A double post today, I was busy with my sisters engagement party yesterday.
Saturday
13.5 Km at about 5:40 pace as a Run Leader. This was the second last session, with an easy one planned for next Saturday, the day before the race. I have more or less taken the same group of people out over the last 7 weeks, a core group started with me on the 8Km slow runs, then a few weeks later when I was rostered to the 13.5Km medium group they all came along for the ride 
even in this short time I have seen them all become alot more confident about their chances of getting through the 15.2Km.
Afterwards I found myself with a small group who all wanted to chat and ask me questions 
it was a bit over whelming but very gratifying to see them all so keen.
Also I would like to announce here that I am officially no longer a slapper 
one of the guys in my group ran up from behind me and commented that I was running lightly and on my toes and how did I manage it. Yippeeeee, finally, after over 7 months of grafting away at the speedwork and trying to adjust my style it has finally become second nature to me. This adjustment certainly seems to have had an impact on my training with longer runs now being managed more easily at a quicker pace.
Sunday
I was thinking about heading down to Yarra Blvd for a 5Km Sri Chinmoy race, then off for another 15Km. Buuuuut, owing to my sisters engagement party last night I was not exactly in tip top shape, not hung over as such, just a late night. So instead I had a rare sleep in, the alarm went off at 06:17, so I rolled over, hit snooze and slept in until 06:17 I love the end of daylight savings, I hadn’t put the clock back before bed! Well not exactly love it, the shorter days are a bit depressing but the extra hour on the first Sunday is a treat. I was amused to read in the Good Weekend yesterday than Ian Thorpe used to set his alarm for 04:17 in his training days, my alarm is set for 05:17 and 06:17 on the weekends. Why the 17 minutes? Not sure really, just a quirk of mine, I am just not a fan of even numbers, so it seems IT and I have something in common.
I kept the long run shorter today, as I am heading into a taper week before the 15.2 Km Run for the Kids next Sunday.
20.5Km in 1:44:42, average pace 5:06 along the Warby Trail. I love how I can now comfortably complete a training run quicker than my first HM last July (avg pace was 5:08), I am started to get a little excited about the winter now, I should post some decent times over some distances that I haven’t raced for almost a year. I pushed the last 3Kms today as well and it was mostly uphill
Weekly Summary
Mon - 8Km slow as run leader
Tue - 10Km including my favourite interval session (500, 800, 1Km, 1Km, 800, 500)
Wed - 8km quickish followed by 5Km slow as a run leader
Thu - 11Km slog in the heat
Fri - 10Km slog in the heat
Sat - 13.5 Km medium as run leader
Sun - 20.5Km long run in 1:44:42
Total - 87Km
Woo Hoo, this is the most I have ever run in a week, maybe I should have gone the extra 2.5km to make it 90Km! Only kidding, no point doing stupid things just for the sake of mileage.
Also, because I filled in for a run leader shift on Monday I missed my rest day which saw me run 13 days in a row. Happy to say I report no ill effects from this, probably due to the fact that there were some nice easy runs in there when I was doing R4K sessions.
So rest tomorrow then a reasonably easy week leading up to next Sunday.
Comments
Yeah Ewen, it is a struggle for me to get out of Bakers Delight with just a wholemeal roll. In fact I get the same feeling walking into Bakers Delight that dodgy old men in raincoats probably get walking into an Adult Bookshop My weakness, Cape Fruit and Nut Roll, Apple Scroll, Hot Cross Buns, Escargot Danish and the Cheese and Chive Scones (Steve, they would be the crappy carbs I have been trying to avoid)
At the end of the week I tip the scales at 59Kg even (Hmmm, last nights choccie cake for dessert perhaps) which I am pretty happy with. I reckon sensible eating and the increased mileage should see the back of another 2Kg pretty easily.
