Secret Diary of a Taper : How I found 21 seconds in 21 days for 5km

On 18th February I ran a 5000m at Woden track in 17:21. I ran strongly throughout as I had been for months on end. In fact I ran 20 x 17 minute+ 5000m races (including Parkrun), but nothing in the 16 minutes+ range until the 16:59 yesterday. On the Friday night following that 17:21 race, when I realised things weren't going my way and the usual routine I would use to fix it (regular long runs) just wasn't working, I changed two things. First was getting on the floor and doing 60 pushups and a 60 second planks on most days. Second was my diet by replacing all the bad food with healthy food, inserting the notion of eating to train. Within six days the changes started to come. I took 20 seconds off my recent PB at my regular BBQ Stakes run over 6km on 24th February. The soft tummy I had kept through most of 2020 was starting to shrink. I was last in this shape during the bush fires/covid lockdown period when I could train at will, running a 16:50 5000m on 17 May 2020 and 16:31 two days later.

Anyone who knows me knows I have a formula for the cost of carrying useless weight in races (stronger muscles are good). It is 1.15 seconds, per kilo carried, per kilometre. With that formula it's possible to work out how many kilos I lost in 21 days.

I'll continue to maintain a healthy diet and core strength exercises and will into the future. My weight is now stable. Further improvements in performance will come from better training sessions and more rest.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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.
Read more

Surf Beach Tempo Run 14km ; Training Plan, Racing Update Australian Masters Athletics Championships 2024

Image
Early morning 14km tempo run at Surf Beach on low tide. Weather cool, light winds from the south and cloudy until the sun came up. I was again racing the incoming tide, feeling great today. Weekly Volume from the last 8 weeks as follows: 95km, 114km, 116km, 140km, 138km, 122km, 127km, 122km. This is normal base training for me I usually do in winter. No racing until 29th March 2024 with the Australian Masters Athletics Championships in Hobart Tasmania. Working back from there: 10 day Taper begins 19th March ; arrive in Tasmania 9th March ; Direct preparation for Australian Masters Athletics Championships commences 9th February ; Structured training resumes 1st January 2024. Base training until New Years Eve. Australian Masters Athletics Championships Entries open 17th November.
Read more