You could think that the title refers to England's performance so far in the World Cup. Lot's of missed opportunities, but thankfully 2 wins from 2 matches. The game against Sweden should be the biggest test and a good performance should set them up for the knock-out phase.
But actually the title refers to a run that I did last Friday but missed noting here, as well as lots of days in between where I just missed running.
Last Friday's effort was 7.4km in 39:50 at a fairly quick pace of 5:23/km.
Then there's been a week of disrupted sleep due to trying to catch the World Cup games and some very cold mornings which didn't help either.
However, this morning I was out running at 4am! I had an early night last night so that I could wake up at 2am to watch England v Trinidad & Tobago. After the match, I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep to make it worthwhile bearing in mind I'd need to be up at 6.30 to go to work. So I went for a run.
It's amazing how little life there is on the streets at that time in the morning. I'm not just talking about local streets around where I live. I'm talking about being able to run down the middle of a major road heading to and from the City which is usually chock-a-block with vehicles.
Another first - this morning I knew that I wasn't tight for time, so I headed out on a 10km route, which I finished (10.41km) in 1:02:46 at 6:02/km pace.
Even though I was wearing a hat - my ears were painfully cold. I'm looking forward to the days warming up...
Hopefully I can get a run in whenever I get a chance. Perhaps another 4am start on Monday morning after the Brazil v Australia game!
Friday, June 16, 2006
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Tempo Run...
I took note of my Training Programme for the first time in a long time this morning. I saw a Tempo run described. 4 x 1.5km at 5:00/km with 2 minute recovery jogs in between.
Well I almost made it! I actually completed three repeats instead of four. I think I was making too fast a pace. I tried to keep an eye on where my Imaginary Friend was, but I don't think I was very consistent.
So 6.32km completed in 32:36 was good enough for a first try. My legs do feel as if they've worked harder than usual. So that should be a good thing.
I'll try and vary these 'harder' mid-week runs in future and hopefully my stamina and fitness will improve. I also have "Max O2", "Speed" and "Yasso" on the list.
I just looked back on where I was this time last year. Clearly I had no clue what I was doing! The distances I was estimating were a bit optimistic - now that I've got my Imaginary Friend to give his expert opinion. So hopefully, if I can keep going with the current plan, I should be on course to beat last year's City to Surf time.
Well I almost made it! I actually completed three repeats instead of four. I think I was making too fast a pace. I tried to keep an eye on where my Imaginary Friend was, but I don't think I was very consistent.
So 6.32km completed in 32:36 was good enough for a first try. My legs do feel as if they've worked harder than usual. So that should be a good thing.
I'll try and vary these 'harder' mid-week runs in future and hopefully my stamina and fitness will improve. I also have "Max O2", "Speed" and "Yasso" on the list.
I just looked back on where I was this time last year. Clearly I had no clue what I was doing! The distances I was estimating were a bit optimistic - now that I've got my Imaginary Friend to give his expert opinion. So hopefully, if I can keep going with the current plan, I should be on course to beat last year's City to Surf time.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Getting Carried Away...
I almost binned the idea of a run on Sunday. I was tired, it was cold and there was easy Sunday afternoon TV.
But I did make an attempt, with an intention to do the minimum possible, just to put a tick in the box.
As it turned out, I felt really good as I got into the run. I ended up with 8.98km in 51:18 at 5:42/km pace. I felt strong for the whole run. I was able to kick on up the hills and really put some pace on down hills. Strange though - I thought I'd completed a round 9km according to my Imaginary Friend.
It should have been a Longer, Slower, Distance run but that pace was faster than my Easy runs. So I better make sure I get some good rest before heading out again tomorrow.
I also need to take more care of my hydration. Even though it's cold here, I still must lose a fair amount of sweat on those longer runs. I woke up with a bit of a sore head this morning. Seems like a no-alcohol hangover! What a waste!
But I did make an attempt, with an intention to do the minimum possible, just to put a tick in the box.
As it turned out, I felt really good as I got into the run. I ended up with 8.98km in 51:18 at 5:42/km pace. I felt strong for the whole run. I was able to kick on up the hills and really put some pace on down hills. Strange though - I thought I'd completed a round 9km according to my Imaginary Friend.
It should have been a Longer, Slower, Distance run but that pace was faster than my Easy runs. So I better make sure I get some good rest before heading out again tomorrow.
I also need to take more care of my hydration. Even though it's cold here, I still must lose a fair amount of sweat on those longer runs. I woke up with a bit of a sore head this morning. Seems like a no-alcohol hangover! What a waste!
Friday, June 02, 2006
No More Excuses...
Our HR department at work have recently organised for some of us to take part in the Energy4Life programme.
Basically they assess your body age (as opposed to birth age) taking into account things like blood pressure, cholesterol, fitness, nutrition and lifestyle. They then put you on a 12 week programme and assess your body age again. Obviously the intention is to show a marked improvement based on more exercise, better nutrition etc.
My initial assessment identified my body age as 37 - which I'm fairly pleased with since I am in fact 39! There was no surprises. The assessment identified that whilst I have a reasonable fitness level, my lung capacity is poor. I also need to eat more plant food and fish.
So I certainly realise that one way to improve my lung capacity is with continued aerobic fitness (breath deeper).
Also, it's only 10 weeks this weekend to City to Surf.
So I thought I'd better make sure that over the next 10 to 12 weeks, I get stuck into the fitness and hope that the good habits can be continued.
I figured I'd better address all the little excuses I've had recently for missing training. The main one that I can actually do something about is to get my left heel pain sorted (there's not much I can do about the cold weather).
I went to see a Sports Physician. He advised me that I've bruised my Achilles tendon where it joins the heel bone. The solution is to wear an orthotic insert in my shoes to take some tension out of my Achilles tendon while it heals. No need to stop running - we've caught the problem early.
So, I need to search around for this particular product (Tuli's Heel Cup).
I did get out for a run this morning too. 7.43km in 43:02 at 5:47/km. It does feel good, and with all these little incentives, I'm confident that there'll be more achieved sessions than missed sessions in future!
Basically they assess your body age (as opposed to birth age) taking into account things like blood pressure, cholesterol, fitness, nutrition and lifestyle. They then put you on a 12 week programme and assess your body age again. Obviously the intention is to show a marked improvement based on more exercise, better nutrition etc.
My initial assessment identified my body age as 37 - which I'm fairly pleased with since I am in fact 39! There was no surprises. The assessment identified that whilst I have a reasonable fitness level, my lung capacity is poor. I also need to eat more plant food and fish.
So I certainly realise that one way to improve my lung capacity is with continued aerobic fitness (breath deeper).
Also, it's only 10 weeks this weekend to City to Surf.
So I thought I'd better make sure that over the next 10 to 12 weeks, I get stuck into the fitness and hope that the good habits can be continued.
I figured I'd better address all the little excuses I've had recently for missing training. The main one that I can actually do something about is to get my left heel pain sorted (there's not much I can do about the cold weather).
I went to see a Sports Physician. He advised me that I've bruised my Achilles tendon where it joins the heel bone. The solution is to wear an orthotic insert in my shoes to take some tension out of my Achilles tendon while it heals. No need to stop running - we've caught the problem early.
So, I need to search around for this particular product (Tuli's Heel Cup).
I did get out for a run this morning too. 7.43km in 43:02 at 5:47/km. It does feel good, and with all these little incentives, I'm confident that there'll be more achieved sessions than missed sessions in future!
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