MON 27 JAN
PM | 9.1km, 20m VG, 42min – easy/moderate road run

Relatively easy effort afternoon road run (with Jana and Van on the bike next to me). It was a little bit quicker than just cruising, but it was still an aerobic effort and I was very comfortable. We got back from camping late that morning (hence the arvo run), so it was a good chance just to turn the legs over.

TUE 28 JAN
AM | 9.5km, 250m VG, 75min – easy group trail run

Gold Coast Trail Runners’ “Trail Run Tuesday” run. Easy group trail run on mostly singletrack in Nerang NP. Easy pace with lots of breaks, a fun run on an overcast but muggy morning.

WED 29 JAN
PM | 20.0km, 640m VG, 1hr 55min

I decided to do my first night run of the TNF100 training cycle. It was an easy paced, mid-week long run in Nerang NP. I gave the Petzl Nao its first real test and it passed with flying colours - very cool head torch! It was interesting to look at my pace when I got back in front of the PC – the Nao did it’s job as my pace was pretty good given it was dark and on mostly technical terrain. That’s a huge positive.

THU 30 JAN
REST DAY

Boy did I need that sleep in!

FRI 31 JAN
AM | 11.4km, 225m VG, 70min – easy group road run

15min easy solo running before Chisel Runners. Easy paced with lots of breaks.

SAT 1 FEB
AM | 6.3km, 205m, 1hr 30min – coaching (group trail running workshop)

The first Judd Adventures Trail Running Workshop for 2014. This session wasn’t really a training session for TNF100, but I’ll include it anyway as I was in trail shoes and it was still time on feet! Good fun morning, and I (hopefully!) was able to help the group of runners with their trail running.

SUN 2 FEB
AM | 11.7km, 335m, 1hr 55min – group trail run

VERY (very!) relaxed pace for my Sunday run. It was a Gold Coast Trail Runners group run (big group too – 30 odd runners!) at Nerang NP and we ran almost exclusively on singletrack trails. Lots of lengthy breaks to allow the group to regather and a very relaxed pace – overall, a nice Sunday morning with friends!

TOTAL
Running | 68.1km, 1675m VG, 8hr 25min
Cross-training | 0hr 0min
Total time | 8hr 23min

If Saturday and Sunday didn’t give this away, this was an easy recovery week. Lots of group running, which usually means average pace is down – I particularly like this in recovery weeks though as it ensures I don’t overdo it.

I again didn’t tackle a heap of climbing this week (which was, again, intentional), but I will be getting back into it this week. I’ve done 9 weeks of low intensity base training to this point - nearly exclusively aerobic running, with the exception of a few hill climbs here and there. I’m keen to add some solid climbing and a little bit of quicker work in the coming weeks.

As I mentioned last week, I’m going to add a video summary to this post each week, and I’m going to start next week (Week 10 sounds like a nice even number!).

See you out there – Juddy

[ASIDE: Completely off topic – what’s everyone’s opinion on stopping/pausing the GPS watch when running? I don’t stop my GPS at all (it starts when I leave for my run, and stops when I get back) but I’ve noticed, mainly on Strava, that other runners seem to stop their watches for every little break. True, stopping the watch gives a better reflection of your average moving pace (Garmin gives you this anyway), but my feelings are that letting the watch run gives a better overall view of how your run plays out. I’m not judging either way – I’m just interested in the thoughts of other runners around this. FYI – you can follow me on both Garmin and Strava.]