Secret Blog for Killing Track and Parkrun PBs

1500m Kathy W60 2nd, Helen W55 3rd, Alison W30 3rd. Cold, rain, wind. Slow runs most competitors. Kathy and Helen ran in the same race. The pecking order Stacey, Ann, Helen became well established, as did their friendship. For the second day on track mother and daughter Alison and Kathy raced in the same event in different races.

What a big day! Helen 3rd W55 800m 2:54, Kathy 2nd W60 800m 3:03, Me 2nd M50 10000m 33:35, David 33:03

Final taper session for myself, Steve similar session but starts the racing on Sunday no Friday. Session: 6km warm up, 4 x 100m strides, 1200m tempo XC at Stromlo in 3:51 (Steve 1200m 3:59 on road), 3km warm down. The girls individually did a jog, 4 x 100m strides and 2 x 40 seconds roughly at 800m race pace, on grass. Met Jase by accident out at Stromlo. Although we live in the same part of town it was our first run together for some years. He was doing a fartlek. We've known each other since the 1980s in Melbourne and orienteering circles. Funny that lots of us Melbourne folk ended up here in Canberra.

2000m 6:35 for Steve, another sharp effort and showing signs he is in absolute top shape, well in contention for a medal or two. Big step up for Steve is his strength and endurance in the back half of the race. He has much more pure power than me. I hope he gets a chance to show it on the weekend. Not much from me. 12km today in the bush trails, down to 100km last 7 days, the first time that little since January 8. All is good. Keith witnessed a tussle between a sports gel and a leather jacket...the jacket came off second best. Not sure whether our stomach can cope long term, leather cannot cope short term.

Perfect autumn weather, warm and still, low humidity. Set 1 (me): 2.5km warm up, 4 x 100m, 1600m kick down rehearsal. First lap 80, each lap thereafter progressively quicker. Total time 4:59. Only thing missing was the final lap, a low risk session again. 5.5km warm down. Set 2 (Helen and Kathy): Same warm up and warm down. 4 x 200m with 200m jog recovery all done at 42 seconds or better. Dale turned up as we were finishing. We explained his assorted options. Next session similar to today over 1200m, will start with 76 second first lap.

We've used this event as a last fling before AMA Championships every year since 2011. It was perfect conditions today. Steve and I started together off group 47. Helen ran the longer 8.2km but only ran the last 3km hard after 4 x 100m strides in the middle. Steve took a huge chunk off last year's effort, shows he is in great form, 14:19. I was 13:41 and 19 seconds quicker than 2014 and as quick as I've ever run on the course. It's nice to weigh 55kg again :-) Not much to do now except keep the leg speed ticking along and complete the taper process. Another 25 minutes this afternoon to loosen up. A light session mid-week on track if the weather is kind.

Just a short set this morning. Cold overnight turned into blue and sunny, no wind to speak of. The set: 2000m warm up, 4 x 100m strides, 5 x 300m efforts in the 1000m loop x 2, 100m jog recovery. Pacing using 100m posts was at 3:05/km for Steve and myself, 3:45/km for Kathy and Helen. I paced both sets. 2000m warm down. Everyone was quick and bouncy and the pace good for an undulating grass circuit with one very tight bend. Things looking very good for all of us next weekend. Next up will be a 4000m XC at the same venue. It will be a maximum threshold session for me. The out and back course on the 2500m loop (dead turn short of a full loop) has one major climb in both directions. I find the hill tougher in the return direction. KT, Gabe and SK were out there too doing the tough set Steve and I usually do. Of me: Total volume last 7 days down to 110km today, will be 100km tmoz. Already feeling fresh.

3000m: Conditions were awful...cold with very strong winds in the back straight. It was like that all day. Steve had an absolute cracker running a PB 9:55 in those conditions. Around 3:17 through the first kilometre in 2nd, pace slowed to 1500m, shortly after Steve took the lead, lifted the pace gapped his younger competitor and held it almost to the end. Best tactical race I've seen Steve run and there have been a few. Keith also gave it a big shake attempting to take the Geoff Moore 3000m series from me. He didn't quite make it but a brave attempt in those conditions 10:34. Shane ran a PB 10:48 in the 3000m and backed it up with a cruise 2:30 800m later on, helping Leanne to a 2:29. Helen another 12:30 effort, had a slight head cold. Kathy also another good run to claim the 3000m series in the women 12:52. Of me: Just a lazy 16km at lunch yesterday. Very windy on the lake, a nice tail wind home. Today another run the same distance in the forest at lunch.

Not racing tomorrow, on track duty. A session today to replace the 3000m others will do. It was warm, sunny and some breeze but not enough to produce slow times. The set: 4.5km warm up, 4 x 100m, rehearsal for 5000m / 10000m kick down with 2 miles to go which was 2000m 6:23 (started with 80 second lap, progressively quicker), 200m walk, 1000m 3:06 (start with 78 second lap, accelerate with 400m remaining), 200m walk, 200m 33 seconds. 6km warm down. If all is well I will aim for my last very hard session on Friday morning at Stromlo but will discuss with others first. It may be a slightly easier session at Stromlo on Saturday morning. Sunday is definitely 4km XC handicap at Stromlo again.

Yes the QGPN arrived yesterday. No symptoms so far except a slight twitch. My observance of leaf insects has been raised to a new level...not sure if it affects performance yet!! It is the same leaf insect obviously, testing macro 2mp against Pureview 41mp on the spare Nokia 808. These snippets done with snippy. Back to Queen Garnet Plum Nectar...it is basically raw plum pulp in a 250ml bottle x 20 to be consumed and more costly than a flat white but cheaper than a mug of the same. I'm looking for some fruit at the market so I can grow my own in 5 years.

Tuesday is taper time for most of us (Steve has a couple of days grace) with our first race at AMA Championships starting in 10 days time. The basic guidelines are reduce the volume by one third, maintain intensity, last very hard session seven days before the first race, a final semi-hard session around 3 days before the first race. Yesterday at AIS track a set of 10 x 200m with 200m float recovery. Steve had a range of 32-35 seconds (mostly 33), Helen 40-41 seconds, Kathy and Dale a wider range. I had a hot spot on the achilles from bitumen running on Sunday. I did 18 100m strides on the grass infield along Steve (16s) and Helen (20s) as they did their sets. Steve looked great, Helen ran away from her training partners on her second effort so I stepped in to help on the grass. Alison (daughter of Kathy) has been doing some sessions and will also race AMA Championships in 800m and 1500m. She looks great in the photos from training I saw yesterday. Alison did one session with us a c...

Good news for Keith, he will soon have a new track to run on down the coast. On Saturday he did the session 4 x 1050 metres as measured with Garmin. (3:50, 3:45, 3:43, 3:47)Session included 13km warm up and warm down and the usual 5 x 100m strides before. My long run incorporated the Weston Creek Half Marathon, sole purpose to cheer on Maria. Three weeks before Marathon de Paris to close to race in my opinion so I was glad to see big smiles on her face and not trying too hard. Her time 1hr42min or around 4:55/km. Jeff and Elle were there as well, will also do Paris. I didn't see Roget although I know he did it. Winning time was 71 mins. Not a quick course.

All of us recovering from the ACT Masters 5000m Championships this morning. A no pressure day with the wind very strong and cold. I was there with Steve well before dawn. We started our first effort in dim light. I finished set two with the girls 21 km and three and a half hours later and then headed off to brunch. Set 1 (with Steve): The usual 2000m, 1500m, 1200m, 800m, 400m efforts with full warm up and strides. We ran the first efforts at 90%, the 800m 2:26, 400m 68-69. Steve was quicker than the week before. KT and Gabe did a similar set on their own. Set 2 (with Kathy and Helen): 4 x 700m. First effort at 4:00/km, last three efforts at below 3:50/km or 1500m pace. Of me: Afternoon was spent napping with Bella, a late 4km loosener and some stretching. Tomorrow will be a long run watching the half marathon via the Arboretum, down to the lake and return home.

26 degrees, no wind, low humidity. Not the best conditions this season but very close...nothing to complain about. There were 23 finishers. One runner was half my speed which means I saw him almost every lap. On the whole the quality of the field was very good with all but two breaking 25 minutes. As usual a lot of time was spent in lane two but it seemed to come in clumps. Lots of people were running together. Results: Me 16:24, Steve 17:14, Keith 18:11, Shane 18:32 (big PB), Dale 19:48, KT 20:35, Helen 21:24, Kathy 22:16, Roget 22:26. So everyone ran well from what I can see. Kathy has run quicker this season and Helen had a groin strain from the Monday session were the only exceptions and even they were still very solid runs. Of me: I have to go back to 2011 for a faster 5000m run at an ACT Masters meet. The first time this season I've been at near race weight. 125km in the legs tonight, slightly less than previous weeks and the last 2 days have been easy. I'll put in one ...

In the mail today bib for Australian Running Festival 10km to be held on 11 April 2015...a reminder of what is to come. 2 May 2015 Puffing Billy Great Train Race 13.5km (Vic), 23 May 2015 Half Marathon Eve 5km (ACT), 13 June 2015 ACT XC Championships 12km, 4 July 2015 Pennington 16km XC (ACT), September 2015 Canberra Times Fun Run 10km. In between races high volume, high intensity training, easy week prior to races. I'm not working in July or August...all roads lead to Lyon, France and the World Masters Athletics Championships and a nice holiday after that at Saint Malo. Today an easy 14km out and back to the Arboretum. To be honest I didn't feel that good...125km in the legs last 7 days, 11 huge weeks (13 of 15). Very much looking forward to that taper.