Can still achieve sub 5 min/km in training, just :-)

Over 10k, but it’s bloody hard work! Actually didn’t help by not warming up…first km took 5:55 which meant I had to do a lot of 4:55 ish to get the average down. Pleased that I could do the last km at 4:20 pace and finished the last 200m at 4:06, which is a sprint for me!

As an aside, I will be attempting to improve general fitness as well, so have decided to follow the Power 90 workout. This is by a bloke called Tony Horton who is slightly more bearable than the usual American dvd trainers. Usual claims of body transformation in 90 days which I take with a grain of salt. If that works out I can try the P90X program, where the X stands for XTREME!!! because obviously, that’s what I am ;-p Hehe we’ll see!

Run for Gold 10k – 45:30

One of  my favourite WAMC races, this 10k crosses 2 bridges, Graham Farmer and the Causeway. It also passes my new work office just off Canning Highway. Conditions were excellent and I knew I could push quite hard as I felt good, just had a banana for brekky. I was hoping for a PB but the headwind along the river after 8km did for me. I was pleased that I sustained an average 4:30 pace including a fast 4:17 finish which saw me reel in a bloke from about 200m in front of me! I like finishing fast but maybe I need to use some of that pace earlier on?

I couldn’t beat last week’s PB, but am still pleased with the 45:30, my fastest on this course.

I love stats, so here’s my progress over 3 years at this race:

Year	Time	Place	Place in Age Group (M40)	Total Competitors
2008	49:44	151	18	325
2009	46:39	116	19	338
2010	45:30	97	11	341

So not a bad progression, interesting that a 3 min improvement in 2009 still saw me slip a place in the age group!

10k Joondalup WAMC Road Race – New PB!

Beat my 10k PB by nearly 2 mins to go sub 45 for the first time, at around 44:48 according to the trusty Garmin. I was really pleased with this race as I started out strongly after a proper warm-up, doing the first k in 4:33. My slowest split was at 8k where I slipped to 4:40 but 9km and 10km were done at 4:15 and 4:10, my 2 fastest kms! So I was happy that I had plenty of reserve to steam home. The conditions were lovely and cool which helped a lot. Also, I played swapsies with another guy who really pushed me the whole way, but I pulled away from him in the last km, which was very satisfying :-)

I did no real training for this, running only once in the previous 10 or so days. A case of less is more?

Oh yeah, I did most of the running on my forefoot (pose running) which I think accounted for the speed. Unfortunately my calves took a hammering and I could barely walk for the next 2 days with DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness)!

As usual Roberto Busi won the race in 30 mins or something ridiculous, and is this years State Champion.

Forefoot strike, big toes and piano progress

I'm experimenting with a new running style, were you land on your forefoot instead of your heel. I think it's called "pose" running. There is lots on the net about it, supposedly it is more natural. However as I discovered it can really bugger your calves as it puts a lot of strain on them. The first time I tried it I hobbled for 4 days! Although I land on the fore foot my heel touches down briefly very quickly afterwards. This brief touchdown gives the calves a split second of relief. If you don't do that (i.e. heel never touches ground) you will very quickly tire the calves.

It's odd to do because you have to consciously think about it. But eventually it does become second nature. I find I can now alternate between heel striking and forefoot striking as required, to give my calves a break.

I've found that forefoot striking encourages a more efficient running motion and therefore is speedier. When I switch back to heel striking I feel "clumpier" although it is more relaxing. I reckon my times have improved using the technique, probably taking off 15 secs per km over 10k compared to a few months ago.

As an aside, does anyone else find that their big toe wears a hole in the top of their trainers?! I've had 3 pairs of Asics and each pair has the same hole where my big toes have rubbed right through the material on the top. They do fit me perfectly though. Weird.

Finally, I've been learning piano for about 6 months and I can now play stuff that doesn't sound like a retarded gorilla. I've spent a few weeks trying to learn Mozart's Minuet in F which Wolfie wrote when he was 6. And here's anothere 6 year old playing it on Youtube. Gah!

Here's a gratuitous pic of my piano (it's a digital one). It's even got dinky pedals so I can pretend I'm a real Liberace.

Synergy Gallipoli 8km – 36:42

A beautiful morning. Dragged the whole family down for a 9am start at Kings Park. There were 2 new dinos in the park which the kids noticed straight away. I was feeling good and quietly confident I could beat last year’s time and go sub 38mins. Said to hi to Lou, who was doing the 4k.

Once again a very moving bugle call of the Last Post, as we stood in silence at the start line with the gentle breeze rustling the trees that were planted in memorial of those who died in the armed forces. Always brings a lump to the throat, especially as the poem is read by John Gilmour, a well known local runner and veteran.

As we set off I was determined to take it easy, instead of blowing up like last year. The first 1.5k is a rather brutal uphill. I managed 5:10 for the first 1km and I knew then that I was on the right track (5:22 last year). The next 1.5 is a fast downhill in which I managed to get my first ever sub 4min km - 3:59 :-)

I think my 4km split was around 18:20 which is as fast as I’ve ever run. The second lap uphill was brutal and I shamefully stopped to walk for about 20 secs. I hate doing this and I need to work on my motivation. As Lance Armstrong says “Pain is temporary”. I need to push on through these moments. But God my legs were shot. At the turnaround I sped up again downhill but this time could only manage around 4:07.

I love the run down to the finish line, you can see everyone in the distance. I powered down as fast as possible and could hardly believe the time on my Garmin – 36:42. This was an improvement over last year of 1:20. I was pretty pleased and know I can do even better if I didn’t stop halfway!

I brought my new camera and took some photos of the winners. The mens 8k was won by Roberto Busi and Tina Major took out the womens 8k.

Bridges 10k - 46:41

This was my 3rd Bridges in a row. It's a 10k run around the Swan River in Perth crossing 2 bridges, the Narrows and the Causeway. This year it was run in the opposite direction, so we hit the Causeway first. I actually preferred it as it meant we had spread out a bit by the time the bottleneck of the bridge was hit.

It was a beautiful morning and I drove in after having just a coffee and banana for breakfast at about 6:15am. The race kicked off at 8am and I was in the B group. There is self seeding and B is meant for people who can run sub 45 so I was pushing my luck. Anyway I did the first km very quickly in 4:26, a pace which I could not equal for the rest of the race. Probably should have held back slightly. At least all my kms were under 5 pace, the worst being the 8km in 4:50. I really felt I gave it my all in the final km so I was quite pleased to come in at 46:41, just 2 secs off my 10k PB, considering I had only done one training run in the previous 2 weeks due to a shin injury (not running related).

My next goals are to drop 4kg, buy a pair of DS Racers, and get in more kms in time for the Challenge 10k at the end of May.

Darlington HM 14/3/10

Distance: 21.1km
Time: 1:51-ish

Well, this was just hard!
Up at 4:45am, drove 50k to Darlington and paid my $15 inc breakfast. It was very warm and just for fun the organisers changed the start of the course to include 2 rather nasty short but sharp hills. These were a bit of a suprise. My splits were something like 57/54 so not as good as some people who recorded much better second half times. I hadn't done much distance training so I can't complain too much. Was completely exhausted at the end and so was grateful for the fruit and muffins provided by WAMC.