Just because you’re on the road holidaying doesn’t mean that you don’t have to sit on your butt all day and eat reheated Christmas dinner at 11PM on Christmas night (OK, guilty, but I hadn’t eaten for 15 hours anyway). There are still chances to get active, there are still opportunities to at least try to keep the weight under control, there are still ways to maintain the form heading into the new year. It’s something I feel I need to do before I start some sort of organised training program on January 27.
Victoria Park, possible training venue not used
Fortunately I was able to to find accomodation that had access to an on site gym, which was challenging considering finding places to stay at an affordable price during the festive season in Melbourne. OK, maybe I should have stayed at my aunts and saved some coin, complete with running trail in the backyard and a cousin keen to run in the mornings. Perhaps I should have stopped at the famous Victoria Park, former home ground of the Collingwood football club to have a trot around the ground f0llowing one of the 3 days of cricket I attended. There was even a chance to have a trot (literally) around a former trotting training circuit adjacent to the Northland Shopping Centre homemaker centre and accross the road from the main centre, but I felt purchasing DVD’s and blowing $30 at Timezone was more worth it, plus the finish to Run For a Reason in Perth on the Gloucester Park trotting track wasn’t the greatest (or worst) experience in running I’ve ever had. But in the end on Sunday Night it was a trip to the on site Gym that would have to suffice.
Usually on site gyms aren’t as well stocked as a major corporate fitness centre that you’d find the chardonnay sipping theatre set in their lunch breaks from the suit and tie desk job. I’ve stayed in hotels where the gym was basically a bunch of free weights, a single bike, a humble treadmill, perhaps a cross-trainer and rowing machine, and not a lot else. There have been facilities at other accomodation places that have had less, there were others that I haven’t bothered checking. I was actually pleasantly surprised to see multiple bikes, cross-trainers and treadmills, meaning I wouldn’t have to fill in time waiting like an impatient kid for some travelling so and so to finish their time fiddling with settings.
After about 40 minutes warming up on bikes and cross-trainers, it was time to have my first run on a treadmill since 2011. It’s fair to say I’m not a person who prefers gyms, I am not a member of any gym back at home or anywhere, and would prefer to spend money on other equipment. The run on the treadmill at this facility confirmed my preference for the outdoors and the road. It’s not that I couldn’t get what I wanted to achieve from the change in surrounds, the timing mechanism I use didn’t really differ from the training times for a road run, and can be found at http://nikeplus.nike.com/plus/activity/running/MHJeffrey027/detail/2462000000006023140550072422929645319798. Instead it was frustrating trying to alter the set program used for “Fat Burning” to meet what I wanted. Perhaps I should have used a different setting or not used settings and just used auto start. But there were times where instead of concentrating on speed and stride where I had to press buttons to reach a speed and incline that I thought would be beneficial that what I wanted.
I know some people prefer the use of the treadmill, after all it can be used in conjunction with everything else in the gym for warm-ups or a workout in itself. After all, treadmill walking seems to be a staple of the middle aged lady spending time with their friends while the kids are either at school are painting and pasting at daycare. To me though nothing beats the road early in the morning or reasonably late in the afternoon. Pacing is not really set by a machine who thinks it knows best for everyone, but yourself who is more often than not the best judge. Instead of virtually running on the spot, you could choose your own path (though local knowledge or reasearch prior to running is essential, you don’t want to be like I was the last time I was in Canberra wandering about town trying to work out where I was as darkness set in). Plus the folks at the power companies won’t be getting the money needed to enter the events I want to enter, or purchase the shoes I’ll be needing sometime in February.
As this will certainly be the last blog in 2013, I hope that all of the readers around the world at least come back for 2014. I’ve checked the stats, I’ve had readers in Armenia amongst others! Stay safe, let the champers and beers flow freely on New Years Eve (but make sure someone sober takes your keys, trust me every available RBT unit will be in force from December 30 till about January 6 so taking the risk isn’t worth it), and we’ll see you for another year of running past empty when 2014 comes around.
Just a quick note to wish all readers from here there and everywhere (and I assure you, it IS everywhere) to wish you all the best for the festive season no matter what your beliefs and persuasions are. Hopefully you don’t overload on the leftovers from Christmas Dinner (being Christmas Day eating a little excessively is almost a given) to stop you from reaching your 2014 goals. My goals will be posted in the new year, after I make sure I don’t eat too much and try to save some coin to enter what I want to enter.
Before you know it, the last strains of Auld Lang Syne have been sung (probably drunkenly if not poorly), and 2014 is underway. For many the drunken promises that comprise a New Year’s resolution will have been turned into a broken promise 10 minutes later, for others it’s 10 days. Personally I don’t believe in such things, so I tend to promise nothing that I won’t regret later.
Instead this time is all about planning the 2014 schedule which can be found at https://mhjeffrey027running.com/planned-events/. I do promise to alter the schedule accordingly should other events be added to the schedule should I believe these runs will assist my training for an event, or deleted should injury strike or other commitments take precedence. This will also act as my personal planner for the year in terms of booking leave from work, ensuring transportation is finalised and securing a warm bed (very warm in some cases) to rest the weary body before and after these events.
Run specific training will begin in earnest on the 27th of January 2014, with distances, routes and times differing from session to session. This date will give me a solid 13 week preparation covering hundreds of kilometres to properly prepare myself for a strong finish. It’s not that I don’t feel the finish to Melbourne was strong, far from it. But entering that event was virtually last minute and the training whilst strong over the shortened period probably wasn’t sufficient to achieve the goal that I had set out. Mind you physical problems in training didn’t exactly assist!
I mention run specific training given that I do perform some cross-training of sorts during this period. It is anticipated that I will be using the limited football training sessions to assist in overall fitness but also to sharpen up the mind and the legs for the endurance base that I need for marathon running I feel does need to be balanced with some sharper more powerful movement that footy can provide. It also helps that 2014 will see me notch up 200 games of country footy at an open aged (read senior and reserves) level which is the secondary goal to the running ambitions for the year. It is also because of footy that the destination for the 3rd planned marathon is yet to be determined. Whether I choose to run in Perth (which honestly is the preference given it provides more active recovery time for my second Melbourne appearance) or Sydney will depend on if the local team makes the finals series.
It may sound a little strange, but I also use work to help my cross-training. Part of my job requires me to lift parcels that range from ultra light weight to weights that under OHS laws we shouldn’t be lifting solo. Lifting and sorting these parcels to me are a cheaper way to condition the leg and arm strength as opposed to normal gym sessions that many prefer. I’m not saying that parcel lifting should be a substitute for runners with more talent than me, I’m just taking advantage of combining what I try to enjoy (training) with what finances the whole exercise (I’m not good enough to seek out sponsors, but if I get quick all of a sudden I won’t be hesitating in asking that’s for sure).
Training at the moment is much lighter compared to what it will be for several reasons. These months are being used to try to recharge the juice in my legs before asking them to perform at a high level for months to come. Plus work is naturally busy given Mr Claus is about to perform the duty that pleases children here there and everywhere….which reminds me, if ANY reader out there knows the first name of Mrs.Claus, then please send me a tweet (https://twitter.com/MHJeffrey027 is my home on Twitter, always taking new followers!) or fire a comment below. Like running that first marathon, I have a life’s ambition of discovering just what Mrs.Claus’ first name actually is.
Anyway, enough of non-running related stuff, except to tell you to stay safe this festive season. After all, I need you all to keep reading in 2014 and driving like a dill on the roads won’t help. See you in 2014!
I know you may think this year has gone rather quickly much like any other year when you realise that November has come and more than half gone and Christmas is around the corner. I tend to think much differently though, for 2013 has been a long hard grind that has gone at a steady pace. All the commitments have been completed as far as organised running events are concerned for this year, and it’s a case of looking forward to next year, as well as thinking about other priorities until Auld Lang Syne’s final chords ring through the initial stages of 2014.
So how did this year conclude from a running perspective? You could say I’ve now completed the 14km triple crown, with the City2Sea in Melbourne comprising the final leg. It’s a shame that this clashed with other events that I have supported in the past (Run Geelong) and events that I would like to tackle in the future (Point to Pinnacle in Hobart), for I’m sure there would be more than 13000 total participants. I say total because the major difference between this event and its equivalents in Brisbane (City2South) and Sydney (City2Surf) is that a 5km run was offered as an alternative for the first time. Whilst many would find this a challenge in itself, it would not have been worth travelling from the north just to go on a 5km run when I could do this at a local park any time I want, heck this afternoon providing the weather is fine that’s just what I may do.
It may have seemed the course had a ring of familiarity to it, and apart from a section here and there and the finish chute the course was covered during the Melbourne Marathon just over 6 weeks ago. Knowing where to go is a big advantage for out-of-town runners, for they know when to increase the tempo or where potential trouble spots are. It also means that no time is wasted before the run as reconnaissance is not necessary. Given the flat nature of the course a fast time was expected and a fast time was what was achieved.
Typically it was a cool morning in Melbourne meaning the skins top was worn in a run for the first time in ages and I had to wait a little longer to utilise baggage drop so the legs could remain warm under the track pants. Fortunately the Arts Centre toilets were open and available for use (the Arts Centre providing the backdrop for the start line) so there was less time exposed to the cooler weather this time around. It all seemed rather quiet at the start line as well, much quieter than most other events I participated in. Perhaps it was just who was surrounding me being quiet in their nature, maybe there really was nervous tension, either way it was a different feeling at the starting area to many other runs.
Admittedly I did feel a little sluggish during the run itself, perhaps attributed to the lower training volumes that I undertook. With no real plan in place to run any sort of time (or any goals set for that matter) it was a case of finding a pack to stick with and judging my pace of them. I would make some ground at the water stations on course, as I tended not to use all of them to refuel. I felt that stopping to slug a splash of water would have halted my momentum too greatly, so I only took on fluids where Gatorade was available, although consumption on the run proved to be a challenge in itself.
It seemed as though the course felt a lot shorter than the advertised 14km distance, for my pedometer came up with a 12.5km figure for distance covered (for the record I’ve since discovered the 5km run was measured at 5.4km with some coming up with distances of 5.7-5.9). That said the time realistically corresponded with the clock at the finish line for once, probably because I was placed in the faster Red Group that started at the same time behind the elite competitors as opposed to the Green and Blue groups for slower runners that I was in for the other 14km events. The fastest time of the day for the able-bodied athletes was just a shade over 42 minutes. My time was a reasonably slick (even though it didn’t feel this way) 1:06.38 which was approximately 10 minutes faster than City2South, and 7 minutes quicker than City2Sea. I always temper this distance PB though with the fact that this course had little to no elevation as opposed to the other events which had reasonably substantial inclines to negotiate.
This event was the season final for me if you consider a season spanning a calendar year. This week will not quite see R&R, but rather C&R followed by ICKET at the Gabba, a yearly ritual instituted over recent years. Footy training commences the next week, so fitness levels I’m sure won’t be dropping any time soon, especially with a month’s worth of heavy parcel sorting to come afterwards. Planning for next year is ongoing, but initial thoughts will see me tackle 4 marathons of which 3 are locked into the schedule (Canberra in April as part of the Australian Running Festival, Gold Coast in July and a return appearance at Melbourne in October). The other will be either in Perth or Sydney depending on football commitments, with Perth’s being run on the last Sunday in August (August 31) and Sydney a fortnight later. Plus there are half marathons and perhaps returns to the 14km events which I now see as minimum distance for what I want to achieve.
For now, stay safe and remember the 9 dirty words of Christmas shopping, which of course are BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED, ACCESSORIES SOLD SEPARATELY and SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED. Avoid these and Christmas will be as it should be, a stress free enjoyable time of the year. separate
Profuse apologies for the lack of updates and posting since the marathon. Much has been on my plate (mainly Lean Cuisines with a little work thrown in if you must know) and suddenly blogging has taken a back seat. But I have managed to find time before this weekend’s City2Sea in Melbourne to come up with at least something to tide the readers over for a while. After all, if I am going to have a blog complete with my own domain name I better make use of it don’t I?
Let’s begin with the Run Sydney half marathon, which was completed a mere fortnight after the Melbourne Marathon based around the Sydney Olympic Park precinct. Entering this event was almost an afterthought and as such performance expectations were low to non-existent. But once again a chance to be part of an inaugural race (as opposed to event, Run Sydney is a rebranding of the Run For Fun whose maximum distance was 10km) and to finish at the Olympic Stadium were the obvious lures. That said the entry process was not last-minute enough to make me have to make an early trip to Sydney for bib collection, but late enough for me to seek last-minute deals on flights and accommodation. There were worries earlier in the week that bushfires in the area would cause course alterations if not event cancellations, but come Sunday morning there was little smoke present to affect air quality and it turned out to be nice conditions.
With rail transport not available until a time unsuitable for someone reliant on warm-up routines, it was a surprisingly cheap $22 cab fare from Strathfield to Homebush early on the Sunday Morning that saw me arrive at the start line. What followed was slightly shambolic in terms of bag drop. Having arrived earlier than some anticipated, track workers had no idea where bag drop was located, necessitating trips between where it eventually was constructed and the start line. It was almost comical to see competitors cross back and forward under ropes only to cross the road as though they were playing the classic arcade game Frogger.
The delay was nothing for me compared to the wait suffered by many needing a pre-race leak. Although the start was delayed by 15 minutes due to what was described as course workers erecting final barriers to ensure the safety of competitors, my theory was that it was to make sure those who were 10 deep in line for the porta-loos were able to do their business before heading into the starting pen. Sadly this meant we were subjected to the usual crappy modern sappy pop at the start line masquerading as motivational tuneage, but I’m sure those around me would have settled for this knowing what was ahead.
So many venues made famous during the Sydney Olympic games formed part of the backdrop of the course. In the first 5 kilometres the field passed (amongst others, and I’m sure I’ve missed a few):
– Sydney Showgrounds (Baseball venue for the games, now home of the GWS Giants)
– The Superdome (Basketball and Gymnastics, it hosted One Direction the previous night but thankfully no groupies were waiting the morning after)
– The main Olympic Stadium (more on that shortly, Athletics as well as the Football final and the ceremonies
– The Hockey stadia
– The State Sports Centre (hosted some of the indoor sports)
Much like the other longer distance courses I have tackled, this course was relatively flat with a component of the run utilising the roads and others using a pathway adjacent to the Parramatta River. The “off-road” section seemed a little narrow particularly when the faster traffic was about to pass on their second loop yet the spirit of co-operation existed within the brotherhood and sisterhood on this day and they got plenty of room to pass. Due to the lack of width there was a reasonable space between drink stations, but on this day I wasn’t going to utilise all of them in any case figuring that if I was going to run some sort of time being held up for minutes behind a Gatorade guzzler wasn’t a solution worth taking.
It was in the limited training for the event where I also felt I had a little advantage. On the Wednesday prior to the event, I decided to change the routine of my training, and instead of an early morning long distance road run I thought it may be a good idea to head down to the local footy oval for some grass running in the late afternoon. Whilst I didn’t run as far or as well as I had anticipated that afternoon, there was a section of the loop across the grass where the small amount of training at a footy oval actually proved to be of valuable assistance. I’m sure it would have been a shock to many others who would have based their run training purely on pavement, for it takes a little extra effort to run effectively on grass.
Physically this was as good as I had felt after a long distance run almost ever, there was no pain in the usual trouble areas (calves, quads, hips, ankles) and having used the slipstream of other runners to good effect, there was still plenty in the tank towards the end of the 21km. It seemed as though the last 1500m around the perimeter of the Olympic Stadium was three times as far, but I suppose long flat straight sections of track can do that to you. Then before you feel the course would never end and getting into the stadium for the finish seemed impossible, it was down the ramp to an entrance for service vehicles (trying to avoid slow 5km walkers in the process), and a sprint through the tunnel where the Swans enter the arena when they play their AFL matches at the ground, to eventually hit the final 80 metres down the broadcast wing.
I can boast proudly (and believe me, I did after the event on the social media outlets) that I have a new personal best time for the distance of a shade over the 1 hour 50 minute marker. After expecting a similar time to what I ran in Yeppoon at the start of October or even going slower as a result of a physical let down following a full marathon just a fortnight earlier, I was pleasantly surprised to learn of the time later that afternoon. The challenge for me for 2014 is to not only further reduce that time, but to try to replicate this form of smart running into the marathons that I have planned to compete in next year. After all, a replication of that pace in a full marathon would see me break that PB by over 35 minutes, but of course energy use and strategies are vastly different when comparing half and full marathons.
So we move onto this weekend’s final event of the year. Being spoilt for choice was one thing, but having to choose between a trio of events was almost agonising until I made the decision in July this year. The three events in mind were
– Point To Pinnacle, labelled the world’s toughest half marathon basically climbing up Mount Wellington. This event is something I’d love to tackle one day, especially given I’ve never set foot in Tasmania let alone Hobart
– Run Geelong, an event which I participated in last year over 6km. The longer event is a 12km run which I thought I was going to tackle this year until the date clash.
– City2Sea, a sister event to the City2Surf and the City2South, events I came saw and conquered in 2013.
Admittedly the lure of running in a 3rd event much like another couple was a lure, but for me the course itself (reasonably flat, and after the Melbourne Marathon, reasonably familiar) and the fact that I am able to stay with relatives was the biggest draw. I have resolved also that the distance of 14km would just about be the minimum in terms of distances for run events in the future. It’s not that I have anything against the 12 and 10km events I have tackled this year, they serve a great purpose for not only myself but charities and the community at large. It’s just that I feel that those events don’t quite satisfy someone who aims to consistently run marathons, and that those distances can be easily covered on training runs.
Stay tuned for the debrief of this Sunday’s event that will be posted on either Tuesday or Wednesday next week. It is there that I will confirm the 2014 plans that of course are always subject to alteration.
MHJeffrey027 Running 