A Sick Tigger

Tigger has been sick all week but she did come for a run with me this morning. She was going to run out with me then turn back but changed the plan, as she is prone to do, and ran to a point where she could cut back to Park Road while I trudged on.

We went out along the Western Freeway to Indooroopilly  and headed across to the University of Queensland where Tigger left me at the Green Bridge and headed to Park Road while I went over the bridge and through West End, Southbank, Kangaroo Point, Dockside, Story Bridge and back to Park Road. 35.3K for me in 3:07 at 5:19 pace.

I went along to the Galeforce speed session again on Wednesday. 1K TT (3:49) 6 x 300m reps with 100m recovery then another 1K TT (3:50). I was pretty stuffed after that session, however, I haven't had the soreness that I had after the hill session the week before. I wish I had started this months ago.

While running today I stopped and had a quick chat to CoolRunner Tuttle. He is not long back from Korea where he ran a 3:09 Marathon. Tuttle's running has improved tremendously since he moved to Brisbane from Newcastle. He is now training for Comrades which is 8 weeks away.

Galeforce Pain

Out of desperation to stop the rot that had seemed to be setting in in my running, I decided it was time to commit myself to something which involved me with other other runners. Doing things on my own sure wasn't working. Having met Chris Gale of Galeforce Runners on several occasions and knowing he ran coaching groups, I discovered that he has a speed session in Ipswich on Wednesday mornings. Unfortunately I am not a person who finds it easy to alter my routine, I have to give the change careful consideration before committing myself. I normally catch the 6:52 train and am at my desk by 8:45. Attending a 5:30AM speed session at Limestone Park in Central  Ipswich means that I don't get back home until 7:00AM when I still need to shave, shower, dress and have breakfast in order to catch the 7:40 train to get to my desk by 8:30.  After convincing myself that such a change wasn't life threatening and that I surely would survive, I attended a session last Wednesday. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It felt really good to have put in a big effort and done some hard work. I am sure that I can make this session part of my routine.

There has been a price to pay, however. My quads have been very sore. My run on Thursday was pathetic. Nevertheless the speed session was a very positive experience and it has done me a world of good. I don't expect it to have any significant impact on my Canberra run. The greatest benefit will be, I think, the improvement in my attitude.

This morning I did 25k from Park Road with Tigger. We averaged 5:10 per K. I really enjoyed the run. The conditions were perfect.

Yahoo 38!

Last Sunday Tigger and I set out for 34K run, 17 out and back. We did the 17k out but on the way back realised we would be running smack bang into the International Women's Day run. Almost 7,000 women is more than even I can manage at one time. So we took a shortcut home. Actually it only became a shortcut because my left leg ceased up. I don't know what caused it. We finished back at Park Road with 32K at an average pace of 5:14. I was happy with that.

I had a pretty crappy week after that and only did 2 x14K circuits.

This morning I met Tigger again at Park Road. We had discussed heading out out along the Western Freeway to Seventeen Mile Rocks but as we set out Tigger hatched a new plan. We turned of the bike path at Indoorooplilly and headed to UQ, across the Green bridge, through West End to Southbank. Tigger has been having trouble with her Achilles tendon and it was getting painful so she cut back to Park Road via the Victoria Bridge. I continued on to Kangaroo Point and Dockside and over the Story Bridge and back to Park Road. I completed 38K at an average pace of 5:26. I felt pretty awful but very happy to have completed 38K.

With an average pace of 5:26 for 38 at this point in my training for Canberra I am on track to run my slowest Canberra so far. This will be my 5th Canberra. My slowest being 5:27 in 2006. As I have said in a previous post, I really want to enjoy the run without dieing too badly over the last 5 or 7K.

You may be wondering what happened to the Yasso 800s. I simply haven't had the motivation to head back to the running track to do more. It's a great idea but I have to be feeling bit better and more motivated.

Bundy Boy

Last week was not the best training week I have had. I didn't do my long run on Sunday. I drove up to Bundaberg on Saturday to visit my Mum. I hadn't been up for a while. My Mum will be 87 in May. She lives on her own and still drives her car. More often than not she is running errands for little old ladies who are in some case younger than her.

Since I had to do the return trip, a 4.5hr drive, on Sunday afternoon, I thought it wise to not do my run so that I would not be tired out before the drive. I didn't want to become another statistic. There are so many accidents caused by fatigue.

I did a 14K run this morning. The humidity is absolutely unbelievable. It took me at least 45 minutes to stop sweating afterwards. The humidity just seems to sap so much energy. It really knocks me around. I am looking forward to nice cool run in Canberra. It will probably be freezing. I hope Ewen can exert some influence over the weather conditions in Canberra. Although if tried last year, he failed miserably. I am counting on nice cool, perfect running weather.