Strava
My last run of March was to be a big one. My first 30k run since September last year - which incidentally was the run where ITB issues started to flare up. I was a touch nervous not really knowing how my body was going to handle the distance. I'd done 27.5 a few weeks back and I was certainly hurting at the end of that one.
I decided on an out and back route from Yarra Glen to Healesville, usually a very picturesque road. Not this morning though as a grey mist settled in and didn't lift at all, which was quite disappointing as I was looking forward to the scenery to keep me company.
I set out nice and controlled and was pleasantly surprised to be consistently hitting my goal 5:13/km pace without really trying to control my pace. It seems that I have set a pretty good goal pace as it feels natural to run at this effort level. A few rolling hills kept things interesting. The half way mark came and went in Healesville and I was feeling pretty fresh, which isn't too much of a surprise at the 15k mark. Up the Mt Rael hill just outside of Healesville certainly hurt, but I knew it was only 3-4km then mostly a downhill run into the finish.
The halfie ticked by in about 1hr 50mins, not too bad, pretty standard. I still felt good and thought it was a good time to have a quick bite to eat. 25km rolled around in no time and I was still feeling remarkably good. Only 5k's to go so I upped the pace a bit and started doing a couple of sub 5 minute kilometres.
Clearly I had forgotten what 30km feels like though. I started to fade as soon as the 28k ticked by. Pushed too hard too early. Still, I didn't hit the wall, I simply started tiring. My pace was still consistent at around the 5:13 mark, but I was certainly counting down the k's to the finish.
The Yarra Glen hotel came into view and I pushed the last k to see what I had left. As it turns out, I had a fair bit left. My legs were sore for sure, but that's what happens after 30k. The walk to the bakery after however was not pleasant. My brain was saying walk, my legs had other ideas.
All in all, a very successful long run. Building confidence that I have the distance in me and that my goal times are pretty much spot on. Time for an easy week now!
I finished up with 30.1km at 5:11/km pace.
Month to Date: 222.3km
Year to Date: 557.2kmThursday 27th Mar
Strava
After such amazing conditions yesterday it was quite a drag waking up to pouring rain. Good job I had the motivation left over from yesterday to get up and out into the drizzle for a run commute.
I knew my motivation would slip once I got out there and started getting wet so I decided to do a reverse tan loop so that I couldn't cheat myself and cut the run short. Good move! I was ready to finished after only 5k. Legs were hurting and more than a bit of tightness had found it's way into my ITB just above both knees. I'm not too concerned about it as I really worked the ITB on the roller last night, so a bit of soreness isn't uncommon.
There was a surprising number of runners out and about this morning given the pretty ordinary weather. Not many cyclists though. I love cycling and hate it when people have a go at cyclists using the road, however, I can sympathise with those complainers. Some of the cyclists around Melbourne just have absolutely no common courtesy to other road/track users. Yes they are a minority, but it's these people that give good cyclists a bad name. I always, always run in a straight line along Southbank as I know there are approximately 10 million cyclists along there in the morning. Never fail though, I am the one that needs to give way, even when running straight and hugging the left. Pretty annoying!
That's my whinge over. When I got to work I was pretty wet through and a bit miserable. But I'd knocked out another 8.6k at a decent pace (5:02/km) so it wasn't all doom and gloom.
Month to Date: 192.2km
Year to Date: 527.1km
Wednesday 26th Mar
Strava
You would struggle to buy better conditions today! 23 degrees, sun, light breeze...love Autumn in Melbourne!
Tempo Surges was the run today:
800m @ Tempo + 200m @ quicker than 5k...rinse and repeat 5 times, no break
Splits were:
3:47/0:52
3:54/0:51
3:49/0:56
3:51/0:52
3:55/0:52
Felt pretty easy. Definitely could've done a couple of more repeats but unfortunately had to return to work.
Good days are fantastic. Motivation takes a giant leap and for the rest of the day I am replaying the run and can't wait for the next one. Which is a 9k run to work tomorrow. With the forecast looking decidedly ordinary I'm going to need all the motivation I can muster to get out of bed!
6.9km @ 4:54/km.
Month to Date: 183.6km
Year to Date: 518.5km
Tuesday 25th Mar
Strava
Another Tuesday morning, another run commute from Richmond into work at Docklands.
Wow is it hard to get out of bed when it's cold and dark outside! But, get out of bed I did, quickly dressed, eat some oats and onto the train.
Just to mix things up a bit I did a full lap of The Tan rather than the 3/4 I usually do. Nothing really exciting, just changing things up.
Into Docklands along the Yarra was a pleasure as always. Not as many rowers out and about today but still plenty of bikes and quite a few runners.
The run felt pretty good. I didn't push myself to any great lengths, just sort of cruised on in. The Tan loop felt hard, I felt like I was pushing it, but in the end my time would suggest otherwise.
8.7km @ 5:04/km.
Month to Date: 176.7km
Year to Date: 511.6km
No comments:
Post a Comment