Poor from me

So Thursday did a bit of an easy run of 11km or so them rested in Friday before doing a long run on Saturday. Really took it easy yesterday as coach said I was doing them too fast. 18.4km in roughly 1 hour 30. Did a couple of 150m strides after the long run to keep the legs ticking over quickly.

Really looking forward to this training camp next weekend, should be really good. I'll hopefully get out this afternoon for some 200's and a jog. Mo won so that's all that matters.

Back to training well

Great session last night, bit of a complicated one as it always is with Cheyne dreaming up unsure stuff. Did pyramid fartlek consisting of 30s, 45s, 60s, 90s then back down for he first set. This was followed by 5 x 2 minutes easy, 2 minutes hard then 5 by 1 minute easy, 1 minute hard. Felt great throughout it all.

First set by so fast and we covered 3km including the jog. Then for the 2's we rotated the lead, luckily for me, I didn't even cop the headwind once for the entire session. Pushed pretty hard on these but came in feeling good. The last one was really fast, so stumbled back to get a drink.

Recovered quick and then onto the one's. On the third rep I pushed really hard and regretted in the recovery as I didn't think I would be able to keep pace. Managed to hang on though, the last one was killer, but Tom insisted we jog it back which would've done me good. Really great stuff, 2.4 cool down to reach 15k all up.

2 x2k threshold

Went for a jog last night by myself and did 2 x 2km threshold. First one was 7:45 followed by a 7:33. Medium difficulty you could say for 10.2km all up. Getting around porridge for breakfast, it's so quality.

Misery

So the sceptical sessions have continued again tonight, I'm feeling fit but the stomach just plays up and it's too painful to run. Going to start eating the standard 9 Weetabix and fruit every morning instead of the unsure fruity bites that have taken over, as I feel that's where the problem lies. Also, Shermo and mum say I'm doing my long runs too fast so I'll bring it back to 4:45's from now on. Hydration as well could be key so I'll bring a bottle of water everyday to school so hopefully i'll be back feeling great on Wednesday.

I did a 10 minute threshold and covered about 2.6km so pretty average pace. Was meant to do 6 x 1km's but could only manage 3 and the times were 3:12, 3:11, 3:08. Fitness felt fine which was good but outside factors influenced what could've been an amazing session.

Update

Apologies for the lack of posts for a while. I've really got to get on that more regularly. Anyway yesterday I did 12.2km in 53:14. Meant to be easier than it was, but I went out the night before so I'm not surprised to be fair.

This morning did 18km along the beach path at about 4:30's. Solid long run, but haven't done an proper session in a while so tomorrow will probably be tough.

I'm booked in for a training camp up at warburton in a 2 weeks with another squad, really looking forward to it. It's over the long weekend so I got up on the Friday and come back on the Monday. 2 runs a day mostly on trails I think so should be a grind but I reckon I'll love it.

Here's some photos from the other day that dad took during the race.


About 1.5km in, Sammy out front with me just behind. Then Jack Strangio, another GHY boy.  No idea who the last guy is. Mckinnon managed to win the team event, so we'll see if we can conquer the next round and we've got our eyes set on state.

Hafway, where the start of the Higham handicap was.

Thursday Threshold

So realised that Dad took some photo's from Wednesday's race so I'll get them up for the next post. But yesterday after school did a 6km thresh by myself. Felt pretty good throughout and like I could've run much faster. Time was 22:20 in the end, quality work. 11.2 all up for yesterday.

2015 District Cross Country

So Wednesday was the next stage in the state schools cross country championships. Not a huge field and it was run at Karkarook Park where the infamous highnam handicap was also staged. However this time, the course was 2 laps not just 1. Did a warm up by myself before drills then strides then lining up where we all listened to the starter who had genuinely no idea what she was talking about.

Anyway, pretty fast start but it slowed up quickly after about 200m. Sammy Toll was the main competition who, to be fair, is a huge talent. He's already put down an 8:52 3km on the track at nationals last year so my goal was to just hang on for as long as I could. Him and I started breaking away after about 1500m and we surged again after 2km to split through 3km in around 9:50, then up the hill he surged again and got me. I held the distance between us for about 500m before he began pulling away once more.

After that, I think I definitely slacked off a bit as 2nd place was guaranteed by then so I'm pretty disappointed in myself actually. Should've kept pushing fast to get the best time I could so not great from me. However, next race, lesson learned, that's what I will focus on for the next round. Time was 15:58 in the end for around 4.8km so 20 seconds faster than last year which is great to see.

In the evening, went up to running club for an easy 6km jog so 13km all up for Wednesday.

Standard as

Ran long yesterday, meant to only do the normal 18km but got my distances wring and ended up doing just over 19. Really hungry the whole time so I could feel the stomach bouncing around which was fairly strange.

Tonight however had the worst session of all time. Opposite this time and spent way too long on the toilet to no avail. Probs dehydrated. Anyway we did a strange fartlek where we took turns choosing the starting an finishing points for each rep. Tom, Chris, Haftu, jasper and I tonight so more than usual which was good.

Then we did 1 lap as hard as we could and due to my struggling ventures I got dropped, but ended up running 3:44 for the 1.2km. Then we did a lap of tabata which again was very average. 8km all up.

Racing in the next round of the cross country on Wednesday. Hopefully I'm feeling a bit better by then so I can redeem tonight's terrible session. The course is just under 5km and my pb for the course is 16:18 so we'll see how it goes.

Saturday stroll

Ended up being a bit more than a stroll. Felt pretty lethargic but ended up doing 12.25 in 53:12 so a bit faster than anticipated. Finished off with a couple of strides for a bit of fast twitch stuff. Alright run.

School Training

Got up early this morning expecting an easy jog at school cross country training before school, instead Will rocked up as well so I really had to put in a bit of effort. I was still a bit sore from last night's treadmill threshy so trained okay considering.

I did about a k worth of warm up before we got into it. About 15 people there of all abilities that you'd find within a high school. The session was 2 x 2 mins hard off 90s passive, 2 x 3 mins hard off 2 mins passive followed by 2 x 90s hard off a minute.

First rep was a struggle as the blood hadn't really moved since I woke up but Will was hammering so I had to hold on. Did so and the next one went by a bit easier. The idea was to do a rep one way then attempt to best the distance on the second of each set going back the other way. Again the first 3 minutes was tough but felt good and pushed well on the second.

During the 2 x 90s the rain and wind picked up and I could feel the style collapsing in the long grass. Decided to wear my heavier shoes which have a bigger contact patch making the cadence struggle, especially in the long grass, but it turned out well. Unsure about the distance but I'd say around 5.5km all up. Not a bad effort for a rest day.

Back once again for the renegade master

Feeling better yesterday so just a 6km jog to make sure. Had school footy today but the competition was steep so it was boundary umpiring for me. Really enjoyed it although the rain made it pretty bitter. A mate who has never played footy in his life lined up from 35 out and slotted it home for a key 6 points. Keep in mind his name is unofficially "falcon" so to be fair I'd back him to do anything. A bit sore from running around all day but got home and decided to go to the gym for a treadmill session inside as the poor weather hasn't relented all day. Did a 5km threshold in around 17:50 so a bit faster than usual. I was running next a man who was walking and playing solitaire on a computer at the same time which helped with the confidence. Another guy was on this strange moonwalking thing wearing cargo shorts with his hands in his pockets obviously getting in some hard moonwalking miles. It's a really nice gym but some strange people go there. Walked back through the weights area to have a look. Aggressive would be a nice way to describe those machines, but some guys who looked like the machines they were on were pumping out some reps and sets of who knows what so they apparently worked. 10km all up. I'm keen to race some body builders.

Down

Jogged yesterday 7.6 km in 34:42 but it was so much harder than it should've been. Probably the lead up to what got me this morning. Headache, sore throat and destroyed nose. I'd say I've got something. Probably fair though as I've flown under the radar and escaped being sick since January. Hopefully it's not too rough.

Last school cross country 2015

Today was cross country day and the main competition was Will who runs at Glenhuntly with me. Warmed up with max, another GHY boy, and did some drills while they played house songs in an attempt to get everyone keen to run 5k in the bitter wind. It wasn't all bad though, the commentators did have a sense of humour which was greatly appreciated by most and made the last 200m stretch better than your average last 200m stretch.

The start was mental as always, as the real winner is the man who completes the starting 300m first, with second place going to the man who can tackle the most people to the ground within that 300m while there is still sufficient numbers on the oval to conceal their true identity. I stayed with the competition and anyone in the way copped a hip and shoulder or a don't argue. Wasn't expecting the 3:23 first km split that appeared on my watch as I didn't feel the pace at all. It seemed to be too much for most of the crowd though as after 2km(3:20) it was just me and Will. Must've slowed slightly and came in at 3:26 through the third. Still feeling really good at this point.

The course took us back through the school so we received the cheers of many as we went back past the starting line. Will moved ahead of me and I tucked in behind him then but I feel as if that move might've taken it out of him as I went back around and started creating a gap. Kept the pace strong and felt the gap growing. Due to the 2 laps, walkers were in the way so I jumped on the asphalt to give myself space and pushed on.

A teacher, oblivious to the issue of not being able to run through people let me know to jump back on the pavement but probably due to my obvious fatigue and lack of response she let it go which was probably wise. Kept the pace strong all the way home and ended up with a time of 16:39 for just under 5km. Really happy as it's the first time I've managed to beat the school. Great run.

3, 2, 1

Running club tonight in the despicable weather that overcame Melbourne today. Just Tom and I doing the distance stuff which was 3 laps of the outside loop, followed by 2 laps then finally 1 lap. The cold made warming up tough so the first rep was the hardest I reckon. The third km within it was 3:36 so threshold pace and we should've been running faster. But we brought it home the last 600m for a solid 12:47 for just over 3.6km.

Next rep managed to hit an amazing rhythm and felt very strong. The idea was to have an easier session tonight so I wasn't going for any records. Time was 8:20 for just over 2.4km, felt like I could've run like that all day.

Did the last rep alone as Tom had a big night effort last night and was still recovering. Fair enough, went out slowly planning on closing strong and did just that, really running fast the last 200m and finishing with a time of 3:50 for the 1.2km. I reckon I could've run under 3:40 had I had someone with me and we ran consistently the whole way. 12 km all together.

Update

Squuuaaaaddd last night but only Tom and I doing the whole session. Kenyan fartlek, haven't done that in months. 8 x 2 mins easy, 2 mins hard and 6 x 1 min easy, 1 min hard. Haftu, who has hit some quality form, joined us for the first four 2's but easy for him as he's training with school on alternate days to us.

Feeling under the weather all day but trained really well. Covered 300m more than normal over the 2's and felt strong on the one's. 7.6km and 2.6 respectively. 13.8km all up. Felt the longer duration of hard work today, achy all over, but managed an easier 8km in 38:12.

Beaching it

Drove up to the beach today with Dad for a long run, but we went our separate ways along the path.  Really good run because of the lack of traffic lights minimised the constant stopping and starting.  Passed people on the way out and on the return so I found out I wasn't the only one doing more than 60 minutes today and props to them to be fair as I probably wouldn't have picked them to be running like that. Time was 1:18 something so a bit faster than normal for the 18km . I reckon it was because I could find a proper rhythm without roads to cross. 75.4 for the week.

Jells Hills

Hills yesterday for the first time is ages and definitely felt it after so long away. Started strong but the 7th one is what let me down, so next time I can hopefully keep that one fast. Again all the other runner murder the recovery so I continue to get overtaken on the recovery even though I'm running the hill faster. Pretty frustrating, but I really should just focus n my own session rather than racing at the same time.

Times for the 360m hill: 1:07, 1:11, 1:11, 1:12, 1:12, 1:15, 1:17, 1:10.

Good workout, I was exhausted for the rest of the day after. Went to see the new Avengers last night and never thought that there could be too much action in one film, but they pulled it off this time. Worth a watch though. Also getting around Game of Thrones and I've almost finished the first season so it's getting pretty intense. It's what is pulling me through VCE.