Altitude training

Things have been pretty hectic lately so haven't had a chance to post in a while. Classes are finished for the semester, so I'm working more than I should and revising less than I should and as always spending most of my free time working out.

As I said I would in my last post, I took four days off from running after Sandown and it was a good decision to make:) My leg now feels 100% and I haven't lost any fitness from the downtime. I'm running better than I have in ages. After being denied hill training for a month because of the injury, I'm really enjoying being able to run uphill until my legs launch a lawsuit and feel how easy running on the flat is in comparison. The goal for this week is 120k and I see no issue in reaching that target. Despite what is basically unprecedented mileage for me (I do have one '144k' week in the log from last year, but that was garminless, based on rather optimistically guessing the distance:P), my legs aren't sore or tired at all and I'm hitting some good paces. Did a 'change-er-up-every-30 seconds' progression run up to 17.4kph on the treadmill and felt mostly thrilled with the feeling of going that fast rather than scared of falling off the back of the mill like usual. Would've kept ramping it up, but the treadmill wasn't up for that:P

Coburg Harrier's Bluestone 15k race is this Saturday and I'd like to give it a good crack. It should give me something to aim for the following week at the Aths Vic 15ker round Lake Wendouree.

All the rain in Melbourne this week has caused me a lot of hassle commuting to and from work (2 punctures in 2 days on 2 separate bikes grr!) but it's been great for the ski resorts. Lake Mountain has 45cm of snow! I'm heading up with my dad to see how rusty my skating technique will have become in 3 months:P

RE the title: we had a family vacation up to Dinner Plain (close to Mt hotham) for the long weekend and I definitely felt the effects of the 1500m elevation. First run felt like I couldn't breathe and I went back to bed after lunch dead tired and got another 4 hrs sleep. Great place to run with lots of trails, but after it started snowing on Saturday the lovely gravel track turned into slippery, slushy mud! My run through the bush on Saturday evening brought back some nostalgic memories of Germany as the snow flurry sought to embrace me through my now proven winter jacket.