Run OZgolf Run

[Toolish]

i have been thinking about giving some Nike Free's a go for some of my shorter sessinos for a start...anyone tried them?

Not sure i can ever see myself going full on vibram or anything though.

[goughy]

Been thinking the same thing T. And yeah, vibrams freak me out!

[AndyP]

The minimal shoes don't do it for me and I have no problem using something that compensates. The benefits are a topic of debate.

That said racing flats are minimal, but I'll only be using them on race day. They are Mizuno Ronins FWIW and I got them for $99 from inTraining.

[yoyo]

Racing flats are essentially free running shoes. Some 'free running' shoes would actually have alot more cushioning than the Ronins. They r great shoes btw.
For eg. The Nike Free 7's are like some kind of pseudo free run shoe for the 'everyday man', they have more support than my light trainers even, let alone my flats.

Incorporating some light/free run shoe runs into ur schedule can be a real positive in terms of increasing ur foot strength, but ease into it, keep it short.
Even a bit of barefoot running on grass, nice and short, helps keep all ur foot muscles firing. I did a training session with pete jacobs recently (2nd hawaii IM 2011, 4th fastest marathon in history) and he regularly does some barefoot runs on grass as a tune up.

As for the whole vibrams thing...... I hate it.

[goughy]

One of the guru's up here is right into them; multiple kona but now days is into the xtri stuff etc. At 50 was still right up there in the open categories. Every now and then I have a session with him just to get some hints and focus. While he's into the vibrams/free shoes/sandals he hasn't pushed them on to me. But last time he did suggest starting my runs completely barefoot, for maybe 500mtrs or so, to get my foot working the right way and help build up some strength. He's also into the whole low hr thing, which I was trying at one stage but carrying injuries and not training much I just got nothing from it. I'd like to actually give it a go when I've got some kind of decent training regime going but I don't see that happening till I retire (at 75). I've gotta go back and have both my bikes fit with him too, got a fair amount of knee pain on the weekend when riding and I haven't been fit on both these bikes before. I'd even be keen to do the whole training program thing with him but the cost kind of puts me off, especially for someone who's back third to middle of field at best.

The volleys, I usually do one easy run a week in them, though I went a bit harder yesterday but I felt pretty good.

[goughy]

Oh, and Pete Jacobs; you suck YoYo!

[Toolish]

AP, nice 5km time...I dream of cracking 20min for the 5km!

Well, did 21:10 tonight in 38 degree heat. Not sure how much the heat hurt the time but that is a new PB for me. The 20min goal is there, hoping to get it by mid year then look at focussing on longer stuff. Not sure how realistic that is.

[yoyo]

The heat wont have hurt your time but your hydration level prior to would have

[Toolish]

20:53 this month...felt like crap which was probably due to being a bit dehydrated coming in after a shitty day at work. Pacing needs some serious work, always go out too hard!

[AndyP]

A sub-18 5k is definitely a chance now, after knocking another 20s off my 5k PB. I'd love to share my secret with you, but I don't know what it is. It may be just regular racing that is doing the job.

100m: 16.12s
800m: 2m36s
1500m: 5m23s
3k: 11m08s10m44s
5k: 18m47s18m27s
10k: 39m15s
HM: 1h29m24s
Mara: 3h16m02s
Longest: approx 55k

[goughy]

Your running is still looking good andy. Your secret still working (just get out and run and don't think about it???)

Mine hasn't been great, and often haven't been feeling great while running. Been having some gut issues for a while, and generally only have time in the arvos to run 6 to 8k. But yesterday, while only a short run (6.3k) I just felt great. It felt very very easy. While I'm careful pushing myself (right knee still f'd and a bit of a groin strain atm) we hit one section, maybe about 1.5k where I upped the pace to sub 4.30/k and finished that section off at near 4/k which I haven't hit in a long long time now. And while my hr was hitting 178 it didn't feel hard.

A week from my A race (which I'm training as though it's a Z race) it feels really really great to have a run under my belt where it just felt easy.

[AndyP]

Your running is still looking good andy. Your secret still working (just get out and run and don't think about it???)

Pretty much. A couple of runs around 5k, another couple between 5-10k, and racing on the weekend. I also have been throwing in a 15k+ run every few weeks. I had my first interval session in ages on Tuesday, as I'll try to get that 5k time under 18 minutes. I'm just about as light as I have been since running too, so that has to be helping.

[goughy]

I'm only running two or three times a week tops. Three is enough, but I need to stretch one of those out to a long easy run up to 2hrs. May start that again after mool.

[LarryLong]

OK, running comeback, take 2. Tried again after last year's foot blow-up false start. Have slowly (very slowly) ramped up to over 5km over the last three months, and this week was the first week that I managed three runs in a week. I've been doing most of my running barefoot, mainly because my early morning routine is to walk to the beach to check the surf (my preference is a surf if the waves are good) and if there's nothing happening or the tide's too low I just start running on the hard sand instead.

A funny thing happened though. There's an 8km fun run on in a couple of weeks, so I thought I'd better go back to the shoes to do that distance, only to discover that I can't run in shoes anymore. It felt wrong, my calves hurt, my legs were heavy, and I hated it. I ended up stopping and walking after about 3.5km. This morning, went back to barefoot and did 5.5km comfortably. I think I'm going to have to buy a pair of fivefingers and turn into one of those minimalist super-wankers.

[AndyP]

Oh no.

Maybe there is an in-between option for you. I don't know what Nike Frees are like.

I'm generally the opposite My calves and shins suffer a couple of days after racing with my lightweight shoes. It's getting better with each race though.

Well done on the length of your runs now.

[goughy]

Go buy some dunlop volleys and give them a go first. I wear a pair for maybe one easy run per week. Some people even take the inner sole out so there is even less padding there. At least they are only 20 bucks.Epic fail this weekend. Mool tri, same time as last year without the busted knee. Thought I swam ok for a 30minute swim until I found out my mate came out only a minute or 2 behind me, he should be about 4 to 5 behind me. Ride was ok considering no work on the bike, but my hr averaged 165 for he 40k and I think I burned out on it. Within 200mtrs of the run I knew I was a gonner and bonked something bad almost straight away for a 58 run. No real muscle soreness afterwards, just no energy. really tired, more so than my longer events even. not a happy camper, and don't know what to do about this. I still enjoyed my self, so do I do these just for fun only and not kill myself during the race or what. just don't know.

[AndyP]

Well done on finishing, goughy. I don't know how you have time expectations in races with the lack of training that you do.

[AndyP]

I set a PB in the 10k yesterday. I can definitely go faster than that though.

I also had a win in a 2k cross country race on Saturday. Cross country is fun. You forget about your time a bit and concentrate on racing other people and some strategy. The courses are quite wet too, so it's heavy going.

100m: 16.12s
800m: 2m36s
1500m: 5m23s
3k: 11m08s 10m44s
5k: 18m47s 18m27s
10k: 39m15s 38m46s
HM: 1h29m24s
Mara: 3h16m02s
Longest: approx 55k

The Sunshine Coast is having it's inaugural Marathon festival this year. I am very tempted to do the marathon as part of that history. However, I don't like plodding along in a marathon just to say I finished, so I would need to start training for it very soon. I think I will give it a miss, as I don't want to upset the good family/golf/run balance I have got right now, by trying to add some 3hr runs in there.

[Toolish]

I have been a bit slack over the 5-6 weeks with training but ramped it back up on the run last week. Did the sums last night and worked out I had done a 47.5km run week which is my biggest ever. Basically did 4 x 8km runs through the week (2km with the dog each time) then a 15km on Sunday. All pretty easy pace, avearaged about 5:15km, and felt pretty good.

I am wondering if the speed and interval work burnt me out a little bit hence the motivation drop.

Now to keep the run volume up (might try to find an extra couple of km there to crack the 50 though I think!) and actually do some swim and bike training!

[LarryLong]

Nice work Andy. I reckon cross country would be pretty good as far as competitive running goes. What's your strategy - how many blokes did you have to knock over to take the win?

Goughy, I actually own a pair of volleys, but I find them a bit narrow in the toe box to run in. As luck would have it I'm at a training course in Melbourne this week and I found a pair of fivefingers in Pinnacle outdoors on special. Not quite internet prices, but much better than the massive markup you normally see on shoes over here. Wanker-ville, here I come!

As for the triathlon bonking (Now there's a sport I'd like to take up!), I'm guessing it is hard to dial back the expectations if you're below your peak. I know myself that I'm finding it really hard to accept that 5 minute k's is my pace now, and I was never good to start with. Would the best thing be to set a heart rate limit or something like that? I don't know how you keep the competitive juices from taking over once people start passing you.

[AndyP]

Nice work Andy. I reckon cross country would be pretty good as far as competitive running goes. What's your strategy - how many blokes did you have to knock over to take the win?

A lot of teenagers seem to attend this club, as the schools get involved. There's lots of distances to choose from and the 2k is probably isn't the "main event", I'd say that the 4/6/8 race is. But I have my kids there with me, so I do a shorter race for myself, while they do the 800m, 1500m and 1000m runs.

In the 2k race that I did, at one stage, we were a lead pack of 5 with a couple of 15 year old girls (at a guess), a 40-ish year old guy and a younger boy. I kept my pacing at a level I felt I could sustain early, and once I saw that I was in the lead pack, I thought I should go for the win. I'm always better at chasing and back myself to pass people in the second half of races.

A bit after the halfway mark, it was one of the girls in front, with myself close on her tail. I had already ran bits of the course in the kids' races, and guessed that she hadn't, so made my move to pass as we approached a little ditch we had to jump across with a 30m stretch of really wet ground after it. I attacked the ditch, then took myself to the higher and drier ground on the right (although I had to come down to the wetter area to make sure I passed between markers). Once I had the lead, I figured I would burn her off straight away, instead of leaving it to a finish line sprint. It worked, and I won comfortably. Hardly a crowning achievement, but still fun.

The interesting thing with the cross country is the tight turns and changes in elevation and ground condition. Position can be very important, particularly for the first turn. I got blocked out of turns many times, and you can burn a bit of energy trying to get into a good spot and failing.

[BrisVegas]

Good job Andy. Sounds like you kicked her arse. Bet she had a cry afterwards?

[AndyP]

I don't know about her, but I cried tears of joy after doing a few chainsaws.

[goughy]

It's no wonder I had a shit Mooloolaba this year. No endurance in me. Lots of short sessions, maybe too hard at times. Went for my longest run this morning in like a year 1hr40min, easy hr, with a walk to warm up and cool down. Will be warming up longer walks now days. Lots and lots of hills, but at least I can go up a lot of them between 6 and 7.30/k pace. But yeah, legs were a bit tired afterwards.

Stupid thing is now my A race for the year is done I'm gonna ramp up my training. Stupid work.

[Hux]

I broke into a trot crossing the road yesterday.
My heart rate came up to 75 but was back to 63 within 30 seconds.

Is that good recovery?

Does anyone carry Gu's for the such occassions?