Sunday the 30 March 2008 will go down as the day Gav, Stu and Paul ran for the kids. 12 weeks of intense training and it had all come down to this. A 14.14km race around the city and over a bridge with 27,495 other people.
We got in early to get into the spirit and get our minds on the big task ahead as none of us had run this distance during our 12 week lead up. (we were too slack during the 2 weeks that we were told to run 15k) Our pre race photo shows our high level of concentration.
All pumped up Paul left us to move into the Yellow (I think I am a faster runner than you) zone. With just me and Gav remaining in the red zone we moved into a Zen like state as others around us did some stretches.
So then it was on the race had started it was a crazy start as you were just trying to avoid the people who were less interested in a fast time and more content with just finishing. 5k into the race and me and Gav were looking the goods when all of a sudden Paul comes running past with a very confused look on his face wondering how we managed to get a lead on him for the first 5k when he was supposed to start ahead of us?
As we could see Paul running off into the distance we powered on and all of a sudden we had hit the half way mark just as we got to the top of the bolte bridge. The second half was hard but not as bad as we had expected and we managed to keep up the good speeds that we had been doing.
With only 1k to go we passed our official photo lady and showed that we still somehow had some energy and managed to have this photo taken as we ran passed.
The final part was great as you had people watching and cheering you on so I put myself into top gear and had my own little sprint home against myself and when I got over the line put my hands in the air like I had actually won the race. Well needless to say we were all very happy, me and Gav did it in a great time of 1 hour and 28min with Paul doing it in around 1 hour 15 a better time then us and well deserved. It was a great day and I recommend it to anyone who needs some motivation to get out and do some activity.
Above is our after race photo, we do look ok however if you really want to see the pain Paul was in check out Gav’s Flickr to see a nice pic of Paul’s foot.
Well that is it we have done it for the kids and we will now sit back and wait for a thank you.
So we are now 2 weeks out from our big day. I had a good week and put in some Ks and feel better for it. This week has started off hot and that is not always good to run in but it is going to cool down to good running conditions for the end of the week. The training is starting to reduce this week with the big run just being 8k.
This week I managed to do 23.07k at 6.21 per k. This was an ok week training wise as I only missed the one run for the week. The Gav man did 15.79k at a very fast pace of 5.51. The Paul man has not loaded his runs so he will have to put his stats in the comments.
So 2 weeks till the big day try not to miss any more training sessions and as always Keep Running!
Week 8 and 9 in our training for the big run have now been completed. The slackness (beer) has tried to kick on in over the last 2 weeks and I will need to work hard over the final 3 weeks of training to overcome this bad period. Drinking over the last 2 Friday nights does not help you get out of Bed on a Saturday morning to run 15k. I now aim to stop drinking (Excluding good Friday when we drink for the kids.) until the run (well large amounts anyway) so that I will be in tip top shape come the run.
This week is going to be a hot one but I will work hard and get all the required training done. This week looks like this.
- Monday – 8k
- Tuesday – 6k of interval training
- Wednesday – Rest
- Thursday – 6k
- Friday – Rest
- Saturday – 10k (at race pace)
- Sunday – Rest
Run On!
So we have now completed 7 weeks of training for our big run and have only 4 weeks to go. This week was the biggest week for me and Gav in terms of Km run. It was a good week with a lot of km before the big 12km run to end the week. Next week we have a huge 15km to do and after the 12km on Saturday I am still not feeling 100% as I have done something to my calf so I am taking a few days to rest and get back to full fitness. You really can not miss many training sessions or you will not feel good especially when trying to do a 15km run. After I had 2 weeks off I felt that I really was behind the others and have had trouble catching up so I am hoping to only miss one or two with this calf issue. Lets have a look at what we did this week. We are again missing Paul as he still does not have the net.
Stu – 31.43km at an average pace of 6.42 per km.
Gav – 31.81km at an average pace of 6.28 per km.
This was one of Gav’s fastest weeks since we started to train so you can see that all the training is doing him good. I would also like to say that Nana Pants are great at reducing any chafing that you might get so if you have been doing the running but been getting some chafing then try some Nana pants. Well people that is it for this week keep it up only 4 more weeks to go.
Keep Running.
So we finished week 6 and are now half way in our training for the run for the kids. This week was my first attempt to run after 2 weeks off with an ankle injury. My return was ok however I was not feeling the fitness that I had 2 weeks ago so I really need to step up my training this week to get back on track. Let have a look at what we managed to do this week.
Stu – 14.18 K at a slow average pace of 7.25 per k.
Gav – 17.21k at an average pace of 6.49 per k.
Paul’s data was not available as he is off the net at current.
So with 6 weeks down I think that we are all confident that we can run out the 14ks now it is just a matter of getting into peak form and getting a time that we are happy with.
This weeks training might be hard due to some heat making our after work training a little bit hot. I am looking forward to getting a full week of training under me moving into the second half of our training program.
Until next week Run On!
So week 4 stared with an easy bike ride for me on the Monday just a nice 12k ride. Tuesday was also supposed to be an easy day with 3k walk then 3k run then finish with 3k walk however for me this was not to be. At 2.80 into my 3k run I fell running on some unpaved track and twisted my ankle. I walked home and got some ice onto it however this did not stop it from swelling up. For the next 2 days I was limping around unable to put full pressure onto it. I am now feeling a little better but can not see me getting my run on this week as I don’t want to make it any worse.
So now I will give you the stats for the other boys who did manage to have a good week by the looks of it.
Gav – 31.38k at 6.44 – This was a great week for Gav the most K he has done and at some good speeds he is starting to look good for the run.
Paul – 25.17k at 5.13 – Another solid week for the Paul man.
So week 4 is down and done and we head into week 5. I am really hoping to be better for the Saturday run this week but also don’t want to rush back and make anything worse so I will see how I go. For all you others Keep Running.
So week 3 is down and done. It was another hard week as it contained the biggest run to date a large 10k run. Also some injuries have caused some to not be able to train fully this week. Gav has had some major shin pain and due to this he reduced his workouts. Paul had some chafing and this hindered his 10k run. So lets have a look at what we all did.
- Stu – 23.3k at 6.23 per k.
- Gav – 11.04k at 7.14 per k.
- Paul – 16.15k at 5.08 per k
Starting to get more confidence after the 10k run this week and thinking I might actually finish the run without collapsing. This week we have another 10k to do on the Saturday so I will see if I can do a better time then last week.
For the people who want to join in and do some training this is what is recommended for this week.
Today - was an active rest day. By this you should just go out and do an activity that you like for example I went for a bike ride.
Tuesday – 3k walk/ 3k run/ 3k walk so all up 9k 3 of it running.
Wednesday – Rest
Thursday – 3k run
Friday – Rest
Saturday – 10k run
Sunday – Rest
So week 2 of our training is over. This week things were taken up a level and training went from 3 days to 4 days a week. We were required to do the below.
- Monday – 4k run/walk
- Tuesday – 3k walk
- Wednesday – Rest
- Thursday – 5k Run/Walk
- Friday – Rest
- Saturday – 6k Run/Walk
- Sunday – Rest
As you can see it was going to be harder on us this week than last week. To try and reduce damage our shins we substituted a 10k bike ride for the 3k walk. We did well and competed all the required training for the week and I am feeling better and I feel like I could now run 5k more comfortable then before.
Paul is well ahead of the schedule and has even gone out and registered in the yellow zone for the big day. Below are our running stats for this week.
Stu – 15.16K at an average pace of 6.06min per K.
Gav – 20.6k at an average pace of 6.57min per k.
Paul – 31.93k at an average pace of 5.19min per K.
Well that is week 2 for you keeping an eye on our progress. I will be back next week with week 3.
Keep Running.
So I have just handed over $35 so that I can be smashed by a 14.14Km run in late March. Me and some of the Pennies boys are going to do the run for the kids this year in an attempt to get fit and just to see if we can make the distance. I am going to be posting on our progress in training for this event and our success or failure on the big day.If you are going to be doing this run please leave some comments to let me know so that I can track your training before the big run. I will post back soon to give an update on our progress after week one of training. If you are going to be part of the fun register soon.
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