Training Log Archive: Craig

Short warm up for the long. Feeling quite good.

WA Long Champs on the West side of Warranine Brook.
Tough start through the green and up onto the steep rocky slopes for the first 3 then down into the paddocks and the rest of the course was much faster.
I was pretty happy with my run again today. No significant time losses and felt as though I kept a good pace all the way, just nowhere near Henry's pace today. Didn't expect to get near Henry with all the open running so I was quite happy to keep the margin under 10 minutes.
Didn't see tRicky (4min ahead) until 13 so he must have had a pretty clean run. I passed him between 14 and 15 and he provided motivation from behind around the rest of the course. I lost a few seconds on 20 but stayed in front and struggled a bit on the climb to 21 but finished off strongly on the downhill run home.
Very satisfied with my effort again and Rachel topped off a great weekend with a convincing win over Kellie. A great recovery from yesterday's disappointing effort.

Course 1 - Splits

Event: Warranine Brook - WA Middle/Long Distance Championships
 

WA Middle champs at Warranine Brook.
Wanted to push myself hard today but at the same time knew my only hope was to be clean so I tried to be careful on 1 and was sure I crossed the fence just past the small cliff. I got it ok but it seemed a bit to the right of where I was expecting so not the confidence builder I was hoping for.

Next few short legs I was happy with my decisions and safety but didn't feel I was finding the best lines through the rough terrain. Decided to gamble on the straight route but regretted it almost immediately when I struggled to find a way through the light green to the first big rock surface. Rest of the leg was better running but I gave up the main advantage of the straight route by losing my direction a bit and dropping too much before the final paddock crossing.

Next few short legs were good and then tried to push hard on the longer leg across the paddocks to 10. Momentarily misplaced, one group of rocks right of where I thought, after the final creek but realised quickly. Planned to hit the rock surface above 10 until I got close and thought I could see where the cliff was but it must have been the rocky ground to the North so lost a few seconds.

I had seen Kellie just ahead earlier staying closer to the fence and she was still clearly ahead leaving 10 and 11 but was a bit left on 12 so I got that just ahead as she came in from the side. I didn't want to drag Kellie closer to Rachel so pushed hard to 13 but she stayed close so I tried really hard to keep it going and get clear through the green to 14. Cut my finger a bit in the green which was a bit of a distraction as I worried about smearing blood all over the map as I tried to refold it.

15 and 16 were easy then saw Rachel ahead across the paddocks to 17 and knew she must be well behind Kellie. I could see Rachel was heading down to approach 17 from below and I had planned the same to be safe but I decided I didn't need to be that conservative and the other way looked faster so I went left and came in off the rock surface above which worked well as I got there clearly ahead of Rachel.

Safe around the fence to 18. Careful compass leaving 18 and saw 19 from a distance. Straight line to 20 just trying to keep hurting. Aimed a bit left on 21 so I could be sure of going right after crossing the fence then gave it all I had left into the finish which wasn't much but at least it was downhill.

Feeling very satisfied that I had got as much as I could out of myself when I finished. Didn't really expect to challenge Henry but I knew it would be possible to lose a bit of time out there so I was at least interested to see if I could make it close so I checked the time as I finished and went back to watch after downloading. My watch said 2:22 when I finished and Henry started 10 minutes after me so when it got to 2:28 and I hadn't seen him I was pretty happy. When I didn't see him for another couple of minutes I started to get my hopes up. I could just about see 21 from the finish and it took me about 1:30 from there so I knew I was a chance if I didn't see him before 2:31 on my watch. I saw some movement at 2:30 but it was tRicky then right on cue Henry appeared at 2:31. My watch was still showing 2:32 when he finished so I knew it would come down to seconds and we would have to wait for the download. It turned out we were level at 20, then Henry made a small mistake on 21 losing 11 seconds and could only pull back 4 on the final two controls giving me the win by 7 seconds.
Very happy!!

C • Nice work 1

C1 - Splits

Another day, another 5am 5k with Rachel. Nearly didn't get out this morning, only the fear of falling asleep again and being late for work convinced us. Liam got up at the same time but didn't run with us.
Mostly pretty cold but with some very distinct warm patches and a bit smoky.

Early morning jog with Rachel. Feeling pretty good.

C • Feeling good 1

Short easy run in KP with Rachel.

Little jog in the dark with Rachel.