Thoughts on the Long Run

Last Saturday, was a tough run. For more than one reason. Firstly it was bloody hot and for the first time I started to feel the heat, whilst we started at 6:30 it was still to late and as of next week we are shifting training back till 6am and will be at 5:30 and 5:00 before you know it. Also for a change we ran a reverse course of what we would normally run, and I was surprised at how mentally tough it turned a normal run into when you factor in the heat. The hard point was when we were approaching the halfway point, this is normally the start and finish, so as we approached mentally you started to think that you were actually finishing, but also realising that you are only halfway and also there was no water here which only added to what was becoming a miserable run.
There are many reasons why it was a tough run for me, - at this point I have deleted what thoughts I wrote , next week is another week and dwelling on the past is no way to train, the effort now is to get back on track as a group and for that I need to change

End of the Week Summary Week 1

I have now started my training program for earnest for New York and structure will be the core element . Last week looked like this

Running 42 Km
Eliptical XT 9.6 km
Spinning 2 Classes - 60 km
Swimming 1.5 Km
Gym Workouts - weights x 3
Yoga - 1 Class 90 minutes
Core Sessions x 3

This year going to concentrate on lots of cross training , to add to tri training , but will need to refocus back into running , just simple running , no junk miles

New York 2006 Training Program

It is about a month out now from starting the full scale Training Program for New York 2006, putting the finishing touches to the program, based on my experiences to date. This year I will be concentrating on three to four solid runs a week each with a focus, rather than junk miles where I have previously just logged ten km runs for the sake of mileage.

Each week will have

1. The Long Run (Saturday Morning)
2. A Track Session - working up to 10+ 800's (Yassos)
3. A Hills Session - again working up to around 10 repeats
4. A Tempo Run - Fast hard distance and pace

I will also keep up a more focused XT Program this year that will include
At least 3 Spin Classes a week
Yoga once a week this is needed for my flexibility , which is at an all time low
Weight Training twice a week coupled together with Core workouts

If I can figure out how to put the excel spreadsheet up will post that as well

Zen & The Art of YOGA

Over the last year or so of active training and pushing hard the one thing that I have lost is flexibility. The days of lifting my leg up onto a fence or post to stretch out have just been getting harder. So rather than settle for the loss of being limber I went to my first Yoga Class yesterday.

Now if you have never done a Yoga Class you will probably of had the same preconceptions that I did, that you sit in a pleasant incensed smelling room, listening to relaxing whale songs and everyone sits around cross legged chanting OMH and becoming incredibly flexible whilst not doing much.... WRONG

This was a full gym room and man it was physical , When you start sweating in a yoga class you know that any pre conceived ideas are out of the window for an hour and a half I moved and stretched my limbs beyond my wildest dreams, no it was not doing backward dolphins before twisting into the savage cobra. It was a total muscle stretch that felt fantastic , At least you have five minutes at the start and at the end when you just lie down and listen to the relaxing easy music, that bit I did do well.

Looking forward to going back, just like learning to run , learning Yoga will be a fun thing to achieve OMH OMH OMH

Phedippidations Worldwide Half Marathon Update

October 8th and everyone is invited from around the world to join us for the Phedippidations Worldwide Half Marathon Challenge , Check out the forums of the home page of Phedippidations at www.steverunner.com.
We are putting the final touches together as Race Directors and will have registration deatils available soon, It is our chance as Runners to Run Locally Think Global, we hope that runners from around the world will join us , there will be no cost to enter totally free and for a race T shirt we are going to have logos designed so that you download them and go and get them printed at your local shop , race numbers will be available to download .
Any questions or ideas
Drop me a Comment
Cheers
Mal

Thursday on the Beach

After a couple of hectic workdays down in Gaza, watching a society collapse. It was nice to meet up with friends last night and go for a simple run along the beach front at Tel Aviv.

Tel Aviv has a great beachfront for running along from the Northern end Carpark down towards Jaffa, you run past trendy restaurants, down market Humus dives, couples strolling along the boardwalk, you go past the Religious beach , yes a beach set aside for the Religious where modesty prevails, not to mention where they can throw rubbish anywhere.

One of my little quirks, is that when I get to a halfway turnaround, or any turn I like to touch it both hands, my running partners even do the same know , a small win for my stupid running traditions.

We did a good ten km in an hour, I actually felt like it was a better pace than what we did , which makes for a nice run where it all just kicks in and your pace just floats you along the path.

Track 10 x 200

There is something about running 200 repeats on a track, somehow we all have images of Michael Johnson in his Gold Shoes running in his style or Justin Gatlin exploding or Mal James in full poetic motion as he glides around the bend before opening up on the straight.

To set the record straight, I would be coming off the bend as they crossed the line, it would be like watching one of those uplifting Olympic moments when the crowd would forget about the winner and focus on the sheer beauty of the sport and the underdog giving it all he could for national pride on a foreign track many miles from home. There would be uplifting music under the montage of slo motion camera angles, except they would not have to slow it down to much.

Now all that being said and remembering the absolute crap session I had last time at the track, today was a good workout, using it to pick up speed for the upcoming entry into my first tri in Tel Aviv next month.

Splits

#1 - 46.2
#2 - 43.2
#3 - 42.0
#4 - 42.4
#5 - 41.6
#6 - 40.6
#7 - 41.8
#8 - 41.6
#9 - 41.1
#10- 37.8 ( pace 3:53 km/min) - ( Speed 16.6 km/h)

A good session in hot weather . temps hit 31 degrees C
HRM - failed in monitoring heart - flat battery

Phedippidations Worldwide Half Marathon

Now fellow runners this is a totally fun and fantastic thing that I have become involved in , I am a "Race Director" that is so cool , for those who have not listened to the Podcast Phedippidations then as a runner you are missing out on a great way to increase the pleasure of running
Check out www.steverunner.com
But this is a way of saying that we are organising runners from around the world to join us on October 8th 2006 and share the experience of running a half marathon together, whether in an organised run or just running alone on your own course you have measured out, join us on October 8th for a truly global run
If you have any questions please leave a message or comment and I will get back to you
Mal

Cyprus & Bad Cold

Have managed a few runs here in Cyprus , in between learning lots of technical geek stuff and endless hours on the hotel roof looking at squiggles on a Spectrum anylizer.
One of the things I love about running is that you can do it anywhere , well nearly anywhere.
It is so pleasant to run in a new country and see things that you can only experience whilst pounding the pavemant, past restaurants where you try to glimpse at the menu boards , all I could ever focus on was that they all seem to sell Prawn Cocktails and then I am past the board. The early morning light is so glorious here , bright sunshine and white houses that border the Med. Sea , then you turn a corner and are greeted by tacky tourist strips with Starbucks and English pubs advertising Sky Sports and beer.
Another nice run is around the Salt Lake and to the Old Historic mosque all the time listening to running podcasts, a great way to wake in the morning or to spend a lunchtime instead of eating a bad hamburger I now head out in the early summer sun and just forget the world for an hour.
Mal
Larnaca Cyprus

Cyprus Bound

Off to Cyprus for a weeks training course in learning how to run an uplink , one of those big white dish things you see at news events, but will also look forward to running and training somewhere new. another chance to squeeze in a MHT (Mal Hotel Triathlon) Swim Bike Ride in no particular order, but all in the same day.
Like to try to up the swim to 750 m , have not been able to get in the water for the last week as I am fighting something that I thought was Athletes foot, but was in fact an allergic reaction to chemicals in pool or hot tub at the gym. Hopefully it almost cleared now and I will be able to get in the water again.
Managed to squeeze in a late morning quick gym , 30 minutes Eliptical XT Course then the 15 minute core session, these are awesome workouts and one day I will have the six pack. The hardest thing at the moment is that I am loosing a lot of flexibilty and need to get some Yoga or Pilates into the training program
Next stop Larnaca Cyprus

End of the Week Summary

Ok today has sucked for various reasons and been good for others, there are things that you cannot control and people getting shitty and in bad moods then taking offense at you without thinking of the their own actions is one them. Now that, that is off my chest to a degree that is better.

Being Saturday lunchtime I am down at the Gym using their wifi network to get online , update my logs and work on the Inaugral worldwide half marathon idea with Steverunner.com, which has taken roots this week and will be fun

Had a nice solid 13 km long this morning in around 1:18:00 actually think it is a better time than that will have to download the HRM when I get the chance and actually look at the splits, followed that by a core session which has left my abs painfully sore which is painfully good , then a Spin Class which had my legs saying enough for today thats it no more

Weekly Stats

Running 37 km
Eliptical 9 km
Spinning 90 km
Swim .5 km
Gym 1:10:00

Yearly Stats to Date

Running 693 kms
Eliptical 46 km
Spinning 641 kms
Swimming 6.8 kms
Gym 3:20:00
Cycling XT 76 km

Back to the Track

Having been away for the quick sojourn to Nepal, Time to get back to the serious business of focusing on training.

Decided yesterday morning to just go out for a run, out to the white tent and back 8km's nice in the morning sun with temp's up in the mid 20's, just feel so tight in the hamstrings and groin, but thought nothing of it.

Had to visit the Doctors have been thinking that I have had Athletes Foot that had over the last month just got worse, even got some antibiotics from a chemist in Bangkok, big mistake since I did not have a fungal infection like Athletes Foot but in fact was having a allergic reaction to chemical water and I had continued to hot tub and swim in a pool the whole time , no wonder the problem was getting worse.

Doctor had one look told me what it was and now on correct cream and it should be gone in five days, we mere males are just plain stupid at times.

This morning hit the track for 8 x 400, and man did I have one of those training sessions when you felt like you could not find form , was one of those sessions you need from time to time just so that when you have a good day you know how good it feels to have a good day at the track , today was one to forget