I've done bugga all marathon training for Sydney, which i was ( AM? ) still really keen on! Maybe its just post Cities PB blues? Or maybe as i have been really busy with kids, work, other stuff. Probably a bit of both.
The week past:
Monday: stair reps - 5 X 16 flights
Tuesday - boxercise(jazzaxise...whatever... - focus on stomach muscles - ouch.
Wednesday - more stairs - same as before
Thursday - 4.5km run home from blacktown station
Friday - guess what...more stairs. same as monday.
Saturday - 12km run, with 3 rep of 8 min at about 4:30 pace - thats smokin for me! Followed by 19km run with rach, with a stop at my parents for 15 mins at 12km for a drink and chicken wing.
Sunday - 30km bike ride with Rach.
So, not a typical marathon training week, but plenty of stuff to keep me going. R's HIM is fast approaching, and the training is getting tough. But she has a few training partners now - time to lean on them for company and motivation i think. We cant wait to go away to cheer her on!!!
Also, managed to buy 2 good bikes off ebay for the girsl - both lightweight ladies MTB - simple shimano gears, good brakes, great value. There were about $80 each, and the girls love them! :-)
The sydney tower run up is on Friday - thank god! I will probably continue one stair session a week in training, but the three sessions play havoc with my mara training and flex time!
And remember....Troopy still rocks.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Evelators Rock
Having signed up for the Sydney Tower Run Up, i have done two stair work outs this week, and my calves are killing!!!! It is so hard. Its on the 29th August, so i only have 3 weeks to worry about it luckily!!!
I walked the CR West Sydney 5km challenge today - a really nice way to hang out with running friends and have the kids get active too. It is a great idea!!
I did do a nice 12km run with 4 x 1km intervals one early morning before work, and one session of boxing training ( boxercise, jazzacise, whatever...) at the PCYC, so despite a lack of distance running, i still feel like I had a good week.
Just finishing it off, having spend an arvo at Homebush relaxing, good food ( too much!!) and good company. Noice.
I walked the CR West Sydney 5km challenge today - a really nice way to hang out with running friends and have the kids get active too. It is a great idea!!
I did do a nice 12km run with 4 x 1km intervals one early morning before work, and one session of boxing training ( boxercise, jazzacise, whatever...) at the PCYC, so despite a lack of distance running, i still feel like I had a good week.
Just finishing it off, having spend an arvo at Homebush relaxing, good food ( too much!!) and good company. Noice.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Running Rocks
| Ian ELGEY | Quakers Hill (NSW) | Male | 3:44:18 | 30-39 |
Thats what i achieved from 4 months of work!! And i am stoked!! I cracked sub 3:45 !! It was a great result from a tough and enjoyable build up!!! The training plan was doable ( well, i never did a full week !! ) , and the runs with friends were awesome ( lots of good long runs with Marls and BennyR ), and the support from Rach and the kids was critical and fantatic!!! All up, a great result i am proud of from solid work and support from many people!
I was very grateful to get some encouraging emails, phone calls and sms's the day before the race - all were very unexpected and most appreciated. :-)
I blogged i guess ( post race report ) on CR instead of here, but a week later, and just back from a run with Ben and Marls ) I thought i would update the blog, and try and get back in the habit, maybe weekly.
Rather then type, below are some photos from the marathon, one typical of a cold morning run from home, and a few from this mornings run around Homebush/Meadowbank (regular training route). I think together they show why i run better then i could put into words.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Mega Update
I am not sure why for some periods of time we update blogs and emails religioulsy, and other times, they just slip away. Its been a while since updating my "online" running buddies, blog and spreadsheets! happy to say its due, in part, to the amount of running and excercise Mouse and I have been doing! The other factor may be that Mouse and get probably 200 emails between us a day for work, and the novelty is gone by the the end of the day!!!
Life at home as been rather uneventful, in a nice way :-) We have been happy at home, warm, and well fed ( we love to cook for each other and eat!! ) The kids all performed recently for Education week in dancing and singing, and i expect good reports from the teachers...but its interview night in 2 weeks ...time will tell!!! Jnr 2 made it to the District cross country competion, and came 21st - up from about 70th last year. Jnr 1 has made a home movie with his friends for a short film competition ( an example of previous work! ) , and Jnr Jnr has been learning the keyboard.
I will let ( encourage! ) Mouse to record for all time and all to view her events lately, but to summarise, shes done Club Champs Tri, had a birthday, and done some fantastic track work :-)
I have been following a Marathon Training Plan from Endurance Training - it seems to work for me so far as keep me motivated, and I am completing 75% of the sessions, most of those alone, so a plan i can follow and adjust to is important. I picked a target marathon goal of 3:45, and pace of 5:19mins/km - eeeek!!!
The runs i have done with friends have been really great motivators. I have my semi-regular long runs with Benny and Marlz (thanks guys!), a few with Mouse when kids etc allow ( always great, everytime ), some recovery runs with our "Slow Running Group" at work ( their name, not mine ;-) ) , one long run with a bunch of mad CR's in the rain, and the first of hopefully more to come speed/stength sessions with Cameron off CR too.
The training plan is hitting peak time now - 35km long run this week, and woodford to glenbrook next week, then taper. The plan is to do Cities again this year in late July, followed by Blackmores in September. Both are key races for me for different reasons. I want to do Cities faster this year then last year ( 3:53 last year - my first sub four ) And the Sydney Marathon - i can see the harbour, the bridge, the quay and opera house now, and hear the crowds as you run towards them all. It will be an awesome finishing chute, so i want perform well there too!!
Both, coupled with some long runs leading to XMAS, put me in a good position to train for 6-foot - not to complete, but just to be ready to train for it. After this years whimpy injury and change of plans, i want to build the fitness and stay there over the silly season, ready for 6-ft build up.
I am pretty keen to attend, and hopefully keep going, the Sydney West CR 5km Challenge Its really close to home, and should be a nice route and location. Early in the morning is a good time to do the run there, before the million families turn up, especially in summer. Actually, summer morning there, with breakfast afterwards, will be brilliant!
Well, I am glad i put some thoughts on the blog......thanks for stopping by!
Life at home as been rather uneventful, in a nice way :-) We have been happy at home, warm, and well fed ( we love to cook for each other and eat!! ) The kids all performed recently for Education week in dancing and singing, and i expect good reports from the teachers...but its interview night in 2 weeks ...time will tell!!! Jnr 2 made it to the District cross country competion, and came 21st - up from about 70th last year. Jnr 1 has made a home movie with his friends for a short film competition ( an example of previous work! ) , and Jnr Jnr has been learning the keyboard.
I will let ( encourage! ) Mouse to record for all time and all to view her events lately, but to summarise, shes done Club Champs Tri, had a birthday, and done some fantastic track work :-)
I have been following a Marathon Training Plan from Endurance Training - it seems to work for me so far as keep me motivated, and I am completing 75% of the sessions, most of those alone, so a plan i can follow and adjust to is important. I picked a target marathon goal of 3:45, and pace of 5:19mins/km - eeeek!!!
The runs i have done with friends have been really great motivators. I have my semi-regular long runs with Benny and Marlz (thanks guys!), a few with Mouse when kids etc allow ( always great, everytime ), some recovery runs with our "Slow Running Group" at work ( their name, not mine ;-) ) , one long run with a bunch of mad CR's in the rain, and the first of hopefully more to come speed/stength sessions with Cameron off CR too.
The training plan is hitting peak time now - 35km long run this week, and woodford to glenbrook next week, then taper. The plan is to do Cities again this year in late July, followed by Blackmores in September. Both are key races for me for different reasons. I want to do Cities faster this year then last year ( 3:53 last year - my first sub four ) And the Sydney Marathon - i can see the harbour, the bridge, the quay and opera house now, and hear the crowds as you run towards them all. It will be an awesome finishing chute, so i want perform well there too!!
Both, coupled with some long runs leading to XMAS, put me in a good position to train for 6-foot - not to complete, but just to be ready to train for it. After this years whimpy injury and change of plans, i want to build the fitness and stay there over the silly season, ready for 6-ft build up.
I am pretty keen to attend, and hopefully keep going, the Sydney West CR 5km Challenge Its really close to home, and should be a nice route and location. Early in the morning is a good time to do the run there, before the million families turn up, especially in summer. Actually, summer morning there, with breakfast afterwards, will be brilliant!
Well, I am glad i put some thoughts on the blog......thanks for stopping by!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
A full day monday
Its been a good week thus far...on the weekend we went swimming for a few laps at Blacktown pools. Georgia tried out flippers, hand fins and generally mucked around in the lap lane, whilst Rach and I alternated doing laps.
Saturday night was a cocktail party with one of rach's friends to make up for missing our engagement party...well it was a great party, and all the way over at Bondi, so it was Sunday morning before we got home, and there was no way we would make SMC!!! ( atleast not sober! ) Thomo wins again!!!
On Monday, I went in the NSW Police Games, in triathlon and cycling. Both were a lot of fun. I comfortably swam the 500mtrs ( slowly, but even over took one or two others...) leaving the water about 6 from last. The 20km cycle was solid - i tried to keep the bike above 28km per hr at all times, and achieved that for sure. And then came my favourite leg, the run. I started off slow, letting the run come to me after the bike, and built it up. From about 1.25km i started overtaking people. I got a perverse sense of pleasure overtaking those in tri suits!! Is that wrong :-) I didn't record the times of any of the legs very well, but was under 5km min for the run i think from the rough recording i made. I am stoked with that!!!
In the afternoon, a team of us took part in the 40km cycle. There were dozens of experienced riders, and then us. I learnt the fun of drafting, and since there was a headwind on the long 2km side of the lap, really tried hard to share the load with some other riders on the track. The headwind was tough - it dropped your speed by 10km an hour if you did not put in a BIG effort. I finished that in about 1:20:00, which is better then expected!
All in all, it was a great day - and a great reminder to me that there is nothing like an entry form and payment to get me off my bum and out and exercising!!!
Now...bring on a long weekend, chocolate and the easter show!!
Saturday night was a cocktail party with one of rach's friends to make up for missing our engagement party...well it was a great party, and all the way over at Bondi, so it was Sunday morning before we got home, and there was no way we would make SMC!!! ( atleast not sober! ) Thomo wins again!!!
On Monday, I went in the NSW Police Games, in triathlon and cycling. Both were a lot of fun. I comfortably swam the 500mtrs ( slowly, but even over took one or two others...) leaving the water about 6 from last. The 20km cycle was solid - i tried to keep the bike above 28km per hr at all times, and achieved that for sure. And then came my favourite leg, the run. I started off slow, letting the run come to me after the bike, and built it up. From about 1.25km i started overtaking people. I got a perverse sense of pleasure overtaking those in tri suits!! Is that wrong :-) I didn't record the times of any of the legs very well, but was under 5km min for the run i think from the rough recording i made. I am stoked with that!!!
In the afternoon, a team of us took part in the 40km cycle. There were dozens of experienced riders, and then us. I learnt the fun of drafting, and since there was a headwind on the long 2km side of the lap, really tried hard to share the load with some other riders on the track. The headwind was tough - it dropped your speed by 10km an hour if you did not put in a BIG effort. I finished that in about 1:20:00, which is better then expected!
All in all, it was a great day - and a great reminder to me that there is nothing like an entry form and payment to get me off my bum and out and exercising!!!
Now...bring on a long weekend, chocolate and the easter show!!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Project "Get Fitness Back"
Project "Get Fitness Back" has begun!!
Fitness is slowly coming back now for Rach and I after some time off...we both have cycled a few times in the last week and swam as well, which is great. I can now (semi)comfortably do 600mtrs without stopping, gasping for air etc...which is good since I am doing my 2nd ever tri next week - the police games - the swim is 500mtrs! I have dibs on last place...thats at 7am, and some fellow IT nerds are doing the cycling that afternoon - 40km....i will sleep well that night i know.
Last night i was out for a 10km run - died in the @ss at 1.5km with asthma, struggled to 2km, then turned around before puking. I didnt take ventolin ( stupid i know ). But my walk home became a shuffle, then a jog, and just before the final turn off the M7 for home, i started feeling good and kept running. So after my crappy start and rest breaks, i did the 10km in 1:01, which I am stoked about. I have been putting off taking part in a study into asthma medications on long distance runners - mainly as i have not been doing any long runs lately - but they emailed me the other day and I really should contribute. It could help them, and help me understand my own condition and parameters better too.....
It was great reading the 6ft reports - and seeing the photos too. I will be there next year inspired once more. Bruce, Scurry and Andre from PPR all had runs that inspired me - thankyou and congratulations!
PS - to get back in shape, i will have to stop eating burgers called "The Fat Bastard"
- check out the size of it, and yes, no salad!!
Fitness is slowly coming back now for Rach and I after some time off...we both have cycled a few times in the last week and swam as well, which is great. I can now (semi)comfortably do 600mtrs without stopping, gasping for air etc...which is good since I am doing my 2nd ever tri next week - the police games - the swim is 500mtrs! I have dibs on last place...thats at 7am, and some fellow IT nerds are doing the cycling that afternoon - 40km....i will sleep well that night i know.
Last night i was out for a 10km run - died in the @ss at 1.5km with asthma, struggled to 2km, then turned around before puking. I didnt take ventolin ( stupid i know ). But my walk home became a shuffle, then a jog, and just before the final turn off the M7 for home, i started feeling good and kept running. So after my crappy start and rest breaks, i did the 10km in 1:01, which I am stoked about. I have been putting off taking part in a study into asthma medications on long distance runners - mainly as i have not been doing any long runs lately - but they emailed me the other day and I really should contribute. It could help them, and help me understand my own condition and parameters better too.....
It was great reading the 6ft reports - and seeing the photos too. I will be there next year inspired once more. Bruce, Scurry and Andre from PPR all had runs that inspired me - thankyou and congratulations!
PS - to get back in shape, i will have to stop eating burgers called "The Fat Bastard"
- check out the size of it, and yes, no salad!!
Friday, February 22, 2008
its been a long time...(ntr)
Well, its been a long time ( about 2 months ) since we wrote anything....why?? um...injury and lack of mojo perhaps?? are they related - yes.
Since the CR XMAS run, i was training hard for 6ft actually - the shortest and hardest session being hill reps up rooty hill in 99% humidity, and one magic run at quarry road was started at 5pm, and i finished it at dusk with a headlamp!
i was hitting quarry road for 2 laps for a few weeks in a row, when it then hit me back! I started the run with a slight sore right knee, and finished with a very sore left knee, around to my calf. This pain persisted with any running at all until about 3 weeks ago. Given i was playing catch up ( and breaking the "10% increase in exercise" rule ) when i got injured, I have given up on 6ft this year, but will target it next year instead. Bummer. Atleast this time i wont have virtually 4 months off running before the training commences!
That said, my first run since the knee injury was actually my first Tri - an enticer with Hills. It was so much fun. Rach and I did all together, and the kids had such a great time also. I loved that afternoon! I have signed up to do the tri in the police games on 17 March - 500 / 20 /5. (also doing cycling on same day 40km, and 8km run the week before) I am not worried about the ride or run ( and have no probs coming last! ) but still the swim is daunting! Rach and I have been training a little for the Club Champs, and i have been to the pool twice this week, where i can now swim ( slowly and poorly, and a mixture of breaststroke and freestyle ) 600 metres without stopping or pushing off the edges. It is so hard!
How is it one can run for hours, and feel OK, but swim for 5 mins and feel absolutely spent!!! I am sure it is doing my asthma a world of good ( theory says it should ) but i am yet to notice a reduction in ventolin usage....hmmm..
I know how serious (or not ) i intend to take tri's - they are the cross training to marathon goals. As such, i am reluctant to spend $$ on bike improvements, however i am very tempted to get cleats and shoes for my bike. Problem is the retail value of my bike ( which i think is great! ) will more then double with the addition of new pedals and shoes!!! C'mon ebay! drop me a bargain!!!
Great news ....Rach and I have a wedding date planned...Feb 14 2009! What can i say - a great day for such a great day. ( And we just confirmed that our very good friend will be conducting the ceremony for us too! yay!)
Finally, back to running, we did SMC last week. It was great to be back at our club ( thats what it feels like ) chatting and waving to old running friends and familiar faces ( Ray ( or BB!), Luis, Andre and Terry from PPR, Mike "the marathon marvel" to recall a few) . I really enjoyed it, and it was longest run ( 10km ) in about 6 weeks, so it was such a release of endorphins and relief to do it there, and feel good at the end. It was a great run! Thanks rach ( your gorgeous when you run! ), Thomo, Heather and Keg for a good morning out! This week, I went running with a workmate on Wednesday - he is a great cyclist, but struggles running, and i was glad i could help him achieve longer running spans between walks - i hope i can keep do some more with my group friends at work - they help me so much in the office!
Cheers to returning to fitness!!!
Since the CR XMAS run, i was training hard for 6ft actually - the shortest and hardest session being hill reps up rooty hill in 99% humidity, and one magic run at quarry road was started at 5pm, and i finished it at dusk with a headlamp!
i was hitting quarry road for 2 laps for a few weeks in a row, when it then hit me back! I started the run with a slight sore right knee, and finished with a very sore left knee, around to my calf. This pain persisted with any running at all until about 3 weeks ago. Given i was playing catch up ( and breaking the "10% increase in exercise" rule ) when i got injured, I have given up on 6ft this year, but will target it next year instead. Bummer. Atleast this time i wont have virtually 4 months off running before the training commences!
That said, my first run since the knee injury was actually my first Tri - an enticer with Hills. It was so much fun. Rach and I did all together, and the kids had such a great time also. I loved that afternoon! I have signed up to do the tri in the police games on 17 March - 500 / 20 /5. (also doing cycling on same day 40km, and 8km run the week before) I am not worried about the ride or run ( and have no probs coming last! ) but still the swim is daunting! Rach and I have been training a little for the Club Champs, and i have been to the pool twice this week, where i can now swim ( slowly and poorly, and a mixture of breaststroke and freestyle ) 600 metres without stopping or pushing off the edges. It is so hard!
How is it one can run for hours, and feel OK, but swim for 5 mins and feel absolutely spent!!! I am sure it is doing my asthma a world of good ( theory says it should ) but i am yet to notice a reduction in ventolin usage....hmmm..
I know how serious (or not ) i intend to take tri's - they are the cross training to marathon goals. As such, i am reluctant to spend $$ on bike improvements, however i am very tempted to get cleats and shoes for my bike. Problem is the retail value of my bike ( which i think is great! ) will more then double with the addition of new pedals and shoes!!! C'mon ebay! drop me a bargain!!!
Great news ....Rach and I have a wedding date planned...Feb 14 2009! What can i say - a great day for such a great day. ( And we just confirmed that our very good friend will be conducting the ceremony for us too! yay!)
Finally, back to running, we did SMC last week. It was great to be back at our club ( thats what it feels like ) chatting and waving to old running friends and familiar faces ( Ray ( or BB!), Luis, Andre and Terry from PPR, Mike "the marathon marvel" to recall a few) . I really enjoyed it, and it was longest run ( 10km ) in about 6 weeks, so it was such a release of endorphins and relief to do it there, and feel good at the end. It was a great run! Thanks rach ( your gorgeous when you run! ), Thomo, Heather and Keg for a good morning out! This week, I went running with a workmate on Wednesday - he is a great cyclist, but struggles running, and i was glad i could help him achieve longer running spans between walks - i hope i can keep do some more with my group friends at work - they help me so much in the office!
Cheers to returning to fitness!!!
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