Training Log Archive: Craig

Warm up for long race. Didn't have time for much warm up partly because for a while I thought my start time was 10:42 when it was really 10:24.

Qld Champs Long race. After yesterday's debacle I decided to dust the old base plate compass off to give me some security. It worked well because it gave me a routine to follow at controls which stopped me from making the mistakes I was making yesterday. I still wasn't looking at my map properly until well away from the control but at least I was heading in the right direction which is all you really needed to do in this terrain. I'm going to need to work on this before nationals. Slight wobbles on 1 and 4 (I'm sure 4 was on a bit of rocky ground, not the cliff) and a 30 second mistake on 5 (went to the southern creek first). Very shaky on 12 because the map was not making sense to me at all even though I was exactly where I was trying to go. I never felt great but thought I was maintaining a pretty even pace and was starting to try to lift the pace a bit in the final section when I rolled my right ankle coming out of 19 (maybe because I was trying to up the pace?). Had to walk most of the way from 19 to 20 before it loosened up enough to start running again. Managed to run reasonably freely around the final loop but couldn't really push the pace at all. Disappointing not to get a chance to test my fitness properly at the end of the course but still a much better day than yesterday. Restores a little bit of confidence going into nationals but the ankle is a major concern.

Event: AUS NOL Races
 

Warm up for middle distance race. Run to start plus a few times up and down a gentle hill near the start.

Qld Champs Middle Distance. Planned to take my time reading the map and compass early until I felt confident and then start pushing hard but I never felt confident at any stage during the race so I never really pushed hard. Lost about 2min on 3, 30 sec on 7 and small amounts on a few others. I think a lot of my problems were caused by leaving controls in the wrong direction before making any sort of plan and then not following the compass well because I couldn't believe I was so far off course. Struggled for motivation after seeing hoggster go past me and out of sight before I got to 3.

Warm down jog with Andy and Eric.

Easy jog along the beach at Hervey Bay with Sarah and Cath after taking the midnight flight from Perth to Brisbane and driving from Brisbane up to Hervey Bay. Felt surprisingly good, probably because it was so slow.

Easy lap of KP with Ivan. Started with Alan and passed Damien half way around. Feeling tired early on but better in the 2nd half. A few pretty fast surges near the end didn't feel too bad. Feeling a bit stiff around left ankle and down side of foot but not really sore.

Flattish long run. First half of 10k loop then out Atkins Rd to Mundaring Weir Rd, Railway trail up through Mundaring and onto Mundaring loopp MTB trail to the end of Martin Rd and back onto 2nd half of 10k loop. Right knee only hurt a little for a few minutes in the middle and left ankle/heel only hurt for the last hour (started around back of lateral malleolus then medial malleolus then down towards inside of heel). Must have been getting tired towards the end because I felt a strong urge to run faster, tried to hold back but still did the last km in 3:39. A little bit of light drizzle after 5min, otherwise a nice day for a run.

Feeling sore around left ankle lying in bed this morning. Couldn't decide if I should run anyway or ride my bike instead so I just stayed in bed.