2022 Gold Coast Marathon build: Week Two, April 4 - 10
MONDAY, 4TH APRIL
Having pushed the pace at times last week, my legs were in dire need of a relaxed run to set up the next one.
12.25 km @ 4:54 was a tonic, whilst I forwent any leg turnover sharpening strides, not through design as much as forgetting to include them. This wasn’t a bad thing as it meant the run was pure recovery.
Whether or not my Garmin HRM-run strap was having another senior episode, as it’s intermittently wont to doing, the objective of keeping my HR down was achieved, with an average of 124 bpm, which is as low as I can recall.
TUESDAY, 5TH APRIL
This week’s Tuesday ‘tempo’ only, not, mystery box took on another workout which I haven’t had a lot of history with, in the form of the “pyramid.”
At 400, 600, 800 & 1200 m up, another 1200, then back down to 400, each off a minute of walking recovery, this would definitely exceed the prescribed tempo outline… though in relatively short, albeit vigorous reps, it would only amount to 6 km of work.
I chucked in 6 x 15 second strides before commencing, during which I later learned I almost cleaned up Dion Finocchiaro and a friend on a walk whilst dodging pedestrians along the coastal footpath, so Dion if you read this, sorry!!! I’m sure you understand the feeling from your own efforts…
With these out of the way, it was time to start.
Working upwards in distance, the pace moderation, especially in the first half, was crucial to keeping the legs fresh for the climb down.
Through 400 m in 74 seconds (3:02/km) was an ideal opener. 600 in 1:57 (3:13/km) was a pleasing downwards pace progression.
The following two reps, 800 in 2:37 (3:14/km) and 1200 in 3:54 (3:14/km) were where the consistency, even if the pace was just that, then in progression, went out the window, even if the effort felt encouragingly in check over increasing distances.
Having changed direction to return south during the float following the initial 1200, the inevitable pinch of immediately replicating the longest rep of the session was reflected in a slower split of 3:58 (3:18/km).
The good news was that it was all downhill from here, so there was some resolve to push through the fatigue.
800 in 2:36 (3:14/km) just about edged out the first effort, whilst a 1:54(3:08/km) 600 was a decent upswing.
Which left a final 400 assault. The fire was rising through the quads by now, so it was as much about finishing the workout portion as anything!
A late kick allowed me to better the opening rep with 73 seconds (2:57/km), and a merciful conclusion to the antics!
With further invaluable anaerobic gains under the belt, it was a short shuffle home from there, whilst the cumulative 13.92 km @ 4:18 didn’t really speak to the intensity of the session!
WEDNESDAY, 6TH APRIL
It didn’t come as a huge surprise that the body and legs were generally quite lethargic, so motivation to head out the door was low.
A simple out and back towards Sandringham for 16.23 km @ 4:37 felt like hard work and it was a relief to be through with it, especially after inserting some uncommitted strides to sharpen up for Thursday evening’s workout.
THURSDAY, 7TH APRIL
I paid the price for indulging in multiple portions of lasagne for lunch, with the warm up for Vigor group training representing an increasing struggle even after commencing the best part of four hours later!
A ‘relief’ break prior to commencing the workout helped, but I rapidly discovered I’d still have my work cut out during the session.
4 x 1200’s off a three minute jog recovery were on the menu, with 800’s for those tackling Saturday’s Collingwood Classic, which Liam and I had decided to forego following a busy month or so of racing and Gold Coast in the offing.
I was grateful to enjoy Tom Gardner’s company in setting the pace after agreeing to alternate laps out front, despite his own date with 5000 m at the aforementioned event.
We struck the right note with 3:40 (72, 73 & 74 seconds through 400 m), followed by 3:41 (73, 76, 72).
It was early on in the third rep that I began to feel the pinch from the lasagne returning, so sharing the lead duties with Tom became a distant consideration to getting through the rep, which at 3:42 (74, 74, 73), was satisfactory considering the rising discomfort.
My optimistic hope to lead out at least one lap for the final rep soon became apparent, there was no way my stomach would allow me to ramp up the pace any further than what I was maintaining to keep Tom within my reach. He had kicked down nicely as it was, so closing with 3:41 (73, 74, 72) was hardly a drop!
A cumulative 6.87 km @ 3:23/km per Garmin the generous was one workout I was glad to see the back of!
My reward for this was a timely massage from Liam following Thai for dinner, which sat much more comfortably than the lasagne!
FRIDAY, 8TH APRIL
Revitalised by the post workout treatment, blue skies and the imminent roar of Formula One descending upon Albert Park for the first time in anger since 2019, I enjoyed a feel good recovery run of 12.65 km @ 4:45.
SATURDAY, 9TH APRIL
Having made a reasonably late call on Friday afternoon to bring my long run forward to Saturday after analysing the weekend wind forecast, I made an even later one to incorporate some Gold Coast goal marathon pace window blocks into the run, buoyed by the fresh legs.
Facing a small northerly crosswind, I dialled into some 3:30’s in the first of four hastily planned 5 km sets, with the hope of kicking it down on the turnaround.
Aside from a 3:42 km, triggered by being forced onto the gravel path around the Catani Gardens at St Kilda, it was consistent 3:33 & 3:34 pace either side.
I must admit that the pace felt slightly on edge from pushing so soon after Thursday night’s session, thus the reasonably aggressive 1 km float was welcome respite.
Continuing in the same pace form in the second rep was encouraging, though a slight drop in the final 2 km as I hit the blue collar, concrete jungle territory of Todd Rd & Lorimer St, was a sign that I was asking a little too much of myself.
This was confirmed when I commenced the third set shortly after turning around, with little drive to kick the pace below 3:30 and close to goal MP, even though the moderate easterly heading back towards Port Melbourne was admittedly tricky on tiring legs.
It became tempting to draw a line through any further vigorous output at the conclusion of that set, especially as I lamented the absence of any gels which I made a mental note to acquire for future efforts!
I rallied for the final set, and though I again kept the pace consistent in the low 3:30’s, I could feel myself running on empty, so it wasn’t a difficult call to bail out on the balance of the set after 2 km and roll it in.
Even with little in the tank, I was pleased that I was able to maintain a steady low 4:00 pace home, amounting to 34 km @ 3:50.
This was comfortably my longest run since Melbourne, so it was unsurprising that I was cactus as soon as I pulled up!
I was therefore very sedentary for the next several hours until venturing across town for the Collingwood Classic in the afternoon, where I enjoyed the rare comfort of spectating and cheering everyone on from the literal other side of the fence!
Several PB’s across both the 5000 and 10000 events made the trip more than worthwhile!
The journey home was nevertheless testing in my tired state, with weekday style peak hour traffic bringing everyone to a standstill along Hoddle St …
SUNDAY, 10TH APRIL
Despite a lack of shut eye following a late one and general fatigue from the long run, I was up relatively early.
16.20 km @ 4:38 was on the longer side of the recovery run scale, though conditions were so nice that there was no urgency to curtail it.
Feeling the tiredness even more so following this, the afternoon was dedicated to viewing the Grand Prix. It wasn’t a classic, nevertheless it was captivating to have Formula One grace our backyard once more.
Having spent many years pre pandemic working at the race in the media, it was a different, albeit welcome and relaxed perspective to enjoy it from the couch!
An 119 km week wasn’t too great an upswing from the previous one, albeit comprised of some decent intensity!