Training Log Archive: Brodie Nank

Spoke too soon and woke up with some knee/ITB pain so opted for a shakeout followed by stretch. Not sure if it made it any better but my mental health improved ..

A good amount of massage ball use and a touch of placebo tape later.

Oceania Sprint Champs @ Charles Sturt: 1st, 15:32

This was one of my focus races after WOC and before WC in China (along with Oceania Long) so did a proper taper into it and taking it relatively seriously. Had run here in 2017 so new what to expect from the area and from the bulletin (or bulletins) I had an idea of what I thought the course would look like.

Took as much in as possible on the run to the start, seeing control 7 and the run through to 8. Started 1 min behind Simon and start triangle was in sight so when I saw him take his time to start and then run off confidently to the right I was confident this was the way I would start. Picked up the map and realised I hadn't seen Simon's route choice decision so quickly had to make a choice - similar to a few routes I had done on running wild so didn't have too much issue picking right. Wide to 2 for the smoother running and then went through courtyard to 4 as wasn't sure if it was at bottom of steps or above (pretty poor map legibility here). No real time loss until 6 where I went left, missed the shortcut and then hesitated and stopped still at the entry (+12-16"). Fine through the next few a managed to find the first run through..

First loop complete and now for the forest. Climbing isn't my strength and from my prep it gauged that around would be equal if not faster than straight. Exited alongside building in direction of control as didn't want to backtrack and do the hairpin turn. Unfortunately the number 23 was blocking part of the map here so didn't risk it and go up the stairs which weren't showing and rather climbed up the steep embankment. No navigational issues into control and saw Simon heading to 11 which was a nice little confidence boost. Nothing spectacular with the forest controls, slowing the pace a little to try to prevent any time losses - success. Feeling good coming down to 18 for the last loop.

Planning the route to 19 couldn't figure out why there was only one option and the rest was blocked by OOB. Turns out I couldn't see the run through as map a bit of a mess and that is why there was no route choice.. Went up and around to the left, losing about 27". Coming into 19 from wrong direction and ran through, not only choosing the slightly slower route to 20 but then running down into start, thinking "I can't be here", turning back up the steps to run around only to realise as I was running off that I could have run through start (+10"). Bit of gas left in the tank from the downhill run and the messy navigating so pushed hard from here to finish - only losing a little time in and out of 23 hesitating on the garden bed that wasn't olive.

Relatively happy with the overall performance, if I take out the run through shambles only two 10" errors (one of which was influenced by interesting map/course set up). And nice to find out a few days after that I get a free spot at WOC, guess I will have to train for sprints now..

Course 1 - Splits

Taper run with 2' @ tempo and 5*20/40 once arriving in Wagga Wagga - feeling a tad sluggish but no ITB/knee feels.

Taper week

Pre work/breakfast shakeout/knee tester. No knee pain, ITB/quad a little sore but nothing too signficant.

Glute activation on reformer. No pain at knee, a little bit of discomfort with some exercises over ITB/lateral quad.

Playing it safe, delaying Sprint session until tomorrow. No knee pain today but a bit sore ITB/lateral quad.

Core at lunch.

Catch up run with Will around botanical gardens, the tan and then through fitzroy gardens to officeworks on Smith St. Recovery/taper week for me and feeling a bit cooked after my biggest week since WOC last week. Lateral knee a bit sore midway through race yesterday but felt fine in the warm down so had forgotten about it. Ok for this until the last 3km and it started to feel sore at the knee. When I pushed around a bit found ITB very tender to touch. Got Laura to pick me up from officeworks rather than running home and will play it safe rest of week.

Not a very good performance technically due to a poor focus on process. A few mapping inaccuracies caught me out as well, losing 60-90 on a parallel track which didn't exist on the map and 1.5-3' in some "hash" green which I fought my way through at 20:00min/km. Physically felt like I pushed well apart from where I momentarily lost motivation after each of my mistakes/mapping errors.

Extended cool down to make it up to 2 hours. Ran with Aislinn who was doing 3 hours for her marathon prep - nice to have a bit of company, would have been grim by myself.

Leg strength at home. Getting a bit inventive with getting weight - used nearly every cookbook we own.

3 X 8 step lower/pistol squat
3 X 8 step up @ 25kg
3 X 8 single leg bent knee calf raise @ 25kg
3 X 8 single leg foam roller hamstring curl