“Well, were all in the mood for a melody”

Went for my long ride yesterday morning and what a great ride free of any problems was really lovely riding along the M5 in the early hours of the morning.

Left the house at 4:30am and head of down the M5 with the intent of turning around at Brooks Rd at Ingleburn all up it the ride should be a bit over 40K. Was a nice morning and the rain held of which made it a magical morning. On these long rides I leave the Ipod at home deciding it’s probably best for safety reasons which gives one a good long time to contemplate certain aspects of your life. Had a good long think about certain things yesterday morning which is always good one of the things I really love about running is that you really get some good time to yourself to just work things out. Anyway reached Brooks Rd and made the turn for home got maybe 300m from where I got my flat and I found my bag that I had lost the week before it was trashed but managed to save my $10.00 everything else was trashed but still happy days. The rest of the ride flew by as I hit a big down hill section so I just pumped my legs and travelled along at 1:30min/k pace for about 10K before I hit the toll gates.

Finished doing exactly 40K in 1:40:27 so looking to better that on Sunday morning.

“And you’ve got us feelin alright”

Well had an interesting weekend was all about running for a change. Went running with my new running buddy Jill on Saturday and Sunday and fun was had by all. Saturday was our normal weekly run which was just around my house we did 4.75K in 32 minutes (Jill has a faster pace per K than me so I have been using our runs as my speed sessions). Then on Sunday My Wife, Jill and I went out to lunch and then afterwards it was decided and we would go to the bay and try another run. Ended doing 4.25K in 27 minutes so was a little faster but by this stage her right calf was a little sore so we walked the rest of the way around and then had a good long stretch before the drive home.

1K PB: 4.28
4K PB: 25:28
5K PB: 33:35
7K PB: 48:54
10K PB: 76:37

Last Run: 4.25
Week: 4.25
Month: 46.66
Year to Date: 85
Life to Date: 470

A Calamity of Errors

Well as the heading says this morning was unbelievable can still not believe it have never had so many things go wrong.

I got up at 4:15 to go for my 60K bike ride and really all I wanted to do was go straight back to bed (a feeling I really should have listened to). Anyway was out the door by 4:30 and on my way. The plan was to ride up the M5 to Ingleburn and back from the street directory it looked about 30K one way so hoping that was the case. Well it wasn’t but the next exit was til Campbelltown so turned around anyway and headed for home at the 21K mark. Well 22.57K into the ride I rode over a huge nail and bang went my tire. Pulled over to the side of the road and reached under my seat for my Spare Tube and tools and the bag that was there in the morning when I left the house was no longer there. Was very upset by this stage was roughly 20K from home no spare tube no tool kit No Money (it was in the bag under the seat as well. Luckily the bag was jam packed so I had my phone on a pouch on my arm so called my father (it was about 5:50 by this stage as I had walked a bit down the highway looking for an emergency phone before I realised I had mine on my arm). Told Dad basically where I was but would call him back to confirm once I got of the M5 Thank God it was only another K to the next exit. When I got of the M5 tried to call my Dad only to find my phone was busted and just showed a pure white screen so luckily there was a Caltex Service Station just down the road got there but was no pay phone asked the Girl behind the counter if there was one near by but she let me use her phone to call Dad to tell him exactly where I was (Thanx Christine if you ever read this really did say my day). Then Dad finally arrived and we got the bike in the car and was heading for home through peak hour traffic on the M5 but her at least it was moving (crawling) got home and as we where taking the bike out of the car I realised that my water bottles had leaked all over mums car so don’t think she is going to be to happy.

Anyone else just would have had a flat fixed in 5 minutes and on there way but oh not me of cause not.

All in All it’s just Brick Training in the Wall.

Had my Brick training last night and still struggle a little bit when doing this so glad I am that I was advised that I would need heaps of training before the race. Was busting to get out on the bike this week as I had a new pair of riding glasses to test out (surprising how much of a boost you get when you have new gear to test). Was a little scary cause when I got back the glasses where covered in all sorts of sh1t which probably use to get straight into my eyes so glad I got them. Ended up doing 15K in 47:31 not my fastest time but it was very windy last night so going to use that as an excuse. Then straight into my 2K run (still al I can manage after a 15K ride) managed to crawl around the 2K loop around my house in 15:25 which is my long run pace so not to slow but still slower than I would like on race day but then again all I am looking for is to finish just need to keep reminding myself. Well I have swimming tonight and then my long ride tomorrow morning (60K) so going to sleep well tomorrow night.

1K PB: 4.28
4K PB: 25:28
5K PB: 33:35
7K PB: 48:54
10K PB: 76:37

Last Run: 2
Week: 2
Month: 37.16
Year to Date: 75.5
Life to Date: 460.5

Blogging On

Friday

Had my speed session today and it was my first in a long time and my heart really wasn’t in it so didn’t go very well but it was a start and looking forward to the one next week even more really need to focus on getting a little speed.
Saturday

Went for a run with one of my wife’s dancing friends (we will call her Jill) as she is trying to tone up a little. Jill is not the fittest person I have ever meet but damn she can run FAST. Which is good in a way for me, I decided to just run for 2 minutes then walk for 2 minutes so as to not wear Jill out. All was going well and I was managing to keep up in the two minutes we were running unfortunately due to the speed session the day before my legs were a little dead but I managed to finish nice and strong in the end. By the tenth rep Jill was a little tired but still very fast.

Sunday

Was up really early for my Long ride this morning but after the last two days my legs had really had enough and my riding buddy had gone for a really long ride the day before so we decided to just do two trips around the Bay (including the extra doggy bit plus the big hill so Two loops worked out to be 20K which we finished in 59:59 just inside the 3min/k pace.

All in all it was a big week last week but it’s going to be bigger this week before I start to wind down for the upcoming Tri. Still only worried about the swim leg hope I can get enough training in before the 18th March I know I can swim the distance just hope it wont take 2 hours to get there.

Bad Blogger

I have been a Bad Blogger this week so will have to update

Tuesday

Went for a swim in the morning and managed 500 meters in 14:30 which is a bit slow but here’s hoping I can get a little faster before the Tri. In the afternoon I went for a bike ride as my legs where still a little funny from Sundays run so decided to go for an easy 10K.

Wednesday and Thursday

Will have to report that training just went out the window as had some others things to deal with was a little annoying but am determined to finish strong for the week.

Friday

Went for what I thought would be about a 40K bike ride this morning but it ended up only being 22K (hard to judge the distances in the street directory). So am back to the drawing board for a good long ride around my house. I need a nice long loop because I find it really difficult to ride past my house and keep going.

Tonight I will hopefully be going for a 5K run (speed work) if I can motivate myself to get out the door. Shouldn’t be too hard as my legs are back to normal now (after last Sunday). I want to crack the 5min/Km barrier again tonight as it has been a while since I did it last and am hoping I didn’t in fact dream it last time.

“And as we wind on down the road”

Well had one of the best training runs so far on Sunday I went to the Bay yesterday afternoon and was planning on running for as long a possible as I have been neglecting my running a little of late and I wanted to attempt two laps of the Bay for quite some time so yesterday was the day I was going to achieve this. 14K is 4K longer than I have ever run and also haven’t run more than 5-6K in a long time. So headed out nice and easy was aiming for a time of 1:52 which works out to be 8min/km which is my normal long run pace. After about the first 1 I was 150 meters in front of Buddy Jnr (virtual training on my Garmin) and was travelling to fast so pulled back a little bit and ran the next couple at the correct 8 minute pace but then it started to pick it up again so the 7th and 8th K were a lot faster than they where suppose to but was feeling on top of the world it was at this stage that I felt I could go forever and was contemplating going for one more lap but by the end of the 13th K that stupid thought had left my mind. Finished up doing 14K in 1:46:54 which was 5 minutes under my target time so was ecstatic with the result and still managed to sprint the last 50 meters or so but I was well and truly done by the end. Still amazingly enough the last K was my fastest will never understand that.

Splits

7:08
7:51
7:53
8:09
8:00
8:04
6:58
6:55
7:50
7:23
7:43
7:55
8:07
6:52
1K PB: 4.28
4K PB: 25:28
5K PB: 33:35
7K PB: 48:54
10K PB: 76:37

Last Run: 14
Week: 14
Month: 28.16
Year to Date: 66.5
Life to Date: 451.5

“Our shadows taller than our souls”

Wow well what I never would of thought possible 7 months ago happened this morning not only did I rise at 4:30 this morning (with only 4.5 hours sleep) but then drove to Ryde and then went for a 50K bike ride. Was really awesome meet up with Pebbles from Cr and we went up the M2 for 25K then turned around and came back whole trip took 2:07:50 which is pretty damn fast (well for me anyway). Was really nice going along the M2 at 5 in the morning good view along the bike lane and wasn’t to busy on the M2 when we turned around a Sunny Holt Road to head back to Ryde it got a little busier but still not to bad and we had a dedicated Bike lane so wasn’t to worried. Pebbles got a flat about half way back so that slowed us down a little, so only managed to make work at 7:45 just enough time for a shower and then run upstairs. So all in all it was a good ride but when I got back realised that I’ll have to do it all again next week and that’s a little scary.

“There walks a lady we all know”

Well the ankle is finally feeling good again went for a 3K easy run last night as I didn’t have time for a ride and ended up doing it in 20:37 which is a good time for me. Going to attempt a new 5K PB again next week hopefully everything will go smoothly this time. Really believe that I can get under 30 minutes for the 5K will just have to see how I go.

1K PB: 4.28
4K PB: 25:28
5K PB: 33:35
7K PB: 48:54
10K PB: 76:37

Last Run: 3
Week: 8
Month: 9.66
Year to Date: 48
Life to Date: 433

“Who shines white light and wants to show”

Well first run after the fall last night and it didn’t go to plan, wanted to do a nice easy 5K and after about 1K I could feel my ankle starting to strain a little. It didn’t hurt but it just didn’t feel right so moved onto the grass but still only managed another 0.5K so just decided it was best to stop completely and give it a couple more days before I try again.

Went for a swim this morning and did 400m in 9:17 exactly the same as last time but was a real eye opener as it was really hard and don’t think I could of made the whole 500m swim leg of the Tri which is only 40 days away so will really need to focus on swimming for the next couple of weeks as I am confident in the other events.

1K PB: 4.28
4K PB: 25:28
5K PB: 33:35
7K PB: 48:54
10K PB: 76:37

Last Run: 1.5
Week: 1.5
Month: 3.16
Year to Date: 41.50
Life to Date: 426.5

“How everything still turns to gold”

Well Fridays run didn’t go according to plain firstly my wife who was suppose to join me for a run once again decided that sleep was more important and refused to get out of bed (mind you this is at 5:30 in the afternoon). So decided to run over to my parent’s house and as I wanted to attempt a new PB for 5K I had been pumping myself up all day telling myself over and over that I CAN do this. So set Buddy Junior to run 5K in 30 minutes and took of after my warm up. 1.66K into the run everything went wrong I was going really well I was going strong was 52 meters in front of Buddy and then came the pot hole. Down I went and man did it hurt at the time I thought I had done ligiment damage to my right ankle but upon later investigation in turned out to just be a slight sprain so decided to stay of it for a couple of days and not exercise. Easier said than done because by 5pm on Saturday I was busting to get out for a run but my Wife talked me out of it saying it’s better to be careful. So have been very bored the last couple of days but am pumped for with afternoon as I am going for a easy 5K jog just to test the leg out and see how it goes hopefully all is well and then it’s back into the training.

1K PB: 4.28
4K PB: 25:28
5K PB: 33:35 (STILL)
7K PB: 48:54
10K PB: 76:37

Last Run: 1.66
Week: 1.66
Month: 1.66
Year to Date: 40.00
Life to Date: 425

"And if you listen very hard"

Decided to go for a bike ride last night rather than a run as it's a little easier on the legs and mine haven't been feeling that great over the last couple of days. Road to my parents house only to find they weren't at home so missed out on my rest stop and had to turn around and go home. ended up doing 13K in 42.10 average of 3:14min/Km which is pretty good considering the hills I had to climb. All in all it's been a funny week where I exercised everyday but have failed everyday to do what was actually on my program so will really need to get into it next week as there is only 44 days to go.