Secret Blog for Killing Track and Parkrun PBs

Arrived on the Gold Coast hotel close to midnight. This morning a walk after brekky. Next up registration. My only run for the day, 7km or so from the hotel and back. I am running Half Marathon on Sunday. Minnie is running 10km tomorrow.

Steve today 3 x 6 minute efforts with 2 minutes recovery. Splits: 4:00/km, 3:57/km, 3:50/km. Steve resumed structured training after a short break. Keith 3 x 600m efforts on harness track (horses) with 200m jog recovery. Splits 2:00, 1:57, 1:57 We are all on a simple base building phase which lasts for several months and in two phases that only vary slightly. Three simple sets are 2000m or 6 minute efforts ; 1000m or 3 minute efforts ; 600m or 2 minute efforts. Strength hills should also be included whether in long runs or as part of a session. Only 1-2 races per month. Volume should be at the high end with easy weeks once a month to coincide with a race. Only 1-2 easy days is needed to get the mojo back. I'm using Gold Coast Half Marathon this weekend ; City2Surf 14km in August ; Canberra Times 14km in September and Burnie 10km fun run in October as distractions to keep me motivated. Today I ran 18km to the airport in two hops, work in between. Sometimes we hav a morning tea. ...

A day of three runs. Morning 6km easy. Lunch 4km with 4 x 200m strides. After work at Stromlo 6km. With short days and having to work it's hard to fit it all in. Stromlo was cold 6 degrees and windy. 2.7km warm up, 4 x 100m strides, 2000m Malaga hill loop in 6:27 (first 500m and last 500m toughest hills on the circuit). A PB on the loop by 2 seconds. I know I can ran under 6:20 based on the conditions. I'm looking forward to getting in a sustained period of base training at Stromlo and on track. Not until after Gold Coast Half Marathon this weekend and 3 weeks in France almost straight after that. I'm down to 128km last 7 days. I can get it down to 97km with two 5km jogs before the Gold Coast Half Marathon. That might be enough to get through it in OK shape. I'm still missing my little dog and will for years to come. Minnie and I make a toast to her every night.

Track tempo over 2000m in 6:40 even paced. It was 6 degrees and no wind when I got there. Keith 3 x 1000m 3:26,3:26,3:25 with 200m jog recovery plus 100m in 19 seconds in between efforts. Steve 5 x 3 minute efforts on first session in new block. Pace 3:58/km,3:48/km,3:50/km,3:37/km,3:36/km. I'm still on 130km last 7 days. If I feel good I'll try another 2000m tempo in the next 2 days. I should be able to go 5-10 seconds quicker with same effort in warmer conditions. Gold Coast Half Marathon on Sunday.

Bella the Border Collie passed away last night. She was my best friend and former training partner. No sleep last night caring for her and seeing she had a peaceful end to a beautiful life. This morning ACT Masters XC handicap on I think our toughest course. Mostly undulating fire trail and single track with a long brute of a climb near the end that has most people walking. Last kilometre is all down hill and very fast. It seemed to be a headwind all the way but that can't be as it is a loop. I started way last as usual, passed all but 11 starters with a time 34:16. I felt as if I was flying but I never got airborne. Minnie placed 17th across the line, also having zero sleep last night as we cared for Bella. We stopped off at Tilleys Devine Cafe on the way home and unloaded some more emotion. Bella, Minnie and I shared many coffees there. On Tuesday or Wednesday my next set on grass, 2 x 2000m hill loops. Two day taper on Friday and Saturday before Gold Coast Half Marathon. Minni...

Very windy this morning at Stromlo. Racing 9.3km XC handicap tomorrow. Today a light session of 2 x 2000m hill loops, both in 6:49. PB on loop is 6:29. Today in training shoes and not full gas, 10 seconds per km slower. Helen was at 4:20-4:30/km. She is off to Europe tomorrow morning where most of my friends are and where I will be in less than 2 weeks. Keith in Bemboka 3km tempo on undulating terrain. Very windy also down there. Times and splits were good given the conditions. Keith on 130km this week before easing off next week. This afternoon an easy 45 minutes recovery run. Tomorrow 24km including the XC handicap. I've still got 136km in the legs last 7 days. It will be down to around 100km by next weekend's Gold Coast Half Marathon. It will only be a 2 day taper with 5km each of the last 2 days before the race.

18km at lunch including 3 x maximum threshold efforts of 3,4 and 5 minutes on moderate to steep inclines at roughly 10km pace. 135km last 7 days. A light 600m set on Saturday, saving something for 9.3km XC handicap over Mount Ainslie on Sunday. History says 32 minutes+ is fast for me, 33 minutes+ is very good. I won't leave anything in the tank. Keith in Bega on harness track (horses), 6 x 630m efforts all at a consistently fast pace. Keith is running very well now. Still ages away from track season when it counts. He will have to stay patient through the very cold winter here. We get down to minus 5 next week. I'm getting out of here to the Gold Coast and France. Keith has new shoes, replacing the 149 pair which we ran over on the driveway to his 60th birthday party.

Long run of 19km this afternoon including 5 x 600m (1:54, 1:54, 1:53, 1:53, 1:50) and 2.7km threshold run at 3:28/km. Set included warm up and warm down, two sets of 5 x 100m strides and stretching. I've dialed back the pace for the 600m efforts to 3:10/km or better with 400m jog recovery in 2 minutes. I don't need to go quicker than that for a few months. Weather was sunny, still and cool (cold when the sun went down on his nearly shortest day of the year). Helen joined me for the threshold run and second warm up, warm down. Keith in Bega ran 4 x 1100m efforts in 4 minutes. Next set of Thursday with 5 x 3 minute efforts with 1 minute jog recovery. I'm running Gold Coast Half Marathon in a couple of weeks. Splits from last time I ran. I'd be happy with that again.

It took over a week to get the cross country results finalised and that was with chip timing. Here they are. 34 seconds between the top 3. I lost 20 seconds on the second lap to better runners on the day. Today two runs, total of 21km for the day and 135km last 7 days. That will be a top until I get to France in a couple of weeks. This weekend is a 10km cross country handicap on a very hilly course. Next weekend is Gold Coast Half Marathon. I'll have two easy days before that race.

Stromlo XC Circuit this morning for mt first big set since Australian Masters Athletics Championships. The set: 5 x 2000m hilly XC loops with 500m jog recovery between efforts. First and last efforts untimed threshold runs at 4mins/km or better. Middle three efforts almost at full gas (6:34, 6:29, 6:29). SK, KT and Gabe were out there too doing 2500m loops. Efforts I did yesterday and on Wednesday were 2100m after putting Garmin over loops this morning. First 500m and last 500m almost all up with 100m flat to finish. I thought on Wednesday I would run 6:30 for the loop and did that twice today. I was feeling very good. This afternoon an easy 6km warm down. 130km last 7 days. Next set on Tuesday with 5 x 1000m efforts, 500m jog recovery. Some scenes from Keith's 60th birthday last night.

A running event at Stromlo this morning. Change of plan made it a long hilly run of 21km over and around Mount Stromlo on the MTB tracks. Finished the session off with a hilly 2000m Malaga loop in 7 minutes (last 200m in 37) on the grass trails after the race had finished. On the morning of his 60th birthday party Keith ran a fartlek session and some strides. I'll get my set done tomorrow morning at Stromlo 4 x 2000m Malaga loops. I'll remember to put a Garmin over the course to work out how long it is.

Almost exactly 5 years ago I took part in an Iron study through the Australian Institute of Sport. Later that year I tried beetroot juice as a supplement. I'm no expert on the matters, five years on here's what I learned and where I am at. I am a vegetarian who sometimes eats fish. I've been a vegetarian since 1986 (give or take a few accidents). I'm a failure at growing my own beetroots, the clay soil here just doesn't like them. Iron Study: The iron study began on 3 May with a blood test, then 14 May 2012 with a VO2 max test. The following day I ran 4 x 4 minute efforts on treadmill then afterwards backed it up on track with 2000m 6:38, 1600m 5:18, 1200m 3:58, 800m 2:30, 400m 69. A month earlier I ran at Australian Masters Athletics Championships 10000m 33:48 1st, 1500m 4:30 2nd, 5000m 16:16 1st and 8000m XC 27:34 1st. A week later I ran 73:28 for a Half Marathon and finished 2nd. I'm very close to the same form I was in 2012 at that point. I ran 27:35 in t...

Keith in Bega on grass track 6 x 600m efforts, splits approx 2:00-2:05. Usual warm up and warm down with 5 x 100m strides in 17-19 seconds. Another set done for Keith. His 60th birthday party set for this weekend. Another 17km for me in two runs, mostly on grass. I'll hit 120km for the week on Saturday and 130km for the week on Sunday (due to not much last Sunday, the 5000m race day). I'll do some 200m strides tomorrow to shake out the cobwebs and a full set of 4 x 2000m Malaga Loops at Stromlo on Saturday morning. My good friends Kathy (mother) and Alison (daughter) in sprint finish after 8000m XC. :

This afternoon at Stromlo XC circuit I tested a loop I'll use over the next year or so in preparation for the World Masters Athletics Championships in Malaga Spain. I'm calling it the Malaga loop. I stripped away 500m of flat terrain, replaced it with the two biggest hills on the circuits and moved the finish to best replicate what the XC course in Malaga will throw up and in the right sequence or close to it. It starts and finishes with 200m mostly flat before some testing climbs and steep to flowing descents. I'll put it on the garmin to get a better idea of the distance but I think it's close. I'll put it on video soon as well. The set: 13km warm up, 5 x 100m strides, 2000m on hilly circuit with 200m flat finish after a long 300m climb. Splits: 750m 2:40 (includes steepest hill 10%+ gradient),1800m 6:15, 2000m 6:54. I should be able to run 6:30 or so on it full gas. I'll aim to do a set of 4 efforts with 500m jog recovery in under 7 minutes in this base tra...

Keith in Bega today 4 x 1000m with 200m jog recovery. Splits a very consistent: 3:33, 3:31, 3:32, 3:31. The usual warm up and warm down plus 5 x 100m strides in 18-19 seconds. Keith is days away to joining a super competitive M60 group in Australia which includes Mark, Alan, David and others. All three have done something special in the last couple of months and produced some exciting racing. There's not much between them and each has many strengths and few weaknesses. I'm back into it today. 20km with two steady runs. I'll be back up to 120km by the weekend and may even chance a session tomorrow. I have something that excites me planned.

Fourth race in four days. Cool on arrival to the course, warm and sunny by start at 8:30am. The course 2 laps of 4km, mostly flat with small steep hills, twisting and technical on a variety of surfaces (sand, rough grass, gravel, board walk, sharp turns) A fast start, chased Darren M40 for 4km until a gap opened on single track near the start finish area, end lap 1. Second lap held him in sight, M30 Warwick caught me at 6-7km. Held both Darren and Warwick in sight until final technical section in the trees 2000m from the finish. Gap between the three of us roughly 200m. I was on my limit whole race. Time of 27:35 ranks equal to anything at Australian Masters Athletics Championships since 2009 and better than most except my home course at Stromlo in 2013. Both World Masters Athletics Championship races were quicker. Only 20 seconds slower than World Masters Athletics Championships in Perth, on a tougher circuit today. Championships over, no injuries, I'm ready for some months of b...

Event program for World Masters Athletics Championships Malaga 2018 hasn't been released as yet. Depending on news of that I'll add in 10km road or Half Marathon to 8000m Cross Country, 1500m track and 5000m track. I'll aim for a two peak program with Australian Masters Athletics Championships in Perth, April 26-29 April 2018 and World Masters Athletics Championships Malaga September 5-16 2018. As I've done since 2009 I'll use a series of base training, race preparation and racing blocks for each peak. I didn't invent the training structure and race tactics, coach of Hicham El Guerrouj did. It's available freely on the web and modified translation in this blog. First training block will commence as of day after Australian Masters Athletics Championships and run through until late October 2017. Basically high volume (120km/week average), one major race per month with a 2-3 day taper and 2-3 long interval training sessions per week, mostly on soft surfaces t...

12 hours after the 1500m and we were racing the 5000m in much worse conditions. Full sun, hot, wind gusting over 50kph+. It was a war of attrition out there today. We were racing with the M50 competitors as well. The race: I led from start to finish and wasn't sure who was on my heels, later discovered it was Trevor. With a wall of wind in the home straight I soft pedaled and surged in the back straight with the gale at my back. It took 4-5 laps to shake Trevor. I settled into a solid pace and ran the windy straight much harder. As in the 10000m I visited the drink station almost every lap. I ran harder on the final lap and punched into the wind on the final lap finishing in 17:20, 40 seconds ahead of Trevor and some M50 runners. Jose was 3rd in M55 not far behind them. It's cross country day tomorrow and I'll be up for that, ready to race the younger ages again. I first raced Trevor Scott in Rip to River in circa 1991. Trevor won the race which was 100% beach from Point...

All 1500m events under lights this evening. This is the event I've been training for over the last couple of months. The wind died down to a slight breeze, the air cooled a little, perfect for running. I made the most of an opportunity to run my race from the front. In doing so I finished ahead of 1st and 2nd in the 800m last night. 1st Me 4:39.56 ; 2nd Richard McMahon 4:40.25 ; 3rd John Jago 4:44.13 Pace was fast enough for me not to have to lead from the gun. It took me 500m to get to the front, gap the field and run a controlled kick down never letting anyone back onto my heels, full gas from the top of the straight. Almost an exact replica of my 1500m race in World Masters Games Auckland. I'm loving the close racing. Earlier Kathy won W65 1500m, Alison 3rd in W30 1500m. Roger ran in my race. Jeff ran in M50. Ann and Jo ran as well. A short turnaround to 5000m tomorrow morning. We are running with M50 in that event.

Meanwhile back in the colder part of Australia Keith ran on undulating gravel road 4km warm up, 4km tempo at 4:07/km, 1km recovery, 3km tempo, 4km warm down. I ran 30 minutes to supermarket early this morning. It's hot, sunny and windy out there again. The walks and steeple have been on this morning. I've been hanging by the pool in the hotel. It should be nicer for running when the 1500m races start at 6:40pm. Some images from yesterday in the 10000m. We also made ABC News 24 on TV in the NT edition.

Two races today comprised all ages and sexes for the 10000m. Race 1: All females, males 60+ Race 2: Males 30-59. Conditions were very warm and windy, gusts over 40kph. The organisers had no lap scorers or clock, thus voiding any potential records. Race 1: David Riches M60 35:41 lapped everyone with Kerri Hodge W40 2nd 37:39. With a strong start David had the race wrapped up inside 200m Race 2: Bruce Graham M55 35:06 ; 2nd Warwick Peter-Budge M30 36:06 ; 3rd Nick Cuffee M40 36:13 ; 4th Jason Keane M45 36:37 I watched many races today including the 60m sprints and 800m races in the evening. Kathy was 3rd W65 800m, her daughter Alison 1st W30 800m. Tomorrow I'll avoid the track until the 1500m in the evening. In the morning a run to the supermarket for food.

On grass harness track Keith ran 3 x 1000m (3:33, 3:22, 3:29). That's a big return to form and just before he turns 60. Plenty of time before track season. He's had a steady build up so far. Way to go Keith. Arrived in Darwin this afternoon after traveling most of the day. Jog from hotel to registration to Coles for shopping and back was further than I wanted. My legs aren't coping with this sudden change from cold to heat as yet. Over the next four consecutive days as M55 I race 10000m with M30-59 10:10am ; 1500m M55-59 8:04pm (under lights) ; 5000m with M50-59 and 8000m XC all males. My most competition for a medal will be in the 1500m (four very good athletes fighting for three medals). In the cross country there will be strong competition with Darren and the younger males. Those two events I'll be going all in. 10000m tomorrow will be hot and very windy with some smoke haze. I'll be following heels as much as I can if the legs aren't good first up.

Keith in Bemboka 3km warm up, 5 x 120m strides (23-24), 5 x 600m (3:31-3:34) on undulating gravel road. Afternoon run of 8km in icy rain...very brave. A lazy 16km for me today. That leaves 2 x 5km day plus some strides before Australian Masters Athletics Championships. Circa 1980. Fred once said: çoach what this week? Coach: 25 x 400m in 75 seconds. Following week Fred said: coach what do I do this week? Coach: 12 x 800m in 2:30 (true story). Not something I would do as a masters but for some younger than me? I watched Ben do an 800m set at my local track. I repeated a shortened version and some quick times followed. Just one of my lessons in running that continues at the right time of the year when I need to go there. Ben True: Mo Farah:

On grass my last set before Australian Masters Athletics Championships in Darwin. The set: 3km warm up, 4 x 200m(31-32)+600m(1:45)+400m(65), 6km warm down. Tomorrow a short tempo run at 10000m pace. Just strides and jogging until Friday and the 10000m. All is good.

Now the detailed route maps are up for Tour de France 2017 I can say Parkrun le Ramee (Blagnac) and Parkrun Chateau de Pierre de Bresse are on the agenda. I've never run the same Parkrun course twice so the journey continues. Parkrun France hasn't taken off as yet. 20+ participants and mostly Brit ex-pat or tourists is the norm. On the plus it's two chances to have a hitout in a country I've visited every July to see Tour de France for the last 10 years. Parkrun le Ramee stats at 9am only 13km from the start of Tour de France Stage 14 Blagnac to Rodez. It's likely I'll run Parkrun and visit the TDF depart in Blagnac and watch the TDF finish in Rodez as a motorway (peage) almost connects the two (I've done this before). Stage 19 TDF starts in Embrun and goes to Salon-de-Provence (Marseille). I'll see the start of TDF in Embrun, head to Beaune (very close to Stage 7 finish in Nuits-Saint-Georges) in time to watch the stage finish on TV in the motel. Next...