The Run to Melbourne: November 15-21

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15

The post time trial, pre-Melbourne enshrined Monday rest day continued.

I decided not to surface at a rude 4 am for the Brazilian Grand Prix, opting to gain as much sleep as possible following Sunday’s big run.

PM work.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16

Nothing to see here with a 15 km tempo at 4:11 on legs that weren’t quite over Sunday.

PM work. Busy afternoon preparing the Christmas catalogue launch from Wednesday, with customers already switching into gifting mode.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17

A slightly late start to the day was nice, and the most pleasing component of the 18 km run was a low heart rate - averaging 141 bpm @ 4:23/km, evocative of the peak fitness base I’d enjoyed prior to the time trial.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18

I snuck in some strides first thing in anticipation of a solid evening Vigor track session of 2 x 5 km @ threshold pace.

A couple of hours at Toorak attending a customer service workshop was riveting. I’d like to imagine most within the company know how to provide hospitality to even the worst customers that come through the door!

The weather had swiftly turned by the time I returned with a strong increase in wind, which was ominous for later.

My trip across town was surprisingly uneventful, though as soon as I set foot out of the car at Clifton Hill I knew we were in for a rough time.

Already sweating up a storm during the warm up, expectations for the thresholds were measured.

3:25 pace - around ten seconds per km off a comfortable track threshold, seemed realistic. Readings of 3:10, 08, 11 and 11 through the first four km - admittedly with a generous Garmin GPS, were encouraging even a blowup felt inevitable.

HR sat at a consistent 184 bpm from the third km, which spoke to the general distress inflicted by the conditions!

A ‘3:16’ final km was telling of the fatigue, yet 5 km in 16:36 @ 3:19/km adjusted for the discrepancies was a slightly better result than anticipated.

The majority of us spent the five minute float convincing ourselves that we were in no shape to front up for a second rep. Those who committed to it made the reluctant trudge across the oval for another date with doom.

It took the best part of the first km to find my legs, especially with the wind much more pronounced this time around and exacerbated by the reduction in runners on track for some temporary coverage!

All things considered, going through the first three km in 3:12, 12 and 13 - as per Garmin, was assuring, but the run home from here was where the ‘fun’ really commenced.

By now, the wind resistance generated on the first turns was devastating on legs that were on fumes.

Tom had kept me accountable for the balance of the run, and it was only the carrot of “the quicker I go the faster this suffering will be over”, which allowed me to kick down on the final lap into ~2:50 pace and drain any reserves. This also ensured that I came home under seventeen minutes (16:57) and an average of 3:23/km.

We’ll take that with the rapidly diminishing returns provided by the elements!

Accounting for the conditions and as the first middle distance hitout of the summer - which will double down post Melbourne, it provided a benchmark in the quest to go under fifteen minutes.

I had zero appetite to cool down following that so I was happy to make the trip to Liam’s for a massage in short stead. We enjoyed Thai takeaway over a (non alcoholic) beer - Athletic Brewing Co. ‘Upside Dawn’ Golden Ale, before getting stuck into the ‘fun.’

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19

10 km recovery @ 4:39, I was moving freely following the treatment.

PM work.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20

Though the pace hit the planned tempo zones, it was a laboured effort with my stomach not at its’ best.

A steady progression into sub four minute pace, then holding ~ 3:50 for five km was more than enough in that state, yielding 15.15 km @ 4:03.

PM work.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 21

Despite the temptation to roll over for a few extra winks following the late finish, I forced myself out of bed and onto the road by 6:30 to make the trek to Eaglemont for the Vigor group long run.

I had some fun finding the meeting point, yet with time on my side I discovered it as everybody rolled into the carpark to boast a solid turnout.

For those tackling the Melbourne full, we had as many as 39 km ahead of us - our longest pre taper hitout.

The first 10 km or so were enjoyable to catch up with everyone and ease into the morning. It was particularly great to see Amy Robinson continue on the injury comeback trail, before the field thinned down and we dialled in for a few more hours at the office.

Hamish McClean provided comic relief when he pronounced his desire to seek a bathroom after a sizeable session on the beers and some the night before.

The response from Julie Ann Undrill and Cara Foot, who knew the paths better than most of us - not least myself as I’ll elaborate on later, of “just three more kms”, will surely enter Vigor folklore, not that it provided much comfort to Hamish at the time!

Remember when James Bond changes the detonation timer from six minutes to three to blow up the Russian chemical weapons factory in the opening scene of ‘GoldenEye’? Then his friend and eventual foe, Alec Trevelyan, later remarks “I set the timer for six minutes, the same six (three) minutes you gave me”?

It was the opposite here as it felt like close to six km before we reached the relief station… Suffice to say Hamish ran a world record sprint once it became visible!

Also counting Xavier Meade and Justin Kahlefeldt, it had been a solid pack as we reached the turnaround point past 19 km.

Following a brief drinks stop shortly up the road, the group slowly split in two, as Justin, Hamish and I tried to kick down, whilst Julie Ann, Cara and Xavier did the sensible thing and kept the pace measured with a fair journey still ahead of us!

Around 27 km we passed some illustrious talent in the form of Jaryd Clifford, Tim Logan and shortly after, Brett Robinson.

There were a lot of groups rolling along at a very steady pace, a marathon couldn’t possibly be around the corner, could it?

Justin wasn’t messing around when he said he wanted to kick it down with his commitment to Melbourne in the balance, as the pace swiftly edged from mid 4:10’s to low 4:00’s, and ultimately under by the 29th km.

A final drinks stop around 32 km was timely with the bite starting to feel. From that point, Justin left Hamish and I for broke, though not for a lack of trying as I was now in the mid 3:40’s and feeling like red lining on the winding gravel trail!

As I alluded to, my orienteering skills from my limited experience around these parts has left me wanting previously, so it proved apt that I again found myself off the grid in the final stages!

The adage of staying to the right turns whenever possible definitely came home to roost, even when it appeared that I took the majority of them!

On emerging at Chelsworth Park and being greeted with a burning hill tester, having reached 40 km of the 39 km run, I had to ask myself - did I go right? Or was it left?

I went with the former for a few hundred metres, only for the lack of the carpark meeting point at what I presumed from a distance was Burke Rd, causing me to dismiss that notion.

So I doubled back past Chelsworth thinking it couldn’t be far around the next crest to the left. Not quite… a little longer then?

Nope. Heidelberg Rd you say? You betcha!

By now I was approaching 42 km, and the irony of my latest misadventure wasn’t… lost on me.

It became apparent that the direction I’d earlier travelled was indeed the right one, a continuation of The Boulevard from the roundabout adjacent to Ivanhoe Park which eventually led to the carpark.

I made the call to pull up with exactly three hours of moving time and a bloated 43 km @ 4:11 under the belt.

The 1.5 km or so walk from here felt like an eternity, with bemused waves to everyone departing the scene as I rolled down the hill into the carpark.

No damage had been done from the unintended scenic route, though the energy levels were non existent having forgone any fuelling on the run.

After gathering my thoughts in the car for a few minutes, I wasn’t going to say no to a post coffee debrief, with Cara, Xavier and Max Ueda on hand.

Safe to say I was liberal in my selection of foods and drinks, everything looked good at that point!

121 km for the week was slightly overs on our training plan, yet equipped with a quality session in oppressive conditions on Thursday, followed by invaluable time on the feet on Sunday, it leaves us in a strong place as the taper kicks in.

A solid run zoning in on goal marathon pace at Albert Park over much less distance next weekend is the final piece of the puzzle before we sit back and enjoy the lead in to a race which has been over two years in the making.