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Sunday 26 August 2012

Week Summary: 20 Aug - 26 Aug

20/8/12
Mon - AM:12km (ish) around the Zamia Trail at Bold Park.
Me and James parked at the bottom of Reabold Hill and ran 2 laps of the Zamia trail. The first lap was pretty conservative but we then picked up the pace a fair bit on the second lap. It was great to push it a bit harder for a change. A good run to start the week.

21/8/12
Tues - AM: Rest Day 

22/8/12
Weds - AM: Kalamunda - Mundaring Weir return on the Bibbulmun
Today I wasn't feeling too flash, pretty blocked up with this cold I have so wasn't too surprised to be nearly 4mins down on my usual time to the Camel farm. I was pretty tempted to stop there and return back to the car but decided to push on and just try to enjoy the run and not worry about pace or intensity. When I got to the Mundaring Weir I was still 3mins down on my 'usual' training pace time which wasn't all that bad. The first couple of k's out of Mundaring Weir felt really good and my legs were definitely feeling stronger on the uphill sections. I got back to the Camel farm still 3mins down but was starting to feel a lot better. I got back to the car in 2:47:43 - nearly identical time to last week so I picked up over 3mins on the final uphill section back up to Kalamunda. Today was the first run with the new Suunto Ambit watch. The total elevation for this run is just under 1000m at 996m.

Weds - PM: Swan River loop from Burswood Casino
Liz was out at dinner tonight so was going to be home a bit later. I had a massage after my run this morning which was fantastic. Although I was lying on the massage table thinking how on earth am I going to run for the next few days...? My calves were definitely felling pretty tender after my massage guy Nathan had gotten into them! I decided after finishing work at 7pm that I might as well go for a run as Liz wasn't home. Just a cruisey 7km or so at about 4:40pace. The first few k were interrupted with toilet stops and photo taking so were a bit slower, then a 4:06km (whoops) and a 4:16 & 4:18 to finish. I was really surprised with how good the legs felt after the massage today. It was really fun to run on the flat for the first time in a while.

23/8/12
Thurs - AM: Bold Park Trails - Zamia and others.
I headed out with Adam this morning for a quick run before I had a Podiatry appointment and he was seeing Nathan the massage guy later aswell. A pretty fresh start this morning but things soon warmed up and we were going along at a pretty handy pace. Ended up being a touch over 13km in 1hr7min.

Thurs - PM: John Forrest National Park - Eagle View Trail
After a visit to the Podiatrist this morning I drove out to John Forest to meet James for a run. The plan was to do 2 laps of the 15km loop. It is a relatively technical first 5km or so and generally pretty hilly so a lot of fun. We were running along at a pretty good pace most of the way around really enjoying the near perfect weather and enjoying a change of scenery from the Bibbulmun etc. James wasn't feeling too flash towards the end of the first lap so decided not to go for a second lap. I was tempted to join him but thought I'd better go again and thought I would gain a lot out of pushing out a second lap despite feeling relatively flat. I started off the second lap really strongly and was feeling good until about 25mins in and I was half way up probably the steepest climb on the Eagle View. I stopped momentarily and thought what am I doing? My quads, who are normally my go to guys were not too happy with me for some reason. I had a quick shake out and pushed up the hill. Once I got to the top things were still a bit weary for a couple of k before I started feeling good again. I managed to push the second lap out in 1hr19min, just on 6mins faster than the first lap. I was pretty stoked with this as I wasn't feeling like I was pushing it and got to the end feeling really great.

Fri - AM: Lesmurdie Falls National Park
Todays run was awesome on so many different levels. It started with me nearly turning back to the car after only running 700m up the road and before I had even hit the trails. I started running today and my legs felt average. I was so tempted to turn back but then I had a voice inside my head saying "you know what Nike says..." (Thanks Pops). I carried on thinking at least in another few hundred metres I would be off the bitumen and onto my old stomping ground. I absolutely love running out at Lesmurdie. As far as Perth's standards, there are more hills than you can shake a stick at, hence my love for this cool place. I managed to stay out in the Lesmurdie playground for just over 2hours covering just over 21.5km with 935m elevation. A really pleasing run and I felt I overcame a few hurdles physically today that I know I will benefit from in my net race.

Sat - AM: Heritage Rail Trail
I managed to convince my beautiful wife that it would be fun if she came on the bike today so we could spend more time together on my day off work. It has been different lately with me doing so much training so our time together is so valuable. By doing the non-technical rail trail it meant that she could ride alongside me and we could chat. Liz mentioned that it might be a good idea to run later today to get a bit more used to running in the heat, which is likely for my next race. So we left the car at about 1pm and headed off on our 42km marathon trip. I think it was probably tougher going for Liz on the bike today as some parts were a bit rougher than I remembered. And the fact she had been to a gym class the day before and was already sore. The plan today was to do a really easy long run at about 5min per km pace. As we got further along the trail I realised that we were going a bit quicker than this, despite the warmer weather I was feeling really fresh and strong. One thing I did learn today is that the Blueberry Pomegranate GU does not like me one bit. It tastes so damn good but does backflips in my stomach. Good to find out in training and not on race day! We got back to the car with just on 41km done so I decided to trot up the road for a few mins and back to get the marathon in for the day. Today was one of those runs you are so happy to have done. It was so nice to run with Liz there to talk to and finish a decent run feeling great!

Sun - AM: Swan River - Raffles to Point Walter return.
Headed out with Adam early this morning to sneak in 20km before work. It was an absolute cracker of a morning and perfect for the thousands of awesome people participating in the City to Surf. I decided not to run in the C2S as it is too close to my next race. We started off pretty cruisey pace and were just really enjoying the awesome morning around the river. At the Point Walter turn around we picked up the pace a little and managed to come home 2mins quicker. I tried a new hydration method with the new Salomon pack to day which worked a treat, more to come on the pack soon...

Hours: 15hr 6mins
Distance: 177.2km
Total Ascent: 3590m

Along the Heritage Rail trail

View of the City from the Heritage Rail Trail

After Sunday's run around the Swan River
This week has been a bit of a turning point for me in my training. I have gotten past the niggling ankle injury I had and my achilles is feeling a heap better as well. This week was my biggest week mileage wise and surprisingly I am feeling really great. Following on from last week I feel that I am being more sensible with training and I am starting to reap the benefits of that now. It was a great week of hills and trails and good times out there running with mates. It is definitely cool to have a GPS watch again so I can keep more of a tab on my runs and distances etc etc, all good info to look back on. Not long now until my next race so looking forward to a few more days of training and then tapering starts. I'll be posting another write up soon on some new gear I am currently using.

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