April....

 

Writing this at 6.50pm in near darkness, tell-tale sign that winter is drawing closer by the day. Last week I had to take the head torch out in the hills for my early morning runs. This is always sweet though as I love running in the dark but not really the cold. Although my lack of function in the cold has improved which I can largely put down to appropriate clothing and training through last winter’s snow.

I’ve still got the Ultra bug rolling over from the Northburn and have spent plenty of time on various websites exploring future possibilities, more to follow later. I’ve also managed to start Peter Snell’s book ‘No Bugles No Drums’…amazing. The book is decades old but like many of the books from athletes of that era or coached by Lydiard, the principles can be affectively applied today. That’s one thing I absolutely love about running which transcends many other sports. Yes, people have become faster as time has progressed but that will continue to happen through each generation. But those training principles staying relatively similar are fantastic. It’s just great to read about Murray Halberg and Barry McGee, who both feature quite frequently, iconic times for New Zealand.

Peter Snell mentions one of the ‘Lydiard’ principles of 4 months of base building per year. So during this time a runner should, 4 times a week, run for at least over one and a half hours, hopefully two. This will supply your base for the season. Not having this makes speed very difficult to achieve. Thinking about this this afternoon on a run I loved it! I really enjoy the longer and quite often dread, well perhaps not dread, more like put off, tinker and procrastinate the shorter speed sessions. But 3 hours in the hills, I’m all over it.

Black singlet gold

This week I’ve been looking into planning for post Rotorua. I have found the ‘post big race blues’ really hard to shake off at times. Therefore my goal for post Rotorua is to plan ahead and get back into training as quickly as possible. So entering the Christchurch Marathon is a very good way of doing this. Then beyond this I also have a couple of ideas in the pipeline.

Without competing any races this weekend that’s about all from me, if you’re struggling for the motivation to get out after work in the evenings try the mornings. The mornings have been amazing the past few weeks, there’s something about being above this city when it lays dormant. Not to mention the sun rises are very solid at the minute.

And please keep checking out The Backcountry Runner http://backcountryrunner.wordpress.com/

I’ll leave you with a thought for ‘Caballo Blanco’ who featured in the book ‘Born to Run’. Sadly Blanco’s body was found over the weekend after he did not return from one of his runs. Funny how someone you never met can has such an influence.

Great read...seriously

Stats:

Avg Distance:12.76 km

Avg Time:1:02:26 h:m:s

Count:12 Activities

Distance:153.11 km

Time:12:29:18 h:m:s

Elevation Gain:3,514 m

Avg HR:137 bpm

Calories:7,319 C

Max HR:191 bpm

Avg Elevation Gain:293 m

Max Time:1:57:03 h:m:s

And in the region this week:

Wednesday:

Leeston Wednesday Night Road Runners, Leeston, Canterbury
http://www.ellesmereroadrunners.co.nz/index.php?page=wednesday-handicap

Thursday:
The Rock Race in Rolleston, Canterbury
Meet at the community centre 6.15pm to register for a 6.30pm start (no web)

Not much else going on so I suggest stay clear of the bunny and get into some tempo or time trial work!

Enjoy