Go Hard

Originally I had this race marked for the following week in my calendar. So in the last few days I did a little reshuffle of my training and managed to fit it at almost the last minute. I really wanted to run a proper 10km to help guide my marathon preparation. After last weeks, somewhat even pacing at the 12km, I wanted to test myself a bit more. So the plan was to go out fast and see if I could hang on. Not usually my strong point, but every now and then I find I can actually run faster than I thought. The course is a 5km loop on the Yarra Boulevard. A reasonably smooth bitumen road that is gently undulating the whole way. Nothing in that you could call a hill, but basically a series of false flats that takes 10-20 seconds off your kilometre splits if you're not careful. I chose the 10km option breaking with my usual style of choosing the longer event on offer. That meant two laps for me, mixing it with the 5 and 15km runners as we all started together. A moment's sile...

Time to be my fitness to test. Have I improved? Is there any speed in the legs yet? Am I stuck still back in ultra marathon paces? Is there hope for my marathon goals? In an attempt to answer these questions I picked a 12km race down in Yarra Bend. It is suggested that is a cross country or off road course, but that now has different meaning than it used to. It has been many years, since I last did this event, and as it turns out, hills now also have a different meaning. The race is organised by the Victorian Road Runners , who put on the type of events I like. Straight forward, small fields, accurate courses and a feel good nature that encourages some great racing. They don't go for the big fanfare, show bags, or any of the extras. Just old school running. I love it. The race had either a 6 or 12km options. I chose the longer, meaning I had two laps to complete of a course that was a mixture of concrete and bitumen bike paths, gravel, stone & dirt paths with a few hills thro...

Three weeks of training have been covered. A couple of points from my original plan have turned out not to be working for me. First is that I have some significant gaps in my long run. Mainly that it falls apart when I attempt to up the pace beyond anything down at the slow ultra end of the spectrum. No where near the marathon range. Second point is I was trying to cram too many key runs close together. Trying to squeeze in fast 400s, hill reps, a half marathon pace run and a long trail run into one week meant I wasn't performing well in key sessions. Plus it combined to cause some knee trouble requiring a couple of days off running and reducing a weeks volume down to 45km. That won't help if it gets repeated. The solution can be characterised by doing a little bit less a whole lot better .  For the long run I will focus on bringing up the average pace weekly, rather than pushing out extra kilometres beyond 30km. I know I can run further slowly, but I really need to bring up th...

Trail, road, track, marathoner, ultra runner, cross country, barefoot, heavy shoe... blah, blah, blah. Why can't I just be a runner? Why do people feel the need to classify and fit everything into a specific box? Personally I think it has a lot to do with the commercialisation of everything we do. Fitness is now sold as package and has to be structured otherwise there is the perception it isn't optimal. There is nothing wrong with specialising, but why let that define and limit you? How about just running? Check out a bit of history and be impressed with the terrain and results. There is a lot be learned from the following video, not mention some fashion we could bring back.