Sunday 4 October 2015

What a day. What a lovely day.

Sorry I just about to watch Mad Max Fury Road, which is a movie I have been wanting to see for ages. The title is a quote from that, but it seemed quite apt given the day I have had.

It really have been another nice day of weekend triathlon training and spectating.

I love it when you get days were everything just works. You have plenty of time, nothing is rushed, you are able to relax and enjoy training, but also have time to do stuff around the house, hang out with the kids etc. That is what today was like.

Training today was a cruisy 20km run. Another really encouraging long run. I don't tend to keep an eye on pace for these sessions, but I was very pleased to see that today was my quickest long run from the ones I have done over the last month. On top of that the average heart rate was the lowest from all these runs. Indicates some nice improvements in fitness and efficiency which I am very happy about. I suspect some of the efficiency has come from the couple of kilos that I have lost and a little bit more has come from some minor tweaks in technique. For sure though I think the biggest improvements have come from steadily improving fitness. Combined with what I saw on the bike yesterday it indications are currently pointing in the right direction.

I am not sure what it is about these runs, but I really enjoy them. I think part of it is the simplicity and freedom of simply going out to run. Not really focusing on pace, but just making sure the heart rate is not getting too high or too low and enjoying being out and about. I have always struggled to run at a low intensity, instead always falling into the trap of going out and going hard. If you aren't running hard you are wasting time has always been what I thought. I think it is one of the reasons I have had a number of running related injuries. I have never really tried running easy before, it has been a bit of a revelation. The idea that not every session has to be flat out is something I have known for a long time, but I have struggled to execute. Having had it explained to me recently just what each pace does for you and that all the paces have a use has helped me understand that sometimes running easy is exactly what a session is for. Some sessions certainly are for running flat out, but it doesn't have to be all of them. Running easy doesn't mean a session is wasted, just targeted to a specific purpose. The same thing goes for the fast sessions, each one has a use.

In the end the proof will be in the pudding and in this case the pudding will be the Rottnest Long Course. But for now I am quite happy with how the running is going.

As well as a bit of a run, the day has also involved a lot of watching of the triathlon world. There was the Gurye 70.3 over in Korea where Tim Green and Katy Duffield each had smashing races. Really impressive to watch, even though the tracker wasn't the greatest. Also, what an amazing looking spot, that race may have to be on the Calendar for next year.

As well as that, looks like Kona is really getting into full swing. I have a lot of friends over there this year and so social media is starting to hot up. I have never really been that bothered about Kona (I know that is some kind of sacrilege to say that, but there you go). That is one of the reasons I knocked back my slot when I qualified for it last year. This year though is one of the first years where I kind of feel like I am missing out on something. I wouldn't go so far as to say I am keen to go yet, but perhaps one day.

Rest day tomorrow and I will most certainly be doing just that. 

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