8.49km Medium...

It was touch and go whether I'd get out for a run this morning. It was pouring with rain as I went to bed last night and I wouldn't have gone if it was like that this morning. But I set my alarm anyway and couldn't hear any rain when I woke up.

So off I went. And what a great run it was! Felt strong through the middle part of the run, tired a bit on some uphills towards the end, but finished an extra loop to end up with 8.49km in 45:46 at 5:24/km pace.

That must be one of the longest mid-week runs I've done. I'm usually a bit tight for time but I was feeling so good this morning that the extra 5 minutes was made up by getting ready for work and walking to the station quicker.

That probably concludes my running for February. I don't intend to get out again until Thursday. So I can record 114.8km for the month.

14.26km LSD...

A really good run on Sunday. Out and back runs are always a bit of a balance as you need to turn around with enough left in the tank to get hoome or suffer a long walk.

I only had an idea of 'more than 10km' on Sunday, but the more I got into it, the more comfortable I felt. So 14.26km in 1:24:22 at 5:55/km pace.

No adverse after-effects either, so I must have got the hydration right.

And then there was Saturday night. Good old SBS... showing Live Forever. The story of Britpop in the 90's. It filled in a lot of gaps for me from that period... let's not go too far into the reasons why those gaps occurred, but in my defence, I left the UK to go to Hong Kong in August 1995, right in the middle of when everyone was 'avin' it'. I remember catching up on the coming and goings when editions of Loaded arrived in HK about 2 months later!

For me it was all about visiting the record shops in Reading every lunchtime and general coming home with 2 or 3 CDs. And music festivals too. Living in Reading gave us easy access to Reading Festival... and daily showers - unlike the majority of festival goers. I also experienced the great unwashed festival culture over in Denmark at Roskilde.

Just fantastic!

7.28km Medium...

I felt good this morning. It was only supposed to be an Easy run but even though I was trying to hold back on the downhill between about 2 and 6km, it still ended up as a Medium paced run - 7.28km in 39:42 at 5:27/km pace.

I think I need to get back onto the idea of renewing my shoes. They're a bit battered after nearly 2 years, but at $230 a pop - I struggle to justify renewing every 6 months as is recommended.

So the list of presents for my 40th now includes:

Garmin Forerunner 305 - unlikely
Asics Gel Empire II - necessary
Asus MyPal 639 - awaiting delivery
Holiday in Hong Kong - redeemed frequent flyer points

7.13km 8 x 400m...

Again I was debating Speed / Hills as I woke up and got myself together this morning. I ended up choosing Speed.

I tried to go a bit slower than last time so that I could finish the full set of 8 reps. I had a couple of drop outs with the GPS signal which missed a few auto-lap beeps, but I finished 8 x 400m at about 4:27/km pace. So a little bit slower than my target pace of 4:10/km but I reckon it was close enough at this stage. Once I get used to this type of session, I should be a bit more accurate with my pacing.

An Easy run tomorrow before a Longer run on Sunday.

7.12km Medium...

Another one of those days when my legs felt dead for the first couple of km's. And another session when the first km was surprisingly slow. The strange thing is that the first km is fairly flat and then it rises for the next couple of km.

I suspect my Imaginary Friend is measuring the first km a bit long. Looking at the MotionBased route plot - it looks like it's cutting a few corners.

Anyway, I ended up overcompensating for the apparent slow start - trying to get back to an overall 'Easy' 6:00/km pace and ended up finishing at more of a 'Medium' pace (5:29/km). 7.12km in 39:07.

It's still good to know that I'm getting the mileage in with regular sessions. Probably try a harder session on Thursday - either Hills or a Speed session.

10.43km LSD...

Down to the river on Sunday afternoon for a nice, steady paced run.

I would have gone for the run in the morning, but I woke up feeling less than ordinary. We got on with the days activities but all the time in the back of mind I kept thinking of how I could slot in the run. Obsessed perhaps?

Ended up finishing 10.43km in 1:02:48 at 6:01/km. But that felt comfortable for that distance. I would have gone for longer but it was getting late and I didn't want to disrupt too much our evening.

It was a good route along the river from Meadowbank to Rydalmere and back. A couple of wrong turns were easily recovered. Next time I'll try to remember where I should be going and that should take me further along towards Silverwater Road and maybe beyond.

Definitely a route for long runs in future!

Gung Hei Fat Choy!!

7.59km Easy...

A remarkably steady paced run this morning. Pretty much on target pace all the way through. Strangely, it was the last full km that was a bit quicker than the rest - even though it was uphill. Perhaps a bit more effort was put in there to make sure I didn't roll back down!

Even though I didn't feel too bad after yesterdays Speed session, I want to get into the pattern of following it with an Easy recovery run.

So 7.59km in 44:05 at 5:48/km pace. 5:57/km for the first 6km.

Next, a longer run on Sunday.

5.84km 6 x 400m...

I decided on something a bit different this morning, rather than my usual 6 to 7km at an 'Easy' pace.

I first thought of doing Hill Reps, but as I was setting off I changed my mind to do some Speed work.

It's the first time I've ever done anything like this, and whilst I'd read some theory on the subject, I couldn't remember the detail. So I decided on: a warm-up, then 400m at a fast pace but not flat-out, then jog recovery for 400m, repeated 6 times then a warm-down.

I just checked my Runners World - Training Pace Calculator, and it says I should have done 8 x 400m at 4:10/km pace with recovery jogs in between. I actually did 6 x 400m at 3:30/km pace. So quite a bit faster than I was supposed to go but not as many reps.

It didn't feel too bad running at that pace and I don't feel any discomfort now.

Next time I'll try to do the full 8 reps at a slightly slower pace than I did today. I'll have to make sure I choose a good route where there aren't too many obstacles, hills etc... perhaps down to the river?

7.17km Easy...

A good run this morning. Very even pace - 7.17km in 40:40 at 5:40/km.

I ran along Shrimptons Creek and I was amazed to see how much water has flowed through there during the recent rains. There was debris caught up against any prominent object. At one point there is a footbridge handrail which has been knocked over by the weight of water pushing against the debris caught against it. And there are large stretches where the vegetation has been flattened by the flowing water.

I almost got caught up in some of the debris but thankfully managed to avoid going arse over tit.

So a good start to the week. Perhaps a speed or hill session on Thursday!

10.61km LSD...

I tried a new route on Sunday. I thought I'd go in search of a nice flat route along the river. So down to the river at Meadowbank and along to Putney.

There were a couple of difficult spots along the foreshore where access was restricted by boat ramps and fences - so I'll know to avoid those in future. The idea was to turn around in Putney Park and head back along past Meadowbank. But I was conscious of having either a long walk home or a run up the hill back away from the river. So I turned off in Meadowbank Park and finished just before Victoria Road.

10.61km in 1:04:43 at 6:05/km pace.

Next time I try this route I'll try to maintain a more even pace and avoid those difficult spots. That way I should be able to slowly increase the distance up to where I should be at for a Half Marathon.

6.65km Medium...

Another run this morning.

I only intended to run an Easy pace for about 6km. I asked my Imaginary Friend to lead me around 6km at 6:00/km pace.

I didn't pay too much attention to the watch. It was dark anyway and I didn't bother with the backlight. I just ran as I felt comfortable.

So when I heard the beep for 6km and checked the time, I realised I was about 5 minutes quicker than I'd planned. So I carried on until I was in sight of home - giving me a bit of time to warm down before reaching home.

So I finished 6.65km in 35:27 at 5:19/km pace. That's the fastest I've run since the 9km Bridge Run back in September.

It didn't feel particularly uncomfortable, so I hope that's a sign of my fitness returning.

I intend to do a long run on Sunday.

7.50km Medium...

It's still tough getting out of bed at 5.30am, when it's still dark, to go for a run. But after a brief pause over the snooze button, I achieved that feat again today!

I chose my slightly more challenging route option - the one with the steady climb up to the half way point. I was very conscious of keeping a steady pace for the first few Ks so as not to blow out in the second half. I obviously did that very well, because I felt very strong towards the end of the run.

I ended up completing the 7.50km in 40:26 at 5:23/km pace, which is a faster average than I intended.

Another thing that I was aware of this morning was that my mind was distracted (work stuff) which in some ways seemed to make the run a bit easier. Perhaps a confirmation of the good advice I received earlier from a regular reader that I shouldn't focus so much on the watch - just enjoy the run. So thanks for that (but I still like to take my Imaginary Friend with me)!

7.07km Easy...

I missed a long run on Sunday and a run yesterday due to a great weekend up on the Central Coast. Plenty of exercise running around and swimming with Lian and her friends though. But also an excess of beer and food too!

So a much needed run along Shrimpton's Creek this morning. 7.07km in 39:55 at 5:38/km pace.

I need to step it up if I'm going to hit my target of 120km for the month!

7.66km Medium...

A bit faster than Easy this morning, and I think that was because I just kept an even pace all the way through.

I had some trouble with my home internet connection this morning (I was on hold for 1 Hour and 15 minutes waiting to speak to the Optus helpdesk before hanging up) so I couldn't upload my results to MotionBased and check the corrected distance and pace. I've now uploaded it and can confirm that it was 7.66km in 41:45 at 5:27/km pace.

My legs did feel a bit dead again for the first couple of Ks but after 4 or 5 Ks I was feeling good.

I clocked up a total of 74.31km in January which is very ordinary considering I'm trying to get in 3 x 6-7km runs and a longer 10km+ each week. I guess I should be aiming for at least 120km in future.