Strewth's Training Blog

Countdown to Ultra - 11 Weeks

Sunday
Activity: Easy cycle 5pm
Distance: 17:29
Time taken: 57:48 (I said it was easy)
Max speed: 31kph

Comments: Mr B and I cycled gently from home and round the lake just to keep the legs moving. It was still hot but it was quite a pleasant ride cos we definitely took it easy. It was a really hot night and I had very little sleep. No matter which way I lay I just could not sleep. The window was open, the fan was on, but I tossed and turned all night while Mr B slept like a baby! As a consequence although I set my alarm to swim in the morning I switched it off and had another hour's sleep before joining CJ and Mr B for brekkie on Monday morning.

Monday - Week 8 - Easy Week
Activity: Run 5.30pm with speedygeoff's group
Distance: 6.59km
AHR: 161bpm
MHR: 215bpm
Calories burned: 358

Comments: I must admit I briefly contemplated piking out - the sun was just so hot still at that time of day - about 34deg. When I arrived at Parliament House they had barricaded off my usual entrance to the underground carpark (was this a sign?) in preparation for the Australian Day concert (Wed night actually). I was unsure what to do next when Karen turned up (one of the sprinters) and she led me into the carpark a different way. There was no escape. I joined the other 9 crazy runners (all men bar Karen and me although later we were joined by Erin, a new starter from the States who is in Canberra for 12 months and is delightful). We firstly ran a 2:32 loop slowly (yes even by my standards). I think everyone was treating the weather with the respect it deserved, at least for the warm-up part. Speedygeoff then led us round a 439metre (measured by Gandalf) undulating loop which we ran five more times on 4 minutes which gave us a short rest between each loop. It was slightly shady in the area we ran (or parts of it) and a lot of effort was made to go as fast as possible (which in my case is still a chug) but it was still jolly hot and hard work up those hills. After this we ran a warm down loop back to the underground carpark. It was a shorter session than usual and fewer people attended but I felt glad I was there and it was lovely to meet Erin who sounds very enthusiastic about joining our group and the Vets' handicap runs. Thanks speedygeoff for not (quite) killing us in this heat!