Going fast, backwards

Over the last four weeks I ran 122 kilometres (30 and a bit ks per week); the four previous to that, 255. I'm injured, and rapidly losing fitness. I've done something to my left hamstring — I think probably related to the aftermath of the mountain race. I feel like the 23:10 5k, which at the time indicated a return to the 22-somethings (good for me at 56), was a dead-cat-bounce of a run. Now (if I could race) I wouldn't be confident of breaking 25. This injury has come at a bad time as I'm flying to Melbourne on the 16th with my mate Jim to race the 14k City2Sea fun run. I think I could be a spectator — hope it's a warm, sunny day!

I'm susceptible to hamstring niggles/injuries. A search back through my diaries since '04 reveals over 70 mentions of 'left hamstring', so there's something sinister going on there. I think the main cause is asymmetry. Few runners are perfectly symmetrical left to right — run blindfolded on a large flat field and you won't run in a straight line. We use our sight to keep running straight and make automatic adjustments to the stride to do this. Run on a flat sandy beach at low tide and measure your strides — one will be longer than the other, if only slightly. I'm right-handed (legged too — can't high-jump off my left leg) so I have a left hamstring weakness.

I think this hamstring strain is minor in nature. It's responding to rest. In the past I've been able to run through it, or at the most had a week or so off before resuming normal training. I had five days off last week but ran on Thursday and Saturday. Thursday I jogged 3k on the grass track and the hamstring was bearable. On Saturday I raced the Parkrun and the leg felt okay through the first kilometre. I actually ran my fastest first k split (4:43) and was gaining on Jim who ended up running a PB of 23:46. Running up the slight incline onto the bridge my leg started feeling sore and a few hundred metres later it was getting worse so I stopped running. A DNF! Well, after running 1.5k I walked the rest of the course so strictly not a DNF. I've run over 1000 races and had to DNF only five or six times. DNS is definitely preferable to DNF.

Running to a 23:25 in the Tuggeranong Parkrun on October 5 in my Brooks Racer STs

I'm no Anton Krupicka

I've raced four times since the Sydney Half: two 5ks, a mountain race and another 5k. In the second of the Parkrun 5k races I ran a fairly pleasing 23:25 (similar to my form early in the year). There's a rather long Youtube video (26 minutes) of the first Parkrun in which I can be seen in a yellow shirt after the turn.

I entered the AMRA One Peak Challenge race as a substitute for my weekly long run. The course was 12k and included some lovely familiar trails and an early climb to the summit of Mt Majura. My mate Jim was running so I thought I'd run along with him for a while and see how the race unfolded. Jim bolted at the start so I let him go and settled in for the hike up Majura. I caught him fairly easily once we turned onto the bitumen service road. My undoing after that was catching a glimpse of Leonie's alluring blue and lemon striped shorts in the far distance. She reached the downhill trail with about a 45-second lead. I charged after her like the man from Snowy River, "down the hillside at a racing pace, striking firelight from flying flint stones and never drawing the bridle till I landed at the bottom of that terrible descent."

After another 4k of desperate pursuit I finally drew abreast of Leonie on the 'easy' climb to the drink station (around 9k) and ran scared down the next steep descent. Especially fearful when I glanced back at an uphill turn and spotted her less than 100 metres behind. "Bloody hell — I'm going to have to keep running hard!" And I did, all the way to the finish at Mount Majura Vineyard. Victory (11th place actually) by a mere 31 seconds. A costly victory though — for the next four days my quads were too sore to run. I'm no Anton Krupicka when it comes to racing up and down mountains. Training on relatively flat trails isn't good preparation for mountain racing.

Funnily enough, after a week of no running I raced the Tuggers Parkrun yesterday and ran just outside my year's best (23:07 on the track back in March), recording 23:10 for the 5k course. I wore the Brooks Racer STs and ran pretty even 5k splits: 4:51, 4:38, 4:32, 4:38 and 4:31. Had a good race with Adam early on and was closing on a young girl until 500m to go — gee kids can sprint at the end of races!

Sending flint stones flying on the descent of Mount Majura [John Harding photo]

Blackmores Sydney Half Marathon

Another good race! I last ran the 'Blackmores Half' in 2009 as a preparatory run for the Melbourne Half. I ran 1:46:10 back then and three weeks later in Melbourne, 1:43:00. Sydney is a great course — all the races (including the marathon) start at Milsons Point, run over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, then meander through the city before finishing at the Opera House. This year I was also planning to run Melbourne as a goal race but unfortunately failed to get my entry in on time. Melbourne was to be a 'time challenge' against Canute, who is running the Robin Hood Half this weekend with the challenging goal of sub-1:40.

My preparation was less than ideal. A week after the Wagga Trail Half I came down with a bad case of flu — I was off work (and running) for five days. Jogged 45k the following week, culminating in a quite satisfying 'run by feel' Canberra Times 5k — 23:56 and 4th M50-59. The next week totalled 59k with a 13k 'long' run which ended up being quite a struggle. My goal for the Blackmores Half was to run with a similar strategy used for the Wagga Trail Half: start easy and finish strongly. I wanted the race to be an enjoyable hard training run rather than a desperate all-out effort that left me with a 3-week recovery period.

After catching the bus to Sydney I checked in at the Vibe, picked up my race pack and caught up with Fiona (Half) and Jarrod (Marathon) for a late lunch/coffee at the Metro Cafe in Hyde Park. It was a lovely afternoon! I wandered down to Chinatown in the early evening for a feed of rice and vegetables. Watched a little footy back at the hotel and set the alarms for the ungodly hour of 4:00 A.M. (the race start was 6:15). Caught a very crowded train from Town Hall and arrived at Milsons Point just before six. I queued up at the porta-loos, not too worried if I missed the start. I didn't think I'd miss it by 13 minutes! I was caught up in the 'C-corral' group so the first 600 metres before we turned onto the bridge were quite crowded.

I was running by feel and once over the 'hill' of the bridge was actually feeling quite smooth. Passing lots of slower runners is good fun! The course was crowded but I was never badly impeded and happy to run wide on some of the turns to find some vacant pavement. It was a beautiful cool, sunny Sydney morning — superb views in all directions. At 9k near the NSW Art Gallery I caught up to the 2:10 pacing group. I was wearing the cushioned Hokas and they felt great — especially on the downhills where I slipped it into the angel gear and let the shoes cushion the impact. I kept telling myself to hold back until 15k. Running a half marathon off insufficient long runs is rather daunting! There was a testing little hill running back onto the freeway following the turn in Ultimo but after that the last 5k was nice and flat. I actually felt a little stronger in the last 3k than I did at Wagga (no doubt due to the easier course). It was a fantastic sight running beneath the bridge, looking across Circular Quay to the Opera House. Finally a little ramp up to the forecourt and a modest sprint to the finish arch. 1:52:23. Fun race! My 5k splits were quite even (26:18, 26:41, 26:38, 26:51, 5:23 + 32) and after a week I've recovered well. If you get a chance, run this race — it's a good one.

Under the Sydney Harbour Bridge with 1k to go!

Sprinting to the Opera House. I may have lost in a photo to #4267

Wagga Wagga Trail Half Marathon

 My new favourite trail race!

A week after the City to Surf I drove down to Wagga for a small family gathering. As luck would have it, the Wagga Wagga Trail Half Marathon was being held on the Sunday so I entered with the thought of using the race as my weekly long run. This turned out to be one of my best ideas ever! What a fantastic race. Loved it!

In my early running days (1980s) I ran during the week with a small Sydney group in the Lane Cove River Park. On Tuesdays we ran the road, out and back to the top gate from Fullers Bridge. Friday afternoons in summer we'd run 'both sides of the river' using an old timber footbridge to cross it at the northern end of the park. The trail was mostly single-tracks, broken by occasional grassy picnic areas (BBQ smells in the air as we ran past, with calls of "want a beer or snag?" from friendly locals). Al would manoeuvre himself to lead on the narrow rocky section, slowing things down before Steve would push ahead down by the river. Jenny would then scamper ahead over the sandstone outcrops. After an hour or so we were back at the bottom carpark. It was fun running!

The course at Wagga (from 4.5k to 9k) brought back vivid memories of Lane Cove. We were on well formed single-track mountain bike trails, zig-zagging through the woodland, up and down gullies, along contour banks, having a great time. All the runners were courteous, stepping aside momentarily to let us overtake (if we were faster). I was generally catching people and eventually fell in behind a group of two ladies and one bloke who encouraged each other along the tricky course. I followed them over the top of the hill, down along the edge of the golf course to the flat dirt roads on the outskirts of town. My steady pace took me ahead of this group (the bloke came flying back past at 17k) and up to other single runners. I was enjoying the flatter going, which at 13k switched from roads back to single-tracks beside the river. There were about five fence stiles to negotiate and one memorable section of soft sand (thankfully only 100 metres or so). My Hoka Bondis were performing brilliantly — legs were feeling good! I can only recall being passed by one runner in the last 5k — a young woman in black who said from behind "sorry, I'm a slow overtaker."

The half marathon distance is a slight stretch for me (especially on a hilly trail course), so I was happy to be back near the familiar part of the river, not far from the finish at the Wagga Beach. I heard a cheery "Go Ewen!" from Speedygoose Sarah-Jayne, who'd won the half in an incredible 1:32:38 (8th overall) as I 'sprinted' up the final bank to the finish arch. My time was 2:00:16 for 50th place in the field of 120. I'll be back next year for sure — see you there!

 Sarah-Jayne: all smiles before the start

 Half course is the second half of the marathon. Start bottom left, finish top right. My friend Rachel's full marathon report is a good read.

 Top of the hill, with most of the single-track running nearly over. What a beautiful day!

Desperate measures at the City to Surf

I raced my 29th Sydney City to Surf on 11 August. My goal was to break 70 minutes — the time required to start in the 'Red' first group of about 9,000 runners. My training indicated I could do this, especially after my good race at Dunrossil Drive. I decided beforehand to run using effort as a guide (usually the best method on such an undulating course) and hope that would produce sufficient speed. From previous experience (especially last year's race), I knew the split times I'd need at 5, 7 and 10k in order to break 70. I could be 50:30 at 10k.

Race morning was sunny and calm — perfect I thought, until I started to warm up. I was sweating! Training in a Canberra winter doesn't prepare one well for a warm Sydney day. I started in my usual spot on the left side of William Street, about half way back in the 'Red' group. I only took about 40 seconds to reach the start mats, then it was the usual scary rush, trying to avoid zig-zagging runners up to the Kings Cross tunnel. The crowd never thins out in the City to Surf (unless you're running 3:45 ks or better). By the other side of Edgecliffe (3k) I was no longer worried about getting carved up by anxious speedsters. Running along the flat section approaching 5k I was feeling okay (if warm) and moving well. Glanced at my watch and saw 24:22. A little slow! Didn't panic though as I was maintaining position and continued to do so on the run up Heartbreak Hill. The clock at 7k was showing high 35s (which I thought to be on schedule as the second half of C2S is at least a minute quicker than the first).

Along Old South Head Rd and into Military Road I was feeling the strain, but still moving with the crowd — keeping an eye on unusual runners: Spiderman, a young girl in Little A's uniform, grey-haired blokes and ladies in tights (way over-dressed). 10k was passed in 50:28 — hmm, should be able to run 19 for the last 4k, with the 13th being downhill. I was starting to tire, so used the downs to recover, saving something for the last kilometre. Got a bit of a shock at 13, with the watch showing 64:46. Geez, 5 minutes to get to the finish and it's a long drag along Campbell Parade! I increased the effort, tried to follow people who were moving fast and avoid those who were slowing. Not easy! Finally around the U-turn, space opened a bit left side near the crowd and I sprinted for all I was worth. Under the clock, stopped the Garmin and saw 69:45. Yes! That was close — I hate having to sprint like that! Official time was 69:39 for 7,908th place.

This year's City to Surf was one of my most satisfying. Back in May when I had the DVT problem I wondered if I'd make the start this year, let alone break 70 and maintain that Red-group status. Interestingly, my average heart-rate for this year was the same as last (144). I ran 67:54 last year on a much cooler day and wearing the lighter Kinvaras. This year I was training with a slight achilles niggle so wore the Brooks Racer STs as they have a more substantial heel. I've pulled up well from the race and actually ran (not raced) a trail half marathon in Wagga Wagga on Sunday — 2:00:16 on one of the best trail courses I've ever run. I'll tell you about it next post...

In the Domain with 'Legend' Keith Mayhew, who has run all 43 City to Surfs (first 20 in under 50 minutes)

A surprisingly good race

I had a good race yesterday — the Dunrossil Drive 4.2k cross country event (one of the rare local courses which dates back to the '80s). On a sunny day (cool headwind for the 200 metres prior to the far turn), I finished 16th in 18:48. That's an average of 4:29 per kilometre for a course that has its fair share of soft going, exposed tree roots, turns and undulations. There were 31 finishers.

I wore the Saucony Kinvaras for this race and was pretty psyched up to run hard after a poor result last Saturday (49:53 for 10k on a flat road course). My warm-up was a 2k jog followed by a good number of strides on the gentle grass downhill near the start. After 300 metres or so I found myself in a group of runners I knew well: Hugh (48 sec 400m in the day, fast finisher!), Charlie (first 30 Canberra Times 10k races under 40 minutes), Brian (barefoot runner and 75-minute half in the old days), Jim (broke 40 for 10k once) and Thommo (closing in on 20 for 5k as a 50-54 runner). Robbie was about 40 metres ahead of our group.

Jim was setting the pace down the first hill and it took a while before Brian and I drew abreast. Thommo pushed on and made a gap of 10 metres,  then Brian loosely covered this move. I followed these two around the far turn near the Governor General's front gate. On the run back up to the hill I caught Brian and ran with him as Thommo pulled us both towards Robbie. Soon after, Brian dropped off my shoulder — I could see Thommo was gaining on Robbie, so I tried to keep the ocky-strap from stretching too far. Just prior to the half-way turn we passed Robbie. For the second half of the race I ran hard, in fear of being caught by Brian or Charlie. I knew I was slowing as Thommo gradually pulled away (my lap splits were 9:18 and 9:30). He finished 13 seconds ahead.

Although it was a cross country race, I think this course relates well to a flat 5k. Back in 1989 I ran 15:05 as a 32-year-old and was racing track 5000s in just under 18 minutes. Adding 18-19% to a Dunrossil Drive time would appear to show 5k flat potential. If so, I'm pretty happy to be in 22:11 to 22:22 form for 5k right now. The MAF training is working. One rather sad thing about yesterday's race was how few runners were competing in what was once a premier event on the calendar. In 1989 I was 63rd in a field of 195. Where are all the runners these days?

Dunrossil Drive cross country starts near the 'green balloon' and runs on the southern side of the drive towards the Governor General's residence. Two laps. Scrivener Dam and the National Arboretum in the background.

Hoka Bondi and the Bush Capital 16k

I'm back in Canberra following a brief holiday in my old home town of Wagga Wagga (the city so beautiful they had to name it twice). While I was there I lashed out (over $200) and bought a pair of Hoka One One Bondi B shoes. I've been wanting to try a pair of these after reading many online reviews (including this one from Peter Larson), and hearing good reports from friends. Amazingly, these shoes aren't sold in Canberra!

I've only run in them twice: on my relatively flat, lakeside bikepath course in Wagga and in yesterday's hilly off-road Bush Capital 16k. The first run in Wagga was a revelation. I couldn't believe how soft the Hokas made running on concrete feel. It's the first time I've not sought out the softer dirt verge while running on a bike-path. I'd run the same course two days prior in my Nike Frees at a heart-beats per km cost of 697 (very good for me on that course). In the Hokas that number was a slightly inferior 717, however I had run a hilly 15k the previous day and on the day I wore the Hokas I was pushing into a headwind for the second 5k (it had been calm when I ran in the Frees).

My Hoka Bondi Bs weigh 392 grams (size US13), while my Free 5.0s are 310 grams. The extra weight of the Hokas isn't that noticeable (apparently the Hoka Bondi Speed is lighter). My Saucony Kinvaras are 246 grams and are a great racing shoe. The Hokas have a 4.5mm heel-toe drop, so similar to the 4mm of the Kinvaras. While I was running in them I didn't feel like my form or movement was different to when using any of my other shoes. I was happy to 'land hard', both on the flats and downhills due to the ample cushioning, so perhaps muscular elastic recoil was cancelling out the softness of what you'd think would be an energy absorbing shoe.

I enjoyed the Bush Capital 16k yesterday. I ran the first uphill easily (as can be seen by the splits), with Leonie way off in the distance. Once on the flatter parts of the trail I worked on slowly bridging that gap. I was about to catch her just after 5k when she stepped off the trail for an unscheduled pit-stop. After that I ran with various runners, to-and-fro depending on the trail's gradient (I was slow on the ups). Legendary local veteran Trevor Jacobs jogged past on the climb to near the grave of Trent North as I walked. On the smooth part of the downhill I got back 'in the lead' with a 4:38 km split. I was running next to a girl in a purple singlet at this stage — our pace/energy levels being very similar. We ran the next 4 kilometres together until the final (downhill) one. I sprinted off, with the target of Lucia (pigtail flying) up ahead. Passed her just before the gate, only to have Trevor surge past me just afterwards (bastard!). To add salt to the wounds, the girl in purple had the audacity to out-kick me! The Hokas worked well (and I'm not stiff walking around this morning, a good sign they may help recovery). My time was slightly slower than last year — 1:28:13 vrs 1:26:14, however we had headwinds to contend with this year and the ground was softer after recent rains. My average heart-rate was 140 this year and 139 last year. I think the Hokas will help my pavement sensitive legs do the long runs needed for half-marathon training (while helping recovery). I'll let you know.

My km splits & profile of the Bush Capital 16k

Hoka One One Bondi B improves my view

Hokas decide it's time to fly, running a 4:38 11th k next to the girl with the purple singlet

Personal Best

How long has it been since you've run a 'PB' (PR for my American friends)? A month? A year or two maybe? For myself it's been a very long time — 22 years! My last Personal Best was run as a 34-year-old. Haven't double-checked, but I'm sure it was the track 10,000 — 36:33.8 on a warm, calm night at the AIS Warm-up Track. I was pretty excited to say the least — even though I lost contact with my club-mate David mid-race (he ran 36:10 from memory). It's funny, but at the time (although happy), I didn't think that's where my 10k PB would remain. I hadn't executed the perfect race and was confident of at least running 'in the 35s' — but it didn't happen. These days I'm chasing M50 Personal Bests, even though at 56, I'm "pushin' sixty" as Ken likes to say. My main target is the 5000 metres, which at 21:29 seems doable after a 22:14 last year.

Even though my last PB was two decades ago I relived that euphoric feeling just last Friday. I rowed a 2000 metre PB on the Concept2 erg — 8:05.5, just over 10 seconds faster than my previous best. I was excited! This was a 'lifetime PB', not an age-group one. Achieving something you never have before is, well, different. When indoor rowing you're looking at a 'speedo' with various readings, one of which is a constantly changing estimated finish time. Half way through the row this pesky number had dropped back to 8:12, so I was very pleased to finish fast and log a number close to my sub-8-minute goal.

My running is also going well. All training runs are steady MAF efforts (HR under 130 for me) and last Monday Cathy dragged me around the Speedygeese 8k warm-up course at 5:32 per k (ave HR 126). This compares well with runs I was doing prior to last year's City to Surf, so I'm happy about that. I raced an 8k cross country event on Saturday and felt good. The distance was about 400m short so 39:20 works out at 5:11 per k on a rough course and my heart was doing it pretty easy at an average of 139. I have one major 'tune-up' race prior to the City to Surf — the Bush Capital 16k. That's the big test to see how easy or hard a sub-70 C2S will be on August 11.

 Garmin HR data for a 2000 metre rowing PB

Four laps of 1.9k. It was green and wet, not brown!

Bookend Runs

Last Monday was a public holiday (Queen Liz's birthday), so I drove to the War Memorial to do the short version of one of my favourite long-run loops. The distance was 12.5k — I'd run this same course just prior to the DVT diagnosis. That run took me 1:13:40 to complete, at an average heart-rate of 129 (right at my MAF HR). On Monday I ran 1:13:22 at 128. So it looks like I'm back to where I was (in terms of fitness) before the time off. Or near enough — I'd observed it was windy for parts of the run in April.

After the diagnosis I had 24 days off from running (or any form of exercise more strenuous than vacuuming). On the 25th day I resumed running — jogging actually. All runs since then have been at MAF heart-rate (except for a weekly 2.5k cross country 'race' were the last kilometre would be over MAF — I'm not going 'all-out' in these). I've gradually built my weekly kilometres: 9, 28, 40, 49 and 56 this past week. I'm on 20 mg of Rivaroxaban per day until August at least. I see the specialist then to have another ultra-sound and blood test.

My running is going well and I'm hopeful of being fit enough to run under 70 minutes at the City to Surf in August. I've been running a hilly trail course — letting myself go a bit on the downhills (as recommended by Phil Maffetone in his book as a way of introducing speed while staying under MAF heart-rate). The short 'downs' of these runs would be around 5-minute k pace, while the 'ups' would be over 6-minute pace. I can also feel some benefit coming in from the Concept2 rowing — still not doing a lot of weekly metres, but my technique is improving. I rowed 5k in 21:39.7 recently, which ranks me 53 out of 70 in the world for 2014 season of the 50-59 age-group. I can feel that the rowing is strengthening my quads/core and also benefiting me aerobically. Haven't been doing too much Xootring though, mainly on account of how bloody cold it's been! That'll be a Spring to Autumn sport. Yes, I'm soft.

Yesterday I watched the ACT Cross Country Championships at Stromlo — it was cool and sunny — perfect weather to watch people race!

Jogging, Rowing and Xootring

My arm is slowly returning to it's wimpy good looks. Must admit, it's taken much longer than I expected for the swelling to go down. The haematologist was happy with my progress when I saw her last Monday. The Ct-scan was good — showing no underlying abnormality. The blood test was also good, although my haemoglobin was low at 131g/L (historically, it's always been between 125 and 145 so I guess my body isn't keen on iron). The weekly volume of jogging is slowly increasing (40 kilometres this past week). I haven't been doing a lot of rowing on the Concept2 as I want to wait until the arm is feeling 100% before ramping up the volume.

I'm interested in the relationship between rowing and running — how 'good' rowers compare to runners. Some rowers say there's no relationship! You're either a good rower or a good runner. With rowing, it's an advantage to be heavier (up to a point) with elite male scullers being around the 90kg mark. For indoor rowing records there are two classes, with the lightweight class being for males under 75kg (I scrape in at 74.1) and females under 61.5kg. Records for masters rowers are much closer to rowing world records than similarly aged runners are to running world records. For example, the indoor rowing world record for 5000m is 14:58 (set by Rob Waddell, the Sydney Olympic gold medallist), while the M50 record is 16:24 (a difference of 1:26). The 5000m running world record of 12:37 is 2:16 slower than the 14:53 M50 world record. Running is faster than rowing, but at the moment I'd run 5k in about 24 minutes and can row it in 22:27. Think that means I'm more suited to rowing than running. Perhaps I chose the wrong sport 33 years ago!

As well as rowing, I've also taken up scootering for cross-training (and for fun!). I decided to purchase an 'adult sized' small wheeled scooter (rather than a kick-bike) — mainly due to the portability (it folds up and you can carry it with a strap over your shoulder). The "ultra-low-resistance polyurethane" tyres don't get flats! I can scoot on Canberra's bike paths and never have to stop to fix a flat tyre. See this short video of my first attempt — a bit wobbly, but I didn't stack so all good. My technique has improved and I can now scoot with either leg (and switch legs on the fly). Out of interest, the following graphs show my heart-rates for the three activities — a hard 5000m track race, a hard row and an easy scoot.

A 5000m race from last November (when I was fit!), a 5000m 'novice' hard row and a 5k 'easy' Xootr