Time for some water running

I was shocked - shocked to discover that a mere 5 years without any speed practice is all it takes for my legs to revolt at the attempt to do a few intervals. True I could have done it a bit easier than combining my longest hardest run with finish that included a return trip with intervals along the way. But I've always said, anything worth doing is worth overdoing. Ah yes, it's looking like time to run in the water again. I wonder if they missed me down there. It was about time I started my taper anyway. I included a sasquatch photo on a previous blog, so I thought this picture would be appropriate with my new water training plan.

Racing, Pacing and Training Again

Ah yes, the good weather is back and my running buddy Oliver and I returned to our trail running again. They changed our regular route and replaced it with somewhat of an obstacle course. It runs slower but really makes your pick up your feet - something I've got to improve on before June 13. It's time to get serious about starting my pre-race warmup. Intervals are probably on the menu. Speaking of racing, pacing, intervals and race tactics - here's a clip of the true master. Notice how Lasse Viren (double Olympic gold medalist in this event) keeps looking back - even he feared the master.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrZpT-LXO-8

New Brighton 5KM Road Race

Wow, what a week we've had. Gale force winds, rain and of course temperatures hovering just above freezing. Needless to say, it wasn't a good training week for me. In fact, I spent most of the time polishing the seat of my pants in one way or another. So you could say my expectations for todays run were somewhat diminished. The weather was so nasty that when I got up this morning I said no f&*#in' way! Then I remembered that Herb was interested in the sasquatch logo for the New Brighton running club, so I thought I'd at least see about finding a T-shirt. Heck, as long as I'm making the trip I might as well suit up just in case. I arrived early to find the club diligently placing cones and there we a couple of ladies huddling inside the clubhouse shed with registration materials. Ah well, as long as I'm here I might as well get a number, right? They handed me a hand written number to pin on my shirt - no high tech here. OK, lets see how I feel after a sedentary week. I bundled up as best I could and jogged slowly around the course (3 laps around the domain =5K). Pretty pathetic, worse than I thought. Can I even go one lap without walking? A second lap then a third and I felt somewhat better - just rusty. Now for the hard part - getting nearly naked in this horrific weather. Long sleeves, short pants and I was ready to go. I had more than a few good reasons to expect catastrophe, so I was pleasantly surprised to complete the thing in 25:20 - damn, a significant improvement from last weekends 10K. Maybe I'll get back to work before it's too late. I need to be ready for Mr. Speedyman.

Not Exactly What I Expected

Today was the Sri Chinmoy 10K, a 3 lap+ of the Avon River on paved walking paths and road. I had expected to improve on my last performance since my latest workouts indicated that I might. Maybe it was because the day was quite windy or perhaps I haven't done enough morning runs, but more likely because in reality I'm actually quite slow. It didn't go as I expected. I started well enough, but was struggling quite early and at 5K the time was 26:03. I thought I could relax, recover and do a better second half. Think again. My finish time was 53:50, only slightly better than the 10K I did in the last 15K run. This, in fact, could be my top speed.....Naaaaa. I was feeling pretty old today, but I'll bet I looked terrific.

10K Warmup Run

So there's this 10K this weekend put on by Sri Chinmoy Running Club. It's three laps of a 3K course (plus a bit I suppose) but it's all on pavement - just what I need. I did my city loop again today - all pavement. As I passed through the park there was a high school or college girls running club that started their training run just as I went by. I made a valiant effort to stay ahead and they mercifully turned off before overtaking me. I did the loop in 61 minutes today, but I plan to take it easy on Thursday so that I've got a chance of not embarrassing myself on Saturday. Sorry my camera is still in the shop, but here's an inspirational picture.

No More Wimping Out

After a day of wimping out due to near freezing rain and near gale winds, the weather relented and so did I. Today was a success running my 64 minute loop of pavement through the city. I don't plan on missing any more running, so I plan to be prepared to deal with inclement weather. What do you think of my new warmup suit?

Focus on Bellin Run

Well it was back to training again today. I intended to run an hour and I thought my trusty training partner Oliver was up to it, but 30 minutes was all that he had. OK, I'll have to do it tomorrow. I should be doing these on the pavement anyway.

Herb and I have been joking about how poorly our conditioning is for this upcoming race, but I'd like to make something perfectly clear. We are finely honed running machines. Herb shows fat man pictures on his web site and I make jokes about how pathetic my running is going, but on June 13th in Green Bay, the spectators for the Bellin Run are going to see something like this...

Tai Tapu 15K

It was a cold day this morning - almost freezing when I got up. I decided to bring the long sleeve top just in case. Starting time was 10 am so it might warm up considerably. I thought it might be a somewhat small event (relative to the City to Surf of 14,000). I was right and wrong. They didn't have 14000, but there were probably 1500 runners there. This was the tuneup race for the Christchurch Marathon at the end of May. In other words, there were plenty of talented runners there. I had no expectations since I really hadn't run much in the last two weeks. I ran yesterday about 30 minutes on trails with Oliver just to make sure the pilot light was lit. At starting time it was still kinda cool and I wanted to be comfortable so I wore the long sleeve top - it was a mistake. Withing 5 minutes of running, I was wishing I could peel it off, but I was too busy huffing and puffing to make the effort. 5K came through at 27:30 - that was OK. 10K checked through at 54:30. I didn't allow myself to walk until I hit 10K, but it came as a real relief from the pavement running to slow down and walk. I had no expectations for the last 5K - just survive and get back to the car. I walked at every K mark and surged between as much as possible. This jerky strategy got me a last 5K of 30 minutes for a finish time of 84:30. I was stimulted to kick in the last 400 meters when I was passed by a guy who had to be at least 90 in the last kilometer. I though it would be untoward for me to surge by the old guy right in front of the finish line. All in all, a heroic effort that will help me get through the next few days of aching muscles and joints. I think there's another 10K this month put on by Sri Chinmoy (Did I ever tell you he lifted me once?). Since it's called the Avon Loop, it probably has some grass to run on along the way, and now I know I can go that far.

Castle Hill and Cave Stream

OK, well I found a way to get the remaining videos from my chip after I wasted my camera. Hopefully I will get it repaired or replaced soon so that these won't be the last pictures you see on the blog.