6km Aerobic Base Run + Kettlebells

AM:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/146040034

Distance:	6.32 km
Time:	34:02
Avg Pace:	5:24 min/km

Avg HR: 149 (81%)
Max HR: 162 (88%)

Tried to stick to 145 - 150 HR today, so was a touch slower than yesterday. Feeling pretty good, muscle a bit tight from last nights gym session.

PM:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/146085248

Warm up jog on the treadmill - trying out the new foot pod. I haven't calibrated it, but it's pretty cool. Will be interesting to see my cadence on outdoor runs.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/146085250

Strength Conditioning:


20kg KB - 5 rds. 
Left side 5 x swing, 5x jerk, 5 x goblet squat; 
Right side 5 x swing, 5x jerk, 5 x goblet squat 30 sec rest


10:09
Avg HR: 156 (84%)
Max HR: 179 (97%)


Pretty short, but pretty intense. Knew the shoulders wouldn't handle many reps of a 20kg bell, so shortened the reps. Didn't feel like doing anything after this. Haven't had such an anaerobic workout in ages.


Core:


2 x 25 Sit ups
2 x 15 Leg Raises
2 x 12 Back extensions

6km Aerobic Base Run + Strength

AM:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/145805120

Distance:	6.31 km
Time:	32:04
Avg Pace:	5:05 min/km

Avg HR: 152 (82%)
Max HR: 166 (90%)

Feeling 99% there now. Was scheduled for a 25min run, but decided to go for around 30mins instead. Trying so very hard to keep some level of restraint so I don't do damage again. First few k felt very easy and was really surprised to see I'd done a 4:55 second k. Looking at the HR graph you can see that the first half is easier than the second despite the quicker times. I assume that this is because its slightly downhill.

Read a good article on consistency as a goal here http://www.runningtechniquetips.com/2012/01/consistency-in-running/ Which ties in to my goals for this year and reinforces the need to hold back more often than not.

PM:

Strength:
3 x 10 Single Leg Squats (8kg KB)
3 x 8 Bench Press (55kg inc. bar)
3 x 8 Deadlift (60kg not inc. bar)
3 x 10 Kneeling Row (15kg DB)
3 x 8 Lateral Raises (8kg DB's)

Aerobic:
20min Elliptical Trainer

Avg HR: 121 (65%)

Run 30min

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/145037071

Distance:	5.97 km
Time:	34:00
Avg Pace:	5:43 min/km

Avg HR: 142 (77%)
Max HR: 170 (92%)

Was up early for a dawn run (7:15am) just as the sun comes up. Ran with a 69 year old Korean marathon runner for the first half at an easy pace of around 5:35 before turning back at 5:15ish pace, So average pace for the 30mins was 5:24min/km. Very nice to be running with someone else for a change and to not be thinking about how my legs are feeling and just having a cool, easy rhythm.

Shin feeling heaps better for the majority, tiny bit of tightness towards the end. Next week - consecutive days!

40min Indoor Cycle

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/144883243

4 x 4min effort/3min recovery
Avg HR: 117 (63%)
Max HR: 153 (83%)

Broke up the monotony of the indoor bike. Not super hard, but the legs certainly feel it.

Core:
3 x 1min Plank
12, 10, 8 V-ups
2 x 25 Incline sit ups

Run 25min + KB + 30min Indoor Cycle

AM:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/144639660

Distance:	5.32 km
Time:	29:00
Avg Pace:	5:27 min/km

Avg HR: 152 (82%)
Max HR: 161 (87%)

Shin actually felt like it was very close to being back to normal! Left calf still feels weird but not affecting yet. Muscles are a bit dead from last nights strength but didn't really affect anything too much.

PM:

Strength conditioning:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/144690706

12kg KB: Right arm swing, press, overhead squat x 8

                Left arm swing, press, overhead squat x 8

                Rest approx 30sec

                Repeat x 5

Avg HR: 145 (78%)

Max HR: 169 (91%)

5 rounds this week. Next time maybe I'll do the swings with 20kg and the rest with 12kg. Not strong enough to do the pressing and OH squats with 20 yet. I love the HR data pattern that this workout makes.

Aerobic: 30min Indoor Cycle

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/144690708

Avg HR:129 (70%)

Max HR:157 (85%)

What can you say about indoor cycling? Did a couple of 30sec efforts at the end to ease some boredom.

Strength + 20min Treadmill

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/144466383

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/144466384

20min Treadmill Recovery Pace
Avg HR: 134 (72%)

Felt pretty good after massage today, calf a bit weird still. Chiro/osteopath did an assessment and basically said strengthen and stretch. Wasn't worried about my joints or alignment.

Strength
Smith rack squat: 3 x 8 @ 40kg (not counting bar)
Bench Press: 3 x 8 @ 55kg
Deadlift: 2 x 8, 1 x 10 @ 40kg (not counting bar)
Bent over row: 2 x 10 @ 19kg
Lateral Raises: 3 x 10 @ 6kg

Walk 2min/Run 20min/Run 10min

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/144182289

Distance:	6.37 km
Time:	36:00
Avg Pace:	5:40 min/km

Avg HR: 146 (79%)
Max HR: 172 (93%)

Tried to run by feel and held a 5:19 pace for 20mins. Second interval of 10 min pushed it a bit harder fo about 5mins and held 5:05. Just a little bit of tightness remaining at the moment so am pretty happy with that. Felt like I could have done the whole 30mins without breaking to stretch, but was helpful to do so.

Walk 2min/Run 15min

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/143562407

Distance:	6.05 km
Time:	34:00
Avg Pace:	5:36 min/km

Avg HR: 142 (77%)
Max HR:162 (88%)

Felt better for the most part of it but got a bit a sharp pain here and there later in the run. Still some tightness but nowhere near as bad. Had massage yesterday - have another session Wednesday coming. Hope to get some deep fascial stuff done soon..

Another point of interest was that due to the cold I covered the Garmin and didn't refer to it for pacing at all during the run, just tried to keep a nice easy pace. Funnily enough I covered 2.91k at 5:09 pace and 2.9 at 5:10 pace for each 15min. That was at an average HR of about 150 I reckon. A long way to go to get my fitness up to where I want it.

BCAA drink post run - about 18g carbs too.

Racked up a massive 20k of running this week. Did 50mins indoor cycle and 2 strength workouts. Its a start  I guess.

Walk 2min/Run 12min

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/143075450

Distance:	7.61 km
Time:	42:00
Avg Pace:	5:30 min/km

Avg HR:	148 (80%)
Max HR:	172 (93%)

Feeling substantially better in the shins after yesterdays massage session. Still some lingering tightness but took a lot longer to come on. Another session tomorrow will hopefully clear it up more. Focused on pulling the hamstrings up and getting the foot a bit higher on the pull through which definitely increases pace, but also increases HR. Held 4:57 pace for the last 12min which was often pushing down towards 4:30. really want to be able to hold 4:30's at about 145 HR.

Funnily enough my shin felt much better doing this as it felt like I wasn't having to drive using my feet/calves as much. If I can use that technique more at an easier pace I think I will become more efficient. Left calf is still bothering me a bit - will see what chiro says tomorrow. Pretty happy though.

10min Kettlebells + 20min Indoor Cycle

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/142894349

Strength conditioning:

12kg KB: Right arm swing, press, overhead squat x 8

                Left arm swing, press, overhead squat x 8

                Rest approx 30sec

                Repeat x 4

Aerobic conditioning: 

20min "fartlek" bike

Avg HR: 140 (76%)

Max HR: 169 (91%)

Fairly solid session despite it being quite short. Haven't used kettlebells for a long time. Interesting to look at the heart rate data and see how it has the same pattern but increases each round. Next time should push out 5 rounds and then work up to 20kg KB.

Went to Itaewon to see a chiropracter/possible ART practitioner about the shin. Ended up just getting a fairly gentle massage for 30mins on calves and shins but seems to have loosened up the muscles so will see how that goes tomorrow. Have another appointment on Saturday I think to do the glutes/piriformas and see how the shin pulled up. If no good may get 'Rolfed' which sounds kind of weird but is apparently fairly hardcore. Was thinking I might just need more rest, but am now feeling a bit more optimistic. Could all change tomorrow.

2min Walk/10min Run + Strength

AM:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/142628258

Distance:	6.30 km
Time:	36:00
Avg Pace:	5:43 min/km

Starting to feel slightly better. Didn't feel too tight until about 5min in, then used the walk breaks to try and stretch my shin out which helped. Held reasonable pace, around 5ish min k's when running. Have a bit of concern with the medial left tibial area, bit sore on the bone which I've just started to feel, nothing too bad at this stage.

PM:

Strength:

Squat (smith rack): 2 x 8 @ 40kg (plates only measured)
Bench Press: 3 x 8 @ 50kg (bar included)
Deadlift: 3 x 8 @ 40kg (plates only measured)

30min Indoor Cycle:

Avg HR: 121 (65%)
Max HR 136 (74%)

I'm going to be in pain tomorrow. My legs felt like cramping at the end of the first set of squats. We've only got a smith rack and a mini barbell for the deadlifts so unsure what the bar weighs there. Gym also has a really dodgy cushiony type floor for the free weights area which should make any heavier lifting a bit shitty.

2min Walk/8min Run

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/141716757

Distance:	5.09 km
Time:	30:00
Avg Pace:	5:53 min/km

After three acupuncture treatments and stretching and rolling and taping the shin still feels pretty crap. Not so terrible that I'm in pain, but it would go that way if I ran much more. I still am tending towards the belief that there's some major calf adhesions deep down, so I'm really going to try and hammer them with the baseball.

40min Indoor Cycle

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/141423101

Avg HR: 131 (71%)
Max HR: 155 (81%)

Had a body comp analysis done. About 15% body fat, pretty much all around my gut. When I get back to Australia I'll have a proper stab at fixing my diet.

40min Indoor Cycle

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/141230242

Avg HR:128 (69%)
Max HR:160 (86%)

Strength:

Bench press 40kg: 8, 10, 10
Row 20kg: 10
Row 30kg: 10, 10

Finally joined the gym here after looking through the windows for 6 weeks. Avg HR during the cycle was more around 140bpm, but I left the timer on whilst doing the sets of weights. Pretty boring session but got some aerobic work done. Just trying to get my body used to some resistance work. My ass is sore from yesterdays squats.

I've planned out my next 6 weeks of running - the plan is to hold back and go slow with the running and try and build fitness and strength in the gym. Acupuncture is virtually free here for me now, so will be utilising that as much as possible.

2km Recovery Pace/Still injured

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/140963760

Distance:	2.14 km
Time:	12:21
Avg Pace:	5:46 min/km

 Left shin was uncomfortable from the start so just stopped early. Very, very frustrating as I know its as a result of jumping in too quickly. Going to try and run the cold water on it more today, the water here is like ice and stings, and go have another acupuncture session.

Strength: 3 x 10 single leg squats each leg, Push up pyramid - 12, 17, 20, 17, 12 (78)

8km Aerobic Base Run

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/140457208

Distance:	8.51 km
Time:	45:23
Avg Pace:	5:21 min/km

Yesterday I went out and bought a baseball and rolled the hell out of my calves and, too a lesser degree, my shins, quads and hammies. I also taped my shins with the KT tape as well as my right calf. Woke up without any discomfort and headed off for a run thinking that if I felt any pain I'd just can it for the day.

So for the first three, slow, k's I felt pretty good and then just started to feel my shin tighten, but was nothing compared to what I've had in the past. Tried to shift how my foot was working and even had some minor improvement when driving off the ball of my foot. All in all, it's an improvement at least. 

Later in the day I went to the oriental medicine clinic and got some acupuncture on the calves and shins. The dr pointed out that my right foot turns massively inwards when I'm lying on my back, something that a few people have pointed out. I went with the wife who translated and took photos. Hopefully with the acupuncture, baseball torture and stretching I'll get back to pain free running sooner rather than later.

Cupping pink legs

Also did push up pyramid: 10, 15, 20, 15, 10. 

8km Aerobic Base Run

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/139802976

Distance:	8.28 km
Time:	44:23
Avg Pace:	5:21 min/km

Second consecutive run which was a mistake really. Right shin this time pulled up sore after yesterday but was ok for first few k's today. Stretched the calves at about 6.5k which helped a little so am thinking it could be really tight soleus, who knows? I had taped both shins but didn't help, will continue to stretch and roll and tape. Still good to get out. Did 65k this week of which 21k was actual road running at a reasonable pace, the rest was trail run and hike.

8km Aerobic Base Run

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/139462762

Distance:	8.69 km
Time:	50:13
Avg Pace:	5:46 min/km

Just wanted to get out and run on a flat no-brainer surface and take it easy. Mostly I achieved this, apart from a small 100m hill in the middle which had a few stairs and a bit of trail. Paused to have a bit of a look around at the top. Enjoyable run, felt a bit tired by the end, but was otherwise able to hold 5:10ish pace reasonably easy.

Finished with 2 x 20 push ups, 2 x 50 sit ups.

My recovery drink here. Ion supply drink.

25km Trail Run/Hike

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/139029776

Distance:	26.07 km
Time:	4:38:40
Avg Pace:	10:43 min/km
Elevation Gain:	1,476 m

Big, big effort in the mountains today. GPS went weird again at the beginning so I think it added about 600m. Ran where I could but there is so much up and down I was hiking more than running. A long time out on the feet. Only took 300ml water, a sweet potato and some chocolate. the water was icing up half way through. Great views from the final peak (Sirubong 582m) but was unable to take any photos because the iPhone doesn't work in the cold. Only got one photo from an earlier peak.

Paekunsan 567m.

Feeling pretty shattered. Have been running 4 days in a row, but interspersed with a lot of hiking. I've done 50k which is completely the wrong thing to do coming back from a break, have sort of been easing into it the last few weeks. Mostly feel ok.

7km Trail Run

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/138782390

Distance:	7.34 km
Time:	1:04:48
Avg Pace:	8:49 min/km
Elevation Gain:	388 m

Another exploration of the hills behind us here. I've decided this particular trail is for shorter days, there's not really that much up there. I was hoping that I'd be able to link the trails behind with some of the trails further away creating a big loop across what I see as three separate groups of mountains. Good to get out in the cold. It was quite a sharp incline to get up to the ridge and had the HR very high on a number of occasions. Gotta be doing something for my fitness and my muscles.

View from today. I got lost on the other side of those big tanks
the other day. This is taken from a cemetery in the hills, there are
many, many of these around the place.

Attempted some pull ups but only manged three, attempted a dip and my tricep felt like it was going to cramp. Finished with 2 x 50 sit ups, 2 x 25 elevated push ups.

10km Trail Run

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/138526557

Distance:	10.57 km
Time:	1:38:50
Avg Pace:	9:23 min/km
Elevation Gain:	723 m

Solid 10k of which about 3.5k was on road (beginning and end). Some big hills to climb which had the HR right up. Managed to loop a few trails together to create a decent run. First time using the course feature on the Garmin which was handy.

About 100m from the highest point it started snowing lightly which was very nice. By the time I got home it was snowing pretty heavily so there is a bit more snow on the ground again. Also went by some kind of secure installation which I think might be a military base, razor wire everywhere and CCTV. Funny, there was razor wire across one part of the trail which is quite obviously ignored as there was multiple tracks around it.

Fortification and bunker on the ridge line.

Not sure what's behind the fence, but it is well protected.
It's a double layer of fencing with razor wire.

And a video of some of the snow at Gaksabong (540m):

5km Aerobic Base Run

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/138182374

Distance:	5.22 km
Time:	27:02
Avg Pace:	5:10 min/km
Elevation Gain:	31 m
Calories:	408 C
Avg Temperature:	-2.0 °C

First run for 2012. Flat track, looped around just out the front of our place. GPS was a bit all over the place so think it's overestimated the pace. I've estimated it was more like 5:25 pace. Legs felt ok, a bit tight. Left outside calf pulled up a bit sore after the hike down the mountain the other day in the Minimus which is something different. New years resolution is to try and be consistent. That means warming up and trying to stick to some kind of strength work, as well as consistently running - not having one good month followed by one shit one. Which was how it panned out in 2011.

Finished with sit ups - 2 x 40, 1 x 20, and push ups 2 x 20, 1 x 10

2011 Stats

Running: 2207 km

                198 hrs 13mins 13 sec

Cycling: 713 km

               38 hrs 21 mins 20 sec

Hiking: 85 km

              18 hrs 43 mins 22 sec

Total leg powered activity: 3007km

                                             255 hrs 39 mins 34 sec

Its pretty low volume by distance running standards, so consistent volume is certainly a priority. I don't have natural speed so I need to get that endurance up so I can move a bit quicker for a bit longer.

And finally, I think this song is the one I listened to most in 2011. It's Britney bitch.