Fraser Darcy

But not for long…

The week started off like any other post-Adelaide weekend of the past couple of months. Easy hour in Belair, some mobility, easy afternoon run. Get organised to drive back to Quorn the following day. Yep that’s right, straight into the week recap for this blog.

Tuesday, RunAsOne session. 2km reps. The last time I did these length of reps I was out on my own in Quorn running the fraserdarcy.com famous North Quorn Parklands loop recording an average of 3:05/km for the reps. Doing these in the city, with a training partner felt just as hard but the splits were a lot better. The first one was around 3:01/km, the next 3:02/km and then the next two even quicker at below 3:00/km. They are all paces I would’ve been happy to hold for 1km reps so to be managing these over 2km is a sign I’m either getting better at running or I was over reaching.

By the time I returned home to Quorn on Tuesday afternoon it was looking like I may have been overreaching. I was pretty cooked but still managed an easy half an hour run that night.

The fatigue continued with me through to Wednesday’s ‘mid week long run’ which only went for 16km’s over some rolling hills. The choice of location impacted the distance and pace I was able to hold for this run however in the build up to Brisbane this week I needed the specificity of running over an undulating course. To get beat up and lose some ego on this ‘easy’ run was good timing. Better to do that in training as opposed to in a race.

Fortunately for my energy levels I didn’t have any work or climbing commitments to meet on Wednesday (or Thursday) so I could get to a few jobs around the house in my own time and try and recover as much as possible ready for a Thursday morning session. This week I was aiming to hit three sessions in the week for the second consecutive week after some lighter weeks of intensity around Barossa and Kuitpo.

Come Thursday, I wasn’t as refreshed as I hoped and maybe the wind/rain/cold was bringing my motivation down further but it was certainly a struggle to get started and psyched for a run. In summer it’s pretty easy when it’s hot, the sun’s just coming up or going down and everything feels cruisy. In winter, when it’s all the opposite you feel like you should get a medal for just putting on your running clothes let alone even going for a run. I still went out to my intended session location, Devils Peak, and warmed-up planning on recreating the session I did before the Kuitpo race a few weeks ago. That session was 3 short hills and then one push up Devils. Feeling not so fresh I opted for only 2 short hills and then one push up Devils to make it easier on the mind.

In the end, I recorded times on the short hill that was quicker by 15 seconds (which for a 4.5minute effort is a big distance) and my fastest ever time up Devil’s Peak. So much for feeling tired, the data actually points to me potentially being the fittest I’ve ever been (because I probably usually run up Devils with a bit of fatigue so it all equals out). That was a nice confidence boost after Wednesday’s slower easy run. I finished off the day with an easy arvo run as usual.

Here’s where I again had a dilemma with what to do with my weekend; head to Adelaide for a RunAsOne trail session, long run and Tuesday session? Or stick in Quorn and train solo for a few more days before heading down on Wednesday before Brisbane? I enjoy living in Quorn and doing things to my own schedule, having the peace and quiet rah rah… but training with other people will make me a better runner and I can contribute more to RunAsOne if I’m down in Adelaide. All for the cost of a bit of the serenity of the Flinders, which, if we’re talking ‘cost’ I actually save with the cost of food at Mum and Dad’s. Their supermarket is pretty cheap.

So I went to Adelaide. It looks as if this will become a recurring trend over the winter months as I may be spending more time in Adelaide around races and training. As my commitments in Quorn wind down (I no longer have any work or Airbnb guests lined up) I hope to make sure I make decisions around my life that reflect the goal I have of being a better runner. If that means staying more in Adelaide, then that’s where I’ll be. If my running begins to go backwards though, then back to Quorn and the drawing board it will be. I did a similar experiment this time last year where I stayed in Adelaide over the school holidays and raced on three consecutive weekends. As such, I have something to base this ‘lifestyle’ off and know it works as long as I can nip to Quorn probably once a month, if not shorter intervals, to check on a few things.

Anyway, enough of bringing you behind the curtains of the decision process, I went to Adelaide on Friday after one of the worst sleeps of my life on Thursday night. That meant Friday was a pretty low day, questioning my decision to try and enter Brisbane, the reason of coming to Adelaide etc. etc. but that’s all a process of being tired I think and not wanting to do anything when you’re tired. A good night sleep on Friday night, followed by a good training session with RunAsOne trail on Saturday and then another good sleep on Saturday night and I was back feeling quite vibrant about my intentions to race in Brisbane.

In the end this week was one of my better weeks of training, 140 odd km’s, with plenty of good intensity, so to be able to put this together after feeling a bit tired at stages was positive. The fact that I will be able to test my fitness this weekend in Brisbane is also positive. If I wasn’t racing in Brisbane the next real test of my fitness may have come in mid-late July on races that aren’t really my number one priorities (XC and 30km road race) but still worth doing. Hence, by getting to Brisbane and having a good solid hit-out and then improve off the back of that I will be in a good place to then race again at XC and the 30km road race, before another A grade hit-out in mid August (Sunshine Coast Half Marathon or something at Adelaide marathon in the lead up to Sydney). I’m getting a bit ahead of myself though. Really, the game is simple, always race hard, always test yourself. The game is of better quality when I get to interstate races with more depth (Brisbane this weekend, August 11th for Sunshine Coast) as SA races tend to have a few people go ‘missing’ when it comes time to race. In a perfect world I could race to my heart’s content all within SA because there is enough depth and quality here to challenge me, everyone just chooses slightly different and quieter race schedules.

It’s Tuesday now by the time this is going out so it’d be remiss of me not to mention I started my week as per normal at Belair and felt very good compared to the last few hour loops I’ve done through there. The 24km long run and no arvo run as opposed to a 32km long run + arvo run from the day before made a difference it seems. The rest of Monday was life admin/computer work. Tuesday wasn’t 2km reps at RunAsOne but instead 1km reps.

Working with Jacob again at the front of the pack I felt pretty comfortable. The first rep was 2:56 which surprised me as it felt like 3:00. We quickened up on the next one to 2:50 and that’s the fastest I’ve ever been running km reps at that stage of the session. I still felt good too just as if I was giving my usual effort which is a good sign I am getting better/fitter. I completed four more with Jacob, opting out of the last two he did because I am racing this Saturday. It felt good to do well in the session without focusing on it beforehand as one I wanted to nail. Perhaps it’s the fact I was relaxed that helped me run fast? It doens’t matter too much of what helped me run fast, it was just nice too run fast and makes me excited for the races I have coming up, including Brisbane!

I won’t be racing at 2:50/km in Brisbane, instead more like 3:30-4:00/km average at times on fire tracks and hills. Hence, I’m well below my ‘speed’ limits and can back myself in if it comes down to a sprint finish. I’m not entirely locked in on my strategy yet at Brisbane but what I tend to, and have been doing the last few races, is start relaxed, work towards a goal (run consistently) and worry about my own effort. If there are people around me to help share the load in the first few km’s excellent, if not, manage my effort early on as if its a TRSA event and enjoy the 1hr40mins-1hr50mins of racing!

Thanks for reading as always, the next blog might be delayed till mid-next week as the travel back from Brisbane plus other work commitments will leave me a little time poor at the start of the week. Until then, have a good week.