-
I don’t like running in the morning. Or rather, I don’t like the idea of it. What I really want is to have breakfast first, drink my coffee and then, a couple of hours later, think about exercise. But once the run is done, it feels great - like I’ve earned that big breakfast.
This morning, I went for an easy, scenic 10km run. My legs were still sore from Thursday’s hill session, so I didn’t (and honestly couldn’t) push too hard.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with my progress (112km) in January. I’ve built up mileage quickly, especially considering I was struggling to run 3km at the end of December.
And I snapped a few pics of beautiful Sydney along the way.
-
It’s Thursday, which means hill running day. I can feel the gradual improvement compared to my last two hill runs—I’m feeling much stronger. It’s still tough, but I’m covering more distance and tackling more elevation.
Today I did 12km, 437m elevation. The first 9km, I didn’t switch to walking—I ran all the hills, which is a huge improvement! Looking forward to an easy run on the flats this weekend though!
-
A quick training session tonight: SkiErg, rowing machine, plus some shoulders and arms work.
Went all out on the SkiErg 500m, then rowed 500m too. Hit a PB on the SkiErg at 1:42.7!
Strangely enough, I’m actually looking forward to the hills session tomorrow!
-
Getting used to running hills is definitely going to take some time. Feeling good about building up to running them without needing to switch to walking.
On Thursday, I had a decent go at the hills in my local area. Did 9km in 1h 8m with 307m of elevation. I ran more this time compared to the week before, cutting my walking time down to 7m 24s. Last week, for the same distance, my walking time was 19m 50s, so that’s already solid progress.
Yesterday, I tackled the Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach run and back—on tired legs. There are plenty of hills and steps along that route, adding up to 283m of elevation. It was just over 14km in total. I managed to run all the way to Coogee but walked the hills on the way back. Calves were sore. Legs felt a bit heavy, which makes sense as I’m ramping up both mileage and intensity.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with the progress, but there’s still plenty of hard work ahead before UTA50.
110 days to go!
-
It’s Tuesday - sprint day, yay! I mixed things up a bit this time and here’s how it went:
- 2km warm-up
- 400m x 3
- 200m x 3
- 100m x 3
I hit a PB for the 200m (39.5s @ 3:18 pace) but couldn’t quite beat my PBs for the 400m or 100m, even though it felt like I was flying!
The 400m x 3 was brutal. It’s basically an all-out sprint the whole way.
Next Tuesday, I’m thinking of switching things up again and focusing on training for a 5km PB. The plan:- 2km warm-up
- 1km @ 5:00 pace x 6, with 2 min rest in between
Let’s see how it goes!
-
I took a leg rest day yesterday and today I felt so much better. My legs were much fresher than they were on Tuesday and felt pretty good, especially considering it was hills training today.
Ran 9km with a total of 300m elevation. I couldn’t run all the hills and had to walk about half of them, but I’ll keep pushing!
-
Tough run today. I planned for 7km plus sprints but ended up with just 5km. Everything was sore - feet, calves, hammies, glutes. My energy was low too. It was hot. It was a slog. It wasn’t pretty.
But that’s alright. The main thing is showing up and doing the best I can on the day.
I’ll give my legs a rest tomorrow, then on Thursday, I’ll do some easy hill running/walking. I won’t push it too hard—just easing into the hills.
123 days until UTA50 in the Blue Mountains.
-
Leg day this morning:
- Started with a 1km easy run to warm up
- The leg extensions and leg curls on the machines.
- Lunges, with 2x12kg kettlebells, 40mx2
- Burpee broad jumps, 60m
- Wall balls, 10kg x 30
Slowly building strength back. 💪
-
A short, hilly run near Avalon Beach. Hot, tough but absolutely beautiful.
-
I'm going to miss out on the Sydney Marathon in August as I didn't get an invite 😭. I'll have to find an alternative place to run a marathon. It's a pretty cool experience and wanted to do it again.
Anyway, I just came back from another run. I did the same routine as on Tuesday (6km easy run plus sprints) and somehow got PBs in 400m (1m 19s) and 100m (17.6s). I didn't expect that at all as my legs felt a bit heavy. But here we go. Making progress. Really enjoying the sprints at the moment.
-
Did another body scan, the first since July, just before Hyrox.
As expected, I gained a bit of fat during my trip to Japan. The percentage was probably higher right after the trip but I’ve likely dropped some in the last few weeks of training.
My goal is to get under 15%. It’s been almost a week without snacks or sugar. I stick to breakfast, lunch and dinner. The only thing I allow myself to eat in between is carrots 🥕
-
The journey to UTA50 has just begun! I’m gradually building mileage, adding sprints at the end of sessions and getting used to running on tired legs.
Tonight’s run was an easy 6km at a 6:25 pace, followed by sprints:
400m x 1
200m x 2
100m x 4
I’ll keep track of my progress as I work on improving my speed.
-
I did some sprints over the weekend to remind my body what explosive power feels like. Started with a 2 km warm-up, followed by some stretches and then did 6 x 100m sprints with 90 seconds of recovery in between.
The first couple were at about 80% effort to get the muscles firing, then I pushed hard for the rest. My best time was 18.4 seconds, which works out to a 3:04 pace.
This is already faster than the sprints I did on January 2, where my best was at a 3:23 pace.
Of course, 18 seconds isn’t groundbreaking. Especially considering I used to run 100m in 12 seconds. But that was 20 years ago and I was 25 kg lighter!
Feeling excited to keep tracking my times. I’ll aim to do the same for 200m and 400m next.
-
SkiErg all out, 500m in 1:46 😮💨 A good way to wrap up the day
-
Afraid to look slow on a run? Remember, they don’t know if you’ve run 1km or 50km. You could be an ultra runner and they’re the ones not running.
Keep going. It's your pace, your progress,. your journey. -
First run of 2025 done ✅️
Apparently, there's a claim that "95% of adults over 30 will never sprint again" so I decided to do some sprints today - right after my 5km easy run. I knocked out 100m x 3 and the good news is - no muscles pulled! That feels like a solid start.
I reckon I'll start adding sprints to the end of all my easy runs to keep my muscles active and moving well.
P.S. Day 1 without sugar - so far, so good!
-
867km in 2024!
That’s about 17km a week on average—nice but time to step it up next year!
-
Back from Balmoral! Spent some time walking the hills, followed by a swim—perfect weather for it.
I found a great hill to practise on for the UTA50 in May. It’s 500m long with a 70m elevation gain. I did 3 reps today, which added up to 200m elevation.
Considering the UTA50 involves over 2km of elevation, I’m thinking a solid training session could be a 1km run plus 500m hill up and down x 10 times. That would work out to about 20km total with 700m elevation.
Definitely aiming to tackle this in March or April!
-
The first workout after a 4-week break and being sick - definitely felt the drop in fitness but the goal today was just to push through the Hyrox stations at around 70% effort.
Session Summary
Total Time: 1h 2m
Calories Burned: 730
Workout Breakdown- 1km easy run
- SkiErg: 500m
- Sled Push: 180kg, 40m
- Sled Pull: 140kg, 40m
- Burpee Broad Jumps: 40m
- Rowing: 500m
- Farmer’s Carry: 20kg x 2, 100m
- Lunges: 24kg, 20m
- Wall Balls: 7kg x 20
- 1km easy run
Happy to have completed it - just building back step by step!
-
Went for an "easy" 3km run today. After three weeks off—thanks to holidays, being sick, and enjoying way too many snacks in Japan—I’ve definitely lost some fitness. Oh, and I gained an extra 3kg of "holiday goodness."
The first few runs and workouts after a break always feel tough, like you’ll never get back to where you were. But it’s just temporary. I love the grind. Step by step, you get better than the week before.
Next up: UTA50 - an ultramarathon in the Blue Mountains this May. Time to focus on leg strength and hill training. Bring it on!
