for each except the last one which was faster.

Next time going to try even harder to hold on and hopefully the mix of starting off hard and dying sessions with the more conservative Thursday sessions will help because of the variety. 12.2km tonight. Saturday will be interesting. I have a suspicion that I might do fairly well compared to other people my age as I've done more then your average number of 10km races so I'm hoping the experience will help. The goal is sub 35 so we'll see what I can manage.

Bit worried about my left calf as it's a bit tight, but Stacy said get the spiky ball and roller onto it and it should loosen.

Sunday 21 June 2015

More and more hills

Early start yesterday morning to catch a ride with Will up to jells park for the hill session. Jogged to the hill for a warm up before listening to Trevor tell everyone to take the recovery's easy, but you can guess what happened from then.

Loads of people there but I started strong and stayed with the leaders on the first one but they raced the recovery. I'm probably just jealous to be honest that I can't keep up. Decided that next session I'm going to run it like them and see how long I can hold on for.

Times went : 1:08, 1:09, 1:12, 1:12, 1:10, 1:12, 1:10, 1:12.

Recovery average was probably around 1:52. Pretty consistent which I'm stoked with but good to be running hills again. Started doing some exercises the physio gave me for glute strength and injury prevention. I can do about 25 calf raises on each leg but Stacy reckons I should be doing well over 30  in order to maintain form over longer races. Some of the glute work is harder than I thought it would be which shows that my legs aren't the strongest.

Went down to Ferny creek this morning for the long run and what a relief it was to be back running in the forest. The air is genuinely so much fresher. Pretty chilly so the hands got a bit numb so I'll bring some gloves next time. Started off Jb, Sam, Beau, other Jack, Simon, some other sporty devils and I. Started off mainly downhill which wasn't a good sign before we hit the first hill.

I hung onto Sam and other Jack and kept the pace steady, continued onto a flat section before ascending for much longer this time up to Grants picnic ground. About 7k in at this point we stopped for a toilet break. Beau, Jb, Simon and other devils went back to the starting point from here to make sure they didn't miss the Rob Clarke memoir ceremony. We continued on as Sam reckoned we could pump out some more k's and still get back. I was game so we took a side loop up another hill where I was doubting how long I could last. Pretty sore now but after another hill we hit a steady downhill slope during which I got my breath back and eased into it.

Back pass Grants, and then onto the road before cutting through the forest onto another road hill. Struggled here because of the belly beginning to hurt, before hitting another hill back up to our car park. They dropped me, but as they edged away I thought I still had stuff left and closed the gap considerably up the hill. Only had about 10m on me in the end which was great to see. Next time I'll definitely be with them the whole way.

Ran it back up to Trevor giving his speech about Ron Clarke before a few other ex Olympians added in as well. It was next to the place where a famous photo of Ron was taken. He wrote a book which I'll try and read called "The Unforgiving Minute" about his athletics career.

I ran with Sam back up to our car park to hit 1:30:35 all up during which we completed 19.5km bringing up 71.4 for the week. Longest for a while after a spell of only hitting around 60 and I'm feeling pretty tired but good. All the hills this weekend have got me pretty tired, but feeling great as you always do after a ferny session.

Albert Park 10km road race next weekend so should be a quick one.