Ain't nothing gonna break my stride....

career move

Wednesday Dec 12th:

Walk: 1hr

Spent most of the day driving but we stopped off at the Capricorn Caves for a visit. These caves are about 390 million years old and they formed when corals built up as limestone which was then dissolved by the acidic rain. Most of the caves are above ground and there's a wonderful cave called The Cathedral which has amazing acoustics. We listened to a recording but they actually host weddings and operas in there.

Thursday Dec 13th

Run: Hill repeats
10 min jog
5 x 200m hills, 5min R
64, 62, 62, 65, 66
5 min cool down

The plan had 9*2min @ 80% on grass but the town where we were staying had the most perfect hill to do repeats on and if I was on the flat it would have been on the beach and a bit boring. I did this session which I was scheduled to do in a couple of weeks. The hill up to our apartment was longer but too steep. The hill down to the beach though was perfect. 250m long with a steady but tough gradient. 5 was the perfect number. First 2 feeling fresh, 3rd one I'm halfway through, 4th it hurts but I've only one left and the last one was tough but I'm done so its ok.

Walk: 2hr 30
After my run more driving. We had about 300km to do today but last night when I was looking at the map I spotted an interesting bit of green. Well I actually had two places picked out but one of them was the Finch Hatton Gorge and a quick Google told me that some people had been lost in there for days. I have to be careful how much adventure I subject my Dad to what with his dicky heart and his dodgy knees and anyway it was a good bit of a detour so I thought it best to give that a miss. The other place however was Cape Hillsborough Nature Reserve and that looked like it might be worth checking out.
We arrived there about 12pm. It's a ruggedly scenic park that includes rainforest, eucalypt forest, beaches, rocky headlands covered in hoop pines, and volcanic rock formations. When we started our hike up to the lookout points it was really humid and overcast but it was a super hike. We saw some fantastic views and a heap of geckos and lizards, one of which was about 3ft long. We only got a quick glimpse of him before he scuttled off up a tree. There were 3 different lookouts up a climb of about 2.5 km. At low tide you can take a shortcut home along the beach but unfortunately for us the tide was still in so we had to retrace our steps to get back. On the radio yesterday and today they've been going on about Cyclone Owen which is due to hit the North of Australia this weekend bringing torrential rain, strong winds and thunderstorms. We've been more worried about our scuba dives being cancelled than we were about thunderstorms but as we turned to head back to the car the sky had darkened considerably and we soon heard the first rolls of thunder. Next a few droplets to warn of what was to come. And then rain of biblical proportions that turned the trails into fast moving streams and the overhead branches into shower heads. To say we were soaked is an understatement but the rain was at least warm and luckily we had a couple of towels in the car so we soon dried off. It was a fun day

career move

Friday:
We took a boat from Airlie Beach to the Whitsundays and went scuba diving and snorkelling. We haven't dived since we did the course in Dingle in June so the first one was a steep learning curve. I saw loads of different
fish, a Moray eel and a turtle and lots of coral. The coral has started to grow back after it was badly damaged by Cyclone Debbie in 2017.

Saturday:
Run intervals 49:00 [4] 7.85 km (6:15 / km)

10 min jog
9 x 2min @ 70%, 60sec slow walk rec
12 min walk

I did laps of Airlie Beach esplanade. It was very humid even at 5 am. I found this a tough workout. I think I started each rep at about 70% but by the end of the 2 minutes on every rep I was at about 90%. I averaged 485m @ 4:06 min/km for the 9 reps. We drove up to Cairns after breakfast. It took about 7 hours and there was some ferocious rain on the way.

Sunday:

The cyclone was downgraded to a tropical storm but even still our diving was cancelled. We spent the day hiking around Cairns botanical gardens and Mount Whitfield conservation park. We were out for about 7 hours and climbed about 500m in elevation over 10 miles. It was hot, low 30s and humid and we ran out of water :eek: I think my Dad will be glad to get back to Melbourne for a rest from me

In the last 2 weeks I have done:
Gym sessions:
1 - front squats and deadlifts

Run sessions:
3 fartlek - ladder to 90sec, 10*30s, 12*30s,
1 long tempo: 5k @70%
1 hill repeats: 5*200m
1 intervals: 9*2 min

Plus lots of hiking (~26 hrs)

career move

Mon Dec 17th:
Easy day today. Up early to go on a tour of the Mossman Gorge, Port Douglas, the world heritage listed Daintree Rainforest, Cape Tribulation Beach – where the “rainforest meets the Reef”. We started with a trip to Mossman gorge. Usually you can swim here but because of the recent heavy rain the current was too strong. Mossman gorge is part of the Daintree National Park and home to the Kuku Yalangi tribe. Ancestors of the Aborigines date back to over 50,000 years ago which makes them the oldest continuing culture in existence and Daintree national park is the oldest rainforest on Earth dating back more than 120 million years. We took a short boat trip up the Daintree river and saw a crocodile. She was about a foot from the river bank under some low lying tree branches with only her eye showing. Our guide said the Daintree river is about 250km in length and that there's roughly one crocodile per km. As it's crocodile breeding season, the males are particularly aggressive around now so it's not a place you want to be capsizing your boat!
We then travelled on to Cape Tribulation, the headland where Captain James Cooks' ship ran aground on his first voyage of discovery and finished up with a visit to the ice cream shop. It was a good day! I wasn't aware of it at the time but I got bitten many times on the hike yesterday and my arms and ankles were a bit swollen when we got back to the apartment

Tues Dec 18th:
Run:
10 min jog
14 min fartlek (30s - 1min45)
20 min CD

I did this in Cairns and I remember being super happy when I'd finished and I saw the paces for the intervals (av 3:50/km)

Wednesday Dec 19:

Walk: Approx 5 miles around Cairns esplanade and marina. It was morning and there were loads of pelicans on the beach.

Thursday Dec 20
Run: hills
15 min jog
6 x 200m hills
53, 52, 49, 50, 48, 49
15 min jog
Back in Melbourne so I did this using the hill from Blackrock jetty up to Beach Rd. It was early so I had lots of cyclists and kayakers for company. You see cyclists on the road all day but early morning they travel in big troupes of 20-30 riders. The hill wasn't as steep as the one in Yeppoon so the times are faster than last week.

Friday Dec 21:

Bike turbo: 1hr 40
I wanted to do a climb but I couldn't get my phone to link up properly with the wahoo thingy. I couldn't change the resistance so this was sort of a waste of time.

S&C: Gym 1hr

Warm up - stretches and plyometrics
Hz squat jumps 2 x 3
Split squat jumps 2 x 5

Front squats:Wu 5@40 + 1@45 then 3 x 5 @ 50kg
One arm row: 3 x 8 @ 20
Squat jumps @10kg: 3 x 5

Deadlifts: Wu 5 @ 60kg then 4 x 5 @ 90 kg
One arm db press @ 17.5kg: 3 x 8

Lateral squat hold w anti rotation press: 2 x 8
Cable face pulls: 2 x 12

Swim: Quick 10 lengths in the gym pool. Legs were feeling a bit tight. In hindsight I 'maybe’ should have used lighter weights

Saturday Dec 22:

Easy walk around Arthur's seat, a hill with views of Port Phillip and Melbourne city skyline. We saw a big kangaroo about 20 metres away. He was very chilled!

I had DOMS in my legs. I think mostly in the quads.

Sunday Dec 23

Walk: 29.0 km (6 hrs)

Legs were still quite sore. Actually they were worse today. I walked to the shopping center to get some presents and while I was there I decided to treat myself to a leg massage. It was awesome.
Later on Dad and I walked from the house to St Kilda. We hadn't planned on going so far but Dad had some strange compulsion to visit St Kilda so instead of turning in Sandringham we continued walking and got an Uber home. I love Uber

career move

Monday Dec 24

Walk: 11.0 km (3hrs)

We did a tough walk in the western slopes of the Dandenong hills. It was hot but there was good enough shade in the forest. The others complained a lot about the hills and we didn't have quite enough water but it was one of my favourite walks. My legs felt much better today but I didn't get up early enough to run and it was too hot later (mid 30's). Legs were tired in the evening after the walk though.

Tuesday Dec 25:
(rest day)

First complete rest day for 18 days. It was well overdue. I'm super tired! Had a lovely Xmas day and thankfully it was 'only’ around 26°. Last time I was in Melbourne for Christmas it was 40° and all we could manage for dinner was sausage rolls

Wednesday Dec 26:

Run: intervals 25min 4.4 km

Failed fartlek.
Plan: 10 min w/u, 30,45,60,75,90,105,120,120,105,90,75,60,45,30 with same recovery
Actual: 30,45,60,75,90,87,54
3:46,3:37,3:40,3:54,3:51,4:28,5:33


I felt ok on the warm up. Usually if I'm feeling tired my warm up jog is sloooooow but this was sub 5:20/k and really comfortable. The first couple of reps were fine then I decided I needed to walk the recoveries. The 90sec rep was tough but I thought maybe it was because it was uphill but half way through the 105 sec, I was toast. I tried one more rep after a longer recovery but my breathing was shot so I called it a day and walked home.
There are a few possible reasons this happened:

1. I wasn't recovered enough. Like I said, yesterday was my first rest day in a long time and today could just have been a rebound bonk
2. The pace was too high on the shorter reps. I was going on effort but the paces look a bit too hot on paper
3. It was humid cause I stayed in bed for too long
4. I ate too much yesterday
5. Sh!t happens

Kayak: 1hr

We hired some sit on tops in Sandringham and had a lovely sea kayak around the bay. The wind was supposed to pick up to 40knots so we didn't go out too far

Walk: 8.5 km (2hr30)

In the evening we went for a stroll along the beach

Thursday Dec 27:

S&C: Gym (1hr)

Warm up - stretches and plyometrics

Front squats:Wu 5@40 + 1@45 then 2 x 5 @ 50kg + 5@52.5kg
One arm row: 3 x 8 @ 20
Squat jumps @10kg: 3 x 5

Deadlifts: Wu 5 @ 80kg then 4 x 5 @ 90 kg
One arm db press @ 17.5kg: 3 x 8

Lateral squat hold w anti rotation press: 2 x 8
Cable face pulls: 2 x 12

Swim: 10 lengths post gym.

Legs felt good and I increased the weight by 2.5kg on the last set of front squats. I didn’t want to push my luck too much though so the deadlifts were the same as the last day

Walk: 19.0 km (4hrs)


It was very warm, maybe 36° but we had loads of water with us and it was a nice walk from home to Mordialloc and back with a lunch stop.

Friday Dec 28:

Walk: 9.0 km (2 hrs 30)

Fabulous walk around Cape Schanck lighthouse and bushranger bay trail. The views were stunning. We went for a quick dip in the sea and also in a freshwater creek. It was hot again and the flies were really annoying.

Saturday Dec 29:

Run intervals 45min 5.0 mi

10 min wu
35 min Fartlek (30s - 2min) @ 4min/k

A repeat attempt at the failed fartlek from Wednesday but I did it on the treadmill in the gym this time. Air conditioning. Water. There's a lot to be said for it. I did most of the reps at a 0.5/1 incline and it was tough but manageable.
Swim: 10 lengths post run

Walk: 14.0 km (4hrs)

Clifftop walk from linley point to Mt Martha then Hastings foreshore and boardwalk. Easy walk with a stop for lunch. Much cooler today thankfully ~23°

Sunday Dec 30:

Walk: 7 mi (2hr30)

Really interesting walk in Point Nepean National Park. The park is situated at the southern tip of the Mornington Peninsula and has lots of scenic walks and historic buildings that served various purposes during the early history of the Mornington Peninsula. There's also fantastic views of the Mornington Peninsula across to Queenscliff and out the Port Phillip Bay Heads.
We saw a big pod of dolphins on the way back. They were swimming in a big group around a tour boat. The water was a beautiful turquoise colour and they followed the boat for ages.

Monday Dec 3:
Run tempo: 3m in 24:31 (8:10 / mi)
8:21, 8:18, 7:52

I was wide awake at 4:30 so I decided to get up and go for a run. It was still dark and the streets were so quiet. It was still pretty humid though even though the temperature was in the teens. I was going to do an easy run but because of the humidity, I didn't want to be out for a long time with no water so I upped the effort a little and decided to stop after 3 miles. The first mile was downhill and the other 2 were uphill. It felt like a solid effort.

Gym: 45min
Front squats:Wu 5@40 then 3 x 5 @ 52.5kg
One arm dB press: 3 x 8 @ 17.5
Squat jumps @10kg: 3 x 5

Deadlifts: Wu 5 @ 80kg then 4 x 5 @ 95kg
One arm row @ 20kg: 3 x 8

Lateral squat hold w anti rotation press: 2 x 8
Cable face pulls: 2 x 12

I upped the weight 2.5kg on the front squats and 5kg on the deadlifts. Claire and I spent the afternoon in the Peninsula Hot Springs. “Natural thermal mineral waters flow into the pools and private baths at our coastal oasis, providing an idyllic setting for relaxation and rejuvenation” It was bliss

And that's a wrap on 2018

_______________________________

career move

Tuesday Jan 1:
rest day

Wednesday Jan 2:
Run: Hills 55min

10 min jog
7 x (1min @ 5min/k, 12% incline, 4min rec)
10 min jog
On the treadmill in the gym. The last 10-15 seconds of each rep were tough. Good session. We went shopping in the afternoon. I’m starting the new job on Feb 4th. I've been assigned to Dublin and I needed a pair of shoes and some clothes because my wardrobe consists mostly of gym/running gear and trainers and unfortunately I don't think that will cut it

Thursday Jan 3:
Walk: 4hrs

Dad and I drove to the Dandenongs to Lysterfield Lake Park. It was quite hot but it was an easy enough walk around the lake. Dad was looking for koalas but we didn't see any. It's quite hard to spot because they sleep up to 20 hrs a day because the leaves of the eucalyptus trees that they feed on have limited nutritional and calorific value.

Friday Jan 4:
Walk 1hr
We got the ferry from Sorrento to Queenscliff and drove down the Great ocean road to a campsite outside Lorne. The great ocean road is the world's largest war memorial. It was built by soldiers who had returned from WWI between 1919 and 1932 and it boasts some stunning views of the coastline.
There was a trail in the campsite leading up the Cumberland river and we took a stroll up that. My brother in law's granddaughter was with us. She's 18 months and had to be passed along over the river crossings. She starts crying if I go too near her (which suits me because I never have to look after her) but she didn't mind me passing her along to her granddad. We saw a red bellied black snake slithering away through the undergrowth. It's venomous but not very aggressive and I don't think anyone has ever been killed by one.

Saturday Jan 5:
Run 75min ~ 5mi

Claire and I ran the trail that we had reconned yesterday up the Cumberland river. There should have been a longer trail leading to the Sheoak falls but we missed the turn and after several river crossings ended up at the Cumberland falls. We continued rock hopping up the river basin until the cliffs became too steep and we had to turn around.
Later on we drove down to the 12 apostles. Dad wanted to see them. They're massive limestone stacks off the shore of Port Campbell National park. It's an odd name for them because there was only ever 9 and one collapsed in 2005 so now there's only 8. They're fairly spectacular though.

Sunday Jan 6:
Run: 7.5 mi

Another trail run by the Cumberland river. It was early and a huge kangaroo jumped out on the path in front of us at the start. No snakes on the track thankfully and this time we spotted the turn leading up a steep hill to the Garvey track and the Sheoak falls. When we got to the top Claire and Tom were defeated by the hill (the hangovers may have contributed to this) and didn't want to continue on to the Sheoak falls so they turned and went back down the hill and I ran along a logging track to the carpark where I turned onto a narrow path that took me to the Swallow cave and the Sheoak falls. The water level was low but they were still pretty awesome. I then went down some steps until I met the great ocean Rd. Unfortunately I turned the wrong way towards Lorne instead of the campsite so I added on a couple of miles. We had to be out of the campsite by 10 so I was under a bit of pressure but I got back by 9:30 and avoided the wrath of my travelling companions. Not sure of the distance because I didn't have a watch on but I think it was around 7 or 8 miles

Walk 1hr

We stopped on the way home at Kennett river and we saw a koala and then we walked around Elizabeth lake for about 4k

Monday Jan 7:
S&C 50min

Warm up: stretches
Front squats:Wu 5@40 + 5@50 then 3 x 5 @ 55kg
One arm dB press: 3 x 8 @ 17.5

Deadlifts: Wu 5 @ 70kg then 4 x 5 @ 90kg
One arm row @ 20kg: 3 x 8

Lateral squat hold w anti rotation press: 2 x 8
Cable face pulls: 2 x 12

Back in the gym. These felt comfortable enough but the gym was really busy and I didn't have time to do more

shotgunmcos

Nice update! Loving the history/natural tour. Really comes across that you are loving it out there Moylussa will be so wet and grey by comparison... though the company should be brighter!

career move

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Nice update! Loving the history/natural tour. Really comes across that you are loving it out there Moylussa will be so wet and grey by comparison... though the company should be brighter!

Thanks Mike. Ya it's been fantastic. Flying back tonight so hopefully it won't be too much of a shock to the system :eek:
Moylussa might be wet and grey but it will be awesome to see my two best buddies

career move

Munster Indoors T - 4 wks :eek:

Monday Jan 8:
Claire has a wahoo kickr for her bike. It's very cool. You can pair it with an ipad and then you can pick various bike routes and do the same route in simulation with identical gradients. I think I've been learning too much Spanish/watching too much bike racing on the telly because I got a notion that I wanted to do the Angliru climb. This is one of the toughest climbs in professional bike racing and it's often used in the Vuelta Espana. It's 12.79km in length and climbs 1,243m. I did the first 7.41km in 50min but I ran out of water and it was 10:30pm so I had to call it a day but not before I saved my ride for completion tomorrow

Tuesday Jan 8:
Run:intervals 8 x 30sec
I did these on the treadmill but I didn't have much time. They felt really easy. I started the 30 sec intervals at 16kph and I did each one a little faster with the last 3 at 17kph.
I finished the climb on the Angliru. The second half of the climb is harder with some sections at an incline of 24% but I must have been fresher because my watts and average pace where much better than last night. I also had plenty of water which probably helped. I did the last 5.38km in 43:28 min giving me an overall time of 1hr 33 for the climb. The fastest time on the fulgaz app that I was using is 1hr6min so there's no fear of me becoming a professional bike rider just yet

Wednesday Jan 9 + Thursday Jan 10 :
Nothing. Flying home and then straight back into work

Friday:
Gym
Weights seem heavier in Ireland :rolleyes:

Saturday:
Track: intervals
20 min w/u jog + drills
300m, 200m, 100m @ 80% ( 3:30, 2:30, 2:00 R)
x, 35.22, 17.94
5 min c/d

Bleugh this was polar opposite to how I felt on Tuesday's intervals. I knew it wasn't going to be pretty from the get go. I had DOMS from the gym work and my legs felt really heavy on the warm up. I forgot to start my watch for the 300m rep so no time for that. The others were ok. I wanted to do 2 sets so I took another 3 min after the 100m rep but I got halfway through the second 300 and the pace started to drop and the effort was really high and then I got a stitch so I called it a day. I would have been better off resting and doing this session tomorrow but I want to do a bike ride tomorrow.

Sunday:
Bike: Club spin 82km in 3hrs20
warm up 15:35 8.0 km (30.8 kph)
Fastest I've ever gone on my bike .... the wind was pushing me along. That made me slightly nervous for when I was going to be hitting the headwind when I was with the others

Bike 2:35 66.0 km (25.5 kph)
It was wet and windy and I got covered in wet mud from the spray off the road and the wheels. Very enjoyable although I do what I always do and go too hard in the middle and then I'm suffering for the last 20k

Bike cool down 30:00 8.0 km (16.0 kph)
Easy peasy spinning to get me home. I think I need a nap now

Flogging myself on the bike is not the smartest thing to be doing if I'm trying to get the most out of my sprinting but I really enjoy it so it's staying! I can't see myself having enough track work done for Munsters but what will be will be.
Oh ya I nearly forgot. I won our club's Senior Athlete of the Year at the club awards. We're having our AGM next week so I need to get my ass in gear and write the Secretary's report :eek:

OOnegative

Well done on Athlete of the Year Kate, loved your Australian updates, sounds like a wonderful country.

career move

OOnegative wrote: »

Well done on Athlete of the Year Kate, loved your Australian updates, sounds like a wonderful country.

Thanks Barry ya it's a fantastic place. So diverse. I wouldn't like to live there permanently though. The cost of living is quite high and the heat can be oppressive. And it's huge. Places that look near on the map are hundreds of kilometers away.

career move

Jan 14th - Jan 20th

Monday:
Rest

Tuesday:
Track:
Warm up jog + drills
Blocks - 4*20m, 3*30m, 2*40m, 1*50m
250m tempo
Gym:

I woke up early to go to the track but it was cold and dark and I was going to have to climb over the gate with my starting blocks so I went back to sleep safe in the knowledge that I'd have time in the afternoon to get the track session done before my gym session at 4pm. Unfortunately I had to stay an extra half hour in work which put me under a bit of time pressure. Didn't feel super doing the warm up but the blocks felt good. The tempo was supposed to be at 80%. I forgot my watch but it felt like I did the first half too hard and died a death in the last 50m. The gym was really tough. I was super tired and sluggish and my legs felt like they were going to give way under me.


Wednesday:
Rest


Thursday:

Track:
Warm up
Flying 30s x 5
Flying 40s x 3
Flying 50s x 2

This was hard work! Donogh was coaching me and we dropped a couple of reps off the set but even still the last 10m of the last 3 reps I was struggling to maintain my form. On the way home I noticed my left leg was sore when I flexed my toes and then when I got home the muscle on the outside of my shin, I think it's the peroneus brevis, was a bit swollen and sore to touch. I rested it on a hot water bottle for a couple of hours and it seemed to help.


Friday:
Gym:
Longer session than Tuesday. It felt pretty good. Still a bit of pain in the left leg

Saturday:
Rest - sick
I had a small bit of DOMS from the gym. Legs were a bit tired. Was going to do a track session but I had a sore throat. Went out to dinner with family and friends. One of my friends has to have her kidney removed next Tuesday because they found a tumour on it so it was lovely to spend some time with her.

Sunday:
Track:
Warm up
300, 200, 100 @90% 64, 37, 18 (Targets: 57, 38, 19) 2' 4' rec

200, 200 @ 90% in 38, 35 (Target 38) 2' 4' rec

300 @ 80% in 60 but road sloping downhill (Target 64)

I woke up at 8. It was raining and my throat was still sore so I decided not to go on the group bike ride. I let the cat in, had some porridge and went back to bed. Woke at midday. It was sunny. My throat wasn't as bad and I made an executive decision that I BADLY needed to do some 300's. Dragged myself from my bed and out the door. I couldn't be bothered driving to the track though so I just did the intervals on a flatish piece of road. It was a bit breezy and I felt like any little effort had me out of breath. I even walked a few times during the warm up jog. The first 300 was really hard and the times are all over the place but at least I got it done and I don't feel any worse after it

Mulberry

Good morning!
Are you doing NIA Live tomorrow?
Also, what is 90% below?
Sunday:
Track:
Warm up
300, 200, 100 @90% 64, 37, 18 (Targets: 57, 38, 19) 2' 4' rec

200, 200 @ 90% in 38, 35 (Target 38) 2' 4' rec

When we say 90% we mean 90% of race pace in training, which would give you a target of around 15 for 100 and 33 for 200. What way are you working this?

Chivito550

Mulberry wrote: »

Good morning!
Are you doing NIA Live tomorrow?
Also, what is 90% below?
Sunday:
Track:
Warm up
300, 200, 100 @90% 64, 37, 18 (Targets: 57, 38, 19) 2' 4' rec

200, 200 @ 90% in 38, 35 (Target 38) 2' 4' rec

When we say 90% we mean 90% of race pace in training, which would give you a target of around 15 for 100 and 33 for 200. What way are you working this?

I always think of % being effort levels rather than time. Like it doesn’t really require 50% effort to go at 50% of the pace when you think about it. If somebody runs a 100m flat out in 13 seconds dead, then it hardly requires half your max effort to run it in 26 seconds. That’s an easy jog.

career move

Mulberry wrote: »

Good morning!
Are you doing NIA Live tomorrow?
Also, what is 90% below?
Sunday:
Track:
Warm up
300, 200, 100 @90% 64, 37, 18 (Targets: 57, 38, 19) 2' 4' rec

200, 200 @ 90% in 38, 35 (Target 38) 2' 4' rec

When we say 90% we mean 90% of race pace in training, which would give you a target of around 15 for 100 and 33 for 200. What way are you working this?

Hi Ro
Wasn't planning to do the NIA alhough now you've got me thinking
Those target times are 90% of my 400m pb (68.58). If I go on effort like Chivito is saying, I find it hard to distinguish between 70%, 80%, and 90% so we decided to work off times instead.
I have a bit of a dilemma because I'm wondering how I'm going to get all my training done when I start the new job. I'm thinking it would be easier if I didn't have to do any track work to get stuff done

Mulberry

career move wrote: »

Hi Ro
Those target times are 90% of my 400m pb (68.58).

Gotcha.
That's quite different to our sessions. For anyone training for a 400 or 800, they'd tend to do shorter reps at race pace, e.g. 200m reps with recoveries at 800 pace.

Us shorties do sessions like 2X3X120@85% of 200M race pace.

Anyway, whadyamean life would be easier if you didn't have to do track sessions? Who said life was supposed to be easy????!!!!

career move

Mulberry wrote: »

Gotcha.
That's quite different to our sessions. For anyone training for a 400 or 800, they'd tend to do shorter reps at race pace, e.g. 200m reps with recoveries at 800 pace.

Us shorties do sessions like 2X3X120@85% of 200M race pace.

Ah ok. That's interesting. Would race pace be your pb or your aspirational time? Maybe I could incorporate some of those sessions into my plan later in the season when I know my race pace better. Or even when I can hit the times I'm supposed to :rolleyes: That first 300 yesterday was rubbish!

Mulberry wrote: »

Anyway, whadyamean life would be easier if you didn't have to do track sessions? Who said life was supposed to be easy????!!!!

True

career move

Jan 2 1st - Jan 2 4th

Monday:
Rest

Tuesday:

A.M Run: 8 x 1 min hills

About 7 km done with an average pace of 4:48/km on the hill repeats. I love hills and I felt great doing this.

P.M Gym

Nigel has changed my program so I don't do any front or back squats anymore. Instead he has included a new form of torture which are Belt Squats. These put less pressure on my lower back and allow me to load more weight on my legs. Today was 3*10 @ 60kg with the plan being to progress this to around 90 or 95kg. The other main exercise today was trapbar deadlifts 3*5 @ 100kg

Wednesday:
Rest

Thursday:

Run: Intervals
Warm up
300, 200, 100 @90% 2'4
57, 39, 17 (Targets: 57, 38, 19)
200, 200 @ 90%
35, 35 (Target 38)
300 @ 80%
57 (Target 64)

Same session as Sunday done on the same bit of road. I wanted to nail the splits on this before I progressed the session. I felt really in control today and I'm pleased with those times for the effort I was putting in. It feels like progress

career move

Jan 25th - Jan 27th

Friday:
Gym
Squats, RDL's, Chin ups, Hip thrusts etc etc

Saturday:
Rest
DOMS and was working for a few hours in the morning. Was kinda thinking of running in the afternoon but it was so wet I decided to light the fire and fall asleep on the couch instead

Sunday:

Run: 5 x (1k easy, 1k tempo)
6:29, 4:45
5:59, 4:31
5:59, 4:39
6:08, 4:35
6:28, 4:52

It was dark and really windy. I kept thinking oh I'll turn this corner and it'll be easier but it didn't happen until halfway through the 4th tempo km. I mean seriously? I'm running roughly in a square shape. How is it possible that 3 sides of the square the wind is in my face I couldn't see my watch when I was running so I was just going on effort. I'm happy with those splits. The last one was uphill so it's ok that it's slower

Bike:
80k in about 3hrs with one section of 8k @ 32.8 kph

Suffered big time today. Legs were creamed from the run and it was all I could do to hang on to the group, take my turn at the front and try not to get dropped. It nearly happened a couple of times but the first time I got myself back on and the second time one of the lads helped me back. When we started the fast work I was dropped almost immediately but thankfully Paddy was behind us in the car and I drafted off the car so that I didn't come to a complete stop. Still had a big smile on my face though The other woman who rides with us races a lot and she said there's a beginners race I can do in Corkagh park in May

shotgunmcos

What's the cycling for? Thought this was a sprinting log?!

career move

shotgunmcos wrote: »

What's the cycling for?

My enjoyment

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Thought this was a sprinting log?!

This log sometimes suffers from an identity crisis

IvoryTower

if I was to focus on sprinting again id definitely do aerobic work on my off days, feel so much better and it keeps the weight down which I found really hard on sprint training. I wouldnt be too concerned about the biking, its likely similar to going for a long run

career move

Jan 28th - Feb 2nd:

Monday:
Bike: 15k

Tuesday:
PM Gym

Wednesday:
Rest

Thursday:
Run/walk: 4.5k

Friday:
AM Gym

Saturday:
Track
6 x 60m starts + relay changeovers

I've had a silly kind of a week. Monday I was very tired and it should have been a rest day but I had to call over to my brother's house and the tyres on my car were dangerously worn so I took my mountain bike instead. My legs felt tired so I just spun along in the small wheel. The guys I cycle with tell me I need to use the small ring more so I guess it was good training for me :pac:
Tuesday, I was supposed to go to the track in the morning but when my alarm went off it was dark and wet and I didn't feel like getting out of my bed. I did a good session in the gym in the evening. Can't remember what I did exactly but I remember it was a good session. On Wednesday, I was supposed to train with the relay team in the evening but the coach sent me a text telling me that some people weren't coming because of the road/the weather so I took that as a perfect excuse not to go. By now I had noticed that I was really unmotivated and that's so not like me. So I started thinking maybe I have crossed into over-reaching/over training territory. I've been here before but it's difficult because it's not black and white. Am I over training or am I just lazy/making excuses.So I figured I'll do a session Thursday morning and see what my times are like. I was awake before my alarm clock on Thursday but I couldn't get myself out of bed. It was too cold and then I heard the rain and that just sealed it for me. The afternoon was lovely and sunny though so I headed out. I'd only been running for about 10min when I had this horrible feeling of just wanting to walk. I tried to fight it for a bit but in the end I walked. And every time I tried to start running again I'd only be gone a few steps and I'd have to walk. I turned around after a couple of km's because it was obvious, even to me, that I was wasting my time. I tried to salvage something from the run/my week by doing a couple of efforts up the hill and a couple of sprints on the flat. On Friday morning I did another solid gym session. I was complaining to Nigel about how I was feeling and he thinks I probably am over reaching so we dropped a couple of sets and he suggested I start filling in the spreadsheet he gave me to monitor fatigue
Today I finally made it to the track. It was still frosty on one side but we were able to set up the blocks on the other side and do some starts. We also did some relay work, doing baton changeovers etc. It wasn't a big session but I still felt it in my legs.
Munsters are next Sunday and I had planned to do a big session tomorrow
but I don't know if it's a good idea and also the coach wants me at the track on Monday for relay practice. Right now I'm thinking maybe I should forget the session tomorrow, do the relay training on Monday, a gym session on Tuesday, a light track session on Thursday and just trust that I get my form back and have enough done to pb in both the 200 and 400 on Sunday :rolleyes:

Annie get your Run

Sometimes our bodies are trying to tell us something - we're not always good at listening though....I would never have associated the word lazy with you so I think you're right to consider the other options, it's a hobby so good to remember that sometimes too!!! Hope all is good with you otherwise though K .

IvoryTower

We all have our bogey weeks, wouldnt worry about it. Sometimes rest is the best thing for us. You have a good plan for this week so good luck at Munsters

career move

Feb 4th - Feb 10th

Monday:

PM: Track 3 x (6*60m) + relay practice

Tuesday:

PM: Gym

Wednesday - Saturday:

No specific training but I walk/run to work every day and I think that adds up to about 6k every day.

Sunday - Munsters

400m was first. I came 2nd in 69.86. My pb from last July is 68.58. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I thought during the week that I didn't have enough speed endurance work done so I'm not too surprised that my time is slow but my clubmate beat me and I've never been beaten by her over any distance. She ran a pb and and was thrilled to get under 70sec for the first time. She was in lane 3. I was in lane 2. She led all the way and she was about 5m in front of me going down the back the second time. I think I should have closed the gap a little then instead of waiting till I turned into the home straight to start my sprint. She ran a super race because I thought she was going to come back to me but she didn't fade at all and I just ran out of room to catch her. I was maybe over confident so it's probably a good lesson for me.

The 200m was an hour and a half behind schedule. Not ideal in the artic conditions of Nenagh. There were 6 o35s so 3 in each heat. I wanted to be in the same heat as the woman who always beats me but I got put in the other one against 2 women who seemed to have never used blocks before. I was in lane 4 and led all the way and finished 2nd overall in 30.83. The winner ran 29.97. I think I broke well out of the blocks but it's hard to know and my time is useless. I ran 30.34 in November in the middle of heavy training

Relay: Gold
The only ray of sunshine on an otherwise crap day and our big rivals didn't have a team so it's a bit of a hollow victory. We had to run against the 2 junior teams and our clubs senior team and the other 3 masters teams were in the second heat. I ran the first leg and was happy enough that the Juniors didn't get too much of a gap by the handover. We beat the seniors which is important for club bragging rights and won the masters overall by 2 seconds. It was a long cold day and I feel slightly deflated today. 4 weeks to Nationals though so no time to be wallowing in self pity

OOnegative

Two provincial silver & a gold and your not happy, shows the competitor in you!! Still going to say well done Kate, fair play!!

IvoryTower

Indoor 400 usually 1-2 seconds off peaking in the summer. Lane 2 also sucks

career move

OOnegative wrote: »

Two provincial silver & a gold and your not happy, shows the competitor in you!! Still going to say well done Kate, fair play!!

Thanks Barry

IvoryTower wrote: »

Indoor 400 usually 1-2 seconds off peaking in the summer. Lane 2 also sucks

Hopefully I'll do better at Nationals

Chivito550

You can’t compare times run in Nenagh to times run on proper tracks in Abbotstown and Athlone.

Mulberry

+1 to what Ivory Tower and Chivito said.

Also: you were frozen in Nenagh, you just can't sprint properly when you're cold.

Also, yes I suspect you were over confident in the 400!

Every race is a step in the journey to arrive and compete at your best, physically and mentally, on Leinster + National Day in lovely warm NIA / AIT, hopefully in Lanes 3, 4 or 5! Onwards and upwards.