Running in the Dandenong Ranges 3 - Puffing Billy Training

This mornings (Monday) run was pitched as 15kms of moderate to fast tempo with some hills to ascend and some others to stride out at pace. A perfect session to check my speed and stamina for the up and coming Geelong Half, The great train race - Puffing Billy on the first Sunday in May and also a reminder of how damn tough the hills will be next week when I tackle the quad burning, lung busting, calves demolishing 21km Roller Coaster Run next Saturday the 16th of March. 

So you've got your entries in and your scouting for tips on Puffing Billy or the Roller Coaster run... To save you the drama, here's this posts Puffing Billy training tip:

Get to know your local hills :) Learn to run them correctly - keeping a regular tempo and stride all the way to the top. It's a training run, do them harder and faster than you think you should. 

Value your rest at the peak. It's a training run so you need to condition yourself for race day. Gradually run at your race pace for a little longer each time - you have to know that you can do it come race day, but remember that you're not racing anyone during your training so build in adequate recovery. 

You wont be running quite as hard on race day (well, maybe you will...)  so you'll know that you can conquer the peaks. 

A small group of 4 met at the car park for our 7:00am departure and we set of at a brisk pace. The first 2 kms were at 5:10 pace and the 3rd was a sneaky 4:48. From here we hit a gradual incline and traversed from the tracks to road then tracks again. The pace was quick and I was working hard - 155-165 BPM, much harder than a usual run. Ah, but this was a power and endurance session so we would be taking adequate rest breaks to allow for recovery. Those were some words that I was happy to hear. 

At about 5km in we hit the first real incline - I think it was Glascow Road and it seemed to climb on and on. Each time you thought you had rounded the last bend another climb to the next bend was waiting. We reached the end point and took to the tracks again - this one about 400m of steady climbing. The terrain was quite a mix of rock and gravel: a bit of a gutter if you like so it was quite eroded. This was a part of the run I enjoyed. To come was the hill training part - What, I've just been running up hills for the last 3kms! 

The main hill in Puffing Billy is a section of gravel road that is about 2km long. I'm not sure of the degree of difficulty but do remember it being a killer. The next section of road that Peter had planned for us was at least 1.6km long and 12% incline - the road signs were there to prove it! Welcome to Old coach Road!

The same sign scares the living daylights out of me at the bottom! Had to prove I made it to the top...

This was going to be tough. The other 3 took off and I hit the road as well. They pulled away from me quite quickly, about 200m ahead for the length of this section. At 12% it's not the steepest hill I've done - cue Boundary and Darling roads near my house but at 1.6km or the imperial mile, it was certainly the longest. 

The final figures: 1 passing garbage truck (an insane driver on a gravel road), 13:24 minutes and an average HR of 171 BPM maxed at 177 BPM. I mastered the hill! The view at the top was worth the effort as was knowing that that was the toughest part of the run done.

Not a bad place to take a breather...

We had a further gradual incline for another 800m or so before we at the top of the mountain and ready for the return home. At Kalorama we hit the water taps and the conversation turned to running form. Is it stride length that matters? Is it the cadence of your legs? Is it both? From here it was to be a speed session, averaging a faster cadence and striding out on the down hill as we returned to the carpark via some really scenic trails. 

I really enjoyed this session. Although I let the others pull ahead, I was never too far behind. The GPS showed a good pace of about 4:15-4:30kms with a km section of 3:48 - that must have been the down hill. I focused on my form and felt really good. I found a great rhythm and was able to focus on my up lift and keeping the arms moving but keeping them straight up and down, not getting any body cross. Once again Peter gave some brilliant training tips - I'm leaning to training harder and faster but at the right distance. I need to call on this training on race day. 

The final 2km down Doongalla RD was to be a time trial, time to stride out and finish strongly. If' I'm going to beat that train it'll happen in the last 2kms. With watches checked we took off. How fast was I? The last 2km were about 3:55-4:00 min kms. Considering what I'd just been through I was really happy with that. 

End result of this weeks training - 14.8km in 1:29. My Max HR was 178 and averaged 156 over the course. It was certainly way up there during the hill climbs and faster sections, but as we had built in the recovery sessions it dropped back to 130ish at each break. 

So, The roller coaster run.... Goal time is a 2:20-2:30 over the 21kms. Fingers crossed....

Till next time, Lachie

Ah, the Roller coster course!

Half marathon training - My half marathon training schedule

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My half marathon training and half marathon training schedule for the 2013 Geelong Half marathon in April is well and truly under way. In fact, at the time of writing I am more than half way through it. Hopefully this blog will give you a few tips about how you can tackle your training. 

Here’s a look at what I have been running and what is coming up:

I'm in week 7 now

Wk	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1	12km @ 155 BPM	Rest	Rest	10 x 100m sprints	Weights circuit	15km LSD	Rest or as Saturday
2	13km @ 145 BPM	Res	Rest	8km 1 min to 1 min Fartlek	Weights circuit	16km Hilly
3	13km @ 145 BPM	Spin	Rest	5 x 1km @ 155 BPM	Weights circuit	17km @ 145 BPM
4	10km @ 150 BPM	Spin	Rest	10km @ 145 BPM	Weights circuit	19km Hilly
5	11km @ 145 BPM	Spin	Rest	9km 2 min to 1 min Fartlek	Weights circuit	23km @145 BPM
6	9km @ 150 BPM	Interval Threshold	Rest	9km 3 min to 1 min Fartlek	Weights circuit	21km Hilly
7	10 km @ 150 BPM	Interval Threshold	Rest	9km race pace	Weights circuit	22km@ 150 BPM
8	11km @ 155 BPM	Interval Threshold	Rest	10km @ 150 BPM	Weights circuit	20km @ 150 BPM
9	10km  @ 155 BPM	Interval Threshold	Rest	9km 3 min to 1 min Fartlek	Weights circuit	18km @150 BPM
10	9km  @ 155 BPM	Spin	Rest	Hill 400m reps X 5	Weights circuit	LSD 15km
Race week	8km @ 150 BPM	Spin	Rest	2km, 5x 1min on/off sprints	Rest	5km @ 130 BPM	Geelong Half Marathon

145 BPM is about my 70% intensity rate rate zone, 155 is my 85% zone and the rough limit/accepted workload for runner during a half marathon. I would class myself as an intermediate half marathoner. 

During this period I have been avidly following the blogs and advice of Stan http://www.9run.ca/ and http://www.runningonthewhiteline.com and enjoying the differing approaches that these two runners have towards their half marathon training. I feel that I've gotten a lot of half marathon tips as well from both of their blogs.

On my last Dandy Runners run I was able to get some terrific advice from Peter, a very experienced runner who has posted a 2:15 marathon! So what’s the next phase of my marathon training schedule?

I have to say that until the last week I have been leaning towards the slow and steady longer mileage approach that Stan employs, but it’s time to start pushing the body and mind ready for race day. I say race day as I aim to finish in the top 10% of entrants in this race, not just be another runner.

My training has been based around my Heart Rate (HR) training principles – running the longer mileage days at 145 Beats Per Minute (BPM). As we have been experiencing a hot Aussie summer I’m not sure if this has been compromised as elevated temperatures will naturally give you an elevated HR to begin with. Some of my runs have felt quite slow and I have found it difficult to keep at the lower level, other mornings I have gone out and found I can really push the pace and still remain at the 145 BPM average. Perhaps it has allowed me to listen to my body and not over train. My two weekday runs have been strict 145 BPM runs and on the weekend my flat(er) long runs have stayed in this zone as well. 

My weekend runs with the Dandy Runners have been more like interval training as the terrain is often quite hilly and varied. On the hill climbs the HR hits 170-180 for the length of the climb and then I am allowed some rest as we wait the slower runners to regroup or as we descend down the hill. My average HR over these runs is often 155-160 BPM over the 2 or so hours of running. Hey, that’s almost a race pace HR. The hill training is also brilliant for strengthening my feet, ankles, legs and core as the varied terrain means you are always adjusting your stride.

I have substituted some of my interval days with Heart RateThreshold/ High Intensity Training on the Watt bike (complimented by some high anaerobic circuits) to help relieve the legs and feet but also hit the higher HR as well. For the remaining weeks I will incorporate more HRT and HIT training on the treadmill during these sessions to push my upper limits and build/reignite my leg speed before the Half Marathon. I have also been rotating the Inov-8 Road X - 233 and the Inov-8 Road X -155.

This Thursday (highlighted in the table) I ran my baseline course at what I felt was race pace. The regular 145 BPM training sessions have seen me run it in 47-48 minutes, this time I ran it in 40:30 and the average HR was 156. Just over my target km/min time of 4:10 This is the 85% range that is the ‘recommended’ rate or ‘theoretical’ rate that can be maintained for a half marathon. To be honest it felt a little challenging and supports Peters advice that I need to now up the speed and intensity of my middle distance runs (8-12km or half to 2/3s of a 20km plus run) and build them towards running at race pace to condition the body. This is also the point of view taken by Patrick and his half marathon training schedule – go harder and make faster your norm.

From here I am aiming to run the two weekday runs at 155 BPM and let my longer runs be run at 150 BPM to give me the mental conditioning I need to know that I can maintain the pace over (hopefully under) the 90 minutes I hope to complete my future half marathons in. If I can fit in some Dandenong Ranges running I will push the speed on the flatter sections and try to average the HR at 150 on the hillier parts, which will mean dropping the pace on the ups.

Update - Today's  7/3/13 10.km Thursday run was at 156 BPM and at a pace of 4:01 - Yes! Speed is back :)

How is your half marathon race training going? Have you stuck to a plan or had to modify it. It's been tough with hot weather and weekend commitments but I feel as though I've done ok. 

I guess the final part of this blog is shoe choice. The Inov-8 155s that I’ve been running in have nearly 400km on them and are starting to feel a little compressed under the forefoot area. With 5 weeks to go, how much time is enough time to trial a new pair of shoes and be comfortable with running in them at the Geelong Half Marathon? I’m looking at maintaining the 3mm drop or even going 0mm or ‘racing flats’ as I am most comfortable in my Inov-8 trailrocs which are a flat trail shoe, though I would not use them (the rocs) for a road run. I'm just not sure that I am quite ready to go racing flat on the road for 21kms. 

Would you wear out the old shoes or jump into something new?

The new Inov-8 road range is out. I'm seriously considering the Inov-8 Road Extreme 178 or the F-lite 232s (my pre-review here). Just not sure which way to go yet. 

The adventuremegastore.com.au (below) also have the new Inov-8 range, Merrell, Skora and New Balance Minimus -these in particular look, and feel really good as well. 

Happy training, I hope to one day see you at the start line!