Go Hard

My running seems to be back on track. Some good training, some good racing and a lack of the problems that put an upper limit on what I could do over the last couple of years. Importantly, most of my runs just feel good. It's all natural again. Finally time to plan the next big event. I think an 100km run fits the category of big. So that's what I've chosen. Throwing in enough time to prepare, sprinkling over some leave from work and an event that just makes me really, really want to race it. There's one that fits the bill quite nicely. That would be The Great Ocean Walk 100km . The GOW100 has been on my radar for a few years. It was nearly my first 100km back in 2012, but I ended up choosing the Surfcoast Century instead. So why the GOW100? It's an iconic race. It is grassroots and gets the basics right. Those basics are exceptional. The race covers the Great Ocean Walk trail from Apollo Bay to Port Campbell. This is definitely one of the most amazing and sce...

Another longish drive out to Ballarat for another go at the Victorian Police and Emergency Services Games Half Marathon. As usual I found amusement in watching the temperature gauge in the car drop the further I got from home and the closer I got to the race. As an added bonus the wind was a strong and icy southerly. A little extra cold just for fun. I wore gloves for this one. The half marathon is an initial 3.1km out-and-back kind of loop followed by three full laps of 6km around Lake Wendouree on the Steve Moneghetti Track. This is dead flat, has a bit of bitumen, but is mostly loose gravel. Looks quick on paper, but the gravel tends to suck just a little bit out of each toe off. It is a simple course and I quite enjoy it. This year the wind was up and looked like it was going to play a role. At the start I only spotted one person I knew to be worried about, Clarkey. We've gone back and forth against each over the years. He commented that there's always someone extra fas...

That time of year has come around again. Time for the Victorian Emergency Services Games . A chance to mix it up with the other services (because we can be a weird bunch), forget about work, have some fun, friendly and if wanted, some fierce competition. First event for me was the 10km cross country. My fitness seemed reasonable going in. Originally I had planned to train through the race, but the week turned out to be an inadvertent taper. A lot of training was missed for a few reasons. The main one being sleep. Fifteen and fourteen hour back to back nights took their toll on me this time. So I turned up expecting to feel pretty fresh. Instead my legs felt quite flat and heavy, at least until the gun sounded. Then my legs just kicked straight into race mode. There were some course changes this year. More country and less bike path, some extra hill and a bit less flat. I liked the difference. The field had plenty of new faces and missing some of the regulars so I had no idea ho...

Moving further through the base phase means the training is not just about getting ready for more training. It was nice back in the introductory phase when the long runs were almost hikes. Unfortunately, keeping things comfortable only gets you so far. The change over isn't cut and dry in that one day I am doing one thing, and the next day it's a complete change. The process is gradual and there is a lot of cross over. The start of my base phase will be fairly different to the end of it. It is the long run where these differences are showing up. At this time my long runs are travelling at two levels. The longest in a continuation of what was achieved in the introductory phase. Where I go out on a good mix of terrain with plenty of hills. I reached 2.5 hours, but am adding 10-15 minutes every week or so if I feel its right to increase the length. The so, is because I never follow a traditional seven day week. The intensity is now no longer kept at super easy. Instead I am a...

Recovery run? I just don't like the term. It is me being pedantic, but I like to use terminology that has some accuracy for me. I also like the titles to allude to a working definition. So why not recovery ? Well it tends to conjure up images of lying back on the beach or at a resort while having drinks brought to me. Recovery, tends to suggest not running to me. I like to use regeneration . I think the biology definition tends to be close to my goals:   " the restoration or new growth by an organism of organs, tissues, etc., that have been lost, removed, or injured." Which is pretty a big part of the aim of training. A regeneration run aims to enhance this process. This is all nice, but what is a regeneration run for me? Is it just an a very easy run? To be annoying the answer can be both a yes and a no. To be less annoying I will explain... ...my regeneration runs have the goal of restoration and new growth. Therefore they shouldn't be har...

Determining the pace of my runs is an important aspect of training. Just going out and running on feel has it's place, but it does have it's limitations. I want to improve, and I need to train in a way that produces results. Training should be challenging, but it needs to stay within my recovery capacities to ensure positive adaptations rather than stagnation or even regression. There needs to be something to guide how I choose these paces. I've thrown away the heart rate monitor quite a while ago. They don't make them like they used to. Even when the units are working, how fast my ticker is beating just isn't a good guide anymore. Maybe it's because I'm getting old or shift work just stuffs it all up. Can't think of any race that is won based on heart rate either. First across the line tends to be the usual way to win. Pace seems to be the option to go with. Because my racing goals flit between 100km and 10km events, picking the marathon seems be a ...

The Base Phase is probably the most important phase. It's the longest phase. It is where the main gains are made, both for the short term and long term goals. The specific phase that follows aims to fine tune the fitness built through the base phase for racing. As a result that fitness built has the biggest influence. I find it best to simplify the multitude of elements that go into the concept of fitness. Depending on how you categorise things, it is possible to fill pages of all the different aspects of fitness if you were so inclined. That doesn't work for me. Much better to combine all those aspects into two or three key objectives to focus on. Those objectives to develop are: Anaerobic Threshold Aerobic Endurance Biomechanics No individual session is the be all in developing any of this. All training sessions and recovery go into influencing each of those objectives. Some types of runs will have a greater effect over one objective than the others. As fitness de...