A hectic week
The last week has been an absolute mess but I've managed to squeeze in a fair bit of training and I've had my bike refitted and it now feels fantastic. I've also had a serious rethink on my position on trail running...
Saturday - boot camp run
After a seriously average day at work I really just wanted to hurt during this one so I did 9km total with a mix of short and long intervals, pushups and chinups on some playground equipment and some hill reps as well just for good measure. Very satisfying, but left me feeling very tender in the upper body.
Sunday - swim/run brick
After another crappy day at work I was well fuelled for my planned 1.5km threshold swim so I could establish a benchmark for Noosa. I did it in 27 minutes which was expected, but not great. Hopefully with a bit of stroke work I can get it down to about 25. The swim felt good, and I did the most thorough warm up and cool down yet.
About 5 minutes after I got home from that my best mate called and asked if I wanted to go for a light run around Southbank, the Botanic Gardens and Kanagroo Point and I couldn't say no to some cruisy recovery running. We started slowly enough but naturally the pace got faster and faster and by the time we finished we were going flat out to see who would crumble first (him :P ). My form felt really good on this run, I think because I started out so slowly. All up, an easy undulating 9km.
Monday - hill reps
One of the highlights of Sunday's run was re-discovering a hill I had run ages ago but forgotten about. It's about 150m, almost 45 degree angle (or at least that's what it feels like) and usually traffic-less bitumen. Still feeling fresh on Monday morning I headed back to do some hill reps and did 1.5km warm up, 6 reps of hard up and slow down, and then another 1.5km back to the car as cool down. Felt good and the legs still felt fresh afterwards, I think I could have done more reps but I had to get to work... next time I'm going for 10.
Tuesday - rest
Dropped bike off for a service.
Wednesday - like new!
Picked up the bike early and had them check the fit. This was something I had been planning to do since I switched to clipless pedals and just hadn't gotten around to. I should have done it sooner!
As soon as I got it home I changed and took advantage of a break in the rain to get out and put it through it's paces and it felt fantastic. The service meant everything felt clean and smooth and the new fit felt soooooo much more comfortable. I rode 20km hard and then took it to Mt Gravatt for a hill ride. This is another hill which I had forgotten for quite some time but will hopefully make many more appearances in my training from now on!
All that's really been changed is that the seat is a little bit higher a little bit further forward but it feels radically different and I don't feel like I'm stretching for the handlebars any more which is good. The best part of all was that it felt better the longer I rode, something I hope is further extrapolated on my long ride this weekend (providing the rain clears a little!).
Thursday - I am a mountain man...
When I went to bed on Wednesday night, I was a hardcore roadie and trail runners were hippies who ran naked and lived on forest berries and river water. After an hour running in very limited bushland in suburban Brisbane, I still think the same about trail runners, except now I'm one of them! and Six Foot has been added to the list of races I have to do before I die!
I basically just went for an hour cruise on some local trails, it was raining lightly when I started and when I got to the top of the mountain (hill) and into a clearing some really dark clouds started rolling in. The rain started getting heavier and I just kept running backwards and forwards exploring the different paths of the trail. When the rain got really heavy I ditched my singlet and just ran as hard as I could. It was very primal but awesome. Just Owen v nature, and Owen won.
I felt fine immediately afterwards but had a sore hip this morning and a slightly sore ankle, mainly (I think) because I'm not used to running on such irregular surfaces yet, a good bit of stretching soon cleared it up.
Friday - rest
Had to work a 10 hour shift so didn't have time for anything else!
So all up a very interesting week. It's only looking back now that I realise I did a LOT of hillwork and very little else. Not happy that none of my workouts went over 75 mins but I'm going for a long run and ride on the weekend which should even that up and hopefully, in combo, build on my aerobic base.
Saturday - boot camp run
After a seriously average day at work I really just wanted to hurt during this one so I did 9km total with a mix of short and long intervals, pushups and chinups on some playground equipment and some hill reps as well just for good measure. Very satisfying, but left me feeling very tender in the upper body.
Sunday - swim/run brick
After another crappy day at work I was well fuelled for my planned 1.5km threshold swim so I could establish a benchmark for Noosa. I did it in 27 minutes which was expected, but not great. Hopefully with a bit of stroke work I can get it down to about 25. The swim felt good, and I did the most thorough warm up and cool down yet.
About 5 minutes after I got home from that my best mate called and asked if I wanted to go for a light run around Southbank, the Botanic Gardens and Kanagroo Point and I couldn't say no to some cruisy recovery running. We started slowly enough but naturally the pace got faster and faster and by the time we finished we were going flat out to see who would crumble first (him :P ). My form felt really good on this run, I think because I started out so slowly. All up, an easy undulating 9km.
Monday - hill reps
One of the highlights of Sunday's run was re-discovering a hill I had run ages ago but forgotten about. It's about 150m, almost 45 degree angle (or at least that's what it feels like) and usually traffic-less bitumen. Still feeling fresh on Monday morning I headed back to do some hill reps and did 1.5km warm up, 6 reps of hard up and slow down, and then another 1.5km back to the car as cool down. Felt good and the legs still felt fresh afterwards, I think I could have done more reps but I had to get to work... next time I'm going for 10.
Tuesday - rest
Dropped bike off for a service.
Wednesday - like new!
Picked up the bike early and had them check the fit. This was something I had been planning to do since I switched to clipless pedals and just hadn't gotten around to. I should have done it sooner!
As soon as I got it home I changed and took advantage of a break in the rain to get out and put it through it's paces and it felt fantastic. The service meant everything felt clean and smooth and the new fit felt soooooo much more comfortable. I rode 20km hard and then took it to Mt Gravatt for a hill ride. This is another hill which I had forgotten for quite some time but will hopefully make many more appearances in my training from now on!
All that's really been changed is that the seat is a little bit higher a little bit further forward but it feels radically different and I don't feel like I'm stretching for the handlebars any more which is good. The best part of all was that it felt better the longer I rode, something I hope is further extrapolated on my long ride this weekend (providing the rain clears a little!).
Thursday - I am a mountain man...
When I went to bed on Wednesday night, I was a hardcore roadie and trail runners were hippies who ran naked and lived on forest berries and river water. After an hour running in very limited bushland in suburban Brisbane, I still think the same about trail runners, except now I'm one of them! and Six Foot has been added to the list of races I have to do before I die!
I basically just went for an hour cruise on some local trails, it was raining lightly when I started and when I got to the top of the mountain (hill) and into a clearing some really dark clouds started rolling in. The rain started getting heavier and I just kept running backwards and forwards exploring the different paths of the trail. When the rain got really heavy I ditched my singlet and just ran as hard as I could. It was very primal but awesome. Just Owen v nature, and Owen won.
I felt fine immediately afterwards but had a sore hip this morning and a slightly sore ankle, mainly (I think) because I'm not used to running on such irregular surfaces yet, a good bit of stretching soon cleared it up.
Friday - rest
Had to work a 10 hour shift so didn't have time for anything else!
So all up a very interesting week. It's only looking back now that I realise I did a LOT of hillwork and very little else. Not happy that none of my workouts went over 75 mins but I'm going for a long run and ride on the weekend which should even that up and hopefully, in combo, build on my aerobic base.
posted by owen at 11:35 pm
2 Comments:
Forest berries and river water are good for the soul Owen. You can be 'hardcore' and still do some trail running.
I am tired just reading your blog!!
Are you sure you don't want to skip the tri and go straight into an Ironman event??
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