Sunday, May 22, 2005
Catch up
A busy few days, which has left me a bit short of reflection time, so I will see how much I can prattle on before bedtime.
Finally hit the gym on Wednesday night, and did a hill workout on the bike, and some upper body weights. Some hefty smurf body builder types there - the ones that do wrist curls with the same weights I bench press, but feeling very comfortable just sticking to my program. Friday I went and did my fitness assessment, which was quite pleasing, given I haven't trained properly since mid February. For the statistical types, here are the results:
Blood pressure 110/76 - don't know what this means, but tester wasn't concerned, so nor shall I be.
Body fat 12% - a bit high for me, but hardly bothering the obesity statistics
Hamstring flexibility - ha ha ha - a score of minus four which is meaningless to me, but there was a lot of the ruler that I could barely read, let alone touch
VO2 Max - 62.9 - given the gym defines anything above 49 as 'Excellent' I was pretty pleased with this. Could have got a higher score if the tester hadn't talked to me the whole way through the test. I know that gym tests are not that accurate, particularly at the upper end, but this was a higher score than I was expecting, so I am glad to be carrying some residual fitness. My aim is to hold this figure for the next month or so before I resume training.
The various bicep, chest, waist, hip, thigh measurements were as small as expected, but once again, this will be good to use as a benchmark on the way to my Charles Atlas body. For the record, my measurements are 36/30/38 - not quite a supermodel! How a woman is supposed to realistically achieve 36/24/36, I have no idea. As Sir Mixalot says - "only if you're five two".
Had a good demo of RunDiary.net with Pat Carroll on Friday. This was my first demo to a 'non-sympathetic' audience (ie to someone who isn't going to be nice to me out of friendship), and my background on Pat is that he is a "spade's spade" man. So to keep him interested for 80 minutes (20 minutes longer than we'd scheduled) was very encouraging. Some good feedbacck on some of the more 'ambiguous' areas of the program, but there is some potentially to integrate the application into the work Pat does as a coach. To counter the warm-feelings I got, was the realisiation that there is a lot of work still to do.
Spent the next two hours wandering around the city, almost numb, as my whole week had been building to that demo, and for the first time in a month, I didn't have anything to do. Every time I'd see a competing concept or piece of software, I used to worry about whether we were on the right track. Now that things are nearly finalised, I have to stop worrying about the competition - we now have a brilliant piece of software. Trying to externalise the causes of success or failure is really just ducking my own responsibilites - it's up to me to make this thing a success.
Had a good night at the Striders awards night later that evening, although I arrived home pretty early and pretty sober. Devoted the weekend to spending time with the family, and resolving a few relationship issues that had been weighing on me for the past few weeks, meaning no work and no gym (and no SMH half spectating). Back to both those things tomorrow, with a much healthier perspective on life.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Envent 5 - 5000m
Attempted to go the gym last night, as it was "Desperate Housewives" night, but was told that I needed to be home in case Louis woke up, to intercept any possible distractions to Evergreen Terrace (or wherever the fuck they live)! Nice to have a TV show put before your goals! Tonight I was supposed to be meeting up with a Throws coach (you know, javelin and stuff), but the rainfall we so badly need decided to intervene. Come hell or high water, I will be at the gym tomorrow. Foot is feeling better, but I'm in no rush to get back running.
anyway, onto less whinging topics...
Event
5000m
PB
16:05
Background
Well, finally - an event I'm actually good at. Apart from the CoolRunning 5km Challenge in December, where I ran a respectabloe 16:51, this is not an event I have raced much in recent years. Back at my peak, I used to race it once or twice a month, and ran about ten sub 17's in a row.
Potential
A week before my stress fracture earlier this year, I think I was capable of sub 16:20, and I certainly hadn't peaked. I know that if I do the training, I can run really well in this race. It's not as strong as my key range (800-3000m), but I should be able to pick up quite a few points without totally exhausting myself (this is the event where the proper decathletes start to swear).
Goal
sub-16 - this is a personal goal as well as part of training for the Double
Double Decathlon Goal
This is where the challenge begins. Running sub-17 in a double is rare (it's only happened twice in the last 5 World Champs), so it's worth a couple of hundred points
over a non-distance runner (the current world record holder, a former Olympic decathlete, could only manage 18.23 in his world record). However, unlike a fast 100m, a 5000m close to a PB would leave me fairly shattered, and with the 800m the next event, some fuel has to be left in the tank. It's a matter of how much I need to hold back.
A run that is almost all aerobic (just slower than 10km pace) would be ideal, as the recovery is fairly quick because of minimal lactic build-up (unlike the 800m). Something between 16:30 and 16:50 would be ideal (700-750 points), but would need me to be running about 15:50 at the time (which coincidently is my goal). Lots of practice at pacing, and trying to build a huge VO2 max will be needed.
From here on in, the competition becomes a juggling act - trying to run as fast as possible, yet still leaving enough for the later events. It also becomes a much tougher mental challenge, as you will be going into the next 15 events already fatigued. Why am I doing this again?
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Event 4 - Shot Put
Event
Shot Put
PB
7.78m
Background
Of the four throwing event, this on is my strongest, which says more about how bad I am at the other three. A few throws at the Wednesday night local athletics club makes up my entire event history. Throws in training 0. Training session on technique 0. Scope for improvement - big!
Potential
To be honest, I could probably beat my PB right now - given I weigh about 7 kilos more these days. But let's face it, this is never going to be a big points earner, and although I am looking to build up strength, it will be a case of limiting how many points I give up. But given the LOW base I am starting from, there is definitely scope for improvement.
Goal
10.00m
Double Decathlon Goal
10.00m - still not tired! This is worth an enormous 486 points!
Oh, and I went to the gym for the first time today.
14/05/2005 03:00 pm
Workout Type: Supplemental - Cycling
Course: Millenium
Distance: 13.5
Time: 20:00
Average HR:
Comments: 20 minutes on the bike, and some weights - not as boring as I thought thanks to the MP3 player. Did some weights afterwards, but nothing too serious until I get my program
Pace Easy
Friday, May 13, 2005
Off to the Gym
Well, it's not official, because I won't pay $200 to prove what an idiot I am, but it looks like my stress fracture has paid me a return visit. Rule number 1 in running - your lungs will always improve quicker than your legs. So whilst my lungs could run sub-4 minutes kms a week back into training, my body couldn't. Message to self (or whatever Bridgit Jones says) - 4 blow weeks on grass when I return. And due to the vaguaries of Garden Island naivgation, I got 6km of walking thrown into the bargain for free yesterday! Just what I needed.
Unlike my previous break, I have no intentions of running down my (already run down) fitness, and then attempting to come back quickly. So despite the bleak Sparkie household finances, I signed up to the local gym today (after giving them a serious grilling on cancellation policy, following some not so flattering revelations about Fitness First on CoolRunning). Seven days a week are scheduled - just to get me out the door. If I turn up, do 10 pushups and then leave - so be it.
With the Double Decs a mere 538 days away, I have to get off my arse and start doing things - rather than sitting around waiting for everything to be perfect. So weights 3x a week, cardio 4x. Man, how I hate exercise bikes! All sweat and agony to try and get your heart-rate near what a nice 10km run would give you. On the plus side, they have a creche, so Louis can join me sometimes.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Event 3 - 200m Hurdles
A retrospective blog - I've been a little bit preoccupied the last few days. No running and no joy with the right foot, although the ankle was back to normal in a day, as is usually the way with these things... About time to talk about another event...
Event
200m Hurdles
PB
Never attempted
Background
A modest hurdling style coupled with a pretty good 200m PB sees this as possibly a strong event. The good thing is that for some bizare reason, the hurdles are only 76cm high (those little ones that Jana jumps over), which is odd, given the 110m hurdles are 106cm and the 400m hurdles are 91cm high. This low height should favour (ar atleast minimally disadvantage) a suspect hurdler such as myself. That said, with three other hurdling events, I need to rectify this anyway.
Potential
Last time I ran properly, there was a 6 second differential between my 400m flat and 400m hurdles times. Cut this in half, and it comes to about three seconds. Add the lower hurdles, but reduce the differential due to less distance between hurdles (meaning a larger percentage of the race is spent jumping, compared to a 400m hurdle race), and we probably still arrive at 3 seconds. Taking a 200m target of 23.50, and we arrive at a goal of:
Goal
27.00
Double Decathlon Goal
27.00 - still not tired after two short events. This is worth 687 points.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Just a quick one
RunDiary.net beta 1 finally headed out to testers tonight (actually, I still have to hit Send on the email - but that's going to happen in a few minutes). This is a huge moment for me (although it will be dwarfed by the go live date of 1 June), as this has been a dream 2 years+ in the making.
It certainly offsets the ongoing drama that is my feet. Right foot still a bit ginger today, so I got proactive and headed off to tour the local gym (I'm not going to put on 7 kilos typing). All well and good, until I rolled my ankle walking out the door! My left ankle, so now neither of my feet work. I was carrying Louis at the time, so some serious stumbling was required to keep him from an appointment with the concrete - no blood, but I couldn't avert a few tears.
It certainly offsets the ongoing drama that is my feet. Right foot still a bit ginger today, so I got proactive and headed off to tour the local gym (I'm not going to put on 7 kilos typing). All well and good, until I rolled my ankle walking out the door! My left ankle, so now neither of my feet work. I was carrying Louis at the time, so some serious stumbling was required to keep him from an appointment with the concrete - no blood, but I couldn't avert a few tears.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Event 2 - Long Jump
Well - the foot is still sore, so no running to write about - and my anger at myself that I might have pissed away 8 weeks of recovery in two runs doesn't bear further reflection. So let's talk about the long jump...
Event
Long Jump
PB
5.56
Background
One of those events that I only ever went in for fun, and utilised a fair degree of speed to compensate for a complete lack of technique. It has been over 10 years since I had a measured long jump, so this is almost starting from scratch. That said, I think I could clear 5m at the moment.
Potential
There's not a lot to this event, run quickly, get near the board, take off well, don't stuff the landing. However, I hope it's an event where a focus on technique can bring big improvements. I see no reason why I couldn't break 6 metres, given my focus on strength, sprinting and jumping for other events.
Goal
6.10 meteres
Double Decathlon Goal
Again, this event is early on, and not really taxing, so 6m+ (about 600 points) would be a good score
Friday, May 06, 2005
Remeasuring
Did the course that I use for my tempo run. Plugged in the Garmin to get an accurate measure, and was a bit disappointed to find it shorter than I had estimated. This dropped my pace on previous runs from about 3:30/km to 3:45/km through the tempo sections. On the plus side a) this is my tempo (half marathon) pace, so the workouts were being properly run and b) the thing is damn hilly - was I really going to be running 5km at 10km race pace in training over these sorts of hills - unlikely!
By comparison, tonight's run was a leisurely 4:32 min/km. Here are the rest of the details:
6/05/2005 7:30 pm
Workout Type: Endurance - Medium Endurance
Course: Eastern Way
Distance: 9.15km
Time: 41:32
Speed: 4:32 min/km
Average HR:
Comments: Floated through this easily, although a bit worried about the foot, which was noticable over the second half.Garmin HR readings were next to useless - 240 - I'd have dropped dead!
Target Pace: Easy
Unfortunately, my foot started to act up over the second half, so I will heed the warning signs and ease back in training. The three hours walking around a golf course this morning (and they say marathon running is a time consuming and pointless sport!) wouldn't have helped.
RunDiary.net is ready for testing. Beta-testers look out.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Event 1 - 100m
A rest day today. On the plus side, I was itching to get out, which is a good sign that I am getting back into the swing of things.
RunDiary.net looks like it's ready to go to testers - very exciting.
Lacking anything else to type about, I've decided to kick off a series of introspectives about the 20 events that make up the double decathlon, and my past performances and futures prospects. This thinking process should help me in my planning and motivation, although as I got tired just typing the events into the sidebar, it might just overwhelm me with the enormity of the task. These rambles will be fairly selfcentred, so apologies in advance.
Event
100m
PB
11.93
Background
My current PB is hand-timed (meaning it is probably flattering), on grass (which means I can probably go faster). Combine these two offsetting factors, and it is pretty close to the mark (I've run 12 dead electronically timed). My PB was run in 1994 (most of my PBs are over 10 years old), when I wasn't doing any weight training or sprint work, but was racing weekly.
Potential
The 100m is the first event of the double decathlon. It is also the shortest, so there is not reason why you couldn't run a PB.
Until I start doing speed work again, I have no idea what my high-end speed is like these days (I ran 12.80 in 2002 - but that was straight after a 500m race). As I intend to do significant amounts of weight training to help with throws, jump and shorter sprints, I should be more physically attuned to the demands of this event. My starts are, in a word, shocking, and ideally some good coaching will add a couple of tenths here. Likewise, I have never really practised my technique, and know that it is far from text book.
Goal
11.70 - some technical focus and practice should put back what the years have taken away, and maybe a little bit extra.
Double Decathlon Goal
11.70 - 711 points. As I've said, there is no reason why you can't run a PB in this event, with no preceding events to tire you out, and no need to conserve yourself over such a short distance.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
That's more like it
Didn't have an opporunity to get out all day, so I had to wait until Louis went to bed, and then slipped out for a quick one. With the emphasis on quick. Yesterday's non-sluggish run on the flat averaged 4:28 min/km. Todays hilly effort came in at 4:05/km - my quickest run for a long while. Still running very much within myself, although the HR is way up there - I swore I saw it hit 188 tonight, although the Polar claims a max HR of 184 - still higher than race efforts earlier in the year. Still, I've always found that a few sharp runs gets me back into shape more quickly than the slow, painless route.
4/05/2005 7:45 pm
Workout Type: Strength - Tempo
Course: Normanhurst
Distance: 5.04
Time: 20:35
Speed: 4:05 min/km
Average HR: 164
Comments: Was a bit toey. and the 4:05/km average pave showed it. Didn't struggle with the pace, although the 400m hill in the middle took some of the shine off. Very encouraging, although I will now start to push my distance out rather than my pace.
Decided on a significant change to RunDiary.net this morning, which should both simplify the app and add some more flexibility. Cobbie (programming guru/business partner) grumbled about how many weeks this was going to take, and then prompty polished off most of it in an afternoon. Did a lot of work on the WEB site today (as well as my other two paying jobs, which are proving a real distraction!), with something resembling documentation coming together. It's getting very exciting - and scary. Plu gave me a nice plug in his blog, although the screen shot that included the buggy interface and the dodgy photo of me that was never meant to see the light of day - wasn't the best look!! The last two days have unforuntately made significant changes to the application, which has meant I've had to hold off giving it to the beta testers for a couple of day. Fingers crossed.
Definite rest day tomorrow, but I'm going to start to musings on the Double Decathlon, so please come back.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
A little bit longer
Despite vowing to back up from Sunday's effort on Monday, time got away from me, so I made up for it with 10km a Garden Island today. A great place to run, with a 1km horshoe marked every 200m, flat as a pancake, and a view of Sydney Harbour to take in. However, after 5 out and backs, it gets a bit monotonous. Intended to run 5min/km, but because I am feeling fresh from skipping days in between, my pace tends to settle around 4:30/km. Worked a few km reps consiously (4:10), but always a controlled effort:
3/05/2005 11:30 am
Workout Type: Endurance - Medium Endurance
Course: Garden Island
Distance: 10
Time: 44:42
Speed: 4:28 min/km
Average HR: 162
Comments: Was trying to go around at 5 min/km but once again fell into a quicker stride. Did the first 2km steady, eased back for the next 4km, then 2km harder, 1 km easy and brought it home a bit in the last 600m. Heart Rate still high, but running very easily. An easy one tomorrow to try a back-to-back.
Pace Steady
I am contemplating doing the Striders 10km on Saturday, but mainly as a social run. Unlikley to break 40 minutes, but hopefully this will be the last time for a few years.
Had a good demo of RunDiary.net last night, which once again gave me a lot of good feedback. It should be going to beta testers tomorrow, as we overcame our last major technical hurdles this afternoon (you don't want to know!). Writing documentation at the moment, which is always fun (not!).
Sunday, May 01, 2005
So far so good
Well, runs on Friday and Sunday - both of which went off without a hitch (except for my total lack of fitness). Crossing my fingers but still remaining cautious that the foot is holding up OK. Today's run was particularly good, as it was my first real run since my stress fracture - ie a run that I would normally have done in training. Also pleasing was the Garmin reporting that the total distance was about what I estimated (a few 100m short). I have this fear that I will measure a course and find it a couple of km short. Looking forward to properly measuring my main circuits over coming weeks. Planning to head out tomorrow and keep the foot off the accelerator the whole way - hopefully rolling around in about 5min/km.
Gave my first proper demo of RunDiary.net on Friday night. A fairly impressed presentee, but I learnt a lot about how the app is percecived by a fairly non-technical user - which has given me some invaluable feedback, and a new persepective on how to promote it. It does so much, which is good, but this can make it intimidating, and dare I say, a turn-off to some of users. A busy day of changes planned for tomorrow.
On the double decathlon front, apart from the running and some push-ups, nothing major has happened. I am planning on catching up with a 'throws' coach on Thursday night, which should be interesting to say the least. Had a good chat with Amelia about my goals in this area and despite being bemused as to why someone would voluntarily submit to such a thing, was pretty supportive.
Saw "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" and had a nice Japanese meal, taking advantage of Louis spending the night at Grandmas. Would recommend the film to most people, although fans of the book should lower their expectations a bit. Japanese was great, but could have skipped the chicken.
1/05/2005 09:15 am
Workout Type: Endurance - Short Endurance
Course: SAN
Distance: 8.25
Time: 38:09
Speed:4:37 min/km
Average HR: 166
Comments: Felt pretty good - the 4:30 pace came fairly easily early on, although the HR was up there on the way back, which is to be expected as the course is essentially downhill on the out.
Pace Easy
29/04/2005 2:18pm
Workout Type: Endurance - Short Endurance
Course: Loretto
Distance: 6.18
Time: 27:13
Speed:4:24 min/km
Average HR: 165
Comments: Aiming for 5:00/km, but showed my usual restraint. HR high - no surprise, but felt quite comfortable. More boredom than fatigue. No real foot problems, which was good. will try and run tomorrow if everything feels OK in the morning.
Pace Steady
