Secret Blog for Killing Track and Parkrun PBs

Keith 3km warm up, 5 x 100m in 17 seconds, 2000m 7:20, 1520m 5:20, 1200m 4:16, 830m 2:59, 400m 78, 3 min recovery jog, 3km warm down plus PM session with kids. That's a great set in this weather. Not much from me, just getting the volume done. I might have to wait until Saturday for a session. I did try some strides on track but couldn't get below 17 for 100m after 5 efforts so abandoned set (temperature below 5 degrees). On the positive June is done, another big month. I've stopped work until August so July will be better, especially in Europe where it is 30 degrees at present. Stats below.

Keith in Bega on a fresh cut track ran 6 x 400m (79,77,79,82,78,80). Surface was a bit mushy after all the rain and the mower was cutting during intervals...no truth that Keith lost his shoe laces in the process. I did a lazy 15km after work. A little sore from yesterday and the fast downhill finish. No session planned until Thursday.

Minus 5 degrees, cloudy, no wind...It was very cold wearing ear muffs, gloves and tri-suit to keep the chill out, arms were freezing and numb most of the race. The course once again affected by rain with mud, puddles, erosion, a fallen tree affecting the course. It was worse last week so we should be lucky it dried out a little. The course undulating with several steep climbs, the final 1km climb up over Majura saddle is brutal and is followed by a very fast descent of 1km. I started as back marker as always, caught most of the faster runners by the top of the saddle, still had loads of work to do on the final descent. Despite running 2:51 last kilometre I ended up 5th on handicap, one step away from 3rd (Roger was 4th who saw me coming). All up another great run with 135km in my legs last 7 days. I broke M50 record set in 1994 by well over 2 minutes. I saw Gabe out there, passed Kathy just before the top of the saddle, Minnie half way down the final descent. KT won the short cours...

A cold start and gorgeous day. Blue skies, crisp air, warming sun. With a 9.3km XC handicap race tomorrow a light session of 14km with some 1500m paced xc efforts. Just enough to keep the leg speed going, nothing more. Just Roget, Kathy and myself. The set: 6500m warm up, 4 x 100m strides, 4 x 400m (71,68,68,66)on 1km loop, 3500m warm down. Kathy ran all in 96-98 seconds. Roget a little quicker. Yesterday Keith in Bega 7km tempo at 3:50-4:00/km (26:53). It wasn't great weather. After the session and coffee we took Border Collie Bella to play in what was left of the snow on the lower slopes of the Brindabella Ranges. I could have driven further to find much more snow but the trusty Toyota Corolla is no 4WD on a muddy track.

Another 17km done yesterday including some 5000m paced intervals on the Stromlo XC circuit. Surface was muddy and slippery on the inside line. I didn't wear spikes so reduced the speed a little and ran 4 x 300m efforts (61,57,56,57). Today the weather looking awful as a cold front passes through. Possible snow or light hail, thunder with strong winds. No doubt I'll get out there when I can. Next set on Saturday, similar to yesterday. Main focus is a brutal 9.3km XC handicap race on Sunday. I'll be going all out for the win from scratch.

It's official, Keith is now 59 and going strong. The weather windy. The set: 3km warm up, 6 x 80 metre strides, 2200m 8:12, 1600m 5:52, 1200m 4:22, set of 400m in 80 seconds, 2.2km warm down. The shortest day of the year is gone, the windiest months are ahead of us. Of me: Not much to report, 125km week, tomorrow or Saturday some 5000m paced intervals, racing XC on Sunday. I'm not fussed. I will be in a European summer in 2 weeks.

After a big weekend of racing and training a few days active recovery (easy runs, volume no change) to prepare for another race on Sunday. I'll only do one session (5000m paced intervals) and wait for good weather to do it (maybe Wednesday or Thursday). The handicap race 9.3km and very hilly includes a massive climb 3km from the finish followed by a fast descent on fire trail. I'll be aiming to win from scratch as the course suits me. Some images of Keith and his great effort on the weekend. We are both in our last year / months of our current age group. Watch out next year for some local records to be set on track.

22km this morning, middle 14km at threshold. Felt great to be running on dry ground again. Thanks to Ewen for taking and posting the video.

Weather cloudy, occasional showers, cool. The track at Stromlo completely saturated after all the rain with some puddles. It was hard going out there. There were a few dry spots on top of hills which were much quicker than the muddy grass elsewhere on the course. There was some wind. The ACT Masters started with Men Under 20. I had one runner to chase which kept me honest all race. Keith at age almost 59 finished 2nd Masters and had an outstanding run defeating all Masters age groups including some very fine runners. Helen was jogging until the last lap and almost caught Anne by the finish. Shane did well until the last lap. Of me: I ran first kilometre in 3:13 (leader was 3:00) to slip away from all the Masters racers then settled into maximum threshold for the duration. I kept my form throughout and ran 52 seconds quicker than at Australian Masters Athletic Championships in April and on a tougher course today. Volume was reduced from 130km down to 122km for last 7 days and felt jus...

For me a mini-taper starts three full days before race, full taper starts 10 days before race. A mini-taper is just a few easy days leading up to a race, beginning with either short intervals or a tempo run (depending on the race), plus strides on the day before usually. Volume is reduced by roughly 30% on the two days before the race as a rule of thumb. Today Keith and I did our last semi-hard session, each in a different way. Of me: 55 minutes warm up, 4 x 100m strides (18,17,16,15 seconds), 1600m at 3:20/km (race pace for 8000m XC), 30 minutes warm down. No reduction in volume today. Looking for 12-14km easy on each of the next two days with strides on Friday before the Saturday race. Volume for the week as of Sunday will be 120km instead of 125-130km Of Keith: 2.5km warm up, 5 x 100m strides in 17 seconds, 5 x 400m (74,76,71,71,72), 2.5km warm down. Keith ran at lunch with blue skies, no wind, cool. I ran in the evening, same but cold.

Minus 5 degrees this morning means a late start for the session. Blue skies, no wind, freezing warming up to just plain cold. The set: 2000m warm up, 4 x 100m strides, 1200m 4:00, 800m 2:40 (10000m pace) followed by 6 x 3 minute efforts at 5000m pace with 1 minute jog recovery on undulating 2500m circuit, 4000m warm down. A loosener in the afternoon to make 20km for the day, 125km last 7 days. Next set on Wednesday with 6 x 400m efforts on XC surface. Mini taper Thursday and Friday for Saturday 8000m XC race. Keith in Bega 2000m, 1600m 5:55, 1200m 4:22, 800m 2:45, 400m 78 all with 2:30-3:00 recovery. Similar conditions down there. Keith expected to race Saturday as well.

Wind gusting above 50kph this morning made it tough for a session wherever we were. Keith in Bemboka ran 6 x 3-4 minute efforts. The 4 minute efforts into the wind the 3 minute efforts with the wind. Set was on undulating dirt fire trail. Only 4 of us at Stromlo. We ran a repeat of my session yesterday due to the strong winds. The set: 4600m warm up, 4 x 400m, 2000m warm down. My splits: 73,70,68,67 which were quicker than yesterday. I ran a loosener in the afternoon to make 20km for the day, 125km last 7 days. Tomorrow should be much better for running. If I am feeling good I'll head out for a longer session. If I'm not so good I'll wait until Monday, a public holiday. My only other set this week will be on Wednesday or Thursday, another short set. Racing 8000m XC on Saturday.

Stromlo XC circuit open again and accessible, very soft after all the rain. The link road at Coppins Crossing had tree debris cross over the road destroying the railing on the upstream side during the flood. Today the weather 11 degrees, partly cloudy, strong wind from the north-west. The set: 2500m warm up including 4 x 100m strides, 6 x 400m efforts (76,74,73,72,69,67), 2500m warm down. Another recovery run scheduled for this afternoon. Today surprisingly quick and not requiring much effort to hit those times. Maybe the power / strength hills are helping. I am 8 weeks into a 16 week build up phase of 120km+ per week. Each week tick the boxes of volume, power / strength hills, 5000m pace, 10000m pace, long recovery run and rest days. This week a subtle shift to more emphasis on 5000m paced intervals. Tomorrow long step down XC intervals with 6,5,4,3,2,1 minute efforts, 1 minute jog recovery. Next two weekends I will be racing 8000m XC and 10000m XC so will freshen up a little fo...

Today Keith in search of some terrain to get in a session resorted to fartlek on a road with efforts at 3:15-3:35/km and some shorter 80 metre efforts to boot. Below are some images from the south coast, damages caused in the last few days of storms.

The weather cold and windy again. It's hard to get track sets done in these conditions without getting injured. I had a good warm up and warm down, wore tights, thermal and fleece top and fleece gloves. The set followed on from yesterday and the 35-75 second power hills. Today the set: 40 minutes run warm up, 4 x 100m strides (19,17,16,15 seconds), 6 x 300m efforts with 100m jog in 30 seconds (55,57,56,56,56,55), long warm down, 16km all up. I was aiming for 57 seconds or better (5000m pace), ran relaxed without straining. It's 3 weeks until I take a break from work and 4 weeks until I head over to Europe to continue this strength / power build up phase. I'm really looking forward to leaving this winter weather behind. When I return in August the weather and available daylight will be much better.

I couldn't get to Stromlo today due to flooding on the link road. Instead 70 minutes including some faster paced power hills on steep incline. The set: 40 minutes warm up, 4 x 35 seconds up 10-15% gradient hill plus 75 seconds up extension of same hill, 200m jog recovery between efforts, warm down to home. I'm getting much stronger now and starting to enjoy the hills again. As today was a missed session (I had something else in mind) I will double up tomorrow and do something a little longer...much like Keith's session. Keith in Bemboka: 4 x 3 minute (roughly 800m)efforts on undulating terrain. Keith also starting to get stronger. An easy day for Keith tomorrow, 6,5,4,3,2,1 minute efforts the following day.

Awful weather again with rain all day. I didn't see a runner or cyclist out there although Minnie ran for an hour leaving before me. Keith did his work indoors, some flooding down south as well. The run 90 minutes to the Arboretum, two circles of the loop going up Dairy Farmers Hill, once on the road, once on the steep fire trail. Not much of a view from up there. We spent the afternoon celebrating Kathy's 65th birthday belatedly. Kathy will get a chance to break some records when track resumes in a few months.

Weather very wet, not much wind, track slow and slushy with lane ropes up to protect inside lines. 1km circuit is now running at 1.1km. Stromlo is expected to close due to rain by Monday. Nine of us out there today including Keith from Bemboka. Almost all of us did some sort of maximum threshold running. It was no fun just hanging around and it was home for a hot shower before heading off for the usual post-session brunch. Keith ran 5.2km in 19:31, to 6.3km in 23:15. Main session was 5.2km done as 5 minute intervals with 30 second float recovery. My time 17:30(roughly 16:50 at 5km). Effort was much harder than last evening. I ran 13km this morning, another 7km loosener to be done this afternoon. This is my 7th consecutive week of 120km+. Next race will be ACT Masters XC Championship 8km on June 18th, followed by ACT Masters XC Handicap 10km the following weekend. I'll ease up a little for both of those races.

16km this afternoon including 5000m on track in 17:30 done as 5 x 3 minute intervals at 16:40 pace with 30-40 second jog and stretch recovery. I wore training shoes, tights and fleece top. Weather was cloudy, cold and only a slight wind. Any amount of rain could fall this weekend. The set was a safeguard against a washout. If the weather is OK for running when I wake tomorrow I will do a similar set on undulating XC surface and much quicker than today. A long run will follow on Sunday regardless of weather.

Keith 1900m 3:51/km ; 1610m 3:51/km ; 1240m 4:00/km ; 830m 3:40/km ; 410m 3:34/km all with 250m walk jog recovery. This was done on an undulating dirt road. This weekend is not looking good for training with lots of rain forecast. I've done all the volume, feeling good and staying patient until I get some fast running weather. Today was nice for running but I had the ABS Fun Run presentations to attend in the afternoon. Nothing fast in the 17km I ran. For me today is all about the 16 year wait 'Since I Left You' the only other album by the Avalanches.

My best set this week took less than 30 minutes. The weather has been awful. Stretching and Jog from work, 8 minutes warm up, 7 minutes climb at maximum threshold or above, gradient 15% reducing to 5% last 2 minutes at quicker tempo, jog back to work, hot shower. I've still managed to fit in the volume. Weather doesn't look good on the forecast. Next set will be when it is not raining, cold and windy. On the positive I have booked either or both airfares and a hotel up to June 2017 to keep me motivated. July 2017 for Tour de France will be booked as well but that's another story. In not much more than a moth I'll be running up the Lacets du Grand Colombier - 8.4km at 7.6% (891m). The road is narrow and will be busy. It will be more of a photo opportunity than a training run but I'm looking forward to it already. I've ridden and run up Alpe d'Huez numerous times, this looks much tighter although much easier...just as tasty.