Run Ben Run!

Mt Wilson to Bilpin - A lesson in Trailrunning

2008-09-10T12:55:00.000+10:00

Apologies for the tardiness of this report – I’ll explain later.

On Saturday the 23^rd of August I ran my first Willy to Billy. It won’t be my last. The race is the best I have ever run. The volunteers are fantastic. The course is beautiful.

I ran a great race and was overjoyed with my time, but I have one rather dumb flaw in my preparation, which means there is some room for improvement.

The flaw in the preparation started the day before the event. Work was so manic on Friday that I didn’t bother making up Staminade, I only drank water. Then on the morning of the race I neglected to take my normal supplements, so I missed out on a magnesium tablet.

We decided not to go up as a family, so I drove up on my own. A familiar and somewhat eerie drive for me as I went back through the Hawkesbury region – the place that was home for so long. I’d left myself plenty of time, and stood around at the start chatting and eating scones. The ladies of the Mt Wilson Rural Fire Service make awesome scones.

The race started and I tried to stay with Belinda. This is easy enough on the flat or uphill, but on the downhill she took off like a woman possessed. It was then that I started to realise that previously I’d taken the downhills a little too easily, and that they were a serious opportunity to make up time you would lose walking up hills. A couple of times I tried to stay with her, but when a long downhill resulted in a 4:10 K I started to learn another important lesson in trailrunning: Run your own race.

So after 5K I was looking good on 29 minutes, and feeling good. 10K under an hour - still feeling great. Looking at the course profile it suggested 27K of mostly downhill, 7K of killer uphill and 1K of flat finish. I figured if I could go at 6 minute Ks until 27K I'd be in a position to really take it easy up the hill and finish well under 4 hours. By 15K I'd lost a little time and was right on 6 minute pace. I'd lost Belinda on one of the uphills and I was feeling pretty good. The plan was unfolding perfectly at 26K, which is about where Belinda caught me, sprinting down a long hill.

It was soon after this that the uphill started, and with it came the first sign of my folly - my calves just started to show signs of cramping. The next 8K were to be difficult. I jogged until my legs started to cramp, and the walked until they were back under control. On the whole it was OK – I was worried it might get very ugly, but I pushed through without losing too much time. When the uphill finished I asked how far to go at the last drink station. “About 1.6K” was the response. I looked at my watch: 3:39. 3:45 was gone, but a sub 3:50 was still a great time. About 100m later my legs felt a bit dodgy, so I started to walk. A girl close by screamed at me “You’re too close to start walking now!”. I started to make a feeble excuse about cramping, but at the same time I realized that she was right. I shuffled the last little bit to the end without looking at my watch.

Belinda finished about 100m in front of me, and when I saw her at the finish she was telling someone “sub 3:45”, which prompted me to have a look at my time – 3:44:55.

I couldn’t believe it. Obviously 1.6K was a bit of an overstatement. I was stoked.

It was then I realised why it is good to run in a race run by the Rural Fire Service. One of the volunteers came over to me and said “You look terrible!”. She wrapped me in a blanket and just looked after me for the next little while. I didn’t want to sit down for fear that I’d cramp up completely, but I was well looked after with lollies and warmth. People join the RFS because they like to protect people. When you run a race run by the RFS, they look after you. It’s a good thing, and I’ll be back.

Now, since then it’s been a wild old time personally. A couple of weeks ago I was asked to move to a different company within the group I work for. It’s been a great move for me personally – I’m working in a product area I really enjoy and in a small team where I get to be involved in everything. But I have been working very bloody hard.

I’ve kept up to date with training, and I suspect I’ll be able to run about 1:52 at the Blackmores Half on Sunday week. My plan is to stay with the 1:50 pacer for as long as I believe it is safe to do so. If I can go all the way, that would be awesome.

I did see a sports dietitian several weeks ago. The great thing about this was I took a food diary in there, and basically she told me that it was pretty good and that the only thing I needed to do was eat more vegetables and less cheese. It was good to get confirmation that I’ve been managing my diet well.

A Massive Update

2008-08-12T12:38:00.000+10:00

OK, so it's been far too long. It's been a massive couple of months.

So here is the quick summary (which will be very long):

June was a solid training month interrupted by a cold.

The family did our road trip to the Gold Coast. I had an ordinary race.
About 8K in I realized that it wasn't my day and I could either push
myself to my limits for an OK time or I could ease off and just enjoy
the event. I took the soft option and enjoyed another fine Gold Coast
event. I loved the cheer squad and the drinks. The twins had a good race
in the Junior Dash and then we had another great family holiday. Once
again my girls were just awesome for the whole road trip. Even the boy
was pretty good, and at 15 months I was worried about him beforehand.

I suspect that one of the reasons for the poor performance was the fact
that since Canberra I have eaten like a marathon runner and trained like
a half marathon runner. When I hopped on the scales a month ago I was
5Kg heavier than I was just before Canberra.

I've had a few issues with my bowel, and the doctors decided to do a
colonoscopy in July. This was the last straw in the preparation for the
Hunter Valley Marathon, so I pulled out of that. In the wash up from the
colonoscopy I've made a couple of adjustments to my diet. The first was
cutting from four coffees a day to one or two. I stopped my iron
supplements three weeks ago and started feeling sluggish, so I had a
blood test and my iron levels are fine. I suspect the sluggishness is
down to psychosomatic issues from iron supplement withdrawal and other
factors that will become clear later. Through all of this it has become
clear that I quite obviously would benefit from some expert advice on
dietary matters, so I am booked in to see a dietitian at the end of the
month.

So I shifted my sights to the City 2 Surf and redemption for my
lacklustre performance last year. All was looking good until I picked up
a sore throat 9 days out from the event. I lightened the training load,
but this thing just wouldn't go away, and then on the Thursday before
the race I went for a light 11K run and that day I just went downhill. I
could only work half the day, and when I went in to see my running
sympathetic doctor, he just said "four days of bed rest. Forget C2S." So
I did. This morning was my first run since, and I feel pretty good. I'm
pretty sure it was the right decision.

Now for the big news.

A few weeks before the Gold Coast trip we found out that Des is
pregnant.

Yeeee Haaaah!!!! {Ben punches the air}

We are ecstatic. Now we have just entered the second trimester and we
are now able to get a bit excited as the main danger period passes.

John will be just a little short of two years old, and is already
showing signs of a firm belief that he rules the world. Why wouldn't he?
His sisters do whatever he wants. He basically has the four of us at his
beck and call. This must change, and now it will. After he gets over
being put out he will have someone to play with. It works.

I grew up as one of four. I like the number - I think it was a good size
of family to be a part of. Four is, however, enough. I intend to have
some minor surgery after this child is born.

This has been the main reason that I haven't had tome to blog, read
blogs, relax or scratch my bum for the last three months. Des is having
a rough pregnancy. She has been nauseous and tired every night. Last
time I handled the first trimester quite well - Des collapsed on the
lounge and I made the girls dinners and put them to bed. For an instant
family still feeling it's way it was good for all of us.

This time we have John. John cuts no-one any slack. He has been teething
over the last couple of months, which has turned Des and I into zombies
as he has wailed for hours during the night. And then he wants to play
at 5:00AM. If we didn't love him we'd defenestrate him.

So as we move into the second trimester and John starts to sleep better
life resumes something approximating normal. Des is feeling a bit better
as each week passes.

So, where to from here?

I might run the Hidden Half as a training run this weekend. I am entered
for Mt Wilson to Bilpin the following Saturday, which I will attempt in
the knowledge that I need to go slowly.

I'm still tossing up whether or not to run Six Foot. The pointy end of
the training will need to be done over the months that cover the third
trimester. Training for Six Foot may prove to be too much of a
distraction from my primary purpose in these months. The thought of
lowering expectations and going out with the express purpose of
finishing under seven hours is a possibility, but I don't know if I want
to go into my first Six Foot knowing I'm underdone. It's a conundrum,
but I've got time to make a decision.

A Change of Plans

2008-05-21T13:44:00.000+10:00

I finally had it confirmed yesterday - our team missed out on a spot in
Trailwalker for this year.

This is a massive bummer. We were getting quite excited about this as a
team. The upside is that as a team we have been shooting around emails
left, right and centre pertaining to meeting up at various races over
the next ten months, with the culmination being that all four of us will
make our debuts at the Six Foot Track Marathon next March.

Speaking of which, this does leave a filthy great void between now and
next March in terms of racing. I've compiled a list of candidate races
that I might be targeting. Feel free to comment:

7-Jun Striders North Head 10K
6-Jul Gold Coast Half
20-Jul Hunter Valley Marathon
27-Jul Cities M7 Marathon
10-Aug City 2 Surf
23-Aug Mt Wilson to Bilpin - 35K
6-Sep Striders North Head 10K
21-Sep Blackmores Sydney Half/Full
27-Sep Fitzroy Falls Fire Trail Marathon
4-Oct Striders 10K Sydney Olympic Park
12-Oct SMC Half

I will be running the Gold Coast Half. I've booked the holidays and the
whole family is primed for our second family holiday drive up the
Pacific Highway. The good thing is that we've bought a People Mover
("The Bus") since last year. The bad thing is that the lovely three
month old baby we took up last year will be a rampaging fifteen month
old with an intense dislike of long stints in his car seat. It could be
messy.

The race is an interesting conundrum. I wilt in the heat, and the Gold
Coast gets hot towards the end. It's also very crowded at the start. On
the other hand, it's pancake flat and I am in shit hot form, even if I
do say so myself. I think Gnome nailed it in the comment to my last post
- good marathon training is good for other distances.

I've decided that if I'm only going to do four sessions a week I'm going
to make them all count. Speedwork is already as hard as it can be, so
the other sessions have all been made faster. My long run has gone from
about 6:20 pace to sub 6:00. The midweek long run has gone from about
5:35 to about 5:25 (5:18 this morning). The other session I will see how
I go with, but if it's prior to a rest day there is no excuse for not
going hard.

My last three training runs have been absolute corkers. On Sunday Marlz
and I drove out to the M7 and went for a 30K run on the M7 path in 2:59
with Nite_Time_Runner. The good thing about it was that we picked up the
pace in the last few Ks - we finished strong. The following day I went
out for what I expected to be a feeble 8K recovery run on tired legs.
After 1K I just hit a rhythm, and I figured since I was resting on
Tuesday I should go with it. I punched out the next 7K in about 5:30
pace. This morning Marlz and I put in a solid 13.5K at 5:18 pace, again,
finishing strongly.

Oh, and I know I said "no more marathons for my family". I think the key
here is the four sessions a week, and maintaining some sort of sensible
balance between training and having something left over at the end of
the day. So far it's working, and hopefully it will work for a marathon.
Hunter Valley will in all likelihood be that marathon.

An unexpected PB

2008-05-12T10:34:00.001+10:00

I'll be honest, 3K is not a distance I keep close tabs on. It's a
distance I time trial occasionally.

This morning I set out on one of those time trials. To be honest I've
avoided it like the plague. The last 500m of a 3K time trial are awful.

But due to some rearranging of my schedule due to Mother's Day, I'm
doing speedwork twice this week, and Monday just seemed to be a logical
point to do a 3K TT.

I knew I was in good nick - the speedwork before the marathon indicated
that I was running fast, but given that I've been taking it easy in the
recovery and I had a hard long run on Saturday I thought a PB wasn't on.
Trouble was I couldn't remember my 3K PB.

So I picked 13 minutes as a nice round figure to aim at.

In darkness we set out for the 1.5K turnaround. I thought it might be a
good idea to mark it well, as we would easily miss the faded spraypaint
on the path. About ten metres away from the marking I found an enormous
safety cone with a big reflective strip. From that point I knew this was
a good run.

We jogged out to the start, and took off suitably warmed up. Marlz
decided to stick with me for the first half as he was feeling sluggish.
As I said, I had picked 13 minutes as a target. 4:20 per K. As if by
magic, I settled into this pace immediately. We ran through 500m in
2:10. 1K in 4:20. Breathing at this stage was getting very heavy, but
not difficult. We hit the turnaround in 6:31, and a hairpin turn does
slow you down a bit, so I knew 13 minutes would be a challenge; my
breathing was a bit laboured now and I had to go faster to hit the time.
At this point Marlz took off and I decided to slow a bit because I
thought I was a good chance of blowing up at my current pace. I went
through 2K in 8:47 and 2.5 in 11:00 flat. I was struggling, but I knew I
had a quickish 500m left. It was more a case of hanging on than kicking,
and I finished in 13:16.

When I got home I discovered that my previous best had been 13:24. 8
second PB. Gotta be happy with that!

Only their Mother Can Tell Them Apart

2008-04-28T09:03:00.001+10:00

Canberra Marathon - A bloody big PB

2008-04-20T15:49:00.005+10:00

The Canberra Marathon. Marlz and I have been best mates for 20 years. I feel priveleged to have trained for and completed a marathon with this bloke. He could've run it a fair bit quicker, but that wasn't why he was there. We ran a marathon together. This is that story.

The trip to Canberra did not get off to a good start. With Marlz, myself, our spouses and John packed in the car and already half an hour down the road I realised that the bottles of Staminade and Coke I had spent the morning mixing and labelling had been left behind. We decided that we might risk missing the drop off if we turned around and picked them up. This put me in a filthy mood for the next hour or so, but I soon snapped out of it. We decided on a new race hydration strategy: I would use the High 5 electrolyte drink on course and Des would meet me at the 30K mark with a Red Bull. This was a bit risky: I've only used High 5 once before - in my first marathon. On that occasion I started vomiting at 15K and it ended very messy.

I had a long-standing deal with Des that the carbo-load would occur at the Pancake Parlour. I love this restaurant! It remains one of lifes mysteries to me that it has completely disappeared from Sydney. We returned to the hotel with bellies full of pancake when John took after his father in a rather spectacular fashion. At this point I should note for the benefit of Non-Coolrunning readers that my handle on Coolrunning is "Chunderbolt". John spewed mercilessly all over his Godfather (Marlz). The unflappable Marlz showered and we all turned in for early nights.

Race morning was great, as far as I was concerned - threatening rain and cold. I liberally lubed every area that had ever chaffed, and Marlz and I walked down to the start line. We chatted with various Coolrunners whilst sheltering from the rain in the hall until walking out and finding the four hour pace group just before the start.

It rained lightly for the first few kilometres. Marlz and I ran with the group for the first few K, but we got carried away talking about something and by the time I had a look around we were about a hundred metres in front of the pace group. We decided to try to just maintain that distance, but by 10K we were a little bit further in frontof the group. We went through 10K in 54 minutes - about three minutes ahead of pace.

At this point I knew that we had made a tactical error. I slowed us down and we went through the next 11.1K right on correct pace, going through the half marathon in 1:57. Shortly before this the four hour pace group passed us. I wasn't too worried about this as I knew we were ahead of the pace. The thing that worried me was that I was feeling OK, not great. My first coach once told me that the aim of the first half of a marathon is to feel great. I was feeling slightly fatigued and slightly sore. It was about this time that the rain cleared and the course filled with sunshine, and this wasn't going to do my chances any good.

Between here and 30K my approach was to hold it together without losing too much energy. For the first time in the race we started to lose seconds every K. we were travelling at about 5:45 per kilometre, where race pace was 5:41. I remember seeing Johnny Dark somewhere about this point and mustering the biggest cheer I could for him, telling him that it was his day. That guy has had a battle with the marathon that rteminded me a lot of my sub 1:50 half quest, but being a battle with the marathon it's on a much larger scale. One of the big high points of my day was later learning that he nailed the race he had been after. Well done JD - you deserve it.

I also saw a broken sfGnome on the side of the road who urged me on - cammiserations Bruce!

At 30K my true love was waiting with my Red Bull, which helped pick me up a little bit, but it didn't have a big effect. I was starting to suffer. 30 to 35 was getting real tough. The pace slowed up severely and at 34K I needed to take a walk break. At this point I tried to urge Marlz on to the sub four marathon he is obviously capable of, but he wasn't having a bar of it. We had gone this far together and we were finishing this bloody thing together. 30 to 35K we averaged 6 minutes per K. I knew the sub four was gone.

35 to 40 was more walk breaks and more hard work, but after 40 I could smell the finish line and there were no more walk breaks. We finished the marathon in 4:07:45 to the cheers of the excellent cheer squad. This was nearly 20 minutes off my old marathon PB, so I had to accept that I might have bitten off more than I could chew with sub-4 and be happy with, let's face it, a massive PB. Marlz ran on and clocked an impressive 4:54:59 for 50K in his third race (he's run 2 half marathons).

Post race I was messy. Des had a coffee waiting for me as well as a protein recovery drink, but most of it came back up. I stumbled around a bit swapping stories before showering and heading home just before the thunderstorm started.

So the four hour marathon was not achieved. Why?

Two reasons jump out at me.

Poor tactics: I would've been better off sticking with Spuds pace group. There is no doubt that I spent too much in the first 10K, and next time I will be far more anal about sticking with the pacer unless I know something is amiss with the pace.

Not enough in the preparation: I reckon I did enough to get an average runner over the line for four hours, but I suspect my body needs a little bit more. I certainly won't be getting married 10 weeks before my next marathon, and just perhaps I missed too many Ks in the early weeks of the preparation. I also think I might try to get into the low 80s for a few weeks the next time.

There will be a next time, but it probably won't be soon. I have two events on the horizon that will preclude me from training for a proper tilt at the marathon for the next year.

In August I, along with Marlz, Coolrunner Nite_Time_Runner and another bloke will be having a shot at a sub 20 hour Trailwalker.

And then next year the same four people will be attempting our first Six Foot Track Marathons.

These are big, hairy goals I will not distract myself from them by the specific training I would need to go sub four. To do that would be to risk all of them. And besides, I've not been as good a dad or husband as I aspire to be when running the big K's, so the next attempt can wait for a while. For the next few months at least I will try to get by on four sessions a week and devote more of my remaining energy to being a better dad and husband. So with that in mind and the fact that the twins are off for ten days in Fiji with their other dad tomorrow, I'm off to play with my kids.

It was the best of weeks, it was the worst of weeks

2008-03-26T15:39:00.000+11:00

So, officially we enter the taper.

On the whole, my training for the last three weeks has been great. I
have just about given myself the best chance to run a four hour marathon
that I can manage. When we last spoke I was in the middle of a 74K week.
Since then I have run 76 and 79.8K weeks.

The 79.8K needs some explaining. I was sitting on about 45.5K going into
Sunday, and I went to the SMC 30K with the intention of running a long
warm up to get the extra Ks. The race went well - 30K in about 3:08; a
good solid training run. At the end the Garmin read 34K and I said to
myself, "mmm, another 500m and it's an 80K week", so I ran back to the
sheds and until the Garmin read 35K. When I got home Sportstracks
reinterpreted the run down to 34.3 and the week at 79.8K, and so again I
said to myself: "that's what you get for being a wanker!" So it's a
79.8K week.

Last week being Easter we took the family to Mackay. I ran on the Friday
morning before we left, and it was one of the best speedwork sessions of
my life. I had 6 * 500m planned. So after my warm up I ran 500m in just
under 2 minutes. Prior to this session I had only run one sub 2:00 500m
in my life and in the following effort I fell in a crumpled vomiting
heap after 250m. This time I followed it with another sub 2:00 effort
and then another. The party was over after that and I finished with
2:07, 2:06 & 2:04, but I felt good for the rest of the day.

In Mackay John and I met Des's grandmother (John's great-grandmother)
for the first time. This was also our first meeting for several other
family members, and I knew it was going to be full on from when we got
there on Friday afternoon when we left to Sunday afternoon when we
headed home. So I packed my gear for a run, knowing that Des's uncle
runs a bit, but he had been struck down by the flu. I almost had a
coronary when I discovered that I would be spending the weekend with a
flu carrier 3 weeks out from the marathon, but I didn't get too sick. I
got a bit of a tickle in my throat and a bit of lethargy, but no cold or
flu. I also didn't get a run in.

On Monday I felt a bit rough, but I thought I was OK to do the long run
that I should have done on Sunday. I was wrong. This was 33K of utter
garbage. At no point did I feel on top of my game, and I had to take
walk breaks on numerous occasions. I covered 33K in 3 hours and 45
minutes and felt like death warmed up for the rest of the day. I just
wasn't up for it.

I must be a bit better now: Marlz and I went out for a 13K run this
morning at close to marathon pace, and whilst I didn't feel great it was
a whole lot better than Monday.

So three weeks to go, and if I can stay out of trouble I should be able
to get close on the day. Bring it on!

You'd think I'd Learn my Lesson

2008-03-05T11:30:00.000+11:00

Regular readers of this blog may spot a familiar pattern here. It goes
something like this:

Ben realizes that his training is insufficient for an impending race.
Ben ramps his training up rapidly.
Ben gets sick.

This pattern has recurred. I'm not sure I can blame it on the rapid
ramping of the training. As I said in the last post - John has had
croup. When I took him in to the doctor I was just starting to get a
tickle in the throat, and the doctor said I had the same virus, but it
was only in my throat and for the first time ever I heard a doctor utter
these words: "you don't need to change your training - you just might
feel a bit more lethargic during your sessions". I'd just finished a 72K
and a 75K week up from mid 60s.

Well, this turned out to be one of the world's great understatements.
The following day I went out for 13K at marathon pace (target 5:41). It
was an hour and a quarter of pure torture. I think the value of this
sort of session is that builds character - this is how you will feel at
30K in a marathon, and you have to keep running. I took walk breaks at
stumbled home for 13K at 5:55 pace. I pretty much felt like death warmed
up for the rest of the day.

I took the hint - impromptu easy week. The following 7 days came in at
49K of pretty easy running that felt laboured. I'm starting to come good
now, and this morning it was time for another marathon pace run. Marlz
and I did 13.3K at 5:33 pace, and all things considered (including not
nearly enough sleep for the last 2 days) I feel pretty good today.

The plan from here is to resume full training. If I start to fade on
Sunday, my plan is to take walk breaks and conserve energy, but still
cover a minimum of 32K. I've got a hankering to do some 2K repeats for
speedwork on Friday.

I have taken on board the comments about running on how I feel. The main
problem is that having only run 2 marathons 4 years ago I don't have a
feel for how I need to feel early in the race to conserve myself for the
rest of the race. The current plan is to line up with the four hour
pacer, and run with him/her for as long as I am comfortable. If I'm
still in the group at 28-30K then I'll try to stay with it - from that
point it's supposed to be uncomfortable. I remember that much.

Supplements

2008-02-22T14:49:00.000+11:00

So life slowly returns to normal. Wedded life is nearly as hectic as
living in sin - John has croup and has a cough that is reminiscent of a
pack a day smoker. The poor little bugger is not sleeping well and as a
result neither are we.

Life didn't really return to normal until a couple of weeks after the
wedding, and when it did I felt like I was surveying the wreckage of my
Canberra preparation and trying to pick up the pieces when I reviewed my
training. I'd managed a couple of 30K+ runs in January but really it was
not looking like the training diary of a bloke preparing for a proper
dig at a marathon. I've not been getting much above 55K a week.

Since then I've really managed to dig in and turn it around. One thing I
did at that time was to start taking a few vitamin supplements. Marlz
has been using this stuff for a while and he has been able to ramp up to
100K+ weeks in his first 18 months of running, so I started taking:

-Fish oil
-Glucosamine
-Multi-Vitamins
-Iron

Fish oil caused me a real moral dilemma. I've been a vegetarian for
nearly 30 years because I don't want animals killed unnecessarily, but
at the same time it was going to be very difficult to get the sort of
Omega 3 boost I wanted without fish oil. In the end I looked at the
leather shoes on my feet and the rennet in the cheese I eat and I
decided that there was blood on my hands already. If that sounds a bit
weak to you, it sounds pretty weak to me as well, and I'm not all that
comfortable with it. But for the moment, I'm taking fish oil.

Now, I don't know which of the supplements it is, but for the last
fortnight I've had more energy and mental stamina than I've had in my
entire life. Even before John was born I'd get to three in the afternoon
and I'd really struggle to stay awake, even on days where I didn't run
in the morning. This has changed radically. I'm not sure which
supplement is primarily responsible for this, but I have a sneaky
suspicion that I have been iron deficient for nearly thirty years (yes,
I could fix this by eating a dead cow). I've even cut back on the amount
of coffee I drink.

The follow on effect of this is that for the past two weeks I have been
able to train at a higher volume than I have ever trained at before
without feeling overly fatigued. Last week I did a 30K training run in
the morning and felt great for the rest of the day. Last week I also
cracked 70K for the week for the first time ever and after this morning
I'm on 42K with a 32K run planned for Sunday.

I'm still worried about Canberra. The closer I get the more daunting the
prospect of 42.2km at 5:41 pace seems. Even with the extra energy it's a
tall order. The excesses of the last few months have left me at 74kg at
last count - 5kg above race weight. But you never know - if I put the
hard yards in for the next month things should look much better.

The best Day of my life Part Two: The reception.

2008-02-03T10:20:00.000+11:00

Des and I like breakfast. It's a meal suited to a casual occasion, and suited to a nice buffet. Part of the attraction of a morning wedding was the ability to put on a really good buffet breakfast. When we got inside the hall, we found that the caterers had put on an excellent one. Also, Darren Hanlon was setting up to play a few tunes. At this point we need to make a detour to explain how significant this is.

In the mid nineties I saw a band at a music festival in Byron Bay called "The Simpletons". They were a good folk-rock band, and they just embodied everything I liked - I became a massive fan immediately. For the next few years I followed them around like a bad smell. Their label signed The Lucksmiths, so I bought Lucksmiths CDs. I went to all of their Sydney gigs (a big effort living in Windsor) as they had moderate success on Triple J, but the music got heavier as the lead singer and creative force Shane Gelagin got further into the drug habit that eventually killed him.

Darren Hanlon was the multi-instrumental lead guitarist in this band, and in 2000 he released his first CD containing one of my favourite all-time songs - "Falling Aeroplanes", a song about a girl restoring a boys belief in himself and his worth. I started following Darren Hanlon around like the same bad smell, and when I burnt a CD for Des our first few months together I put "Falling Aeroplanes" on it. It quickly became our song, with the twins initially thinking I sang it.

So when one of my colleagues at work told me of her ambition to get Guy Sebastian to play her wedding I thought "Hmmm - I wonder if Darren Hanlon would play our wedding?", I sent an email to his management.

A month before the big day I got the email saying "yes" and could I put a list of songs together. We flipped out. We put a seven song set together, with no Simpletons songs on it because I thought that would be rude. But several days before the wedding Darren rang me (how cool is that) and when I said I was a Simpletons fan he said "Do you want me to play a couple of Simpletons songs?". I picked two and got even more excited.

So Darren started playing as the meal started, but we soon realised that he would be finished before we were ready to do our bridal waltz, OK who are we kidding - it was a bridal "blue light disco shuffle" to Falling Aeroplanes, so we asked Darren if he wanted some breakfast. Then he sat down with me and we talked for twenty minutes about Des and I, his plans for the coming year, some weddings he'd played before and some other stuff. Yes Tesso, he is exactly the sort of bloke that comes accross in his songs. It was a treat. I knew I'd never get a better opportunity to fulfil a folk-rock & roll fantasy, so I asked him what key one of the Simpletons songs I'd asked him to play was in. He replied "G", which was a key I knew I could play it in so I asked the question - and yes, he would play "Buzz Aldrin" with me. It was his second last song and the highlight of my musical life, but it would soon be eclipsed by a far more special collaboration.

We danced to Falling Aeroplanes and it was beautiful. We thanked Darren and got some great "Fan shots" and then it was time for Des's surprise.

The girls and I had been working on a version of Ben Lee's "We're All in this Together" for several months. We had divided the lyrics up and chose certain bits to sing together and personalised it a bit.

I knew it was going to be a bit special, but the effect was awesome. I barely managed to hold it together for the whole song, and whenI sang the line "I saw you crying, I started crying" I looked over at Des and I nearly lost it. Most of the guests had tears in their eyes.

From here we started the speeches. My sister got married in Denmark, and one thing I picked up from that wedding was that the Australian tradition of proscribed speeches was stifling. We let all of those close to us know that if they wanted to make a speech, they were welcome.

As a result we had great speeches from my dad, Des's uncle Michael, Sharon and my sisters together. And then Des spoke.

She made a beautiful speech about our relationship and the beauty thereof. Again I felt so lucky to be married to this amazing woman.

And then I spoke. I managed to hold it together for most of the speech, but when I started talking about the twins I lost it. I never had any right to expect that they would even accept me. As most long term readers would know. these girls have brought me some of the best memories of my life, and by the end of the speech every person in that room knew how important that was to me.

With the speeches over we cut the cake which was another hippy creation: a tree trunk layered chocolate, caramel and white chocolate mud in the shape of a tree trunk.

After the informal formalities the rest of the day was given over to socialising and fun. The adults talked and the kids played tennis, had a water bomb fight, bashed up a pinata and generally ran amok. It was great to see the way the kids from our various social circles just ran off having fun together.

In the afternoon we had a BBQ with potato bake for the vegos. After the BBQ our guests spontaneously started packing up the hall. This was fantastic - we left knowing there wasn't much to do at about 5:00PM. One of the unforseen benefits of a morning wedding is that Des and I were able to have a quiet dinner together with just the two of us. Not many people get that on their wedding night.

Since then I've been running a bit. I'll tell you about it later.

The Best Day of My Life. Part one - the ceremonies

2008-01-31T09:36:00.000+11:00

On Sunday the 27th of January I married Deseri-Joy. It was the best day of my life, and I am going to describe it in minute detail. There will be little reference to running.

The setting is Camp Breakaway, 20 minutes south of Newcastle. They hold camps for disabled kids and their families and hire out the facilities to raise money to run the place. They have roomed that the guests can hire out, and we had about 50 guests staying the night before. As a result we had many willing volunteers to help us set things up the night before. The atmosphere as this was happening was great - lots of our friends from different circles working together. Unfortunately I had started developing a cold, which I was self medicating as hayfever. As a result I went to bed with a slightly runny nose and no chance of sleeping.

This turned out OK because in the morning the adrenaline kicked in, and Des and I started organising things. At seven o'clock I had started to feel the pinch and I was really starting to regret not taking my espresso machine up. This is when Des said to me:

"Darling, this is your surprise: at 8:15 a coffee van will arrive and serve coffees to all of our guests for two hours"

My girl knows how to look after me.

After the van arrived I gathered with the guests under the trees at the front of Camp Breakaway and chatted, played guitar and waited for the girls.

A little after 9:00AM there was excitement as the girls started to make their way up from the cabins. Firstly the flower girls with the two junior bridesmaids (Emily and Brielle) and then Des and her two best friends, Sharon and Katie.

Now I already happen to think that Des is the most beautiful girl in the world (yes Bruce - I'll agree to disagree), but on this particular occasion she brought tears to my eyes - she looked like a goddess. And she was about to marry me.

There was never any thought that the wedding was ever going to be anything other than extremely casual. I was wearing hemp pants, a woven cotton t shirt and no shoes, as were my best man and groomsman, Marlz and my brother Clint. Des found her dress by googling "hippy wedding dress".

So with our guests sitting on picnic rugs and camp chairs or standing the ceremony started. We had an idea that we'd like the celebrant to do only the parts she was legally required to do and my mum conducting the rest of the ceremony. The celebrant wasn't keen to give that much up, and my mum is not a confident public speaker. The result was that we had short vows and a long reading that was "vow like" by my mum.

We didn't have the opportunity to have a rehearsal, and there were two aspects of the ceremony where this showed. Firstly, every time the celebrant said "Deseri" she mispronounced it. Secondly, when the celebrant asked us to move closer together we took it as the "kiss the bride" moment - and we hooked into each other to the cries of "not yet!" from the celebrant.

The wedding ceremony was followed by a short ceremony for John's naming day, in which we asked all grand parents, great grandparents, uncles, aunties, godparents (Sharon & Marlon) and Em and Bop to read a verse from a poem.

With the end of the ceremony we headed inside for the breakfast reception.

Stay tuned for the reception, but for a sneak preview, look here.

Black Stump Recovery

2008-01-12T14:10:00.000+11:00

The body is a strange and wonderful thing.

I think I looked after myself particularly well during the Black Stump run - I hydrated well, my pre race nutrition was well planned and executed and my race strategy was a winner. Post race I was straight into the appropriate recovery foods and as a result the day after I felt like a million bucks.

Unfortunately my resumption of training, whilst well planned, was poorly executed, and as a result I think I'm still feeling it.

Warning: poo story in next paragraph

My initial plan was to adopt Pat Carroll's post race strategy of no fast running for a week. On my first training run back this was made impossible by an ill timed visit from the poo fairy. I knew I needed to go about 2K away from the next public toilet, and this turned the session into a form of speedwork that I'll call poolek - you go increasingly faster as the urgency grows, and I did the final 500m at 3K race pace.

The run after this was a run at Sook 54's excellent twilight race. I had John in the pram. I planned to do 10K very easy, but John went feral at 3.5K, so Marlz and I stopped, gave him a bottle and jogged back from there. Even at the reduced pace, pushing the pram on a windy night trashed my legs badly.

Since then I've taken it very easy, but my legs still feel heavy. Tomorrow the plan is 21K, which is still 10K shorter than where my standard long run is, but I hope to get back up to 30 the following week.

The next two weeks are going to be hard to plan - obviously most of my focus will be on the wedding. Things are coming along well in that regard - it's going to be a very relaxed and casual celebration.

After the wedding, we get serious and put a plan together for the Canberra sub four quest.

Beyond the Black Stump - a Bloody Great Bush Run

2008-01-01T21:10:00.000+11:00

What an awesome way to start the year?

In planning for this run I had bought a hydration pack and a couple of Power Bars.I filled the hydration pack with 2L of Staminade. Rod the Hornet kindly gave me a lift so that I didn't have to pack the family into the car at 6:00AM.

I took some very good advice about this race and went very conservatively from the start. I ran the first third of the race mainly with Kazz, Bushbaybee and a bloke who's CR handle I didn't catch (Basil Brush?).

The first 8K was an uneventful mix of bush and road butI was a little worried about our time when we pulled into the ferry on about 1:20.

We didn't have to wait much at the ferry. I had planned to pick up some Gatorade, but it looked closed, so I decided to ration my Staminade. after the ferry there is a 4K uphill which is mainly road. it was here that I started to pull away from the others as I jogged a goodly portion of this section. My policy on this uphill was that if my breathing got laboured I walked. At the top of the hill someone had left some drinks (Coke, Gatorade, a couple of beers) I foolishly decided to leave it for the trip back. From here it was back into the bush and a steep downhill. This section seemed to last for ages, but finally I reached the ruined castle - the turnaround point. At this stage I had been going for 2.5 hours. I took a break here and had a stretch. While I was doing this I was caught by BushBaybee and we had a few photos.

From here Bushbaybee and I ran together for the entire trip back to the ferry. The climb after the ruined castle was steep and a bit tough, and I was looking forward to the drink station, but when we got there we found about 200ml of Gatorade and a half drunk can of Coke. We shared the Gatorade (I'd run out of Staminade already) and I drank the Coke (I usually avoid the filthy black liquid like the plague, but it's gold on a very long run). 500m later there was some people giving out cold water, so I took some in the pack (thanks guys).

We made some good time on the road back down to the ferry, but wasted it all by a long break at the marina where I went to the toilet and filled my again empty pack with Powerade. A long wait at the ferry had me itching to get going.

The next section is the hardest of the course. I lost Bushbaybee soon after we got off the ferry and was running, sorry, climbing close to if not with Carmen as I slowly ascended through the bush. After what seemed like an eternity (it was really 2.5K in 45 minutes) I finally hit some flat track and broke into a jog.

I actually felt pretty good throughout that section, and I started to get visions of a massive kick to finish, but I left it until I hit some road about 4K from the finish until I thought: "OK, let's pretend this is the final stages of a marathon - let's try to finish this baby off at 4 hour marathon pace".

I didn't - my legs were not capable of going that fast at that stage, and I finishedwith some 6:0X Ks.

Approaching the finish I noticed the people mover we affectionately call "the bus" and two excited little faces peering at me. The twins ran the last 50m with me as I stopped the Garmin at 5:17:55. I had qualified for the Six Foot Track Marathon.

I didn't realise exactly how happy this was going to make me. I've been on cloud nine all day. Additionally I have felt bubbly, energetic and cheerful, where quite often I crash and burn after (or during) a race. This afternoon I frolicked with the kids at Ryde pool.

Thanks to Rod for the lift, all the people I ran with for the company, all of the drink givers and especially Jen for support and advice and my support crew & cheer squad.

It's been a special day.

Central Coast Half - A Tough Day at the Office

2007-12-07T18:43:00.000+11:00

I apologise for this report takingan age to come: but as I told you in my last post, things are just manic, and bloggin just always seems to take a back seat. Anyway here's the report:

I love the Central Coast Half. It's just a great race to get together with other Coolrunners on what should be a flat, fast course.

However, I think I'm starting to learn a real lesson about my own body - I wither more than most in hot humid weather - and this was no exception.

Marlz and I had a good preparation: a quiet night at my folks place in Copacabana and Marlz and I left early on the Sunday. We had a good time milling around the registration and chatting, and we hooked up with cliffold - a first time half marathon runner.

The first few Ks were fair, but right from the start I knew the time was not going to be special. We went through 4K in 21:14 according to the Garmin - 5:19 pace, and I was feeling ordinary. At his point I mentioned to Marlz that we might have to slow down to avoid a debacle, and he said "Fine." Cliffold took off, bound for low 1:50s in an excellent debut.

From there it was more or less a slow degradation of pace for me in an attempt to finish in one piece. We got as slow as 6:00/K around 16 and 17K. I possibly could've gone faster, but there wasn't any reason to push: it was too hot and humid for a good time and the smartest thing was just to get to the end in sub 2 hours. This we achieved: 1:58:04 - which is the official time, I neglected to stop my watch. We finished 14 seconds after Doug Lindsay - wimnner of the M80 category (wow!).

In thinking about it I reckon I could've eeked a couple of extra minutes out of it, but truth be told, I wasn't on song. The fact is that we have geared our training subtlely to longer stuff, and that and the conditions will stand as my excuse for a pretty ordinary performance.

Anyway, I'm not given to dwelling on such things, and I've had fun since then. I intended to have a week of slow running after the race, and for the first session I did this, but then I went to the first Summer Twilight Race, excellently hoted by Silver Fox. I caught up with Portrunr at the start (with whom I ran at the start of last years Central Coast Half) and we ended up running a quickish 10 in about 54:08. Portrunr has a couple of kids and it was a pleasure to talk about the challenges of combining training and parenthood for an hour or so in perfect running conditions (i.e. cold and nearly raining).

Then Marlz and I tried our usual fastish 13.5K on Friday, and by the end of the week I was toast. I knew the only thing for it was to take it easy for a little bit, so on the Sunday we went out for a baby long run (16K). I addition I started on daily multivitamins and a protein recovery drink after each run (usually blended with a banana). So far I feel much better.

This week has been thrown into chaos as the twins hav very impotant Catholc sacrements on Saturday and Sunday morning that I can't quite name (OK, the communion is on the Sunday). With other Xmas parties I've been forced to format the week with Tuesday speedwork, Wednesday easy 10K and I got out at 4:30 this morning for 25K in 2.5 hours, so that if I can't run on the weekend it will be OK. If I can sneak in 10K easy on Saturday afternoon that will be great.

So what's next? Well, a whole lot of wedding organisation* and lots of kilometres. I'm still gearing our training towards a shot at the four hour marathon in Canberra, where it is cold in April, just like it is in Bathurst where I nailed my 1:50 half.

* - my Facebook friends might have noticed I've booked a mysterious DH for the wedding. DJ and I are ecstatic about this. I'm not saying anything else about it except to drop a mysterious hint to those who can't figure out who it is:

Any simpleton should be able to work it out.

I Honestly Thought ...

2007-11-13T11:37:00.000+11:00

I went into paternity leave with my eyes open. I didn't go in thinking "this'll be a great bludge - I'll start my Masters and I'll sip lattes every day." I knew I was in for some hard work and it wasn't going to be plain sailing.

But I honestly thought weekly updates on the blog wasn't too much to set my sights on.

So now we are three weeks in. The problem is that when I've got 30 minutes to myself there is any number of housework options, or there is also any one of the burgeoning number of tasks that are required for the organising of a wedding (27th of January - the Sunday of the Australia Day long weekend).

I'm enjoying this lifestyle a little too much. Two days a week at work is as much adult contact as I need, and three days a week with the kids is awesome. John is revealing more of his personality every week, and when he isn't sick (which is unfortunately often) he is a beautifully happy little bugger.

Come to think of it, you hven't seen him for a while, so here is a great photo from a month ago (at six months):

Training has been good. Marlz and I are building a base at the moment, so we've been gradually lifting the length of each run. The long run on Sunday was 27.3K, and this morning I suspect I did my longest midweek long run ever - a 14K effort at 5:30 pace.

Last week was mostly wiped out by a cold. With the rain I was reluctant to get back into it too early and risk a relapse, so it was a two run week - a 10K easy on Friday and the long run on Sunday. I was still feeling Sunday this morning, so on reflection 21 or 22 might have been wiser.

But you don't know these things until later, and I thought 27 was the right session.

The next race is a good question. I know I will run the Central Coast Half. Marlz is running it with a friend aiming at 2 hours. If I can sneak in a little bit more pram training I'll run it with them and John.

The problem with this is that if the weather is inclement I can't risk taking John out (especially with his asthma), and I really do need to ive him some longer pram runs to prove that he'll be OK for two hours.

After that I had planned to run the Black Stump run, but we've been invited to a killer new year's party and so I may have to give that one a miss. This will leave me without a Six Foot qualifying time. I'm OK with this; originally the 1:50 half marathon goal was a two part goal of the 1:50 half and then a four hour marathon. Marlz and I have been discussing making that attempt at Canberra.

Whatever happens, I'm content with my running at the moment and I know that once a goal race is set I'll be in a position to train specifically for it.

Dante's Puke

2007-10-26T08:34:00.000+10:00

It's been a funny old three weeks since my last post.

Let's start with the running. I think I've been pretty good at listening to my body. With no defined target race I had a couple of very light weeks. I took 2 weeks to get back into any form of strength or speed work, but when I did I picked a doozy.

Marlz and I had been eyeing off this hill over the last couple of months. It's bloody steep, it's not cemented or paved - it has a rough track up the side of it and it just looked like it was too juicy to resist. The only problem is that we needed complete light to do it, and we start our speedwork sessions at 4:45AM.

Last Friday I felt up to it and there was enough light, so we warmed up and then we ran up the bastard. It took me about a minute to get to the top, and at the top I felt completely stuffed. We walked across the flat bit at the summit and jogged down the other side and then jogged the base of the hill. This gave us a four minute recovery jog, and that's about what we needed for each assault on this ascent. We did five repeats on this hill before a warm down on a pair of jelly legs. On the way home we earnestly discussed names for our new form of torture. The winner was "Dante's Puke". We had another shot at it this morning, and the same five ascents have given me a great workout. Marlz did 6 and a half.

With daylight saving kicking in this weekend it's unlikely we'll be able to do it again for a while, but it's a lot of perverse fun.

John turned six months a couple of weeks ago. With his dodgy breathing I'm loathe to take him out at 5 AM, so we've only managed one pram run so far - 9K along the Parramatta River bike path. It was a bit of a killer - I reckon it makes me about 10% slower, but John loved it. For an hour he was mostly asleep or gibbering, with only a few minutes of grumbling. At the moment I'm hoping that I'll be able to take him out to Lane Cove for the 10K on Saturday week, but we'll have to see how that fits in with DJ's plans. Next week is her first week back at work, and I suspect she won't want the little tacker out of her sight for the entire weekend.

This segues nicely into the other event of the last few weeks. As I mentioned briefly in August I've started on part-time paternity leave. This week has been "handover week" - I've worked two days and DJ has been at home to show me the ropes. Next week I'm on my own. The children will be at home with dad for three days (except when the elder ones are at school), with the other days split between various grandmothers and child care.

After this week I'm feeling pretty confident about it, but in some ways it's more full on than my regular work. I'm excited about it, and I suspect my training will benefit.

My Body is Telling me Something

2007-10-01T15:55:00.000+10:00

So I ended up attempting to do an easy ten on Saturday. Marlz and I took off at about six minute pace, but after 4K I was really struggling, and I felt like there was absolutely nothing left, so we jogged back to the start and I ended up with a very weak six kilometres.

My body is trying to tell me something and I think I've been a bit obstinate about listening to it.

So I have definitely pulled the pin on Fitzroy Falls, and I don't intend to run again until at least Wednesday. I want to give myself a full recovery before I embark on anything else.

I'll shift the focus to the Black Stump run on New Years Day, but along the way I'm going to start doing some training with the pram and I'm seriously contemplating having a go at a two hour half marathon with the pram (and John) at the Central Coast Half in December if the weather isn't too inclement.

The Blackmores Half - A Great Day Out

2007-09-26T05:58:00.000+10:00

My recovery from the virus I copped two weeks ago has been painfully slow. In the days before the race I decided there was no way I was going to perform at my peak in this one, so Marlz (whose CR handle is Captain Smeg) and I decided we would go with the 2 hour pacer and see what happened.

We never reached the 2 hour pacer, but before we got to the start line CR Strikalite had introduced herself to us and ran with us. It wasn't long before Marlz & Strikalite had discovered a common interest in physics at which point the conversation went completely over my head.

We ran comfortably for the next 15K, but with 6 to go I knew it wasn't the day for me to be pushing any harder. The virus was making it's presence felt, and I knew it would be unwise to push any harder.

Still, I stayed with Marlz & Strikalite, using Monty Python quotes to rejoin their conversation (a sure fire way to communicate with nerds), and with 3K to go Belinda drew level with us.

This has become a recurring theme. For some reason it seems that we just keep finding each other at the pointy end of races, and this was a fine example. So with 2K to go Marlz and
Strikalite took off in an effort to go under 2 hours Belinda and I ambled in in 2:02:27. That last 2K was awesome. Firstly, the CR cheersquad are always a lift, but the course change, that takes you through Circular Quay in the last 2K is just spectacular. It struck me as a view that is a worthy reward for the pointy end of a 42.2Km race, so I guess the marathon is a distinct possibility next year.

Post race I had a blast. Marlz took off quickly and I hung around with NTR, getting pram running advice from Podrunner, meeting an ecstatic Plodbod, who had taken a whopping 5 minutes off her half PB and then joining the cheer squad gor a short cheering session.

Then the family arrived and we had a lovely post race pancake breakfast followed by some book, CD and DVD shopping. A great day out.

The recovery, unfortunately, has not been great.

On Monday afternoon I started vomiting and feeling very faint. The vomiting went violently for about six hours, but I'm still feeling very crook, and I'm still not up to work. The doctor is advising a slow, sensible return to training, but I'm not in a sensible phase at the moment. The diagnosis is "something viral."

So I'll have to see how I go. I'm hoping to be up for a light jog on Friday, and maybe a long run on Monday.

2007-09-16T18:23:00.000+10:00

So, after deliberating long and hard about whether or not to taper for the half, the decision was taken out of my hands.

After my wait in the cold for rescue last weekend I developed a tickle in my throat on Monday. At first I thought it was quite minor, and continued training, but throughout the week it got progressively worse until on Friday I was sent home from work, and I saw a doctor who prescribed some precautionary antibiotics.

I've felt pretty awful all weekend. It's definitely gone into my chest, and I've been coughing up a storm and any talking I do alternates between a whisper and the "Love God". The distressing thing about it is that it has gone through the rest of the family. It freaks me out when John breathes like Darth Vader.

So the plan from here is to take it easy and not run until I feel better. Hopefully I'll get out for a jog on Tuesday, but I won't push it.

If I'm not right we will treat Sydney as a long training run, but I was really looking forwaqrd to attempting another 1:50 with Marlz & Gnome, and I reckon there's still a good chance.

Anyway, it certainly isn't all doom and gloom. Today DJ and I found and booked a place for our reception and booked a celebrant. It's about time - we've been engaged for 15 months, but in our defence we have been a little bit busy.

Risky Bush Bashing on the APEC long Weekend

2007-09-09T22:04:00.000+10:00

Today was the longest training run in terms of time that I have ever undertaken.

The intention for the whole week was that I would run long through Bouddi National Park on the Central Coast this Sunday, but when I woke up and it was pissing down I promptly rolled over and started planning non bush runs when the weather ot less inclement.

This happened about midday, so DJ took the irls shopping and I stepped out intending to just run around Copacabana - the track was probably going to be too slippery after all on the rain.

But I'm naughty, so I just ran down the road from my folks place to the beach and started this run. With the extra distance from my folks place (about a mile) the run was significant. It was too slippery to take the downhills quick, and I need to walk the uphills on this one, so I hit the turnaround (11K) in 1:45.

There's a certain irony in getting all of the slippery bush tracks riht only to miss a turn off on the road on the way back that meant I was at MacMasters SLSC after 3:20 with it pissing down and my motivation gone. I phoned in for a pick up at that point, but after 15 minutes DJ was having difficulties navigating there, so I ran the extra kilometre along the beach back to Copacabana.

I've never run longer then 3 hours in training before, so this was a first. When I got back there was Coke in the fridge, and I drank it. I don't usually, but I needed recovery quick - I was wasted. It hit the spot nicely.

I've decided I will taper for the half. Like Gnome I subscribe to the one easy week in four theory, and I suspect that that is especially important whislt I flagrantly flout the 10% rule.

So the coming week will be pretty stock standard, but the long run next Sunday will be knocked back to 16K.

Tomorrow is a rest day. Hip hip hooray.

Back Where I Started

2007-09-01T20:39:00.000+10:00

Thanks to all those who have offerred advice - all of it has been taken on board, even the advice from he purports to have NFI. Any further advice will be warmly accepted.

As a result of that advice I ran longer than originally planned today and covered 27K in 2:50, working in some extra hills. It was a real confidence booster, I felt good at the end of it, and went for a a walk for an hour with DJ & JK.

Now, here is today's story.

When I was 16 I sustained a bruised brain. It left me with impaired strength and coordination down the left hand side of my body. To this day I still sweat more on the left hand side and I still have some residual numbness. I needed speech therapy and occupational therapy.

It was probably this injury that triggered my epilepsy. I was 72 kilograms when this happenend, but as a result of not doing much exercise because of my diminished sporting ability and the anti-convulsant drugs I was now on I started to blow out.

I was on Epilim for 7 years. It's a bastard of a drug. It makes you as alert as you'd be if you had drunk a bottle of scotch a day, and has about the same effect on your liver.

I blew out to 94Kg at my fattest.

So after my run today, I jumped on the scales. Now, I know it's wrong to weigh yourself after a run - you are dehydrated. I did take on at least a litre of fluid during the run, but I sweated more, so it's still wrong.

But that scale said 72.0.

It's taken 19 years, but I'm back where I started.

And I'm stoked.

I Got a Plan

2007-08-31T11:37:00.000+10:00

So let's look at the situation:

The Fitzroy Falls Fire Trail Marathon is in six weeks. The Sydney Half is in three weeks.

I'm not in marathon shape. I'm in half marathon shape, but I haven't run longer than 25K since 2004 (as far as I can remember). What the hell was I thinking?

The answer is that I know I'm OK on ridiculous hills when I've done them before and I am attempting to do no more than to beat the sweeper home. 5:29 - no faster.

So. Time for a plan.

I'm currently doing two speedwork sessions a week. One will be replaced with a midweek long run, which I will do with Marlz at about 5:30 pace. We will get this up to 13-15K.

We will still do strength session a week. This we will alternate between hillwork and speedwork.

One easy run a week. Currently it's 6-8K. It can start ramping up to 10 or 11.

The long runs are key. If I follow the 10% rule I'll get them up to 25K - Not good enough, but if we go out and do 33K this weekend we are both likely to end up injured - no good either. So here's the plan:

1/9 - 25K
9/9 - 3 hour bush bash @ Central Coast
16/9 - 16K (taper)
23/9 - Sydney Half
30/9 - 28K
7/10 - 16K
13/10 - FFFTM

All feedback/ridiculing/constructive criticism welcome.

I threw my hat into the ring

2007-08-28T08:52:00.000+10:00

Last week I have done all of my running with Marlz, and recently he expressed a desire to try to run the Sydney half in 1:50.

Ouch.

He may be running his first half, but he's running away from me when we do any fast stuff, so I suspect he'll be OK - the issue is whether I'll be up for a 1:50 half.

I had what I'd have to class as an ordinary run in the Hidden Half. I was only ever out for a social run. I started with NTR and Billsy, but 2K in my shoelaces were undone, so I stopped to tie them. I was never going to catch those guys - they were on their way to a faster time than my PB, and I wasn't on the course or legs that were going to support that.

The weekend just gone was fun. On Saturday night we had Nite_Time_Runner and his kids around for dinner and a sleepover. The kids had a great time running amok together.

The problem is that whilst NTR is a nice bloke, he is a lunatic. He says things like "Are you interested in a nice long, slow run in Fitzroy Falls the week after the Sydney Half" and "the Blue Mountains are nice in March". He is a bad influence. By the morning I was asking things like "what time would you be thinking of targeting if you hypothetically did Trailwalker next year?" and "what is the time you need to run at FF to qualify for six foot?".

In the morning NTR and I went out for a run on my favourite loop with Marlz. We took it nice and easy as both NTR and I had run half marathons the previous week and Marlz had never run more than 16K in one go. Again, Marlz spent the entire run pulling away from us and he looked like he was itching to go faster. We got to Concord West train Station at about 18K, and he took the stairs two at a time, with NTR and I forlornly looking up at him and considering using the banister.

This illustrates that I'm a bit lucky. Marlz is obviously a decent runner, and I'll be doing a goodly portion of my training with him. I reckon that one of the best ways to get better at something is to do it regularly with those who are better than you.

So now the target is 1:50 at Sydney.

And after that...

Was I just in the middle, in the middle, in the middle of a dream or did I really agree to do this?

On October 13 I intend to attempt to complete the Fitzroy Falls marathon in five hours and twenty nine minutes.

Now I've done all the Dumb Things. At least I won't be alone. NTR is in. Marlz is interested.

Not my day

2007-08-15T08:28:00.000+10:00

The day started perfectly - we were out the door on time, I was dropped at Town Hall with my entire family blowing me kisses and sending me love, and I lined up at the start a few metres from the start of the A2 group 90 minutes before that start.

After a quick trip around unsuccessfully searching for a drink I came back to the start to find sfGnome and a Coolrunning Lurker whose name escapes me. Later we were joined by Belinda, and that provided excellent company for the wait until the start.

It was a delicate balance, preparing for the start. It was obviously going to be quite hot, so I needed fluids; there was also the 90 minute wait for the start, so I needed to make sure that I didn't lose my place at the front of the pack by needing to urinate. In retrospect I probably didn't drink enough.

Eventually the hooter went for our start. The A2 start is set back a fair distance from the start line, and so it took me 40 seconds to pass the start, but after that I was able to settle into my own pace quite quickly.

This meant that I churned out the first 2K at a little short of 5 minutes. I was feeling OK, but not great. The first hill tested me, and I slowed a fair bit. From 3 through to 5K I consolidated, and then I hit Heartbreak Hill.

By the time I hit the top of HBH I had run the last 2K in 11 minutes, but there was no petrol left in the tank. At halfway (which is roughly at the top of HBH) I was on 37 minutes - so I was right on pace, but at that point I pretty much knew I was done for. I took a 15 second walk break to catch my breath, but I didn't have any more 5 minute Ks left. I jogged the rest of the course as best I could in about 6 minute Ks. Eventually I stopped my watch at 77:41 (the official time was 78:00).

So what went wrong?

I probably got my fluid intake wrong, and was dehydrated by the middle of the race. This was an easy mistake to make - my bladder was reasonably full at the end of the race, so that was always going to be a tough one to get around.

I have been eating indiscriminately over the past 3 weeks, and I'm probably 2Kg heavier than I should have been for this race. I can't explain why this lapse took place - I just know it did.

The other thing was that I didn't eat dinner the night before the race. It's something I very rarely do, but we had a huge lunch of rich restaurant food on Saturday, so I guess the nutrition for the race could have been upset by this.

I have to say this is probably the most disappointed I have ever been after a race. I'm not usually given to post race disappointment - I learn my lessons and I move onwards and upwards, quickly setting my sights on the next race. I guess the fact is that I have no target race now, and it will be a year before I get another crack at the C2S, so I'm a dog without a bone.

In eleven weeks DJ goes back to work. When she goes back I will be working part time for the following 5 months. Initially I will be working 2 days a week and looking after the kids for the other 3 days. I've got no idea how my training will fit into this lifestyle. It won't be my highest priority, but I might find that I'm able to fit more in - we will have to see how it pans out.

Part of the problem of picking the next race is that I'd love to have a go at the Black Stump run on New Year's, but I'm not sure I can justify the investment of time required to get myself ready for it.

So the next few weeks I will just try to sort out some priorities and work out what my next serious race will be. I'll let you know when I do.

Five minute Ks

2007-08-10T16:16:00.000+10:00

OK, so I've figured out my tactics for Sunday.

Five minute Ks.

I figure I'll take a minute or two to get over the start line, and I'll
lose two minutes on the hills, so if I try to run at about five minutes
per kilometre I should be OK to come in at 75 minutes for the 14K.

The worry is whether being at the front of the A2 pack will mean that I
get pushed out at a pace I can't sustain for the first K, and a 4:30
first K would come back to bite me in the second half of the race.

Anyway, such concerns are trifling. The important thing is that I've
managed to get through to taper week without catching the viruses that
have afflicted my workmates and family, and I'm feeling in top form for
Sunday.

The twins have been much better this week after having colds last week.
On Monday they had their athletics carnival, and Bop excelled, winning
the 800m and high jump, 2nd in the long jump and 3rd in the 200m. Em
also did very well, coming 2nd in the high jump and 4th in the long
jump. I suspect this means that I'll be off to another Zone carnival in
the near future.

They were lucky enough to have the carnival at the athletic stadium at
the Olympic Park. How cool is that?

Catching Up

2007-07-30T17:42:00.000+10:00

It's been a while. I wasn't kidding when I said I'd be busy, but even I
had no idea...

Settlement on the house was delayed by a week, which should've given us
a good chance to organise ourselves for the move, but despite trying we
didn't.

Conferences are great places for exchanging things. Ideas get exchanged.
Thoughts get exchanged. And viruses, viruses definitely get exchanged.
So on Friday the 13th I went down like a sack of spuds just in time to
move over the weekend.

This is when good mates step in. Marlz had broken his toe moving the
previous weekend, but we were lucky enough to have my Dad and four hour
marathon legend Nite_Time_Runner come over and help. We got all of the
stuff into the house over the weekend, but we are still unpacking 3
weeks later.

The reason for this is that everyone has been sick. Both twins have had
several days off school, the usually indestructible DJ has been
struggling and most frightening, John has had two trips to emergency
with breathing difficulties. It's a virus in his upper respiratory
system, but the breathing has sounded suspiciously asthmatic. The good
news is that he has been getting much better in the last couple of days.

On Saturday night I had my first Mr Mom experience - DJ went out to a
work party and I had all three kids. I got through the night pretty well
- John behaved impeccably and I got some much needed confidence in my
ability to handle child care.

My running suffered a bit through the illness. I had to take half a week
off and my speed wasn't there when I got back into it. I ran a mediocre
3K time trial at 13:31 and I was starting to think that I was going into
a slump.

So with some trepidation I lined up for the Coolrunning 5K Challenge on
Saturday morning. Pat had set me a target of low 23's ( my PB was an old
and soft 23:41). Rags had decided to line up with me, and we set off as
the 23 minute group.

We went through 1K in 4:25, and I was feeling OK, but I knew that pace
was too hot to continue. I went through the next 2 in 4:37 and 4:44. I
believe the key to a good 5K is feeling OK at 3K - if it's ugly at 4 you
can tough it out. I felt OK at 3, so I knew the PB was on at this point.
I still ran the next one (too) conservatively (4:49).

There's no point in leaving anything in the tank, and with constant
encouragement from Rags I pushed out a 4:29 fifth K to bring it home in
23:08 - a 33 second PB. Thanks go to Rags for pushing me through the
race.

I decided yesterday to explore my new locale on my long run. I live 200m
away from the M4 (a major Sydney arterial road), and I noticed a bike
path running parallel to it, so I decided to hug the M4 for as long as I
could on Sunday. The result was that as the M7 marathon was being run I
ran an M4 half marathon, running from Silverwater to Merrylands and
back. It was a nice surprise that for the vast majority of the distance
there was bike path running parallel to the M4, and a stretch of about
2-3 K actually running under said freeway. It's not a particularly
scenic run, but one that I think I'll do occasionally.

So, with my 5K race out of the way it's two weeks to go. My confidence
is up, but I'm still no shoe in for a sub 75 C2S. I'll just have to get
there early and hope for a good run. Bring it on!

A Really Good Holiday

2007-07-06T12:41:00.000+10:00

"So, Ben. How did your race go?"

"Well, I had a reaaly good holiday."

And it was. Except for one hour, fifty three minutes and twenty six seconds on Sunday morning.

The trip up started ominously. We left early and the kids slept until breakfast at Hexham (yes, Gnome - it is a Hungry Jacks, but they still serve Oak thickshakes!). Then we let them turn on the DVD player. Broken. Couldn't get it going.

From that point the girls reinforced what a lucky man I am to have such a wonderful family. The twins were fantastic. Instead of hearing "are we there yet?" all trip, Em had to deal with "Em, how's your brother?" all the way up to Queensland (and back). And there was minimal arguing and fighting despite the fact that we had the twins sitting next to each other.

The race was disappointing. We were running a bit late, and then nature called before the race, so I spent half an hour in a toilet queue. Luckily Ellie pointed me to some toilets with a shorter queue, but I still only got to the start right at the back of the field.

So after I passed the start line it was all ducking and weaving for the first 2K, and I was 90 seconds behind 5:12min/k pace (1:50HM) at 2K. From that point I got a slight stitch, and the way I was travelling I knew not to push it. I found it really difficult to crack 5:20 pace for the rest of the race. Eventually I crossed the line in 1:53:26 (nett time) and promptly tripped over my own feet, almost causing a pile up at the finish line.

The twins had a similar race - it was their first time in a big squashed start and it freaked them out a bit. Bop had caught the cold that has been going around, and she struggled home just behind Em. That said they seem to have enjoyed it, so I'm hoping we will continue to run together..

The rest of the day was spent kicking back with the awesome cheer squad both in the cheersquad and at drinks. Those festivities and the atmosphere is the reason why this was my fourth consecutive Gold Coast trip.

Dreamworld on Monday was a blast. The perfect way to end a great holiday.

I'll update you on how everything else is going when I can find a further fifteen minutes to do so - I'm a wee bit busy at the moment.

Invention of the Century goes to ...

2007-06-27T10:04:00.000+10:00

The portable DVD player with two screens.

See you at the Gold Coast.

So Much Going On !!!!

2007-06-23T16:51:00.000+10:00

I'm a very busy boy at the moment.

My training has been progressing well since my last post. The first week was a recovery week with no fast running. It's funny how absolutely fat and bloated I felt having only done four slow runs at the end of the week. By the end of it I couldn't wait to get into a bit of speedwork.

My diet was also pretty ordinary during that week, and I really noticed the difference that getting my five vegies a day made when I got it back on track.

Since then I've been training solidly. It's been cold, raining and generally 'orrible in Sydney for the last three weeks, and I'm glad to say that I have yet to miss a session due to the weather. It's been hard to get motivated a couple of times. Marlz and I actually turned back once, but the rain had abated by the time we got back home, so we ran anyway.

So the schedule for the next month is:

Thu 28/6 - Drive to Gold Coast with three screaming kids.
Sun 1/7 - Run Gold Coast Half, cheer and rehydrate.
Tue 3/7 - Drive back to Sydney with three screaming kids.
Fri 6/7 - Settle new house.
Sat 7/7 to 10/7 - Move in to new house.
Wed 11/7 to Sat 14/7 - Attend work conference.

Let's add into the mix that I have just been given extra responsibility at work and I'll be learning all about an area of the business I have not been heavily involved with in the past. It's just going to be a busy month.

In the meantime, something I'm exceptionally happy about is happening. Marlz has decided to move into the area that I live in. This means that we will be able to train together more often. It also means that we will be able to spend more time tooling around. Cool!

The dream run continues...

2007-06-02T22:35:00.000+10:00

I had planned to take the whole tribe down to Lane Cove for the 10K, but John has a cold, so I went without entourage for the Striders 10K.

I was chatting with Tiger Angel, who was doing the timing, and sfGnome, who is coming back from injury, and TA asked Gnome if he was running with me, at which point he looked at me and said "I suppose so."

I was immensely happy about this. Gnome is a great pacer, and I knew I had a much better chance of nailing this scary 49 minute barrier if he was helping.

We took of and tucked in just behind the 50 minute pace group. I knew that these guys had planned to put time in the bank early, so I wasn't worried about running the early stages of the race with them. We went through 2K in about 9:30 and didn't lose too much time in the 3rd K (the dreaded trip up Scribbly Gums), but I missed the marker. This is where things start getting hazy. I remember in the mid stages we started to pull away from the 50 minute group, and by six K I had started to tell Gnome that I didn't think I could do it today.

But Gnome wasn't giving up that easily. He coaxed me through those difficult Ks. He kept me running the shortest line possible. When I started to burp, threatening to unload my breakfast he started to lead from the front. He kept coaxing me along and encouraging me. He also told me not to look at my watch. I still had a couple of sneaky looks - more out of habit than anything else, but I was giving all of my energy to running. When I looked at the watch I saw some numbers, but I didn't have the energy to waste on thinking what they meant.

I remember Gnome saying something about only being a few seconds behind at 9K. At this point he also said "you go ahead - see if you can run away from me now". That last K was tough. There are a couple of bends, and I got my hopes up about seeing the finish after every one of them. The last K is also mainly downhill. When we did round that last bend we weren't too far from the finishing chute, and the clock said 48:3x. Gnome and I let out little yells as we realised that we'd made it with time to spare. When Tiger Angel realised that we'd done it she did the same. I crossed in 48:44 - a 27 second PB on a course that is, well, hilly.

I was stoked. I spent the next hour or so with a silly grin on my face and just soaked it up.

I have to wholeheartedly thank sfGnome. He kept me on track throughout the race, and kept me on track when I could so easily have lost it in the latter stages. I know I said it in person and on CR, but thanks again, Bruce.

To top it all off, I got home and John gave me my first proper (i.e. not wind induced) smile.

Sweet.

The Griswald Zone

2007-05-31T19:19:00.000+10:00

The Zone Cross Country Carnival was yesterday. Bop finished 18th and Em finished towards the tail of the field. Em looked like she’d done it a bit tough, but after a few hugs she seemed OK . Bop seemed delighted with her result. I took a few hours off work to get out and see it, and I was glad I did. They both trained hard, and I think they both deserved a cheer squad.

My training has been going well too. On Tuesday Pat set me a 3K Time Trial – target time 14 minutes. I knew it was a little bit soft – the last 3K Time Trial I ran was 13:33.

As usual, I took off like I was being chased, and went through the first 500m in 2:07. After that I settled into a more sensible pace, and hit the turnaround in 6:45. The last 1500 were executed more evenly, and I ran in for a 13:24 – a 9 second PB.

Sunday was another excellent long run. I ran my favourite local loop, and like last week, the 21K took me exactly 2:10. I’m finding that running 4 times a week is leaving me with enough recovery time to be feeling good for the next session, and this was a good example of it. I just cruised through the run comfortably.

It’s a great run, that Parramatta River loop. When we move, which looks like it will be in about six weeks, I’ll have to work out a variation of it that starts at the new place.

On Saturday I’m running the Striders 10K at Lane Cove – which is a tough, hilly course. Pat has set me a target of 49 minutes – which would be a PB. I sent him an “are you sure?” email, and he sent me a “you’re being soft!” email. So 49 is the target, and I’m quietly shitting myself. This has the possibility to end ugly, but so far Pat has been a great judge of what I’ve been capable of, so I’ll just have to give it my best shot.

Now, things have been sorted out and I will be running the Gold Coast Half. We have decided that despite cheap flights we are better off driving up. What could be more relaxing than packing the car up with twin nine year olds, a three month old and all our stuff and driving from Sydney to Brisbane and back in a week?

No, seriously, I think this is a rite of passage for a family. Both DJ and I have similar family holidays in our memories, and in a perverse way I’m looking forward to the drive, and especially the milkshake at the Oak at Hexham and the smoothie at the Big Banana (it’s my childhood, and I’ll relive it if I want to!). It’s very Griswald.

So I’m entered in the Half and the girls are in for the 2.25K dash. Can’t wait.

It's all too beautiful

2007-05-20T20:05:00.000+10:00

Two weeks into the new programAnd things are particularly sweet.

As I suspected, Pat's program seems to be suting me well.

On Friday Pat set me 4 1K efforts @ 4:30 and 2 500m efforts @ 2:05. This seesion was an absolute killer. My splits were:

1K:
4:29
4:30
4:28
4:32

500m
2:08
2:03

At the end of it I was just about ready to barf up a lung. I'm really impressed in how quickly Pat has been able to gauge what target times he needed to set to really challenge me.

The only instruction on the long run has been to go for 2:10. So far my two long runs on the program have done this in beautifully different ways.

Last Sunday I found myself out at Copacabana, which gave me an opportunity to go trail running at Mt Bouddi. I had an awesome 14K run with walk breaks on some really rugged coastal bush. 14K in 2:10 doesn't souns much, but I was still feeling it 2 days later. It was a top run.

This Sunday I took up my pre-paid entry in the SMH Half with the intention of using it as a 2:10 training run.

I stopped my watch at 2:10:00.96 - how good is that? I ran most of the race chatting with various Coolrunners, then did more of the same at the pub. Tiger Angel and Gnome, it was great to see you both - especially with both of you now running in the right direction health wise!

Then DJ and the kids came into town and we had one of our excellent post race days in the city.

Speaking of the kids, the twins have run the West Met 2K Cross Country race for the last 2 weeks, and it looks like they would like to stick with it. This is a great little series - you just turn up, pay $2 each, run your race and go home. It only takes an hour or two out of your Saturday and it's a great one for running with the kids. They are learning to pace themselves much better, and hopefully this will see them stick with it - I love sharing running with the girls.

They asked me if they could start calling me Dad on Monday. That's a pretty special moment in the life of a step-parent.

It was on the way home from the West Met race yesterday that "Itchycoo Park" came on the radio. Although it's well before my time, I grew up listening to the Small Faces, but never before has the lyric "It's all too beautiful" resonated so clearly - and I wasn't even under the influence of mind altering substances!

Cross Country Quinella

2007-05-09T19:12:00.000+10:00

Last year I attempted to get one of the twins (Bop) into the great sport of long distance running. Bop's antipathy to discomfort combined with the difficulty of training around work and spending every second weekend at their father's meant that this fell away. It may be back on the agenda.

On Tuesday the twins had their Cross Country race at school.

Bop was well out in front after two thirds of the race. She got too confident, and slowed down too much. She didn't realise that her competitive sister had other plans, and Bop got pipped on the post by Em.

DJ saw the race, and I talked to both excited placegetters just after the race.

So both of them are off to the Zone Cross Country, and they both want to train for it.

This means thatwe have reorganised our weekend so that we will all run the Sydney West Metropolitan Cross Country on Saturday. I'm glad about this - it's just down the road, and on my favourite training run, so I'd like to be there.

My new program started yesterday, and I'm happy with what Pat has given me. It's very similar to the SMH half program: four runs a week - two speed sessions, an easy 50 minute run and a 2:10 Sunday long run.

Operation Red Bib

2007-05-04T22:23:00.000+10:00

As most of you would know, Sydney's biggest running event is the City 2 Surf, a hilly 14K run from Sydney to Bondi. People who run it under 75 minutes earn a red bib for the folowing year's race, which means they start with the first group.

This is a feat I have yet to achieve. I've been close once, but to be honest I always considered this a timing mishap. I ran 82 minutes last year, and I beleive that was an accurate reflection of where I was at back then.

I have not specifically trained for C2S for about 4 years, but this year I decided it would be a target race, and the target is sub 75. You can get a red bib by submiting a comparable 10K time, but I want to earn my red bib in the time honoured fashion.

So after my success on the Pat Carroll SMH Half program, I decided the ideal way to plan for this assault on a sub 75 C2S was to employ Pat Carroll to design my program for C2S. Pat hasan online coaching service, so for the next three months I am coached by Pat Carroll.

I sent him my history and other details yesterday, and I get my program next week. Until then I'm just going to take it easy and fully recover from Bathurst.

A Sub 1:50 Man

2007-04-29T20:06:00.000+10:00

With apologies to Uncle Dave, from whom I stole this post title.

The Bathurst Half Marathon. I'd only decided to run this race a fortnight ago as a hastily organised replacement for the SMH Half, which looks shaky at best. I'd been eyeing it off, but with Digger due five days before the race it seemed a stupid idea.

When Digger came two weeks early it seemed to become the perfct opportunity to run sub 1:50 before the combination of working and caring for a newborn takes it's toll on my training. I go back to work tomorrow.

So with the twins at their fathers this weekend and well rested from a good Friday night sleep we (DJ, Digger and I) set off for Bathurst on Saturday morning. We got as far as Penriff before I realised I'd left my shoes at home, so I left DJ at a friends' we were visiting and doubled back. After the delay we made it into Bathuurst at 6:00, but spent half an hour tracking down the proprietor of the dodgy hotel we had booked through Wotif, and retired to our room. After a long trip a shower was in order, but the hot water lasted about sixty seconds.

When the restaurant we went to mucked up my meal twice we were starting to wonder at the wisdom of the entire excursion. The best, however, was yet to come. When we got back to our hotel Digger went into a feeding, crying and defecating frenzy that lasted until the sun came up. I think DJ and I managed about two hours of sleep each.

So it was a little the worse for wear that we fronted up for the half. At least there was decent coffee available, so I got my flat white and socialised with various Coolrunners.

Soon enough the start gun went and we were off. I settled into a good pace early, running the first 2K in abou 5:05. I met Coolrunner Paul C (who I had not met before, but had organised to run with) soon after the start and Yurtie, who again, I had not met before. I stuck with Yurtie until about 4.5K, when I just pulled away a little bit. By the 5K mark I was averaging 5:05. I knew I'd have to keep the average under 5:12 to break the magic mark, and this was to be the measure I wasd using. Yurtie warned me that there were hills in the second half of the course, so I knew I needed time in the bank.

There was a turnaround at 5K, and I really noticed the headwind after the turnaround. By this stage I was running by myself, and managing to put seconds in the bank. I hit 10K in 51:28 and I knew I was on track. Soon afterwars I passed Nite_Time_Runner, and gave him a rev up about not being on 1:45 pace. He put on a spurt, and we ran the next few K together. To 12K I maintained the pace, but after that there were a few inclines, and I started to struggle. We went through the next couple of K at about 5:25, and I really started to doubt myself. I was still averaging 5:09 for the race, but I'd been here before and the wheels had always fallen off. NTR was struggling more than I and took a walk break whilst I battled on. I went through the next couple in 5:20, and with 6K to go my average pace was still at 5:10. I started to think that if I could hold it to 5:20s for the next three, and keep my average pace below 5:12, that I'd be able to bring it home on adrenaline.

At this stage I drew back level with Paul C, who I ran with for the next 2K. I actually outdid my target for the next 3, running them in 5:20, 5:08 and 5:07, and for the first time I thought to myself "Holy shit - I might be able to do this!".

I knew at this point that all that remained was to not do anything stupid, because I wasn't feeling too bad. I ran the next at 5:12, and slowed to 5:18 for the penultimate full K. I knew I had it in the bag, so I opened it up a bit and ran through to the end at about 5 minute pace. I spotted DJ just before I passed the finish line and threw both hands in the air after stopping my watch on 1:49:13, and in afaltering voice proclaimed "I did it!".

For the next hour I stumbled around the finishing area hugging my true love, chatting to friends and grinning like an idiot. The full gravity of two years of chasing sub 1:50 was sinking in. I have had seven unsuccessful campaigns at breaking this mark, and by that I mean seven two to three month programs designed to get me to the start line of a race. This was quite clearly my greatest achievement as a runner.

Tonight I write this post with my son asleep in my arm and my legs screaming in pain. From here I intend to train as I can manage it for the next month before I start getting serious about C2S. I will probably run the Gold Coast Half, but that depends on some things that are still in the air at the moment. One thing is for certain - training gets tougher to manage from here on.

A Change of Plans

2007-04-18T21:54:00.000+10:00

Thank you for all of your kind comments regarding John.

We got him home on the Thursday after he was born. He is settling in well at home, but unfortunately seems to sleep at night approximately as well as his parents (patchy at best).

I don't go back to work until after ANZAC day, and so far it's been a constant stream of visitors testing my skills as a barista as well as the expected crash course in caring for an infant, changing nappies, burping and sleep deprivation.

So far, would you believe, I've only missed one scheduled run - the one after John's birth. Since then, with all five of us at home it has been easy to schedule in the runs. I can see trouble looming when I get back to work. To maintain my regular program I'd have to run at the times I used to run - 5:00 - 5:30AM, and at that time in the morning I've been feeling like death warmed up.

Coincidentally, we have discovered a scheduling conflict. The girls have their confirmation booked on the morning of the SMH half. Neither DJ nor myself are religious, but the girls father is Catholic and they have had a mainly Catholic education.

So I'm in two minds about SMH. The girls don't seem that excited about the confirmation, and I don't think they'd be worried if I ran the race, but I still suspect they'd like me to be there.

So I've decided to shift the target race to next weekend and run the Bathurst Half. I've had my eye on it, but the timing looked appalling. With John coming at Easter it made the Bathurst Half the ideal race to have one more attempt at 1:50 before work interferes with my training.

Training which, by the way, is going quite well. Pat Carroll's program has been good so far. Despite some poor eating I'm still maintaining 75Kg, and I think the two hard sessions a week have been good for my speed. But the true test will be Sunday week. I read on Coolrunning "run a race soon after the birth of your child- I guarantee a PB". Time to test that theory.

Enter Digger

2007-04-11T12:37:00.000+10:00

I had a great long run on Easter Sunday: a nice easy 23K around Newington and Homebush Bay.

On Monday we picked Em and Bop up from their father, and went and did some supermarket shopping where we ran into one of DJ's friends. She had a nice long whinge about how this baby was never coming.

We were sitting around that evening after putting the girls to bed. At nine oo'clock DJ says to me: "Ahh, Darling; My waters just broke." Contractions started immediately, five minutes apart. In the thirty minutes it took DJs mum and her best friend to get to our place we got our stuff together and rang the hospital. With my mother-in-laws words "Remember - it's still double demerits" still ringing in my ears we (DJ and best friend Sharon) were on the way to hospital.

It was a nervous drive to the hospital as DJ's contractions got more intense, but we made it and at 10:00 we were put in a delivery suite.

Now, at this stage I'd like to say how great it was to have Sharon (a mother of two) in the room. Throughout the intense labour process Sharon knew what to say and how to help whilst I offerred moral support, back rubs, massages and love. The next hour was just the most intense experience. Watching the person you love most in the world go through a level of pain that you will never understand is an experience I will never forget.

At 10:52 Digger entered this world. I was aware of mistaking genitals in the excitement, but I knew exactly what I was looking at - Digger is most definitely a boy. His vital statistics are: 3.165Kg (a smidgin under 7lb) and 48cm. His name is John Keith.

Both mother and son are doing very well. Blood sugar appears to be good for both of them. We are hoping to have our family of five at home together tomorrow morning.

The twins are smitten. Normally they have the attention span of a goldfish, but when I took them in for a visit to the hospital they were transfixed for six hours. When I got them up for breakfast this morning all they could talk about is getting their mum and brother home so that we could just have the whole family together.

So, I suppose I better show him to you. Here's a a few photos of father and son (with one of mum's nose and arm.) Check out the hair!

First Week

2007-04-07T08:04:00.000+10:00

So I've been on the new program for just over a week now.

The first week was dominated by a 10K Time Trial last Sunday. I tried to reorganise myself so I could run the Coolrunning 5K Challenge twice, but it didn't quite fit with my program or family, so I missed it and dragged out the bike on Saturday for the first time in ages.

Just between you and me, I rode past a four bedroom house over in Silverwater that DJ and I think would be a lovely place to raise three (and maybe another) kids. The vendor has accepted our offer, so if it doesn't fall over we'll move in a month or so after Digger is born, which could be any day now. It's close to Em and Bop's school and1K away from the Homebush Bay Bike paths (my training nirvana). Now we just have to pay for it...

Anyway, this is a running blog, so I'll tell you about some running. The Time Trial on Sunday was a debacle. I was still sore from the ride on Saturday, and I went out too fast. I got to 7K and I was feeling quite unwell, so I pulled the pin. I sort of wish that I'd found a race. I don't like to DNF, and that's what this was - a big, fat DID NOT FINISH.

To rub it in, the start of the next week on the program was two easy runs to recover from the Time Trial. The first one I did as per the program on Tuesday morning, but on Wednesday night I hooked up with Marlz, and did 11K at about 6:00m/km pace, which was a little quicker than I'd intended.

On Friday I had a great session. Two five minute efforts, with 1 minute standing recovery. I did these at about 4:30 pace, which is bloody fast for me. THEN, I did 8 30 second hill efforts, with a jog back down to recover after each effort. It came a quite a relief when it started pissing down with rain during the second effort - I was getting very hot.

With warm up and warm down it was 10K. I was spent by the end of it. Great session.

I've been a little bit naughty with food this week. There has been a lot of chocolate around the place at work and at home, and I've been eating too much cheese as well. Luckily it hasn't resulted in extra kilos yet, but they can't be far away.

Something New and Different

2007-03-28T16:45:00.000+10:00

After considering all of the advice that I got from Coolrunning and this blog relating to preparation for the SMH half, I've decided to base my program on Pat Carroll's program from the SMH half website.

The main reason for this is that it is different to any program I've used before, and I have to be honest with myself - I've really plateaued in the last couple of years, and it's time to try something very different.

The typical week on this program contains two hard sessions a week (speedwork/hillwork/time trials), an easy forty minute run and a long run. I'll probably add in a 5K recovery run on Mondays as I like to run five days a week, or alternatively I may start riding my bike one morning a week as cross training now that daylight savings is complete.

The warm up for the hard sessions are a 10-15 minute jog followed by 6 80m efforts.

Yesterday the hard session was a 3K Time Trial, so I ran to the 2K marker in the 5K course that the Summer Twilight Series used, and ran the 3K to the 5K point.

I've not run a 3K before, and I was on my own so I really had no idea what pace to go out at, other than the logical thought of a little bit quicker than 5K pace, so I thought 4:30 -4:40 Ks (my 5K PB is at 4:44 pace). I haven't analysed it yet, but it felt like I held the same pace for the whole run, and I ran it hard. The time was 13:33, so I'm calling that a 3K PB - and I'm happy with it.

Marlz is busy for the next couple of weeks, but I'm going to see if he'll mind trying to do one of the hard sessions with me on a Friday night. If he isn't keen I'll adapt the program around Friday nights.

The twins had an excursion to a gelato factory today - where was this when I was a child? I volunteered to be a parent supervisor, but apparently so did every other parent, step-parent, uncle, auntie, second-cousin and grand-parent with a child in the class, so they didn't take any of them. Oh well. At least I don't have to run it off.

Running and Impending fatherhood

2007-03-18T21:52:00.000+11:00

This thread is current again on Coolrunning, where adw was asking about how he could expect his training to be affected by the birth of his first child. I, of course, used the opportunity to tell the Coolrunning community that my boys were working as well - Argh, argh, argh - I am a man!!! (beats chest furiously).

The effect on my training is a real concern, to be honest. Running has become an integral part of my life over the last three years, and whilst I tell myself that I will cope with the inevitable changes to my training and that I know I won't be able to train to the same level that I have, I have to admit I'm not comfortable with scaling things back. This, of course, does not mean that I will let my training interfere with family - that priority is well and truly sorted.

That said, it's a minor concern. The way that my girls support me and my running I know that it will work itself out, and it certainly isn't all bad for running.

A few weeks ago we were out buying some of the stuff we need for Digger when I happened accross a running pram at over 50% off. I didn't ponder greatly over the decision, and we are now ready for action when Digger turns six months old (it's not safee to run with a baby until they are six months old). Now I just have to hope that Digger enjoys running with Dad.

The other night Digger was doing the strangest movements, and I was lucky enough to have my hand on DJ's stomach at the time. He/she wasn't kicking, it was more extended poking out of a limb for 10 - 20 seconds. It felt like the child was either trying to stretch or moon me. Either way, it's got to be taking after Dad.

There is one other thing I've noticed with a tenuous link to running re: impending fatherhood.

Last week I was reading this blog which had an entry about songs that make you cry.

In the last few years mine have been Paul Kelly's "How to Make Gravy" and Darren Hanlon's "Falling Aeroplanes" (it will forever make me think of DJ.)

But just lately...

Paul Kelly's "Deeper Water" has been come up on my random play MP3 player during runs. Now, I'm a soppy bastard at the best of times, but I do beleive that the effort of a long run makes you more susceptible to sentimentality, so I must look a sight bawling my eyes out as I run down the road listening to this lyric:

On a crowded beach in a distant time
At the height of summer see a boy of five
At the water's edge so nimble and free
Jumping over the ripples looking way out to sea

Now a man comes up from amoungst the throng
Takes the young boy's hand and his hand is strong
And the child feels safe, yeah the child feels brave
As he's carried in those arems up and over the waves

Deeper water, deeper water, deeper water, calling him on

Let's move forward now and the child's seventeen
With a girl in the back seat tugging at his jeans
And she knows what she wants, she guides with her hand
As a voice cries inside him - I'm a man, I'm a man!

Deeper water, deeper water, deeper water, calling him on

Now the man meets a woman unlike all the rest
He doesn't know it yet but he's out of his depth
And he thinks he can run, it's amatter of pride
But he keeps coming back like a cork on the tide

Well the years hurry by and the woman loves the man
Then one night in the dark she grabs hold of his hand
Says 'There, can you feel it kicking inside!'
And the man gets a shiver right up and down his spine

Deeper water, deeper water, deeper water, calling him on

So the clock moves around and the child is a joy
But Death doesn't care just who it destroys
Now the woamn gets sick, thins down to the bone
She says 'Where I'm going next, I'm going alone'

Deeper water, deeper water

On a distant beach lonely and wild
At a later time see a man and a child
And the man takes the child up into his arms
Takes her over the breakers
To where the water is calm

Deeper water, deeper water,
Deeper water, calling them on

Operation SMH

2007-03-18T16:10:00.000+11:00

OK, my next race will be after Digger is born (yay). I'd love it to be the race that takes me under 1:50, but it's the SMH and it ain't gonna happen there.

I've decided 1:55 is a good target for a bloody hilly run, so now I just have to prepare for it. This is where my rotundrum starts (rotundrum is a word invented by DJ and I; it's a problem that just goes round and round in your head).

My training week will be thus:

Sunday AM: Long run (15 - 23K)
Monday AM: Recovery run
Tuesday AM: Hard Session
Wednesday PM or Thursday AM: Hard Session
Friday PM: 12K with Marlz at a decent pace.

The Friday run is my weekly catch up with Marlz that needs to be a decent pace because he is quicker than me, and it wouldn't be much of a session if it was too short or too easy. It's pretty much the equal of what used to be my midweek long run - not ideal a day and a half before your long run, but that's the way my week works.

So the issue is that I have two hard sessions to fill in the middle of the week. I am preparing for a hilly half and keeping in mind that C2S is a target later in the year, so I think hill repeats might be a good idea (I'm also having some ridiculous thoughts about a race in March next year which may or may not feature some big arse hills).

The three sessions I'm trying to pick from are:

- hill repeats
- 1K or 400m intervals (my favourite speedwork)
- another 12K hardish midweek long run

At the moment I'm leaning towards intervals and hill repeats. They will take less time, but may leave me a bit short for volume. It also might be a bit too much intensity. I haven't done it before, so being an experiment of one, it could be worth a shot.

There is also the option to mix it up a bit, and I reckon I'll probably end up doing that. I'm also highly likely to miss a few sessions as things get to the pointy end of the pregnancy (which is pretty pointy at 35 weeks anyway).

One week after Weston Creek and I've eaten myself stupid. I allow myself a week of that, but it's down to it now. I had an easy 15K long run today, and I'm happy to call that the end of an easy recovery week. Operation SMH starts tomorrow.

Weston Creek Half Marathon, 1:52:41 - Close, but no cigar

2007-03-11T20:32:00.000+11:00

What a top weekend in Canberra! I'm glad I didn't give in to my niggling doubts and give up on the weekend and the race.

We arrived in Canberra on Saturday afternoon at the Statesman hotel in Curtin, a suburb named after my favourite prime minister. The Statesman looked and smelled like it had flooded recently, but was better than the last hotel DJ and I staye4d in by virtue of the fact that the coffe sachets were Mocconna (the last one was International Roast). Who says you need a star rating - just ask about the coffee!

We practised the drive to the start line a couple of times before heading off to a magnificent carbo-loading session at the Pancake Parlour. Can someone please explain to me why they closed Pancakes at the Movies and Pancakes at Parramatta? I love these restaurants, and they just keep on closing the ones I eat at! I'm as mad as hell, and not going to take it anymore!!!!(Ben shakes fist violently) .

Now, where was I up to? Oh yeah...

So back to the Smelly Statesman in Curtin (ironic because Chifley was more likely to be the smelly statesman than Curtin - Chifley was the pipe smoker), where Em indulged in her habit of playing with everything and pressing every button before being sent to bed. In doing so she set the alarm in the hotel room to go off at midnight. The twins selpt bissfully through the alarm, which woke DJ and I up. DJ blindly played with the alarm until it stopped. Sure enough, in ten minutes it was off again, so I jumped out of bed and turned it off.

Neither of us got back to sleep after that, and so I was relieved that the morning coffee was of decent quality, and had me feeling half human by the time we set off for the start line.

I was a bit surprised that I only saw one other Coolrunner at the start (Strewth), but as Em, Bop, DJ and I huddled together (which was half group hug and half an effort to keep warm) Aki approached and we had a short chat.

The course was all bitumen bike path and was quite crowded at the start. I pushed myself a bit as I was worried about losing too much time in the throng. This was probably a mistake as I went through one K in 4:58, which was too fast. I made a concious effort to slow without slowing too much, and I hit a bit of rhythm over the next few K. The course was undulating without being difficult over the first 5K, and I went through 5K in 25:41. There was a nasty rise over the next K or so, and I adopted the attitude of just trying to get to the turnaround still under 1:50 pace, and see what happens.

I hit the turnaround in 54:55, and at that stage, if I can use a motoring analogy, I knew I had less than half a tank of petrol left, and that I'd struggle to get home in the pace I went out in. Thjis proved to be the case, as although I was pushing quite hard and was still on track at thirteen, I slowed after that, and I knew the wheels would fall off if I went any quicker. I kept pushing, as I knew I was there or thereabouts for a PB, but I started to really suffer in the last 2K, and although I lifted the intensity, Ks 20 and 21 were my slowest, and I brought it home in 1:52:41 to the cheers of my fan club. I actually had to check my Garmin to see if it was a PB, such was my state of mental disarray at the finish line, but alas it was eight seconds slower than the Central Coast.

I'm not at all disappointed by this. It was a tougher course than the Central Coast, and there are no question marks about course accuracy and moving start lines. I ran the race a lot smarter than I did at the Central Coast, and finished in a much better state. There is no doubt that this is my best performance in a half marathon, and I'm very happy with it.

After the race we finished the day off with a trip to the Mint and a great time at Questacon, a top weekend in the nation's capital.

My second proud moment of the day came when we were at the Mint. For $2.50 you can forge your own dollar coin. I gave the twins $2.50 each, and Em made her coin and popped it in the "free" cardboard pouch.

Bop watched the process take place and stuck her $2.50 straight in her pocket. Hopefully this means I'll never have to worry about Bop with poker machines - woo hoo!!

Taper Week

2007-03-08T20:57:00.000+11:00

So as all of the six footers prepare for the mammoth task ahead of them on Saturday, I'm tapering for another half marathon. Unfortunately, I can't say I'm excited about it.

My training has not been great since January. My last serious 10K was over 51 minutes and I don't think I'm in PB form. I think I've turned the corner, but I'm not sure I've advanced much yet.

So the chances of a 1:50 are slim. I'll see how I feel on the morning, and if I feel bulletproof I'll have a crack, otherwise I'll just go for a sub 2 hour target.

Anyway, enough of that negative stuff, the last week of training has been enjoyable. In the last few weeks I've had the opportunity to do far more training with company than I usually do, and I really dig it.

I've already told you about my regular Friday run with Marlz, but for the last two Sundays I've been joined on my long run by Nite_Time_Runner, who has been marathon training. On Sunday he came over at 6:00AM and we ran for 100 minutes in a loop which he did twice. We ran the Foreshore Trail at Concord, which is fast becoming my favourite training place.

On the Saturday I had walked over to the Striders 10K at Homebush just aiming for a sub 60 training run. Tiger Angel was making her 10K return from illness, and so I had a thoroughly enjoyable run with her and a guy called Craig that we met in the first K.

So, on to Sunday. If I'm lacking motivation now, it will be there on Sunday morning. We have the twins this weekend, so I'll have all of my girls waiting for me at the finish line. There's no better motivation to run fast.

Good luck to all of the six footers. I'll be very keen to read all of your reports.

Running brings people together

2007-02-24T07:10:00.000+11:00

A busy life can sometimes tempt us not to make time to spend with people we should.

My best mate Marlz and I have had this problem over the last 15 years.

Even though we lived relatively close for ten of those years (I in Windsor, he 15 minutes away in Glossodia) we didn't see each other as much as you'd expect. For a couple of years we ran a business together, which meant we got to tool around a bit together, but since it failed (without a harsh word between us, which is testament to the depth of our friendship.

Several years ago Marlz split up with his wife and became a single dad, so it's hard for him to make time. His boys are about the same age as Em and Bop, and they get on well together, so over the year we have been able to coordinate a couple of good outings, but several months ago something really great happened.

Marlz took up running.

By the look of him he has lost about 20 kilos and he's in the best shape I've seen him in the 20 years I've known him.

He works in the suburb next to where I live, and on Fridays his mum has the boys, so Friday after work has become our training run. Just over an hour of quality time with Marlz, and another quality run in the schedule. I struggle to maintain his pace, so it's a good hard session for me and a bit of a pacing lesson for him.

I love this sport of running. Life is sweet.

Factoring in one's life

2007-02-20T15:20:00.000+11:00

Life can quite often become a series of compromises, trading the time
you spend on one thing off against others things.

The last couple of weeks have been an exhausting example of this, and
I'm happy that I've dealt with the curve balls that have been thrown up
appropriately.

In brief, a summary of the week goes like this:

Tuesday: DJ gets the results of tests and is diagnosed with gestational
diabetes.

Wednesday: DJ receives a heavy letter from her ex-husbands lawyers which
could make life a bit more difficult for us on an ongoing basis.

Friday: My brother returns home to Argentina after two months in Sydney.

Weekend: DJ and I take a previously booked trip to Melbourne (a city in
the grip of a heatwave).

So I had a lot of shit going on in the week. I'd already started to get
nervous about Weston Creek - my form has dipped since the 10K PB in
December. How did I deal with it?

Importantly I spent enough time with Clint and I ensured that all of my
girls knew that they had my love and support. The running had to fit
around this.

I ended up taking two consecutive rest days late in the week when things
had got really heavy, and made it a light training week. I engaged in
some ludicrous self-beating after the consecutive rest days. It's
amazing how wrapped up you can get in making sure that you do all of
your scheduled training even when life, your body and common sense is
saying something else. The lesson from this week is one I'm going to
have to take very seriously - when Digger is relying on DJ and I to be
there I can't just piss off for a run because it's on the schedule.

I ran my long run on Saturday morning, and it was noteworthy. Being in
Melbourne I decided my run should incorporate as many landmarks as
possible. From my hotel in Richmond I ran up around the MCG, took a lap
of Fitzroy Gardens, back down past the Rod Laver arena and on to a lap
of the Tan. I then ran back down along the Yarra River and back up into
Richmond. It was 16.8K @ 6:30 pace - dreadfully slow, but it was late
morning and already ridiculously hot. I felt like I'd run a hard half by
the end of it.

We had a real blast in Melbourne. My favourite record label (Candle
Records) is closing down, and we went to a two night show featuring all
of their acts, including Darren Hanlon and the Lucksmiths. It was a
tiring but enjoyable way to finish a heavy week.

It's Time To Get Serious!!

2007-01-26T18:34:00.000+11:00

I have to admit, I've been struggling a bit in terms of motivation so far this year, and the reason for that is quite simple - I haven't had a clear "focus" race.

So it's time to set some goals and pick some target races.

There are only two goals for 2007. Originally there were to be three, but one of them was to run under 50 minutes for 10K again, and I've done that.

So the two goals are as I have stated previously: A 1:50 HM and a 75 minute C2S.

I've come back from Bali with a different type of Bali Belly from the normal Bali Belly: it's a Belly that grew in Bali. Over the next few weeks I hope to rid myself of this belly and line up for the Weston Creek Half Marathon on March 11. This time I have to be in with a shot of nabbing 1:50.

After Weston Creek I want to give some attention to the SMH Half. I've only run it once, and I was much slower back then. I want to record a serious time on it. This race will be run about a month after the baby is due, so it will be difficult to know what to expect - I'll possibly have more important things to do than train.

The target races after that will be:

- The Gold Coast Half
- C2S

C2S is end game. There will be no stone left unturned this year. I'm going to try to get there at sparrowfart and get close to the front of the green bibs, and hopefully in 2008 I'll have the holy grail:

The red bib.

In family news, all is well. DJ has just gone into the third trimester and is starting to get very sore and tired, but all is going very well with the bub.

The Griswalds in Bali

2007-01-15T22:12:00.000+11:00

Recently I was lucky enough to spend a week in Bali.

To be more specific, my six month pregnant fiancee, the twins, my brother, my two sisters, their husbands, my two year old niece, my parents and I have been on an incredible family holiday in Bali.

My parents had their four children within five years, which has meant we were a formidable challenge to raise, but in adulthood we have become four very different, very close friends. I count myself very lucky. Having the four of us together in Bali with our respective families was an enormous buzz.

This, however is a running blog, so I should talk about running. The holiday does raise an issue that all runners blessed with a family will face from time to time: how do you train on a family holiday?

I've always found it is not overly difficult, but the same sacrfices you make in your everday life you will have to adapt and find new compromises. I don't mean that in a "negotiation" way, more in that I have to find that balance of what will be adequate for my training and what amount of time I am comfortable being away from the family.

In Bali I found beach running in the morning was the ideal solution. The beach where we were staying in Legian was not the most pristine on the planet, but it is very long and firm. I ran on it every second day for up to about 11K, and I discovered how much a good run can build the hunger for a buffet breakfast, which I overindulged in every single day. I think I put on a good 2Kg while I was over there.

Possibly as a result, I've struggled a bit in the week since I got back. During the week I went on a couple of tough little training runs and then had the bright idea of running the "Colin Double": the Twilight 10K at Silverwater on Friday night (organised by Colin) and the SMC half (race director: Colin).

The week at work was torture, and I showed up on Friday having encountered two car accidents on the way to the race and ran like a sloth. 51:13 - two minutes outside the PB I'd set on the same course four weeks earlier - and I wasn't bludging. I'd lost form.

So with a dip in form and a temperature forecast of a squillion degrees I decided to use the SMC as a training run.

I'm glad I did. I drank so much before the start that at 3K I had to duck behind the bushes. At 11K my quads started screaming and By the last 2K the temperature was nudging thirty and I'd nearly sweated my own body weight. I finished in 2:10 and felt like I'd run a tough half. As I write this (14 hours later) my legs are still very sore.

Stay tuned: Ben's 2007 goals - coming real soon.

An Early Christmas Present

2006-12-23T20:24:00.000+11:00

The last fortnight has seen the introduction of a new series of runs in Sydney on Friday nights. Coolrunner Colin has started the Summer Twilight Series. There are 5 and ten K options. We've had about ten turn up to both races so far.

The first one was a fortnight ago at the Bay Run. I went out to aim at 52 minutes, but got carried away with myself and ended up running the 10K in about 50:34. It was a pleasing run; I wsn't expecting anything special and it turned out to be my second fastest time and my fastest for over a year.

The next race was on Friday night, and it was on home turf: starting at the Silverwater bridge and running back towards my place along my beloved Parramatta River path with a turn into the magroves at the ferry terminal to a 5K turnaround.

I announced on Coolrunning that I was going to have a shot at my PB (49:58), so this started a sub 50 bus. Cliffold and Haggis Basher joined me for the ride, and as the bloke with the Garmin I became pacer. I'd hydrated beforehand, as I knew a bubbler stop would slow me down too much.

We were in the teeth of a strong headwind for the first 2.5K, but we still managed to go out a bit hard, and the first K split was 4:46, so I told my comrades we needed to slow. That's when the magic happened. I'll let the figures tell the story: here are the Garmin's full 1K splits for the race:

4:46
5:00
4:59
4:56
4:59
4:55
4:59
4:56
5:03
4:35 (943m - 4:52 pace)

It was pure magic. at about 4K Cliffold stopped for some water but caught up quickly and was never far behind me. Just before the 5K Haggis Basher took off on us (I think he was toying with us anyway), but my race was perfect. I felt the legs starting to really fatigue at about 6K, and I made the decision at 8K to have a slower K; I knew the PB was in the bag if I didn't blow up and I wanted to make sure that didn't happen. I did slow, but I guess 5:03 was as much of a break as I needed.

In terms of pacing myself this has to be my best performance ever. I am really astonished by how even the splits were, and even more astonished that I ran the 10K in 49:11 - a 47 second PB. Cliffold finished three seconds behind me for an even bigger PB. I honestly didn't believe I had it in me, and a 2P said to me after the race "If you don't crack 1:50 in your next half I'll have to kick your arse"; I've got to be ready for it. I'm even having sneaking thoughts about having a serious crack at the SMC in January.

Now I must admit to a concern about course accuracy: my Garmin rarely measures short, and it doesn't drop out in this area. I'm still claiming the PB unless it's proved otherwise - I ran too bloody well not to.

So that's my early Christmas present: a brand spanking new 10K PB of 49:11.

The next few days will be manic. It will be my first Chistmas with the girls and it promises to be very special.

Central Coast Half Marathon - 2:37 PB

2006-12-03T20:53:00.000+11:00

I didn't hit my goal time, but this race was a beauty. I took 2m37s off my HM PB and I know I threw everything at it. I'm proud of the result because I know I worked bloody hard for it.

I didn't get the sleep I hoped for on Friday night (most books say the important night for a good night's sleep is two nights before a race) when some poor planning had us out in the city until the early hours of the morning. I didn't get to bed until 2:00AM, and as per usual I woke up with the sun at 5:30.

On Saturday we meandered up to my folks place at Copacabana to find that all of my siblings and their spouses (one brother, two sisters and two brothers in-law) had descended upon the place. When we got back from the CR dinner (at a very cool place called Fonzirelli's) with our pre-arranged guests (Mouse & Nite_Time_Runner) space was at a premium. We managed to snaffle beds (I guess the runners need for rest and DJs position as keeper of the next family member helped us in that regard, and we settled in at a reasonable hour.

Sleep was not forthcoming. It was blowing a howling gale outside and a combination of that and nerves about the race meant I got little to no sleep whatsoever, so I was a bit tired when we fronted up.

The queue for registration was enormous, and it was raining when we got there, so we froze as we waited, but eventually we got to the front of the queue as they ran out of numbers, so we had our numbers written on our arms.

Eventually Ian (Nite_Time_Runner) and myself found Becky O and Portrunr (the other members of team 1:50) and we started together and a very chilly wait at the start line.

The first 3K were slow as the thin course could not fit the massive numbers that had shown up, so there was a lot of ducking and weaving.

This settled down after the first drink station (I gave this a miss as I had hydrated well and the weather wasn't dehydrating) and we settled into 5:12 pace for the next few K. We lost Becky at about 5K.

Soon after cardio system was not coping too well, so I told the guys to push on and that I didn't have 1:50 in me today, and I slowed for the next 2K down to about 5:30.

I'd started to feel a bit better at this point, so I picked up the pace again and ran to the turnaround and 500m beyond it back at 5:12 pace.

At the turnaround I'd forgotten that the finish line is actually a fair way past the start line, and when the Garmin said 10.1 at the turnaround I began freaking about the course being massively short. I carried this concern for the next 8K before realising my folly.

After my second wind burst had run out I settled back into 5:20 pace, and managed to keep that up until 18K. Becky O had passed me with about 5K togo, and she looked incredibly strong. I later learned she ran a 12 minute PB - wow, Becky!

At 18K the wheels started to fall off. I just lost it. I felt weak, and after two small hilss (just about the only ones on the course) I took a couple of short walk breaks. Soon after I vomited, and I considered walking it in, but I knew I was still on track for a big PB, so I pushed on. The reality is that I ran the tough two Ks at 6:00, so given that I was coming off 5:20s, the walk breaks cost me about 80 seconds.

With one K to go, the lure of the finish line started to pull me in, and I was able to finish the last K in a much more reasonable 5:33. My finishing watch time was 1:52:33 - a 2m37s PB.

I was completely trashed. I'd neglected nipple care, so I had a bleeding nipple, I was barely coherent, but I was bloody happy. The finishing line was a party - a large gathering of Coolrunners, most of whom had shiny new half marathon PBs. Eventually I stumbled over to my usual over-indugent post big race breakfast where most people commented on how shocking I looked. I even frightened myself when I caught a glimpse in a mirror.

I had a ball today - it was everything I love about running in general and Coolrunning in particular - it's about challenging yourself and achieving your own goals in events where other people are doing the same. The word race doesn't really do it justice.

So where to from here?

I'll take it easy for the next six weeeks. I intend to eat what I want for the next few weeks - the dieting has been onerous, and I'm over it. I'll adopt a maintenance program of running four times a week and I'll start looking at goal races soon. I'm thinking I'll try to find a flat half marathon for another attempt at 1:50 in about March.

The Bub is due on April 24 (so we're currently calling the child "Digger"), so I'm anticipating a drop off in training around that point, but I'd like to have a serious crack at the SMH half, as I haven't done it for 3 years, and my course PB is about 2:09.

Th only event I've definitely decided to target is C2S. I've not targetted it for a few years - it's been a race I've done between target races. This year I'm chasing 75 minutes. I want that red bib in 2008, and I want to earn it the hard way.

Hope restored

2006-11-27T20:57:00.000+11:00

Well, we're finally into taper week.

Over the last month since my last post my confidence has been up and down like a yo-yo, and I've considered a bunch of different race tactics.

The SMC a week ago and the long run the week before were dreadful. I ran 2:05 at SMC as a training run but it felt like a race, and the week before that I couldn't even manage a 19K run without long walk breaks. I don't know what was up with me, but it seemed to be falling apart.

But it seems to have come back together.

I intended to run the Coolrunning Challenge 5K as pacing practise at 5:12Ks, but buggered it up and ended up running pretty even 4:55s coming in at about 24:40. Then my friend sfGnome suggested I run back to the start with him at the correct pace. This we did, settling into 5:12 quickly, and I ran the 5K pretty comfortably.

Then on Sunday I belted out a 16.3K long run, and most of the time I had to slow myself down; I did it at around 6:00 per K. It felt great.

The other significant thing I have done in the last month is to trim down from 80 to 75Kg. This alone, I believe, should give me a couple of minutes over the 21.1K.

So I go into the race with hope. I'm still not confident - I'll have to have things go my way, but I reckon if I can hit the right pace and stick to it, and conditions are favourable I can come home in 1:50. I'll be running with Nite_time_runner - another aspiring 1:50 runner.

So just a couple of short sharp runs left. Standby for the race report.

SMC Half Marathon: A Long Time Between Drinks

2006-10-16T16:27:00.000+10:00

Most runners have a period of time when they take the sport where the
PBs come thick and fast and improvement is constant. My honeymoon period
lasted from July 2003, when I took running up until July 2005. That was
when I ran 1:55:30 at the Gold Coast Half. Since then I had not run a PB
at any of my regular racing distances.

Until last weekend.

As I stated in my last post, my training has been great over the last
month and I've dropped a few kilos, so I knew I was in the PB ballpark,
and I also felt that I needed to break the old PB on the weekend if
there was to be any chance of running 1:50 at the Central Coast in six
weeks.

So I trained normally during the week, running a speed session (10 x
400s) on Thursday and a short hilly run on Friday and took a rest day on
Saturday, and lined up feeling pretty fresh on Sunday morning in good
conditions (10 degrees, 70% humidity, slight breeze) with most of the
usual suspects.

I decided to run my own race, and set the virtual partner feature on the
Garmin to a 1:55 half marathon.

I paid a lot of attention to the Garmin in the first couple of
kilometers so that I could settle into a rhythm at the right speed.

The first 10K passed without incident - I stuck with the virtual partner
and felt great.

This was my first attempt at the SMC half. It is basically two laps of
the 10K course (I've done that a few times) with a small loop in the
middle. I wasn't expecting that the loop in the middle would contain the
nastiest hill on the entire course. This upset my rhythm a bit and put
me behind the virtual partner by about 100m. I tried to lift the pace a
little, but this felt a bit dangerous, so I decided to try to stick to
the same pace and kick in the last K and try to pick up the 100m there.

So although I was tiring, I felt OK going into the last K. This was
where Bernie G passed me going a fair bit quicker than I. This was the
perfect opportunity to stick with her, which I did for the next 200m,
but I couldn't keep it up, and for the rest of the race I just tried to
stay as close as I could to her. Bernie went through right on my target
of 1:55, and I finished in 1:55:10 - a 20 second PB.

I'm stoked. My eyes are still firmly focused on the main game - 1:50 at
the Central Coast, but the relief of actually setting a PB after such a
long time is great. I'm also pretty confident now that if I can shift
another 3Kg and lift my speed a bit 1:50 is a realistic target, and I
wasn't so confident last week.

Oh, and thanks to all of you for your kind words regarding our family
news. Much appreciated.

And Baby Makes Five

2006-10-09T21:14:00.000+10:00

*** Warning - Enormous post with little reference to running ***

In my last post I promised major race reports and reports of earth shattering developments in my life. This post fits into the latter category.

DJ has just passed into the second trimester of her pregnancy. We're having a baby! We had an ultrasound today and we have two arms, two legs and lots of energy.

My beautiful (step) daughters, Em and Bop, didn't believe us at first - it was too good to be true. We had to show them an ultrasound. They have gone into a baby naming frenzy.

You'll have to indulge me in a little reflection at this point. It's been a massive year for me, and I'd like to give a recap for those who would like a summary of the last year. Those who are not in the mood for a mushy love story should close their bwowsers or skip to the end where I promise I will tell you how my training is going and describe my program.

DJ and I used to work together four years ago, when DJ was a PA to my Mum and then my Dad. When she was looking for a fit person to do the Walk Against Want, my Dad suggested "Ben is pretty fit. Why don't you ask him?"

So DJ and I re-established contact after four years, and things clicked immediately. We already knew most of each others friends from the old days (it was the type of workplace where you make lasting friendships). Within two months I had all but moved in with DJ.

At this point I took off to Venezuela for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons was we both felt we needed an opportunity to catch our breath, and think about things seperately.

What followed was two weeks of the most pathetic pining ever seen in the history of human existence. I'm sure my brother (whom I was visiting in South America) was moved to vomit regularly by the intensity of it. I moved my stuff into DJs place the day I got back.

Children will always be a concern in any relationship. DJ has eight year old twin girls, Em and Bop. The twins and I were very cautious about each other to start with. It was maths homework that started the ball rolling. By July they gave my my first timid hugs. I now get crash tackled when I walk through the door after work. Let me tell you, it is an extraordinarily special moment when your step-daughters tell you that they love you for the first time. I cried.

In late July I proposed to DJ with the help of the twins. Five weeks later DJ was feeling "a bit funny", so she took a pregnancy test, and our lives have not been the same since. Holding the water bottle through the first trimester has been a full-on experience. DJ has been crashing on the couch and I have been revelling in taking a more active parental role.

So how has all this affected Ben the runner? The relationship has been a slight distraction from training, but DJ and the girls are incredibly supportive - they go to races and cheer me on. I've struggled with my weight as DJ and I have worked out what common meals work for us.

In the last six weeks or so we have started to get this working a bit better, and I've shed a couple of kilos.

All training at the moment is geared towards a sub 110 minute Central Coast Half. I feel that I've already built the endurance up in my legs over the last few months, so I'm working on speed. Typically my week will consist of:

A long run of 15 - 20K (6:15 pace)
A midweek run of 10 - 14K (5:45 pace)
A recovery run of 6-9K (6:30 pace)
A tempo run or a race
An interval session (400s or 1K).

I've all but dropped cross training - I'm just finding it difficult to fit in.

I ran a pretty good 5K at the Coolrunning challenge a couple of weeks back (24:15), and last Saturday I ran the Striders 10K with the intention of running it at 1:50HM pace. I achieved this, but it was hard. I still feel 1:50 is possible if I can shift another 3 or 4 Kg and continue to train at the level I've described.

So that's my story. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed living it.

Blackmore's Half: Enjoying your running vicariously

2006-09-19T20:49:00.000+10:00

Upon reflection I'm not too disappointed with my result for this race. I had a net time of 2:03:50 and the goal was 2 hours.

It looked dodgy a couple of days before the start when my old enemy - my left ITB - started to tighten up after some lax stretching in the previous week. I jumped all over this immediately, and saw a physio on Friday, who gave me a proper working over, and after a little jog with Bop on the Saturday I figured it would be OK.

I caught the train in and met sfGnome near the start. We joined the toilet queue 45 minutes before the start, and poor Gnome, being a pacer, got very nervous about missing the start, but we both got there 10 minutes before the gun fired.

There was a huge Coolrunning contingent in the 2 hour pace group, but it appeared to me that we splintered soon after the start. My ITB felt a little tight for the first K, but settled down, and I didn't even think about it after that.

I found myself sticking close to Gnome and running with Nite_Time_Runner. I stuck with these guys for the next 14K. I had a fair idea after 5K that 21K at this pace was going to be too much for me. Luckily Gnome was walking through the drink stops, and I needed this respite, but after 14K I decided that much more and I would definitely be a chundering mess, so I took an extended walk break, and continued at a slower pace. To be honest I got lazy between 14 and 19. After admiting that my goal time was out of reach I found it difficult to motivate myself to push hard. At about 19K Blkbox, Will & Ellie80 caught me on their charge home in Ellie's first half. At this point I thought it would be cool to stick with them, and that's what I did. They dragged me home in a couple of faster Ks. It was a real buzz to finish with Ellie. 2:03:xx in a first half - top effort.

Soon after finishing we ran into Belinda, who was just beaming. She had just ripped her half marathon PB to bits. We have a habit of running into each other during and after races, and like always, this was an uplifting experience. Congratulations, Belinda.

Up into the recovery village, and I inhaled a couple of coffees and mulled around chatting to people (I got to say hello to Lucky Legs!), and then I hobbled over to the Quay to meet DJ and the girls, who had caught the ferry in to hang around in the city with me. On my way over, I heard the announcer congratulating David Criniti on his awesome performance. So I applauded pretty bloody loudly, and went over to congratulate Unc'. His Dad looked proud as puynch, and why wouldn't you be? Well done, Unc.

So, as you can see, I didn't run to my potential, and I had an ordinary race. It was a day I enjoyed because despite my own performance, I was able to enjoy watching a bunch of other people exceed their own expectations. This is one reason I love being a Coolrunner.

As a postscript, I heard Nite_Time_Runner did go on to run under 2 hours. For a guy who through circumstances beyond his control can rarely train more than once a week, this is a massive performance - well done.

Now, for a hard decision I have come to.

I'm going to scale back my blogging to major race reports and earth shattering developments in my life. Work has become manic for me, and home life is nearly as hectic (but far more enjoyable). It has got to the stage where I just can't find the time to do it properly, so I feel I would rather spend my available time reading other people's blogs (something I haven't been doing for a while) and browsing Coolrunning.

I'd like to thank everyone who has been giving me feedback and encouragement - it has been much appreciated.

I will be blogging sporadically, so keep an eye (or a blogline) out if you're interested. You'll be the first to know when I crack 1:50 (after DJ).

Another solid week

2006-09-12T21:00:00.000+10:00

Last week was a pretty solid week for training.

On Tuesday I had an easy 9.2K run at about 6 minute pace - it was a pretty good flat run along the Parramatta River.

On Wednesday I went on a 5K loop out in the mangroves between Newington and Homebush Bay. This is a really peaceful, beautiful little loop, and when doing it at recovery pace, as I was, it is a lovely little run.

With the nasty hills of the Blackmore's half approaching, I decided hillwork was the shot on Friday, and set out for 5 650m climbs. I didn't time them - I was still without Garmin and I couldn't be bothered with watch splits, so I just ran hard up it five times, jogged back down and jogged back home. It was a fantastic workout - I felt well and truly stuffed by the end, but it didn't wipe me out for the day.

On Saturday I went out and did the five K loop again, this time in the pissing down rain, so I didn't quite take in the beauty that I did on Wednesday.

Sunday was a pretty uneventful, stock standard long run.

It was an undulating course around Bicentennial Park, the Olympic precinct and then through Newington, around the jail and back home. I felt OK, and probably ran it a little harder than I should, so I was again stuffed by the end, but not overly. 16K in 1:39.

My new Garmin finally arrived on Monday (a rest day) and I took it out for it's first run this morning. The run turned into a de facto tempo run as I slowly realised the "about 9K" course I mapped out was actually 10.3K, and I was running late for my beloved family breakfast. so while the early Ks were about 5:50s, the last 4 were:

5:27
5:33
5:25
5:11

I ended up on 10.2 in 57:40, and this time I did stuff myself for the day - I was pretty listless for most of it. Luckily I had a few good things happen at work to get the adrenalin pumping, otherwise I might've fallen asleep at the desk.

As you can see, I'm not really tapering for the Blackmore's Half. It's not a target race, and I won't be too upset if I don't hit my goal of 2 hours. That said, I do have a score to settle with that course (it made a chundering mess of me last year) and I'm relishing the opportunity of running for two hours with sfGnome, who I haven't seen for ages and Nite_Time_Runner, who I met at the Gold Coast this year.

Normal Service will Resume Shortly

2006-09-04T22:05:00.000+10:00

Contrary to how it would appear, I am still alive and kicking.

For a variety of reasons the last few weeks have been hectic beyond all imagination. Work and my health have combined to make it a challenging time.

The week after the Hidden Half was a quiet one on the running front. I came down with a nasty sore throat, and ended up doing an easy five on the Thursday. On the Saturday I took it easyish at the 5K challenge running with Owl (always a hoot!). It ended up being a nice 10K in 57 minutes there and back, and a stunning breakfast at the Bowan bakery with Kit, Ray and Deanne. Sunday I did an easy 15 around Homebush Bay. This went pretty well.

Last week was range week, which is a pretty full on week at work, and some new software was also making life, umm, interesting.

On the Tuesday, however, I had one of those magic training runs. 10K in 58 minutes. It should've left me short of breath. I felt light, I was in the groove and I kept a consistent pace. I was buzzing.

The new Garmin, however was not. It still thought it was April 2026. I sent it off to GME in an express Post bag on Tuesday morning. I rang them today. They still haven't looked at it. BASTARDS!!!!

Deep breath.

I did an easy five on Wednesday morning that didn't feel anywhere near as good.

I nearly took Thursday as a rest day, but the opportunity to go up to the athletic track presented itself on Thursday evening, so I did a trackwork session:

1K warm up
6 * 400m efforts with 200m jog intervals
1K warm down.

The efforts averaged about 1:52, and I was toast after the session. I went out too hard in the first one (1:44), and never recovered.

My choice not to run the Striders 10K on Saturday was one of the easiest ever. The twins had decided that since they would be at their Dad's place on Sunday morning, that my Father's Day would be Saturday. So on Saturday morning I was showered in gifts from the Fathers Day stall at school, and ate scrambled eggs on toast in bed. Pretty spesh.

I finally got back on the bike on Saturday arvo - a slow 20K effort around Rhodes, Meadowbank and Ermington. I thought it wouldn't mess too much with my Sunday run, but I was sadly wrong.

Sunday's long run was a gruelling experience. It was an old favourite - my Rhodes - Meadowbank - Ermington - Silverwater loop, crossing the Parramatta River twice. I struggled from the start. Little vomitlets were hitting the back of the throat throughout the run, and the legs felt heavy and horrible.

Work looks like it might be settling down a bit now, so hopefully normal blog service will resume shortly.

The Hidden Half - Bouncing back

2006-08-20T18:56:00.000+10:00

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed when I found out that my C2S time was 84:05. I just felt that I was capable of better, and next year I will do it.

The week's training went well afterwards. I ran every day until Thursday, with an easy 5K recovery on Monday.

I did a quickish 9K on Tuesday that felt pretty good - a nice flat run along the Parramatta River. On Tuesday the New Garmin arrived. It thought that the date was April 1 2026 and it won't talk to the Garmin Training Centre. I fired off an email and I'm really hoping this time that they will let me upgrade to a 305.

Anyway, enough of the shoddy folk at GME. On Wednesday I took it pretty easy on a 7K runthrough the mangroves.

With the Garmin not able to be programmed I decided to just do a tempo session for speedwork on Thursday, so I started with an easy 3K, and follwed that with a hard 3K @ 5:19 pace. A nice easy 1.5K warm down and I felt pretty good.

I took a rest day on Friday. On Saturday Bop was feeling sick, so I did an easy 4 on my own before netball, and went into the Hidden HYalf feeling pretty good. DJ and the girls came along as support, which was great.

The Hidden Half has a nasty little hilly section of a couple of K that you have to run through twice. Given that I was off a dodgy C2S, and my key race from July yielded a flat 1:59, the thought was that I would be ecstatic with Sub 2.

It was never in doubt.

Given my form at the moment, I'd have to call it a blinder. I chatted with Striders and Coolrunners througfhout the early part of the race, and then I hit the hills. They hurt my lungs and legs, but I got through them the first time, and ran through 10K in about 54:00.

I knew I'd put some time in the bank, and I still felt pretty good, and so I just ran conservatively until I hit the hills again and took the a bit easier this time, but still at a fair pace.

When that section was over we had about 4K to go, and about 23 minutes left. I knew the rest was flat, so I just aimed at 5:40 pace knowing that I was right on. With about 2K to go I passed a guy who was walking, and said to him "Come on, two hours beckons!"

He laughed and said "you're right!", and we ran it in together. Truth be told he probably pushed me a bit faster. About 200 from home DJ and the girls were clapping me on, and then the already finished Coolrunner Rock Doctor joined us for 100m. We came in on 1:59:12. Absolutely stoked.

The Hidden Half is a top event. About 100 runners, organised by runners, well marshalled (although I did meet one guy who got lost today), cheap and one of the best free T-Shirts going. For those who can make it out to Bankstown on the Sunday morning after the C2S, I'd highly recommend it.

C2S: 82 or thereabouts - Use the force Luke

2006-08-13T21:29:00.000+10:00

The training for this last week has been the usual pre-race fare: two runs of about 7 or 8 K and one of about 4.5K during the week. The were all slow and steady runs and felt OK.

On Friday night I went to the aquatic centre and just churned out a slow and steady uninterrupted 1700m in the pool, which took about 50 minutes.

It's been ages since I just got out and did a slow and steady swim, and it felt great. I have to remember that the swimming is just cross training, as this type of training was spurned when I was tinkering with triathlon as not being too good for development, but the truth is that I enjoy it more than the 150m efforts I have been doing.

The girls were with ntheir Dad this weekend, but we took them to netball on Saturday morning, so Bop and I went for another slow steady run before the game started. She wasn't feeling that great, so I was quite happy to pull the pin after 2K in preparation for C2S the following day.

Now, the lees than good people at GME had decided not to send my replacement Garmin because they didn't have a HRM strap. I told them in a pointed fashion on Friday that I already had one, but this was of little use - it was all too late. DJ had started calling the Garmin Obi-Wan, and was making jokes about my inability to run without it. I decided to embrace the failure of technology and run without any timng apparatus. I would use the force.

You don't get many races that start at 9:30, so I decided to eat more breakfast than usual, and this was probably a mistake.

After dropping DJ, a few of her friends and my Dad who were walking the race together at the yellow group, I saw a small group of Coolrunning caps in the green group, so I sidled up to find Owl, Caro and Boonarga, and I had a good chat to them as the race grew near.

When the gun went we shuffled up to the start line and I lost Caro and Owl immediately. I tried to hang on too Boonarga for the first K, but he weaves through crowds better than I and I lost him. Soon after I passed Belinda on the first big hill and got a friendly hello from her.

I strugglled on at laboured breathing pace for the next few K's and the biggish breakfast started threatening an encore performance. I ignored the first couple of drink stations as I wished to avoid the traffic jam, but I did take on water at most of the stations.

I think it was alitlle after half way that I passed Belinda again (she must've sneaked past me) and I was reminded of a 10K race at SMC where we spent the entire day passing each other, and I decided that we should dead heat in the last 500m, and today turned out no different. Belinda canes the downhills and I attack the uphills, so we swapped places a few more times, but when we drew level in the run down to the finish line we stuck together for the rest of the race. We reckon we finished in a nett time of 82 minutes. Outside my target, but not dreadful. Let me state this right here - next year's target is sub 75.

I caught up with a few people after the race, but the task of meeting up with DJ, Dad and the rest of them soon took over. We're a pretty quiet house tonight. I think it's bed time. I've had a big day.

A long catch up post

2006-08-05T21:23:00.000+10:00

Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone for their well wishes after my recent announcement.

The fortnight since that last post has been a testing but happy time. The training has been uneventful but solid.

After a couple of months of training at a much slower pace, I've decided that I might be better off training at a pace about halfway between the slower pace I have been training at and the faster pace I was training at before.

My times haven't been improving much at all, and I have just been naturally creeping up in pace over the last few weeks, and I've felt like that has helped, so I think I might go with it.

So for the last two weeks the midweek long run has been at a little under 6:00 pace (and 9K in distance), and the other midweek run has just been about 6:05 pace (and about 6.7K in distance).

Last weekend was a really good one. I ran the Coolrunning 5K Challenge on the Saturday. I opted for the 25 minutes group, a gang of four. We stuck pretty close together for the first K, and then as official pacer (i.e. the one with the Garmin I informed the group that we were going too damn fast (4:40). The two ladies kept the pace of, but I knew that would be a fast track to Chundertown for me, so I stuck with the other bloke, and we ran through the next 3K in about 15:17. I was talking to the guy (who's name I have forgotten) when I was quite rightly chided by the passing Blue Dog for being able to talk at 4K, so we picked up the pace for another 4:40 in the final K to finish with 24:37, my quickest time this year.

I jogged back to the start a hell of a lot quicker than I usually do, (at about 5:37 pace), and then DJ joined me for the customary breakfast at Grind where we had the pleasure of hearing about Uncle Dave's exploits in NT.

On Sunday I got out for a 16.67K run around the Parramatta River. This is an old favourite, and I had a lot of fun, but took it pretty slow, so I felt strong the entire way.

The hill sessions have been increasing in intensity. On Thursday I did 5 climbs of the 650m hill at about 4:50 pace. By the end of this session I was well and truly spent.

Friday saw my return to the pool. For someone who's job is concerned with numeric data analysis I can be a complete dickhead with numbers sometimes. I had it in my head that I should be able to do a few 2 minute 100s and then move back to a more leisurely pace, so after a 200m warm up, I set off at a quickish pace to do my first 100. At the end of it I felt like I was about to barf up a lungand looked down at my watch to see how m,uch rest I had before my next effort. It said 2 seconds, and I said "no way", and took a long breather.

I did a couple 2:30 100s and then settled into 6 x 150m efforts, each taking 4 minutes. This was a little difficult to achieve as they had squashed the lap swimmers into 3 lanes, and despite each being clearly marked "slow" "medium and "fast", each lane had a real slowcoach in it.

Anyway, I got through them and it was a good session.

The Garmin has died. It wont charge, or talk to the PC, so I have sent it off for repair. I think I need some time not getting my speed fed to me so that I can learn to run by feel again anyway.

Saturday morning was the first chance I had got since the last post to have a run with Bop. We wore our running gear to where we wath Em play netball, and did two laps around the whole park, which is about 2K. The first lap was basically Fartlek with a bit of walking, the second was jogging with a bit of walking.

This (Sunday) morning we also got out for a 4K run before the long run. There was less heavy effort at the start this time, and still a few walk breaks. After the run with Bop I went out for another hour around Homebush Bay trying to run up and down as many hills as I could find. I'd estimate the pace to be about 6:15 or so, but since much of the run was spent exploring new terrain and I've got no Garmin, I have no real idea how long it was. I've worn the Skins since, but my legs have pulled up quite bashed up.

As I said, much of the run was exploration, and I'm going to have more fun on these routes in the future. The mangroves offer many permutations of various tracks that I'm starting to really enjoy.

I'll train conservatively for the next week. C2S next week, and while I'm still a fat pud, the form is starting to return. I reckon if I don't net 80 minutes I won't have put in.

Things going mental

2006-07-23T19:44:00.000+10:00

Wow.

My life has been absolutely manic since my last blog update. I'll start with the running, which I am amazed I have found time for. Work has been ferocious, and will continue to be so for a couple of months, so I'll be blogging even less frquently.

There is a lookout near the new flat which has a gentle but constantly rising 850m path to it's summit. I have chosen this for hillwork.

I run up it four times the day after my last update at 5:00 pace, jogging back down. This was a pretty hard session, and this week I did a similar one running up it five times.

Last weekend I did a fifteen K long run which was two laps of a run I used to do taking in a run up to Olympic Boulevarde, and back via Bicentennial Park. This run was a pearler. I ran it at 6:13 pace and it felt comfortable. The previous day I did my first ride in months, riding for 45 minutes on the bike path to Botany Bay. I doubt I'll try this again, it was very stop-start with a lot of switching between shared pathway and road. In future I'll stick to the paths and road in Homebush Bay - we are spoilt for good riding around here.

My weekly pattern of Sunday long run, Monday recovery run, Tueday or Wednesday midweek long run followed by another easy run then followed. The midweek long run was a 9K trot along the Parramatta river at 6:08 pace which felt a bit heavy but was a pretty solid effort.

Now this weekend has been memorable to say the least. On Saturday after netball DJand I took the girls to the aquatic centre in Homebush Bay, where I knocked out 10 sets of 150m efforts @ 4:00 each. My stroke felt OK and although I was tiring towards the end it was a pretty good cross training session. I warmed down by mucking around in the kids pool with the girls, having a few goes on the big slide and going around this rapids whilpool thing they have there. one massive bonus about step-parenthood is the ability to do some fun kid stuff without looking like a complete nob.

That evening the girls and I executed something we had been planning for days. We sat DJ down on the lounge, I grabbed my guitar and launched into the Turtles song "Happy Together", with backing vocals and dancing provided by the twins, and at the end of the song I dropped to one knee and asked DJ to marry me. She said yes.

This may appear sudden to some of you - both DJ and I are still technically married to other people and it may look like we are being foolhardy.

The thing is that the whole thing is just so natural and comfortable. We are contented together and those close to us are not surprised or worried. I can't tell you how happy I am.

This morning's long run was a beautiful development too. The younger twin, Bop, has expressed an interest in Cross-country. I made the offer to train her and run with her, and today was our first attempt. Em, the other twin asked if she could go too, so we all took off for a run first thing this morning. We went out at about 7:00, but Em had to take a couple of walk breaks, and went back after 1500m. Bop kept going with me, and we did the second 1500m at about 6:30 pace. Bop was a little puffed when we got home, but she was really happy and hopefully she'll stick with it.

After the run with the girls I kept going with the same run I did the previous Sunday, but I threw in a trip up the lookout hill as a conditioner for C2S in the middle. I did the rest of the run at about 6:10 pace, and for the most part it was an excellent hit-out. I did slow a bit at the end as fatigue set in.

The plan from here is just more of the same into C2S. Any advice on training for Bop would be most welcome. I don't think we will get much training done during the week - that's just a reality of my work and her school commitments, but we will have to see how we go.

A Moving Birthday

2006-07-13T19:53:00.000+10:00

It's been a busy time since I got back from the Gold Coast. I had
planned an easy recovery week after the half, and that fitted in well
with the plan to move house last weekend.

In amongst piling stuff into boxes I managed a couple of easy 7K runs at
about 6:15 - 6:30 pace. We actually moved on Saturday, and it was
slightly traumatic. Imagine two committed hoarders and trying to cram
their accumulated detritus from living in big houses for ten years into
a three bedroom flat. It sucked.

On Sunday I was a bit sore from the move, but I got out for a nine
kilometre run along the Parramatta River (back to one of my
favourites!). It was slow and uneventful.

Monday was my birthday. A week beforehand my MP3 player had kicked the
bucket, and DJ was right onto it, so I now have a 1GB iRiver to
accompany me on the run. But the best present was a card from twins that
said "Dear Ben, Happy Birthday. We're glad your part of our family." :D

We're settling in now. I've resumed normal training this week. On Monday
I went for a slow 5K, on Tuesday I went for a 7K run at 6:20 pace and
yesterday I went out for another 9K run. The target pace was 6:15, but I
just felt like going faster and even though I slowed up each time I
looked at the Garmin I finished up on 6:05.

The next serious race will be C2S, so I'll dispense with speedwork and
add in a hillwork session each week for the next month, but I'm still a
long way short of PB condition, so at this stage the target is 80
minutes.

Gold Coast Half - Mission Accomplished

2006-07-12T15:57:00.000+10:00

I apologise for the amount of time this report has taken. Life has been
bloody busy for the last fortnight, but I'll explain that in my next
blog entry.

I love the Gold Coast Marathon festival. Community support, a bloody big
Coolrunning shindig and a well organised run for whatever level of
fitness you are at the time. It's a top event.

This year, same as last, I opted for the half marathon. This time,
however, I had company.

DJ and I went up to Brisbane on the Friday morning. DJ has a number of
friends and relatives in Brisbane and I spent Friday and Saturday
meeting said friends and relatives in amongst a bit of tourist
frolicking at Southbank. It was a relaxed couple of day punctuated with
very short runs: a 5K recovery pace run on the Friday and a 3K gallop
with 2 * 500m 5 min K efforts.

We stayed with friends in Brisbane on Saturday night, and since I had
not picked up my kit I figured that we needed to get out of bed at
3:15AM on Sunday morning to make sure I got to the start line
comfortably.

I am continually amazed by what DJ will tolerate for my benefit. Normal
people do not get out of bed at 3:15 on a Sunday morning. DJ got out of
bed, drove me to the Gold Coast and waited for me to finish the race and
cheered.

After I got my stuff together I lined up with the two hour pace group,
being led by Coolrunner Ironbee (Mike) in his bee costume. Mike competes
in the costume to raise awareness about diabetes, a condition his
daughter is afflicted with.

I had an issue with the Garmin at the start - it hadn't found a
satellite by the time the race started, and I also hadn't reset it from
the last run, so I didn't actually start timing until about 30 seconds
after I passed the start line.

I ran with Mike for the first few Ks, and I felt pretty good. After the
usual slow first kilometre in the traffic jam we started picking up
10-20 seconds per kilometre, and we had a couple of minutes up our
sleeve by the time we hit the turnaround. For the first half of the
race I dropped behind Mike at each drink station but caught up over the
next kilometre.

At the turnaround I was feeling OK, but not great. I made the decision
that I would not attempt to catch Mike after each station. We had
another pacer following behind, so the policy became to stay in front of
that pacer. This plan worked well until about 16K, when I was starting
to struggle, and had a strong desire to walk. I knew I still had a
couple of minutes in the bank, so I took walk breaks at the last three
drink stations to make sure the water hit the spot.

I was doing it tough in the last few K, but once I saw Jen and
Vegie-Girl (cheer squad number one) I knew I was on the home stretch.
Next came the primary cheer squad 700m from the finish - another cheer,
and 200m from the finish I spotted my true love, for whom I declared my
love and continued on to a finish I suspected was about 1:59, and turned
out to be a net time of 1:59:11. Mission Accomplished.

The rest of the day was spent cheering in the cheer squad with DJ before
a great time at after race drinks. Mouse and Nite Time Runner were kind
enough to allow me to use their hotel shower. Guys, may I offer my
thanks on behalf of everyone on the 6:00PM flight I took home.

As I said at the start I love this race. I'll be back next year,
injuries and finances permitting.

The finishing touches

2006-06-29T09:46:00.000+10:00

Sun: 11K @ 6:24 pace
Mon: 5.5K @ 6:33 pace
Wed: 8K @ 6.08 pace

We are now well into taper for this weekend's Gold Coast Half Marathon.

Saturday became a de facto rest day as we prepared for our party to
celebrate moving out of the Greater Western suburbs of Sydney. We had a
Westie Party. I dressed in a 10 year old pair of Lowes tracky dacks, a
black Metallica T-Shirt, a flanno and a pair of Ugg boots. I got a
mullet at Just Cuts especially for the occasion.

We provided VB & Passion Pop (and prepared enough food to feed a small
army). Our guests got right into it - even to the point of urinating on
our fence and starting a fire in our wheelbarrow. All in all it was an
excellent party.

One unfortunate consequence of the party was that a cold night in the
backyard worsened the symptoms of the virus that I was nearly over. The
policy then became to run on alternate days to minimise my exposure to
the cold mornings.

Since I had to clean up and feeling somewhat seedy, I did my Sunday run
in the afternoon. Considering the excess consumption of the previous
night the run went extraordinarily well. It was an easy run on light
legs.

Wednesday was an awesome run. I got out at 5:30 and just went at a pace
that felt comfortable. After warm up some of the K's were under 6:00 and
I felt the whole thing was at "conversation" pace.

My nose is still a little runny and I've still got some signs of the
"Love God" radio announcer voice that has come with the virus, but I
will be right for Sunday.

So the plan is to fly up tomorrow morning into Brisbane, spend Friday
and Saturday on a quick tour of DJ's Brisbane friends and relatives. On
Sunday we drive to the Gold Coast in the morning, I run the race and
cheer, rehydrate and replenish carbs (read eat and drink junk) for the
rest of the day.

I'm pumped.

Manic

2006-06-23T16:42:00.000+10:00

Sun: 21.1K @ 6:23
Mon: 5.8K @ 6:40
Tue: 12K @ 6:05
Fri: 5.8K @ 6:15

This week has absolutely manic. DJ and I are having a party to celebrate
our impending departure from the Western Suburbs this weekend, it's been
incredibly full-on at work and we are also trying to pack for our
impending move.

Sunday's long run was a bit rough. I was at a party on Saturday night
and so I was slightly worse for wear, and by the end of what should've
been an easy long run I felt and looked like I'd just run a really hard
half-marathon. The original plan was another four laps of the regatta
centre, but it was booked for other uses, so I did 10K of local running
around the nearby Whit Water complex, and finished with two laps of the
regatta centre.

Tuesday was a better run. I went a bit quicker and felt pretty good, but
I came dome with a sore throat on Tuesday night. It was a viral thing
that went away pretty quickly, but I felt it was best to stay warm for a
couple of days, and took two rest days.

I was back into it this morning. Initially the plan was 1K warm up, 4K
hard (5:30) and 1K warm down. After the first hard K I did a
reassessment of how well I was and jogge3d the rest of the run. The one
5:30 K was a real challenge, but the rest of the run was comfortable.
And the timing was perfect: I had just walked into the lounge room after
showering and dressing for the football to start 20 seconds later. Woo
Hoo!

Then tragedy struck - I tore a hole in my skins putting them on!!!!!!
Arrghh!

I'll stay out of the pool this weekend to keep the bugs away. Taper
time!

Going the Distance

2006-06-15T11:32:00.000+10:00

Sat: 1250m Swim
Sun: 21.1K @ 6:24
Mon: 6K Recovery Run
Tue: 8.5K Easy @ 6:25
Wed: 12K @ 6:04

I'm happy with how the build up to GC has gone in the last few days.

My second swim back on Saturday was good. I'd left myself a little short
on time, so instead of increasing the distance from last week I went
from 100m efforts to 150m efforts, and I set a 4:30 time on the efforts.
After a 350m warm up I churned through six of the efforts before I
packed it in.

I treated Sunday as a slow dress rehearsal for GC. I went out to the
'Riff Regatta centre, which has a flat 5K course with a couple of bumps,
much like the GC course, and ran until the Garmin said 21.1K. All went
smoothly, and I kept a pretty constant pace throughout, except for about
500m when I got bored and cranked it to 5:30. Again, I pulled up really
well from the run. The combination of the slower pace of the last few
weeks and the 5 hours my legs spend in Skins after each run has me
feeling fresher than I have in ages.

After a couple of easy, uneventful runs on Monday and Tuesday I got out
on Wednesday morning for my midweek long run, which went really well.
The Garmin 301 heartrate function decided to have a flexi, and didn't
register for the whole run, so I just went at a "able to hold a
conversation" pace, which turned out to be just a shade over six minute
pace.

Today is a rest day. I'll do 400s again tomorrow - I think the faster
running should sharpen me up for the Gold Coast.

Contented 400s

2006-06-09T11:26:00.000+10:00

Tue: 12K @ 6:10
Wed: 8K @ 6:25
Fri: 8 * 400m @ 4:32 with 200m jog intervals

I'm loving my training at the moment. The slower pace is setting me up for the day, and I am enjoying the new routine. I also think the skins are helping me recover for my next session.

Perhaps much of the good attitude has to do with the routine I have set up. DJ and I get up at stupid o'clock and spend half an hour over a leisurely cup of tea, and then I take off on my run, getting back in time to have breakfast with DJ and the girls before I go to work. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have located a shower at work, so I can run in the light after the drive to work if I choose to skip the breakfast. I choose not to - I like the above routine. In case you haven't picked up on it I'm a pretty contented bugger these days.

Anyway, the training has been smooth. On Tuesday morning I hit a rhythm for the whole run. I hovered around 80% max HR and was breathing pretty easily, no doubt startling the rabbits on the golf course with loud, off key renditions of various Australian folk-rock songs.

Wednesday night I just went out with the intention of not looking at the Garmin and taking it slowly. The run turned out to be just what I'd hoped - 8K reeled off with no hassles a little faster than 6:30, which I consider to be my slow recovery pace.

This morning I decided my speedwork needed something a bit sharper than the 1K intervals I have been doing, so I went out for 8 400s with 200m jog intervals. It was great to go just that little bit faster, and I reckon it's just what I needed. I did most of them at about 4:30 pace, but I went balls to the wall for the last one, and did it at 4:19 pace. Pleasantly stuffed by the end.

Solid

2006-06-05T13:04:00.000+10:00

Thu: 7K @ 6:30
Fri: 6 * 1K Intervals (avge 5:52)
Sat: 1.2K Swim
Sun: 20K Long Run @ 6:24
Mon: 5.8K Recovery Run

A pretty solid weekend's training. The speedwork on Friday was an
improvement on the previous intervals: all were under 5 minutes and the
last one I use all the petrol I had left and finished with a 4:40.

Saturday had me back at the pool for the first time in ages. My stroke
felt alright, but four laps of a 25m pool left me breathing like a pack
a day smoker. I did twelve slow 100m efforts before packing it in.

Sundays' long run was excellent. Some poor course planning had me run
20K instead of my planned 19K, but unlike last week I just churned them
out with very little discomfort.

I must admit that I fell off the wagon in terms of food on Saturday
night and ate far too much pide. As a result I feel slightly guilty
about the PB I set on Sunday: six consecutive farting strides. Who needs
lentils?

Apart from that, the weight seems to be coming off. I did weigh in at
81.2 on Saturday, which was a long way down on the last trip to the
scales.

At the moment I think two hours might be the sensible target for the
Gold Coast half, but I'll see how I'm travelling in the week before.

Strategies for keeping warm in winter

2006-05-31T09:29:00.000+10:00

Wed AM: 11K @ 6:08

Last night I jumped on the scales for the first time in weeks.

Oh my giddy aunt!

83.2Kg. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a culprit for the slower
times. I have been in the good paddock. In fact, were I not a vegetarian
I could be accused of eating all of the cows in the good paddock.

So diet will become a big factor in the five weeks running up to the
Gold Coast. I hope to get down to about 78kg, but I've said that before.

Strategy one for keeping warm in winter: Carry an extra stone (6.3kg) of
superfluous flesh.

Yesterday became a sort-of rest day - I did a short Pilates DVD session
in the morning. I did, however, locate a shower at work.

This morning I used the knowledge I'd gained yesterday, and drove to
work in trackies and a jumper and did a running tour of Milperra for 11K
this morning. I felt really rusty for the first 4K, but then I hit a bit
of rhythm and I felt I had a bit left at the end.

I did find it hard to stay at my target pace of 6:15. I just seem to
want to run at 6:00 or 6:30.

The shower at work was great. Now I just have to remember to bring a
towel. I dried myself with a spare t-shirt.

Strategy two for keeping warm in winter: Run at 7:00AM instead of
5:30AM.

I have decided to stop riding on the roads. I've never felt particularly
safe out there - I'm an uncoordinated person at the best of times, and
DJ has always been pretty nervous whenever I've been riding on the road.
DJ also worked with John and we've both been shaken a bit by his death.
I'll get a wind trainer soon, and we will be moving to Homebush Bay in
July, where the bike paths make for safe riding. In the meantime, I
might get back into the pool or hit the M7 cycleway and the regatta
centre.

RIP John Wethered

2006-05-29T11:53:00.000+10:00

Mon: 5.5K @ 6:30
Tue: 7K Run @ 6:30
Thu: 5 * 1K Intervals @ 4:50
Fri: 7K Run @ 6:15
Sat: 36K Ride @ 26kph
Sun: 15K Run @ 6:30
Mon: 5.5K @ 6:30
Tue: 10K @ 6:08
Thu: 7K @ 6:15
Sat: Coolrunning 5K Challenge 25:25
Sun: 17K @ 6:28 - messy
Mon: 5.5K Slow

On Sunday a cyclist was killed in a training accident at Engadine. That
cyclist was John Wethered, an Ironman triathlete and a really nice guy.

I worked with John for a couple of years before I really started getting
into running, but I was clued in enough to know he was serious about his
training the second I met him - Polar don't make wristwatches.

I still exchanged emails with John occasionally and at the odd social
gathering or race we would exchange training stories. John always took
an interest in how my running was going and I really appreciated it. The
world will be a poorer place without him.

My training has been solid in the aeons since my last blog entry. I've
been enjoying the slower training of the new approach, but I have
noticed that the two speedwork sessions I've done have been very slow. I
don't know if the new approach isn't working for me or I'm still just
digging myself out of the hole that I've been in for the last couple of
months, but I'll stick with it. KT's phrase that "we are all an
experiment of one" still rings true - the statistician in me does not
yet have enough data to draw a meaningful conclusion on the
effectiveness of the new approach.

Last weekend was a good one. I ran the CR Challenge with Deidre, who I
ran with last month. I stopped for a shoelace 1500m in and caught back
up with her, and we were on 25 minute pace 3K in. Unfortunately the
catch up had taken it's toll and after 3500 I told her to go on. I
limped in on 25:25. We have made tentative plans to attempt 24:45 next
month.

The highlight of the day for me was the fact that I was able to catch up
with The Owl, as we hadn't spoken for months. It turned out to be a
great day for catching up - I tracked down a uni friend I hadn't spoken
to for 5 years in Canada later in the day and we spent half an hour on
the phone.

My Sunday long run was a bit messy. I ran on the M7 bike path between
Elizabeth Drive and Wallgrove Road. I did some 6 minute K's early in the
piece, which is a bit quicker than I should be going. That shouldn't
have
Stuffed me, but stuff me it did. I was feeling well and truly buggered
by 17K and had some very ordinary kilometres late in the run, which
averaged to 6:28. It wiped me out for the rest of the day.

Oh, and I did buy the Skins. I'm wearing them after every session and I
think they are effective.

Back into it

2006-05-15T17:55:00.000+10:00

Thu: 6.5K Slow
Fri: 5K Slow
Sat: 36K Ride @ 24.5kph
Sun: 10K Slow

True to my word I have eased slowly back into my program. We were at
Homebush on Thursday morning, so I ran slowly around my favourite 6.5K
loop taking a 100m walk break every 2K. It felt RUSTY.

Friday was a slightly less rusty run around the golf course at
Luddenham, but still not great.

The weekend was a brilliant microcosm of my new lifestyle. On Saturday
morning I got out for a lazy 90 minute ride out to Kemp's Creek and then
back to Penrifff, where I caught the last half of the elder twin's
netball game. The ride was a comfortable one - I didn't push it and I
felt pretty good on the bike. I've slowed my riding a little bit in the
whole "take it a bit easier" push, but I reckon I wasn't going overly
hard in the first place.

From there we spent the middle of the day plotting our escape from the
outer western suburbs before attending my Mum's birthday bash. The twins
seem to enjoy hanging out with my family, and that is making me very
happy. I knew there was never going to be an issue with DJ and my family
because, you see, DJ has a long history with my family. DJ was a
personal assistant to both of my parents for about five years - which
puts a whole different twist on the "parents of the boyfriend" thing. Up
until January my parents were a bit like an uncle & auntie to DJ, so
it's been a different type of awkwardness, as you could probably
imagine. Everyone's pretty much used to it now.

Sunday was pretty cool. After the present opening ceremony the twins and
I teamed up to cook breakfast for the lady of honour, and after cleaning
the substantial mess from said cooking I was able to sneak out for a
lazy 10. I felt a bit heavy, but not too bad. I think had I tried to run
at 6 minute pace or faster the whole thing would've been a disaster, but
at my new standard pace (6:15-6:35) it all went fine.

I pulled up a little sore in the legs. I've been feeling this a fair bit
lately, and after viewing some discussion on Coolrunning today about
Skins, I'm having a lot of thought about it (particularly considering
it's payday today).

This morning was a similar slow cruisy run. I'm getting used to running
slowly.

Me poor froat

2006-05-09T12:30:00.000+10:00

Since my last blog entry I have done zip. Nada. Nothin'.

On Wednesday I went down like a sack of spuds with tonsilitis. It got so
bad that I couldn't eat any solid food for a couple of days. I took
Friday off work and had an exceptionally lazy weekend.

There is always an upside - and an excuse to eat nothing but ice cream
and gelato is a bloody big upside. So is being nursed by DJ :)

The recovery has been slow. Even now I am still finding it a bit tough
to get through the day at work and I have been taking Nanna naps at
lunch time.

The plan at this stage is to get out and have a short jog on Thursday
morning and take it from there. I really don't want to push myself too
hard, as I think this has hampered my recovery from illness and injury
in the past, so although I might be OK tomorrow morning I won't run
until Thursday.

Even Slower

2006-05-02T13:15:00.000+10:00

Sat AM: Coolrunning 5K Challenge: 25:40.
Sun AM: 15K @ 6:30
Mon AM: 5.5K @ 6:30
Mon PM: 20m Pilates session
Tue AM: 10K @ 6:05

The 5K Challenge is always a hoot. Not being anywhere near fit I decided
to run 26 minutes, so when a new runner was asking about how the race
was organised and saying she thought she could run 26-27 minutes I said
"Follow Me!". Her name was Deidre, and she now has a 5K PB and I have a
solid 25:40 5K hit out under my belt.

At the post-race breakfast I had forgotten about the size of the Grind
pancakes - I had helped someone finish one in the past. This time it was
me who had ordered one, so my PB for the morning was eating about a
cubic metre of pancake in one sitting.

Highlight of the morning: Welcome back, Jen. It was fantastic to run in
the same race as Jen after so long on the sidelines.

Since then I have been revelling in running slowly. My Sunday long run
was slower than I have run for over a year, and it didn't knock me
around half as much as much as recent long runs. The 301 HRM is too
erratic to take much notice of, but I believe I was running at around
75% MHR, and although I was passed by an old lady on a walking frame at
one point, it was very enjoyable.

The two runs since then have been of a similar vein. If nothing else, I
am enjoying the training a lot more on the new regime. I'll start
building the volume from here at about 10% a week. This week it will be:

1 * 5.5K Recovery run (Done)
2 * 10K mid-long runs (1 Done)
1 10K Race
1 * 16.5K long run
1 Cross training session
1-2 Pilates sessions (1 Done)

Taking it easy

2006-04-27T09:32:00.000+10:00

Fri AM: 4 * 1K Intervals @ avge 4:47
Sat AM: Ride 47k @ 27.4kph
Sun AM: SMC 10K. 58:04.
Mon AM: 5.5K Slow recovery
Tue AM: 10K in 59 minutes
Wed AM: 1150m Swim. Slow.
Thu AM: Run - 10K in 59 minutes. Bewdiful.

After taking advice from the three wise men (2P, Horrie and Gnome) I
have decided to slow my training down and rebuild slowly. I am using
2P's blog to get some hints.

I hadn't made this decision last Friday when I went out and busted my
lungs on four 1K repeats. I actually thought these would be slower than
they were, but the four repeats were well enough.

Saturday's ride was great. I did a figure eight around my new local
environs. I managed to do a figure-eight course that had two traffic
lights and very little interaction with traffic. I'm not a skilled
rider, so course safety is pretty important.

The SMC was disappointing. It's always great to catch up with the gang,
but I ran hard for a very bad time. It was demoralising when I realised
that it was at this race last year I cracked 50 minutes for the first
(and so far only) time. Sunday was over 58 minutes, and although I
didn't go flat out I reckon I could only go a little bit quicker.

Since then I haven't pushed myself in any of the runs. They have all
been just a bit quicker than 6 minute pace, but each has been a bit more
comfortable than the last. This morning I felt great as I pumped out a
real easy 10K in 59 minutes. I feel like my form is coming back, so I'll
just stick with running slowly, cross training once a week and doing one
speedwork session/race a week. I've dragged out my "Pilates for Runners
& Cyclists" DVD and I had a fifteen minute session during the week. I'll
try to build on that but I'm very slack at this.

Darling, have you seen my fitness?

2006-04-20T10:00:00.000+10:00

Mon PM: 9.8K Run @ 5:40 pace
Tue AM: 5.5K Run @ 6:00 pace
Thu AM: 9K Run @ 5:50 pace

One thing that DJ and I have in common is an alarming ability to lose
things and leave things behind when leaving a place. It was sort of
inevitable that when we left Copacabana after a really great couple of
days with the twins and my family (awww) that I would leave something
behind (my phone).

This cost us about 45 minutes, which came off the time available for my
long run before the venue (the regatta at Penrifff) closed. I managed
two laps running a little bit faster than I had hoped to ensure we
didn't get locked in. I followed this run with a nasty little recovery
run the morning after.

This morning I confirmed that my fitness was definitely left in South
America. I had nothing - it was a horrible, painful, breathless 9K. The
course was flat. It was as windy as a Don Juan lentil dinner, but this
is no valid reason for the utter dreadfulness of the run.

So we need a new plan. I have to rebuild. I'll blog the schedule when I
come up with it, but I reckon I'll do five runs a week with the key runs
being a weekend long run, a midweek medium-long run and a speedwork
session (which will be replaced by races half the time). The week will
be completed by a cross training session and either a rest day or a
Pilates/Yoga session. Any advice welcome.

Settling Back In

2006-04-16T20:22:00.000+10:00

Mon PM: Run 6.5K @ 5:50
Tues PM: Run 7.5K @ 5:50
Fri AM: Run 10K in 57 min
Sat AM: Ride, 41K @ 27.4kph
Sun PM: Run, 7.2K of hills in 45 minutes.
Weight: 81Kg (ouch)
Sleep: Really ordinary.

Well, the week has been an utter shitfight at work, so blogging has been very difficult. It has been a full on week in many ways.

Let's start with the training. I won't go into blow by blows, but it would be fair to say I have come back in far worse condition than I left. Every session this week has been a huffing challenge. They were all pretty flat efforts around Luddenham except for todays run - a hilly bastard from my folks place in Copacabana to Avoca and back to Copa.

Saturdays' ride was a fast bit of fun riding from Luddenham up to the M4 and along that road to Blacktown & back. Wednesday and Thursday was a write off due to work and other commitments.

Now, it's about time I gave you an update on what's going on with me. The day I got back to Sydney I moved in with DJ and her eight year old twin daughters at Luddenham. It's not exactly escaping the western suburbs as I had hoped (quite the opposite) but things are going pretty bloody well and there is no way in hell you'll hear me complaining.

The next few months are going to be utter bastards at work, and I have no internet access at Luddenham. Add to this the new world I have moved into (and how exciting is that?) and I think you'll understand that my participation in the online world will be limited. I will be updating my blog sporadically and reading blogs even more sporadically. Hopefully just sticking to the highlights will make the blog a bit more interesting. We will have to see.

Home Sweet Home

2006-04-10T18:04:00.000+10:00

Sun PM: 5.5K in 31 minutes

I got in at 8:00AM Sunday morning after a 52 hour trip home including my
walking tour of Buenos Aires. Some strategic use of sleeping pills got
me home relatively free of jetlag, and I had an easy day settling back
in at home. In the early evening I decided to get out for a short sharp
run just to remind my legs what I expected from them and to get myself a
bit more tired for a good night sleep.

I didn't feel too flash on the run. I did it mostly at about 5:40 pace
with slightly laboured breathing. I'd hoped to feel a bit better at this
pace, but it may just be due to fatigue from the flight.

I have neglected to tell you all a good story from my last night in
Merida. Listen up, Nat - you'll like this one.

Apart from the Teleferico, Merida has another claim to fame. It holds
the ice creamery with the world largest number of flavours, so I had to
visit it.

Now I reckon you don't go to an ice creamery with a record like that and
order vanilla choc-chip, so I had three scoops, which were:

- Beer
- Cheese
- Garlic

Now, the beer ice cream was OK - I'd go so far as to say nice.

The cheese ice cream was tolerable.

Garlic ice cream is pretty much as you would expect - a crime against
humanity. It was bloody horrible, but it was ice cream so I finished it.

Clint thought his Brandy & Sardine ice cream was pretty good.

All Good Things Must Come to an End (as soon as possible)

2006-04-08T10:04:00.000+10:00

I am writing this blog entry from the airport in Buenos Aires. My flight home leaves in three hours, at 11:59PM.

I haven´t run since my last entry, but I have done an utter shitload of walking.

Tuesday was an easy day as we took a bus out to a nearby town. This would not have merited comment but for the couple we met on the bus. Barry was an expat Aussie, having left Sydney in 1954 to pursue a career as an academic that had taken him all over the world. His field was physiology. He had also run 20 marathons, ran a 50 miler on his 50th birthday and finished Ironman. We had a great discussion on altitude effect (his field of expertise) and various other stuff. He and his American wife had settled in Mexico after he retired but they spent much of their time travelling the world, so they did much talking with Clint, who has still got wanderlust.

Wednesday was back up to 4000m for some more bushwalking. This time in a national park, Sierra Nevada. We went for about three hours and I felt like a pack a day smoker for most of that time. It was pissing down when we atrted out, both of our waterproof jackets failed and sodden mud got in both of our boots.

And I loved it.

The scenery was just unbeleivable. Magic waterfalls, magnificent mountains - just beautiful. We had a disposable camera that didn´t catch the full magic, but we got a few half decent shots. When I get home I will scan one or two in and post them.

That night we got rolling drunk with Uncle Ron (ron is Spanish for rum). Don´t ever get pissed with my brother when he has a camera with just a few shots left. ´nuff said.

Thursday was mostly spent in transit, and I arrived in Buenos Aires at 5:00AM this morning.

I spent the day just walking around the city centre. I love it. It´s a bit like someone picked up an old European city and plonked it in South America. It reminded me a lot of Paris, except the people are willing to speak English if they know it. I have no idea how much walking I did today, but it was a hell of a lot - I just wanted to see more.

And now it´s time to go home. I´ll let you in on a little secret: I can´t wait. I´ve missed DJ like crazy and Sunday morning can´t come soon enough.

Laps of the square

2006-04-05T00:18:00.000+10:00

Tue AM: 8.5K Run in 46:44

Monday was a complete write off - I didn´t get to do much at all because of the previously referred to problems.

This morning I was feeling much more human, so I was able to punch out what I think was about 8.5K in laps of what I was assuming was a 250m square. By the end I was feeling pretty short of breath, and I think this may be due to the altitude in Merida, which is 1600m.

Now, some have requested pictures:

Looking seedy at breakfast in Los Nevados. Clint in St Kilda jersey, me next to him.

More photos to come.

Altitude Training

2006-04-03T01:58:00.000+10:00

Thu PM: 3K Run @ 5:45 pace
Fri: 4 hours walking at altitude
Sat AM: 3 hours walking at altitude
Sun AM: 3.5K Recovery Run

Ola Amigos,

I got out on Thursday afternoon for a small run around the square outside Clints place (250m around).

On Saturday we went on the worlds longest cable car (the Teleferico), which took us up to an altitude of 4,700m. Walking around up there I really struggled to breathe, but the scenery was great. The Teleferico is in four sections, and we went back down to the third stop to start our walk, at an altitude of 4,000m. This is by far the highest I haver ever been in terms of altitude, and the firsy hour was more or less uphill, and I really struggled. After the first hour it was mostly downhill and a lot easier, but I wouls say it was about the same exertion as a long run in terms of cardio/breathing.

We spent the night at Los Nevados, a beautiful little village on the side of a mountain, and got drunk on the local spirit, which is aniseed based rocket fuel. I may be able to post some photos a bit later.

I decided to set out walking in the morning with one of the fellow guests at the hostel at 8:00 and let the jeep with our companions, which was leaving at 10:00 to get back to Merida, catch up with us. It did so at 11:00, and I had a great time swapping stories with Heather, a committed English traveller. I{m glad that we did this because it meant an hour less on the jeep, which was hugging a goat track on the side of a mountain and thoroughly scaring the shit out of me. It would have been beautiful had I opened my eyes.

This morning I thought I might get out for some speed work, but my legs felt shitty, so I decided on a recovery run. Even that proved tricky as the South American food started to catch up with me. After two laps of the square (500m) I had to duck back inside to the toilet. Back out for 3K and then the same need hit, so I called it a day.

Will try not to refer to anything to do with anuses in my next post, but no promises.

That clean, fresh air

2006-03-30T09:43:00.000+11:00

Wed: 4 hour bushwalk in the South American jungle.

Ola from Merida, Venezuela.

It took me two and a half days of travelling to get here, and with all of the jetlag and rubbish I didn´t get any exercise in. I had an hour at the Hilton Caracas before the gym closed on Monday night, but they had the front to ask me to pay about $13AUD to use the gym. Considering the ridiculous tarrif I was already paying for accommodation I couldn´t do it on priciple, so I just went to bed.

I got into Merida on Tuesday morning. It was awesome to see my brother after so long. We spent the day catching up and bullshitting. In the evening we had a vegetable, garlic and cheese pasta which Clint cooked and said that it would cause him flatulence problems the following day.

I wish I had remembered that this morning when we decided to go on a bushwalk. We went up into the mountains, where the scemnery was utterly stunning. The vegetation was so rich. We didn´t see much in the way of fauna, but the plantlife was just beatiful.

So I spent the day a couple of paces behind Clint, who, to be blunt, was exhaling through his anus - with halitosis. This made it even more difficult to breath, as I was already struggling a bit with the altitude. We aren´t sure, but we were probably at a higher altitude today than I have ever been before.

May be able to get out for a run tomorrow.

Accepting the Inevitable

2006-03-24T11:24:00.000+11:00

Wed AM: Run, 9K @ 5:50 pace

I am grudgingly coming to accept that the next three weeks are going to be an exercise in watching my fitness disappear up my ever expanding arse. In amongst the getting myself ready for the trip, gathering stuff for my brother and working I’ve managed one solitary run since Sunday – a 9K jog around Luddenham that felt a little bit stiff.

My weight has been creeping up. I have to admit that I’ve been having an empty carb & fat carnival since the race. Last night’s Coolrunning drinks was typical of this: 3 cokes and more wedges than any human should consume in one sitting. It was a great social night, but I dipped out early as it was a school night, and given that today is my last day at work I thought I best be rested for it.

My brother has warned me that running is unlikely to be safe in Venezuela – narrow streets, insane drivers and unsavoury areas. I’ll take my gear over, but I’m not going to get too hung up about using it. If the opportunity doesn’t eventuate it will just be like an injury lay off, and I usually come back pretty strong from them.

Road Trip - The Eaglehawk Half Marathon

2006-03-19T17:30:00.000+11:00

Fri AM: 6K @ long run pace
Sun AM: Eaglehawk Half Marathon. 1:56:20.

My weekend started on Friday morning (I've taken a day either side of the weekend off work). I decided an easy six kilometres would do the trick, and there is a nice little loop across the rad from DJ's place, where we were starting our journey.

We had a break in Albury, where I spent four years at uni. I left a shithole, I reurned to a vibrant university town. I sorta wish I could come back now. I took DJ on a tour of the flats I lived in including my all-time favourite address (and I promise I lived here):

2/269 Mount St

We got as far as Benalla (including a comical visit to Glenrowan) before retiring. Seeing as Friday night is the important one for a good night's sleep we got to bed early. The smegging smoke alarm in the room had other ideas - it chose 2:30AM to be the time it started warning that it was running out of batteries. We spent the rest of the night without adequate fire protection.

From there we had a leisurly drive to Eaglehawk, where we had not booked accomodation. When we discovered that the race was part of a "Back to Eaglehawk" festival we knew there would be lodging hassles. Eaglehawk is basically a suburb of Bendigo, so into Bendigo we went. With some Commonwealth Games events being staged in Bendigo we were running out of options. We managed to get a serviced townhouse near town and settled in.

Sunday morning started early as with most races. DJ had me organised and chauffered to the start an hour before the start for an easy warm up and relaxed preparation.

The course is a 10.55K loop run twice, and the race incorporates the only quarter-marathon I know of. I got away quickly, and after 2K I was on 1:50 pace. I stuck with it for another four K, but after this I started to slow, and I knew if I kept going at that pace I would blow, so I just went with running how I felt. I hit 10K in 52:58, and halfway in 55:53. From there I did quite a few 5:30 Ks, and with 3K to go I thought I was still a chance for 1:55. I tried to turn on the gas, but it wasn't there. I limped through to finish in 1:56:20. DJ was a brilliant support crew/cheersquad.

I must mention - this was the first race I have been in where I was the only runner with any Coolrunning gear. I did get a "Go Coolrunner!" at 5K from a bloke going the other way.

We're back in Albury tonight. It's been a top weekend thusfar. The race was not the result I wanted, so it's back to the drawing board. I'll fit in what I can for the next three weeks (I leave for a fortnight in Venezuela in a week), and them I'll start on a program for the Gold Coast Half.

1:50 will not defeat me!!!!!!!!

Taper week

2006-03-15T10:14:00.000+11:00

Thu PM: 1700m swim - slow and steady
Fri PM: 7 * 1K intervals avge 4:45.
Sat AM: 35K Ride @ 25kph
Sun PM: 6.5K Tempo run.
Tue AM: 7.5K Tempo run
Wed AM: 7.5K @ 5:50 pace.

We are well into taper now. The Eaglehawk half marathon is this weekend and I have decided I have ho hope of hitting my initial target of 1:50, so I am setting a new target of 1:55, which would still be a PB of 30 seconds.

On Friday I thought I might have a chance, I ran 7 1K intervals which were paced poorly - I started with 2 4:30's and slowed from there, but only to a final effort of 4:50, so I thought I might be starting to get my Mojo back. I was completely stuffed by the end of this session.

I had a decent ride on Saturday morning: 3 laps of my 10K Homebush loop and a 5K loop through the all of the stadia. It felt good.

Sunday I did a lot of walking. 90 minutes in the Blue Mountains for the Walk Against Want, and then half an hour merrily walking over to watch the mighty Rabbitohs take on the Roosters at Telstra, followed by a grumpy trudge back home afterwards. It's going to be a long year for we Rabbitoh fans.

I decided to throw in a little tempo run in the afternoon - 2K warmup, 3K hard, 1.5K cooldown. I could only manage about 5:20 in the "hard" bits.

Circumstances dictated a rest day on Monday, so I got out for another 7.5K tempo run on Tuesday, this time with a 4K hard section. Similar result - my cardio system just isn't up to 5:12 Ks at the moment.

This morning I got out for another 7.5K run (OK, I admit it - there is a nice little 7.5K loop near DJ's place), which was just a stock standard long run pace run. four hours later I still feel a bit wiped out, so things are not as they should be.

I'll have to take it pretty easy for the rest of the week and make sure I'mm fully rested for Sunday. Lots of vegies before then, and we'll see how we go.

Fat and Slow

2006-03-08T08:51:00.000+11:00

Sat AM: Homebush Striders 10K - 52:46
Sat AM: 25K Social Bike Ride
Sun AM: Long Run - 19.2K @ 5:55 pace
Mon AM: Tempo Run - 7K, 4K @ 5:22
Wed AM: Midweek Long Run - 13K with 5K @ 5:24

Weight: 80.2Kg (Ouch)

Sleep: Fair

The title of this post is a frank and honest summary as to where my running is at. I'm not feeling too upset about it; the fact is that there has been things going on that have been both within and outside control over the past two months that have distracted or prevented me from training. I regret none of the decisions I have made, but I am not in the shape I think I need to be in to run a 1:50 half.

Anyway, the synopsis:

The Striders run on Saturday was evidence of this. I started with the 50 minute group, and they took off like startled rabbits, doing the first K at 4:30. I knew I was in trouble, but I stck with them until about 4K, where I started to slip. The Garmin died at 4.6K (I had inadvertantly left it on all night, and soon afterwards I knew my race was over in terms of a decnt time. I took a short walk break just before 5K and fast jogged it in for 52:46 - 46 seconds slower than HM pace - not good.

Afterwards I was chatting with Tiger Angel & sfGnome, and TA said to me "you should've brought your bike - we're going for a ride!". Since the race was 500m from my flat, the bike was close at hand anyway, so I grabbed the bike, changed gear and was off for a sedate 25K ride around Homebush followed by a coffee at my local cafe. The ride was a great warm down after the race and the coffee was enjoyable as I was quizzed about DJ before I rushed off to spend the rest of the weekend with her.

On Sunday I had to pop into Windsor, so I took my gear with me and did two laps of the old tri-club 10K loop. The first 10K was at abou 5:50 pace, but the second I just slowed. I couldn't manage any faster than an average of 6:05 for the last loop. Not happy.

I replaced my Monday recovery run with a short tempo. After a 2K warm up I averaged 5:22 for 4K before a 1K warm down. Another pretty slow performance. My Wednesday run, which is pretty much a tempo run went along the same lines. The 5K middle section, where I aim at 5:12 (HM pace) I could only manage 5:24.

So what does it all mean? I haven't been backsliding much - I've missed one planned run, and that was due to illness. My diet has been atrocious, and I have put on 2Kg over the last few weeks.

It's possible that the four run a week program is a bit soft - I might need to go to five runs a week and drop the bike or swim. It may be that I haven't properly recovered from the cold. It may be that I am being soft on myself and I am backsliding.

It doesn't bother me too much. I'll run at Eaglehawk in a week and a half, if I'm struggling I'll slow down and if I don't hit my target I'll change my program and have another shot at 1:50 at the Gold Coast. There's too much wonderful stuff going on in my life at the moment for me to get too cut up about it.

I have also just organised a last minute holiday. In two weeks I will be heading off to Venezuela for a week and a half with my brother. I haven't seen him in ages, and I can't bloody wait.

Range Week

2006-03-03T21:33:00.000+11:00

Fri PM: Ride, 21.8K @ 24.2kph
Sat AM: Coolrunning 5K Challenge, 26:00.
Sun AM: 13K Run - Awful
Mon PM: Run, 6.58K in 37:21 - Standard Recovery
Tue PM: Ride, 31K @ 25.6
Wed AM: Trail Run,7.65K in 1:04:28.
Fri PM: Swim, 1500m slow

Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. I have had almost no internet access for nine days.

This is because of range week. As some of you know, I work in ladies underwear (pun intended). Twice a year the founder of our company lets us use his home in Vaucluse to determine the range for the next season. This means that we spend the week viewing the range on models with a backdrop of the glorious Sydney Harbour.

Sometimes I really, really like my job.

Anyway, the training has been patchy, but OK under the circumstances.

I was still feeling a bit rough on Friday, so I just went out for a 21K bike ride in the afternoon, which I took slowly.

On Saturday I did the Coolrunning 5K challenge. I wanted to take it easy, so I left on 27 minutes to guide and possibly pace a mate of the Gnome's (Darren). We finished in 26:00 - right on 1:50 HM pace. Bonus.

Sunday was an awful long run. Planned 16K, started taking walk breaks at 7K, quit at 13K and walked home. I just wasn't over the cold.

The only session worthy of mention during the week was a magic 7.6K trail run on Wednesday morning. I started at Shark Beach and ran the 1.8K Hermitage Foreshore Walking Track out and back twice. It is a hilly track taking in spectacular views of Sydney Harbour. The problem was keeping my eyes off the view and on the track. I finished at Shark Beach with a dip to cool my legs off and went off and had my shower. It was at this point that I realised with some horror that I had neglected to pack fresh underpants - this meant that I had to go to work freesnake. This would not be a hassle if the plan for the day was not to watch lingerie models showing the new seasons range.

Luckily the day passed without embarrassing incident. The run left my legs with rsidual soreness for a couple of days, obviously my lack of hillwork was showing here.

I'm going to finish this post here. I'll blog last weekend later today or tomorrow.

The Dreaded Lurgy

2006-02-22T16:20:00.000+11:00

Tues AM: 1500m slow, painful swim.
Sleep: Ordinary
Weight: 78Kg of lard.

The swim on Tuesday morning just felt laboured; 1500m of rest encrusted, crowded pool shite.

Later in the day the other symptoms started: tickle in the throat, runny nose and general lethargy. Sleep was a real problem last night so it was an easy executive decision to abandon today's run. Tomorrow is a planned rest day, which I will take. Friday I might go for a light jog.

We are 3 and a half weeks out from Eaglehawk. The last thing I want to do is go into another key race still recovering from illness as I did at the Central Coast in December; that resulted in vomit 40% into the race, which is far too early, even for me.

I figure I can probably get away with shortening the long run on Sunday if I'm not on top of my game - I've done 2 20K long runs so far, and I'll get another one in next weekend.

Back to my Westie roots

2006-02-20T13:51:00.000+11:00

Sat AM: Ride, 34K at 30.3kph.
Sun AM: SMC 10K. 53:50. Solid hitout.
Mon AM: Recovery Run. 9K @ 5:40

Saturday saw me out at the 'riff. DJ decided to do a sedate walk of the 5K regatta centre loop with a couple of friends. I took it as an opportunity for a quick flat ride, and ended up doing seven laps for 34K (it's not the full 5K) at an average speed of 30.3kph - as fast as I have ever gone over an entire ride.

Sunday morning had me out at Smiffo for the SMC 10K. Many of the usual crew had passed up this month's race, but just as I was starting to feel lonely (cue violins) Plu turned upand so I had someone to yak to before the race.

I was treating this as a fastish training run, and for this purpose it was executed excellently - I ran the entire 10K between 5:13 and 5:30 pace, finishing in 53:50. I was stoked about this; I usually just can't run at a consistent pace.

This morning was a 9K hitout. It was supposed to be at recovery run pace, but it finished up on 5:40 because I felt fresh, so I went a bit harder.

This week promises to be hectic once again, but as opposed to last week it is a real "pointy end of the preparation week. I'll just have to be focussed. Right after this little nap...

Easy Sixes

2006-02-17T09:21:00.000+11:00

Wed AM: Easy 6K Run
Fri AM: Easy 6.5K Run

This week is a rest week, and I've been taking it pretty easy.

The runs on Wednesday & this morning were pretty similar to Monday's run - easy half hour runs where the target was to run marginally faster than six minute K's, but towards the end of each run I found myself unintentionally creeping up to 5:30s and even 5:20s.

On Wednesday I joined Sydney Striders. The Strider's were so ecstatic that a runner of my ability had joined that they sent their president to my workplace the following day to welcome me aboard.

OK, maybe he did have a meeting there already.

This weekend I will have a go at the 10K in Smiffo, but given that I don't want to bash myself up I'll probably aim at 54-55 minutes.

Yes, TA - Valentine's Day was spent with DJ. As Gronk would say, :D

Now TA also asked about March 19. March 19 is the date of the Eaglehawk half-marathon in country Victoria. This is my next target race / attempt at running under 1:50.

The last three attempts at 1:50 have resulted in vomit and walking. The 1:50 monkey has been on my back for nearly a year now. I think I'm nearly there, but I know that faster runners than I struggle to beat this time, so I'm still nervous about it and will have to train my buttocks off for the next month to achieve it.

Catch Up

2006-02-13T13:50:00.000+11:00

Sat AM: Long Run. 20K in 1:57:30.
Sun PM: Bike, 30K @ 25.5kph
Mon PM: Recovery Run, 5K
Tue AM: Swim. 1500m - slow as a wet week.
Sleep: Fair
Weight: 77Kg

Another packed weekend socially had me opting for a Saturday morning long run. It was a good long run - I chose a pretty flat course and just pumped out 20 consistent K's - all within the 5:40 - 6:00 pace. It was a stock standard, nothing special long run, and I loved it.

After the run I had an awesome weekend going to a family reunion BBQ and spending time with a beautiful lady we will call DJ on this blog.

On Sunday afternoon I went ou for a short sharp ride on the bike. I did three laps of my usual 10K loop, but to make it less boring I went in the opposite direction to the way I usually go. I don't think I'll do that too frequently - there is a set of traffic lights with a right hand turn going this way, and the bike doesn't trigger the sensors in the road. This means that I end up running a red light right on the corner of Silverwater jail. Apart fromn this it was a quick ride, and a nice way to round out the weekend.

Monday was stressful day at work, with meetings with senior management and lots and lots of work, complete with a late afternoon dumping of "can you do this before you go home". I got out of work at seven, feeling pretty rotten.

Given that I'd only gone for a 30K ride on Sunday, the "recovery" aspect of the run was more recovery from work than running. To this end it worked a treat. I spent the first K feeling utterly feacal and ran it in 6:06. Then I started to let my mind wander, and halway through the last K I looked down at the Garmin, and I was running at 5:08 pace and felt pretty good.

This morning I dragged my sorry arse out of bed at 6:00AM and got up to the pool for three slow sets of 500m. A real nothing swim, but it's in the bank now.

I have been having trouble with water getting in my snazzy expensive goggles, so I've shifted to a cheap and nasty pair, and they are doing the job perfectly.

This week is a rest week. I'm really glad I've gone back to putting one in every four weeks - I'm feeling fresher than I have for ages - but the real test is on the 19th of March. So far I feel pretty good about it.

Good hard running

2006-02-10T08:34:00.000+11:00

Wed AM: Speedwork. 7 * 1K efforts with 2 minute walk intervals. Killer.
Thu PM: Run, 12K in 1:05:48. Another solid effort.
Sleep: OK
Weight: 76.2Kg

I got no sleep whatsoever on Monday night, and was consequentially feeling like feacal matter on Tuesday, so I took a rest day instead of swimming.

Slept OK on Tuesday and decided to thrash myself on Wednesday morning with the speedwork session from hell. I got out in darkness for 1K efforts along the Parramatta River. They went like this:

4:42
4:31 (huh?)
4:37
4:31
4:27 (wow)
4:37
4:46

Considering that my usual target is around 4:45 (the Garmin is set to 4:30 - 5:00), this was bloody quick. I definitely felt it - this was a tough session. On the fifth effort my legs were starting to stuggle, but I just focussed on the sunrise over the river, which was very pretty, and got through it. You can see from the last split, I slowed. I was just out of petrol.

I have a packed weekend where I can only squeeze a long run in on Saturday morning, so I decide to run last night instead of this morning. I got out at 9:00 for a 12K session through the eerie Homebush Bay bike paths (well, they're eerie in the dark. I ran from my place to the M4 & back. I did the first 5K at long run pace, and then the idea was to pump it up to HM (5:12) pace. The actual splits were 5:16, 5:03, 4:53, 5:04 & 5:04. I found this part of the run tough. This would be a combination of the pace being closer to 10K pace, all of the crap & caffeine that I fill my body with during the working day and a partially digested Subway sloshing around in my stomach. I jogged a couple of K to round it out, went home, stretched and had a cold bath (seems to be excellent for recovery). Then - and this is gold - I slept like a log for 6 hours. I think the weaning off anti-depressants has been dicking with my sleep, but this is an excellent sign that things might be coming good in this area.

Weekend Wrap

2006-02-06T08:34:00.000+11:00

Fri PM: 21.7K ride @ 25.3kph
Sat AM: Sydney Stiders 10K - Lane Cove 53:something. Solid workout.
Sun PM: 18K long run @ 5:45 pace. Felt awesome.
Mon AM: 9K Recovery run. Surprisingly fresh.
Sleep: Fair.
Weight: 75kg this morning. Dehydrated reading methinks.

After the rest day on Thursday and an alarm malfunction (OK, alarm setting malfunction) on Friday morning I just had time on Friday night for two 10K laps of my Homebush loop on the bike on Friday night. T'was a standard ride - pushing slightly, but not too draining.

On Saturday I went to my first Striders 10K race. I had heard much about the Lane Cove course, and being only 20 minutes away I couldn't resist manipulating my program around it. A huge turnout with a bunch of Coolrunners. It was great to catch up with the recuperating Tiger Angel and then warm up with her husband.

The theory was go out a bit faster than training pace and throw in a few Ks at HM pace where appropriate. I started with Horrie's 55 minute group, but I felt like I was bludging after a few K and pushed it a bit. A couple of those hills took the wind out of my sails, but I ran it reasonably comfortably in 53 minutes and something (can't remember). All in all a solid workout.

It was more conveient to do my long run on Sunday evening, which gave me a little more time to recover. I was pleasantly surprised by how fresh I was. I didn't get much sleep on Saturday night so I was expecting it to be tough but I pumped out 18K through Bicentennial Park, Rhodes, Meadowbank, Silverwater and back to Homebush Bay with relative ease. I finished at 8:45, had a stretch and a quick cold bath and went to bed.

I got a fair bit of sleep in amongst the insomnia induced washing and reading of David Day's biography of Ben Chifley, and at 5:00AM I decided to go for a recovery run. This time I was amazed that I felt good. Despite the previous night's run I pumped out a slow 9K with little discomfort. The legs were complaining a bit by the end, but it was a great recovery run.

This week will be hectic. Sessions will be squeezed in when I can manage it, blogging might be succinct.

Sluggish workouts

2006-02-01T10:52:00.000+11:00

Mon PM: 8K run at snails pace.
Tue AM: 1500m swim at sea-snails pace.
Wed AM: 6 * 1K intervals @ about 4:45 with 2 minutes walking rests.
Sleep: Poor
Weight: 78.2 (hey hey hey it's Chunderbolt - na na na gonna have a good time)

Monday was your typical recovery run - it felt rusty, I was a bit sore and not into it much. I finished strongly enough, and pulled up OK. I ran my hilly little scenic six and a bit loop with an extra lap of the lake in Bicentennial Park to make up 8K.

After a sleepless night on Monday, I took it really easy in the pool on Tuesday morning - 1500m divided into three lots of 500m with a breather between each lot.

Now, as I hinted at in my previous post I am involved in a new romance. This means that I am generally in a really good mood most of the time at the moment, but let me tell you: there is nothing in the world that can put a positive spin on speedwork after two consecutive nights of insomnia.

I had severe motivation deficit disorder this morning, and the first K effort was just horrible. I picked up a bit after that, but in general it was a tough workout. Since I am posting away from my computer I don't have the splits, but they were all around 4:35 - 4:50. There were six of them. I'm still feeling sore six hours later so let's call it a bloody good workout - I really felt it.

In other news, I saw the doctor yesterday, and I am weaning off the antidepressants. I reckon the time is right, but time will tell if the insomnia gets silly. I'm pretty happy about this.

How not to prepare for your long run

2006-01-30T09:16:00.000+11:00

Sat AM: 5K Coolrunning challenge - 23:59, no vomit.
Sun PM: 16K long run @ 5:52 pace. Ugly.
Sleep: Fair
Weight: 75.8 (more dehydration than anything else, methinks)

Well, Saturday was a hoot. After the obligatory socialising (during which I actually met Mr WT for the first time, as opposed to hanging around in the same "chat circle") I went for a warm up with sfGnome and Kit (another I'd met for the first time).

As I had stated, the target today was 24 minutes sans vomit. The 24 minute group was myself & Kit. We both took off like startled rabbits and I passed through 1K in 4:30 slightly behind Kit.

Now what made this a good run was that normally under these circumstance, I'd say to myself "right, let's see if we can hang on to it and bring home a big PB" without listening to the body (hence my new Coolrunning handle: Chunderbolt). Instead, I slowed down and did the next K in 4:50. I tried to keep a balance between pushing myself and blowing up for the rest of the race. The result was as I had outlined above - 23:59.25, no vomit. I'm stoked about this - it's the first time I've shown the discretion to accept that the PB wasn't on before my body had failed me. I'm learning.

Now, let's talk about Sunday. Sunday was a bloody marvellous day. I had been to a family wedding on Saturday night, so I was in no state to get up early and run on Sunday morning. Running in the late morning was not an option - I had arranged to spend the day in the city with a ... friend. So I spent the day walking around Sydney and eating thing I ought not eat and drinking only flat whites.

So after gorging myself on white chocolate & raspberry bullets and on tired legs I headed out for a long run on the same course I did 2 weeks ago. It was rough. It was heavy legged. I had the taste of the bullets repeating for most of the run and I had a stitch for most of the second half. I was in a pretty good mood, but that had bugger all to do with the run, which was utterly atrocious.

Short Morning Cycle

2006-01-27T17:30:00.000+11:00

Fri AM: Ride, 21.7K @ 25.1kph
Sleep: Good
Weight: 77.8Kg (phat bastard!)

I had a thouroughly enjoyable at an Australia Day BBQ, eating to excess and exercising little. I was involved in an impromptu boys vs girls soccer, err sorry, football game. Now, I consider myself to be fit these days. After ten minutes I was gasping. I guess I ran around in circles a bit too much.

I had trouble getting my substantial arse out of bed this morning. As a result of my excess the previous day I got a nasty surpirise when I weighed myself. I jumped on the bike and just had time for 21K at a fair pace. It actually felt pretty good.

5K race tomorrow. Target is: 24 minutes, no vomit.

Sunrise Over Homebush

2006-01-25T08:50:00.000+11:00

Mon AM: Run, 7K, slow as a wet week
Tue AM: Swim 1500m, easy.
Wed AM: Run, 9K with 4K at 10K pace that was supposed to be HM pace.
Sleep: Ordinary

I've got a funny old week, this week. Things have come up, so in the interest of convenience I'm doing all of my training in the mornings - so I'm seeing a few sunrises this week.

On Monday I felt a bit rusty after Sunday's dehydrating effort (even after a good sleep). I just rolled around the six and a bit loop, adding an extra lap of the lake in Bicentennial Park to bring it up to 7K.

The sleep was a bit more scarce on Monday night, so I decided an easy swim was in order. I swam an easy 1500m taking a short breather every 500m. It was a little frustrating, they had the casual lap swimmers squeezed into four lanes (which is not many for Homebush Bay), and I was too quick for the slow lane and too slow for the quick lane. I ended up in the fast lane and spent the morning getting passed like a dodgy curry.

This morning I was wide awake at 4:30, so I decided to get out super early and knock out my midweek run. The plan was exactly the same as a fortnight ago: 9K with 3 or 4K at HM pace. The conditions were perfect in the pre-dawn darkness, and the first four K were just perfect - felt great, felt strong and life was good. I didn't want to bugger it all up by going from 5:45 pace to 5:10, but after the Garmin struck four I cranked it up and it wasn't too bad at all. My breathing got a bit heavy, and my pace wavered between 4:40 and 5:20, but I banged out 5:10, 4:55 and 5:03 K's without too much bother. By that stage I felt over it, but I knew I was right for a fourth which I did in 4:54. I jogged the last one in 5:30 and had a lot of time to stretch and get ready for work. All in all, a lot of fun.

I had planned to do a race on Thursday. Change of plans, so I'll probably rest and ride tomorrow and Friday, and I am currently planning on doing the Coolrunning Challenge, but this plan may change too.

It doesn't feel like a rest week

2006-01-22T11:56:00.000+11:00

Sat AM: Ride, 40K @ 25.4kph
Sun AM: Run, 10K in 58:00

I got out reasonably early on Saturday with the intention of rolling around for 40K without pushing it. Four laps of my well travelled 10K loop around Homebush Bay.

I reckon I inadvertantly pushed it too hard, probably because I had rested on Friday and I felt seven feet tall and bullet proof. Hence I ended up averaging over 25kph, which is my usual yardstick for pushing it over this loop.

I went over to Windsor in the afternoon to sort out some stuff with my ex, and ended up having a great time playing with the dogs, and a not so great time mowing the lawns in 34 degree heat (I volunteered - sucker). Then I spent the night catching up with my best mate, who lives in a place called Glossodia, 20 minutes north west of Windsor.

I crashed there in the early hours of the morning, and off not nearly enough sleep decided to run with the Hawkesbury tri club this morning. No one was there when I turned up at 7:30, so I ran a loop of the 10K cicuit myself.

My God, I struggled. I wish I'd bothered to put my HRM strap on, as it would've made interesting reading. My program had 12K on it, and I was intending to add the extra 2K on a loop around Windor, but by the time I'd done 10K I was, to be blunt, well and truly rooted. I reasoned it was a rest week, and the last thing I needed to do was to stress my body out by going too far, so I packed it in. It was hot, I had exhausted myself on the mowing, and I think this one was a victory for wisdom, but I will have to watch it - too many "wise" decisions like this and I could end up underprepared.

Several minutes later the tri club guys started finishing up. Since I moved they had started going at 7:00AM to beat the heat. So I ended up catching up with them anyway.

In need of Sleep

2006-01-19T22:16:00.000+11:00

Thu PM: 6.5K in 34:40
Sleep: Zip. Nada. Zero. Not a wink.

After a particularly rotten night's sleep I felt like a zombie for most of the day today on what was supposed to be a rest day, but given I had consumed a keg of coffee to get through the day I reasoned a nice little tempo run might give me a better chance of sleeping.

The plan was the same as Wednesday - a loop of the undulating 6.5K with 2K at HM pace, however, I got out and for the first K I felt comfortable at 5:08 pace, so I shifted the plan to running the first 3K at HM pace and then drop back to 5:30 for the last few K. I pumped out the next 2K at 5:05 and 4:58, but I had started breathing like the old asthmatic donkey. I ran the last 3.5K at about 5:25 but was well stuffed. The breathing hardly improved and the heartrate stayed at about 87% of max.

Glad I did it. I'm not surprised I struggled given the rotten sleep. I'll take tomorrow as a rest day and then finish the rest week with a couple of light sessions over the weekend, then back into the real stuff on Monday.

Plodding through the rest week

2006-01-18T17:09:00.000+11:00

Mon PM, Run 5.25K @ 6:10 pace
Tue PM, Swim 1500m, 15 * 100m @ 2:20
Wed AM, Run 6.5K in about 34 minutes
Sleep: Very Ordinary
Weight: 77.6Kg

Monday & Tuesday were mammoth days at work. Monday was a preparation day, and I didn't get out of work until 8:30, but I decided I just had enough time to sneak in the schduled recovery run. I did a few very slow and soggy (it was pissing down) loops of a sparsely trafficked, well lit but boring area near the flat. I felt sluggish and and tired, but that was to be expected.

Although this run blew the cobwebs out, I reckon it was a bit close to bedtime, and it was a factor in the insomnia I suffered that night.

Tuesday was another full-on day at work, but by 5:45 the big meeting I was preparing for was over and there was no way in hell I was hanging around in the Milperra/Revesby area until 7:00PM for swim squad.

I decided on a shorter, sharper solo swim. My last few solo efforts have been 20 * 100 @ 2:30. This time I did 15 * 100 @ 2:20. I really noticed the 10 seconds. I can pump 2:30s out until the cows come home, but by the end of this session I was really starting to breath heavy. I even went back to 2-stroke breathing at times (I usually do 3 stroke breathing by default).

My new watch has a timer feature - so I plugged 2:20 into it, and it beeped at me when I needed to start each lap. The great thing about this is that I looked at the clock next to the pool as I started - it said 6:10. I then knew that as long as I kept up my pace the session finished when the clock read 6:45 - no counting! How good is that?

This morning I was out early to get my midweek run done. It was always going to be a bit of a struggle given the previous night's exertion, even more so given another poor night's sleep. And thus it proved so.

I did it on my favourite hilly 6 and a bit loop around Homebush Bay. The first couple of K's at 5:45 were laboured. The plan was to crank it up for 2K at this point for 2K at 5:12 (HM pace). I did these at 5:06 and 5:00, so I still have trouble really getting the pace right.

I slipped back to 5:30's for the last bit, and felt right stuffed by the end.

SMC 10K - Getting There

2006-01-15T17:44:00.000+11:00

Sat AM: Ride, 32.55K in 1:24
Sun AM: SMC 10K, 51:25

I pretty much decided to have a proper crack at the SMC 10K on Saturday morning, so a soft ride was the order of the day. I just went out on the 10K loop and rode three slow laps of it.

Had a small breakfast before heading off to Smithfield where I had the now customary catch up with Go Girl and Horrie.

The race started well enough. I was on PB pace, but after 3K my cardio was feeling it. I rounded the 5K turnaround right on pace, but I was in trouble. Horrie passed me a little before the turnaround and later told me I was running well but not looking good. He was right, I vomited a couple of minutes later. I held a decent pace for the next 2K, but I vomited two more times and it was a case of strike three and you're out. I took a short walk break and jogged it in for 51:25.

A couple of positives: Despite the poor execution it was still my second fastest 10K ever (more a reflection of how badly I've stuffed my last few attempts), and the "jog" in was at 5:30 pace, but it felt quite slow.

Another top morning at the SMC. Several huge PBs and a lot of jovial endorphin fuelled chatter afterwards and home for a lazy day.

Living on the Edge

2006-01-13T22:57:00.000+11:00

Fri PM: Run, 17K in 1:39

Well, today I picked up where I left off, and that's with running, not Krispy Kremes.

I didn't receive sfGnomes excellent advice to visualise them as treacle covered dog the one turds until too late. Instead I ate one and then looked up the nutritional information on the website, which was enough to prevent me from eating another one.

Now, I like to think I'm a risk taking, off-beat kinda guy who lives on the edge. With this in mind, I did something crazy today.

I did my long run on a Friday night!

I had been looking forward to this run for a while. I knew once I reached 16K I could use a loop I've only done once before but really enjoyed. It's a loop based on a course I pinched from 2P's Website.

It was an awesome run. You know the type, when you feel light on your feet, you're in a great mood and as Simon Townsend used to say, the world really is wonderful.

To be honest, it was a bit slow (average pace 5:52) and the cardio didn't enjoy it much (average HR 165, 86% MHR). It was a bit humid and I sweated buckets, but this is just all of the detail. The important thing is that I had a really enjoyable run.

Give me strength...

2006-01-13T16:29:00.000+11:00

Some mongrel has just put a mountain of Krispy Kremes on the table just outside my office.

How the smeg is a bloke supposed to lose weight?