Running well and running faster

Since my last blog post in May I've grown in confidence and have been enjoying my running. I feel like I'm moving well and with that, becoming faster. I agree with Pete Magill when he says "If you want to become a better runner, begin by running better." I don't agree with the oft-expressed philosophy that running is a simple thing that we all learn to do naturally as children and to run faster you just move your legs faster. When we observe runners in a race it's easy to pick out the runners with good form and those with bad form. Sometimes those with 'bad form' are faster than those who look good — some people say 'it doesn't matter what you look like if you're running fast, your form is natural to your own physiology and shouldn't be changed.' I believe all runners can make adjustments to their form which will help them to run better and faster. Having said that, don't make wholesale changes and expect problem-free running. Change gradually, just as you would gradually increase your mileage or the amount of speedwork in your training.

My weekly mileage is now averaging 78 kilometres. In that mileage there's some 'vert chasing' on a couple of days. Last week I climbed 1,666 metres according to Strava. The reason for this change is to build leg strength and resilience. I'll look for the steepest hills I can find, hiking strongly the 'ups' then running cross country on a gentler descent for balance and speed. It's fun! My 5k race time is down to 24:46, run at the YCRC Half Marathon Eve 5k on 26 May. I enjoyed the race, running with Brian early as we chased Jim. I couldn't close the 100m or so gap to the group of Christine, Miriam and Richard as we ran towards the turn. They ran 22:59, 24:03 and 24:07 which is where I'd like to be in another six weeks. Last Sunday I ran in a 2.5k cross country race and had a fun 'win' over Dave, who left his finishing sprint way too late!

View of Mt Tennent from the lower slopes of Mt Rob Roy

A slow return to running and racing

It's been a while between posts. Sorry about that! I'm back running and racing, with the dodgy calf staying respectfully quiet. Touch wood. I ended up having 4 weeks off running, using cycling and small amounts of racewalking for cross-training during that time. I used to racewalk for Interclub points back in the '90s and have found it to be an excellent low impact alternative to running. I can walk at 6:40 per km pace at heart rates similar to when running a 5k race.

Weekly mileage has progressed from 8k and 32k in the first two weeks of April to 45k and 58k for the first two weeks of May. Generally I've been alternating racewalking days and running days with the latter usually Verheul interval sessions (light and reactive 250m runs with 250m walk recoveries). Research suggested that massage is vital during the recovery phase for this type of muscle injury. I've been using a foam roller, spiked ball and 'roller stick' to find the knots and sore spots then massaging them for a good 20 minutes every day.

I raced the hilly Mount Ainslie trail Parkrun 5k on 28 April in 26:06 and didn't notice the calf at all. Yea! I did notice a fading last 2k and general aerobic weakness at race pace. This morning in cool, blustery conditions I ran 27:31 for the Tuggeranong Parkrun 5k — my legs felt tired but the calf was fine. Average heart rate was 133 (about 84%) so if I raced hard at 142 HR I'd probably run around 25:40 for 5k. The journey back from injury is one of gaining confidence, ever so gradually. I know I'm a long way from running 23:00 for 5k but am excited to see improvements to my times over the coming weeks.

 My cousin Don also ran the Mt Ainslie Parkrun. He has finished six 6 Foot Track 45k races and run a marathon in every state and territory of Australia

The dodgy calf strikes again

Tuesday will mark three weeks since I did something (a tear most likely) to my left calf. Annoyingly it was a predictable injury, more or less self inflicted. I've been somewhat gung-ho with my training in recent months — running 'doubles' 2 or 3 days a week to reach my mileage target of around 80 kilometres per week. On Tuesday 6 March I ran a double of 8k and 7k after doing a double on the Monday. The second run on the Tuesday was a race — The Boathouse 5k and my calf felt a little tight warming up. It was uncomfortable in the early stages of the race (I should have stopped!) but at 3.8k it suddenly cramped and I was forced to walk slowly to the finish.

This is exactly the same injury I suffered in March of 2016, ironically towards the finish of the ACT Masters' 5000m Championships. My calf 'went' with 2 laps to go but I managed to run painfully to the finish. My mistake in the aftermath of the injury was not giving it enough time to heal before resuming a gradual return to running. I gave it a day, then a week, then another week, then two weeks etc. Never enough time. Eventually I took six weeks off, which was enough for full recovery.

After three weeks off the calf feels pretty good, although it was a little tender on Friday following a test run/walk on the grass track on Thursday. I'm hopeful of resuming running soon. Unfortunately I missed the ACT Masters' 5000m Championships race that I was targeting. I think I could have run around 23 minutes. Ann (2 minutes ahead of me in the 10k) ran 22:15, Helen 22:58, Roger 23:01 and Kathy 23:16. It would have been good to have been in a race with the latter three. That would have been fun. Now it's back to the drawing board, which will be a plan based on volume of around 55 km per week of running — better in terms of scheduling recovery days.

A cool evening for the Masters' 5000m Championships

Masters' 10,000m Championships

The 10k Championship race for 2018 was held last Thursday evening, 15 February. My last track 10k was back in 2014 — ran 52:57 then for 17th place on a hot, calm night. For this year I thought my 23:44 5k form would make 5 minute ks a realistic target. 25 laps of 400 metres is never easy, especially on the hard Mondo surface at the AIS. Luckily, Roger was entered and I knew he'd be good for 2-minute laps.

The field was disappointingly small, just 12 runners facing the starter. The air felt cool after recent hot days, around 19C, but there was a fresh northerly breeze to face as we ran up the back straight. I followed Roger around the first lap, the large Omega clock at the finish line showing 1:57, right on target. Quick enough, so I stayed in Roger's draft for the next 5 laps. Sensed he was slowing so went ahead. Bron shouted encouragement as we passed the lap-scorers each lap. My 5-minute k goal was gone by half distance, the unforgiving seconds slipping from under round minutes to over.

During the 17th circuit Ann lapped me and I used her as a pacer for the next few laps until the elastic broke. That was helpful in a race in which I was running alone most of the time. Finished in 7th place with a time of 50:33.28 and a gold medal for the M60s (only entrant!). I would have loved a 49:XX time, but perhaps that'll be the result next year. The story will be embellished in future reminiscences to say we faced a Queensland-style cyclone up the back straight which cost every runner at least 2 minutes.

Catching up with Carolyne and the legendary Norma Wallett (38:34 for 5k at 88!) at the first Goulburn parkrun

More thoughts about Verheul Training

Not a lot of serious racing has been going on since 2018 commenced. It's been too darn hot! Even at 8.00 AM for the Parkrun 5k the temperature has been rarely below 19C. The humidity has been high too — this morning my shirt, shorts and socks were soaked in sweat by the time I'd finished running. My fastest 5k so far this year was on the 13th of January, 24:35 on a warm morning that also happened to be windy! My goal for this year is to run under 23:00 — even 22:59 will do! I don't think this will be an easy task, as it means finding another 34 seconds over my best time from last year.

Besides the lack of hard racing, my training has been going well. I'm averaging a little over 80 km per week, or around 8 and a half hours for those who measure by time. Looking back at my training diaries from the 1990s, I would have covered about 105 km in 8.5 hours (sufficient weekly time in my opinion for good race results). I'm back doing regular Verheul interval sessions, but in a different manner to how I ran them last year. I think my execution of the Verheul Methode wasn't how it should have been.

The most important thing is how the feet and legs interact with the ground. What we're looking for is a feeling of 'reactivity' with each stride. Now this doesn't mean striving for exaggerated 'springing' and vertical movement. It means running lightly with reactivity and forward movement. Last year I was too concerned with split times of the faster efforts and not enough with how each stride felt. I thought there was good value in doing a large amount of running at near race pace, when the real value comes from repeating the feeling of good reactive strides. For Verheul sessions now, I'm typically thinking about how the stride feels, without concern for how fast I'm running. My walking recoveries are now shorter than previously. I might walk for 100m and run for 400m, or walk for 200m and run for 300m rather than the 1:1 walk/run by distance that I did before. I'll let you know how things progress over the coming weeks.

Long run with the Speedygeese at Majura Pines

Looking forward to fast times in 2018

When I set myself the goal of racing 5k in 22:45 or faster at the beginning of 2017 I thought I'd be closing the year by writing about the successful achievement of this goal. Unfortunately not! My fastest 5k remains the 23:32 achieved at the Tuggeranong Parkrun in March. Recent racing and form has me feeling optimistic about running a 22:45 5k in 2018. Conditions will need to be good though — cool and calm. Recently it's been very warm in the mornings and as a big sweater, I don't do well in warm conditions. For the CJs' 5k lunch runs in spring it was inevitably blowing a gale.

Last weekend I had a good 'double' of races — Tuggeranong Parkrun 5k on Saturday in 24:06 (very warm at 22C) and on Sunday, the 'Tour de Ridges' 10.6k trail race in 57:09 which equalled my PB from 2014. The other run that gives me confidence was an interval session the previous Tuesday — 3 x 1k in 4:33, 4:22 and 4:33 with 1k jog recoveries. That's my 5k race goal pace, run on a warm (26C) day. Bring on some cool mornings!

One thing I've struggled to get right on a 'traditional' training plan (as opposed to Verheul training), is the correct effort/pace for easy days. I've always tended to run too fast. I've never had enough separation of effort between hard days and easy days. Former Australian 10,000m record holder Shaun Creighton talked about this in a recent podcast. You can listen to the interview here, starting at 63 minutes. Shaun has recently broken the Australian M50 5000m record, running 15:34.71. He said that he's always run the easy days very easy, the reason being that in order to improve, the body is stressed on hard days and allowed to recover (and supercompensate) on easy days. This is something I want to improve on in 2018 — run very easily and relaxed on easy days.

Celebrating after the Tour de Ridges on Sunday

Racing with an Iron Deficiency?

I had a blood test on 9 November — one of the comments at the bottom was 'mild anaemia' (concerning from a performance standpoint for a competitive runner). Haemoglobin was 133 g/L with the normal range being 135 to 180. This was down from 138 in February of 2016. Haematocrit was 0.42, with the normal range being 0.40 to 0.54. I'm having further checks to find out the cause. I'll let you know what's up when the results are available. It may be nothing more than dietary — not getting enough iron via my vegetarian diet.

My training and racing since the last blog post hasn't changed much — around 80 kilometres per week of running, with regular races, moderate length 'long' runs and Verheul intervals. I've had a couple of enjoyable 5k races although they haven't been spectacularly fast. I ran 23:43 in the Boathouse 5k on 31 October, having a good race with Gabe for the second half on a pretty quick course. Last Sunday there was the Fisher's Ghost 5k, a day trip to the beautiful campus of Western Sydney University. Jim did the driving, leaving his place at 4:30 AM! Needless to say, I was well awake by the start time of 8:00 AM after hearing all of Jim's best jokes and running anecdotes during the drive.

I started fairly fast, passing Jimmy in the first straight. He's been dealing with a sciatica injury, sometimes racing well and other times barely being able to walk! I ran up the first hill okay (there are four hills on the 5k course) and can recall having some good battles with young and old runners for the rest of the race. Finishing time was 24:18, 5 seconds faster than last year. Happy it wasn't slower! I placed 2nd in the fairly broad age-group of 60-69 with Jim placing a happy 3rd. Norma outshone us both by taking out the 70+ female category as an 85-89 runner in the spectacular time of 38:53!

Speedygeese long run at Mount Painter

Verheul Training Update

This update has been a little while coming — every 5k race I've run since the Hervey Bay Parkrun has been accompanied by the strong winds typical for this time of year in Canberra. In one race I was almost blown to a stop by a particularly strong gust. It was incredible! Yesterday however, luck was with us for the Customs Joggers' 5k, with the wind miraculously dropping while we ran (before picking up immediately afterwards — the Captain Cook Fountain showering everyone as we chatted).

'CJs' is a handicapped start 5k race and I started alone with Roger's green shirt the immediate target. I glanced at the Garmin when it beeped at 1k, the 4:48 not feeling as easy as I'd expected. I kept running hard, passing Roger around 2k then caught up to Geoff just beyond 3k on the way back from the turn. Geoff was talkative and encouraging as usual while we ran past Rond Terrace. I pushed on to the finish, happy to hear Bron shout "33:49!" as I passed the line. Splits had been 4:48, 4:50, 4:48, 4:46 and 4:37 for a net time of 23:49 and an average heart rate of 144 (about 91% of my maximum).

After another month of training using the Verheul Method I've raced 5 seconds slower than Hervey Bay, but I'm happy! Why? Well, this method of training is quite addictive in how it leaves your legs feeling — springy, fresh and full of life. I've noticed however, my aerobic fitness gradually declining off the 50 to 55 kilometres per week I've been running, with 4 to 5 days of that being full recovery short intervals. It's a little like how I felt during track racing seasons in the old days — 800 and 1500 metre times would improve off speedwork and interval training. Then you'd try a late season 3000m or 5000m race and run slower for those than you did early in the season off a base of winter training.

I'm experimenting with a change to my implementation of the Verheul Method. Each week I'll have two days for short Verheul intervals (with a longer warm-up), one day will be a 5k race or tempo run, one day will be for long (800m to 1k) Verheul intervals (with a long warm-up) and the other three days will be for non-stop aerobic running. Weekly mileage will be between 70 and 80 kilometres. That's the plan at this stage, but no plan is set in stone!

After the 29 September Customs Joggers' 5k