Switching to Tom Alfry blog

Hi. If you have arrived here then welcome. However for now I will only be writing on my personal blog at www.tomalfry.blogspot.com. There are two reasons for this. One is that I am incredibly busy and don't have the time to write posts for two blogs and the other is that I am not running at the present time. The latter leaves very little I can write about on this running blog, so tune into my blog above instead.

Until next year when I am back to running again,

Tom

Marathon round up

I am suitably sore from the weekend's marathon adventure. Not running more than three times in the last three weeks before a marathon is not advised! As I look at how the marathon went and what I could do differently this is just one of the things that stand out. The other was getting a massage the day before the race. Don't get me wrong it was great prep for the run, I felt great after and was extremely relaxed. But it probably aggravated my traps a little too much before the race because I was having to constantly massage them as I was running. I like to break the rules and I certainly broke them in style again this time.

In the end I ran 3 hours 43 minutes, which is my second fastest time, so I can take some consolation from that and know that even without running in the last three weeks of my program I can run a half decent time. Could I have done things differently? Of course. But that would have required me to say no to carpentry work that I did on top of working at Apple and I was focused on earning that money to pay off debts. Like everything in life it is a constant balancing act and when the work is there I am motivated to take it. The knock on effect was that I felt knackered and wasn't motivated to train at all. So my race result was to be expected. You can't fluke a marathon, unless you are naturally gifted and those people deserve the post race soreness they will inevitably experience!

My running mate Andrew ran a new PB by about 5 or 6 minutes, so I am chuffed for him. We were both feeling the effects after 16km of the run, which suggests that something wasn't right. For me it would have been not training and being overworked, for Andrew it may have been his running shoes as his feet were hurting him from this point onward. The good thing is that we both have the sub 3:30 goal to aim for next year, possibly at Canberra marathon, so our motivation levels are probably higher than if we had achieved it this time around.

For now I am taking a little time off running. I have been swimming in the ocean the last couple of mornings and have made this a regular thing the last two weeks. It is great to get down to the water, have a dip for 15 minutes and enjoy the beach at it's quietest. I am planning on getting back to strength training, so I will most likely do a light jog to the bars at Queens Park or on the Coastal Path overlooking Tamarama. In my mind the latter is one of the most amazing outdoor gyms I've experienced, it is all too easy just to look at the view and watch the surfers rather than actually train! Over the summer months I will probably work on my speed over 5 & 10km and do some good hill training. That way come January when I start training again for Canberra I will be fitter and faster.

I was going to focus on half marathons next year, but as I just confirmed above the Canberra marathon is my next target. I will probably aim to run a fast half or two in training for the marathon as I am fairly confident I can go sub 90 minutes. As our friend Ellis the Achilles Chairman said on the weekend, "the trouble with marathon runners is that they have a terrible memory". I can attest to that, I have almost forgotten the pain from the weekend already. I must be mad.

T :)

Damn that run hurt

Last week's training was a marked improvement on the previous week's despite working 13 days straight. I managed two whole runs and they were both reasonably successful.

I covered the interval session already, so let me tell you about the long one yesterday.

That run was 29km at a pace of 8:11 minute per mile (5:04 per km), which was considerably faster than I have run all my other long runs previously. The other runs were around the 5:20 per km mark. So I was happy to smash myself up and down a hilly run to get a quicker time. I didn't feel that good and I probably didn't look pretty, but it felt good to push my body to the limit one last time before the marathon. That's not to say I won't be running more long runs before Melbourne, but they will be shorter and probably not as quick. I've learnt that I work best when I don't overdo it before the race.

The run itself was simple enough. I ran from Waverley south towards La Perouse for 5 miles, then turned back. On the return to home I felt a little "crook" and had to stop at the petrol station to sort myself out. Somehow when I started running I managed to go the wrong way and promptly got lost. I had a rough idea where I was and which direction I needed to run, but was just enjoying the unexpected as I tootled along the streets between Kingsford and Randwick. After what seemed like forever running uphill I came out at a junction near Randwick, (one I didn't expect to see) and realised where I was. A short run downhill and past my local Bunnings got me back home after 10.3 miles. From there I decided to nip down to Bondi beach and see if I could kill some miles not too far from home. Down at the beach you can do this loop which is fairly flat and uninterrupted by traffic lights, but it is about as boring as listening to Tony Abbott, so I chose the hard route instead. Running past Bondi beach I headed past the North Bondi RSL winding up and through the fancy apartments overlooking the sea and beach. Eventually I came back to the main road at North Bondi which heads up hill for ages. It is a right mother effer, but I thought "why not!" It's definitely a mile up hill if not more and by the end I was "rooted" (knackered/tired/shot for my English pals) and did not know how I was going to finish the run off. I told myself to run an out and back towards Watson Bay, which meant that when I was heading back I would finish the run with a reasonable distance under my belt. I knew at this point I was running way too fast to do more than 30km, I just didn't have it in the pins. So I distracted myself from the hurt in my lungs and heart and trudged onward, getting through the out and back to enjoy a mile downhill back to Bondi beach. From there I ran along the promenade and up the hill towards home. Part way up the hill I had to stop and have a rest overlooking the sea, I had only drunk 500ml in 2.5 hours and I had a little cramp setting in. If I had taken any money with me at this point I would've got a cold beer and kicked back. However I had no money on me and no bus pass to get home, so after a little stretch and breather I picked myself up and headed up Bondi road. I thought the rest would do me good, but it is another half a mile (easily) up hill from there and I felt worse as I struggled up the hill. At 18.25 miles I stopped and called it a day. I had nothing left to prove to myself and was happy with what I had achieved for the run.

Looking forwards there are only two long runs left before race day in Melbourne. The next one will probably be around the 25km mark and the week before I will run 15-20km. My focus for these last week's will be to get my training in during the week, doing tempo and interval sessions. These are the confidence and fitness boosters before the marathon distance. They rest the body and legs from the long distance, but keep you prepped for what's to come. I am fairly good at listening to my body and after all I am Tomthesloth, so I will never over do it!

This week will see me run tomorrow and Wednesday before a long one on the weekend. Fingers crossed I can get time to fit yoga and massage in over the next two weeks, otherwise I'll be running like a pencil on race day.

Happy training,

Tom ;)

Running man

I wish I could dance and that this post was about how well I could do the running man. Sadly it is not. In my mind I can do the running man really well, so I’ll hold onto that and update you on my training.

I would like to say that I have done a lot more training since I last tapped out an update, but frankly it has not been much better. I managed a couple of runs last week and so far this week I have only done my speed work session. Ultimately I can’t really be bothered to run at the moment unless it is with my friend Andrew, so I take my hat off to him for his commitment and thank him for keeping me motivated.

Although I didn’t do my tempo run last week I did manage a 33km run with Andrew on Saturday morning before going to work. We ran from Central through Darling Harbour to the ferry terminal, through the botanic gardens, up Oxford street to Bondi Junction and then down towards La Perouse. We then run back to through Randwick to finish in Waverley. Although my legs were feeling it at the end (missing two long runs in a row will do that) I did feel pretty good fitness wise and fairly strong up the hills. Andrew was certainly pushing the envelope at the end of the session when we had some hills and I can honestly say I don’t think I could’ve pushed much harder to keep going. This is all good though, because after this Saturday’s long run we will start a three week taper. This actually means that our long runs become slightly shorter, not that I stop training altogether as some of you may be thinking! Also our long runs have been moderately hilly, so despite not hitting lightning quick times we are getting in some great leg strengthening work on the hills, which is amazing for the flatter terrain of the Melbourne marathon. That’s one good thing about training in Sydney, you are never too far from a good hill.

Yesterday morning Andrew came over to Bondi to run intervals. We had 10x400m to do and gave ourselves 300m recoveries. We walked 200m and jogged the last 100m of the recovery to allow some respite, but prevent the legs getting too relaxed between intervals. Andrew wasn’t feeling too hot as he felt like he had no power in his legs and I felt like my lungs were on fire. So all in all it was a great session! If anything we can say that we got progressively faster on our intervals and were pushing to the limit, that’s all I can ever ask of myself, so I’m happy.

Tomorrow I am going to smash out a tempo run at sparrow’s fart, before I head into work at 7am at Apple. No doubt the day will feel long and tiring, but I seem to be more upbeat after a good training session than not doing anything. I have no clue what distance I am supposed to run, but hope that it is less than 10km, so I can have longer in bed!

Saturday Andrew and I are meeting at Central at 6am to head off for our last long run. I am not entirely sure where we will go, but I thought Central to Darling Harbour, through the CBD and The Rocks, past the ferry terminal and The Opera House, through the botanic gardens, all the way down Anzac Parade to La Perouse and then back up to finish at Waverley again. This will leave me enough time to shower, eat a large breakfast and stretch before i head straight to work for an 11am start. There is something satisfying about getting that done before work and then having a couple of cold ones at the day’s end. Roll on Saturday night!

Righty-O! That is about if from me at the moment. I have not had much time or inclination to get to the gym or do anything else training wise. As it is I am trying to get in two yoga sessions a week to keep things in check, but it hasn’t been happening. After all we all need some down time and to have a life.

I’ll let you know how it all goes when I have my day off on Sunday.

Happy training!

T :)

Lazy Tom

As you can imagine from the title of this post I have been a little lazy since my last update. Despite missing a couple of long runs (I'll admit I couldn't be arsed) I still got my tempo session in last week, which was a 16km run at 4:45 per km, or roughly 7:30 per mile. It's naturally not a great idea to miss long runs when you train for a marathon, but for those that know me I've trained less in the past and suffered well. I definitely don't advise anyone do this for a marathon though, so read on.

This week I started with a bang. Normally I wouldn't try and play catch up, but I genuinely love speed work, so I did last week's session yesterday. This consisted of 1000m in 3:47, 2000m in 7:56 and two more 1000m intervals as the first. Recovery between each was 400m, which because I am Tom the Sloth was a 300m walk and a 100m jog. To keep it simple and not bore you I've outlined the results below.

1. 1000m, target: 3:47. Actual time: 3:57. I was trying not to look at my watch for this and go on how I felt. Unfortunately I thought I was going off to fast, so I reined it in and finished slower. Balls.
2. 2000m, target: 7:56. Actual time: 7:40. After the first interval I thought I'd go conservative and then smash the second half. This highly evolved tactic seemed to work. Note to self, do this more often.
3. 1000m, target 3:47. Actual time: 3:58. Not it may appear as though I was tiring at this point, but no! I was running around Centennial Park and there is a point where it's 1000m up hill. It's not a bad hill, but when you are running fast it smashes you. Taking that into account I was happy with this one.
4. 1000m, target 3:47. Actual time: 3:41. I told myself to give it a 100% for this last interval and that I would smash it. Sometimes that level of confidence and self belief pays off. However when I started running this last one I felt like I had no energy in my legs and was running the slowest of the day. But what do I know eh?!

 Tomorrow I am running this week's intervals with my mate Andrew. We are going back to Centennial Park to run 3x1600m in 6:17 per interval with a 400m recovery. I can tell you now that these ones are absolute mother f*ckers, so I imagine the times could be all over the shop.

On Friday I have another 16km tempo run to do at the same pace as above. Although I have today, tomorrow and Friday off I am working for my mate Steve laying a path and then back to Apple on Saturday. Technically my week starts on Saturday, so I will be squeezing in my 32km long run on Sunday.

If I'm still able to move after the long run I will update you.

Until then ladies and gents,

Happy training :)

Rainy training

The Sunday before last was a wet reintroduction to marathon training and an enjoyable return to training after a ten day break for illness. Certainly running two hours early on Sunday morning made me feel right at home, all be it a lot warmer than a winter in England! That 25km was just the start of a great week of training and a boost to my dwindling motivation after being sick.

On Tuesday last week I smashed out a 4 mile tempo run in the rain and surprised myself at how good it felt. Although I haven't been doing my cross training recently (lazy) I have got back into hot yoga and managed three sessions last week between runs. Balancing training and enjoyment is my hardest challenge ;)

Thursday saw a very hard interval session come round. Andrew and me had to push hard to crack it. The first half was 2x1600m with a 90s rest between, which we hit target perfectly around 6:15 for each mile. The second half was a slightly different story and we were a little off the pace for the 800m. However it was a strong training session and I felt we were pushing the limits without much more to give.

I later found out that the marathon program, which was based on my 5pm PB, was meant for a 3h 16min marathon! Considering this PB was set at the end of the Gold Coast half I have no excuse not to reach that one day. It just won't be this year as I've set a realistic aim of 3:25,  which will be 11 minutes quicker than my Newcastle PB set in April.

With that in mind Andrew and I met up on Sunday morning for a 32km long run. Having run the previous week's 25km at an average of 5:20/km in the rain I thought an average of 5:10 would be achievable. The program said 5:03 was the target so I thought this would be a reasonable adjustment.

After running 3km from UTS we met up with Achilles chairman and legendary distance runner Ellis and ran our first 13km around a 5:00 per km pace. This felt challenging but we were still able to chat, so it was an enjoyable stretch of the legs past the Opera House and over the harbour bridge. On returning to the art gallery we still had 18km left to run to get back to the start so we headed out towards my "hood" in the Eastern Suburbs. Taking our run along Oxford Street at 830 in the morning is always interesting as late night revellers spill from the pubs and clubs, still partying from the night before. It makes you feel good that you are doing something healthy (relatively speaking) though and a gave us a push up the hill. As we ran past Centennial Park (CP) and through Bondi Junction we saw plenty of people heading to the colour run to get splattered with paint. At several points over the next 10km I thought I'd rather be doing that than running for three hours! As we came around CP we scoffed gels and took on a little water to get us through the last ten kilometres. That certainly helped, but our legs were feeling those last few kms and it was with a great relief (on my part at least) when we got back to UTS.

Our average was 5:13/km and I think we agreed that it may have been better if we hadn't smashed the first 14km quicker with Ellis. However these are the days to make our mistakes, mix things up and find what works and what doesn't. Come race day we will be ready to take on the distance.

I think there will be a fair few training days of rain coming up, which is fine by me. Next weekend is a faster 25km run, but I'll update you on my sessions before then.

Until next time,  happy training,

Tom :)

The do's and don'ts of running

I've been running marathons for ten years this year and have had my fair share of mistakes and successes. I've probably read all the do's and don'ts of running a thousand times and broken most of the rules along the way. It may be a mistake but it sure has been fun!

So I asked some friends what their do's and don'ts of running were recently to see if there were some new ones. I've compiled a ten point list, because this could go on forever. There are 5 do's and 5 don'ts. Feel free to add your own in the comments section.

Running do's

Whether you run 5k or 100 miles the points below are valid to all.

Do:
1) Get the right shoes.

Go to a shop that specialises in running. If they don't have a treadmill and cameras to video your gait (commonplace nowadays) then they should have runners with some training or an idea of what's going on.
This can save injury and heartache down the road (no pun intended) from blisters, alignment injuries and worse.

2) Progress gradually.

Nobody is superhuman. Even if your heart and lungs can progress rapidly there are areas that are slower to respond. These are the weak links that will break when you push too quickly.
Just follow a sensible program that includes cross training and rest days to ensure you give your body time to repair. Those rest days are where you'll get stronger, not the back to back sprint sessions.

3) Mix it up

Yes you should be focused on the thing that matters most to your goal, running. But running 6-7 days a week as a novice or even experienced runner can lead to overuse injuries and hold you back from reaching your potential on race day. I often find that runners smash themselves so much in training that when they reach their race their bodies and minds are too exhausted to function at 100%. By incorporating some cross training such as cycling, weight training, yoga or even climbing we can allow our bodies a form of rest, but still develop key strength in our core and develop our cardiovascular fitness. We also help to keep motivated to run and can save our energy for race day. Just try running 3-4 times a week and substituting two runs for something different. Your body and brain will thank you for it.

4) Try out new things in training

Whether it is a new running top or an energy gel, give your body a chance to test these things on your training runs. That way you can find what works for you as an individual in advance of race day, thus leaving you prepared and relaxed on the morning of your event. Listen to what other runners might be using, but don't be swayed until you've tried it a few times in training.

5) Run with others

I've found a certain enjoyment in running with others recently. It mixes it up and can provide you with an insight into new run routes and challenges. There is something in sharing the pain of a tough interval session with a friend, you certainly can't give in until it's completed! Don't get too social though if you have an event to train for though, you will find you'll run a lot slower if you are constantly chatting through those long runs.

Don't

1) Run when you are ill

It sounds obvious, but we have all gone for a run or a bike ride when we've had the start of a cold. "I'll just flush it out with a blast of the legs." No you won't. Your body is already fighting illness and now you are just stressing it even more by exercising. Let it take it's course and find the positive in working on areas that you are weak or inconsistent with. Namely core training, stretching and foam rolling ;) If you are constantly getting colds then maybe you need to look at the big picture. How hard are you pushing in work, training or another area of your life? Are you eating a balanced diet to provide your body with the nutrients it needs to repair and grow? We can't push, push, push no matter how amazing we think we are.

2) Wear crotch-less running pants

That got your attention didn't it! Wearing the right gear for your chosen activity is key. Don't get me wrong I am not a believer that the latest big name sports brand gear will make any of us faster. We may look great, but you need substance underneath that gear to run well. However running in an old pair of cargo shorts or baggy t-shirt may not be the answer either. By wearing something that is loose, comfortable and doesn't chafe in the sensitive areas you can avoid missing out on runs. Let me tell you I've had some bad chafing before and it puts you off running quicker than a broken leg. Avoid unnecessary pain and interruption to training, try out your gear on short runs first before using it on longer adventures.

3) Try anything new on race day

I know I have already said "Do try out new things in training", but I think this needs to be said too. The amount of times I have broken this rule and (luckily) got away with it is unreal. But it could go a lot worse. Imagine that you turn up to your first half marathon race. In your race expo goody bag you get some nice freebies. There's a muesli bar, some energy gels and a hat. On the morning of your race you decide to have your free muesli bar instead of your normal race breakfast, it just seems easier at 5am. You feel buzzing at the start of the race and fly off the start line, along the way you chow down on one of the free gels you got the day before. It is really sunny today, but luckily you have your new hat on to shade your eyes. Half an hour later you start to feel a bit sluggish and have a sort of gut cramp, you also feel a headache even though you are well hydrated. 

Now from here it only goes downhill and you end up doing a Paula Radcliffe at the side of the road (Google it if you don't understand), you have to stop and walk because you feel terrible and the hat was tight enough to give you a headache. The rest of the race is a disaster.

We've all done it and it may seem innocuous at the time, but try it out in training, not on race day. Stick to what you have practiced week in, week out and you will be great on the day.

4) Be ignorant

This is a personal rant that I know a lot of other runners have at some stage in their lives. When you are training or racing acknowledge other runners that you pass. It is the smallest thing, but makes the biggest difference. If someone looks like they are struggling then they probably are. We may be running our own race, but that doesn't stop us considering others and say "you alright mate/sheila?" in your best faux Steve Irwin Aussie accent. If nothing else they will smile and appreciate the concern before lumbering on like a sloth on ecstasy. It could also help those out that actually need medical attention during a race. Just saying.

5) Do a Bolt at the start line

Depending on the distance of your race I am fairly certain that running like the World famous Jamaican athlete will not help you. In a marathon it is a recipe for disaster. In a 5km race it could mean giving too much too soon when you should be saving it for the final kilometre. Either way try to stay at the back of your pace group and don't be tempted to overtake everyone in the first kilometre/mile. By doing this you can follow all the people that do shoot off like a sprinter and revel in the enjoyment of cruising past them easily within the last stages of the race. It is the must so satisfying thing in a marathon let me tell you!

Righty-O! I best be off, but feel free to add more do's and don'ts in the comments below. It's a pretty long list.

Happy running!

Tom :)