Secret Blog for Killing Track and Parkrun PBs

18km of running this morning including the Frylink 4km XC Handicap. I ran at 100% effort and still finished only 9th over the line. Some very good performances out there today. The course pretty much down 1500m, up 500m to the turn, down 500m, up 1500m. I had to squeeze every last ounce of speed out on that final 1km up and only just managed to catch GT 50 metres before the line. That was one hard run. This afternoon an easy loosener up Mt Painter to make it 24km for the day. With a public holiday tmoz I will be able to get in a long run to top out at 135km for the week before beginning my mini-taper for Australian Masters Games which commence for me next Saturday.

September is known as the windy month in Canberra and no hiding from it today. Some gusts around 35km/hour by the end of the session and much worse after. Steve, Jane and myself early on the track. On the bush tracks Helen, Kathy and Emma. Track set: 4x100 (18-15.0),2000m 6:33,1600m 5:15,1200m 3:56,800m 2:32,300m 50. 200m recovery. Set the watch on 20sec/100m for the first three efforts, 19 for the 800m and 18 for the 300m. Well under for all efforts except the 800m which had the worst wind and the greatest fatigue. Bush set: 6,5,4,3,2,1 minutes hard, 1 minute recovery. That's my last very hard track set before Australian Masters Games. I have a 4km cross country handicap tmoz at the same venue and a lactate session (5x 600m intervals) on Tuesday.

80km/hour winds today. Steve and I did our warm up in the forest and then braved the elements on the track. Normally this session is 800m intervals, today only once into the gale each effort. We were lucky to stay on our feet and had Garry as a bunny but no help from the wind. The set: 4 x 100m (18,16,16, 15.1 ) ; 5 x 600m (1:50,1:51,1:52,1:51,1:50) with 200m recovery. Surprisingly felt very good. 11km in the forest made it 15km for the day and 126km in the last 7 days. Still expect to top out this weekend at 140km before starting the mini-taper. Saw the girls doing 5 x 3minutes out on the trails during the warm down.

Good news yesterday for me. Lower grades Zatopek has appeared on the calendar in December. That gives me a shot at posting a decent 10000m in 2013 as the weather wasn't great for my attempts earlier in the year. More good news...I gained a preferential start for Marathon de Paris. That means I get a chance to put a good race together rather than treating like a tourist event. With 46000 starters the lines are similar to City2Surf.

Warm and windy today so avoided the track...the same up hill 1.1km effort as last week. 15km in total including 4 x 1.1km at maximum threshold, working very strong on that tough steep hill mid-way. All my efforts under 4 minutes, the quickest 3:53. Steve 5 x 3 minutes this morning...that left just me and the girls this afternoon with Helen, Tori, Kathy, Kelley and KT (Maria in Sydney). Australian Masters Games entrant list and timetable is out. The draw has been kind as I get to run with M45-M54 in the 1500m and M30-M54 in the 5000m. There is one star M30 in 5000m so I will try not to be lapped if he starts. M50-54 has Steven and Scott so three of us have the potential to run 16something. The 1500m I will want like a time trial and not sit and kick so am prepared to lead to 1000m even paced in 3:00 so as to not risk injury for the 5000m. Some runners will be intent on slowing the 1500m pace down so I will see how it turns out.

Today a lower threshold run on the hilly Arboretum loop. Surprisingly at 75 minutes my quickest run on the loop ever. An afternoon loosener made it 24km for the day and well over 120km for the week (I didn't rest up for yesterday). That leaves one more solid week of around 140km before I ease off for my first racing block. Racing schedule expected to look like this: 07 October Australian Masters Games 1500m (warm up for) 09 October AMG 5000m 10 October 3000m 17 October 3000m, 1500m handicap 24 October Hour 31 October 1500m 07 November 3000 14 November Victorian 5000m 05 December Lower Grades Zatopek 10000m Training will look like this until 14 November, then a couple of weeks 10km specific training. Competition Period 1 October-mid November Aims to develop: Competition organisation, peaking Training Goal: Sessions with high intensity, recovery runs and targeted sessions in between races to reach race goals Race Pace Lactate intervals: short interv...

Friday: Run to work, sit for 5 hours, run from work, drive for 6 hours to Melbourne. 18km running, 700km in car. Saturday: Run Tan Relays, drive for 7 hours to home, jog 6km with Bella. 21km running, 700km in car. Thanx so much for Sunday. Might sleep in. Of the Tan relays: All about the team. APS M50 entire season undefeated, broke M50 team race record APS set last year with two different runners+me by over 30 seconds. Well done Andrew, Mark, Scott and others on a great year. Splits today: (by my watch) Mark 13:12, Scott 13:31, Me 12:44 More on the Tan relays in coming days.

It took two attempts at breaking the internet queue (with 7 hours sleep in between) but we finally got through to enter Marathon de Paris 2014, April 6. We originally had this race down for 2015 but somehow in 2014 all the dots lined up. Dot 1: Marathon de Paris weeks after AMA Championships in Hobart Dot 2: Paris Roubaix scheduled for Sunday following MdP in 2014, usually same day. We will see Paris Roubaix as well. Dot 3: Two weeks away in France leads straight into the Easter break in 2014, a break after the break. So we have a hotel, airfares, registration...not much more to do. Two times to France in 2014:-) What does that mean for training?...not too much. I will start building up the long run, add more threshold runs in place of short speed sessions, maybe a few more kilometres each week but none of that until I complete the racing block before Xmas. After Xmas:  At Oceania Masters Championships in Bendigo I will run 5000m and Half Marathon (as training), not the...

After two days of rain and some wind we headed for the forest trails. The session was conducted on an uphill stretch with flat sections, a big hill 10%+ at the half way point, roughly 1km in length, jog down hill recovery. Steve and I together, Kathy on her own, Maria, Tori and KT together. Of me: 4 x hill intervals 3:54. 3:54, 3:52, 3:52

I had to re-arrange this week due to rain expected Monday and Tuesday, windy other days and needing to be relatively fresh for the final AthsVic XCR13 event on Saturday, the tan relays. Instead of a long run a 14km trip to the track and back: 4x100m (17,16,15,14) ; 2000m 6:31 ; 1200m 3:53, 400m 75, 150m. Today another ploddle of 10km=24km for the day. At some point this week when the weathers suits and Wednesday at the latest some shorter intervals and both 1500m and 5000m pace. Probably a step down set.

I did two of the normal sets this morning. The first with Steve and Jane. The second with the girls an hour later which was at just over 4:00/km. The swooping magpie is still there and did not bother me but did to everyone else. I was lucky to start at 7am. The set: 4x100m, 2000m (642), 1500m (453), 1200m (354), 800m (231), 300m (52). I used the beeping watch on the yellow 100m posts today as a guide with the first three efforts on 20 seconds, the fourth on 19 sec and the 5th on 18 sec. I was under on all of them except the first effort where I was not warmed up enough and my shoes were not tied up properly. Steve was pressing me on all his efforts. This set very similar to that a fortnight ago which is great six days after the half marathon. All up 16km this morning, 24km for the day with a late ploddle, back at full volume since Wednesday so nearing another 120km+ week. The sessions I do mid-week on track will be key to how well I go down in Geelong at AMG. I have 3 full w...

This week I began watching Northern Exposure on DVD, all six series in box set. It wasn't until this week I discovered I had actually been to Roslyn, Washington State in August 1990, the filming location for series set in the fictitious Cicely, Alaska. I spent the first night camped at Wish Poosh campground deep in the forest by lake Cle Elum. My exploratory run took me 9.5km up a winding fire trail high up onto the ridge until I spotted a bear just off the trail making all sorts of noise. ...I immediately turned around and bolted down the hill. 19km in 82 minutes. I moved into the town of Roslyn for the next few nights and camped with my Australian orienteering friends at the Alternate High School out on the road verge lawn. It was much safer there until a thunderstorm brought the town hoons to the flooded school car park in their SUVs to test out the skid pan sending tidal waves as far as the tent. We spent 3 days orienteering in Roslyn for the Pacific Nort...

Just Steve and I at Stromlo this afternoon. We chose a loop to avoid a swooping magpie and sheltered a little from the wind. 4 x 100m ; 4 x 900m with jog back recovery using the 100m posts to stop us running too fast. All the efforts in 3:17/km pace except the last at 3:16/km. We both ran together. Not too hard today for me, still recovering from the half marathon.

Focus now shifts to the Australian Masters Games in Geelong beginning first weekend in October. These games will mark the start of my first competition period which could conclude as early as 14 November (Victorian 5000m Championships) but hopefully stretches as far as the first weekend in December and the lower grades Zatopek 10000m races (if they are held). The track in Canberra will be closed in early November for resurfacing. I won't finalise my training plan until I know about the Zatopek race. In Geelong I will race 1500m (a warm up) and 5000m. We will stay an hour out of town in the forest with the dog so more of a holiday than serious race weekend. Aside from the Victorian 5000m the other goal in the racing block will be the Hour run with ACTVAC and trying to better my M50 Australian record. On paper it shouldn't be difficult. Last year I ran a 3000m and Pennington 1500m as warm up for the Hour. No stupidity this year as I won't be contesting the Pennington seri...

Only ran 2km today although I felt fine. Next hard session on Thursday and back to normal volume (120km/wk+) tmoz.

Two events on the same day means I had to miss Canberra Times Fun Run to help out my Victorian club. Once again the APS United M50+ team won on the day to remain undefeated for the entire 2013 season...only the Tan Relays to go in a fortnight. In the Canberra Times Fun Run off the top of my head Minnie 14km 71, Tori 14km 69, Maria 10km 45, Michelle 10km 41 and Steve 10km 36:50 and a huge PB...great running Steve. Of me: 21km 74:44 1st M50. I had an off day in not hitting my mini-taper (always a risk tapering two days out from a half) and having sciatica down my left side from toes to fingers, hip, thigh and calf...all coming from my lower back which was aggravated on the track session last Thursday. It was impossible to use good technique with no drive in the left leg, especially on the ups and where the road had a big camber. Not an injury, all phantom pain. It will be gone by Tuesday after some work with the tennis balls on the back, hip and arse.

I had Garry today to help with a bit of spark for the session. At 65 years+ he is still sub-30 over 200m and very helpful for me. He jousted with me on all of my efforts in part, twice during the 800m. The session: 4x100m (17,16,15, 14.5 ) ; 800m at 72sec/lap (2:24) ; 400m at 68sec/lap (68) ; 300m at 64sec/lap (48)= 4:20 I found it both a struggle and fun at the same time. 11km for the day. Yesterday was an unplanned threshold run in the forest after meeting Andy inside the first kilometre. It ended up being 12km on the steep to undulating tracks of Black Mountain and quick enough the Bella could barely keep up.

Set the watch on 19 seconds/100m but aimed at 75 second laps today so just inside the beeps all the way. The set: 4 x 100m (17,16,15, 14.4 ) ; 1600m (5:00) ; 1000m (3:07) ; 400m (75) ; 300m (51). The 100m strides first time under 15 this year, 1600m 4 seconds quicker than last week. I'm getting close to 5000m shape after 3 hard weeks. I kept the session shortish to recover for the half marathon. Warm up and warm down of 14km with the girls including a solid 2.5km effort for them. 18km for the day. Down in Bega Keith continued his solid run of form with a 4.6km threshold run on undulating terrain.

Long solo run out in the Arboretum this morning on the usual loop. I didn't work very had and really enjoyed the warm weather, sun and no wind. This nice spell is set to continue until the weekend at least and great to make the most of it while it lasts. The split back to home was 83 minutes and another 10 mins to cast my pre-poll election vote at the post office. 20km plus an afternoon loosener of 4k keeps the volume at 120km for this week. It will trickle down from Wednesday on and be below 100km by the race start on Sunday. Meanwhile down in Bega Keith is firing up for Australian Masters Games as well. He did the same set as I did yesterday with some of the splits not too far behind mine. He should be able to pack a punch in the 5000m at Geelong.