Thought for the day

"... if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." Albert Einstein.

Stress is one of the most critical factors in fish health. Only by understanding the effects that stress has on fish, as well as being able to identify and prevent common stresses, can we eliminate this problem. As aquarists, we need to be responsible for the health and welfare of all of our fish. Provide the highest quality water, nutrition, and suitable tank environment. Introduce new fish carefully and always use a quarantine or treatment tank when necessary. If we work hard to reduce the stress in our fish, we can virtually eliminate disease and health problems in our aquarium.
[ http://www.liveaquaria.com/PIC/article.cfm?aid=88]

Operation Lazarus

The first 10 weeks

This graph shows how my aerobic base continues to grow (in line with mileage). Other things being equal, this has always been a reasonable guide to race potential also. The only disappointment so far has been my small (2lb) weight loss, which is surprising given I am consuming far less calories and burning many more. This might be due to me building up muscle mass at the expense of (lighter) fat. My trousers are certainly more comfortable than 10 weeks ago!

Clicking on the above image will enlarge it and increase your viewing pleasure!

The long and the short of it

The comeback is a long-game

Shorter races have never been my favourite, yet somehow I have completed the FVS 3k Relays 5 years in a row now - just goes to show what a team player I am! My time in last Thursday's 2011 iteration was 10:53, somewhat slower than the hoped for 10:40, suggesting that my race-form is a little slower than I thought. Still, it wasn't quite a full-out effort and I am still mindful of the need to enjoy running for its own sake.

My base fitness is still rising steadily and I am confident that by the end of the Summer I will be in respectable shape. Long runs are also continuing to feel easier, even as they gradually increase in distance and hilliness. Yesterday, I was pleased to complete a 14.5M undulating run with reasonable ease.

The hills fill my heart...

... with the sound of music

It's been over a year since I felt up to tackling the hilly long-run routes around Preston/Whitwell, but yesterday I felt brave enough to have another go. Considering the severe undulations (and windy weather) and without straining unduly, I was quite pleased to get around a 12.6 mile circuit a whisker under 7:30 mile-pace. OK, with a similar effort, I was doing near 7:00 mile-pace "back in the day" (early 2010!), but I think this was an important staging post on the journey that is "Project Lazarus".

A tale of two sessions

More encouraging signs

It's always useful to have comparisons of performances over the same training session. This one is particularly encouraging as the first session on 14/6 was a particularly good one at the time, so to have improved significantly from that in a month (with the same level of effort) is good news.

This would equate to approx 10k improvement of about 40 seconds and a 10k time of around 39 min. This is consistent with what I would predict from my aerobic-base analysis. I am happy with this from just 9 weeks of effort and still historically low mileage.

Aerobic base on the move again

After a bit of a dip during June, partly down to a prolongued chesty cold, my fitness now seems to be showing the benefits of a steadily increasing mileage base. My average weekly mileage over the last 6-weeks has been 28. Whilst this is still very modest by historical standards, it is generating better levels of performance than a simlar mileage did 4-5 years ago.


This graphs tracks relationship between effort expended and speed generated over easy-paced, short (<45 mins) runs.





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A long run that DID feel too long!

One swallow does not make a Summer

After last Sunday's long run and no speed-work for a week, one might have expected another feel-good long-effort this week. but alas I ran out of steam on yesterday's long run after about 8 miles. I did manage to get to 12 miles at reduced pace, as I didn't fancy a 4 mile walk home. I think my main problem last week was lack of quality sleep (I must stop falling asleep on the sofa watching TV) and lots of work s***.

P.S - all is not lost however, as despite the above, this was the best long run since my comeback so far, at least in terms of average pace generated in relation to effort expended (average heart-rate). The glass is half-full!

A long run that didn't feel so long

Signs of endurance returning

I have now completed a run of between 9 and 12 miles for 4 consecutive week-ends. Until today, they had all proven quite tough and tiring. In all the runs, my heart-rate has averaged around 145 (80% of max). All previous efforts produced mile-paces between 7:40 and 7:50. Today, with a similar HR-effort, my mile-pace averaged 7:18.

I think the key is that, on previous runs, as well as the return for effort being lower in general, my HR has also risen sharply in the latter stages. Today, I felt comfortable throughout and the HR, apart from the normal up-ward creep over distance, remained stable. I think this is actually the most encouraging workout since my return to running.

Ironically, I almost skipped a long run altogether, as my calf and hamstring muscles have been feeling really tight since Thursday's race. I think leaving it until late on Sunday gave my legs just enough time to recover.

Midweek League 2011

Reflections, 7-weeks into my comeback

Personal - it’s more fun when the only way is up

I’ve completed (and enjoyed!) the final 3 MWL races this year, with 10k times of 42:19, 40:15 and 39:40 (latter projected from St Albans 7M time). This is a good and encouraging return from 7 weeks of effort, especially as I started very much from the basement fitness-wise. I’m still only averaging about 25 miles/week and have only shed about 2lbs so far, so there is lots of scope for future gains.

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The St Albans race-strategy went more-or-less to plan, with a steady first 2 miles, a good effort between 3.0-5.5 and the kitchen sink from 5.5-7.0! As in previous 2011 MWL races, this may not have produced the fastest possible time, but it did ensure that I finished strong and confident and looking forward to the next run.

Team-NHRR – down but not out

Alas, we finished 5th on the night and 5th over the series, which means, after 3 years in Div 1, relegation to Div 2 for 2012. I’m confident we will storm back with immediate promotion next year however! We just were not quite good enough this year in a 3-way battle with FVS and Barnet to avoid the drop. Normally there are 2 relatively weak teams in Div 1, however this year, any one of three teams could have occupied places 3-5. Never mind, because...