Training Log Archive: Brooner

Event: Cunning Running #4 - UWS Hawkesbury
 

Event: Metro League #5 - Fred Caterson Reserve
 

Lap of the showgrounds and surrounds to try and get the legs moving. Sluggish.

Metro league 5 - Fred Caterson reserve.

Head wasn't fully in the game with this and actually proved more an issue than the legs. Slow around the circles early on, especially 6, poor route to 5 & 7, then bombed loads of time in the rock and with poor route to 12. Good few minutes all up.

Event: Coastal Classic
 

Warm up, which is novel for the coastal classic, but it was ok as then I got to cool down again waiting 40 minutes to start.

Back again for the coastal classic, wasn't entirely sure how this would play out given lack of decent mileage, but figured sensible pacing should get me through ok, and I'd be happy just to have a better day out than a few weeks ago recceing it with Ondrej & Keelan when I really wasn't enjoying myself on one of my favourite routes.

Started steady and sat in behind someone at a decent pace once we hit the single track and got past the inevitable slow people who stated too early in the wave. Thanks to the delayed start had to stop for a piss once we hit the wider track, but was worth it in the long run. Pretty good rhythm and comfortable through here but HR a bit high from the start and calves were complaining from the early climb, so wasn't pushing too hard when I hit the boardwalk.

Can't really remember much of the middle section, was running alone for a lot and was told I was top 20. Enjoyed the Grim Reaper's appearance, he must have been roasting by the end. Left foot was niggly from halfway, but everything else had settled down. Decent climb up from Wattamolla, and felt comfortable with the pace but splits suggest I maybe overcooked it a little.

Started struggling a little from 22km, crossing & climbing up from Marley I was suffering and got a few warning twinges but managed to keep them at bay. Good mental boost seeing Nicole just before the climb from the balconies but felt I was going backwards at this stage. And then, as ever, the wheels came off on the sandy trail and I started cramping inside my hamstrings on both legs, reduced to a hobble for any stretch of sand. Managed to get going again once onto the singletrack and thankfully hard sand of the beach, but the damage was done, and it was a painful battle to the finish.

Aid Station 1 00:53:56 (56:54 / 56:58)
Aid Station 2 01:33:15 (1:40:57 / 1:41:34)
Aid Station 3 02:02:59 (02:15:34 / 2:19:52)
Finish 02:44:01 (02:55:05 / 3:04:58)

So the splits show how much slower I was this year over the final section than last year, and it's much slower than I've managed in training, so definitely a fair few minutes lost here, but given lack of many runs of decent distance this was really to be expected.

Don't think I can continue my PB trajectory, and not sure I want to race this again for a while given ever increasing boardwalk, but still feel I've unfinished business with that bloody sandy trail.

NRG hills, shortened session and solo after the first few. Pushing 2/3 hills with a few PRs & a CR in the process.