Back in Sydney!

After a month away in Europe, I'm back in Sydney and ready to start training. I went for three short jogs while away so I need to build up to longer distances from the beginning. In this first week back, I went to the gym once, went for one 6km run at 5min/k pace and played two games of hockey on Saturday. It's Monday now and my legs are still recovering from hockey!

Part 2: Week 4: Tuesday

On Monday, in our group training session, we did sprints around the Opera House and push-ups, squats etc until it hurt. Tim managed to win all three time trials by a fair distance and I came second in all three. It's about 610m around and I did a 1.57 the first run which was better than my previous best of 2.10 so I'm getting faster but Tim is getting faster faster-er.

So after that, I had Tuesday off.

Part 2: Week 3 Recap

Ok, I haven't written for a while... Last week my legs felt like stone for some reason. I ran a 10km on Friday which was painful the whole way. I could feel the old shin splints coming on so I am making an effort to stretch my calves more and do all the old stretches my Physio advised me of.

I struggled during my first game of hockey on Saturday but my legs felt like the freed up somewhat in the second half. We lost 1-2 but it was good fun. I went for a jog on Sunday with Amanda for 3km then did another 3km a bit faster. Still felt heavy in the legs.

Part 2: Week 3: Tuesday

A 6km run at lunchtime with Tim. The Garmin went completely nuts as you can see by the images. Despite what it says, it was about 6km and I ran 26.31. Tim was a couple of metres ahead of me. Next time I'll make sure he is behind :)

Part 2: Week 3: Monday

Had the day off work today so hit the road for 16km in the morning. It was a good run - slow and steady - a total time 1:23.31. I took the Camelbak to keep hydrated and swallowed a Powerbar Gel halfway through the run. It was very thick and sticky plus the chocolate flavor was maybe not the best. Still, it did the trick and kept me going strong.

I calculated the pace I will need to run the City2Surf (14k) in sub-60, and I realised I have a lot of work to do! I will be taking running gear to Europe and running when I can. Have yet to play a hockey match this year and I am thinking now that I will give it a miss for the season. Maybe I'll try to get in a couple of low-grade games if I can but other than that I'll just keep running :)

Part 2: Week 2: Thursday & Saturday

A 6km run after work on Thursday. Felt pretty good down the home straight and even bothered to stretch afterwards.

I managed to get out for a 10k run on Saturday. Went alright. Need to step it up a bit now.

Part 2: Week 2

Did an hour group training session on Monday (top right), which was great but proved quite hard going after the 10k run on Sunday.

On Tuesday, Tim and I went out to do a 3km as fast as possible (bottom right). The Garmin was not completely accurate as we ran under a bridge so using mapmyrun.com, I confirmed that it was very close to 3km rather than 3.16k.

I did it in 12.12. Unfortunately, Tim kicked my ass.

Part 2: Week 1: Sunday

Went out for a 10km run on Sunday afternoon. Managed to avoid the rain and did it in 47.41. Not too bad considering the lingering cold and lack of recent running. Of course, it's not close to the 40mins I'll be doing in a couple of months :)

Part 2: Week 1

After having a rotten cold all week, I finally managed to get out on Saturday and do a 6km run. The Garmin had trouble with the buildings in the city again and totalled about 6.2k but having done the same 6k route several times, I wasn't fooled! Did it in 27.17 which is alright for not having run for two weeks. Will try to get out for 10km on Sunday, although probably at a much slowly pace than today.

To meet my City2Surf (14km) goal of 60mins, I'll need to be doing 6km better than 25mins but that is not until August so no rush just yet.

Part 2: Back on Track (or Road)

Firstly, to explain the lack of writing, I can't remember what I did in Week 8 and I spent Week 9 in the Gold Coast at an Anthony Robbins seminar. This is a new phase of my training and running blog. I am going to call next four weeks before I head to Europe for a month Part 2.

In these coming weeks, I will repeat the first four weeks of my training plan, to increase my speed and maintain endurance. The weather has got colder and wet and daylight savings ended so it will be a great challenge to head out in the dark and kick ass. I've made some new playlists to help me push through.

Also, I have finally got a copy of Once A Runner by John L. Parker which will inspire me to meet my goals for this year:

5k sub-20, 10k sub-40, c2s sub-60, half sub-90, marathon sub-4hrs

Stay tuned for the Part 2: Week 1 report...