Bugger!

Great run to start the week and begin the taper. AT and I were discussing Gold Coast pace for next week and where I was (i.e. a 3:45 would be a push as I haven't been training at the right pace over a long enough distance).

Anyway, went out and felt very comfortable - no sign of the calf niggle, amazing what a run on the trail the day before can do for you however crap it was!

First km was a bit quick for me so I decided I should ease up even though I was pushed for time. The second km wasn't much slower so I thought I'd keep it up. Pushed, not too hard, and ended up with 16½ km with a 5:04 average. Pretty quick for me over that distance. The spread was only 24 seconds with only one km over 5:09 (5:16). I had the headlight on for the last 9km! Click on the image for the splits.

Downside is that as I pulled up I turned an ankle (the usual one) on the edge of the bitumen where the car was parked. It's an almost identical scenario to the sprain in November. Definitely not as bad, but definitely worse than the recurrence I had during Hares & Hounds in January (I can run on this but can't run it off).

I took a full week off after that and this is nowhere near as bad. No swelling and I've strapped it as a precaution but should be ok. Absolute worst case scenario is that I won't train at all during the taper, we'll see.

In the words of Frances Harvey - "Dumb, dumb, dumb". It was a careless accident that could have been avoided.

Everything else is fine though!

"Make hay while the sun shines"

That's what my Nanna and my Mam say anyway!

I've had a very good recovery from Sunday - better than I could have hoped. Went out for what turned out to be a very comfortable 12km tonight at about 5:38. I did start to tighten a little from about 7km but very pleased.

I still have the niggle in my right calf but things are going really well at the moment so though this was going to be a very light week, I'll play it by ear and if I feel good through the remainder of the week I'll take the opportunity to get some easy mileage in.

The Mt Mee Classic

I’ve really got to get into the habit of visiting more often, at least every week.

Well, to take up where I left off, I finished the week pretty well. I didn’t manage my 30km on Sunday as we were out on Saturday night and spent the day recovering. I managed to get out a bit later than planned and just ran out of time, but still got a very good 20km in (12km in the dark) in about 1:50 including looking for the dog for five minutes after he got lost.

So, finished the week very strong and wrapped up my mini taper the following week with a 12km trail run in the dark and a gentle 12km on the road the following night. I was a bit concerned with the niggle behind my left knee that had been present since Glasshouse in May but by Friday morning it had gone. Amazing what sticking to the schedule does. Two heavy weeks and a relative rest had don wonders and I was looking forward to Mt Mee on Sunday.

What an event this is. I felt that knee about 6km in but it never turned into anything of note. Thanks to the people around me I had a well paced first 20km and finished with a massive PB of 5:08:xx over the distance (beating my previous by 57 minutes) on what I think is a solid course with some killer hills. Of note was the fact that my 10km splits had a ten minute range and my 5km splits only seven minutes. It’s always good to see the training deliver something but this was special.

I’ve pulled up pretty well too with minimal stiffness/soreness. I’m looking for a good but not too heavy week this week before a similar taper next week leading into the Gold Coast marathon.
The bad news is that unfortunately, one of my partners in crime, Michelle Healy, probably won’t be doing it as the injury she sustained during Glasshouse has returned, despite an initial improvement. Fingers crossed. On the other hand, our mate Glen Hendry is going to be able to take part despite initially thinking he'd be off to the USA to work for a year.

To finish the entry on a positive note, Stacey got up and went for a run last Thursday out of the blue. She did nearly 5km with a couple of walk breaks. I’m really proud of her.

Why do we do it?

This was always going to be a hard week. Last week was taking its toll and I was being careful just walking on Monday.

I got through my ½ last night, glad to finish, but not in as bad shape as I was the Tuesday before. I was expecting to pay for it this evening and was seriously thinking of dropping the planned 12km. I took a couple of voltaren earlier in the afternoon to alleviate the soreness and off I went as soon as I got home. I felt pretty comfortable beforehand so had sort of decided to have a go.

I came in at just a shade under the hour with a 4:29 finish just to make sure. Not fast by a lot of standards, but pretty good under the circumstances (for me). Sets me up nicely for the remainder of the week and a virtual rest next week leading up to Mt Mee on the 22nd.

That's why we do it ... tonight is why we do it.

Making some progress I think

Really good run to back up yesterday and round off a good week that I thought would not be so productive. Calf has been sore all day and last night but did a lot of massaging with Arnica cream last night (thanks Michelle, for putting me onto it). Popped a couple of voltaren as a precautionary measure and I have to say have pulled up well.

Repeated yesterday's course and came in a minute under. Pretty good considering I had a light on for the return. I'm getting a feeling about 4-6 km in at the moment that is quite negative (maybe I'll cut a bit off, take a shorter route, etc.) and had to get through it tonight. I think it may be a hangover from GH50 and last weeks 'failure' to perform.

Another week the same just to drill it in and then see how we go at Mt Mee.

More ouch ... but improving.

This has been a tough week so far but there's light at the end of the tunnel.

Tuesday
21km on Tuesday was really tough. I was so sore (following on from Friday) but felt it would be ok when I'd warmed up. I set off at a very sedate 6:00min/km and pretty much stuck to that all the way but it was hard going. With about 4km to go, pretty much all I wanted was to get home. It wasn't pretty.

Wednesday
More of the same, just the 12km but still hard work. Not as bad as the night before which wasn't all down to the distance.

Thursday
Light at the end of the tunnel. I was sore, but I felt I was actually running a bit as opposed to making it. Getting there. Can't wait for a run on the trail on Saturday.


Got up this morning and went out for a scheduled 20km on a new route. The day off on Friday (core session at the gym, NO LEGS!) had served me well and I took off ok. This route heads down toward the beginning of Steve Irwin Way through the state forest on the eastern side of the Bruce Highway. I'd been planning to head this way for a long time and map a 25km+loop toward Donnybrook. Anyway, 20km out and back this time, 4km bitumen, 5km compressed gravel road and the remaining 11km was nicely 'undulating' fire trail.

A bit of a niggle now some five hours later but pretty happy. Back it up with something similar tomorrow with the same results and I'll be looking forward to next week.

Ouch!

Had a great start to the week. 21km on Tuesday night at 5:10/km followed by a steady 12 at 5:30/km. Nice start to a 70+km week.

Foul weather and the remnants of a cold made the decision for me to skip Thursday (not being a wuss, jut didn't think I needed a soaking to turn my cold into flu). I had a really hard gym session - legs only - on Friday, and got up on Saturday morning for a planned 20km and came to the same decision as on Thursday. Shit happens.

However, by Saturday afternoon, I had the worst case of DOMS I've ever experienced following the gym session on Friday. I got up on Sunday morning, not looking forward to anything in particular. I hit the trail, as it were, and it was all very pedestrian. I ran about 4km and decided to walk. My calf, which had been a bit tight following Glasshouse, was suddenly very sore and felt like a small tear. I decided on a hard walk from there. Aside of 1½km at the turn, I walked the rest for a 17km outing which gave me a little over 50km. Not the best ending to a week that had began so well.

Not too concerned but we'll have to see.