Go Hard

I skipped a couple of days training this week. The first day I thought I was simply soft, on the second I realised I was fighting some bug off. Nothing major, and the two easy days seem to have made the difference. The kids have been dealing with some snots and croup too. Instead of having me feel fast and rested, the time off seems have my legs feeling extremely flat. This has been carried into race morning. Not that I'm too concerned. An extended warm up and the style of race should have me right back where I should be. Onto the race, The Coburg Harriers Bluestone Classic . Since I first started into fun runs about 15 years ago, I had always intended to do this race. Surprisingly this is my first time toeing the start line. It used to be held on Saturday afternoons, but this year it fills the more typical Sunday morning time slot. It is a bit different to a standard race. The total distance makes 15km, which is broken up into 3000m on the athletics track, 4km on concrete bike p

There is something very reassuring about the mild fatigue in the legs that goes with some consistent training. Nothing painful. Nothing over the top. Just a mild fatigue, a few short lived aches at the muscle-tendon attachments and the sensation of tension through the muscles. This carries from one day to the next. It is a good feeling. Separate from the time trials, the log of kilometers and heart rates, it is purely the sensation of improvement that helps me know if I am on the right track. I am starting to get those sensations. To get this requires a reasonable amount of volume. It also doesn't come from trying t really force the speed into myself. Instead, it has always shown up when I am performing reasonable training daily. One of my favourite indicators is the one hour switch . This shows up when I am getting ready for the longer events. When my fat burning abilities are heading in the right direction. At about 50-70 minutes into a run, something just flicks over and everyth

Running about 240km over two days, and fighting a battle probably isn't exactly the best preparation for a marathon run. I don't plan on announcing "Νενικήκαμεν" and dropping dead at the end. My Greek is non-existent anyway. Still, running long in the lead up to a marathon is important, just done a bit differently than Pheidipipides. There are so many guidelines, instructions, opinions and criticisms on how the long run should be performed. Naturally not all will be optimal for everyone. So instead of telling others how to run, I will discuss how I do it in the lead up to a marathon. First and foremost it is important to understand the details aren't very important if a long run isn't being performed reasonably regularly. Just getting out there and covering quite a few kilometers gets you a good way there. Still, I like to geek things up a bit, so time for the details. If any session was to be chosen as the most important for the marathon it would be the long

Having a simple, repeatable structure works for me. I proved this to myself in my last marathon, and has been reaffirmed over the first part of this year. Routine is good. With routine I know what I need to do, and it is easier to set up my life to achieve that. Also routine provides a constant back drop from which I can create and monitor progression in my training. For example, the routine might be that my long run is run every 7 days, but the progression is 10 minutes longer each time. Here I present my structure for the base period. The general guidelines: Make running for 3 hours comfortable Become efficient and relatively fast at low effort levels Develop the strength and structure to handle the next phases of training The next 4 weeks will be 7 day cycles working off the following: Hill Repeats: Aim is for strength & power. Effort roughly VO2max or harder paces, but relatively short. A little bit of pure speed work thrown into too. Basic Run: aerobic conditioning 45-70min

I have repeatedly referred back to my post from 2007, The Point Of Base . Despite being written more specifically for Ironman training, the main points I still think are completely relevant. It is why my Base training is not just about lots of slow kilometers. There's a little more to it. Some of the overall goals of base training include: to develop the aerobic engine increase exercise tolerance enhance fuel metabolism develop ability to go the distance Overall I still summarise the main goal as: To develop a well balanced athlete capable of optimally responding to the stress of competition specific training To achieve that goal this year, I need a little more detail. First up I need to better define the goals of this period. Make running for 3 hours comfortable Become efficient and relatively fast at low effort levels Develop the strength and structure to handle the next phases of training They are still pretty general, and not very measurable. They need to be more objective. Run

The plan worked in 2009. As a result there will be a lot of similarities this year. However, I am aiming for a different (faster) time at the marathon this year, so there will be changes. Also, my life isn't exactly the same as two years, so by necessity there will have to be changes. Here I present a brief outline of my training for the Melbourne Marathon 2011 . Goals I have three levels of goals this year. Realistic: Run a personal record which is sub 2:58:44 Hopeful: Run sub 2:55:00 Dream: Hit 2:50:00 territory Phases Base: 5 weeks Threshold: 4 x 8 day cycles + recovery/test week Specific: 4 x 8 day cycles Taper: 9-15 days THE BASICS Base Make running for 3 hours comfortable Become efficient and relatively fast at low effort levels Develop the strength and structure to handle the next phases of training Threshold Increase the speed and time I can sustain running at anaerobic threshold Enhance ability to run relatively quick at low effort with better substrate use Specif

Back in April 2009 I formulated a plan to run sub 3:00:00 in the Melbourne Marathon that year. The original post/discussion was Global Marathon Domination . It was a nearly a full 6 month plan. I was successful then, running 2:58:44. This year is different. I have only decided to run this year's Melbourne Marathon about 4 months out. However, I have lot more training, relevant and consistent recent training history to work from. So I will take a lot of what worked last time, but there will be a few changes this plan. There will have to be, as I want to go faster this time. Over the next two weeks I will aim to sort out a few little niggles, that would likely lead to problems in full marathon training. In that time I will also perform a few tests to get some bench mark results. With that done, it will be time to have a plan written and time to start.