XC Runner

little mazungo

cfitz wrote: »

Thanks for showing an interest. Because the aim is to peak in July, I've been trying to train through my earlier races. But perhaps small adjustments to my training would be worthwhile to get more from these days. Normally before a more important race, I would just do about 10 minutes warm-up some strides and another 10 minute cool-down. Do you think that I should do a really easy day like this before all races, even if it's in the earlier phases of training?

no problem,
I do understand you want to train through your early races, but you rested 2days before this race and then did your longest CV run (70 mins the day before?) just a swap here would of helped you on the dreaded 3rd lap of a 1500,

I would say your close to pb shape now by your log, which running sub 4.22 and not 4.30 would of givin you a mental/training boost.

remember you will be naturally stronger than you where 2years ago due to your developing age, so with a proper speed development phase and speed specific workouts 4.11 to 4.14 is well within you.

keep up the good work,

L M

thirstywork

I agree with L M here,although you want to peak in July you still can't run
70mins which was your longest runt o dat the day before a race.
In order to progress you have to have some sort of easy week int he lead up to a race.
Im sure you would have ran 5-8 seconds quicker had you done this.
Hvae you picked your next race?

cfitz

thirstywork wrote: »

I agree with L M here,although you want to peak in July you still can't run
70mins which was your longest runt o dat the day before a race.
In order to progress you have to have some sort of easy week int he lead up to a race.
Im sure you would have ran 5-8 seconds quicker had you done this.
Hvae you picked your next race?

Yeah running the 3000m in Santry on Sunday.

cfitz

Week 31, Day 1:

AM
25 min jog

PM
60 min steady run
Stretching
3x10 Circuit (30 seconds on, 30 seconds off)


I drove 15/20 minutes straight from work to the place where I train then realised that I'd forgotten my runners. So I decided to be a hero and run in my bare feet. I've never ran barefoot before, not in a race as a kid, not in training ever. It was great fun and it was pretty quick. But jumping straight in with a 60 minute run was a tough ask. Crossing the paths was awful too, you'd be looking for a puddle to cool your feet down when you got back on the grass - I never noticed before that I had to cross 7 paths on every 1.5 mile lap! Lower calves and that general area were very tight afterwards and I got a blister under my left big toe. Feeling the muddy water squirt between my toes was excellent though :-)

Seres

well done , true commitment , good to add a bit of spice to your training

cfitz

Week 31, Day 2:

45 min steady hill run
Stretching
20 press-ups
100 sit-ups (2 variations 60+40)
Moving plank exercise (3 reps)
60 back extensions (2 variations 30+30)


Ran a loop around a sort of forest park in the 'mountains' that I'd never ran in before. Was fairly tender before this run having trained in my bare feet the day before and it made the severe hills here even more of a struggle. Used a 20 minute loop that was a fairly constant uphill for a long time then the rest was back down but a little more undulating. I don't like steep downhills at all, not sure if I'll use this loop again, it seems better than a lot of the alternatives.

Looks like my training for the next few weeks will be fairly similar to before but one of my track sessions will be replaced with this hill run for the moment.

cfitz

Week 31, Day 3:

AM
25 min jog

PM
45 min steady run
4 x 100m (30m roll-in, 40m sprint, 30m roll-out)
Stretching
10 press-ups
56 sit-ups (2 variations 30+26)
Moving plank exercise (3 short reps)
32 back extensions (2 variations 16+16)

cfitz

Week 31, Day 4:
AM
25 min jog

PM
25 min hard run
Stretching
10 press-ups
46 sit-ups (2 variations 20+26)
Moving plank exercise (3 short reps)
32 back extensions (2 variations 16+16)


850m grass lap. Lovely weather. Ground was a little mucky in places. Splits were:

1. 3:18
2. 3:06
3. 3:08
4. 3:13
5. 3:12
6. 3:16
7. 3:10
8. 3:11

Total 25:37 for approx. 6.8km

thirstywork

http://www.clonliffeharriers.com/images/photos/2009/May/ClubTF/album/index.html

cfitz

Week 31, Day 5:
Rest Day
Sports Massage


Week 31, Day 6:
10 min warm-up jog
Strides
10 min warm-down jog
Stretching
10 press-ups
50 sit-ups (2 variations 20+30)
Moving plank exercise (3 short reps)
32 back extensions (2 variations 16+16)


Week 31, Day 7:
12 min warm-up jog
Strides
3000m RACE (9:24, 2nd place)
23 min warm-down jog
Stretching


Lovely hot day. Stayed in the shade behind the terrace for my strides and drills. Other guys in the race didn't seem to want to push things on, so I went to the front after about 150 metres. Hit the splits pretty much how I wanted early on: 74, 74, 73, 75. Faded a bit in the second half though I seemed to be extending my lead. 76 and 78 for the following two laps. Did lap 7 in 76, but over the final 200m the guy in 2nd produced a huge kick and flew past on the bend to finish 4 seconds ahead of me! I only managed 36 seconds for my last 200 metres. Enjoyed the run and I'm fairly happy with my 9:24.

thirstywork

That young buck ran 26 for his last 200m,it was crazy.think his last 400m was around 62-64
hows the body after the race?

Seres

cfitz wrote: »

Week 31, Day 5:
Rest Day
Sports Massage


Week 31, Day 6:
10 min warm-up jog
Strides
10 min warm-down jog
Stretching
10 press-ups
50 sit-ups (2 variations 20+30)
Moving plank exercise (3 short reps)
32 back extensions (2 variations 16+16)


Week 31, Day 7:
12 min warm-up jog
Strides
3000m RACE (9:24, 2nd place)
23 min warm-down jog
Stretching


Lovely hot day. Stayed in the shade behind the terrace for my strides and drills. Other guys in the race didn't seem to want to push things on, so I went to the front after about 150 metres. Hit the splits pretty much how I wanted early on: 74, 74, 73, 75. Faded a bit in the second half though I seemed to be extending my lead. 76 and 78 for the following two laps. Did lap 7 in 76, but over the final 200m the guy in 2nd produced a huge kick and flew past on the bend to finish 4 seconds ahead of me! I only managed 36 seconds for my last 200 metres. Enjoyed the run and I'm fairly happy with my 9:24.

well done , great result , good pacing

cfitz

thirstywork wrote: »

That young buck ran 26 for his last 200m,it was crazy.think his last 400m was around 62-64
hows the body after the race?

Were you at it? My body is mostly fine after the race but I had a bit of a niggle somewhere near my achilles since that day I ran barefoot and I'd hoped it would be gone by now...

cfitz

Week 32, Day 1:

AM
25 min jog

PM
60 min steady run
Stretching
3x10 Circuit (30 seconds on, 30 seconds off)


Lower calf/achilles on left leg not feeling great during the morning run. Considering my options.

cfitz

Week 32, Day 2:

25 min jog


Went for a jog this morning. Gonna take a few days off, probably run again on Friday.

thirstywork

I was at it ,was shouting you on.some weather for it.you looked strong but very one paced.Id expext you could runa really good 5k this summer.
I think it might be worth your while running a couple of 800m and plenty of 1500m races in order to bring your 3k time below 9mins.

cfitz

thirstywork wrote: »

I was at it ,was shouting you on.some weather for it.you looked strong but very one paced.Id expext you could runa really good 5k this summer.
I think it might be worth your while running a couple of 800m and plenty of 1500m races in order to bring your 3k time below 9mins.

Cheers! There was great support considering I was an outsider :-) I'm due to start some sharper speed stuff in a few weeks, so hopefully that will have a good effect.

Racing Flat

Gone a bit quiet in here, I hope the Achiiles is okay. I'd recommend some of the exercises on page 15 of this, particularly the special Achilles strengthener. After having problems for about a year, 6 weeks of this and it's been fine for more than 2 years now, fingers crossed.

http://sportingspirit.bigpondhosting.com/SS%20Run%20Manual.pdf

For more info on the SAS:

http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/0031a-achilles-tendonitis.htm

cfitz

Week 32, Day 3:

Rest day


Week 32, Day 4:

Rest day
Sports massage


Week 32, Day 5:

35 minute easy run
Stretching

cfitz

Week 32, Day 6:

Went for a run with a local coach who offered to show me how I can improve my running technique. Didn't time it, involved lots of starting and stopping and analysing. Legs seem to be sore in different places than usual after it. Not sure where to go with it from here, looks like something that could take a lot of work, might concentrate on the track season and then see about getting it together.

Running Bing

cfitz wrote: »

Week 32, Day 6:

Went for a run with a local coach who offered to show me how I can improve my running technique. Didn't time it, involved lots of starting and stopping and analysing. Legs seem to be sore in different places than usual after it. Not sure where to go with it from here, looks like something that could take a lot of work, might concentrate on the track season and then see about getting it together.

Did he give you any specific tips or areas you need to improve on cfitz?

cfitz

Running Bing wrote: »

Did he give you any specific tips or areas you need to improve on cfitz?

Numerous things, he basically thinks I need to learn to run again. He says there's a few books that help to explain the key areas - I think one of them might be called 'Gravity Running' and the other was 'Chi Running'. He told me to lift my feet behind me, hold my core by trying to lift my waistband, lean forward from my ankles, flick my elbows back, and let my chin relax.

cfitz

Week 32, Day 7:
60 minute easy run
Stretching
20 press-ups
90 sit-ups (2 variations 40+50)
Moving plank exercise (3 reps)
60 back extensions (2 variations 30+30)


Calves are quite sore today after the running style training session yesterday, but they felt ok while running. The press-ups were really tough after the break I had from them.

Racing Flat

cfitz wrote: »

He told me to lift my feet behind me, hold my core by trying to lift my waistband, lean forward from my ankles, flick my elbows back, and let my chin relax.

Anything else?

shels4ever

cfitz wrote: »

Week 32, Day 6:

Went for a run with a local coach who offered to show me how I can improve my running technique. Didn't time it, involved lots of starting and stopping and analysing. Legs seem to be sore in different places than usual after it. Not sure where to go with it from here, looks like something that could take a lot of work, might concentrate on the track season and then see about getting it together.

Sounds like something that you would be better doing in the off season not during race period ?

cfitz

Racing Flat wrote: »

Anything else?

I'm not sure whether your slagging me coz those are obvious or because that's a lot of things to fix all at once??!! Anyway, that's pretty much what he concentrated on (though we went into a bit more detail than that) - he said there was a little more to it, but to start with those things.

Racing Flat

cfitz wrote: »

I'm not sure whether your slagging me coz those are obvious or because that's a lot of things to fix all at once??!! Anyway, that's pretty much what he concentrated on (though we went into a bit more detail than that) - he said there was a little more to it, but to start with those things.

Not slagging, just think I'd be overwhelmed if I was told there was so much to do! Kind of like asking if your bum looks big in this and being told that it does and so does your hips and thighs. And the belly.

cfitz

shels4ever wrote: »

Sounds like something that you would be better doing in the off season not during race period ?

That's kind of what I was thinking. He says it's so fundamental to my improvement that I should drop everything and start right away.

Racing Flat

As a matter of interest I was doing 4 200s at the end of my session today, and based on the above, concentrated on lifting my legs back behind me more and flicking my elbows back (forgot about relaxing the chin and not sure what is meant by leaning forward from the ankles). This was at the end of a very tough, hilly 8 x 3mins where I considered not doing the 200s, but doing them like this I thought I was going at about 40secs (normal is about 36) and I was going through in 35 and it was feeling very easy :eek:.

I suppose you could continue racing and just concentrate on this during your easy runs and then when this race season is over try to build it into your sessions aswell before the next, presumably xc season begins.

Interesting stuff, but I do think your style has improved considerably in a year anyhow, so continuing what you are doing might yield further improvements in any case.

shels4ever

cfitz wrote: »

That's kind of what I was thinking. He says it's so fundamental to my improvement that I should drop everything and start right away.

Well if he coatch thinks it would be of long term benifit then might be something to think about .