“It is not where you start that counts,
but where you choose to finish”

MAR 2009

Resting HR (average): 52
Resting HR range: 48-57

Average weekly mileage: 57km
Average training load: 145

Running time:km range: 4:54 – 5:42

Weight: 69.0kg
Fat %: 19.6%

“Your character will show when the times are rough”
Justin Herald

“Be not afraid of going slowly;
be only afraid of standing still.”
Chinese Proverb

Resting HR (average): 52

Injury status: (R) Low back 5/10; (L) hip/groin 2/10

Not my best training week, but unlike the past I still managed to do some exercise while recovering from injury. My back has only responded very slowly, and so Monday I rested. The pain has made me more tired than i’d usually be and i’ve struggled to get up early like I usually do.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were smaller sessions, and by Friday I still couldn’t run comfortably so my goal of 22km was abandoned.

Saturday I spent a fair bit of time doing some strengthening, ab work and cycling. While Sunday my back started to get a bit better and I was able to push through 12km at a reasonable pace.

I am pretty sure my back is a costovertebral joint problem at the T12 level, which may be why it is responding slowly. It’s on the right track and i’ve got to get back into a decent week next week…

“Courage does not always roar.
Sometimes it is a quiet voice at the end of the day, saying…
“I will try again tomorrow.”

“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.”

Resting HR (average): 52

This became a fairly tough week. Monday I got up late and did not feel like running. Leaving at about 8am the heat was more intense than I am used to and I was glad to finish that one
Tuesday was a decent run of 16km. I had hoped the 3 days off running last week would leave me nice and fresh, but once again it was slow and a struggle. My left thigh has been a bit tight, as has my right calf.

Wednesday I used the total trainer, and then thursday was a 6km tempo run. Although the pace was not great (around 5:00/km), I felt quite good except for a niggle in the right side of my back.

Friday I left at 3.30am for my long run. My back was pretty sore. I’m not sure if it is from Rheanna standing on me! Or maybe I strained something in my training somehow. Every step I took I could feel the pain and it was about 6/10. I wanted to give up after 1 or 2 km. My goal was 30, and I didn’t want to give in. I just focused on 1km at a time and set myself small targets. As I ran 6km out towards the gabba way, I just focused on reaching the turning point. Then I focused on getting to the Victoria bridge which was 11km. Then it’s 10km out to St Lucia which I have done many times so I knew I could run that by breaking it into 4 lots of 5km. At 12km, I stopped and needed tp rest for a minute. Then I concentrated on getting to 5.5km out this way as I stop at the BP for a powerade. Boy was that welcome. Then another 5.5km, as I now decided I was running 32km and not 30km.

At the turnaround point I just broke it down to 3kms to the water fountain. Another 2.5km to another powerade. Then another 2 or 3 and I was almost home. My back eased a bit after 25km as my lower legs and feet started to get sore. But the last 2kms I ran a bit quicker, although I was very glad to finish!

The biggest factor getting me through was to remain focused on my goal of comrades. Then I think of my friends and family and things that inspire me. Thoughts of training years ago with my sister supporting me, or my mum taking me to hockey each week go through the mind and give me the strength to keep going.

I believe that mileage and consistency are important, but your most run of the week is the long run. It’s what builds up your endurance. As I only have 62 weeks to go, there are only 60 odd long runs, so it is important to complete as many of those out of the 60 as you can. It is very easy at this stage to say it doesn’t matter all that much, but it is at the other end when there are only a few weeks left that you will be most grateful.

Saturday was just a 1 hour total trainer session as my back was sore, and Sunday I managed to run 16km through the pain before needing to rest for the entire day as the pain was casuing my mind and body to be extremely weary. Next week will be a lighter week and recovery as I seek to get my back and leg right…

“Pain is temporary.
It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year,
but eventually it will subside
and something else will take its place.
If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”
Lance Armstrong

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are”
Theodore Roosevelt

Resting HR (average): 53

This was always going to be a disrupted week as I had a 4 day seminar on the Gold Coast which meant 4 early starts and late finishes, playing havoc with my time to train. Luckily it was a recoery week with less training, and I simply managed to do what I could. I am very happy that I still managed to train everyday, albeit small amounts when my body and mind were longing for sleep!

Monday was a hill session of 10km around Ashgrove. I am not used to hills and certainly felt it in my right calf and knee for a few days. Tuesday was a flat run of 15km by which stage my body was starting to feel quite niggly.

With  a total trainer session on wednesday, it gave me enough recovery to have a pretty good run at 4am on thursday. I had to be finished up by 6.30am as I had to travel to the Gold Coast by 7am.

Friday, saturday and sunday were 3 days off running. I was glad to have a break and with the 60-75 mins I got on those mornings I did some upper body strengthening and a small amount of the crosstrainer and cycle.

Next week it’s back up to 80km and and pushing hard again…

“You can’t sit back and wait for breaks to come your way.
They don’t happen by hoping.
They happen because of positive actions”
Chuck Norris

“If you aren’t going all the way, why go at all?”
Joe Namath

Resting HR (average): 52

This week started with a run up Toorak road in Melbourne. The undulating terrain is nice, but the waiting at traffic lights kills your momentum (although the resting periods were well appreciated). It doesn’t help to be running around 7am eitther when there is traffic and people aplenty!

Tuesday it was time to discard the polyprop and back to running in hot and humid Brisbane. Ah bliss! Surprisingly I felt quite good. I can definitely feel the fitness improving, even if it is still quite slow!
Wednesday it was nice to do a total trainer session, after 4 days of neglecting the upper body.

Thursday was a tempo run, and Friday I was up just after 2am for a 3am start. I was supposed to do 28km. I was initally a bit stiff through the quads, but after 7-8km I started to loosen up and then I felt quite good. Conditions were perfect, and for 2 hours it was just me and the strays who had had a long night out, on the roads! As I ran around the university of Queensland I felt something hit my cap and onto my fingers. It was wet but it wasn’t raining. I was shat on by a bird! On my nice white mizuno cap! Stupid bird!! Although I felt good during the mid stages of my run, when I hit 24km, I started to stiffen up through my legs alot and the last 6km were tough. I decided that 28km is for wimps and instead I managed 30km. I always feel that long runs should really be classified as 30km upwards, so it is nice to build up to that mileage again.

Saturday I managed 2 sessions that were 2.5 hours and 1.5 hours and Sunday I ran 16km and felt really good. I a defintely starting to notice some improvements in terms of fitness and leg strength. Still a long way to go, but on the right track.

Next week is a recovery week with decent mileage in the first half of the week, before I get 3 days off running to rest and recover…

“It isn’t hard to be good from time to time in sports.
What’s tough is being good every day.”
Willie Mays

“Positive anything is better than negative nothing”
Elbert Hubbard

FEB 2009

Resting  HR (average): 52
Resting HR range: 48-56

Average weekly mileage: 62km
Average training load: 141

Running time:km range: 4:52 – 6:00

Weight range: 70.9kg – 68.6kg
Fat % range: 20.8%-19.0%

“Your success in any project can always be measured by your belief in yourself”
Robert Collier

“Commitment leads to action.
Action brings your dream closer”
Marcia Wieder

Weight: 68.6kg     
Fat Content: 19.0%
Resting HR (average): 50

I was extremely pleased to have lost 1.2kg over the past 2 weeks. And the body fat % has come back under 20%. There is still plenty of work to do but at least I am on the right track and making progress.

This was an easier week, with lower running mileage. I managed to exercise twice 3 days of the week. Up till friday I had exercised 54 days in a row (which is the second best i’ve ever managed but short of the 63 days I did in 2004). Unfortunately we had to go away over the weekend, and saturday morning we had to wake up at 2.30am, I just couldn’t get up any earlier to exercise, try as I might!

I was pleased to be able to do a couple of runs whilst we were away in Melbourne. It was nice to run down to St Kilda, along St Kilda road. Very different to running along the river in Brisbane. I personally find it more scenic and St Kilda road is a really wide road with tramlines and beautiful trees lining the sides. The only problem is the cold! Even though it is only March, I was painfully reminded just why we moved to Brisbane, as I don’t enjoy running in the cold. Once I had bought a polyprop I was fine, it just seems very early in the year to be having to wear thermals!

The 61km I ran was about 5km more than I had planned to do. So much for getting lots of rest and freshening up the legs. But hey I figured I did have a day off exercise. This coming week it’s time to make a small increase again…

“Running is a big question mark
that’s there each and every day.
It asks you, ‘Are you going to be a wimp,
or are you going to be strong today?’”
Peter Maher, Canadian marathon runner