Monday 5^th August: Strength and Core exercises + 60 min cycling

Repetitions of front side of Sir Samuel Griffith Drive

First time doing a new exercise during today’s workout and like always I felt a bit uncoordinated during this first attempt.

Tuesday 6^th August: W/U exercises + 75 min

27min speed work on single track + 20min barefoot

Felt good today but I’m starting to really look forward to the sun rising earlier. I definitely notice that I slow down (unintentionally) when running in the dark, even when using my latest toy: an Ay-up headlamp.

Wednesday 7^th August: W/U exercises + 90 min

Up Lookout bike track-down honeyeater track-along Bellbird trail -return along same route + 20min barefoot

Felt great and enjoyed the nice cruisey run today.

Thursday 8^th August: Strength and Core exercises + 60 min cycling

Repetitions of front side of Sir Samuel Griffith Drive

Started off feeling a bit lethargic and as I rolled through the session I slowly picked up and actually felt pretty good by the end.

Friday 9^th August: W/U exercises + 2 hours

20min of short hill reps on Lookout trail + 40min tempo on Lookout bike track and Honeyeater track + repetitions up/down Lookout trail + 20min barefoot

Haven’t done the short hill reps before and must have done the first few a little too conservatively as I was still feeling fresh at the end of the end of them. Gives me something to work on for next time!

Saturday 10^th August: W/U exercises + 5 hours

Up Lookout track – down/up Honeyeater track – down/up Chapel Hill Rd trail – down Reservoir track – up Kokoda Track – down/up Jacksonia track – down Highwood Rd trail – down Moggil Rd trail – up/down powerlines – up Moggil Rd trail – up Highwood Rd trail – along Eugenia circuit – down/up Simpson falls track – along Stringybark Track – along Bardon Trail to reservoir – return along same route + 20min barefoot

It felt great to be putting in another long run on Mt Coot-tha. I didn’t push particularly hard but I felt really strong the whole way. Afterwards, I did a few run throughs in different shoes, while getting videoed by my Dad for gait analysis by Andy. Although I am of the opinion that how gear feels and how much fun it is to use is always the predominant factor in determining what to use, both Andy and I are a little nerdy (Who am I kidding? I’m very nerdy!) and enjoy having something a little more objective to base such decisions on.

Sunday 11^th August: W/U exercises + 2.5 hours

Progressively getting faster throughout run – up Lookout bike track – down honeyeater track – up Jacksonia track – along Eugenia circuit – down Simpson falls track – up part of Powerful Owl Track – return along same route

I met up with Caine for today’s run as he prepares for the inaugural Alice Springs Ultra Marathon next weekend. Both Caine and I are fairly (overly?) competitive so I always seem to put in some of my best training runs when running with him.

So it was another good week of training and I am looking forward to seeing how I go running on a flat course at the Lake Manchester Trail run next Sunday. It should be a good tester before Surf Coast Century as the terrain at both races appears to be fairly similar (apart from the beach sections). I am Looking forward to seeing what Andy finds in those videos I took on Saturday and this is just another reason why I really enjoy having Andy as coach as he leaves no stone unturned in helping people get the most enjoyment out of their running.