Training Log Archive: Craig

Event: Marginata - Standard Bush Event
 

H1 at Malmalling. Cruised around the H1 trying to run the kind of pace I might be able to keep up for the ultra long. Felt a bit rushed out of the start, going to really have to make an effort to stay calm and relaxed in the mass start. Quite an enjoyable run, nice open running with enough detail to keep it interesting without ever getting too tRicky. Wasn't super efficient but I don't remember any significant problems and I was still feeling quite relaxed and comfortable at the end. Had to fight the instinct to push hard up the hill to the finish.

C • Is that why I beat your finish split 3

Other courses were a bit short and the H2 finish was similar to the H1 anyway so I had decided I would just run around the H1 again to try to get in close to two hours total. I thought it would be interesting to see how my pace and effort compared on the second lap as well.

Ran straight from the finish to download then straight back up to the start to begin lap 2, getting there just after Dan started packing up. We were very late getting going this morning and I was feeling a bit guilty about setting out again so late, especially after ignoring Amy running after me calling "Daddy" as I ran through transition. Felt a bit rushed starting again but made sure I stuck to my plan of running low this time for comparison. First time I stayed straighter to avoid the unmapped green near the triangle. Climbed a little earlier than I intended and then tripped as I ran through somewhere just below 18.

Initially I thought it was nothing as I didn't go down very hard and it was soft and grassy where my hands landed. As I got up I noticed my right shin was sore and looked back to see a sharp rock sticking out of the ground where my shin would have landed. Had an inkling it might be worse than I first thought as I was reluctant to look at it as I ran through 1 and 2. I tried to avoid looking at it as I pulled my sock up after 2 but saw enough to realise there was a significant cut, not just a bruise. Started to hurt more as I ran down to 3 which, combined with my feeling of guilt about staying out too late, was enough to convince me to turn back rather than heading further away from home. I'm not sure I would have convinced myself to turn back if I hadn't started late.

Got back to the car and stuck an ice pack from the cooler bag on it for a while but I was too scared to pull the sock down and look at it. When I had been standing around for a while it wasn't hurting much so I started to think maybe it wasn't so bad but my rigid ice block wasn't very effective so I thought I'd head up to the cake stall to get some real ice. Took my time getting up there, stopping to give the kids drinks and chat a bit along the way. Eventually got there and grabbed some ice out of the drinks esky. Got my first proper look at it when I pulled my sock down to stick the ice under it and thought the same as a bystander said "That doesn't look good".

Went over to the caravan to ask for some first aid where Phil Taylor and Ian Finnie did a good job of patching me up but both thought I needed to see a doctor for some stitches and probably shouldn't drive the kids home by myself. Fortunately I was planning to go to lunch with Penny & Phil and the kids were already camped in Mike's van anyway so Phil drove me down to Swan Districts Hospital where I had 7 stitches put in at the after hours GP clinic.

Didn't get the long run I wanted in and now probably won't get any in before the ultra long in Victoria.

C • Bugger 11

H1 - Splits

Really did not want to get up this morning but I did eventually convince myself it was better to get it done now. Wanted to start trying to do something a little fast so I went down to the river and did 4x1k with 2min jog recoveries. Just trying to get under 4min/km and hoping it wouldn't feel too hard. I did get under 4 for all of them but it felt as though I would struggle to run 5k at that pace.

Orange ball with Liam.

Easy run in KP sticking to hard surfaces to avoid the cold wet grass.

Slow run in KP. Stuck to the hard surfaces for most of the first half while it was dark. Feeling pretty stiff and tired.

GA's 5/8 surges. Finally got to complete the full course. Felt as though I was going pretty well so thought I might be able to set a clear best time but I was about 40 seconds down on the slightly modified course from a couple of weeks ago. Still good to have 3 weeks in a row a minute or two faster than what my good days were a couple of months ago.

Easy run in KP on a mix of hard and soft surfaces. Felt reasonably good and had to resist the urge to push the pace towards the end. Threatening clouds at the start, a bit of rain in the middle and completely clear sky at the end.

Very late getting out this morning after lying awake all night listening to the rain and wondering how badly the roof is leaking. Didn't want to do too much anyway with tennis tonight so just did a short loop with a stop at the IGA to get supplies for post tennis snacks. Felt a little better than I expected but my expectations were low.

Tennis cancelled due to rain/wet courts. Courts actually would have been pretty dry at the start but it rained heavily pretty soon after the scheduled start so good decision to cancel. Good result for us as our team was weaker than usual (had me in it) and their rankings were way better than ours.