I long for Aiur
I’ve been quiet as I bought Starcraft 2 and I’ve been playing it!
I’m still running etc. but time is precious at the moment! 
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A good week of running
I took this photo this morning while out on my pre-work 10K:
It has been gorgeous running weather the last few days. No wind and either clear skies or just a light overcast. Very, very nice. 
Last week I did a total of 69.4 km at an average page of 5:48 / km. I think that was my fastest week of running ever. I think my recent focus on incorporating a bit of speedwork has started to pay off as I’m finding that I can maintain a faster pace for the same effort.
As a matter of fact, my long run yesterday ended up being run at sub 4 hour marathon pace and it felt relatively easy. My HR was in my low heart rate training zone the whole time which I think is brilliant. If I can keep that up that Taipei is going to be a blast!
I suspect that my months of doing low heart rate training has enabled me to build a very solid fitness base and now the speedwork is adding that bit extra.
In other news, my eating has not been particularly brilliant. My core meals are healthy and nutritious but I’m still allowing one too many snacks to pass my lips. My weight is still under control but I really don’t want it to start creeping up. I want it to continue creeping down!
One of my former students brought me a cake as a thank you for the help I gave in the previous semester which really didn’t help the cause (even though it was very much appreciated):
It was delicious! And I didn’t eat the whole thing – I shared it with everyone at home. 
Intervals, a wet and windy tempo run and 1000 miles
On Tuesday I gave intervals a go for the first time. I did an easy warm up followed by 5 x 1k intervals: 4:32, 4:37, 4:55, 4:46, 4:52 And then a nice 2k cool down. This is the first time I’ve ever done intervals and they were good! The idea is that they will help me build a little more speed so we’ll have to see if they work.
This morning (Thursday here in NZ) I had to drop my father in law off at the airport. I was up at 4am and then straight out to drop him off and then I headed out for my run. It was pouring down with rain and there was quite a strong wind so it was a tough workout but I came in under my target goal off 55 minutes (5:30 pace) by doing the run in 54:34 (5:24 pace). I’m quite chuffed that I did so well in such atrocious conditions.
I hit a milestone for the year when I clicked by 1000 miles for the year so far this morning. I’m quite happy with that just quietly. I’m ahead of my goal of 2010 km in 2010 by quite a long way. I might switch my goal to 1500 miles. We’ll see. 
Thinking of marathon training
My long run (20km) yesterday was pretty good. I chose quite a hilly route and just enjoyed it. Here’s a snapshot from the run:
It’s definitely getting warmer here in NZ. I think winter is just about done. The days are getting noticeably longer now and it is not painful to get out of the door predawn. 
I did a total of 58 km last week.
I’m about 21 weeks away from the Taipei Marathon now so it’s time to start thinking about marathon training programs. Earlier in the year I mentioned I was thinking about the Brooks Hanson Marathon Training plan and I’ve decided to go with it. There’s a good write up about it here.
Tarawera UltraMarathon
I’ve decided that my major challenge for next year will be to do an ultra marathon. I’m leaning towards this one:
I’m looking at the 60K option as it would be my first ultra. It’s in March so I should have plenty of time to train after the Taipei Marathon in December.
Thoughts?
Tuesday morning speed blast
My running buddy is off overseas for a few weeks so I’m back to running on my own. It’s been really great running with him as he’s pushed the pace somewhat and much to my surprise I’ve been enjoying running a bit faster than i normally would.
As such, I decided that my Tuesday and Thursday runs are going to be faster runs. On Tuesdays I’m going to run a 5K as fast as I comfortably can (i.e. no puking!) and on Thursdays I’ll do a 10K as fast as I comfortably can.
My aim with the 5Ks is to try and break my 5K PR and probably the same with the 10Ks I guess!
This morning’s run was great. It was quite nippy (probably about 6 degrees C) which is pretty much perfect for running.
I did just over 3 laps of the Auckland Domain mile loop:
I managed to set a new 5K PR of 24:19 which is 4:52 min/km pace. I could have gone slightly faster but I’m happy with that. There was no danger of puking!
I’m really enjoying my running again and I guess I’m getting my mojo back!
A cold run
My run yesterday morning was rather nippy! 3 degrees C (37 F) by the time I got out of the door. I know that is positively balmy compared to the winters some of you run in but by Auckland standards that is freezing!
It was good to see that they are building a new cycleway along the train tracks very close to my house:
I can’t wait to run it! It seemed wrong to have such a sunny day be so cold. 
I did just over 50km of running this week which was good. On Tuesday I did a 10K in under 53 minutes which was a very good tempo run for me. On Wednesday and Thursday I did back to back 10Ks in under an hour each time as well. Sunday’s long run was 20.2km in 2:05:02 which I was quite happy with.
I’ve had a really nasty cold this week as well which hasn’t helped. I actually spent most of Friday in bed. I find that when I’m sick I gravitate to comfort in food so my eating hasn’t been as clean as I’d like. But such is life and today’s a new day.
Week in review
It’s been a relatively good week this week:
On Monday I went to get a xray of my foot as my little toe is still swollen and hurting. You may recall that I knocked it a few weeks back. It originally went purple but cleared up quickly so I thought it was just bruised but it never really got better so I went and had it checked out. It turns out it is fractured and it will take a while to heal. Fortunately it doesn’t interfere with my running as my running shoes are a size larger than my normal shoes so there is no impact on it.
On Tuesday I did a nice 11km run home after work.
On Wednesday I thought about running but didn’t.
On Thursday I ran with a colleague and we did a 10km run in a blistering (by my standards) 52:40. That’s the fastest 10K I have run in over a year. I’ve been running with Peter for a few weeks now and it’s been most enjoyable. I find running with someone else forces you to push yourself a little harder than you normally would.
On Friday I went and bought some new running shoes. I went to buy some more Brooks Defyance’s but they didn’t have my size in the new model so I decided to try some Adidas Adistar Ride 2′s. To test them out I did my local 4.5km loop in 24:58 which is the fastest time I’ve ever done it in. I’m sure it’s just coincidence.
On Saturday I got up at 1:30am to watch Netherlands eliminate Brazil in the football world cup. I was supposed to go running on Saturday morning but let’s just say that while the spirit was willing, the flesh was weak. Instead my wife, daughter and I went to a few of our favourite farmer’s markets and free sampled our way through the morning.
This morning, it is 8:30 and I’m already back from a 21.6km run (in 2:13:50) which was most enjoyable. My little girl is 3 years old today so we are having a family gathering this afternoon. Good times.
So my running this week has been pretty good. I’ve done 47.1 km in 4:37:08 for an average pace of 5:53/km. I’ll take that. I’m slowly building my mileage up again as it is almost time for me to start marathon training again.
I’ve also restarted the 100 pushups, 200 squats and 200 situps trifecta. I thought I’d give them all a go at the same time to get a bit of conditioning. It’s pretty much the first time I’ve done any pushups since doing the 100 a few months ago!
