Week 8

The Summer Day

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead 

of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and 

complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly 

washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll 

through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

—Mary Oliver

It has now been 2 months of training and just under 3 months to go before Ultra-trail Australia 100 at Katoomba

The hours on the feet and the distances are beginning to edge up but only slightly . This week we start back to back to back runs on the weekends and After 8weeks of training and trying to follow a sort of Paleo diet , there are some results. I have kept to about 30% carbohydrates, 25% protein and 45% fat diet but not religiously and have succeeded in getting the carbohydrates mainly from fruit and vegetables and milk and cheese products.I started weighing in at about 75.5kgs at the beginning of the year and I now weigh 70.5kgs and on Tuesday 16 February I actually weighed in at 68.8kgs , the lowest I have been for 5 years . Zach Bitter wrote in his blog a short piece on how everyone is different and the polarizing views on diets and food choices.I agree .

 One thing that is clear to me in life is that there are very few topics more polarizing than nutrition. It seems like the more we know the more polarizing and hot the debates become.

The topic of nutrition has been a very intriguing one for me over the past few years as my approach is quite different than most, and with it, has cast me into a variety of categories. Categories such as: high fat low carb, paleo, primal, ancestral, etc... Some of these categories are a stretch for sure, while others have some clear nutritional similarities in what I feel is ideal for my lifestyle.

Healthy curiosity and "The Diet Wars" Posted on February 17, 2016 by Zach Bitter


The week starts off easy as I had a rest day on Monday self imposed after the weekend.

Tuesday , an easy run on the tread mill for 50 minutes with a 7minute per km pace building to 6.10 for 8km in 50 minutes .I then rode to cross fit and did a 30 minute session with :

1. squats with a light 25kg weight , 
2. medicine ball push ups ,
3. hollow rocks and
4. lunges (both legs ) with 10kg bar push press 

all done on 2 minutes with a minute rest between .

Wednesday .It was suppose to be an easy run but I did the Thursday's session 93 minutes of some speed work .15 minutes warm up and then 5 x 10 minutes at between 5 to 5.10 minutes per km pace with 2-3 minutes recovery run and a 15 minute cool down at the end. I ran to work and did the session deviating a round 2 parks to make the run last longer and ended up doing just under 16km in 95 minutes Hardest run so far because of the intensity of the 10 minutes and my HR was definitely in the 150s

In the evening I started to do an FTP test to see what my maximum threshold on the bike was but only managed to cycle for 35 minutes before the legs were just tiring.

Thursday, Just an easy 50 minute run on the tread mill again but with a really humid gym .I mixed up the session with easy 7 and 6 minute pace and then 2kms at 4.5 % @6.30 pace and some short runs at 5 min pace for a total of 7km. In the evening I missed Cross fit so just had a rest.



The Ingenuous Choice - Mountain Running with Anton Krupicka from Outdoor Live on Vimeo.

How to Get Motivated

Friday. I had an easy session just running in the evening for 1 hour slow covering 8kms along the Swan River and over the new Elizabeth Quay.

Saturday.No riding but a 2.5 hr run along the coast to star swamp and then a run around the  trails and then back to Sorrento .I managed 20kms in 2.5 hrs and felt reasonably fine possibly as there wasn't much elevation.(Only 140m) The test is tomorrow running after Saturday's run and backing up.
 

Jason and Al ahead

The terrain

Power lines at the end of the longest hill climb on Sunday's run

Sunday .Overcast skies but was humid .We started off at Kalamunda at 6 am and there was just 3 of us doing a 3 hour run and 2 doing a 2 hour run. An easy slow walk down to the trails and then just lots and lots of running  up and down the trails . There were a few steep climbs and a really steep descent which cause me to fall but not badly. The pea gravel and sandy soil were a good combination for a slippery track. Not many people out today and saw 3 mountain bikers 2 who looked like they had just climbed the steepest hill we encountered and were walking down .The legs held up well despite the run yesterday and I managed 17km in 3.10hr. Not the fastest time but still standing at the end .

This week I had a rest day on Monday and finished with :

About 76 kms of running in 10 hours , biking 2 hrs , cross fit 1 hr .
Total 13 hours