Rocking 'n' Rolling

Mon 19th 11.0k 53:24 4:51 Avg HR 139

After Sunday's 36k run, it was pleasing to be able to run such a steady recovery run on a Monday night. In fact this was a Heart Rate PB for this course.

Tue 20th 9.7k 45:56 4:41 HR 157

Another hilly fartlek session.

Wed 21st 15.3k 1:17:03 5:02 HR 142

An easy lower aerobic run.

Thu 22nd 15.3k 1:09:17 4:31 HR 155

So far I have been putting a quality upper aerobic run each week on my 11k course. As I would be back at work next week, I thought I would have a crack at my longer 15k course. It turned out to be a corker of a run. So far this year my best time here was 1:15:12 and my all time best from April 2007 was 1:13:39, so I surpassed both those by a huge margin.

Fri 23rd Rest

Sat 24th 15.3k 1:18:27 5:07 HR 138

An easy aerobic run.

Sun 25th 36.0k 3:11:00 5:19 HR 135

Just when you think things are going so well reality comes up from behind and bites you on the bum. I got away around 6:00am and it was a brisk morning. I had settled down into a nice easy pace. At around 4k there is a little sharp rise at the back of the Ashgrove Bowls Club which at the top gives you a nice view of the Valleys Cricket Ovals. This morning it was covered in a thick blanket of fog about a metre high. It was very picturesque and I was admiring the view, when I suddenly lost my footing and almost stumbled over. Looking back, I saw I had landed my left foot on a seed pod. One of those giant seed pods that has two or three seeds about the size of golf balls in them. My left ankle was shouting out at me and I stopped to assess the damage. The initial pain seemed to subside fairly quickly, so decided I would continue on slowly and see how it felt. After a few minutes the pain had almost all gone so I continued on.

When I got back home at 25k I could have stopped but it really wasn't bothering me that much, so I set out for the final 11k. In hindsight this was probably a mistake. From then on I could feel it antime I turned to the left. The last 5k was a bit of a struggle. In the end my time was very good for such a low Heart Rate but as soon as I stopped I knew the ankle was not going to be good.

Did all the RICE stuff for the rest of the day, so hopefully that will aid the recovery.

Week: 102.6k

May: 345k

Year: 1,386k

Monday 26th

Today, I returned to work after being on leave since mid December. It was a sad sight seeing me hobbling back. Talk about adding insult to injury. The ankle has improved a little today but I would estimate it will need a least two or three more days of rest before trying to run on it. This is a shame as I was really looking forward to putting in a big effort in the Doomben Half this Sunday. On a positive side, I had left my entry to the last minute so will have not lost an entry fee if I don't recover in time. If I am back running before the weekend, it will not be too much of a set back for the Gold Coast. In fact, it could just freshen me up for a final month of quality training.

If these catch your eye,

there are hundreds more at Extended Album Art .

Still improving

Mon 12th 11k 57:01 (5:11 Avg HR 135)
Easy recovery run.

Tue 13th 9.5k 43:08 (4:32 HR 155)
Hilly fartlek session. I am finding this session very exhilarating. It certainly feels great to be going all out up the hills.

Wed 14th 15.3k 1:15:45 (4:57 HR 146)
Was to be just an easy run but was feeling OK after yesterday's effort, so pushed it a little coming back at an average HR of 150.

Thu 15th 15.3k 1:18:59 (5:09 hr 134)
An easy run and a HR PB.

Fri 16th 11k 47:45 (4:20 HR 158)
A new fastest time for this course and 1:49 faster than last week. Last week I averaged HR 150 for the run and really struggled at that rate. This week's run seemed much easier even though the HR average was higher. Just shows how quickly you improve your anaerobic ability with only a few weeks effort training.

Sat 17th Rest

Sun 18th 36k 3:08:50 (5:14 HR 139)
Not the most pleasant of long runs. To start it was cold and windy. The first 12.5k is basically east to Bowen Bridge Rd and generally the wind was behind me. This meant 70 minutes coming back home into the wind. The final 11k on the Gap cycle path was not too bad as it has a lot of protection from the sun and wind.
One great point about my long run course is that the first 25k section out and back to my home is very similar to the GC course where you come back to the start line around the 26k mark. Pushing yourself to turn around and continue with the extra Ks in training is great mental training for the GC.

Week: 98.1k
May: 243k
2008: 1283k

Another good training week. At this stage of the preparation it is always encouraging to see significant improvement from one week to the next.

On the music front this album, Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds and Blues 1970 - 1976 has been the first choice for listening on the home CD player now for a couple of weeks. I can recommend highly.

Here is a video of one of the featured artists Sir Victor Uwaifo.

The first you must watch. It is only very short but I bet you haven't seen any Western guitar heroes doing this move.



This one is typical of the music on the album .

Going strong

A really good week's training. All runs except Sunday's were done in the evening.

Mon 5th 15.3k 75:12 (4:54 Hr 147)
By only doing 25k on Sunday morning, it means by Monday evening I can do a solid upper aerobic run with no difficulty. This is the best time I have done this year on this course.

Tue 6th 9.7k 47:15 (4:52 HR 145)
Hilly fartlek session.

Wed 7th 15.3k 78:09 (5:06 HR 136)
An easy lower aerobic run. I have a couple of rating systems for runs. One is Avg Heart Rate multipled by Avg Pace which I find is particuliarly useful for comparing runs over the same course especially lower aerobic runs. So for this run it was 136 * 5.11 = 694.7 which just happens to be a PB for this course. This is a very good indicator for me. Just for comparision, Monday's run although quickier could only manage 722.5.

The other indicator I have is (Avg HR - 50) * (Avg Pace - 4) . This gives a bit more weighting to pace and is a bit indicator for Upper aerobic runs and Monday's run scores 89 as compared to Wednesday's 95.

I know you are probably thinking this is all a bit nerdy but I collect all this in a spreadsheet, so it only requires the input of a couple of figures.

Thu 8th 6.5k 33:41 (5:10 HR 133)
My legs were felling heavy and tired today so just did a short recovery run.

Fri 9th 11.0k 49:34 (4:30 HR 150)
A shorter upper aerobic run. Hit the jackpot tonight. Triple PB. This is the fastest I have ever done this course and the first time under 50 minutes. It was also PB on both my ranking scales 675.9 beating the previous 689 from 10th April and 51 beating the 70 from 23rd April.

Sat 10th Rest

Sun 11th 36k 3:10:49 (5:17 HR 139)
A nice and easy long run to finish off the week.

Week: 93.8k
May: 145k
Year: 1185k

Still while all this is encouraging, running 4:30 for 11k as I did on Friday is one thing but to continue on a that pace for another 30k is certainly not possible at this point. But just four weeks ago running 4:51 pace over that course seemed tough so who knows where another eight weeks will get me.

Ewen made comment about the Senegalese Dakar Sound album which I have on my music player and the sound of Motorbikes from the Dakar Rally. I think he may be on to something here. The album is a compilation of Senegalese music from the late 70's and 80's featuring what was at that time a wild new sound coming out of Dakar called Mbalax and features stuttering guitar and drums which when I think about it often sound like a noisy back firing trail bike. Given that the Dakar rally started in 1977 maybe it was the spark for this new wave of music?

Upping the Tempo

This is the first week where I have actively stepped up the intensity of a few sessions. Hopefully it will only take a few weeks to see the benefits of this.

Mon 28/4 11k 51:51 (4:42 Avg HR 155)
After doing my long run on Saturday, this could be an upper aerobic run rather than just a recovery run that I would normally do Monday.
Tue 29/4 15.3k 1:18:08 (5:06 HR 141)
A easy run.
Wed 30/4 9.5k 43:39 (4:35 HR 153)
This was my first time for ages running this course. I just follow Waterworks Road to Ashgrove and back. Lots of hills. The plan is to be aggressive up the hills and recover on the down side.
Thu 1/5 15.3k 1:16:01 (4:48 HR 146)
I woke up on Thursday morning to a dense layer of smoke lying over The Gap. The legs still felt a bit stiff from yesterday, so decided to delay the run till the afternoon. It turned out to be a good move. A ice solid pace all the way at an encouragingly low heart rate. I have been doing a few afternoon runs recently and it seems I run better at this time of day.
Fri 2/5 11k 57:03 (5:11 HR 133)
Again went out late in the day. Just an easy run along the bike path. It was getting quite dark towards the end and there is no lighting. With about 2.5k to go I found myself suddenly hurdling through the air!! I landed and quickly looked over my shoulder and it was a snake on the path. Seems my brain had processed what my eyes had seen and commanded my legs to jump well before it had sent the information to my consciousness. A nice short rise in HR at the point on the graph as well.
Sat 3/5 Rest
Sun 4/5 25k 2:32:15 (5:17 HR 136)
Back to running in the morning and the smoke haze is still around. Not very pleasant for running but as I leave The Gap and Ashgrove it gets better and it is mostly gone by the time I return. A little slower than last week but it has been a big step up in intensity this week in training and I know I can feel it it my legs, so not that unhappy.

Week Total: 87k

Music for the Road to Gold Coast

After loading up the music player with loads of old favourites for the Canberra marathon, it was time to clean out the play list and load up lots of new stuff. I really lifts my running when I have new music to listen to.

A few albums that have been on since Christmas managed to escape the cull as I still feel they had more to offer. These were In Rainbows, Fulani Journey and Ruke. All the others are "new".

I also loaded a mix of calypso tunes recommended by Johnny Dark that can be downloaded from here.

This is what is on there at the moment and more or less will be the soundtrack for my campaign for the Gold Coast..

Fulani Journey - Afrissippi (Senegal/USA 2006)

Dirt Farmer - Levon Helm (USA 2007)

Hello Hello - Mose Fan Fan (Dem. Rep. Congo 1995)


In Rainbows - Radiohead (UK 2007)




Ruke - Darko Rundek & Cargo Orkestar (Croatia 2002)

Belle Epoque Vol 1 : Soundiata - Rail Band (Mali )

The Voice of Lightness: Congo Classics 1961 - 1977 - Tabu Ley Rochereau ( DR Congo)

Sip 'n' Fly - African Jazz Pioneers (South Africa 1993 )

Brazil 70 After Tropicalia: New Directions in Brazilian Music - Various Artists (Brazil)

Studio One Soul 2 - Various Artists (Jamaica)

Dakar Sound Vol 5 100% Pure Double Concentre - Various Artists (Senegal )

Ni Kanu - Kante Manfila (Guinea 1995)