SC100 Training: Base 6

This week was mixed up a little to accommodate racing. I kept in mind that I'm still in base training so I didn't want to taper sharply or have extended recovery after the race. Instead I the aim was to keep the training moderate leading in and then ensure I kept the kilometers up post race.

Day 1: am: Basic run 60min
pm: Weights
Day 2: off - due to work/family. Allowed me to shake off the stiffness that's been consistently building over the last week.
Day 3: am: Basic run 75min
Day 4: am: Race Salomon Trail #1 10.8km + warm up and cool down.
Day 5: off. Post nightshift, sleep
Day 6: pm: Long 2hr.
Day 7: am: Basic 90min
Day 8: off. extra nightshift again

The really good thing about my basic runs is that all I have to do is get out and run. I may have some generalised goal like aiming to keep the intensity towards the higher end of my aerobic conditioning range, but the most important thing is I just run. Usually I don't check my heart rate during the run. I'm also not concerned about how fast I am. I just set my watch to beep at the time I need to turn back. So no clock watching. To take away any other pacing pressure I often mix up where I run so it's almost impossible to compare to previous days. This leaves me with just running at what feels right at the moment. I really enjoy these runs. There is a definite lack of pressure that often accompanies the more targeted key sessions. They often feel like relaxation even if I am going a little harder. This results in a wide variety of speeds from run to run depending on all influences. Sometimes right down in the recovery area of about 7:00/km up to sub 5:00/km when feeling good.



I struggled a bit on most runs tho week. There were only two which really felt good. The first was the race at Yarra Bend. The other was my long run which due to a mix of other commitments ended up being constrained to only 2 hours. I attempted to get the most out of the reduced time by hitting the toughest terrain I have access to and running it hard. This run became awesome. Clearly I was carrying something over from the race that had my legs and feet feeling as one with rocks, mud, clay, moss, grass, hills, drops and everything else Plenty Gorge had available. By far my fastest run the area.

To sum up the it was about 2 key sessions. A 10.8km trail race and a 2 hour hard tempo-threshold technical trail run. The rest of the week really was just basic running with a struggle to keep on top of sleep with extra night work chucked in. I should still get a gain from training. For the final two weeks of base training I hope to stick the original template.

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