Tarawera Training - Week 4

This week started with just the boost of confidence I needed.

I had to do a 3.5 hour hilly run so Scotty suggested going down to Mt Cooke. I'd never been down there before but I knew it was Scotty's favourite place to run in Perth so I jumped at the opportunity. 

We set our alarms for 3.45am on Sunday morning. It's an hour to get down there and we were having lunch at a friend's place up north at 12pm so we had to get going early. 

Scotty ran with me for the first 6km or so when it was relatively flat/undulating and then took off ahead. A few kms down the trail Scotty was running back towards me and said he'd show me the way up over Mt Cooke so that I didn't get lost. The funny thing was I was expecting to be faced with a big mountain to climb but soon realised there was no big mountain and that I was already half way up Mt Cooke. 

I was going to turn around at the top but decided to run down the other side and continue along to the powerline road before turning back. Scotty did the same but once we got to the bottom of Mt Cooke on the way out he went off ahead and I didn't see him again until he got back to the car after his 4.5 hour run. 

I had the best run. The scenery was amazing and it was a great challenge climbing Mt Cooke and then heading back towards the car before heading out in the other direction and climbing Mt Vincent. 

I felt really strong and finished feeling really good. It was a nice cool temperature the whole run except for about the last 30 minutes where it started to warm up a little bit, but nothing compared to what it's been like - the joys of starting at 5.30am I guess! I was even complaining it was too cold when we first left the car! 

Monday was an 80 minute easy run which I wanted to squeeze in early so that I could meet up with my girlfriend Cheryl and go to a pump class. I decided to run from home to save on time and went out around the river. It was a great run and it felt like it flew by after doing 3.5 hours the day before. I went out in a good pace and then picked up the pace on the way back. It was nice to finish feeling strong. 

After a quick cold shower to cool down Cheryl came and picked me up and we were off to pump - my first time in the gym since the end of November. I made sure I used light weights because I didn't want to over do it. 

In saying that, I still woke up on Tuesday morning with tight and sore muscles in my legs. And the same again on Wednesday! It was definitely clear that I hadn't used weights in a long time. It was then that I decided it was too close to the race to worry about lifting weights, so I put my membership on hold and will head back to the gym after Tarawera. 

I had to do hill repeats on Wednesday and Scotty had to do an easy run, so we went up to Bold Park. I did an easy warm up and then started on my hill repeats on Reabold Hill. I took things really easy on the way up because I didn't want to burn out early on, and then pushed hard on the way down. 

When I was doing my final set Scotty had come to fill up his water and ran back up the hill with me. We were chatting on the way up and when we got to the top Scotty said 'By the way, if you're talking all the way, you're not pushing hard enough!' I laughed and ran back down the hill as he took off to finish his run. Next thing I knew Scotty was running up behind me. He'd come to make sure I pushed myself hard for the final two repeats! Lucky me...

I really noticed the difference for the final two climbs and I was breathing hard. Scotty always says I never push myself hard enough... He's probably right! It was great to have him there pushing me. It didn't feel great at the time, but I knew it would be worth it. 

Kate and I met in South Perth on Friday morning to do a tempo run. It was pretty warm (surprise, surprise!) so I made sure I took plenty of water. We got around to the bell tower and then realised that we couldn't continue along the river. We were redirected up towards the city and then back down towards the river past the construction. After finishing our tempo sessions Kate had to head off so I did my cool down and then sat on the grass under a tree to relax before heading home. It was such a great way to start the day. 

This week went really well and with only two weeks until race day, it's time to start looking at some times and sort out my pacing. I have no idea how things will go on race day, but I've got to give mum at least a rough idea of what time to expect me! 

The elevation profile for race day. Just a few climbs to keep me honest!