Monday, 24-Jan. Drills
I did some Pose drills and sprints on the local field. Last time I did some drills it felt awful but I think that may have been because my back was sore after the first day back at work and sitting down all day.
This time it was great, the sprinting felt excellent, I have much more springiness in my calves now and I don't get any (very little) soreness in my tendons when I put in the fast bursts.
Very pleased with the progress.
I'm thinking of doing a race on Australia day, again, its a free one. It will be longer than anything I have done in the last 10 years, it is a 16km run from Brighton to Hallet Cove and back. A course that will be on road, stony and sandy trails.
I will be a bit nervous again but hey, the main goal is to complete it.
Wednesday, 26-Jan. 16km
This was a bit of a spur of the moment decision to have a go at running the Brighton to Hallet Cove trail. I have not run 16km in quite a long time, probably over 10 years in fact.
This was a casual run organised for Australia Day, no fees, numbers or times.
The meeting place was Brighton Jetty where the organiser gave some facts about the run such as climbs of 400m and 900 steps to negotiate.
One of the Many Sets of Steps To ClimbWhat was more relevant to me was, what were the quality of the off road paths.
At 7am around 40-50 runners had assembled at the jetty and were busily limbering up. I heard increasing evidence that says static stretching isn't that good for you so I didn't bother, just did some small jumps.
I set off near the back as I didn't want to slow anyone down.
The section from Brighton to Kingston caravan park was on the road, a distance of around 2.4km, that was fine, after that there was a small section of gravel for 300m then back onto a road for the first bit of climbing for 450m then you hit the gravel trails and the point where I have to slow down.
If the trails were natural earth it would be ok but these are all irregular stone chips and you have to keep your eyes and brain engaged to ensure you don't hit you heel on any.
Here I am negotiating some of the many stepsThe boardwalks were great, the steps that were set in the gravel were hard as they were some 1m apart and about 30cm high so you couldn't bound from step to step you had to negotiate the gravel in between. Going up was easier than going down.
I got to the halfway point at 8km feeling good then had to do the whole thing in reverse. Going back was harder as I was more tired, the feet were more tender so I had to slow down to walk on the downhill stretches.
It was a joy to hit the bitumen roads again after 5km, I managed to perk up a bit on those last few km to the end.
It took me a little over 2 hours which doesn't sound very impressive, I was just glad to finish, it was a tough run.
My feet were good, no cuts or new blisters, the old skin had come off some of a blister on each foot that I'd acquired a few weeks earlier.
I shall have to pamper my feet for a few days now.
Scrap Iron Dog Looking out to Sea, Brighton 6.45amThursday, 27-Jan 0km
Wow, I forgot about the payback when you run longer or harder!
All that running up and down steps over 16km, my calves are shouting 'hey buddy what the hell were you doing?'
I think they like flat ground.
They will be ok in a couple of days but for now I've got the compression gear on to keep them quiet. The feet are quite happy about the run, no complaints there.
Saturday, 29-Jan. 8km
We have some of the hot ones lined up for the next few days as the Aussie summer hits full steam ahead.
Today it is due to get up to 39C, tomorrow 42C and then a 41C day, those kind of temperatures seem to suck every bit of moisture from your lungs. Unless you are drinking litres of water a day it is so easy to get dehydrated and running is the biggest user of water as you try to cool off.
I need a special ice hat!
I managed to get to the beach today at 8.30am and it was a nice temperature around 25C.
My aching calf had settled down so I felt confident to do my shorter run along the road then back along the beach.
Barefoot road running is so easy now, I feel so springy now that I have learned Ken Bob's important mantra about the calves, relax, relax relax it all makes sense now, it took long enough to learn it. I think now I am attaining the stage of unconscious competence.
Over the next month I want to work on speed so I can get my soft sand running time down below 5m/km, if I can do that it will give me confidence that I can better my time in the Beach Bash by 4 minutes, that would be great.
So, tomorrow, if I can get out early enough I'll do a short 4km run with some good bursts of speed, then, later, in the evening I'll try some drills, if it isn't too ragingly hot.
Sunday, 30-Jan. 4km
During the summer to keep my place cool I usually just open the windows at night once the outside temperature has dropped below that inside.
A bad omen is usually when it's time for bed and the temperature is still well above the inside temp.
Last night looked good, the temperature pulled back to 29C outside so I opened the doors and windows, I would expect the temperature to drop through the night.
This time I woke at just before 6am, the blinds were being blown by the wind, it felt warm, I checked the outside temp. and it was already 30C. I rushed around to shut everything to keep the hot air out.
What a contrast at the beach today, instead of a nice 25C I've got a hotter 31C at 8am. I was only going to do a short run anyway but I did intend to go as fast as I could, the heat drained my energy.
I went from jetty to jetty and back in exactly the same time of 11min for the 2km, it was thirsty work.
The temperature by afternoon will be 42C far too hot to do anything.
After the run I got on the bike and cycled to the gym for a bit of strength work. Worked on the hamstrings, that will help when I run.
Neil
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