Monday Morning Run

A quick post on this morning run before we leave for Hastings.

I was out the door by 6.30 this morning. It was a crisp and clear morning, perfect running conditions. I set out a little uncertain about how I would go with my calfs still being a little tight and my shins playing up recently.

I just took it nice and slow right from the start, the idea being that I would make this run a slightly longer distance to what I have been running lately to partly make up for Saturdays missed run plus looking ahead to next weekends 11 km Xterra, I felt I needed at least one run of around that distance.

I ran my usual loop and felt good at the halfway point so ended up running for almost an hour.

- Distance - 10.6 km (6.58 miles)
- Time - 58:06
- Pace - 5:29 k's (8:50 miles)
- Max HR 139
- Ave HR 132

Not sure about that HR. Seems a bit low. Maybe the machine has malfunctioned? What should my HR be for a long slow run?

That's all for now, we're off. Have good week.



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Weekly Wrap

It was a light week this week with only two runs and one swim. Cancelled Saturdays planned run as the shins were feeling a little tender. Shin splints is one injury that I've had the misfoutune to suffer a bit from since a took up regular running almost a year ago. I've learned now that it doesn't pay to ignore them too often, chances are they will just get worse. So I opted for a Swim instead.

- Ran a total of 14.8 km (9.2 miles)in 1 hr 15
- Swam 1,000 meters in 30 minutes.

Also played a round of Golf today. Shot a 91, five over my handicap. A little disappointed with that but as I only play once or twice a month it's hard to achieve the level of consistency needed to shoot low scores. As usual too many blow outs with four triple bogies costing me dearly today.

The Plan this Week

Tomorrow morning we are heading down to Hastings (on NZ's east coast and a good seven hour drive from Auckland) to catch up with family. We have four nights there and then two in Rotorua on the way home. On Saturday in Rotorua I'm running in the Xterra 11 km Trail Run which I've entered. Training this week will be 7 km tomorrow morning before we leave and then one run down in Hastings of what ever distance I can fit in.

Happy running.

Another Step towards full Recovery

Today's run was a regular route for me, three laps of the Auckland Domain.

It's a pretty easy route with just once small hill/incline of about 500 meters. The elevation drops away again before remaining relatively flat for the remainder of the loop. It measures 2.7 km or almost 5.1 miles. Half of each loop takes takes you through the Domain with the other half along busy streets.

The stats;

- Distance - 8.1 km (5 miles)
- Time - 41:40
- Ave pace - 5:06 km (8:12 miles)
- Max HR 168
- Ave Hr 150

Today I kept a split time for each lap and the laps looked like this;

- Lap 1 13:30, pace 4:58/7:58
- Lap 2 13:15, Pace 4:52/7:50
- Lap 3 14:55, pace 5:29/8:49

I found this interesting because I have never kept a close eye on split/lap times before. I only run with basic HR monitor and not a GPS which seems to be popular with most other bloggers. I therefore have to remember these numbers as I go, which was okay.

What the above figures tell me is that I really need to think about starting out slower not only to ensure I get a proper warm up but to also keep from running out of gas too early. I was telling myself tonight to take it slow and easy from the start as my calfs are still not a 100%, but as the above stats show I could really have been about 20-30 seconds slower per k for that first lap.

In the second lap I attempted my version of a mile repeat (well it was more of a one off effort mile). As I've got no GPS I had to do my best to estimate a mile. I figured I could probably run a mile in about seven minutes at a push so I just went hard for seven minutes over the flat section of the loop before easing off when I came to the hill. The calf was starting to tighten as well but this seemed to come and go as I tinkered slightly with my foot position. I was a little surprised that the lap time was only 15 seconds faster than my supposed slow warm up lap. I guess I did ease off a fair bit after the mile.

Over the last lap I didn't want to risk further injury so I just took it real slow, which is shown out in the timings. The calf actually got a bit better over the last lap which was a relief. I am wondering whether it is just a cramp rather than the strain. This is probably related to the Pose Method as if I switch my landing position more toward the heel the cramp is not so noticeable. Maybe I need to find a happy medium between Pose and my own natural style.




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A Run too Fast, too Soon?

Today's run was another test to see how far the strained calf has come along. Rather than the slow and easy I have been running over the last week today I stepped it up a notch.

- Distance - 6.6 km (4.1 miles)
- Time - 33:45
- Pace - 5:05 mpk (7:32 mpm)
- Max HR 169
- Ave HR 140

The physio said I should aim to increase my runs by about 5 minutes per week. With the Xterra 11 km Trail Run coming up in Rotorua on Saturday week, I have been trying to up the distance by about 1 km or 5 minutes on each run. Hopefully that will get me to Rotorua in some sort of shape to have a good run. Today that meant I needed to run for about 35 minutes.

I also decided that I needed to up the speed work a bit. After about 15 minutes I was still moving along at I guess about 5:20 pace (K's) but the HR was still way short of 150.

I lifted the pace for a K then eased back for the next K. The calf was beginning to tighten and say "enough". I wanted to try one more faster K but delayed it until the calf had settled. I again lifted the pace but before long the calf was tightening again. I stopped, stretched and then just jogged the last K back to work.

I was a little worried that I may have gone too hard and done some damage but the calfs seem to have settled down okay this afternoon and I'm sure they're okay. Sometimes I wonder whether the other calf has a slight strain also but then it could just be the calfs still adjusting to the Pose Method.

I'm heading down to Christchurch tommorrow on a business trip. Will be spending Tuesday night down there so will take the opportunity for a rest from training for two days before hitting the road again on Thursday where I'll aim for 7-8 K.

Have a great week & happy running.


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Weekly wrap up

Went for a pretty uninspiring buke ride today. Lacking is motivation and energy to push my self. The calf was aching a bit too. Ended up cutting the circuit short by about 5 km.

- Distance - 14.3 km (8.9 miles)
- Time - 45:50
- Pace - 18.7 kph (11.6 mph)
- Max HR 126
- Ave HR 112

Weekly Wrap

- Ran 13.2 km (8.2 miles) in 73 minutes.
- Swam 1200 meters in 37 minutes
- Biked 14.3 km (8.9 miles) in 46 minutes

Watching the Weight

Steady at 85 kilo's (187 pounds).