Thursday - 4 x (90”, [60” jog], 60”, [30” jog], 30”) (off 2’)

A change up in my weekly plan, I’m experimenting with swapping my usual Thursday threshold for a speed session instead. I use feel that I’ve plateaued with the former, so a change in stimulus is needed. I had a feeling that my top end speed is lacking, hence the impetus behind today’s session. I last did this 3 years ago with Jamie, and the session is still deceptively brutal. Today, Ruth replaced Jamie. Overall, I think that I performed slightly better than anticipated, but the good sign is that there is plenty of improvement to come - which will hopefully carry over to the longer stuff. Distances for the 90, 60 and 30 seconds were 490 m, 320 m, 170 m, 490 m, 320 m, 160 m, 470 m, 310 m, 160 m, 480 m, 320 m and 170 m. Averaged 3:06’s, 3:08’s and 3:03’s for the 90, 60 and 30 second efforts respectively (all up, 3:06.5 min/km pace). Back in the day, each of these were sub-3’s (specifically, I averaged 2:54.7 min/km pace back in March 2016). So that’s the goal. I maxed the heart rate out at 184 bpm, a new record high. I’m absolutely spent now. Bumped into Jack during the cool-down for around 17 km all up.

Wednesday - 15km recovery + 6 x 10” hill sprints

Out for an easy 15 km with Ben and Darren along the usual Shelly Fairlight loop. A bit sore from the track yesterday, but felt more bouncy and springy than usual for a Wednesday morning. 4:44’s at 127 bpm. Finished off at Queenscliff Headland for some proper hill sprints.

Tuesday - 4 x 1 mile (off 90”), 5 x 200 m (off 1’)

Back to the track once again this morning for a solo session. I’ve been doing some soul searching, as despite training very consistently, I’m simply not responding and making any progress. So, I’ve decided to trial a period with a reduction in mileage (hence why there was no run yesterday). This method worked back in 2014 (the year that I initially had a breakthrough), so I’ve got nothing to loose by trying it again. I’ll simply replace the easy runs with some gym work. Anyway, today’s session was nothing special in terms of pace, but encouragingly I felt fine. Times were 5:18, 5:19, 5:24 and 5:28 (averaging 5:22’s, or 3:21 min/km pace). Finished off with some 200’s, all in 34 seconds. A good solid session. I suppose I shouldn’t be too impatient while I wait for some performance to come back (especially since I literally decided to drop the mileage at 4 am yesterday morning). Again, I actually feel good - I just don’t have that extra gear. Hopefully a few track sessions to mix it up a bit will help over the next month or two. A slow cool-down, finished off once back at home (to minimise the traffic) for just over 17 km all up.

Sunday - 30 km

The plan was to really back off the pace today, and simply focus on getting the distance done. I pulled up very sore in both calf muscles following yesterday’s track, so any OCD tendencies to push the pace were quickly eradicated. A strong southerly made the second half tougher than usual. Apart from that, conditions were quite pleasant. And most importantly, I erased any nightmares from last Sunday’s long run, and simply just enjoyed being out there today and not having to work too hard. Got back in 2:13:34 holding 4:27’s at 139 bpm. Way slower than usual, but probably the pace that I should really be running these long runs if I’m going to do three hard sessions each week.

Saturday - 16 x 400 m (off 45”)

My first track session in years, I forgot how torturous that place can be. Jack organised the session, so I just followed his lead. 16 laps of the track, each with 45 seconds rest in between. The plan was to simply follow Jack for as long as possible, which was fine for the first 4 reps, the next 4 he started finishing a second or two in front, and from then onwards I was in survival mode (as you can see with the splits - 73.7, 72.9, 73.8, 71.8, 71.7, 73.3, 73.3, 73.7, 74.2, 74.8, 75.8, 76.6, 78.7, 79.0, 79.6 and 78.5 - averaging 75.1, or 3:07.8 min/km pace). Just stoked to get through that. I don’t know whether it was the track or not, but that was the fastest I’ve run in a long time (despite blowing up, it shows how ordinary my form has been in recent years). A nice slow cook-down, followed by a short run at Manly upon returning for just over 17 km all up. Way too sore to even contemplate going to the gym today. Looking forward to trying a few more track sessions on a more regular basis moving forward.

Thursday - 10 km easy

Still not 100%, so I kept it at an easy 10 km this morning. Just ran along the beachfront, bumping into Darren early on so had some company for the rest of the run. Legs felt a bit heavy towards the end. 4:40’s at 124 bpm.

Tuesday - 17 km easy

I’ve really struggled with soreness over the past two weeks, and today I finally succumbed to it. I haven’t had an easy week since September (23 weeks ago), so I knew deep down I was well overdue for one - it’s just that I’m too stubborn to admit it. I knew all day yesterday that it was going to take a miracle for me to run the planned 1 mile reps this morning, and I was right. Within the first few hundred meters of the warm-up the decision was made. Knowing that Jodie had said he’d meet me at Manly LSC at 5:45 am, I wanted to make sure I found him to tell him that I was pulling the pin. When I found him, he was happy to come for an easy run, so I had some company which was great. We just ran along the beachfront for a bit, before going towards the harbour, where we bumped into Darren. It turns out that Darren decided this morning to join us for the session, but hadn’t told anyone, so when he turned up to find no one there, he did the same as Jodi and I. All up I still got out 17 km, about 7 too many as my legs are absolutely crushed now. I hate having to pull the pin on a session, and I often question myself for the rest of the day - however, today there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I did the right thing. Rather than feeling guilty, I feel relieved. I might take a full day off tomorrow, run an easy 10-15 km on Thursday, followed by my normal rest day on Friday. Will try and get a massage in between now and Saturday as well. So all in all, a well overdue recovery week.