Did I say Summer was on its way? What I so easily forget after 20+ years of living in Melbourne, is that a run of 3, 4 or even 20 days of seasonal weather in no way indicates that you won't be sent a FREEZING day at any moment. But there is a silver lining in every (rain filled) cloud. Cold weather is terrible for swimming and riding motivation, but cold weather is always great for running. I love putting on lots of layers and heading out for a run in the rain and thankfully that is what the training schedule called for.
I nailed a great endurance/speedwork run on the weekend. It was a format that I had never tried but I found it so much more enjoyable than 400's repeats. I did 5 x 1km run at between 4min30sec/km and 4min55sec/km with 90 second walking breaks in between. I also did 1km warmup and cool down easy jogs. It felt good to do my first speed session of the season and I am planning on doing this session once a week and seeing where it might take me (I am optimistic for Usain Bolt-like territory).
I have been just so lucky over the past few days, to get some help with my training plan from a friend at work. It really is terribly helpful when a workmate has competed in track for Australia at the Olympics. After checking my running form he made some suggestions to try and avoid the general niggles I get in my right leg. We then ran through what my training schedule should look like and he made it clear in no uncertain terms that running should always be quality over quantity. That, quite frankly, is in direct opposition to what I usually do, but I am happy to give his method a go as, well, my method has made me exactly 0sec/km faster since I employed it in marathon training 3 years ago.
We decided that what I really need to do is a current 5km time trial, because my pacing is from a TT I did oh, nearly 2 years ago I think. Or maybe 1 year ago - who even knows?! The problem is that I hate time trials. Time trials hurt. A lot. But seeing as my A race (try and say that without feeling like a tool) will have a 5km run, its really important that I know where I am at so I can get correct pacing for sessions. Boo.
Nutrition wise my diet has been very blah. I have not been organised, I have not had a plan and so what has occurred is an awful lot of avocado sandwiches, sweet muffins, bounce balls and bananas. Thats about it really. It has been a combination of not having ingredients in the house and of being in a food rut. So I did what all good nutritionists do, I sat down and made a menu for the week and it goes a little something like this (thanks run dmc):
Breakfasts
Pina Colada Smoothie
Choc Banana Smoothie
Lunches & Dinners
Asian Chicken Salad - minus the Chicken plus more Edamame
Vegan Mexican Salad bowl
Tomato Salad with 'Mozacado' Balls
Beetroot, Goat Cheese and Lentil Salad
Pumpkin, Olive and Quinoa Salad
Quinoa, Pepita and Tahini Salad
Snacks
Blueberry Banana and Seed Muffins
Apple, Almond and Grape Snacks
... and then I shopped. I will cook up a storm over the next week and post any new recipes. Mmmmmm I am hungry just thinking about it.
Today seems as good as any to time trial - go on, get out there and make yourself nauseous with me, I know you wanna.
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