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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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.