AIS Iron Study

Long Intervals

Squeezed a session around some more iron study testing at the AIS today (both Minnie and I). Before the testing myself 2 x 1000m (308,305), 400m (72)...still the focus on some technique changes with today's efforts a little quicker to see if the form holds together under pressure. Post testing an 8km tempo in the bush with Bella who was very frisky in the cold temperature.

Long Run

Another day with no runs until home time, no choice but a longish run or compromise the training. My choice for the second time this week was to run into the dark for 75 minutes or 17km. 124km in the last 7 days. Average120km+ last 5 weeks. One more big week and then a mini taper and race.

Long Intervals

Of me: Early set. Same set as last 2 weeks, quicker again. 2000m (631), 1600m (5:13), 1200m (3:57)[first 4 efforts at 10km pace], 800m (2:30), 400m (69)...all with 200m recovery. Running technique much better. Form much better...not sure how much the form is due to iron jab or 5 weeks of consistent training and some great sessions. Of the others: I paced 5200m at exactly 4mins/km. Roget and Tori did what they could at that pace. Maria did 3 x 1000m. Janene on her own did similar to other weeks in the 4:10-4:15 range. Heidze did 1600m, 1200m, 800m, 400m and looking very comfortable in doing so. Kathy some strides. Helen this morning 4 x 7 minutes.

City2Surf

Well the number of our friends having entered City2Surf is mounting...enter while it's not too late.
Reasons to do City2Surf:
The view as you start the descent into Bondi...in fact the views along the course...magnificent
The buzz...having run a few events around the world I can't recall one with a bigger buzz or ordinary people doing great things
The hype...get yourself on the tv
The organisation...everything is done great...toilets, bag drop, entry, race packages, transport, results...everything
This year the event just happens to be on Minnie's birthday...we will be going out the night before in Sydney

Long Run

Missed the long run due to the XC handicap,piled on one this afternoon. 75 minutes, twice the Aranda bush lap plus a little extra as far up Mt Painter as the kangaroo shooters would let me, about 17km...half of that with Bella.

ACTVAC Handicap : Stromlo West

A bit of fun in the sun in the semi-remote and hilly valley on the 'other' side of Stromlo. Also perfectly located for brunch at 'Scope' on the top of Stromlo..15 or so of us grazing on the breakfast menu.

Both long and short courses among the toughest physically and technically on the calendar. No place to hide for those in our group with the courses favouring those who are strong, agile and mentally tough...qualities we all share. Did I mention we trained hill technique yesterday?

Frylink 4km: Mostly down and uneven surface in the first 2km, mostly up on the return. Even the warm up and down had us working hard.
sb Gold 93.9% ; kt Bronze 83.2% ; GT 75.4%& Heidze 77.8% not far back ; sk returning to running 66.5%

Thomas 7.5km: A tough undulating course that shared the first and last 2km of the Frylink.
mia 5th 86.2%; minnie 72.0%, michelle 76.0%, pete 53.9%, roget 66.8%, Janene 67.6% all very brave.

Of me: Splits 2:59, 3:15 ; 3:58 ; 3:53 = 14:08 93.9% (surprised last month at 92.6%, knew I would be better today). Let the legs run in the first 2km, working hard but controlled in the last 2km, coasted the last 200m climb after I had rounded everyone up...it was tough and enjoyable. Not enjoyable being put back several groups after the win:-( Very lonely back there.

Hill technique

Canberra winter here today. Tmoz the xc handicap at West Stromlo with the last 1.5km all up...today a chance to practice some hill technique. Managed 13km done this morning. A ploddle later with Bella will make 20km.
Ten of us relaxed and chatted at Seasalt dining sitting comfortably near a sunny window for brunch. Somehow we made a bleak winter morning seem quite pleasant:-)

Week 5 done now for me, another 120km in the legs. I am ready to race again mentally and physically. I expect good things tomorrow as a tester...the following four weekends I will have opportunities to race before I head off to France. If the health holds out I will only race 100% in the ACT XC Championships in the middle of June. Really enjoying my long interval sessions of a Tuesday at the moment and making some good progress there. I wouldn't want to screw that up by racing too much. The races will have to be used as tempo runs instead.

BBQ Stakes

Two runs today including one at lunch...a cameo at BBQ Stakes in Woden to help Helen to a very near pb (curse a late start and biting wind) her fastest time there since 2007. On a better day and timing and with a minor technique change on hills a big pb is possible. Plenty of friends out there:-)

Second run was with Bella in the bush. It was solo except Bella who was running with Minnie caught my scent and found me in quick order leaving Minnie alone in the bush (until we backtracked and found her). 18km for the day.

Long Intervals

Identical session to last week for me. The set: 2000m (6:35), 1600m (5:17), 1200m (3:57), 800m (2:30), 400m (70) with 200m recovery. The conditions not nearly as good as last week (windy) but the times quicker.
These sessions training a little slower, trying to make some running technique changes. After only two sessions noticing the difference, starting each interval slower and building into the set with skill instead of fatigue
After that a tempo run with Janene in the bush, Tori late. Saw Kathy as well (recovering well). Yesterday Maria and Helen the usual Tuesday session 3 x 1km in 4 mins. Heidze also on the mend from a lergy. Jodie and Lance the half marathon on Sunday. Minnie recovered well from her half...did 3 hours shopping as a warm down:-)
On track tonight Deek and some indigenous athletes.

Long Ploddle

From Aranda over the hill to the cork oak plantation, through, up and around the arboretum, return home the easy way. For me & bella all up 100mins, slightly less or more? for Pete, Maria, Emma, Charlie and Helen.

Up in Sydney: Kelley 95, Mick 102 & Minnie 109 in the half marathon.

In Canberra Lance came in before Jodie in the grudge match half marathon. Not sure the times or other results.

Long Intervals : April 2012 ClubsACT Sportstars of the Month

A nippy -5 this morning, with the sun out more than bearable by 8am, even more so for brunch at Rocksalt.

A few still ill or sore today. Half marathons in both Sydney and Canberra, a 5km today...the numbers small.

The set: 4 x 850m, undulating one direction, substantial hill the other.

Doing the set: Tori, Mia, sb, bella, Lance, Jodie, GT, Emma with Pete out on the bush tracks.

Of me: All the 850m efforts took 3:03. Worked the hill hard enough to control lactate, then let the legs run on the undulating sections.

Iron study: Had my first ferrinject IV yesterday, another in 3 weeks. Next week another haemoglobin mass test.

Completed week 4 maintaining 120km weekly average. The Tuesday (2000,1600,1200, 800, 400) session a standout so far. Aerobics and strength feeling much better than at nationals. Still have to wait a few weeks to race. Will have the ACTVAC XC handicap next Sunday as a tester.

Weight: Managed to stay away from the chocolate box this week...dropped 1.5kg:-) 1kg above race weight.

April 2012 ClubsACT Sportstars of the Month

Canberra Times Male Sportstar of the Month

Patrick Mills – Basketball

Canberra Basketballer Patrick Mills continues to make a serious impact in the NBA – playing himself into the record books and finding some timely form ahead of the Boomers' Olympic campaign.Mills posted the highest single-game score by an Australian in the NBA with 34 points in the San Antonio spurs' 107 -101 win over the Golden State Warriors.  Mills surpassed Andrew Bogut's 32 point haul against Boguts new club in the match in Oakland California.Earlier in the month Mills notched an NBA career high in points, finishing with 27 in just over 34 minutes of floor time.  His tally included two free-throws that iced the game late in the fourth quarter, the Spurs winning 100-106 against the Phoenix Suns.

 

ACT Female Sportstar of the Month

Melissa Breen – Athletics

Canberra's Melissa Breeen has hit top form ahead of the Australian Athletic  Championships winning the women's Stawell Gift. Melissa 120m handicap race in 13.95seconds after starting from the back of the pack.

At the Australian Athletics Championships Melissa recorded another personal best of 23.30seconds to take out the women's 200metre race in Melbourne.

Sportsmans Warehouose Junior Sportstar of the Month

Archie Davis – Water Skiing

At the Australian National Water Ski championships Archie Davis was the star of the show, winning every event in the under 14's division – slalom, trick and jump which ensured he won the overall trophy for the age group.

Mix 106.3 Coach Sportstar of the Month

Jake White - Brumbies

White has led Brumbies further ahead in Super Rugby's Australian conference. Towards the end of April the Brumbies were ahead in the local conference by seven points after returning home from South Africa.

 

Chamberlains Law Firm Masters Sportstar of the Month

Bruce Graham – Veteran Athletics

Bruce was one of the stars at the Australian Masters Athletics Championships in Melbourne over Easter. He was the outstanding distance runner at these champs. He won the M50 10,000m in 33.48, 5000m in 16.16 and the 8km cross-country in 27.34. Although he is an M50 he was the fastest outright (beating all younger men) in both the 10000m and cross-country. He was second best outright in 5000m. He was also second in the M50 1500m 4.29. Less than a week later he was second outright in the Australian Running Festival half marathon with superb time of 1:13.28 - magnificent performance for a 50 year old!

Thanx to Bryan for dobbing me in.

 

Long Hilly Run

Three times up the mountain today in an 80+ minute run...the first hour with Bella. Left it until after work and very fortunate the weather calm and cool not cold. Two days of a work 'love in' has left me short of time this week.

Tuesday Session : Long Intervals

A long session for me in two parts today. Before the others arrived my own set. With yesterday the treadmill test, today a chance for some longer intervals a little slower, but with intent. As I promised to myself last week, this week another long interval session added. I will be racing again in a few weeks. Having put on almost 3kg since nationals time to take control of the eating again and get within 1-2kg or race weight for the winter.

Set 1: 2000m (6:38), 1600m (5:18), 1200m (3:58), 800m (2:30), 400m (69). The first 12 laps controlling lactate @ 10km pace (3:20/km), kick down over the last 3 laps. 200m jog between efforts.

Set 2: Pacing the others (Jodie,Mia,Julia,Helen): 5 x 1000m all in 3:57...Garry doing spurts, Tori a ploddle. A few sick this week...it is cold.

Total for the day 19km

AIS : VO2 Max Test

At the AIS this afternoon to continue the iron study...Minnie and myself a VO2Max test.

The test: 4 x 4 minute intervals with 1 minute recovery. 5 minute recovery. 4 minutes progressive to 10km pace then hill incline increasing by 0.5 degrees until maximum is reached.

Of me: 4 x 4 minute intervals at 15kph, 16kph, 17kph, 18kph. Progressive starting at 14kph, increasing speed by 0.5kph until 18kph is reached at 4 minutes, the hill begins, for me reaching 2 degrees and 6:30 running until I was done.

The video showing the last 40 seconds of the test. Rough scores: Minnie 52-53, SB 67-68




The long version

Mothers Day Classic

Cold and windy down by the lake today with plenty of pink, happy people, all out there enjoying themselves.

Of me: Caught up with friends, on minding bag duties, with a dog attached to my waist no chance of a lonely morning. My amusement came when Bella discovered if she lay on her back and did a wiggle she would slide quickly down a steep grassy slope...with me still attached to her:-)

Long Hilly Intervals

Changed the loop this week to make the effort tougher with more climb. Instead of one hill this week a series of three climbs in 1000m with an altitude gain of approx 80m.
The groups in several parts.
Kathy solo walk/jog, a chest infection. Pete jogging alone. Minnie, Bella, Heidze (head cold) and Janene on the mountain 15km slow run.
The rest of us Tori, Kirsten, Mia, Keith, Helen, Roget, Mick, Jodie, sb 4 x 1000m, 700m jog recovery. 10km all up.

Of me: 4:08, 4:08, 4:10, 4:08...very tough set, harder than 5km race pace, everyone thankful that was over. Two more weeks of that set followed by some undulating instead of hilly intervals. The strength should have come back to us all by then.

This afternoon another 10km with Bella.
Post training brunch at Tilleys, cosy inside, cosy outside only with gloves and a beanie. Bella very happy with three slices of bread and hollandaise sauce.

Weeks 3 : More testing

Back at the AIS lab today for some more tests. Absolutely happy to take part and grow a sense of community in athletics in Canberra. We are very lucky here. Our masters athletes are great, we co-exist with both elite woman and men squads on the track, we watch our next crop of juniors rip up the track as well. We inspire each other from age 10 to 90. We are lucky.

Squeezed in a 65 minute run at lunch with BBQ stakes folk running past me and Marty Dent on the west basin loop, a late afternoon ploddle post-jabbing that turned into a tempo run with a beautiful sunset moment.

Week 3: 120km+...a hard long and hilly interval session tmoz, easier on Sunday, VO2max test on Monday...Minnie up before me.

AIS Iron Study

The AIS are conducting an iron study, the focus on oral vs intravenous iron supplements in iron deficient athletes. A few from our group have volunteered to participate in the study. I had a blood test last week, received the results today. The good news is my ferritin (42.2 of a normal range 30-300) is deficient enough to participate in the study. Other levels haemoglobin 15.1 of 14-18 and haemocrit 43.3 of 41-53. Both in the normal range.

Next week two tests including a VO2max and my first injection (not in the oral group) on Friday.

Training: Tomorrow concludes week 3, my 3rd 120km+ week. Everything going well with all the right sessions in place. Will add an additional long interval session for the next 3 weeks 120km+, then have an easy week before the Pennington 12km XC and ACT XC Championships in early/mid-June.

That StripedSunlight Sound...or not

So nice to have a day off drudgery today, in the sun. Spent much of the day not running, some nice power hills and a late ploddle with the dog.
Some of the day tending to the cabernet sauvignon grape vine that may never produce wine, most of the day listening and digitising old music...remembered Grant McLennan.


Behind my back is a curtain In my eyes there is love Two sides to this story The great divide makes it tough There are those that despise me Lead me round on a ring But I've always been a target Too Much Of One Thing
This is a statement from Amanda Brown, a former Go-Between and former partner of Grant McLennan "I would like to say some true things about Grant. As a musician and songwriter, he was articulate, thoughtful, emotional and poetic. His songs are distinguished by beautiful, yearning melodies and lyrics which were literate and free from cliche. The esteem in which he was held by people like R.E.M. and Franz Ferdinand reflect the high calibre of his artistic output. Grant's songs captured an Australia that was influenced by his love for contemporary American writers like Cormac Macarthy, Richard Ford and Raymond Carver and songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith. These writers inform his images of Australia, which range from the landscapes tinged with nostalgia and loss (Cattle and Cane and Bye Bye Pride), suburban life (Streets of Your Town), epic narratives (The Wrong Road, Black Mule) and of course, exquisite love songs like Quiet Heart, Stones for You, and Bachelor Kisses. Grant was gentle and even tempered, intelligent and quixotic. Sometimes his bravado could mask an private inner life that was marked by melancholy and loss. His father died when he was very young, and he was sent to boarding school in Brisbane at a young age. Grant and I were lovers and friends, sharing a world of music, travelling, books, film and art. We influenced each other in a mutually profound and creatively vibrant way, and we lived intensely and happily together for several years. We met recently at the Amp Awards in Sydney, after a prolonged absence from each others lives. It meant a lot to me to be reunited again, and seems particularly precious now. I will miss him more than I can say. Amanda Brown 7th May, 2006
In these demon days We’re pulling our pay The lights on the hill Are freezing us still The fingers of fate Stretch out and take Us to a night But something’s not right Something’s gone wrong
”Demon Days,” co-written with McLennan shortly before he died, is an all too telling spine tingling journey into oblivion.

Tuesday Session : 1000m Intervals

On track tonight Heidze, Garry, Janene, Tori, Keith and SB with Minnie and Bella in the bush. A cool evening again. It's going to be a long winter.

The session: 3 x 1000m, about 1:20 recovery between efforts. Tori & Janene separate but 4:10-4:15 for both, Janene holding back for the last effort which didn't happen. Garry pacing us on various parts of the course. Keith, Heidze and myself as pacer 3:37, 3:40, 3:38.

Of me: As well as pacing duties above another 3 x 1000m earlier 3:07, 3:08, 3:07 with 1 minute recovery.

Hicham El Guerrouj : Athens 2004 Olympic 1500m

By the time Athens 2004 came around Hicham El Guerrouj had established a style of his own in winning races. Usually with the help of a pace maker his trademark was generally two laps or so at his own tempo (quicker than most could handle) followed by a kickdown from 600-800m, last two laps in around 53 seconds each.
Splits for the Athens 1500m: 60, 61, 53, last 800m in splits of 55 and 51.9



http://www.mariusbakken.com/training-corner/maroccan-training-el-guerrouj.html

To isolate specific sessions El Guerrouj undertook in order to achieve his trademark kickdown would be to take a slant or angle unfair to the overall picture. I have posted a link above to Marius Bakken's original post instead.

For our group, we regularly do 6,5,4,3,2,1 minutes on in all but the first 3 months of the cycle off track. This leads on to a session on track as El Guerrouj does, a progressive stepdown from 1600m to 200m. We leave it until the pre-competition blocks to do progressive stepdowns. For a 1500m runner we did 1000m, 300m, 200m with 30 seconds recovery in the final sessions for lactate tolerance as well as shorter efforts. The first 1000m at just above maximum threshold, the final 300m and 200m progressively quicker. We also do similar lactate sessions to El Guerrouj late in the cycles.

More important to this is that for 9 months we develop our aerobic base, particularly the pace at which lactate starts to curve up steeply.

We neglected power development in the last year largely because of my ankle injury. We will be working on that this cycle, especially with power hills.

We don't used lactate meters as we don't have them. Instead we use beeping watches per 100m to control pace. We get amazing results over only a few weeks late in the cycle by understanding what the level is of each of our group and working just a little below that level. With recovery there is adaption, the bar is shifted lower again, more stress, more recovery, more adaption all in lots of little steps.

The athletes who can't make these paced sessions don't achieve the same results.

The link above we commonly refer to. As masters athletes we can't do the very high volume of someone much younger. The sessions drive the change, although those who can do more of the right sessions and more volume do much better.

Those who do the right sessions and take a long term view in holding back and staying uninjured do better than those who race in training and get injured. Eventually staying healthy and taking lots of little steps leads to better results. All of us can kickdown late in the race if necessary (that's what we train for all year round), although if our aerobic level is better than others we prefer to use that instead.

We favour power and strength development over weight in the power to weight ratio. We aim for strong powerful and healthy athletes over skinny waifs...all the while acknowledging that each kilogram of weight costs roughly 1.15 seconds per kilometre...No point being skinny and sick all the time. I know that all too well.

Retrospect : Periodisation

Periodisation is an old concept. Many athletes use it to some extent in preparing for a big race or series of races. Since 2009 I've (along with my friends) used 7 sequential training blocks similar to those used by Moroccan distance runners in a yearly cycle culminating with the Australian Masters Athletics Championships.

I translated the information on Moroccan distance running as best I could without alteration. They are posted elswhere in this blog in detail. The first two training blocks last six months. They are characterised by building a base with high volume (120km per week on average for me), long intervals at or below maximum threshold and hills for strength and later power. No more than 3-4 hard sessions are done each week. After six weeks of the first block we are in great shape again, ready to race anything from 5km to a half-marathon. There are very few races in these blocks.

There are two competition periods in the cycle, one usually before Christmas,  the other in March or April. These two competition periods have two blocks (direct preparation and competion). In between the two competition blocks is another base building block, usually done over the Christmas break. During the competition blocks lasting no more than three to four weeks each volume is reduced by one third (80km per week for me). It takes at least 10 days to taper into good racing form. Generally the only 100% racing that is done is within the two 3-4 week competition windows. Outside this any races are used as training (at a slower pace or done as intervals).

Over the last three seasons all of us who have trained under this method and made it to nationals uninjured have peaked and run well at nationals. There have been casualties along the way. This year we had 7 athletes run 25 individual races for 23 medals, more than half of which were gold.

Three of us had two other major competition periods (Oceania Masters Athletic Championships in January and Australian Masters Games in October). 3 athletes in 10 events for 10 medals, 9 of which were gold.

Personally, I had one major injury during the last 3 seasons. Stepping back into a pothole damaged my peroneal ankle tendons. Although I made nationals and ran well the injury compromised my training for almost a year. Other than that I've rarely been sick or injured, always been motivated, always had a plan and desire to move forward again.

Comparison
In my former life as a distance runner I trained on a weekly cycle, one strongly influenced by that used by Robert de Castella. I was fit all year round, racing all year round. I was always in a flux of an athlete motivated and training hard, flourishing when racing well, in decay when injured or sick. Following this may be a period of lack of motivation before rebuilding again. I was sick on a regular basis. I never ran track championships at a state or national level. There were fun runs and cross country races on most weeks. Some weekends I would race 3 times. I often raced Friday and Saturday on the track. There were some good runs, some great runs, some ordinary runs, some bad runs. I over-trained and over-raced. Chaotic at best.. Illness for a long time happened on a 10-12 week cycle. I planned some races around being sick. Eventually I got sick of being sick.

Next post: Training sets for racing used by Hicham ElGuerrouj

Longish Run

Mulligans Flat the host again for a longish run out among the kangaroos and antechinus. Mia,Pete,Charlie,Roget,Bob,Minnie,sb,Heidze,Helen,Emma all soaking up what sun there was to be had, all at their own pace and distance and fluid conversation. 13.5km for me, most others longer (16km), some less.

This afternoon a date with Bella in the creek...21km for the day.

Brunch at Sirens again. Lucky to find a spot indoors.

Retrospect : Benchmarking

Three years ago I received a request on FLICKR to use this image in a publication. I denied the use but grew curious about the image. What was it they were looking at? The image features placegetters 2-4 with 700m to go in the Australian Masters Athletics W40-44 1500m Championships. A portrait of concern, poise and frailty I imagined. My next thought was 'what would it take to flip those results'. I began my search.

W40 1500 Meter Run 1 Hecker, Kate W40 VIC 5:07.13 4:50.52 80.02% 2 Keane, Niamh W44 WA 5:08.72 4:39.21 83.26% 3 Brown, Petrina W40 QLD 5:16.50 4:59.38 77.65% 4 Forestier, Katie W43 ACT 5:22.17 4:54.82 78.85% 5 Coombe, Amanda W41 TAS 5:32.90 5:11.67 74.59% 6 Wright, Leah W42 SA 5:38.92 5:13.78 74.09% 7 Walker, Amanda W41 ACT 5:43.69 5:21.77 72.25% 8 Brown, Suzanne W43 NSW 6:04.79 5:33.82 69.64%

Benchmark A decade before, almost equidistant between when I'd stopped being a serious runner and beginning my comeback as a Masters athlete, I was following a Norwegian 5000m runner, Marius Bakken and his blog. It included a diary on his training with Kenyan athletes and a compilation of assorted training methods and diary excerpts from elite male and female runners. That's where I headed first. The most detailed training regime I found was of Moroccan male athletes including Hicham El Guerrouj and Khalid Skah. Although not 100% accurate by the author's own admission it was a great start. Thank someone for the internet. Hicham El Guerrouj had a range from 800m (1:47) to 5000m (12:50). Perfect. Others I benchmarked included Seabastian Coe, Wilson Kipketer, Pamela Jelimo and David Rudisha (to see where 800m was at) and our peers from Australian Masters Athletics to see where they were at. More of those later.
Hicham El Guerrouj
Olympic Games Gold 2004 Athens 1500 m Gold 2004 Athens 5000 m Silver 2000 Sydney 1500 m World Championships Gold 1997 Athens 1500 m Gold 1999 Sevilla 1500 m Gold 2001 Edmonton 1500 m Gold 2003 Paris 1500 m Silver 1995 Gothenburg 1500 m Silver 2003 Paris 5000 m World Indoor Championships Gold 1995 Barcelona 1500 m Gold 1997 Paris 1500 m Gold 2001 Lisbon 3000 m
It wasn't until I'd digested what was written on Moroccan distance training and watched some video footage that two lights went on...Firstly I mostly understood periodisation as for the first time I had some real training programs before me...Secondly some sessions almost exactly replicated the manner in which most championship races at international level were run. I was excited.
Some Video Relics Pamela Jelimo 800m 1:54: Not much has changed on how to run a quick 800m since Sebastian Coe circa 1980 (thanks Peter Coe for detailed publications on Sebastian Coe's training methods)...every 200m split is slower,a 2 second slowdown 400m on 400m is still the benchmark. This video too short to show the careful control of lactate, short enough to enhance the awesome kickdown. Of me: Quite early on I benchmarked David Sweeney (Qld) as my age group Australian BM. Thanx for your blog DS, instrumental in providing mine. Keith Bateman, an awesome athlete, not much a conversation but when you asked someone to look after Lara at the bottom of heartbreak hill I complied until the last 200m:-) Next post: Periodisation

Long Hilly Intervals

Minus 2 this morning, a long warm up to start with. Then a third and final week on the same 4 x 1.1km hilly circuit. Different hilly circuit next week at same venue. Tougher and with double the climb although a similar distance. On gravel in the bush today: Janene, Mia, Helen, Roget, Kathy, Bella, Kirsten, Emma, Tori, Garry, GT, sb, Pete, Kate on bike early. Most covered the circuit from mid-4s to low 5s, and getting quicker each effort. Of me: Similar times to last week...slower early, faster later. 3:55, 3:48, 3:45, 3:43. Had Bella to chase on the last two efforts. No High noon 3000m tmoz, long run instead...today the session tougher than 3000m race pace. Post training brunch at Seasalt Dining...just for Roget...Minnie and John joining us there as well.

Over the mountain

Over the mountain again twice, first time in the frost, second in the sun. Week 2: 120km+ again. The legs accustomed to the increased workload now, have regained some mass. This morning 5 minutes quicker than what I was running last week, even with a back pack full of clothes.

Contemplating a 3000m track tempo on Sunday surrounded by a warm up and long warm down to make a long run out of it. Only if the weather is nice.

Tempo Run

Short of time this afternoon, only a 4km tempo run @ 10km pace or an even paced 13:14. 14km for the day.

More Mountains

Saw it was going to rain today, so glad I started and finished the working day with a run over Black Mountain. No way I would have run for 91 mins had I arrived home in this weather.

Started looking to 2013 for a possible combination of Tour de France, training camp in Sestriere and World Masters Games in Torino from July to early August. In pictures it would look like this.

Tour de France 2013 starts in Corsica, then moves to Nice for a Team Time Trial on day 4, not far from Monaco.

After the tour a week or so in Sestriere Italy, an hour or so from Torino, 2000m asl.

A typical evening in Torino.

Tuesday Session : 4 x 1000m

Cool and relatively still today.

4 x 1000m with 1 minute recovery

Of me: 3:15, 3:07, 3:06, 3:06 early then pacing Heidze during the session proper.
Session proper: 4 x 1000m with 1:30 recovery Heidze: 3:38,3:38,3:38,3:38 -- Helen and Mia: 3:57,4:00,4:00,3:57 -- Julia: 4:30s Janene: low 4s -- Tori: Low 4s Garry: Brought lots of shoes for the girls