Confidence Booster

Ran 10 x 1min w/ 1min float out at the Uni last night and went thru 5km in 16:50. Total distance for the 20 minute effort was 5.9km.

Considering it was a windy night, each lap of the circuit contains a hill and half of the session is a "float" as opposed to being flat out, I was very happy with the run.

The course we use is the same course that Athletics Tasmania used for last years State 5km Road Champs. Its just over 3 laps of a 1.57km circuit, so basically you run 3 laps then another 290m. The hill isnt steep but enough to do some damage once you start to tire. Its just a tad over 300m and about as steep as Punt Rd heading North toward Bridge Rd. Solid, but nothing if you're feeling strong.

Its 3 weeks this Sunday until the Launceston 10. This year it is also the Tas State 10km Road Champs. AT and the race sponsors have also organised some prize money for the State Champ placegetters. $1000 for 1st, $500 for 2nd and $250 for 3rd. I like that idea!!!!!

The race schedule between now and then looks something like this:

Sat 28th June 6km
Sat 5th July 12km (Solid Tempo but not all out)
Sat 12th July 5km

Hopefully this will sharpen things up a little for the 10km. I wont be backing off training wise but still expect to run some good times.

Bring it on.

Tas Junior Road Champs

Down the highway to Campbelltown today to watch the boys in the Road Champs. As I said last entry I was expecting Jake and Pat to have a win and I was correct. Jake took out the boys U/14 4km in 14:03. He was aiming for sub 14 but just missed out.

Pat ran the U/18 6km and had an easy win in 19:59. He achieved his aim of breaking 20minutes but it wasnt easy. There was a pretty strong headwind on the way home which slowed things down a little. Still, a very good effort by the boys.

Did my long run this morning before the trip to Campbelltown and felt good for about 90 minutes. The last 30 minutes (uphill) wasnt pretty but I guess results matter more than looks.

Did my monthly track session last Tuesday and was VERY happy with the times. 10 x 400 w/ 200m rec all sub 72 with the last one in 66. We do quicker sessions Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday but all of them are off road. This one is done in week 3 of our 4 week cycle so it only gets done once a month. I guess this will change closer to track season.

Another week of 100+ kms. The last 4 have been 99 (6 days running) 108, 106, and 104. I guess thats consistency!!!! This week should be about 110 if all goes to plan.

Feeling good and the body is coping with the workload which is handy as this time last year I was struggling with a calf injury which really didnt bugger off until about November.

Touch wood it stays that way

Long Long Run

Out with the boys this morning and given that they are either injured and just coming back or only running 80 - 90 minutes I decided to do a bit extra before meeting them therefore getting in extra in order to get out my 1 hr and 45min.

All good in theory but by the time Kim and I had cruised back thru the Gorge and I had got home my watch was saying 2hr 13min!!!!! Add to that the fact that my last 30 minutes is all uphill and you have a tough day out.

At the end however I was still feeling pretty good. Even picked up the pace a little for the last 10 minutes.

4 out of the last 6 weeks have now been over 100kms, the last 2 being around 110.

Heading to Campbelltown next Sunday to watch the Tas Road Champs. There is no Senior race as this will be incorporated into the Launceston 10. A few of the juniors in our group are racing and I reckon they will be frequently visiting the podium afterwards. My tips are Patty in the U/18 6km and Jake in whatever age group he runs (U/14 I think). There will also be a few others filling placings too so overall it should be a good day out for the boys and girls.

Had to work yesterday so not too happy about that!! The upside is they now owe me some time off which will come in handy around about the 23rd of August when I head to Geelong for the Nat XC.

June Already

This year has gone so so quick. It feels like only yesterday that I had sun burnt feet after a day at the beach!!!

The best part about it is that track season is not that far away. Pretty soon the tights and gloves will be in the bottom of a draw somewhere. Cant wait.

10 x 1min w/ 1min recovery tonight. We do them along a bike path were we have measured out a 400m stretch and we run up and back each time seeing how close we can get to 400m. Tonight was a lot closer than normal. We were covering about 360 - 370m. Not too shabby off a minute recovery.

As usual we run the full 400 for the last one and see how quick we can do it. Tonight I ran 64s. Moving nicely thank you!!!!

Jack and Robbie are in Melbourne until Saturday so I guess I'm fending for myself for a day or three. On the menu is pasta and more pasta. Exciting hey?

Long runs are starting to feel comfortable again and are increasing. 1 hr 45m last Sunday. I have also started running from home to our usual meeting spot which takes about 20 minutes. Why? Because then when I run home at the end its ALL UPHILL. 30 minutes worth in fact.

Hopefully come August when the State XC Champs are on there will be a pay off for all this effort!! Time will tell.

Over and out.

City to Casino

Enjoyable weekend in Hobart last week.

Finished 6th in the Opens Mens 7km event, and 7th overall. Donna MacFarlane made an appearance and finished in 4th spot.

Happy with my run. Very strong last 2km where I made up a heap of ground on Patty Smith whom I train with in Launceston. Patty, who is only 17, had about 150m on me with just over 2km to go and only beat my by a couple of seconds in the end. Another 500m or so and I had him.

Given that my training is mainly strength based, the race showed that it is all working pretty well. Throw in some speed work later on and look out.

Poor old Patty learnt a valuable lesson on the way to Hobart last Saturday. Never fall asleep in the car when I am driving. The little bloke got the shock of his life when in the middle of his slumber I jumped on the brakes and screamed NOOOOOOOOOO at the top of my lungs waking him up. Poor guy thought we were about to get acquainted with a truck or something. I nearly had to pull over I was laughing so hard. Needless to say that was the last he slept in the car!!!

I think Pat set a new World Record for number of SMS sent during our trip. On the 2 hour drive home on Sunday he sent 62 of them. Thats one every 2 minutes. Add to that the replies he got and its one every 60sec. The young lady he was chatting to must be OK. Ahhhhhh young love.

Back into training again for a while now. No races planned until the Launceston 10 in July. I may run the odd club race but it will only be as a training effort.

Cheers

Meeting the man!!

Last Friday I finally met the man who spent my teenage years plastered all over my bedroom wall.


Steve Moneghetti was in Launceston for the launch of this years Launceston 10 Race on July 20. He was joined by Lee Troop and Kerryn Mc Cann. Check out www.launcestonten.com.au

Not only did I meet him, but I also trained with him. We started at Kim Gillards place and headed up thru Trevallyn State Forest. Incidently, Kim is married to Kerryns sister Jenny. The last km or so of our run was up a nice steep hill and watching Mona and Troopy run away from us up this hill was awesome. Scary part was that I doubt they were even trying.

Afterwards we all had our photo taken with Mona and the obligatory autographs. Mona sign my copy of his book and wrote "enjoy the Marathon read". I didnt have the heart to tell him I already had..... about 4 times!!!!

Troopy signed a pair of his custom made Racing Flats that will be given to some lucky Junior runner as an "Encouragement Award". See Pic.

Clocked 110kms last week. This was helped by the fact that I ran 70 minutes on Friday instead of the normal 40. I wasnt about to say to Mona and Troopy, "sorry guys I have to stop now" was I????

Heading to Hobart this weekend for the City to Casino. Have decided to run the 7km event as opposed to the 11km as I feel that I would be more aggressive over the shorter distance. Im not too confident in attacking an 11km race from the gun just yet.

A solid week.

The week thus far:

Mon: 70 minutes
Tues: 10 x 1min w/ 1min float (Covered 5.8km in the 20 minutes)
Wed: 60 minutes
Thurs: 10 x 1min w/ 60s rec (walk/jog)
Fri: 45 minutes
Sat: 5km Race (80 minutes total for the day)
Sun: 90 minutes

Happy with the week. Felt strong during yesterdays race but lacking speed in the legs. That will come. Missed my target time by 8 seconds so my expectations were pretty close. It was tough in the middle stages trying to run solo but I guess thats whats happens in handicap races, its not until the end that you start to pass people and if you're lucky, get a second wind.

My time showed that I am in pretty good shape. Of course there is still a heap of work to do but its on track.

My 90 minute Sunday runs are a bit of a struggle. 6 - 8 weeks ago I was running 2 hours and doing relatively easy. Now its a battle to get out for 90. Go figure!

Next weeks Launceston Athletic Club event is over 12km which I will use as a tempo run. The course is known as the "Gutbuster". Why am I not looking forward to this one???? Target time 45 minutes with a HR of around 165 - 170. See how we go.