Last one for the year

I wont bore you with a 07 review just yet, that will come next year :-)

I think I have a case of insomnia, can you get an acute case of this?? unsure, but whatever it is it's driving me crazy. Saturday morning I woke up at 1.30 am and couldn't go back to sleep instead I watched Foxtel until 5 am, learning all about how they made that 7 Star hotel in Dubai and the construction of the Queen Mary 2, pretty interesting but not something I wanted to do at time of morning.

I did manage a bit of a kip throughout the day but had a damn headache aswell, I finally got rid of it and later that evening felt good enough to go for a run. I decided to try some music for a change, and to be honest I really enjoyed it. I did seem to get excited when some good tunes come on though and found myself running a pace that really isn't that ideal for training and had to slow myself.

Anyway I clocked another 10k around the neighbourhood and was much easier than the previous 10k I did. It was also 1 minute quicker finishing it in 44.05 (4.25/k).

About an hour later my headache returned, I did sleep better that night but woke up with really sore eyes or rather eye area. It hurts when I need to turn my head and bright lights also annoy me. It feels like someone has punched me and my eye sockets are bruised, I also have sensitive skin on parts of my body aswell. Could this be a migraine or some sort of sinus thing?? I dont have any other symptoms though.

I hope it disappears soon in any case as it is driving me insane, well thats enough of me whinging, I hope in the next few days I can get out there and actually have something decent to write about.

Have a great New Year, dont get too drunk :-)

Too tired!

Wednesday I headed out for a jaunt around the neighbourhood, the legs felt fresh so I decided on 10k for the afternoon. I dusted off the garmin which I haven't used for some months and set off. Nothing out of the ordinary went on, the weather was a little humid with a slight drizzle of rain every now and then. After about 5k it began to be a tough slog and there was a battle going on in my mind to cut it short at 8k. Not sure why I felt like that must have been the lazy festive days catching up with me anyway I continued on and clocked 10k up for the afternoon.

These are the splits for the run:

4.34, 4.23, 4.23, 4.28, 4.23, 4.31, 4.30, 4.33, 4.36, 4.43. = 45.04

Today I was planning to go to the Fatass run at Mt Nebo, I did it last year and it was a good run. The weather was forecasted to be average but I was still going to venture out. I had all my stuff ready for the early morning and went to bed. I had trouble getting to sleep so I began watching TV hoping I would begin to feel tired. It worked, however after I nodded off the little man decided he didn't want to sleep in his bed anymore and wanted to sleep with us. The night continued in a downward spiral as Sam rolled around all night keeping me awake, the neighbours then decided to start screaming at each other around 1 am and then some bright sparkes set off fireworks at 3am sending the dogs crazy.

My alarm was set for 3.45, I'm guessing, but I dont think I had more than 1.5 hrs of unbroken sleep for the night so the last thing I felt like doing was running 24k. To my disappointment I couldn't drag myself out there.

Change of subject I found a cheap running pram on the internet the other day, it is new so hopefully it is not too dodgy and I will be able to take Sam for a few sessions with me. I have been looking at buying one for a while but didn't want to spend a whole heap of cash and find Sam hates it. It should arrive next week so I will have plenty of time to trick it up and make it fast while I am holidays :-) Here's a pic.

Merry Christmas

I have been lying low for the past few days, I began my holidays as of last Thursday and dont return back to work until the 29 Jan 08. Wooohoo!

We are having a small family gathering for Christmas which seems unusual as it is usually quite hectic. In saying that I will have plenty of time to get my arse out the door and make 2008 a better year for training.

I haven't set goals yet that will come in a later post but I want to complete a marathon in 08.

In the coming few days there is the Fats festive fatass run at Mt Nebo, I would like to do this but my wife is working, unless she can start work 15 minutes later to drop the little man off at daycare this will be a non event for me. Fingers crossed.

Anyway just a quick post, Merry Christmas to everyone, hopefully everyone got what they wished for and more. Stay safe!

Post Kurrawa

Suprisingly I wasn't that sore after Sunday and was actually capable of running 5k the following morning. This week I have just taken it easy as I don't want to get stuck into serious training too soon as I will get injured. So this week has been three days of running, approximately 5-7k each session.

This morning I went to the gym and ran 5k on the tready in 20.44, then done 15 minutes on the spin bike and rowed 1500m on the rowing machine. It was quite tough and with no air con, just the fans that the larger bodied people hog, it was like a sauna.

Anyway I got through it and went back to work for a few hours and knocked off at lunch. I like the time around Christmas plenty of early days.

Sunday I have my 2nd Christmas function for work and we are all heading to Bribie Island for some water skiing and relaxation on the bay. Should be a good day, however before I head there I was thinking that I might venture to BRRC, apparently there is a 15k run being held, I might even try and drag my Kurrawa partner there aswell.

Last thing before I go, the results are up for the race last Sunday and we actually came 5th out of 47 teams. Very happy with that result in an official time of 3.56.24 for 50k.

Kurrawa 2 Duranbah

I got through it is one piece today, I am somewhat tight but very suprised as to how good I am feeling, I was expecting a grim afternoon.

Anyway we didn't hang around for too long after the event, the early morning start and the hot day in the car for my pit crew takes it toll. I wanted to get back so Cass can get a power nap in before going to work. I will catch up with some of the Brisbanites probably at Mt Nebo later in month.

As I said in the last post I got the first leg, 5am start with great weather, towards the end of the stint I found it rather hot but alot easier than last years 2nd leg. Prior to the run I had a good breakfast which I feel helped alot throughout the race as I only had 1/4 of a banana and a few sips of powerade to see me through.

With no idea what I was capable of I set off at a easy pace, I remained relaxed and was sort of shuffling, keeping the feet low to the ground. I found this help in keeping the legs from conking out too early however they did give up around the 18 -19 k mark. From there onto the finish I done the walk / run thing, I didn't want to but I had nothing left and after a 30 sec walk I could set out at a decent pace for 5 minutes or so until I needed to rest again.

It seemed to work, and with about 40k of training in the last month, I managed to bet last years time by 6.30 crossing the change over point in around 2.02.30

My partner set off a cracking pace and by the time I hopped back into the car and drove looking for him he had already covered 6k. By about the 15k mark the heat was taking it's toll but he battled on and continued to run fairly strong. He has been training well for this event but not much prepares you for a 25k run in the heat. He wanted sub 1.50 but managed 1.53.48 which means that our total time for the event came under 4 hrs, at around 3.57.

We are pretty happy with result as we beat last years time by around 14 minutes, hopefully we will be able to run this again next year with both of us achieving sub 2hrs.

I think I am in Trouble!

And no it is not because I have been absent from blogland for 3 months.

I have been in Vic for the past 2 1/2 months and whilst I was down there I received an email from my mate who was going to be relay partner for kurrawa. He said in the email that he was unable to go now as he has just been told that he was going to be deployed to Afghanistan.

I thought okay no worries I will give it a miss as I hadn't had much time to train anyway. Anyway only three weeks ago I receive another email from the same person saying that he's back and is not being deployed and that he is keen to give Kurrawa a crack again this year.

Shit!

I had dropped my bundle weeks ago and have only been doing enough training to keep the ticker from ceasing up.

I arrived home last week and 3 days after I returned I ended up catching a viral thingy that caused me almost 5 days of grief, to an extent that I was sent home from work.

Therefore my training has been pretty much this week only with 3 runs under the belt that have been above 10k. Yesterday I ran for an 1hr covering 13.5k which was my last one before the big race.

My partner has been training pretty consistantly for the past few months and is hoping he can go under 1.50 for the 25k. Myself on the other will again let the team down and will be glad to just finish. Fortunately it is my turn to do the 1st leg so the heat wont affect me as much this year.

It will be interesting and I think I will be one sorry customer come 7am or thereabouts Sunday morning. If anyone can send me some fitness it will be appreciated :)

Peace out!

King of the Hill........Well Almost!

Month - 18k
YTD - 603.5k


Yesterday was the annual King of the Hill race at work. We have the pleasure of having a rather large and nasty hill on the barracks called Mount Enoggera that many sadistic trainers conduct physical training up.

There was not much hype or build up for the race as many are being deployed overseas but when our unit arrived at the start there were at least 200 people all keen to run. Well that's a lie but the numbers aren't.

I have been fairly consistant with my training since arriving home from Victoria but still 5 weeks of training is not much to bank a good result on.

I had my doubts as to how I was going to go, and with the signs of the flu coming on I knew it was going to be tough.

The race began and I got a good position and set off with the early leaders, the pace was nothing to begin with but slowly increased which was still comfortable. The distance was 4.1k which was about 1-1.5 k of undulating terrain followed by the ascent of Mt Enoggera.

By the time we reach the begining of the climb there was 4 of us which then quickly turned to 3. The leader of the small pack slowly made his move early it wasn't anything major but something I wasn't keen on countering this early.

I slowly but surely made my way up the first but steepest section to be now in 2nd position. There was still a long way to go and I didn't want to burn out too early. I tried keeping the gap to the leader below 50m which also started putting more distance between myslef and the 3rd placed runner.

About 3/4 into the climb it really gets tough not as steep as the first section but by this stage it sure feels alot tougher. I wasn't running real quick but the leader wasn't going that good either. I decided to have a breather and started walking, or rather power walking. This was still hard going but I was able to catch my breath a little. It wouldn't have been anymore than 30 secs but the 3rd placed runner caught back up to me.

At this stage I knew what we had left and the fact that the guy that was next to me had to run all the way so far just to stay in touch left me feeling pretty good. I came to the conclusion that first place was not going to happen today but I certainly wanted 2nd place. As soon as he reached me and overtook me that was my que to begin running again. The rest done wonders and I had a second wind, I overtook him and settled into a quicker pace than what I had been doing.

I could now see the tower that is at the top of the hill along with the wiches hats and marshalls lining the finishing shute. It was about 500m to go and I stepped up the pace. My legs were burning and my lungs were screaming for me to stop. I dug deep and was putting quite a big gap between myslef and 3rd place. I must of broken his spirit and he had slowed considerably. I gained quite abit of time on the last section on the leader aswell but he had established the winning margin earlier in the race.

I crossed the line in 2nd place in a time of 20.03 with first place posting 19.50. I am unsure of the 3rd place time as I was having trouble standing and breathing at that stage.

I am pretty pleased with how I ran considering the lack of training and to further add to my confidence the winner is the current Australian Defence Force 1/2 marathon champion and runner up for the Marathon posting a time at last years GC Marathon of 2.44.

Admitedly he has been injured and is just strating to get back into training but I am still pretty chuffed to be close to his level at my current fitness level aswell.

Group Interval Session

Month - 7k
YTD - 592.5k


I ventured down to the track Thursday night to take part in the track session conducted by the Run Inn. I haven't been for a while and it was good to see some of the usuals along with some new people still training hard.

Whilst the fellas that usually take the session weren't there one of the regulars received a text message of what the session should be and gave us a good workout. The night consisted of a 1200, 1000, 800, 600, and 400m reps with about 2 mins jog recovery between them all.

Although I found it a tough session my recovery was pretty good which enabled me to post similar times to what I normally did when I was training abit more. The night panned out like this;

1200m - 3.56
1000m - 3.19
800m - 2.40
600m - 2.02
400m - 1.13

Today - I have just returned from a jog with the pram. Sam is beginning to like this alot more, and as soon as he sees the pram he gets excited and starts to climb in. It was just a regular neighbourhood jaunt probably around 4.45 pace for approx 35 mins.

On another note, I have been religious in watching the athletics and on some nights I have struggled to sit up, however it has been a great championship and I am disappointed that it is almost over. It was a great win this morning by Nathan Deakes and I can't wait for Mottrams race. There has been many highlights and I agree with Ewen, the 10000m race was one of the best I have seen in a while.

That's all for now until next time...........

Heading off again!

Month - 37k
YTD - 578.5k


Apart from work PT I didn't do too much last week. With work being quite busy and the good downpours Brisbane has received it was a good oportunity to make the most of the ending winter season and do nothing apart from lounging around.

Although I have enjoyed the lazy few weeks I got the guilts and on Saturday headed out for a run . I have noticed that my fitness during the PT sessions at work is poor so I really need to get my act together. I took Sam in his pram for 4k and each dog on a 2k run. In total 8k @ 5min/k pace.

Sunday I had to work but had today off. I headed to the local grass track which is about 2k away. I used that as a warm up and then came up with an short interval session. I completed a 1k, 800m, 600m, and 400m reps before heading home using the 2k as the cool down. The reps were run at 3.20 - 3.30/k pace with a lap recovery between the longer reps and 200m between the two shorter ones.

Felt pretty uncomfortable but it was something I needed.

At this stage I am heading back down to Wodonga in October with the first weekend being the Melbourne Marathon weekend. I am thinking on doing the half, taking it alot easier than usual. I am putting off entering at the moment just in case the course gets cancelled however if it doesn't I will be there.

Thats all for now, time to assume the position in front of the telly for the athletics.

Nice to be back!

Month - 17k
YTD - 563.5k

I arrived home almost two weeks days ago leaving probably the most boring place in this country. I can't believe I actually lived there for almost three years and didn't go insane. It probably didn't help that I had no car, no TV and living in a room with 3 other blokes. Certainly not the ideal situation to be in, anyway Im back and loving the 'normal' weather again.

Wodonga is situated about 70k from Falls creek in Vic, so as you can imagine it is quite chilly. The combination of the weather and the amount of after hours study, my training was almost non existant.

In the 4 weeks I was away for I managed 2 x 5k runs and a 7k jaunt. I did have plans to run at Noosa this weekend but I have decided to forget about it this year.

Since I have been back I have ran 3 times ranging from a 2.4k run completing it in 8.40 which I was very suprised with, with the others around 6 -7 k.

Last week our workshop headed for a day at Mt Warning, a nice track of about 8.8k in total. The last section is very steep which has a chain rail to help you up to the look out. The scenery fom the top is awesome where you can see Brunswick Heads and Cape Byron.

On the return leg a couple of us decided to run back down as walking takes too long and there was a BBQ waiting for us. To be honest I wish I hadn't run down as that and the follow day PT session took it's toll on my knees. To much downhill running on very little exercise lately has caused my right knee the one I had an operation on to be a little sore.

I also just found out that I may have to return to Victoria for another course, hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will get confirmation about this so I can organise my life and more importantly some running events :-) This time it is two months however the weather should be alot better in Oct-Dec for some training in prepartion for my only race I have penciled in for the remainder of the year, Kurruwa.

I am also due for posting at the end of the year and just found out if the Army was transferring me to another place or keeping me here. I asked to stay for another stint in Brisbane which they kindly gave me. I am now staying to Jan 2010 which the family is very happy about.

That's about it, I have been reading and catching up on the goss however I haven't commented yet. Good luck to those running this weekend.

Until next time...

Just a quick post, tomorrow I am heading off to do a course for work down in Sunny Wodonga, Vic. I will be away for about a month, therefore I will be MIA for that time. I hope everyones training goes well along with any races that are scheduled during this time. Finally I would like to thank you all for the very encouraging comments regarding the Gold Coast 1/2.

See you around

Happy training :-)

My 1/2 Marathon progress so far

Week - 36k
Month - 36k
YTD - 529.5

It's been just under 3 years since I competed in my first 1/2 marathon race. August 2004 saw me line up in Townsville after deciding to do the event on no training the day prior. No much has changed since then, my spontaneous nature of entering events on little training still occurs and is a facet that I should change. However I did learn alot from that race some of which I have applied to my training some I haven't. After that race and realising that something like that should never be attempted on very little training I made it a goal of mine to improve over that distance.

In saying that, since then I have competed in a few races over that distance with the most recent being Sunday. Below are the events I have run including the Townsville run with my times
2004 - Townsville 1/2 - 1.48
2005 - Warwick 1/2 - 1.37
2005 - Toowoomba 'Hilly Half' - 1.43
2006 - BRRC 1/2 marathon Champs - 1.29.58
2006 - Warwick 1/2 - 1.37
2006 - Noosa 1/2 - 1.31.13
2007 - Warwick 1/2 - 1.32
2007 - Gold Coast 1/2.............................Read on :-)

Sunday saw my mate and I enter our first GC half. In fact it was my mates first crack at a half marathon. We both weren't sure of what we would achieve but given the way the last few weeks have gone we decided to head off with the sub 1.30 group.

Lining up I ended up being slightly closer to the start line than my mate who was a good 20m behind me. Pat Carroll was the pace runner for this group however he didn't line up until very late. When he eventually took up his position I was a fair way behind where I wanted to be in relation to this group.

As soon as the gun fired and I eventually crossed the start line Pat and the 1.30 group were miles ahead. It took me a good 2 odd km to finally catch up with them and settle into the run.

The run itself went pretty well, I passed the 10k mark in 41 mins and was feeling strong. My mate was just behind us at the 1/2 mark but quickly caught up to us by about the 15k mark. Although he was feeling the effects of his first 1/2 he was still running a good pace and didn't slow down much for the remainder of the run.

Myself on the other hand felt strong until about the 17k mark where the wheels began to fall off. I tried to keep my mate close and had all the intentions of picking the pace up in the last 2k but that never happened. Instead I hung onto whatever momentum I had going and just focused on finishing.

By this stage we had left the 1.30 group and were running by ourselves. My mate crossed the line about 50m in front of me, however the overall result was that he got me by 50 secs as he started behind me.

I am in two frames of mind about the run. On one side I am happy with my result but pretty disappointed that I didn't finish strong at all. The last 3k was shocking so I need to work on that for the next race. Overall I crossed the line in a time of 1.27.34, a PB of 2.24.

So to wrap up, I am pretty happy overall as to how my aim of improving my 1/2 marathon time is coming along. As I said it is almost 3 years since my first race and now with my new PB I have improved over 21 minutes for this distance.

What does this mean?

Week - 10k
Month - 87k
YTD - 477.5k


Before I begin thanks for the Birthday wishes, I was wondering how you knew but then I saw that I had my birth date on CR website.

Well it is one week to go to my first GC race of any sort. I am really looking forward to the whole weekend which will begin when the Family venture south next Saturday.

Not a whole lot went on this week, here's how it panned out.

Sunday - Rest
Monday - 6k with Sam in his pram, I haven't ran with the pram for a while and really noticed that he has piled on the pounds, must get him out running :-)
Tuesday - Nothing
Wednesday - Plans to run with the group on Wednesday night, however I think Qld detached itself from the mainland and floated to Antartica. Waaaaaay to cold and windy. And besides it was my birthday :-)
Thursday - 45 mins from work, about 9k before meeting Cass along the road in the car.
Friday - PT session at work involving my pack and other gear and walking and climbing stuff for about an hour
Saturday - Nothing again, if I knew the 5k TT was run at Shornecliffe this week instead of next week then I would have went to that.

Today - From what I can recall I think today was my first championship event this year for the BRRC. This morning it was a 10k event and the conditions were great. A bit chilly just standing around but on the course I found it to be perfect.

As usual we were running late, however this time it wasn't entirely my fault. My usual route in the car became alot longer due to road works and for someone that doesn't know Brisbane city that well it wasn't what I needed. I found my way fortunately, arriving when the call went out 4mins to race start. Perfect!

I registered stripped off the warm gear and lined up. No plans on what I was doing in regards to time and it didn't matter anyway as I didn't have my watch, yep you guessed it forgot that aswell.

The race began and I just ran to how I was feeling. The only time I knew the split was when I passed the start finish line which worked out to be approx 1.8k, 5k, 6.8k and the finish at the 10k mark apart from that it was all about judging.

I passed the 1.8k mark in 7.00 and was feeling good, reached the 5k mark in 19.32 so on track for a sub 40 run. The next 2k was pretty tough but still managed to pass the 6.8k mark in 26.58. I then had Andy C pass me at the 7k mark and was suprised to have him anywhere near me, however I later found out he has been injured so I tried to keep him close. This helped alot, the last 1500m I made an effort to keep the pace high, not sure if I was running any faster but it didn't feel slower. I focussed on points along the road and made sure I reached them before easing up. Towards the final stages I noticed that I kept doing this but wasn't slowing for the short rest, I ran strong to the finish.

The last 200m is along a bike path and you can't see the finish line until a hundred to go. At this stage I didn't know my time but as I ran down the last section of path I caught a glimpse at the clock which just clicked over to 39.00, I saw Cass and Sam at the finish and raised my fist knowing what I had done. I crossed the line in 39.28, an 11 sec PB and a very unexpected result.

Not sure what this means for GC as it is a massive difference in distance and my stamina is what lets me down. Still sticking to the 90 min or there abouts goal, I will certainly enjoy the race more if I don't put pressure on myself.

That's all for now, Happy training

The only way is up!

Month - 62k
YTD - 452.5k

It has been a very good week this week with respect to my training. As many of you know I am pretty slack when it comes to training and I must admit I do like my rest days however I managed to achieve 4 solids runs and 48km.The start on the week saw me having a nice cruisy recovery run after my effort at BRRC. I generally have a total rest day so this was something out of the norm. I did however have an agenda which was to take some videos back so the route was to the local store and back a total of about 5k.

Thursday I finished work a little later than normal which cut my run short. I'm not a fan of the cold at all so the plan to run about 10k ended up being 7k. There were a few people out doing some of their own training which is unusual for my neighborhood, however there is a local fun run planned for next weekend so they must be trying to get fit for that.

Friday the workshop planned a day out, the destination was the Glasshouse Mountains, more accurately Mt Beerwah. It is the largest of the GHM at 556m and has a grade 5 walking track 2.6k long. The walk was pretty tough for the first half it is on all fours actually scaling a rock face. If it was any steeper you would require ropes, in saying that I certainly didn't want to slip as it wouldn't have been pretty. Some sections had some large drop offs and if you were to fall it would be a fairly bleak outcome.

Anyway it was very enjoyable and challenging more mentally I guess than physically for me as, I wouldn't say I have a fear of heights but I do get heightened sense of self preservation when I am dong activities like that. When we hit the summit it was an awesome view we stayed up there for about 20 mins and then returned. The descent was pretty harsh on the knees, so at times I was sliding on my butt to give them a break. Overall we completed the trip in 1.45.

I was expecting to be sore from the climb yesterday morning when I woke up the next morning. I had been tossing up all week to either do the group run or run in the Lake Manchester trail race planned for today. I decided to head into the city and run with the Running Buddies.I wanted to run around 18k, and as a group of about 8 of us we headed around the river paths. Some left and headed back early and others continued after I stopped but most of us managed to achieve what we wanted. I stopped at 19.25k in about 1.40 (approx 5.12/k).

I woke up this morning feeling fantastic, no soreness and really looking forward to another good week of training. To answer a few peoples questions about my goal for GC, something around 90 mins will be great. I don't think I am the shape to go sub 90. I also just found out the 1.30 pace group is led by the man himself Pat Carroll so I am really looking forward to this .

BRRC - 10.69 miles

Week - 17k
Month - 31k
YTD - 421.5k

It was an early morning for the family today. At about 4am we were up getting ready to take my mum to the airport for what would be the flight of her life. She was flying into Newcastle and after the wild weather they have experienced in the last 72 hrs it should have been interesting.

Got to the Airport before 5.30am said my goodbyes and headed straight over to the city for the club race at West End. It was still dark and pretty early when we arrived. I had planned to run the 10k event but this started at 7am and then run a few extra k's to make it a long'ish' type session. However when we arrived an hour before the event I decided to tag along with the serious ones and enter the 20 mile event.

Before you all start to freak out, I had no intention or inclination on running the whole race instead opting for my own 10 mile event. After the course was explained it worked out that I would have been 1.1k away from the start/finsih line if I ran 10 miles so it got extended to 17.2k

The run itself wasn't very exciting, the first 3k was run alone before I caught up with two runners doing the whole race. They were running a pace that I was content with so I sat behind them for the majority of the run. I think I made them uneasy at times as they kept looking over their shoulder to see what I was doing. It wasn't until the 11k mark where I took a stint up the front I explained that I wasn't running the whole race.

I began to tighten up during the last 5k of the race. My calves made their presence felt but I am taking this as not being used to my new shoes rather than the distance itself. Speaking of which the new shoes went well, they are a little chunkier than my last pair which will take some time to get used to however overall I am happy with them. To boost my confidence even more the race was pretty consistant which can be seen from the splits below

Run Splits
1st 5k - 22.21 ( 4.24, 4.31, 4.28, 4.30, 4.28)
2nd 5k - 22.15 ( 4.27, 4.31, 4.23, 4.24, 4.30)
3rd 5 k -22.02 ( 4.17, 4.23, 4.25, 4.22, 4.35)

Last 2.25k - 9.42 ( 3.34, 5.08, 1.00(254m) weird splits but I think they evened themselves out.

Overall 17.25k in 1.16.20 (4.25/k)

Post run, I have some tight bits, my quads and calves are a little sore. Nothing a massage from my lovely wife wont fix - Now I just have to get her to read this :-)

Feelin Fresh

Week - 14k
Month - 14k
YTD - 404.5k

In more ways than one!

Headed out about 5.30 tonight, dark and pretty chilly to say the least. I have been sticking to short sessions just to ensure my foot is ok, not going over around 30 mins and Im glad I did. It took almost the whole session to work up a bead of sweat.

A change of subject, I paid my entry fee for the GC half, pretty exciting. I also convinced my mate from work to do it with me aswell. Last time I invited this fellow he kicked my butt at Kurruwa :-)

This weekend after I dropp my mother off at the airport I'm heading to BRRC for the club event which is 20 miles, 10k or 5k. Planning to do the 10k with maybe an extra few k at the end of the race.

Tomorrow the family is off to Movie World, Sammy's first trip to an amusement park - should be fun, hopefully I don't die of a heart attack on the crazy rides there.

New Shoes Sunday

After spending another hour or so at the shops I finally made a decision and bought a new pair of shoes. It all began this morning when I decided that I would make a trip to Intraining, quite a drive from where I live but I was having no luck at the other stores.

Anyway half way there I realised I forgot the street directory and was only going off memory of the address for the store. I hadn't been there before and after cutting a few laps of Milton I still haven't been to the store.

I drove back to Chermside a rather large shopping centre and visited the same shops, taking my adventure a bit more serious now. I wasn't leaving until I had a pair. After walking around I realised that getting another pair of Adidas was near impossible, the stores are only stocking the base models which is no good for me.

I tried on a pair of New Balance and although I liked how they are made they are a little chunky. I arrived at a smaller sports shop which was my last resort. I noticed yesterday that they had one pair of Adidas I liked but when I asked for my size they only had a pair 1/2 a size larger. Doh! I then spotted a pair of Saucony's, I had forgotten about this brand and I really liked the look of them. I tried them on.....Perfect!

So I am now a proud owner of Saucony Triumph 3 in green/white/silver. Here's a pic of them however the colour is different.

The last time I had a pair of Saucony's was when I first joined the Army almost 10 years ago. Back then I broke 8 mins for the first time for my 2.4km fitness assessment running 7.55. 12 months later I beat that time running 7.49 in the same pair of shoes. Hopefully I will get the same luck out of these ones :-)

Update!

After my injections on Monday my foot felt 100% better the following day. Although I have hated sitting around giving it another week I'm hoping that it will be worth it. Walking around I feel no signs of the soreness I experienced almost 2 weeks ago.

The first test will be at work on Monday where we will be doing some sort of running cct relay. Not sure what it involves but I am looking forward to getting back into some training.

Between now and then I need to find a new pair of shoes, so far I have had no luck in finding a pair that really appeals to me. I am looking for another pair of Adidas as I have liked every pair I have owned. The problem is just finding a store that stocks a large range of them, otherwise it might be mizuno's. Lets hope I find some tomorrow.

Good luck to those running in the Qld Half or 10k run tomorrow.

Warwick woes continue!

Unfortunately this is an injury update which seems to be a frequent occurance nowadays. I must asked my parents if I am really only 27 and not 67 as it seems I cant even get through a weekend of running without falling apart.

My knee pulled up fine with some rest however my foot is a different story. It remained sore even with a strict routine of NSAID's, including Anti Inflam gel and icing. By Wednesday morning it was feeling pretty good and decided try jogging. Not at a cracking pace and no more than 200 -300 metres however I didn't even get that far. It began hurting just as much as the weekend so back to square one.

I consulted the Doc at work and he said that I am doing everything right bar the small jog. He told me to remain doing what I was and come back on Monday if the pain didn't improve.

Monday, today I arrived back at the Docs after some poking and prodding he located the spot of discomfort and gave me 3 injections of cortisone. As this is administered with a local it felt fabulous until about an hour later when it felt worse than ever.

I am off for another week and should notice an improvement in 12-72 hrs. If not another injection next week "should" fix it up.

Below is a pic of a foot, the area around the cuboid and the tarsal-metatarsal joint is the area that is causing the grief. There is a tendon that runs over that region which I am thinking is causing the issue.

Weekend at Warwick

Week - 11.5k
Month - 91.5k
YTD - 390.5k

I have set foot in my door and decided to give hopefully a quick wrap up of the weekends festivities.

Arrived Friday lunchtime and just chilled out for the day at the hotel. Had a awesome dinner at the hotel and spotted everyone else that was doing Warwick having dinner aswell.

The following day, Day 1 of the event I was pretty relaxed. Not sure if my fairly consistent training runs of around 12k was going to work for me or be disastrous.

Anyway

Warwick to Yangan 1/2 Marathon start time 7 am

In the 3 years I have been at this event this year was the warmest by far. It is usually absolutely freezing so I was very grateful. The race started just after 7am and I took off at a faster than normal pace, I wanted to get a clear position rather than pass people on the first section of bike paths before it opens up. This seemed to work for me and I quickly got into a nice pace. I felt really good for the first half of the run, I was by no means pushing it but still maintaining good splits passing 10k in 43.55. At the 12k mark I had Cass stop in the car and she gave me a gel and some powerade. At about the 16k mark I lifted the tempo a bit I felt ordinary up the climbs but the flat I felt strong for the whole run. I ended up crossing the line in 1.32.44 and actually achieved a negative split even with the tougher second half. Now I just had to recover for the next race

Morgan Park 4.6k Cross Country Start time 12pm

I find this race the most difficult, not sure why maybe the combination of the dust and not being used to doing that much off road running. I pulled up pretty well after the 1/2 and had a plan to do 19 mins for this race. The course changes every time I have done this so you don't really know what to expect. This year I liked the course there were a few obstacles such as jumps etc to contend with and some hilly sections that made it pretty tough. I crossed the line in 17.19 which I was pretty happy about.

5k road run Start time 3pm

I was still feeling pretty good but I was glad that this is the last race of the day. I completed a short warm up just conserve what ever energy I had left. I had arrived pretty close to start time so not long after the warm up we where asked to move around to the start area. I good 5 min walk in itself. Got to the start area and conducted a few stretches and telling myself that I will be happy with something around 4min k pace (20mins). The first km was a bit weird I had a niggle in the outside of my left knee which I have had before. An overuse injury ITB friction syndrome, it hurt a little but settled down for the remainder of the run. The last 2k I began to hurt and eased up on the 4k before going a little harder for the finish. Finished in a time of 19.39.

End of day one saw me clock 3 times below my goals by a long way aswell as running PB's for each of the races although race 2 was different.

After the race I noticed that my knee was sore and also the outside section of my right foot just below and a little forward of the ankle. This concerned me a bit because I experienced the same problem last year with my foot after the exact race.

Day 2

Killarney to Queen Mary Falls 10k start time 8am

Woke up with my foot and knee pretty sore. Fairly pissed off to say the least I didn't know how the day was going to pan out. I tried warming up but it was hurting quite alot and felt uncomfortable so I stopped. Not willing to pull out I lined up for the race. Last year with my foot issues this run took me 59.xx. Before I realised I was injured I wanted to achieve what I did in 05 which was 53.xx. The race started and it hurt however after 2k of putting up with it the pain subsided where it was comfortable not perfect but I could maintain a reasonable pace. The first 3k is pretty flat and I passed this mark in 13 mins the next 2.5k is undulating and by the 6k mark the big hill begins. I reached the 6k mark in 27.32. My foot felt good running up the hill however my lungs didn't react the same way. I struggled until it flattened out around the 9k mark, crossing the line in 50.55. I was chuffed to say the least but also pretty sore as soon as I stopped.

I had worked out my times along the way and realised that my goal of sub 3.20 was easily beat. I therefore dropped it to 3.10 during the first day, and knew what I had to run today to get under it.

1500m road run, Warick main St start time 11.30am

Didn't do any warm up for this run, and just practice a running style that sort of felt alright. A bit disappointed that I couldn't go flat out for this run as I wanted to beat my course PB of 4.55 set i 05. I decided running on my toes was the way to go. The gun fired and I set off, felt the knee complain for the first 400m but it then settled. The foot was still groaning until the turn around I then upped the pace and tried running normal it felt alright and I could stride out a little more. I think at the turnaround I was 2.52 (750) I ended up crossing in 5.26 (2.34 for the second half). Again pretty happy with the outcome and really even if I was not injured I don't think I would have anymore than a minute or so faster over the two events today.

Overall my unofficial time was 3.06.03 for 42.2km. I am very very happy with that, it is actually over 8 mins faster than my previous time of 3.14.xx set in 05.

Update!

Week - 23.5k
Month - 49.5k
YTD - 348.5k


The time has arrived when all my worries etc about the weekend cannot be helped. No matter what I do know my fate has been sealed and I will just have to wait and see what eventuates.

This will be my last post before the Warwick review so here's a quick update

12/5 - I again set out for another 11.5k run not sure what it is about this distance but I seem to finish at that stage. Again a pretty confortable run @ 4.53 pace slightly slower than the previous day.

The following day was Mothers day however I had to work the entire day and night. What I mean is that I don't work for the entire 24hrs but have to remain at work, actually sleep there and then do the day shift on Monday. A bit sucky really especially on the special day. I made Cass breaky in bed etc etc on the Friday on behalf of Sam who is still a bit young to cook as an early Mums day present

Monday I arrived home at 4pm after what felt like an eternity, in saying that not much went on that afternoon.

Tuesday I started work at 1pm which gave me an opportunity to get a small session in ended up doing 7k in just over 4.30 pace. Felt alot harder than that though.

This morning was the next instalment of the competition that the barracks hold. This time a Triathlon with a twist. The workshop entered two teams as many of us are too whimpy to swim in an outdoor pool early in the morning. The sequence for the Tri was a 2k run, 250m swim, 12k bike, 250m swim then a 3k run. I was the runner with my other mates doing the swim and cycle legs.

I set off in the run and was suprised that from the onset was nearing the front. I settled into a nice rhythm early with another fellow and cleared out from the rest of the pack. The last section of the run is a slight uphill which is where I made a move and entered transition in first spot clocking about 7 mins.

Our swimmer entered the pool and got out only moments later, it turns out that he only did 4 laps 200m before handing off to the cyclist. With possible DQ looming we talked to the marshalls and they agreed to our swimmer doing 300m the next time. Our cyclist done a great effort only getting caught by the best rider in the field in the last 2k. Currently in 2nd place our swimmer entered the water and caught the first guy however we still had to do that extra lap. This enabled the team to hand over and clear out and get a good lead on us. We changed over for my 3k leg and I could see the guy in front about 300m ahead. There was no way I would have caught him and just settled in for a good solid run. We ended up 2nd in a time of 48.44, 52 secs behind 1st. Very happy with the result. The only negative was that our rider yes our rider sprained his ankle running his bike into transition. He has had issues with it before and I think even surgery on it so hopefully he hasn't any serious damage.

Anyway that's all for now, I will see some of you at Warwick and to the rest I will catch up with some reading in a few days.

Last thing I will be doing all events, however the longer stuff is going to kill me so a revised goal of sub 3.20 and I will be happy.

Bye for now :-)

First milestone!

Week - 25k
Month -26k
YTD - 325k


I managed only one run whilst staying on Magnetic Island the combination of late nights and days filled with wedding and family stuff pretty much ate up the time to fit any training in. The one run I did do was awesome about 8.5km in what was perfect Townsville Autumn weather on the deserted streets along the water front. Very nice, it is certainly a great place to train with plenty of hills and trails to be found.

Arrived home on Monday which ended up being a wind down day. I had Tuesday off work so the next day I managed only 4k, not sure why I cut it so short.

The following day I arrived at work to find out that we had a running type session involving the beep test and a run around the roads of the barracks (4.5k). The session was for everyone to get to level 8 which to my surprise most people got to. We then headed off around the ring road, running as a group accommodating for the slower runners. I found this difficult running at a pace I am not used to, just the weird stride I had to perform to remain at that pace.

We arrived back to the spot where the beep test was held and we were straight into it starting the test again. This time it was maximum effort, the purpose was to beat your level from the previous month. I made a decision to stop at level 12 if no one was still in the test. By the time we got to level 10 there was 5 remaining, 3 of those dropped out during this level which left my Boss and me. He still looked strong and we entered level 11 this however didn't last long and after a few stages he dropped out, I kept to my promise and stopped at level 12.

Yesterday it was my son Sam's 1st birthday, the past year has seemed to go so fast although at times late at night when everyone else is asleep it didn't seem that way. He is at a pretty cool age now where he is walking and is showing his personality, very cheeky, ignorant and doesn't stop talking, just like his mother ;-)

It was a fairly low key day as Sam had some celebrations last weekend with Cass's side of the family and my parents will see him next weekend at Warwick. At the end of the day Sam was racked out which gave myself an opportunity to go for a run. 11.5k @ 4.45 pace. The weather was crappy, raining and a little cold although I did feel pretty good during the session.

I posted my entry form for Warwick a few days ago. I was and still am unsure if I should do the 1/2. I have not been dong any longer sessions, however it is not the same competing at Warwick and not doing them all. This will be my 3rd year and I had expectations on some good results but I just don't think it will happen this year. I have entered all events and will make my mind up on the day, whatever I decide I am still looking forward to this great weekend.

5 X 1Km Relay

Yesterday around Lunch time I was asked if I wanted to be a part of the relay team my unit had put together for a race that was programmed for this morning. It was a race against all members of the barracks around a 1km cct comprising of 5 members per team. I couldn't compete in it last year as I had shin splints but this time jumped at the chance to be apart of it.

It began at 7.30 this morning and the weather was fresh, we were all very relaxed and to be honest I really didn't think we had a chance. There we 35 teams of 5 runners so the start was going to be caos. Our 1st runner made his way to the front of the start line which was a good move. The gun went and they were off, one fellow took off very fast and everyone thought he would blow up half way round, this wasn't the case and he continued to pull away from everyone establishing a handy 100m lead on the rest. We were 8th at the first change.

The next runner ran a good even run nothing outstanding and just maintained our position. The group had now strung out alot and it ws much easier to run. Our third runner set a good pace and put in one last effort to gain a few places. On the next change we were now around 6th place.

The 4th runner took off and decided to take the first 500m steady and come home strong. We had been noticing that alot of ground is made up in the latter stages of the leg. It proved to be a success for him changing over to me in 4th spot very close to 2nd and 3rd. I took off pretty quick and sat right on the 3rd place runner we quickly swallowed up the 2nd placed runner and started thinking on how I was going to get passed this bloke. He was running well and we were pretty even, then all of a sudden the fellow we just passed came sprinting passed us like we were standing still.

I thought there is no way we can catch him at that pace, but 100m up the road he blew a head gasket and slowed right down. So it was back to the battle of two, about 300m to go just before we entered the carpark I upped the pace and I could see his technique faultering a bit. He heard me coming and tried to speed up and that's were I broke him, you could see that he just had nothing left and was now just focussing on hanging onto third place. I was still keeping an eye on him but he wasn't gaining, with a hundred to go I had it in the bag. We crossed the line in 15.42 in 2nd place 7 secs in front of third and 15 secs behind 1st I ended up with a k split of 2.50 odd. We were pretty chuffed with the result, not bad for a team that was put together at the last minute. The record still stands for another year at 14.27 which was set by the PTI's, the physical training instructors which of course is there job to train all day every day.

I will be away for a few days, heading up to the old stomping ground,Townsville for a wedding on Magnetic Island. Fly out tomorrow and will be back on Monday afternoon, should be a good few days. Hopefully I can get some training in up there before the bevvies start flowing ;-)

Happy Training :-)

Mt Mee 10k

Week - 10k
Month - 87.5k
YTD - 299k


A brief report on yesterdays festivities. As you may be aware I ran the Mt Mee 10k event, this being the second time for this event. A small low key race but a good tough run with some very good runners competing.

Cass Sam and I arrived around 8am about 1 hr before the start, it is about 40-50k from home through the country side. A very nice area apart from the hills that is :-)

Anyway I done a quick warm up and completed some stretching about 10 minutes before the race. My focus was to beat last years time which was pretty soft. 49.01.

The race began spot on 9am and I settled into a good pace. The first 2k is flat or downhill and a long downhill it is. I held myself back as it is quite easy to go way too fast, I passed the 2k mark in 8.03. The following 3k is pretty tough some long hills amongst some short but steep ones however I still maintained a fairly good pace. The 3k marker was passed in just over 13 mins and at this stage I was in 6th place. I eventually reached the halfway mark in a time of 23.20 which was well under last years time.

I could feel a stitch coming on from about the 6k marker so I just focussed on my breathing hoping that it wouldn't get worse. It seemed to work until about 2k to go when it was really bothering me. On the the flat it was ok but the hills it seemed to hurt pretty bad. Thankfully the return trip is a little easier until the last km where that long downhill is now the long uphill. Midway up it I was hurting and wanted to walk so bad just to get rid of the stitch. I kept looking behind me to see who was there. I already had 2 people pass me and didn't want anymore. Robbie was behind me and seemed to be travelling up the hill better than me. I focussed on the ground and just battled on, reaching the top I caught my breath and found my legs again. Ignoring the pain I settled into a good pace again, I didn't really put in one last effort and just remained the same pace until the end crossing the line in 46.15. A negative split (22.55).

I was pretty happy with the time and ended up getting Robbie by approx 25 secs which is always good :-) A course PB by 2 mins 46 secs which was what I was after. Hopefully next time I run this event I can take another 2 mins off, I think I will be really satisfied if I can run 43-44 mins for this course.

So much for a brief one :-)

Time for another recap

Week - 27.5k
Month - 77.5k
YTD - 289k


Well it's another week down and not many to go until Warwick - 3 weeks to be exact. In saying that this past week has been a fairly good one compared to my year so far. I have yet to pass 300km for the year for no reason in particular. I am feeling the best I have felt in over a year, no niggles or any injuries which I'm guessing is directly related to the easy months I have had. Anyway I will give a quick run down on what's been going on.

Sunday 22nd - The family headed into the city to watch the Brisbane Marathon, I was on baby sitting duties and Cass was helping out with the registrations for the event. An early morning for the little man but he eventually got sick of the race and fell asleep. Not a bad event with some good results. After we headed home I took off for an 8.5-9k run around the neighbourhood although this was an estimate as I forgot to charge the garmin I completed the run in about 41 min's which sort of fitted with the pace I was running.

Tuesday 24 - With ANZAC day looming work was pretty hectic which saw the cancellation of PT. I envisaged this was going to happen and brought some running gear and planned to go for a short run during my lunch time. 5k in total beginning with a 1k medium fast pace then 1k slow and so on. It was damn hot and was glad that it was over. My work output for the remainder of the day suffered as a result :-)

Thursday 26 - After a few more drinks the previous day than what I should have I thought I was going to be suffering the next day. When I woke up and got ready for work I was suprised that I felt pretty good. I arrived at work and noticed that most of my work mates looked rather seedy which was quite funny as some of those had to do a Fitness test. I decided that I would help out with the test and pace a few on them for the 2.4k run. The aim for them was to get under 10min's which is not a bad time for them considering the lead up. I worked out the 400m splits I needed which was 1.40 (4.10/k) and we headed of. The first 1200m was much quicker completing it in 4.45 however I think this hurt them a little and the second half was finished in 5.09. This still got them under the 10 min mark which they were happy with.

Today - Headed into the city again for the Saturday running buddies group. I was running a little late and was pulling up as the group ran past. Glad I parked where I did as they ran a different route than what I have done before. Anyway I caught up with the group including Tesso Clairie and Matt about the 1.5k mark. We ran from Southbank through Kangaroo Point over the Storey bridge across to the New farm area I think and then back to Southbank via Eagle street pier and the botanic gardens. It was a good run an easy pace which saw me clock over an hour on the legs. Something I haven't done for a while. After the run we all had some breakfast at the local cafe before heading home.

Tomorrow - Is the annual Mt Mee fun run, 3 events ranging from 50k, 26k, 10k. I did the 10k last year as a lead up for Warwick and have decided to do it again. A fairly tough run on the road across part of a range, so plenty of hills. It is a 5k out and back course beginning at 9am. Last year I was getting over my shin splints and took it fairly casual, however even at a sedate pace I was buggered by the end. Tomorrow will be the same, hopefully clocking something a bit faster but not flat out. Time to beat 49.01

I've had better weeks!

Week - 7.5k
Month - 50k
YTD - 261.5k


After returning home from a work outing on Monday night, I was struck down by a mystery virus on Tuesday afternoon. It hit me all of a sudden around 1.30 pm, when I was suppose to pull an all nighter. By 7pm I was at home having a good mate take my work commitments under his belt. I was very sick indeed throwing up multiple times that night.

I remained home on Wednesday, feeling a little better by Thursday but still only managing to eat small amounts of food. This concerned me somewhat as I had a fitness examination for a course I wanted to do on Friday. I woke up Friday feeling again better but still lethargic and now had a dose of gastro. I tried to postpone the test until next week but they wouldn't have a bar of it. I ended up doing it feeling pretty horrible by the end but easily passing. I did enough to pass at the higher end of the group without busting a gut so to speak. By the time the last activity was run my stomach had settled and I ran a comfortable 9.08 for 2.4km, a minute or there abouts slower than my usual times for this distance and track.

I can't remember the last time I felt sick like this but I am glad that it has passed and managed to get out for some activities today. With work and now this virus my preparation for Warwick is in tatters. I ended up losing over 2kg in the last few days so to go for a long session this weekend would be stupid.

Anyway I needed to map out a run that is planned for work at South Bank so today Cass, Sam and I walked the planned route. Basically it will start and finish at the pool at South Bank, initially heading towards the Storey bridge following the bike paths. After exiting the bridge you turn left into Ivory Lane and head down the hill that is known very well by the Pat Carrollers. You then head back onto the bike paths weaving from there through Eagle St Pier cafes before making your way through the Botanical Gardens. The last section after the gardens is to go over the Goodwill Foot Bridge back to the pool. This is approx 8 - 8.5k which will be good for a work PT session although many will hate it.......ALOT :-)

After the walk the family had a bite to eat and headed home. By this stage it was around 4.30pm, and after about 30 mins or so I decided to head out for a short run. 5k was the plan and that's exactly what happened. Nothing special about this run just around the paths of the local area. I did feel pretty good and ran a solid tempo session. Finished in 21.54 (4.22).

Tomorrow we are heading back to South Bank for the Brissie Marathon, Cass is helping out and I'm on baby sitting duties watching the race. Should be a good morning, maybe a little too early for a Sunday but :-)

It's good to be back!

Week - 26.5k
Month - 42.5k
YTD - 254km


My absence from the blog scene has made me realise that I did enjoy writing about my shenanigans more than I first thought, I did however need the break. I will probably update a little more than my initial idea of fortnightly but obviously this will depend on work and family commitments.

Anyway, the last few weeks have been steady. I have been running pretty regular but only short sessions. I was planning to have a big weekend over Easter and was keen to give the intraining fun run and make a return to the running buddies however a last minute decision saw the family go away for the weekend.

I wont get into any details about my training last week and the like and will just start from Sunday which is the beginning of the running week for me.

Sunday 8th
Set off fairly late in the arvo for a 10k run. New scenery for me as I was in Gladstone at the time. Very strange to be running in an area that has no one doing any sort of exercise. The streets where deserted. I had a plan of where I wanted to run but it didn't eventuate. I took a wrong turn however it worked out well. The majority of the run was very steady and just to spice it up a bit I added in a short but very tough hill at the 9km mark. This woke the legs up very quickly and it took a while to get that heavy feeling out of them. I ended up finishing in 48.36.

Monday 9th
Rest day, spent the day catching up with friends and family before we headed back to Brisbane

Tuesday 10th
Arrived home after 6hrs of driving at 2pm. I was out the door for a run at about 5pm. Had Sam in the pram which felt quite difficult until I reached the servo and pumped the tyres up that were at 5 psi. Never leave a women in charge of maintenance ;-) Continued for about 6.5k with Sam getting fed up and falling to sleep at about the 3k mark. Very sedate pace which was probably the reason why he fell asleep. About 31 minutes.

Wednesday 11th
After having a big feed for lunch only an hour and a half prior I set off for a run at 3pm. I am still on holidays until Friday. I was planning to do an experiment, with Warwick coming up in about 5 weeks I was going to do the race over today and tomorrow. The difference being that I was going to halve the distance of all events aswell as the rest between them.

Seemed like a good plan until I started running. I wanted to be somewhere around the ball park in regards to race pace. I set the Virtual Partner on the Garmin for 45min - 10k which should have been fairly easy to achieve. After the first k I was feeling sluggish and this didn't improve the whole run. My breathing was fine but the legs had no energy and the lunch was sitting very heavy in my stomach. I battled on and it wasn't until 7k that Mr VP overtook me. I wanted to give up and go home but stayed out there knowing that there was no way I was doing anymore running today. I ended up finishing the run in 45.34 about 120 odd metres behind my imaginary enemy.

I will try this again before the event, maybe when I have a free weekend and I get back from my 4 day adventure at the range.

Lastly I would like to wish everyone good luck at Canberra this weekend and to TD who is running the Boston Marathon along with anybody else racing. I haven't caught up with the readings as yet but will get around to it eventually.

Adiós

For now anyway!

I am vacating the premises for a while, purely for the fact that lately I could be buggered writing about my training anymore. Unsure whether I will be back, however if I decide to begin blogging again it will only be something like fortnightly updates and write ups for any races I do.

I will endevour to follow the progress of you all, but excuse me if I don't comment on a regular basis. Enjoy and good luck for the remainder of the year.

Peace Out!

Oh and if your wondering this is not an April Fools prank ;-)

Double digits at last

Week - 12k
Month - 51.5k
YTD - 203.5k


Arrived home from my field exercise feeling absolutely horrible. I ate hardly anything that was significant or resembled everyday food. We were on ration packs for the entire duration of the exercise and I absoultely hate these. I'm glad that it was only a short field trip.

Anyway it has taken me a few days to get my normal feeling back and put on the kilo or so that I lost in the 4 days. In saying that no training was going to take place until I felt I could do it without hurting myself.

I decided today was the day to tackle the paths of the neighbourhood for the first time in a week. I need to get my act together as it is now less than 8 weeks till Warwick. I have once again left the training too late and will need to reassess my goals.

I left around 3pm today in overcast/rainy conditions. Great weather for a run, it was not cold at all and the rain was constant yet soft enough to not be annoying. I had a plan to run beyond 10k, which I don't think has been done since the beginning of Feb.

The initial 5k was a bit of a struggle but I seemed to get a second wind for the remainder of the session. Overall I covered 12k in 57 Min's av 4.45 pace.

Pretty happy with how today went however I will need to organise my time a little better over the next couple of weeks, work commitments will see me miss some of the upcoming club events that I was counting on as part of my training.

That's all for now, I now need to catch up on some blog reading.

Piked it!

Week - 5.5k
Month - 39.5k
YTD - 191.5k


I didn't end up going to the BRRC 1/2 Marathon Champs this morning. The alarm was set but when it went off I just couldn't drag myself out of bed. It was probably a good thing I had to prepare a lesson for next week on Navigation so I got to finish it somewhat earlier today.

I am going out field again tomorrow, so I thought I'd do a short session tonight just so I don't get withdrawals from doing nothing in the next 4 days. I completed 5.5k in 24.10 which felt a little hard for my liking. I am certainly struggling with hills at the moment, but feel really good on the flat.

Well that's about it, hopefully my lesson goes well on Tuesday and no-one gets lost on the practical component on Wednesday. We shall see!

Catch ya in a few days :-)

Fitness Test

Week - 9k
Month - 34k
YTD - 186k


Saturday was a great day out at the QEII stadium watching the athletics. Saw some awesome times from the pro's along with the under 18, 20, 23's. The pick of the night was Lisa Corrigan beating Sarah Jamison and Josh Ross running the fastest time an Australian has run in Australia (10.08). It made me realise how much I miss my athletics. I competed track events for most of my life and only really stopped when I moved to Townsville about 6 years ago. Although the running scene is great in Brisbane in regards to longer distances and road running the track scene is very ordinary. I have searched for a decent athletic club but they are few and far between. Sydney I believe is the place for athletics, I was a member of Penrith LA and Athletics club for about 12 years and ran at a few other meets around the area on a weekly basis. I haven't raced a sprint event for almost 3 years, I want to get back into it. I'm not sure what I will be capable of anymore but still think that with a little training I still would be able to slog out mid 11's and high 22's low 23's for my favourite events the 100m and 200m.

Anyway enough of the babble. I headed out for a session on Sunday, I had a warm up at around 5 min/k pace for 2k whilst running to the local grass track. My intention was to do a short interval session of two reps of 1200m. I wanted to get a gauge of my fitness over 2.4k as I have my fitness test in the next few days. I done the two reps and felt very ordinary, 4.15 for the first and 4.28 for the second. I headed back for a 2k warm down at a slightly quicker pace around 4.45.

Monday at work we had a circuit which involved some short running but the remainder was upper body activities. A tough session in very hot conditions. Tuesday we played a game of volleyball which was a nice easy session I was feeling a little sore from the previous day.

This morning was my fitness test, the usual sequence is push ups (2 mins) sit ups to a cadence and a 2.4k run. It was suppose to begin a 730 this morning but someone changed the time and it began at 700. I arrived at work around this time and was told of the change by the time I got down there they had completed the push ups and were doing the situps. I was told I could still do it but in a different sequence.

The run was first, I liked the idea of this as I would be fresh but knew the remainder of the test would be alot tougher. With no warm I took off for my test, not sure if I was going to go hard or try just enough to pass. I decided to give it a crack and went for a good time. I felt great for most of the run and considering that between the 800 and 1200m mark it is a tough gradual incline I reached the 1/2 way mark in 4.06. I must of eased up for the next 400 and began to step it up again between the 1600 and 2000m mark. I reached the 2000m point in spot on 7.00, pretty happy with this I plugged away and tackled the last little incline before the straight to the finish. I completed the last 400 in 1.19 to give an overall time of 8.19 for 2.4k. I was pretty chuffed with the result considering my shortish sessions, still 30 secs of my PB for the distance but this is a tougher course. My goal before the end of the year is to break 8 mins again which I haven't done for many years. The push ups and sit ups went ok considering I was still puffed from the run doing 52 p/u (35 to pass) and pulling the pin at 80 for the s/u. It is the first time I stopped in the s/u before the max of 100, although I only have to do 65 to pass anyway.

I'm having a rest for a day or so, I feel tight and need to loosen up before heading out again, my next decent session will be road runners on Sunday.

Week in Review

Week - 21k
Month - 25k
YTD - 177k


Motivation has been lacking over the past week, however not in the sense that I don't feel like running at all. I have been keen to get out and train but have been finding it difficult to remain out there beyond 30-40 minutes. Not a massive concern really but it would be nice to have posted a few double figure runs.

Week Review

Saturday 3 Mar

I thought I would try something different which allowed the whole family including the hounds to participate. We have baseball fields 100m from home so on the afternoon we headed over for a FUN afternoon out. The dogs ran around occupying themselves, Sam had his little bike and other toys and played on the grass and Cass and I completed a cct.

I made this up when we got there, a basic session that included an out and back run of about 30m. It was a partner cct so one person had to run out do an exercise and run back to the other person. Whilst the person running out was doing their thing the other was doing an exercise close to Sam. It worked out well and got quite hard towards the end. I utilised the bench seat that was in the dug out so we done steps up, dips, incline push ups and calf raises on it. We also done whole heap of squats and walking lunges along with some ab work. Good session and it cost nothing and required no equipment. Cass was sore for the next few days :-)

Sunday 4 Mar

I headed out with the intention of hitting 12k however as I stated at the beginning I lacked interest and completed 8k in about 39 minutes.

Tuesday 6 Mar

I had to work Monday night so no training happened but I was really looking forward to doing the PT session planned at work the next day. The workshop had organised a few vehicles to take us all done to South bank for a run and swim. Only about 5k but it was something different. I had to wait to do a handover to the bloke relieving me before heading up to the transport. The plan was to head off at 730 to beat the traffic, the time arrived and no show from the guy, I tried calling him but to no avail. I ended up calling the fellows waiting for me telling them to go, 5 minutes later I ended up getting a call from the bloke saying that he didn't realise that he was working. Not happy! He eventually arrived.

Already in my running kit I decided to not waste the opportunity and do some training. Fairly peeved off I punished myself running up to the tower on base. I was running angry but the hill soon sorted me out, I had never done it before and is about the same distance as the section up to the towers on Mt Coot-tha. Some sections are very steep and it has alot of false crests, meaning that you think you have conquered it but wait....no there is another hill to go. It follows a ridge line which explains the false hope the hill gives you. It's something I hope to add to my training on a regular basis. All up about 40 minute round trip, about 6.5-7k??

Friday 9 Mar

After spending about 1.5 hrs in the yard doing the mowing and the like I decided to head out for a run. It took a good 1 km before I got into any sort of rhythm. I had no energy and was struggling. I soon came good and began to settle into a steady pace. I was by no means enjoying it and pulled the pin 2k short of my plan of 8k. All up 6k in 27.40 so slightly under 4.40 pace.

Today we are heading to watch the Australian Athletics Champs at Nathan. 3 Days of racing however I looked at the program and today seems to be the pick, alot of finals tonight. Sound be a good day hopefully we find a good spot so Sam can do his thing without getting angry :-)

Watch out the Fun Police are about!

Week - 10k
Month - 4k
YTD - 156k

To answer a few questions before I start;

2P - Up here in Brisvegas we have sporties on Thursday, other places do have their sports days on Wednesday however. Work can supply bikes only of the mountain variety but, most of us have our own.

Matt - Yes we get paid for this, it does sound sweet however I only ever talk about the good perks ;-)

Ewen - Ha, tumble turns, more like floundering around trying grasp onto the edge before pushing off. I am not built for the water that is a fact :-)


The fun police were out in force today at work when the rumour that the Divisional Commander was visiting the regiment. All the heirachy seem to freak out and want everything cleaned, packed and hidden when people visit. The point for this still escapes me, the purpose of the visits is to find out the downfalls the brigade has, so when we are told to do this the first impression the boss(s) get is that everything is sweet. For the other 364 days that he is not around the workshop is a shit hole, a run down facility that needs some lovin.

Anyway, he just so happened to visit when sport was programmed for so... it doesn't take einstein to work out who lost the battle.

No triathlon, I was keen for some fitness activity which meant I showed my face at the track for the first time is about 6 months. I really enjoy the grass track but with work and Cass's study and her work is hasn't been a possibilty.

Phil the coach who usually runs the session was late so Schultzy decided on the format. Not much imagination but tough nonetheless. 4 x 1K with a short breather and a 200m jog recovery. I got a bit more rest as I was the last person off the handicap which suited me just fine.

The body felt great the whole session, however the lungs hurt abit especially on the 3rd rep. That was to be expected, however I didn't count of doing the times I posted.

1km Times
#1 - 3.21
#2 - 3.24
#3 - 3.35
#4 - 3.30

Hopefully in the next few months I can get these down below 3.20 and be able to link 3.30 - 3.40 k splits for some 3 and 5k events, I am probably getting to far ahead of myself now but hey one can dream.

Life's Hard!

Week - 6k
Month - 59.5k
YTD - 152k

I had all the intentions to head out at lunch today for a run, however when the heavens opened up and the fellows at work decided on a darts comp I reconsidered.

Instead I ended up doing the training session 6hrs later. On the agenda was 30 minutes, started off at a very pedestrian like pace but gradually stepped it up to finish with 6.15k (av 4.53/k). Quite a comfortable run, however with the overcast and rainy conditions I was sweating quite alot.

Tomorrow is the start of the Triathlon series at work. Each Thursday we do sport from lunchtime, just like school :-) It is a very casual and relaxed competition however there are some gun athletes that rock up from time to time. Im pretty useless when it comes to combining the disciplines however it is good fun and great training. Tomorrow I will take it easy considering I haven't done one for quite some time. The format for the event is a little different to a normal Tri but it works well. We start with a run, only 1k but it splits everyone up before hoping into the pool and allows the weaker swimmers clear water, this includes me. The remainder of the race is as follows; 300m swim - 12k Bike - 2k run to finish.

Not a bad afternoon session and to top it off we then head up to the boozer and have a quiet one before heading home. Tough life I know, but someone has to do it :-)

Neighbourhood Stroll

Week - 16k
Month - 53.5k
YTD - 146k


I took a turn for the worst on Friday with the flu really knocking me around for the whole day. Thankfully I woke up yesterday feeling 100% better which enabled to make some plans for a run in the afternoon.

Those plans turned to reality at around 6.15pm yesterday evening. In what was great running weather I headed out for a few laps of the walking track that surrounds a sporting complex 100m from my house.

Running the first Km in 4.49 I stepped the pace up for the remainder of the session. I was only running 5k and thought a solid session was in order. The next 4k were all below 4.20 pace which seemed pretty comfortable considering I still have the flu. Overall the session was completed in 21.53 (4.23/k av).

I am making an effort to not overdo my training to early. I want to be in good knick for Warwick in May and have decided to concentrate on the shorter runs. There is no real need for me to be doing 18+k right now with almost 3 months to go, so if I can stick to 12-15k for my longer sessions for the next month I will have a nice fitness base when I feel it is time to build up.

It is the first time in 12 months that I am feeling 100% injury free and would like it to remain that way. Fingers cross this plan works.

Be Warned - You may catch something reading this!

Week - 11k
Month - 48.5k
YTD - 141k

I arrived home Sunday night to what resembled a refugee camp. Cass coming down with the flu and Sam catching a menky disease from daycare. His first week ever at the center and he has picked up a mild case of conjunctivitis, mixed with a viral infection causing diarrhea and the flu. Not nice for the little man.

Obviously that mean't that he can't return until it is cleared up so I had to take some time off work to look after him. Cass began her studies again this week so it was better for me to do this than her miss the first week of classes.

The ironic thing about the scenario above is that one of Cass's subjects this week was on Infection Control. :-)

I didn't get a chance to do any training on exercise, however I have managed two short sessions of 6k on Tuesday and 5k last night. Both felt relatively good although the fitness is disappearing. Being around Sam for most of the day has also caused me to come down with a sore throat and a runny nose which probably contributed to the fatigue.

I felt like crap last night and early this morning with my throat being very sore however it has seemed to ease up today. As usual I have no plans this week in regards to training and will take it day by day which will be governed by the flu situation.

I have also been slack in reading blogs so I need to try and catch up on the goings on in the next few days.

Goodbye!

Unfortunately I will be out for a few days with a work excursion out in the weeds. I will be back on Sunday night which also means I will miss the first Brisbane Road Runners championship race. I can't be to disappointed work is giving me two days off next week to make up for the lost weekend :-)

Anyway the recovery after Saturdays effort went very well and although I haven't done any running since, I have cycled and played a few games of squash which felt great. The next time I get a chance to fit in some training will be early next week, I will also be out of the blogging scene for a while aswell.

Good luck to all those racing this weekend and every one else, happy training :-)

Caboolture Dusk Till Dawn

Week - 32.5
Month - 37.5
YTD - 130k

I was always going up for a squiz at this event last night however at about 3pm I decided that not only was I going to spectate but I also planned to run.

As this was a last minute decision there was no way I could convince anyone to run in a teams event. Therefore what I had to enter in was the shortest solo race............a short 6hr run!

There wasn't any chance in hell that I was considering running the whole event, however I did get strange looks, comments and concerns after I announced that I was entering the 6hr event from the CR's and bloggers up there.

To me this was a training run, a stupid one at that as I has not done hardly anything in the past few weeks, but I wasn't going hard, planned to have as many walk breaks as I needed and just remain comfortable.

The plan worked well for the most part and during the run I decided that 3 hrs would be a huge achievement. It would be the longest on my feet in any one training session aswell as my longest in distance, previously 26km.

The race starts at 6pm and the weather was alot better this year very little humidity and a nice breeze. I was plodding around and was remaining very close to 5min/k pace per lap. The laps are 500m on a gravel track that surrounds a historical village.

I slowed down a little through the first 10k passing it in about 52 minutes. It was then that I decided to walk two laps. No racing tonight just a long run, I needed to remind myself of that a few times.

It was just over an hour once I began to run again and nothing really changed, I still felt pretty good however I needed a toilet break. At the 36th lap I made a pitstop and during this time the lurking storm that was moving across from the city hit and hard.

I wondered out of the loo to be hit with rain drops the size of water balloons instantly soaking you, not only that they were cold . I took off again and after half a lap it was quite refreshing however the track was taking a beating. It was sloppy and alot of large puddles and this made the running a bit tougher.

I thought the rain would go as quickly as it came but it hung around for a while. Not sure of the exact time but enough to start causing me some grief. The next 1 1/4 hours I slowed right down and enjoyed some extended breaks seeing if Cass and Sam were ok and getting some food and drink in. I dedicated another 3 laps to walking during this time aswell. It slowed my overall average down a whole lot.

With an hour to go I made a goal of 60 laps (30k) before the 3hrs. I was well ahead at the 1/2 mark so the slow running/walking and rest breaks didn't concern me too much. Cass was scoring for me, battling to stay out of the rain and look after Sam who decided that there was far too much going on to sleep even 3hrs past his bed time.

The last 4k was very slow, I fighting a losing battle with the gravel that made a home in my shoes an hour prior. They were obviously soaked and constant puddles along the course allowed the gravel to easily get stuck in your shoes. Even if I was fit enough to do the whole race I think that this would have caused me to pull out. I don't think I would have had much skin left on my feet it I continued for much longer.

I had about 24 mins to do the last 4k and pretty much took that whole time crossing the 30k mark in 2.58.20.

After I finished I felt it was a wise decision to pull the pin at 3hrs. Not only for my benefit but for Cass, who was cramped up under a small shelter with a pram a few bags with 20 other people looking after with Sam who was getting angry because he was so tired. She done a great job and really appreciated what she done.

We had a bite to eat and departed for home. 2 mins after being in the car Sam was racked out.

This morning I feel pretty good, a bit stiff and my left knee a tad sore. More than likely due to the laps and changing a stride to accomodate for the rocks in my shoes. Nothing a few days rest won't fix.

Thanks to everyone on the course last night cheering and giving support, it certainly makes the night a lot more fun!

BRRC 5k

Week - 5k
Month - 5k
YTD - 97.5k

I stuck to my word and entered the 5k event today. It was bring a friend day where if you introduced a mate they ran for 1/2 the normal entry fee and you ran for free. Well I think that's how it worked. I obviously didn't introduce anyone but Cass did walk the 5k loop pushing Sam.

Anyway, it was good getting up a little later as the start was at 6.30am rather than the 6am for the longer races. In saying that we still stuffed around half asleep getting everything bar the kitchen sink for Sam's nappy bag. On the way the fuel light came on in the car which took up even more time filling up however we eventually arrived a good 10 minutes before the planned start time.

I registered and paid for my 07 membership and set off for a small warm up. My legs have never felt better. Even on a good day it still seems to take a while before they begin the operate properly but today they felt great from the onset.

The race start was postponed a bit but we soon headed off when the race clock said 30 minutes. I took off pretty quickly but slowed down when I realised I was being to keen.

Before I go any further I should have mentioned my goals. Given that I have only ran 5.5k since the 18 Jan (17 days) I decided on three outcomes and how I would feel about the results.
Sub 20 minutes = Very Happy
20.30 = Happy
20.31 - 21 mins = A little disappointed but understandable.

Alright back to the race.

Anyway everything was going well, I began catching those who seemed to be as eager as I and passed the first k in 3.51. Still feeling good however I did think that I was running a little quicker than that. I maintained the pace for the next k passing the 2k mark in 7.39 (3.48/k).

Looking good for a sub 20 minute I still didn't want to too excited about it. The 3k marker seemed to take forever and by this stage I was now thinking that this is becoming alot tougher. I didn't seem to notice the heat that much but it was a nice relief when I did actually run through a shady section. I passed the 3k marker in 11.29 (3.50/k).

It was then I knew that I had it in the bag. Currently averaging 3.50/k I could now slow 20 odd secs per km and still get under 20. However I still battled on and was starting to feel the lack of k's in the legs. I began picking things in the distance and pushing to that point which seemed to work well.

At about 3.5k I passed Tesso who was running the 10k event and tried to fake that I was still in good knick however I don't think I was convincing anyone, not even myself. I passed the 4k mark in 15.19 (3.50), and now struggling to hold pace.

It was a sporatic last km which felt more like a fartlek session than anything else. It wasn't until the path section that leads down to the finish that I sorted my pace out and ran on strongly to finish in 19.18 (3.59). My slowest split of the day but I didn't care. All I cared about was that I needed oxygen and fast!! I was pretty puffed to say the least but I was also pretty chuffed with the time considering my past few weeks training.

I can report that the calf held up fine and I didn't get any post run soreness. I will still be taking it easy and gradually build up to the normal training and pace further down the track.

Just before we headed off Clairie got big hugs from Sam who was quite content to be nursed by her. Arms wrapped around her neck he was happy and enjoyed chewing on her shoulder. After we peeled Sam away from her and let her get back to ordering people around ;-) Cass said "he doesn't even give me hugs like that", she gave him stern talking to in the car on the way home ;-)

Easy does it!

Week - 5.5k
Month 92.5k
YTD - 92.5k



A hectic week so far at work has caused my return to training to be very slow going indeed. I have just felt like crap the last few days after getting home from work and have not felt like doing anything that involves raising my heartrate beyond the level that keeps me concious.


The two small sessions that I have completed have felt pretty good. No signs of the calf issue however I haven't really gave it a chance to complain.


On Monday I headed out for my first jaunt in almost two weeks. The day was hot and humid. I ended up running for 3k at 5min/k pace. As a precautionary tatic I iced the problem area which seem to pull up well the next day.


Today at work I headed out for a small jog around the 2.4k fitness test course. Primarily to show the new blokes at work the course that they will be tested on come this Friday. The pace was easy going at around 4.40 pace.


I haven't got any training planned for the remainder of this week and will just take it as it comes. I have to work this Saturday so the group run from South Bank is not a possibility :-( I will however be running this Sunday at West End, for the Brisbane Road Runners fortnightly race.


I am not entirely sure what race I will do but I am leaning towards just the 5k run and maybe a slow 2-3k cool down. This will probably be the smartest option considering the amount of running I have done.


***For the Family***

Here are a couple of Pics of Sam, one showing off his new fangs the other looking as though he has been up to something. Just in case you are all wondering about the marks on his body, no we don't bash him ;-) he gets rather energetic once in water and likes throwing himself around.

Oz Day 07

It has been a fairly casual Australia Day, I did plan to go and watch the Beer Mile but an after lunch nana nap turned into a solid 2 hour kip, so that plan was washed out.

*Rewind*

This morning I woke up fairly early and thought it would be a good idea to annoy the neighbours and mow the lawns before it heated up. The nights here have been horrible averging around 23-24 degrees, very humid and still, so sleeping has been very restless.

After spending about an hour doing the husbandly duties I hopped on the bike trainer for a 30 minute session. I positioned the bike close to the ceiling fan however after about 5 minutes I realised that I was not getting much breeze. I didn't want to stop and move again so I battled on and completed the session. By the end I looked as though I had just come from the pool, however I felt good for doing it.

Later on in the afternoon after the kip Cass, Sam and I went for a walk around the 'hood'. It was still humid and I feel sorry for the little fella, we try and go when it is cooler for him but you cant do much about it at the moment. He doesn't seem to mind but when we get him out he is damp from sweat. Overall we done about 4k in around 40 odd minutes.

Probably much of the same for tomorrow.

Before I retire for the night, Tesso asked 'do I have a goal time' for the Warwick Pentath run ( 5 races over 2 days totalling 42.2km) I have thought about it a little but haven't set them in concrete. The major challenge in this race is to be able to recover quickly for the next race. I guess with a good solid training regime it is possible to break 3 hrs however at this stage I will have to say sub 3.10 which is certainly a more than realistic goal.

To achieve this I will have to do something like
Day 1 Race 1 21.1km - 94 minutes
Day 1 Race 2 4.6km Cross country - 19 minutes
Day 1 Race 3 5km road - 20 minutes

Day 2 Race 1 10km hill run - 49 minutes
Day 2 Race 2 1500m road run - 5 minutes

This will give me a 3 minute buffer in any of the races, more than likely the hill run is where I will need it the most.

Not bad for someone who has only thought about it a little ;-)