.... follows: 77 - The Winter season
I have been non-stop for almost a decade now. I peaked with a marathon in 2015 and have run a heap of sub 90 minute half marathons along the way. At my peak I was just about jogging a sub 20 5 km run. I peaked with an 18:06 on a dry sunny morning at Inverloch parkrun in November 2016. Some time after that I had a run of TEN consecutive sub-19 minute parkruns.
In the past few years I have slowed significantly with a kidney condition that swells up my legs. I had a treatment in December 2021 and had a period in January this year where I was running freely again and speeding up. But when I returned to work the swelling returned. Last week I had another treatment and hold hope that it will have an affect.
All through that I continued my running, getting out at least four or five times per week. I've dropped it back a bit from the peak but was able to keep up the 40 km weeks.
A couple of weeks ago, after avoiding the Covid virus for so long, I was hit with a severe bout of the flu. It hit me hard and I was bedridden for a couple of days. I had to stop running. I only missed the one parkrun but there has been only the rare midweek run - short and slow - in recent weeks. My fitness has gone and my leg muscles have softened. It is turning in to a full-on reset. Maybe it will be what I need.
So - am I too old now? Will I ever run another sub-20 5 km? Who knows? Right now I am re-building. I have to make sure that I do the stretching. Maybe the reset of the leg muscles will allow me to regain some bounce? Only time will tell.
Fri 3/6 am: 6.66 km - 5:24 average pace - 5:14 fastest km - Ave stride 1.29 m
With a very light week I tried to go wth Mal and Jeff early and stayed with them for a kilometre. I really struggled in the middle and thought I may need to walk for a bit. I stayed running, stayed under 5 minute pace and finished ok to get a time I was really happy with.
Sat 4/6 am: 3.04 km - 5:29 average pace - 5:17 fastest km - Ave stride 1.25 m
Sat 4/6 am: Inv parkrun - 23:38 - 4:33, 4:47, 4:59, 4:49, 4:40 - Ave stride 1.37 m
Monday June 6th to Sunday June 12th
The weather! Rain, wind and cold! Monday was out and then Tuesday as well. My chest was crying out for a run and I have a problem with the lower right leg and wanted to get a run in on that too. Finally on Wednesday I got to get out there for a bit of a jog. It helped me to get back on track a bit more with my health.
Wed 8/6 am: 5.17 km - 5:27 average pace - 5:08 fastest km - Ave stride 1.23 m
Fri 10/6 am: 5.18 km -
It was a real light week. I had no expectation for parkrun but ran surprisingly well. My legs, particularly lower legs are softening up so I am careful to ensure that I don't go too hard and damage a muscle. I have soreness in the lower right leg when cold but it goes away when warmed. Not really sure what it is. I found myself having much better breathing this week.
Sat 11/6 am: Inv parkrun - 23:23 - 4:30, 4:44, 4:48, 4:36, 4:39 - Ave stride 1.40 m
I had a rest for the remainder of the Queens Birthday long weekend. On Sunday I kept an eye on Strava, watching the runners doing the Longest Run around Gippsland parkrun courses. One of my goals is to get back to be able to run all seven next year.
Monday June 14th to Sunday June 19th
Rest day on Monday with the week starting with a beach run before work on Tuesday.
Tue 14/6 am: 5.58 km - 5:20 average pace - 5:01 fastest km - Ave stride 1.29 m
Wed 15/6 am: 3.95 km - 5:19 average pace - 5:15 fastest km - Ave stride 1.27 m
Fri 17/6 am: 6.27 km - 5:34 average pace - 5:22 fastest km - Ave stride 1.24 m
It was off to Phillip Island parkrun on Saturday morning and it was a real struggle. I have lost most of my fitness and my muscles have softened. I have to be aware of not injuring as I try to rebuild. I was able to find something in the final kilometre.
Sat 18/6 am: 2.11 km - 5:37 average pace - 5:18 fastest km - Ave stride 1.21 m
Sat 18/6 am: PI parkrun - 24:43 - 5:00, 5:02, 4:55, 5:08, 4:41 - Ave stride 1.32 m
On Sunday I hosted the 3rd race of the Road Runners handicap series at Koonwarra. I set up the course using Strava but then ran out on it early to mark the turns. In the race I just had nothing. I was the last runner in and just never had anything at all. The pace has gone and it is a struggle all the way.
Sun 19/6 am: 3.06 km - 5:24 average pace - 5:20 fastest km - Ave stride 1.28 m
Sun 19/6 am: 5.11 km - 4:39, 4:51, 4:59, 5:11, 4:54 - Ave pace 4:51 - Ave stride 1.37 m
Monday June 20th to Sunday June 26th
I woke up bent over and stiff to start the new week. It took forever to warm up in the run but the body did eventually loosen. It was a slow run though.
Mon 20/6 am: 5.10 km - 5:33 average pace - 5:17 fastest km - Ave stride 1.23 m
Wed 22/6 am: 7.61 km - 5:21 average pace - 5:00 fastest km - Ave stride 1.27 m
.... 4x 125 m intervals (ave pace): 3:55, 3:57, 3:48, 3:38
Thu 23/6 am: 4.64 km - 5:34 average pace - 5:24 factest km - Ave stride 1.24 km
Running is generally slow at the moment, especially midweek. I try to push harder but there is nothing. The intervals on Wednesday were promising. I may need to try some fartlek running.
Fri 24/6 am: 4.12 km - 5:34 average pace - 5:13 fastest km - Ave stride 1.24 m
I put in a late volunteer to be the running photographer at Invy parkrun. From the start I ran hard to get to the front then got most people at the start. I ran to various positions on the course then stopped for photos. I pretty much got each runner multiple times. The astonishing thing was that my watch time when was only 23:40 after I returned to the finish line - only about 20 seconds slower than recent times. Interestingly my average stride was 1.47m, about 10cm longer than recent faster runs.
Sat 25/6 am: 2.84 km - 5:29 average pace - 5:28 fastest km - Ave stride 1.24 m
Sat 25/6 am: 5.01 km - 4:58 average pace - 4:48 fastest km - Ave stride 1.47 m
Sun 26/6 pm: 6.53 km - 5:34 average pace - 5:25 fastest km - Ave stride 1.24 m
Monday June 27th to Sunday July 3rd
After two thirty plus kilometre weeks I started the new week having not run a 10 km run in six weeks. The back was stiff but the rest of my body felt ok so I set off on the 10km course. It took me 6 km to warm up and then a soon started slowing down again.
Mon 27/6 am: 10.10 km - 5:17 average pace - 4:58 fastest km - Ave stride 1.29 m
School holidays and on Tuesday I headed to Wilson's Prom for a couple of nights and, as it turned out, a fair bit of walking. I hiked 12 km on Tuesday with 6.56 up to Mt Oberon and back and then 5.44 around Tidal River later in the day, deciding that was enough and no run was needed.
On Wednesday I started with a 4.85 km dawn walk around the camping area and then had a run on the loop road and the Loo-Ern track. After lunch I hiked to Pillar Point and then over the Tidal Overlook walk, a total of 7 km.
Wed 29/6 am: 6.06 km - 5:21 average pace - 5:09 fastest km - Ave stride 1.27 m
Thu 30/6 am: 5.59 km - 5:24 average pace - 5:10 fastest km - Ave stride 1.27 m
Wednesday started with a 2.81 km dawn walk as the sun came up. I followed up with a run after breakfast and then started packing up to leave Tidal River. On the way out I walked at Whisky Bay (1.45 km), Derby River (2.93 km) and the Stockyard on the park boundary (0.89 km). All up I walked just under 32 km over the three days.
I gave the hips a rest on Friday, the start of the new month. On Saturday morning I was at Inverloch parkrun. The warm up was slow. I started the parkrun well though and pretty much held my pace. It was my fastest run at Inverloch since April.
Sat 2/7 am: 2.78 km - 5:36 average pace - 5:23 fastest km - Ave stride 1.23 m
Sat 2/7 am: Inv parkrun - 22:40 - 4:32, 4:34, 4:37, 4:30, 4:38 - Ave stride 1.43 m
Tue 5/7 am: 6.36 km - 4:56 average pace - 4:33 fastest km - Ave stride 1.36 m
.... 6x 125 m intervals (ave pace): 3:39, 3:29, 3:20, 3:24, 3:17, 3:01
