Archives for December 2023

This last week has been one containing both huge successes and a lot of promise and also quite considerable disappointment and resignation of the inevitable. The week started with me continuing our annual family holiday, this year down in Busselton. Building upon the successes experienced last week I kept up my regular running routine which include my longest run so far on the Monday, completing 25.12km in just over two hours. I was absolutely elated with this, as it bested my previous best distance by a good 3km. Even better, I didn’t pull up too sore or fatigued, giving me optimism that it would still be possible for me to achieve my goal of 700km for the duration of the 90 day challenge.

For all the positives of Monday, Tuesday quickly unravelled this. I had decided to be doing lighter run and only completing at the most 12km for the day. During the run, I felt really good so decided to keep going and complete a longer distance, thinking that it might be possible for me to complete another half marathon distance. Everything felt great until just after the 14km mark when I was running into a head wind and felt my left calf start to tighten up. This has been my troublesome leg for the past ten years, however I knew that I hadn’t pulled anything so reduced my speed and reconsidered my distance – I still had 3km to go before I would be able to be back at the accomodation and I knew the additional for the 21.1km would not be worth the risk. I managed to get back unscathed, but with an exceptionally tight calf and spent the rest of the day with soreness through the muscles and regardless of what a tired I couldn’t release the muscle.

I didn’t manage to run for the remainder of the week, the muscles didn’t release despite my stretching and massaging it throughout the rest of the week days. On Friday I felt that I had some success in releasing it via step downs once we had returned to Perth. Still, I didn’t want to risk a run due to feeling that keeping going throughout the summer is more important than missing a few days. Unfortunately, those few days will have a significant consequence in it now not being possible for me to make the desired 700km before the end of the 90 days. I imagine that I will come up less than 100km short, a distance I would have covered this week. I have also found myself just short of the 200km milestone for December. Hopefully, I will get back out on the track before too long hopefully on Sunday this week) in which case I will be able to break that 200km mark!

School holidays, even better than this – Summer School holidays in Australia, meaning I now have a good seven weeks off before heading back to work. I have made myself a goal this year to continue to commit to my weekly running schedule of every week day, hopefully I will be able to build on what I have managed to do throughout the last three months of the year. While it is a slim chance, there is still a possibility of me bringing up the 700km for the 90 Day Challenge, especially after what has proven to be one of the best running weeks that I have experience so far this year. Who knows, I might even be able to build towards hitting a 100km week next week based on the progress this week and how I feel. Regardless of what happens over the next week, one thing that I know about myself is how goals orientated I am. This 90 Day Challenge has really pushed me to commit. Knowing it will come to an end on the 29th of December has got me thinking about what comes next. I have decided to keep going with setting goals and started another challenge from today (11th December) called the “Summer Challenge”. I will write about this once the 90 Days has finished, there will be a couple of weeks overlap, but I will try and run 450km over the Summer holiday break. I big ask – let’s see how that goes.

Being school holidays, we have headed away for some relaxation the before the Christmas rush. This is a great chance to rest, relax, and recover after the busy school year. Before heading down to “Busso” on the Monday afternoon I started off the week with a 16km run which included two laps around Lake Monger. I didn’t set any records for times completed, but doing it in 1:28:49 was a solid effort to start the week.

Tuesday morning saw me start my Busselton runs. I had gotten on maps to try and work out distances and a couple of different courses. My goal will be to complete a run from where we are staying in West Busselton to Siesta Park – on the map it says that it is located 10km away – after one of my runs this week I have since found that it is a little further away than that! I completed an easy 12.62km on the Tuesday morning in a time of 1:07:07. The run is quite flat which could lead to some faster times, however, there is a killer easterly blowing which will slow my return when it is a head wind.

Wednesday morning saw me increased my distance slightly, completing 14.5km. I did a similar route with a slight twist – heading first towards Busselton and doing a loop the jetty precinct before heading back out towards Dunsborough. There a little loop path that I utilised for my turn around just before Abbey Road Beach Resort, I then headed back to Busselton Jetty before finishing any home.

Thursday, my second half marathon and I set a PB for the distance coming in at 1:55:22 which is running at 5’17” per km. I combined the distances of doing the jetty and then also ran further towards Siesta Park. I didn’t get anywhere near it, turning around once past the Abbey Road Beach Resort precinct. I think there’s going to be a decent way further to go to get to Siesta Park!

Friday morning saw me ease off the distances in a recovery sort of effort. I complete 12.46km in a slower time of 5’36” per km.

I have been really happy with the progress this week. I initially thought that I might try to run Saturday and Sunday as well, but then thought having two days to recover is probably a wise idea. Next week, I am going to try and hit the 100km for a week – I’d love to get to Siesta Park at least once. Maybe Monday will be the day!

This week has seen me reach a new milestone, completing my first half marathon distance. It isn’t something that I set out to do at the beginning of the week, rather just something that evolved as the week continued due to it being the staff week at the end of the school term.

The week started with me completing 19km on the Monday, I completed this distance by just extending my previous 16km run by doing another circuit of the Manning Bridge and back to the overpass bridge back to school. I felt pretty good, completing it in reasonable time at 1:41:56 which is 5’22” per kilometre. It did get me thinking about what it would take for me to complete a half marathon, perhaps this would be the week it would be possible? I decided to wait and see how I pulled up after the longest run that I had completed to date.

Tuesday saw me feel pretty good, although a little tight and fatigued. I decided to keep to my routine from last week and did a lighter session, completing 12.5km at a slower time per km of 5’28” per km. The test would come the following day, I decided that this would be the day for the half marathon if everything went to plan.

Wednesday morning I was up and at school earlier than usually to commence the 21.1km distance. I had done some planning on what I would need to do to complete it. I figured that it would be the same course as the 19km but with an additional two laps of the ovals on school grounds to bring up the required distance. The run felt good, I completed my half marathon at 5’18” per kilometre, completing 21.2km in a time of 1:52″24. I knew that the legs would be tired from this effort, so I kept the compression socks on all day to provide some extra support. Again I thought I would wait and see how I pulled up before Thursday to judge the distance I would run.

Thursday I reduced my distance again, completing only 12.5km which was done at my slowest time for the week per km at 5’38” per km. I managed to complete it so I was satisfied overall. Friday saw me take a rest day, this was due to me not being able to get school early due to other family commitments.

Overall, I was satisfied with the week’s efforts. I completed 65.3km over four runs of the week – a great effort. Next week I am on holidays and I am hoping to take the running to a new level over the holidays. Who knows, there might still be a chance of me hitting the goal of 700km for the 90 day challenge – it will all depend on the next couple of weeks.

This last week has proven a good example of how consistency can win the day. I found that it was the first week of increasing my distances for a number of weeks after the side strain. I started with a Monday run of just over 12km which was completed in just over an hour and two minutes. Tuesday saw me continue to build on this, I decided to stretch myself with a longer run, completing just over 16km with an average time of 5’10” per km meaning it was completed in just under 1 hour and 23 minutes. Wednesday saw me return to a shorter distance, coming in at just over 12.5km. This was done intentionally to try and balance the load on my legs, I am aware of previous injuries from over use and don’t want to repeat the same errors. Thursday saw me completing a longer run, coming in at just over the 16km mark again before finishing the week with a 12km run.

I am happy with how the progress has gone, my legs have felt really good. I am looking forward to resting up for a couple of days before re-hitting the pavement next week. Hopefully, I will be able to keep building on the week.