It’s a little under 5 weeks to go until Canberra, meaning that the next couple of weeks will be the last real chances I see to go for longer distances until the lead in focuses on the shorter sharper bursts that I’ve been incorporating into the training lately. It’s also just 10 days until the Twilight Run in Brisbane, where I’m participating in the Half Marathon event.
To me it’s always an advantage in preparing for a major event to include a smaller event to use as a dress rehearsal. It’s a good time to make sure the important gear is working, and to see just how well a race plan will pan out. It’s also a very different event given the start time of 5PM is much later than the morning starts that just about every other event held worldwide uses. So planning for this will be a little different in terms of timing but not so much in the pre-race routine. Also complicating matters is a football commitment in Bundaberg, just a few hours up the road but not as well served in transportation than other major regional centres in Queensland. All things being equal, I WILL avoid injury in the footy the day before, fortunately the coach knows about this so I may not be required to play heavy minutes.
Fortunately in my favor is some course knowledge. With the event based at the St Lucia campus of the University of Queensland, the mind goes back to the City2South event in Brisbane last year. The bulk of the middle stages of the event and the 3rd river crossing are parts of the course that appear to be common to both events. However, instead of turning left after the bridge and running up Highgate Hill, the turn is right to what could well be the unknown. The plan like most other events in this regard will be to stay with a pack or to follow a pack of runners who will hopefully have an increased understanding of this course. The event ends with a lap of what appears to be a proper running track, something I haven’t trained for (none exists in this part of the world) and something I haven’t done since a high school carnival in 1997.
Taking all this into account, and knowing that not all plans come exactly to fruition, here’s how I’m anticipating the pre race plan to be. Note that all bookings relating to transport and accommodation will be completed by Saturday 16/3/2014.
11:40 (Sat Night): Greyhound Bus from Bundaberg to Brisbane. Other transport options on the Sunday would not provide me with enough time after arrival to complete required tasks both related and unrelated to the event. Meal stop scheduled for Kybong’s Matilda Roadhouse at 3:30AM for approximately 30 minutes. Plan to sleep on bus.
6:05 AM (Sun Morning): Arrive Roma Street Transit Centre, Brisbane. Top up “Go Card” enabling me to use public transport services
6:30 AM: Train to Gold Coast (Sleep on train)
7:40 AM: Arrive Nerang Station, bus to Surfers Paradise8:15 AM: Relax at beach, possibly wade in water to aid recovery from previous day
10:15 AM: Commence return journey to Brisbane, train from Nerang Station departs at 11:20AM
12:30 PM: Arrive Roma Street Station, light lunch (Chicken Sub from Subway?)
1:15 PM: Check into accommodation
1:30 PM: Shower/Bath, change into running gear (dry clothing worn over until 4PM)
2:40 PM: Catch CityCat Ferry from South Bank/North Quay
3:10 PM: Arrive University of Queensland (UQ) Ferry Terminal, walk to race area as terminal is short walk to main oval where start/finish area is located
3:30 PM: Collect race pack, pin number to top, organise gear for storage in bag drop.
3:50 PM: Drop gear at bag drop, final toilet break
4:00 PM: Watch start of 5km event
4:05 PM: Commence warm-up, both stretching (15 seconds per body part per side) and dynamic warm-up (4 repetitions)
4:40 PM: Stop listening to iPod
4:45 PM: Watch start of kids race, immediately head to start area afterwards.
5:00 PM: GO TIME
6:45-6:55 PM: Finish, re-hydrate, Stretch
8:00 PM: Return Ferry to Brisbane City (North Quay/South Bank), Snack, hotel room, sleep, return flight expected to be either 8:40 or 10:40 AM the next morning.
Again I stress this is only an outline, but compare that to a normal run such as the City2South, also held in Brisbane where the schedule though similar in content is shorter given the lack of time required to be filled. For an event such as that with a 7 AM start time (Brisbane like to start their events ridiculously early for some reason), I’d probably need to be awake at 3:30 AM, go through the showering/event arrival (usually walk)/warm-up rituals before Go Time. Of course there may well be changes to how everything is scheduled, public transport schedules may be delayed for example and perhaps a Taxi may be utilised later in the evening.
From there, it will be onward to Canberra, to go twice as far, run for twice as long, perhaps to endure twice the pain, and maybe to experience twice the enjoyment. Perhaps I might even blog twice just to keep the theme of two, because that will be event number two for this year, and it will be marathon number two. (Just to ruin everything, this will be half marathon number…..THREE. Oh well!)
All too often so many lose interest in something that they think they can achieve. Trust me I’ve been there myself so many times it isn’t funny, although I’m loathe to go through them now. Thankfully I’ve learned the value of variation in training and other things I may do to at least shake out of an obsession with routine.
Normally in run training, this is all about distance and routes run. Last year I was adamant that I needed to be running certain distances over certain areas of town to try to get a result, which by and large worked well enough. This year I’ve decided to shake things up as mentioned in an earlier post, with time as opposed to distance being a main focus. Plus I’ve varied the length of routes to incorporate a number of side streets. I understand this isn’t for everyone, particularly when the bulk of my sessions due to work happen early in the morning.
Yesterday I was able to perform a training session in the afternoon, which proved to be a
A pair of items often used as listening material during training.
decent simulation of the Twilight Run in a month’s time in Brisbane (more on that to come). The initial setup was similar, the usual stretching routine, gathering clothing suitable for the conditions (sleeveless top, pocket less shorts, armband to hold keys and phone which for once came with me rather than stayed at home charging), but then I made a decision that was unusual for a training run. I decided to leave the earphones at home, only using the iPod as a timing device.
Whilst this wasn’t the first time I’ve ran without earphones for I always race without them, this was the first time I can remember ever completing run specific training without ANY form of music in the ears. Prior to purchasing the iPod (I use the version 6 Nano model, does everything I want and need), I would literally carry my phone and use that as both a timing device (I hadn’t downloaded running apps) and as a music player either streaming digital radio stations through TuneIn or playing local radio stations. Normally during training sessions since the purchase of the iPod in late 2012, morning runs are accompanied by local radio and afternoon runs usually incorporate the sub 1000 song library that I’ve accumulated over the years.
Certainly it felt a little different adjusting to listening to natural surroundings rather than a song released in the 1970’s. Of course early in the mornings there’s a reduction in traffic so I don’t hear as many vehicles passing by. Being a Sunday afternoon run the buzz of lawnmowers often penetrated the air as I negotiated the few side streets I used. There was the odd chirp of birds that I sometimes try to concentrate on hearing during magpie breeding season (usually between August and October which makes training for events like the Melbourne Marathon trickier. It’s NOT a good idea to pass through a magpie infested area unless you are willing to slow down and maintain eye contact with the bird). But apart from that the running didn’t seem all that different.
Thinking that a lack of music may see me target a reduced pace didn’t exactly come to fruition. It seemed that the time checks from the geographical landmarks were comparable to the times I was running during the regular morning sessions, notwithstanding a slight increase in distance and the lack of short speed bursts that have worked their way into the training run rotation for 2014. The general pace only saw a reduction as the anticipated target time edged closer, for yesterday was the first time I was able to hit what I was targeting in terms of time for the week. Not forgetting the fact that I had spent a full work shift from 6AM that morning meaning that I certainly wasn’t feeling 100%, but thankfully there are no injuries to report.
I guess a valid question now is that following this experience, would I dare to repeat running without the music for a TRAINING run, as opposed to a race run which are always tune free zones. At this stage the answer is almost certainly not, familiarity seems to reign supreme. I understand just why so many experts are against the use of music players given many are trying to adapt methods from the past to today’s generation. But for me like so many others, I feel my concentration is enhanced, particularly with the early morning sessions.
There was a mention earlier of the Twilight Run in Brisbane (http://www.twilightrun.com.au/ has all the details, you can even enter on the day) which I have decided to enter in a month’s time. Entering such an event is in line with my thinking that to prepare properly for a big race, then the best practice and training you can get is by actually entering a race. Unlike most other runs I won’t be focusing on a particular time, this will be a genuine training run. Plus given I’ll have football commitments on the Saturday a few hours north of Brisbane in the town of Bundaberg it seemed a logical fit to do an event that weekend, and with the event being in the afternoon as opposed to the normal morning time slot, it all seems to fit perfectly. Related bookings will be made in 2 weeks time, for this week the focus away from the roads and training routes will be on booking Canberra accommodation.
Let me let you in on something that disturbed me for a short time last year. It appears some genius online doesn’t think that I can possibly run a sub 4 hour marathon based on when the next marathon is, when my training regime was scheduled to start and my past performances. Don’t get overly concerned though folks, I assume the automated program run by the folks from the My Asics website are fantastic at making assumptions.
Inputting information about training runs to keep a log seems to be reasonably readily available should you choose to search hard enough. I’m certain anyone can enter related search terms into Google and discover the vast array of good, bad, ugly and combination (of good bad and ugly) sites designed to simplify the scary process. Despite the fears I occasionally still use the My Asics site (which I discovered in an information pack following the City2Sea last year), but following their guide to me is a waste of time. Trust me I’ve tried to slow my pace down to slower than 6 minute per kilometre pace but unless I am at the point of excessive fatigue (or I am doing a cool down jog of sorts like I admittedly had done yesterday, 4/2/2014) the pace seems to be consistently at 5:30 per kilometre or quicker.
All of this has got me thinking about not so much training logs, but more about training plans. No this has nothing to do with the routes that I take which I try to mix every day. Instead the plans I have over the next 5 weeks relate to the time spent on the roads as opposed to distances which the majority of online plans cater for. But don’t think for one second that this is a unique approach, I’m sure many run to a time schedule in training to at least challenge their thinking and approaches to their final goal. Heck for many years at footy training many pre-seasons incorporated a 20 minute run, where the aim was to complete as many circuits of a 400 metre oval within 20 minutes, with markers indicating each 100 metre sector.
Let me share with you an outline of the training plan that I have for this upcoming major event. Rather than a day-by-day outline which can seem intimidating to novices or the runner who wants to take the next step from recreation running to competing in fun runs, I’m going to give some sort of weekly outline that I intend to follow. For the record, I am NOT a running coach, nor do I aspire to be one, and the approach that I am sharing with you may not be suitable for everyone. This approach is also subject to change should physical conditioning deteriorate and/or climactic conditions worsen to prevent outdoors training.
|
WEEK BEGINNING |
TARGET MINIMUM RUN TIME |
ANTICIPATED RUNNING SESSIONS |
NOTES |
| 2 February 2014 |
1:00:00 |
4 |
Football Training Thursday Night |
| 9 February 2014 |
1:20:00 |
4 |
Accommodation or flight booking this week |
| 16 February 2014 |
1:35:00 |
4 |
Football Practice Match 16/2/2014 |
| 23 February 2014 |
1:50:00 |
3-4 |
Possible Football Training Thursday Night, Accommodation or Flight booking this week |
| 2 March 2014 |
2:00:00 |
3-4 |
Purchase new footwear, use for 3-4 training sessions prior to twilight run. |
| 9 March 2014 |
2:00:00 |
3-4 |
Transport/Accommodation booking for Twilight run this week. |
| 16 March 2014 |
2:15:00 |
2-3 |
Possible Football Training Thursday Night, Football Carnival Saturday 22/3/2014 |
| 23 March 2014 |
1:50:00 |
3-4 (Pending recovery) |
Brisbane Twilight Run Half Marathon 23/3/2014 used as training event |
| 30 March 2014 |
1:30:00 |
2-3 |
Look to use more speed work in this week, Football match + possible umpiring 5/4/2014 |
| 6 April 2014 |
1:00:00 |
1-2 |
Last training run 9/4/2014 (flat courses only), travel 11/4/2014 |
I’m using a MINIMUM target time as opposed to a total target time to give myself flexibility to run for longer if I feel well enough to do so, or if I feel as though I still need more work. I want to be careful as well not to overtrain, so there may be more or less training pending work circumstances and football commitments, one of which may still be added during the early part of March. If you like you can call that my form of cross-training, as long as I don’t get badly hurt. I also have included little reminders to myself to do the other things away from the training track that ensure I’m organised for events.
Certainly I don’t want to be buying shoes the week before a marathon, or for that matter any run. I recall waiting in line after the Run For A Reason in Perth last year, and looking to my right to see a young Asian lady require medical attention for major blistering on her feet. Plus I want to feel comfortable in my new pair of shoes, and these don’t have to be the top of the line runners, I often run in shoes worth $60-$70 and they remain in my training shoes cycle 12-24 months after purchase. Hence I am anticipating a 2 week cycle of wearing in the new footwear before a test drive of sorts in Brisbane’s Twilight Run in late March, which I will be entering shortly.
I suppose I had better finish this entry now, after all my second anticipated run for the week is about an hour away!
It’s hard to fathom just how a month of 2014 has already virtually elapsed. Sure there are times when life seems to pass slowly when time is filled with tasks that realistically do nothing except to prevent total boredom. But it seems like only 20 minutes ago that I was posting the final blog entry of 2013 before trying to tune out with other activities and events to watch rather than participate.
Yet I have constantly stated to myself that January 27 would be “S Day”, the day that my training for the year starts to become a focus. Even so there have been a couple of other sessions just to keep the legs ticking over, and even a Gym session incorporated into Footy training that according to my arms was the most ill-advised 30 minutes I’ve spent on Earth. Whilst I’m certain that there are benefits of interval training that would outweigh doubts, queries and negative thoughts, by Wednesday morning I was having difficulty moving either of my arms with pain focused just above the elbow on the inside of my arms (I’m sure there’s a technical term that I can’t be bothered researching). Fortunately by now the arms are back to 100% health, but the left calf sometimes can be restrictive despite recent improvements.
Training did indeed start on the 27th of January as scheduled, although the schedule did need a little changing from the original plan. Mind you, perhaps I would derive greater benefit from a trio of hard 2km efforts with recovery in between rather than a stock standard long distance flat run. There’s plenty of time for longer runs as the time draws closer to the 2014 events, plus improving my speed should help me address what I see as a weakness, a sustained final sprint. As you may have read from past blog entries, I have had a habit of peaking too early when it came to a final sprint and instead of hitting the finish line at close to top speed, I have had to virtually trot across the final timing mat which I figure has cost me anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute for my final time.
I also would have liked to complete more efforts on the day, but the thought of overexertion, combined with fading natural light put a hold on those plans. Again I am repeating to myself that the time I want to peak is in April, not in February or March. The aim is to build a base, not to hurry the final level of fitness. Plus I used a lesson learned from my time as a student teacher at the start of the last decade (where does THAT time go!?). No matter how much and how detailed your plans may be, always be willing to alter the plans should the needs arise. Back in the classroom I was changing subject matter in order to maintain attention spans, on the training track its to continue to find another approach in the time remaining to complete something close to what I feel is necessary.
It’s back out on the open roads this morning and back on the hills. There have been people who have asked me questions relating to how I vary my training methods, and certainly changing terrain from flat roads to hilly roads could be considered a favorite. Without feeling the need to use gym or pool work that others prefer (it’s a preference rather than being the best method, others rightly will feel that those methods will work better for their program), my way to vary training includes….
– Distances travelled (10km minimum for road running, likely to go up to 30km in a month’s time. Whilst there are base circuits that I follow I may vary this to extend some sections or shorten others)
– Routes (many hills, some hills, virtually flat, even city to city)
– Targets (Distance or Time Splits per kilometre are the two I like to use, although recently it’s been pain thresholds that have determined the target more than anything else)
– Time of Day (when work allows and on weekends, sometimes I’ll run late in the afternoon rather than early in the morning which is the normal time. Sure mornings may have more risks but there is less traffic to deal with and older folk to say hello to)
– Perhaps even entering events to use as training events (this year I’ll be aiming to do 1-2 shorter events for training purposes, even though I’ll be tracking times and certainly will be writing about them here so stay tuned!)
Will I have a set program which many professionals and coaches recommend? At this stage I won’t be religiously following a set program, but having seen many examples I at least have an idea of progression into longer distances. Plus set programs often involve activities that either are not cost-effective, but also are not what I feel can be a major benefit to me personally. Whilst a swim may be nice every now and again, I don’t mind saying I haven’t been a strong swimmer for some time, probably because I rarely visit beaches or pools.
Off the training track planning will continue as well in terms of organising the little things that are involved in taking part in an event. For Canberra in April, the entry has been organised and paid for (with the bib to arrive in the mail sometime in March). The plan is to ensure over the next 3 pay cycles that something requiring payment is booked. What remains at this stage is Accommodation (and this includes choosing the type of accommodation, whether it be backpacker hostel, motel or even serviced apartment) and transportation, for which I will probably book the legs of the journey separately. There have been times where I have used long distance buses and trains if it means saving dollars and time (this may be an option for a potential training event in Brisbane in March), but this time flying will be the number 1 priority given my tentative weekend schedule. Apart from all this there is also the task of booking leave from work, which is as simple as signing forms as my leave balance almost dictates I will have to take leave rather than be told I don’t have leave available.
So for the next month it may be a frustrating slow burn, but there’s targets on the horizon to look forward to. It’s all about getting through the grind as the exciting bits are actually not all that far away. Before you know it, I’ll be checking in from the Nation’s Capital.
The frustration of suffering injury can do anyone’s head in. Many see a single injury as the trigger to lose motivation to do anything. Others use this as a trigger point for depression, certainly not a laughing matter as avoiding hard drugs and self harm is something worth avoiding at all costs. A few see this as a setback and try to bounce back too quickly only to aggravate their initial ailment and spend even longer on the sideline.
I only know all too well about how being injured can be a frustration. In 2005 I tweaked a hamstring playing football on a Saturday afternoon and spent the bulk of the day sitting on grass with heavily restricted movement. Foolishly I thought I was OK to run again by that Thursday night, and it only took about 15 minutes of training to realise that the idea of attempting to train again so soon was as bright an idea as eating Vegemite and Braised Steak and Onion sandwiches. As this was the first time I had suffered a muscle injury of this nature (I had suffered concussions prior to this), perhaps I was naive to think that a hamstring injury would heal itself within a week. It was actually about 2-3 weeks before the leg actually felt good enough to run at reasonable pace again.
Since 2008 I have had troubles with my calves being torn and strained rather than just cramping. In fact if it wasn’t for a calf injury suffered in August 2012, perhaps I would never have taken up running as a semi-serious pursuit. But almost annually has come a time where I have had to exercise caution in how hard I am able to run as the niggles rear its head again. To assist I have often tried ice treatments, compression garments, heat gels and creams and there was even a stage where I used a cumbersome brace (fortunately I haven’t felt the need to use it since purchasing the compression garments on the Wednesday before the 2012 Bridge2Brisbane).
Once again I am faced with the prospect of a calf injury rearing its head just as I am about to embark on the training programme leading into the Australian Running Festival in April, where I intend on entering the Marathon in the next 7 days. Training runs have been put on hold for a week after recovery from a training run last Tuesday hasn’t gone as well as planned. Given the job that I have involves long periods of standing and movement, it’s been difficult to properly treat the injury. Naturally the compression garments and heat rubs have been used, as has some self massage of the area in an effort to at least pinpoint the most painful areas of the leg.
Now I know a lot of you may ask why I haven’t consulted a medical specialist to see if they could assist. There are a number of reasons why I haven’t seen a doctor or physio in that time. With work taking priority there is little to no time to arrange appointments, and my stubbornness and lack of trust in doctors in Queensland mean that my preference is to self diagnose and treat in the first place. Plus there are costs that will no doubt get involved, although thankfully the Government’s ridiculous proposal of charging a $6 admission fee just to see a doctor hasn’t processed through parliament as yet (and hopefully never).
To close this out, here is an indication of my injury history that I know about. The following body parts have been injured at some stage during my time on Earth, and there may be more that has escaped the memory at this time…..
– Back
– Baby Toe on Right foot (snagged on a couch)
– Dislocated baby finger (left hand baby finger still not straight now)
– Calves
– Ankle (both ankles have been strapped whenever I play footy, and have been since 2001)
– Hamstring
– Corked Thigh (ran in the 2013 City2South with one, NEVER AGAIN!)
– Shoulder
– Concussion
– Broken Nose (once, 2002)
– Chipped Gum (2000)
– Cuts and Abrasions on various body parks (ankles whilst shaving, bleeding nipples during training runs included)
– Knee (3 times that I can remember, twice from contact injuries….with the edge of a swimming pool once and with the rear bumper bar of a car on another occasion)
So what now until I have the confidence to resume some sort of training? Well unlike many of the times where I have damaged my calf I am able to walk reasonably pain-free, so actually performing my employment duties isn’t a problem. Given my dislike for gym sessions (see the previous entry and you’ll see what I’m talking about), hard walking is about the extent of the exercise I’ll be getting. It won’t affect the plans for the year ahead in terms of competitive running, for the first event I’m even considering using as a training dress rehearsal prior to the marathon events is due to be completed in late March and the first major marathon isn’t until April, so there’s no need to even over compensate for what I miss now when I start training in earnest on January 27. In the meantime it’s almost a case of wait and see, and try not to get overly frustrated while doing so.
MHJeffrey027 Running 