Major Bleakness

I know it's stupid, but I stored all of my exercise data on my work laptop, mainly because it has a COM port which I can use to download the data (my personal computer needs a USB-Serial adaptor). So I had ALL the data that I've gathered since being in Pretoria on that PC! Which is really sad, because it's quite interesting information that I can't get back!

Oh, did I say that my laptop was stolen from my office at work this past weekend? My window was pried open and my laptop taken from my desk :( I guess it serves me right for leaving my blinds open. The saw it in the window, but we are supposed to have a really good security system, state industrial secrets and all!

Sometimes, just sometimes, I hate my country.

On the bright side, I did start this blog, to store an outline of the data, and I also have my old fashioned logbook...still

Week 38 (14/09/08 - 21/09/08)

This week I started my 30th year on planet Earth! And started the last year of my Twenties... oh well :P. It was a good week.

Monday morning 15/09/08
Nadda: I think I was lazy again after too good a weekend

Monday evening 15/09/08
Distance run: 7km
Route: Lynwood (loop)
time: 52:16 mins
Walked to and from running: 2km

Wednesday morning 17/09/08
Laziness

Wednesday evening 17/09/08
Distance run: 7km
Route: Premier
Time: 56:13 mins
Intervals: 60/120

Friday morning 12/09/08
Nadda: I have no excuse except laziness and resting for the 10km run that I did the on Saturday

Friday evening 12/09/08
Distance run: 2km walked

Saturday morning 13/08/08
Distance run: 10km
Route: CSIR
Time: 1:17:25
Intervals: 60/90

Total distance this week: 28km

The CSIR run was quite nice actually. I kindof thought it would be a lot worse, but still took it quite easy. There were the hills especially the last one from one side of campus to the other. I however don't think I walked any more of it than I had to to follow the intervals. However the route didn't have long enough downhills to take advantage of, which I sometimes do, by running all the way through my rest interval, and the next running interval, but only on downhills.

Ou Voedpad 10 Miler

OK so the link is in Afrikaans, sorry to those of you who can't read it. You'll have to read my interpretation. The 10 mile run started at TUT ( Tswane University of Technology) heading west and within three miles we were led onto an old footpath, heading north over the Magaliesberg. I stupidly sprinted down most of the north face of the mountain, and I think it's a miracle that I didn't twist my ankle, but I really do enjoy running down mountains :)

Then we headed west over the entrance to the Daspoort tunnel and then a little further on we headed straight up the mountain to head back south and finally east back to TUT. I think my description is useless...

It was a pretty tough but I never felt REALLY tired at any point. I guess a lot had to do with the necessity to walk single file up much of the track. The scenery was magnificent, being able to see the whole of Pretoria, North and South of the Magaliesberg.

So far this is the furthest I've run and even though it was at quite a slow pace, I think that had it been on a flatter surface, and not hampered by other walkers I'd have been able to do it in atleast 20mins less. Which is encouraging for a 21km.

Week 37 (07/09/08 - 13/09/08)

Once again I have only the data in my log book (which I am once again very grateful for keeping) to add to this blog.

Monday morning 8/09/08
Nadda: I think I was lazy after too good a weekend

Monday evening 8/09/08
Distance run: 7km
Route: Clarke
Walked to and from running: 2km

Wednesday morning 10/09/08
Distance run: 2km
Time: 14:19

Wednesday evening 10/09/08
Distance run: 7.5km
Route: Spiral
Walked to and from running: 2km

Friday morning 12/09/08
Nadda: I have no excuse except laziness and resting for the 16km run that I did the on Saturday

Friday evening 12/09/08
Distance run: 4km

Saturday morning 13/08/08
Distance run: 16km
Route: Ou Voedpad 10 Miler!!
Time: 2:21

Total distance this week: 38.5km

Week 36

Ok so it's high time for a new post, well this will be the first of a few so I'll keep it short. Unfortunately my laptop with all my polar HR data on it was stolen from my office at work, so the data will be a little sparse. Serves me right for not posting regularly, or backing up personal data :(

Monday morning 1/09/08
Distance run: 2km
Time: 14:26
Pace: 7:13

Monday evening 1/09/08
Distance run: 6km
Time: 45:32

Wednesday morning 3/09/08
Distance run: 2km
Time: 14 ish

Wednesday evening 3/09/08
Distance run: 6km
Walked to and from running: 2km

Friday morning 5/09/08
Nadda: I think this had something to do with a running friends birthday

Friday evening 29/08/08
Distance run: 4km

Saturday afternoon 30/08/08
Nadda:

Total distance this week: 22km

Realisations

I meantioned in an earlier post that I'd realised something, that being the fact that I'm pretty limited in the output I can produce. So trying to get a little bit faster by running slightly longer is kindof in vane. Thing is, I can consistently complete a longer run in less than 8min/km, which is fine to achieve my goal. Whats more, sometimes walking for longer actually leaves my overall pace unchanged, if not improved. So I'm going to stop trying to run for longer, and make sure my "rest" intervals are long enough for me to really rest.

Granted I did run 6km yesterday in 42:30 with the intervals set to 75/90 and I think that was my fasted 6km time trial time. But still I think it's probably better for me to be at a comfortable pace, but doing more distance, than going any faster at this stage. So that's what I intend to do. Possibly, tomorrow, possibly next week I'll start doing 7km in the evenings, after having walked 1km to the club, and 1km home, that is 9km in total that evening, add to that the 2km run I do in the morning on the same day and I'll be doing 11km a day!! 33km a week, and thats if theres no race on Saturday!

On another note...in response to Romy's comment... I am quite aware that on Saturday I dressed up like a woman, however...I'm pretty sure I'm not one! :P The fact that they are all the rage for your half of the gene pool makes no difference to me! Me and a turquoise top... I'm sorry! Glad you guys are getting to the gym... watch this space for news about my lastest toy... Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Spar Ladies Race 2008

I've done blonde(maybe I'll dig the photo's out sometime), and redhead, this year a black afro ddin't seem like a bad idea! Unfotunately my faithful sidekick Davina wasn't there this year :(

However the socks against my chest got really itchy...not to mention moist and manky!

Here are some pics of the other palooka's that decided to run the race :PBelieve it or not thats a pic of my sexy behind!! :P
And this is a pic of me, with a sagging chest, and my running partner, Melodie, she is patient enough to run when I can run, and walk when I need to walk. I say... whats wrong with her :P
And here is a pic of me looking rather tired, but happy to be out of my gimp suit..
The race itself was hot and there was a lot more walking done than I normally do. Add to the heat a pair of sox on my chest and a wig, and it makes for a VERY hot mark...excuse the pun...it was never going to be fast so the 81 minutes was quite alright for me :) Not sure about the turquoise T-Shirt though.

Week 35

I think monday morning was just too much this week and got left out. The intention was to keep pushing the running time up, but it never happened. I've come to a realisation, but I'll talk about that in my next post.

Monday evening 25/08/08
Distance run: 6km
Time: 48:00
Pace: 8:00
Interval (w/r): 80/55

Wednesday morning 27/08/08
Distance run: 2km
Time: 14:11
Pace: 7:05
Interval (w/r): 60/75

Wednesday evening 27/08/08
Distance run: 6km
Time: 45:34
Pace: 7:35
Interval (w/r): 80/60

Friday morning 29/08/08
Distance run: 2km
Time: 14:09
Pace: 7:04
Interval (w/r): 60/75

Friday evening 29/08/08
Distance run: 4km
Time: 34:36
Pace: 8:39
Interval (w/r): Walked

Saturday afternoon 30/08/08
Distance run: 10km
Time: 1:21:21
Pace: 8:08
Interval (w/r): 2:00/1:00

Total distance this week: 30km

The walk on Friday was because I knew I'd be doing the Spar Ladies Race on Saturday afternoon. It was good fun, but damn hot!! Nothing like a bunch of sweaty guys in girls clothing for a good laugh... especially when you are one of them...see my next post

Week 34

This week, I started increasing the running time in my early morning runs by 5 seconds every day. I think I'm going to go back to my old style of putting every exercise seperately, I think it's clearer to see whats been happening.

Monday morning 18/08/08
Distance run: 2km
Time: 14:52
Pace: 7:28
Interval (w/r): 60/65

Monday evening 18/08/08
Distance run: 6km
Time: 46:21
Pace: 7:43
Interval (w/r): 70/50

Wednesday morning 20/08/08
Distance run: 2km
Time: 14:06
Pace: 7:03
Interval (w/r): 60/70

Wednesday evening 20/08/08
Distance run: 6km
Time: 45:28
Pace: 7:34
Interval (w/r): 70/50

Friday evening 22/08/08
Distance run: 5.5km
Time: 50:26
Pace: 9:10
Interval (w/r): Walked

Total distance this week: 21.5km

I was trying to increase the running time rapidly, and it seemed to work fine until a little bit of wine for a friends birthday on Thursday night spoilt the party :P

900km!!

Just a quicky to note that yesterday I went over 900km! Check out the "RUNNING (and walking) TOTAL" in the left panel. Ok so it's taken more than a year, but I think by the end of September I'll probably be over 1000km! And thats almost an average of 60km a month for 15 straight months... I think I must be nuts!

Week 33 - the rest

I started the 2 runs a day this week, as mentioned in my previous post. So in total I ran 22km this week, which is not too shabby I guess, it's just that I've run faster and I'm not feeling particularly strong. The morning runs are great, and it's quite nice to just do a short run in the morning. It wakes you up for the day! I haven't been running them particularly fast. Wednesday was 7:19 and Friday 7:15, but that should improve as the running time goes up. As for next week, my running partner has suggested that we increase the running time by 5 seconds a day. I'm a bit skeptical but I'll give it a go.

Yesterday while running I was thinking that there must be an optimal resting time for me. That is clearly demonstrated by a 10km run we did a few weeks ago. I'd wanted to do an easy run, so I set the rest interval at 2mins and the running time to 45 seconds. But the result was a very satisfying 79mins for 10km. OK it's not fast, but it just demonstrated to me that if I rest enough I could complete a run faster.

So that set me thinking... wouldn't it be cool if someone interested in this kind of thing (people with chronic illnesses) could help me work out an optimal program? I spoke to my club manager about a training program, but I really don't think he understood what my problem is, and he didn't seem to be interested in taking the time to find out. So what I am seriously thinking of doing is offering myself as a study subject to the biokinetics department at the University of Pretoria. Perhaps there would be a student who would be interested in working with me, and perhaps my cardiologist, to get the most out of me? Because, if I'm honest with myself, even though I'm listening to my body, I'm also kindof clutching in the dark at this thing. It would be great to have someone really interested in researching exercise options for someone like me.


Anyone have any comments? Suggestions?

Week 33 - Atleast the first half of it

What I learned from the 15km and the 30km is that I need to get more distance under my belt, I need to do more 10km+ runs. At the same time though, I really want to get a little faster. Add to that what I learned from last years summer - I don't run well in the heat and humidity. All this adds up to one thing. I need to some morning training.

I can't follow any of the traditional training plans, for obvious reasons. I can't follow the pace goals that those programs set you, and I'm not sure if I can follow the distance goals just yet either. However any morning run adds to my distance and I've read that you can gain from splitting your training into shorter session split between the morning and evening. So basically, to get to the distance goals the traditional programs suggest I will just run more short runs in the mornings.

I also want to work on my pace and endurance, extending the time I spend running while maintaining my resting time. My goal pace is currently 6min/km. What I decided to do was to measure out a straight km. So there and back would give me 2km. On this course I can change my running/walking times until I am comfortable running at 6min/km. Once I've done that I'll increase the distance to 3km and so on.

In the evenings for now I will probably try to get my pace to about 7:30 a km and keep it there, while increasing the distance I run. I think until the end of August I'll continue to run 6's and then start running 7's in September. However when summer comes I will probably try to run more in the mornings and less in the hot afterrnoons.

So I started this disjointed training this morning, running the 2km stretch in 14:38 (7:19/km), and not feeling particularly uncomfortable about it. I will change the times every Monday, hopefully I'll get to the 6min/km mark quite quickly over this short distance. I've yet to see what I feel like this afternoon, but it is a great way to start the day!