Rest Time

Went out for an easy run this morning but still pretty sore from Wednesday so pulled back and went home abit early....my body definitely needs abit of a rest for a few days, a rest i never gave it after the Half (as usual).. instead of resting I just plowed on regardless.....i know

......so I plan on some cross-training to replace Sundays run (it's Berowra's handicap which would do me in ATM).....then an easy Tuesday to be ready hopefully for the Warriors first 10km handicap which i supposed to be organising....

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Right abductor and left ankle sore-ish so icing and resting seems sensible even though they are pains that come and go without generally stopping me running.....despite the consequences Im still feeling good about getting my mojo back....its always a constant balance between pushing the boundary and overtextending yourself but im glad ive checked off mentally that i can smash out a faster run than normal when i want to...

Got My Mojo Working

Last night i went out explicitly to prove to myself that I could run faster over a longer distance and that my slow times recently were more mental than physical.....BOOM! 15kms in a 5.5 pace over a rollercoaster route.....may not be fast for many of you but its all about competing against yourself and last night i won

Im imagining that my body is like the bus in that Keanu movie Speed...if i run slower than 5mins40secs per km Ill explode and leave a terrible mess on the road...

I did five kms steady before meeting the Warriors for the last 10 and worked my butt off to keep the two leaders in sight....I caught up to them twice but they got me on the hills each time...still, i ran much faster over this distance than i have in around nine months...

So what do i need to focus on to keep doing this? Here are some thoughts..

1. Stay focussed through the whole run..dont let the mind wander..especially to thoughts of slowing...
2. Lock in the resolve and dont let go no matter what..get angry
3. Watch the second half of the run especially....remember your body can do more than your mind thinks it can and keep the pace....
4. Use affirmations if neccesary when it gets tough
5. Surge on occasions during the run..trying and get that feeling of flying
6. Make sure you fed and hydrated properly during the day before the run
7. Always keep the posture right..youll feel stronger..
8. Try and relax while your pushing it

This weekend in the Berowra BushRunners 10Km Handicap..the perfect opportunity for me to do it again....no worries

Moving On

Schadenfreude ⁱ/ˈʃɑːdənfrɔɪdə/ (German: [ˈʃaːdənˌfʁɔʏdə]) is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.

There are many ways to get over a run your not happy with....forgetting about, learning from it, being philosophical, training harder, contextualise it re; the conditions..Im afraid today. however, I included Schadenfreude among my strategies...

At today run the group were comparing their marathon times and experiences and i noticed one of best runners DNF'd due to the heat....he's a a bloody machine who runs ridiculous KM's (like training runs of 70kmsplus) but even he can have a bad day..I was impressed with how nonchalant he was about it, he didnt seem to really mind all that much so I might as well try the same attitude....

.......that finally lays to rest my worrying and helped me think that the best response to a bad race is just to accept that it happens every now and then and move on to the next one....

...so now thanks to the misfortune of others i move on to the next challenge....I tried some of the mental strategies I had been thinking thru on todays run too..a massive 5kms downhill then 5 kms uphill..steep......when the negative thoughts came on the way up I cast them aside and changed them to positive ('stay steady", " youve done worse", "your strong", ect...).I generally hate affirmations and see them as corny but they worked well and quickly

From Dissapointment to Greater Single-Mindedness

Still feeling dissapointed in my performance at last Sundays half marathon and deep down i know there was more going on than the heat....I can usually shake it off dissapointment pretty easily if it happens but I keep going over in my head what i could have done differently. A 10minute difference from last year really needs some thought....

I really need to re-evaluate my goals to avoid this kind of thing again..my focus for the last six months has really been on establishing trail running, developing my posture, learning to stretch better and getting rid of long-standing niggles; I know i took the half for granted and wasnt properly prepared, at least compared to last year when i was very zealous..

Basically I feel i need to either prepare properly for races i enter or leave them out and just enjoy local runs.. I have 8 weeks until Marysville Half...combined trail and road. For this i need to put a 15-21km run weekly at a proper pace until then..

The main lessons I have been reflecting on is how to establish mental strength or at least developing it alot more.....the way i see it I have been relying on 3 crutches which i need to try and get rid of..

1. Always needing music to pick up the pace...this means I am less in touch with my body than i need to be and less focussed on relaxing into the stress of running a little harder...it seems to me that repressing it through music might not be as good as facing the pain you sometimes feel and learning to accomodate it..I need to learn to relax when Im running 'comfortably hard' and not seek to avoid it...

2. Always needing to run with someone else to keep the pace...I LOVE running with other people and have made fantastic friends thru running but when Im in a race I am not used to it being just me and the road.

3. Only running at a faster pace when i 'feel like it'...

So my focus over the next 8 weeks is to develop some mental toughness, to exercise my mind and make my long run count more....5.40 pace....no music...solo alot of the time ....(oh god..and a few in the heat as Marysville will be hot)..lets see how i go......

Heres a nice piece on mental toughness

I especially like the idea that you need to learn to recognize certain thoughts that need challenging during a race: "its time to slow down', 'why not take it easy and enjoy it', etc and be confident that you can push on.....this doesn't mean easy runs are not important...just not during a race!

Anyway..this was a Dear Diary sort of post, me trying to work my own head out outloud..thanks for listening..

Sydney Blackmore's Half Marathon Race Report

Half Marathon today, part of Sydney Blackmoore's Running Festival...woke at 4am after a decent 6 hours sleep, met six other Warriors and off we went for a 620am start....

Alot less Warriors, not one other bloke compared to the four last year but everyone very keen!

My plan was to hold a pace between 5.30-5.40mins/km to bring me in at 156...2mins faster than last year....kept this up for ten kms but then...well..reality struck....even my orange shorts didnt help!

Firstly it was boiling hot and even at 11kms i was getting the dehydration tingles......I started to slow down at about 13kms to a 6.00min/km....from that point on i changed my mindset to staying steady, a move reinforced by seeing some people keeling over from heat exhaustion on the side of the road.....

Not sure if the heat explains the slowing completely...looking thru my stats i can see my plan was very ambitious, given my training runs never came close to the pace I had set and given I really only did four or five over 14kms....proof you can only run what you have trained for...

Despite this I can see I have changed alot in good ways since last year...my posture didnt fall apart, something that left me with a sore ankle last year that took ages to get over.....also I am not devastated by a slower time like i used to be.....Ill live to fight another day (that day being Marysville half.....I think Ill have to do some training in the heat for that one as it will be scorching by then)....I nice morning out with friends which made breakfast taste pretty bloody fantastic..

Congrats to all the other Warriors...Chris gets a massive congrats for her time..woohooo....and also to all the others running Half for the first time and doing great times.....2 ran with a cold (in the heat)! Next stop Central Coast Half Marathon?

Go Warriors!

2011 Half

Christine K 1.55.50

Gab 2.00.04

Tina 2.00.10

Paul 2.07.52

Christine 2.09

Leanne 2.17.19

Carolyn 2.18.53

Taper? Who Needs It

I planned a lovely long taper this week in preparation for the Blackmore's Sydney Half Marathon but have somehow found myself running as per normal.

Sunday: Trail run up and down to Berowra Ferry
Monday: Boxing
Tuesday: 7kms
Wednesday: 5kms smack down as fast as possible
Thursday: Gym Kettlebells
Friday: tomorrow 7 easy kms

Distances have been small so Im pretty sure it will be fine...I feel a million $ at the moment so what the heck.....

There will be 7 Warriors running this weekend temp 15-28C so it might be hot one..

See you on the other side...

Taper Week: I Feel Free

Taper week begins today for the Sydney Blackmores' Half marathon...its been a good ten weeks of training culminating in the past three weeks at 50kms/Week...

I have realised over this time that all the lighter weight running shoes i have tried have done nothing for me except aggravate niggles and make me very sore..Ive run in Brooks Beast for the past 3 weeks and its been heaven....Ill never go back, for the first time is a very long time my legs are clear of all problems

Im feeling pretty strong, especially after Wednesdays hilly PB over 10kms and a strong very hilly trail run this morning.....smashed it up Berowra Road from the ferry...(which means close to back with Berowra Bush Runners!)

Flu has been close but as yet holding off....Ill be praying this continues....trying not to think fluey thoughts! Havent had a cold in 2 and half years, thanks I reckon to running..

This week will do one more ten km and stick to gym work...no real time plans for the half...Id love a 1hr55minute..a PB..lets see..

Time for a classic

Warriors Relay

What a great night we had last night with the Westleigh Warriors, our inaugural Relay, copied from the Berowra Bush Runners...

Teams of two, with one fast and one slower runner take off round a hilly ten km course...one member of the team goes one way and the other the other way round..when they meet they exchange the baton (a colored pencil), turn around and go back the way they came... both have to cross the finish line to take a place..

Sixteen runners turned up and without fail each one completely thrashed themselves racing in the dark round the streets of Westleigh, Normanhurst and Hornsby......

Personally I ran a bloody rollercoaster of hills, ten kms at a pace of 5,3mins/km which i haven't run in over a year...

Winners got trophies (from the $2 shop) and Freddo Frogs......wooohoooo (I got second place)