Two Short Days

Wednesday:
Purpose: junk
Distance:  6.9 kms
Time:  42' 01"
Rate:  6' 05"
Weather: sunny, temp 20 degrees, humidity 30%, wind NE 10 kmph
Recovery:  6 mins in river

Thursday:
Purpose: easy junk
Distance:  11.1 km
Time: 64' 40"
Rate:  5' 50" per km
Weather:  sunny, temp 22 degrees, humidity 35%, wind NW 10 kmph

Week: 38.55 km, 
October:  383.75 kms in 26/31 days at ave 14.76 km per run
Year: 4404.25 kms in 10 months at ave 440.4 km per month

Finally the wind has dropped to make a couple of nice days. It seems everyone is having hammie problems and mine are both tender at the moment.
I think mine is a result of strong quads overtaking weaker hamstrings. I'm going up hill really well, but have no flat or down hill speed. Not sure if tempo running on the oval will help either, or if some stretching will make a difference. I'll manage it properly, there will be no short or long term issue out of this.
Time spent in the river does help.
Ewen, the CDF ( course difficulty factor) for Arboretum was 1.11 for the long course & it was difficult due to the steepness of the ups and downs. Mt Ainslie at 1.09 is easier, but both are not the most difficult, O'Connor Ridge at 1.12 is more difficult.

The Wind

Today:
Purpose: strength
Distance:  10.5 km
Time:  62' 52"
Rate:  5' 59" per km
Weather:  sunny, temp 17 degrees, humidity 50%, wind strong southerly 30 kmph

Week:  20.55 km,  Oct:  365.75 km,  Year:  4386.25 km

The wind was strong today, blowing cool from the south.
Very slow into the wind, and much better with the wind assisting.
Not sure if anything gained today.

Monday's Recovery Day

Today:
Purpose:  recovery
Distance:  10.05 km
Time:  64' 45"
Rate:  6' 26" per km
Weather: part sun/cloud, temp 18 degrees, humidity 50%, wind calm

Week:  10.05 km,  Oct:  355.25 km
Year:  4375.75 kms in 43 weeks at ave 101.76 km

Nice easy run home at lunch time, although mighty slow, even walked up a couple of small hills.
Stopped at Pine Is for traditional 15 minutes in the cool waters of the Murrumbidgee River. Excellent way to ease away any niggles, I don't have any at the moment.
That's about all there was to the day, all good.

A Good Weekend

Saturday:
Purpose:  long run - endurance
Distance:  45.4 km
Time 5 hrs 38 mins 35 secs
Rate:  7' 28" per km
Altitude gain: 1022 metres
Weather:  sunny, temp range 3-20 degrees, humidity 85% down to 25%, wind calm

Sunday:
Purpose: race
Distance: race -  7.00 kms plus warm up 2.85 km
Time: race - 36' 45"
Rate: race - 5' 15" per km
Altitude gain: 112 metres
Weather: sunny, temp at race start 13 degrees, humidity 55%, wind calm
Start group:  29
Finished:  24th out of about 90

Week:  101.05 km,  Oct:  345.2 km,  Year:  4365.7 km

Rest day on Thursday certainly helped get through this weekend.
A good long over the local hills & Mt Taylor with Softshoe & Kerrie M in nice sunny conditions. Not much else to report, except with less elevation than the previous Saturday training runs, the km pace improved by about 40 seconds per km.
A return to racing today at the National Arboretum over a very undulating course on the western side in near prefect conditions.
I have been slowly moving forward start groups, so I need to have a couple of good races without winning to move back to my  " normal  " start group in the mid 30's.
Happy with my run considering yesterday's effort, no problems and will head to the river on Monday to make sure no niggles take control.
All good, looking forward now to the warmer weather.

Molonglo To Campbell Park

Today
Purpose: fill in time
Distance:  9.65 km
Time:  54' 51"
Rate:  5' 41"
Weather: sunny, temp 18 degrees, humidity 30%, wind NW 20 kmph

Week:  45.8 km,  Oct:  289.95 km, Year:  4310.45 km

Waiting for Mrs TF, had an hour to fill in, so headed to Molonglo Reach and ran to Campbell Park and back. Nice afternoon as the wind was slightly less strong as the past few days.
Nothing too exciting except trying to cross the road a couple of times.
It was only mid afternoon, but more like peak hour traffic.
Long run tomorrow, should be fun as it wont be a hilly as the last few weeks.

Winds & Hills

Today:
Purpose: changed at every corner
Distance:  13.05 km
Time:  79' 38"
Rate: 6' 06" per km
Weather: cloudy, temp 17 degrees, humidity 60%, wind strong NW 30 kmph

Week:  36.15 km,  Oct: 280.3 km,  Year: 4300.8 km

The purpose changed every corner I went around today so much so that it didn't achieve much at all.
First, meant to be a faster tempo run, but that changed as I was so slow on the flat, I went up the hill behind Bonython on my way home. I really need some sessions on the Calwell oval.
Second, with the benefit of some down hill, the strong wind meant another hard effort required to get no where on my way back.
The day really turned into a strength run with no speed. Not wasted, by not what was needed.
That's the way it goes sometimes.

Maintaining Average

Monday:
Purpose:  easy junk
Distance:  12.75 km
Time:  76' 38"
Rate:  6' 01" per km
Weather:  sunny, temp range 27-30 degrees, humidity 30%, wind NW 10 kmph

Year: 4277.4 km in 42 weeks at ave 101.8 km pw

Today:
Purpose: weather acclimatizing
Distance:  10.35 km
Time:  61' 54"
Rate: 5' 59" per km
Weather: showers, temp 18 degrees, humidity 90%, wind calm

Week:  23.1 km, Oct:  267.25 km,  Year:  4287.75 km

A mixed start to the week, taking it reasonably easy and spending 10 minutes in the river on Monday just in case. No problems, not taking any chances.
Monday was very warm with temps in high 20's and a sunny day.
Today was cloudy, showers & much cooler but not cold. It's been a long time since I ran in the rain.
Maintaining average means each week needs to over 100 kms as it's slowly been dropping since finishing the Birdsville run. Prior to the taper, the weekly average for this year was about 112 kms.
I'm not going to chase totals just to make the end of the year look good, but with Bogong on in early January, keeping above 100 wont be a problem.
All good, just keep plugging away.

Water to the Rescue

Today:
Purpose:  recovery
Distance:  10.3 km
Time: 62' 32"
Rate:  6' 05" per km
Weather: cloudy, temp 23 degrees, humidity 30%, wind west 15 kmph

Week:  97.25 km,  Oct:  244.15 km,  Year:  4264.65 km

Nothing more than an easy jog down to the river for recovery.
Weather forecast says should be sunny with top temp of 29 degrees. No chance of that at the moment, but may be later in the afternoon.
No problems after yesterday's effort over the hills & mountains but didn't push any pace on the one way trip to Pine Is.
Heaps of people about including a group of army canoeists about to have some fun on the rapids.
Only needed 10 minutes in the water to notice benefit. Will do the same tomorrow, take no chances on injury or soreness.

Mt Rob Roy ..... Again

Today:
Purpose: long strength run
Distance:  35.2 km
Time: 4 hrs 43 mins 6 secs
Rate:  8' 02" per km
Altitude gain/loss:  1211 metres
Weather: sunny, smoke haze, temp range 2-21 degrees, humidity 80% - 30%, wind calm

Week:  86.95 km,  Oct:  233.85 km,   Year:  4254.35 km

Trip No 56 up and down Mt Rob Roy this morning. Seems I know every rock on the tracks but still seem to kick one or two every time. No problems, no crashes.
A little different today as we went up Theodore Hill and Tuggeranong Hill before we set off towards the main mountain.
We started from my place so had covered about 9 kms at the Theodore sub station. Ran to the mountain in reverse to normal but included the side trip to Big Monks today but may be for not much longer. The thistles are going very quickly & may soon cover the track.
Then up the back of the mountain which is a long climb, leaving out the bush bashing to the trig this time.
The down hill back to the sub station is still slippery with loose rocks on an even looser surface, but managed to get thru without falling.
Back at the sub station we detoured to Softshoe's house to refill water bottles before a modified trip over the Tuggie Hill ridge to Conder. Back home thru lower Calwell to finish.
Seemed like a much tougher day today than last week going over to Honeysuckle. I can only think, although this had less altitude gain and loss, there was much less flat parts in which to regain loss km pace.
Another good day out, plenty to be gained, no damage done for me although I think Kerrie has a bit of a foot hot spot.

William Didn't Tell

Today:
Purpose:   scenic run
Distance:   15.3 km
Time:    97' 11"
Rate:  6' 22" per km
Altitude gain: 225 metres
Weather: sunny, temp 18 degrees, humidity 25%, wind light northerly 10 kmph
Time in water:  10 minutes
Benefit:  priceless

Week:  51.75 km,  Oct:  198.65 km,  Year:  4219.15 km

I hadn't done much this week and I stayed at work all day with no one at home at lunch time.
I rehashed the Kambah Pool run from a week or so ago today just to go somewhere different.
Started at the front door at work, and headed to Pine Is thinking where to go. It was a nice sunny day, mild without being too warm, no need to carry a water bottle.
Ran to the northern end car park & over to the archery targets, no one around to shoot the apple off William's head.
Then crossing the Tuggie creek on the bridge, I took the grassy almost lost track behind Urambi Hills to the fire trail that leads to Gleneagles estate. Getting through a couple of gates, over to the open paddock that leads back to the creek, dodging around some cattle who didn't care I was so close.
Crossed the creek on the rocks and back to Pine Is on the river track to stop and stand in the water for 10 minutes before a slower jog back to work.
Certainly a nice day out, the pace wasn't quick at all, more a just enjoy the outing and be ready for Saturday. Enjoyable couple of hours.

Almost Didn't

Today:
Purpose:  don't think there was one
Distance:  6.2 km
Time:  37' 31"
Rate:  6' 03" per km
Weather: cloudy, temp 14 degrees, humidity 50%, wind west 25 kmph

Week:  36.45 km,  Oct:  183.35 km,  Year:  4203.85 km

Almost didn't run at all today. It was quite warm this morning, but then a cool change came through, the temperature dropped and the wind started to blow strongly, again.
However, being at work & needing to get home somehow, I missed the bus, I ran home with no purpose at all. Given the strong assisting wind, I should have been quicker, but it didn't happen.
Doesn't matter, an easy day is just as important as any other especially as there is another tough one this Saturday.

Arboretum

Today:
Purpose: race venue inspection
Distance:  course 7 kms plus W/up 700 metres
Total time:  49' 03"
Rate:  6' 22" per km
Altitude gain for course:  109 metres in 7 kms
Weather: sunny, windy, temp 18 degrees, humidity 30%, wind NW 25 kmph

Week:  30.25 km,  Oct:  177.15 km,  Year:  4197.65 km

The venue for the next monthly running handicap is the National Arboretum, providing there is no rain in the lead up week. Otherwise, Plan B will be enacted.
Inspection today on the proposed course very similar the one used a couple of years ago that follows the fence line on the western side.
It's a bit hilly, so I don't expect Ewen to front up given his sore quads & legs from last Saturday on Mt Majura.
Long course is a good one and a good middle marker should do well if they can handle the undulating nature of the trails. There a few flat parts to rest, even the down is testing. Gonna love it, if I don't do something really silly the day before, like 50 kms over mountains. Probably will, so no chance at a medal, again.

So Good

Today:
Purpose:  easy jog
Distance:  12.7 km
Time:  71' 51"
Rate: 5' 40" per km
Weather: sunny, temp 18 degrees, humidity 35%, wind NW 15 kmph

Week: 22.55 km,  Oct: 169.45 km,  Year:  4189.95 km

Yesterday I stood in the river for 10 minutes and it felt so good. The result today was a much improved session with less effort. It's just about how easy the run can be by feel, not by pace.
I think Ewen & Janene have a word or something for this.
Nothing too special about the run and it finished with another 10 minutes in the river.
Of course, there are hills in my running, always hills, so unlike Ewen at the moment, I don't get sore quads.

A New Week

Today:
Purpose: easy & recovery
Distance:  9.85 km
Time:  58' 25"
Rate:  5' 56" per km
Weather: sun/cloud, 14 degrees, humidity 35%, wind west 20 kmph

Week: 9.85 km,  Oct:  156.75 km,
Year:  4177.25 kms in 41 weeks at ave 101.9 km

An easy day with a short jog home at lunch time followed by a shorter jog at Pine Is afterwards.
Main purpose today was to get some time in the river at Pine Is to ease away any lingering damage from last Saturday's run in the mountains.
A fair bit of down hill may have done some damage so a repair if needed was done.
No problems found, so all good.

Big Day & No Day

Saturday:
Purpose: endurance run
Distance:  42.45 km
Time:  5 hrs 36 mins 50 secs
Rate:  7' 56" per km
Altitude gain: 1579 metres
Weather: cold start, temp range 2-22 degrees, humidity 95% down to 30%, wind calm to start then NW 15 kmph

Week:  94.00 km,  Oct:  146.9 km,  Year:  4167.4 km

Sunday:
Purpose: rest day
Reason: Bathurst cars, F1 from Japan, MotoGP

Joined on Saturday by Softshoe & Kerrie M for a long run in the Namadgi National Park. As we went to the top of Mt Tennent last week, we decided to leave that part out, and started our journey from the gate to the fire trail on Apollo Road.
From there, it was up to Bushfold Flats, on the AAWT to Honeysuckle, and then over the range to the Orroral River bridge & return the same way.
There is more climbing in this than I would have thought. However, the start is fairly steep, walking at times and the climb back from the Orroral valley to Honeysuckle is definitely walk at times.
A very cold start, then it warmed up to a nice sunny day. Lucky, there is plenty of shade on this course except the open km of Bushfold.
Good solid day out, felt Ok all the way with a couple of really good patches when I managed to get some good running done.
Motor racing on 4 wheels & 2 wheels today, didn't leave the chair all day. That's a rest day !
But, it means I need to knuckle down this week.

Ready for Saturday

Today:
Purpose: easy jog
Distance:  8.9 km
Time:  50' 50"
Rate:  5' 43" per km
Weather: sunny, temp 18 degrees, humidity 40%, wind north 10 kmph

Week: 51.55 km,  Oct:  104.45 km,  Year:  4124.95 km

Nothing special today, just finding a spare 10 minutes to relax in the cool waters at Pine Is.
After yesterday's tough session in the warm weather & the strong wind, my legs needed a bit of help.
Good today, the water is beaut.
Tomorrow, Bushfold, Honeysuckle & Orroral. Not really too difficult, but will be over marathon distance.

Kambah Pool & River Track

Today:
Purpose: mid week run
Distance:  19.7 km
Time: 2 hrs 12 mins 48 secs
Rate: 6' 45" per km
Altitude gain:  250 metres
Weather: very warm, temp 26 degrees, humidity 33%, wind strong west 30 kmph

Week:  42.65 km, Oct:  95.55 km, Year: 4116.05 km

The next work group bush walk will be in early November so I had to find a new course before the weather gets too warm & the snakes start to appear too often.
I run this Kambah Pool course reasonably often, more likely in winter than in summer. However, during the past winter, the tracks near Red Rock Gorge has been upgraded, realigned & changed for the better eliminating some of the rocky & slow parts. About 5 or 6 new bridges added as well.
As well, much of the grass on the edges has been cut, so snake sighting is much easier, although none seen today.
It was very slow going today due to the warm weather & the strong winds. I didn't feel that great either, but job done on all counts, and that's all that matters.

Some Sunshine Mid Week

Tuesday:
Purpose: jog
Distance:  10.65 km
Time:  60' 38"
Rate: 5' 42" per km
Weather: sunny, temp 17 degrees, humidity 40%, wind calm

Wednesday:
Purpose:  junk kms
Distance:  12.3 km
Time:  70' 18"
Rate:  5' 43" per km
Weather: sunny, temp 22 degrees, humidity 35%, wind NW 20 kmph

Week:  22.95 km,  Oct:  75.85 km,  Year:  4096.35 km

Nothing special this week so far. Yesterday & today were just junk adding kms to keep the total ticking over.
No problems, just don't feel the need for anything too long mid week especially as the weekends are either very hilly or tough.
Finished today's run with 10 minutes in the cool water at Pine Is. The river still has plenty of either last time's rain/flood water or some snow melt coming down the river system.
Water temperature is nicely cool to be good for the legs.
The running calendar now starts to heat up with some big events for me, so I think the last of these easy jogs are gone. Time to get a bit serious before it's too late.

The Need For ...... A Creature of Habit

Today:
Purpose:  cruise tempo
Distance:  tempo 5.35 kms plus warm up & cool down 4.2 kms
Time: tempo 26' 27" plus w/u & w/d  25'00"
Rate:  tempo 4' 57" plus 5' 57"
Weather:  sun/cloud, temp 23 degrees, humidity 30%, wind WSW 25 kmph

Week:  72.95 km,  Oct:  52.9 km,  Year:  4073.4 km

Calwell oval, I felt the need to return to some running bare feet on grass.
Lucky today on several fronts, oval was vacant, grass was soft & recently cut, wind although blowing quite strongly was across the track so only a short section was into it.
It wasn't meant to be a fast session, I can't do fast any more. Instead, a comfortable cruise interval session in lane 5 as usual, bare feet as usual, change of direction after 5 laps as usual.
Just ran 12 laps to get over 5 kms averaging about 5 mins per km which is Ok for me at this time of the running cycle especially after a year or more of very long, very slow distance.
Very happy with the session, everything felt Ok, no problems, so may be next time a little quicker might be possible.
I'll certainly need to run faster than that across the Bogong high plains in January to make the cut off.

Bogong to Hotham Training

Today:
Purpose:  hilly strength run/walk
Distance:  25.65 km
Time: 3 hrs 55 mins 17 secs
Rate: 9' 10" per km
Altitude gain: 1308 metres
Weather: cool, cloudy, temp range 4-18 degrees, humidity 90% down to 45%, wind calm

Week:  63.4 km,  Oct: 43.35 km,  Year: 4063.85 km

It really is time to get some hill work down with Bogong to Hotham now 3 months away.
For Anna's benefit, comment on previous post, B2H is a very tough mountain run in early January with over 3000 metres of climbing in a 64 km run.
The cut off at near half way is 6 hours to do 34 km. But to get there, you need to climb the highest mountain in the state of Victoria on trails that go almost vertical in places.
Then there is the weather factor. It's suppose to be mid summer, but that doesn't always mean good weather. Last time the event was cancelled due to bush fires, the year before halted at half way due to snow & blizzards. You never know what to expect.
Today, to get some of that first half experience, Softshoe joined me in a run/walk to the top of Mt Tennent starting at the Namadgi Visitors Centre. Reached the top in 78 minutes, about average time for the first 7 kms. Then down the fire trail to Apollo Road gate, back up to Bushfold Flats intersection.
Decision time then ? Go on to the top again, or head on to Bushfold Flats and up the Australian Alpine Walking Track to join the trail we can up.
Not feeling all that strong, both of us, we took the " soft " option, took Bushfold.
The flat grassy trail is Ok, much easier to run that the steep fire trail, but it cuts off about 2.5 kms.
Still, the time on feet, altitude & distance were done. A good, solid day, may be too much walking but it is early in the mountain running season.
Very happy to finish without any problems. Another session out there again next week on a different course.

Mid Week - Very Little

Tuesday:
Nil - wind & showers
Wednesday:
Distance: 5.25 kms in 33' 17" at 6'19" per km
Weather: sun/cloud, temp 15 deg, hum 50%, wind strong WNW 25 kmph
Thursday:
Nil - no motivation - still windy
Today:
Distance: 12.45 km
Time:  74' 50"
Rate: 6' 01" per km
Weather: sunny, temp 15 degrees, humidity 30%, wind calm

Week:  37.75 km, Oct:  17.7 km,  Year:  4038.2 km

Windy weather put me off running this week. I know I need to get back to serious running with B2H now only 3 months away.
But, the endurance base is there, just not the up hill mountain base. That gets worked on one day during the week, Monday's bush walk covered that. As well as the usual Saturday effort wherever we go.
Tomorrow, a double over Mt Tennent. Weather forecast is good for the day, so it should be fun.