Monday, March 26, 2007

I'm baaaaacccckkk ;)

Had a fabulous (if lazy!) weekend on the beach - ate waaaaayyyy too much junk and am consequently feeling the effects this morning. I'm also not getting on the scales for a week, lest I scare myself. I'm going to Cairns for work weds-fri and I can't take my lite n' easy with me, so I'll have to be sensible whilst I'm up there, too.

On the positive side of things...

I did my long run this morning as it didn't get done on the weekend. I ran for 2 hours! No foot problems, either! RAH! Started just before 5am, in the pitch black. Bit hair raising, starting out alone on the dodgy bike paths, but pleasantly surprised to find quite a few other runners out at that hour, so it wasn't too scary. Didn't feel overly tired or that I had to stop (not even a water stop was had!) and kept my legs turning over. It was probably a little slower than normal, but at this stage, who cares! It was just so good to be out there running :)

A few people have been asking if I'll still be doing the GCM, what with the fact I've missed the best part of two months training with my stressie. It's freaked me out a little because I started to doubt myself. It'd be quite easy just to give it a miss and blame my injury, but I'm now recovered I'm not about to cop out. I'll listen to my body of course, but I know I can do it - this years GCM is really a stepping stone to the GH100 anyway. A training run. It's not necessarily about a fast time, but about finishing comfortably so I don't wipe myself out for a month.

This morning has made me feel that I'm not quite as behind the eight-ball as I thought. Had I had a bit more time, I would probably have gone to 2:30. The next few months are going to be disgustingly hard as I ramp up the training to catch up, but I'm prepared to do the work. I've signed up for another hard-core bootcamp next month and I'm going to carry on doing circuit training on the other mornings and return to running my usual schedule. So with a couple of weeks lead in to work up to it, my training will start to look like this:

M - 10km + Circuit training a.m
T - Bootcamp a.m, Track session p.m
W - Circuit training a.m, 10 km group run p.m
T - Bootcamp a.m, PT p.m (fortnights)
F - Circuit training a.m
S - Long Run (building from 2:30 base, increasing by 10 mins each week)
S- REST DAY - 1 hour walk

Last year, the longest run I did was 3:30 - this year, I'm going to make it at least 4 hours - again, with the ultras in mind. I'll also alternate the flat with trails. The trails will possibly be longer runs and have walks in them, to try to simulate what it will be like to be out there for hours. Continuing to run long on the flat should hopefully see me avoid feeling like utter crap at the GCM where it's soooo totally flat!

I'm running at GH on the weekend, when I get back from Cairns with Vege and Davo. Chance to get some night running in, can't wait! I've missed catching up with everyone so much!



2 comments:

Jen said...

The key to being on your feet for 4+ hours really is nutrition & hydration. Focus on it from the start otherwise you'll bonk - in the triathlete/US use of the term ;-)

Having trained for Six Foot I also think that alternating hilly trail runs with flat runs is a great idea & probably what I will be doing in the future. You do spend a lot of time walking when on the trails but you end up spending much more time on your feet than you otherwise would have - & while trails are easier on the bod, it doesn't necessarily mean that your recovery time will be lessened.

Sorry for the essay - looking forward to cheering you on at GCM!

Ewen said...

That's really small text!

Anyway, what Jen said is good advice. I'd also practise long 'runs' where you have a run/walk plan which you stick to from the beginning. You'll have to figure out what works best. Could be anything from 10m/5m to 25m/5m.