At this time of the year I need to look back and see what happened in 2005 and do some planning for 2006.
I'm not happy with how I ran in 2005. I enjoy my running the most when I'm racing well. In 2005 I was a bad wombat. A bad, slow wombat. I raced lightly - only 25 times compared to my usual 35-plus - but this didn't have a positive effect. Being a track tragic I've picked the 5000m Vet's championship race in 21:03 as my best of the year. The time was only eight seconds slower than the previous year and I managed to beat my rival Jim White.
Still, I'm not happy. I was light years away from achieving the ridiculously ambitious goals I'd picked out of thin air in early January. To remedy the situation in 2006 I need to concentrate on the rest of this track season, then the winter season followed by the 2006/07 track season.
Will I be happy with my running in 2006? I guess I need to define what 'racing well' means to me. To most runners, including myself, it means achieving certain time goals as we're never in a position to actually win races. I've selected the following time goals which are challenging but not impossible:
Run 800 metres in 2:34, 1500 metres in 5:14, 3000 metres in 11:33 and 5000 metres in 19:59.
To achieve these goals I'll have to practise and train well. I'm not that concerned with non-track goals. If I achieve the times mentioned above I'd hope to run the City to Surf in 60 minutes, a 10k road in 42 minutes and a half marathon in 93 minutes. It goes without saying that I also want to finish the Six Foot Track under the 7 hour time limit and hopefully faster than my 2005 PB of 6:18:10.
Although I wasn't happy with my own running, I was happy to be associated with some very talented and determined runners. I'd like to particularly mention the runners from Calwell, Team Moore, and Luckylegs.
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Friday, December 23, 2005
Bad Wombat
Sunday, December 11, 2005
An argument yet to be resolved
Did 2005 really happen? I can see the end of the year approaching and it looks like my running is finishing on a bit of a flat note. But, were there any notes run in key? When I look back through my 2005 diary there are zero races that stand up and say: "Look at me!"
My one track race in the period from January to April was a rather inglorious 10,000m in which I kept the officials waiting by finishing last, two laps behind the poor sod who finished second-last. In the current track & field season I've run just two 3000s, both well outside 12 minutes. Do I really want the highlight of my racing year to be a 3000m race-walk in 16:33?
I guess if I was being coached my coach would have had me doing a good build-up during the winter and now be well into the track racing season. Then, perhaps, a short mini build-up over the three weeks covering Christmas/New Year then more racing on the track through to March.
Instead, I find myself doing this rather serious plan of long runs in preparation for the 2006 Six Foot Track Marathon. "Why am I doing this!" I keep asking myself. I mean, I like doing long runs in the bush. Anything up to 24 kilometres is quite challenging and enjoyable. But, doing the 3-hour-plus, massively hilly long runs required for Six Foot is not exactly compatible with fresh enjoyable racing on the track.
I keep having this silly argument with myself... "You love racing on the track - why not cut back on these foolish disruptive long mountainous runs?" To which I reply: "Yes, but Six Foot is the epitome of running in the Aussie Bush. Don't you want to do a half decent one?"
One day soon I hope, the argument will be resolved.
My one track race in the period from January to April was a rather inglorious 10,000m in which I kept the officials waiting by finishing last, two laps behind the poor sod who finished second-last. In the current track & field season I've run just two 3000s, both well outside 12 minutes. Do I really want the highlight of my racing year to be a 3000m race-walk in 16:33?
I guess if I was being coached my coach would have had me doing a good build-up during the winter and now be well into the track racing season. Then, perhaps, a short mini build-up over the three weeks covering Christmas/New Year then more racing on the track through to March.
Instead, I find myself doing this rather serious plan of long runs in preparation for the 2006 Six Foot Track Marathon. "Why am I doing this!" I keep asking myself. I mean, I like doing long runs in the bush. Anything up to 24 kilometres is quite challenging and enjoyable. But, doing the 3-hour-plus, massively hilly long runs required for Six Foot is not exactly compatible with fresh enjoyable racing on the track.
I keep having this silly argument with myself... "You love racing on the track - why not cut back on these foolish disruptive long mountainous runs?" To which I reply: "Yes, but Six Foot is the epitome of running in the Aussie Bush. Don't you want to do a half decent one?"
One day soon I hope, the argument will be resolved.