2005 End of Year Review

Injuries:
A back injury on January 2nd was not a good way to start, losing ten days training in the process.
An Achillies injury in late February while in Melbourne left my right foot pretty tender for a week.
Hurt the top of my left foot whilst doing Canberra Marathon in April which took me a month to get rid of.
Then in late July the big one floored me until now. Stress fractures in both lower legs. Missed C2S which really killed me. It was one of my main goals for the year.

Goals for 2005 were:
5k 18:30- did 19:03 at my only attempt at a 5k for the year down from 19:18.
10k 38:30- got the PB down to 39:11 in July from start of 40:41.
Half Marathon Sub 85mins- Ran 87:16 in June at Kembla half. PB at the start of the year was 91:09.
C2S Sub 55min-DNS Injured
Canberra Marathon 3:30:00- Ran 3:16:32 so very happy with that. First Marathon.

Now to 2006 on another post.

Run 35 mins-Late Afternoon Run

After doing some work today for end of month I finally got out for a run at 6:00pm.

It was still 27 degrees and 77% humidity and the afternoon seabreeze was really strong.

I ran into Centennial Park again and ran around the track. Not many people out as it is New Years Eve. Got through 7.05 klms in the 35 minutes.

Felt ok even with the crappy conditions. It's a happy new year and a better 2006 for running at least.

And tomorrow is a day off running so I'll be heading up the coast to my Surf Club to do some events in the water. Yeehah.

Run 25 mins

Started at 7:00pm with a temp of 25 degrees and 83% humidity.

Ran into Centennial Park and ran around the running track.
Very humid, very wet clothes. Within 500m the sweat was pouring off me.

Got through 4.8klms in the 25 minutes. Much better pace than Wednesday.
Just want to keep the runs easy and do all the sessions as the program states.

Bike 10ks

The gym was shutting early today. 7pm so had to get over there quick after work to do this session.

Put the bike on the hills setting. Managed to get through 10.5ks in the 22 minutes.
Had no energy in the legs at all. Heart rate average was 142BPM with a max of 169BPM.

Back to running tomorrow.

Run 30 mins

First time on the program for running two days in a row. Finally I'm getting somewhere.

Into Centennial Park again with a very humid 25 degrees tonight.
Managed to get through 6.23klms in the 30 minutes.
I feel I may have run it a bit quick. Will have to slow it down so I don't hurt myself again.

Legs felt ok during the run. Due to the humidity and the pace I was pushing I did feel out of breath.

I think I'm a long way off beating Horrie at SMC next month unless he does the 5klm.

Run 25Mins

The program today was Run 25 Minutes.
Set out at 6:30pm and ran into Centennial Park. Temp was 25 degrees with 78% humidity and windy with the North East seabreeze blowing.
No wonder I felt like I was running in a swimming pool.

Got through 4.81ks in the 25 minutes. Legs felt ok but pretty slow after a heavy night on the grog. Probably ran past Vat_Man and Mohammad doing 400's with Sean Williams but they were on the other side of the oval.

Surf Club Swim and Run

With a dirty hangover from our Boxing Night party still ringing in my head I plunged into the surf for a welcome swim. There was a race on but I was in no condition to be swimming that fast.

Waited for the two other races to be finished and then the run came up.
After winning the last Round my handicap increased from 35 seconds to 45 seconds. My closest rival in the comp was still off 60 second handicap.

Legs felt very heavy as they would after a big night of beers and Rums and Loud music and 5 hours sleep. Tried to catch the front runner by half way but he had about 50 metres on me which I managed to whittle down to 5 metres by the finish. Timed it as 2:56 for the distance.

My closest competitor in the points finished one place behind me so I think that now makes us even after 6 rounds. Next race is January 1st and 2nd. Should be interesting.

Santa's Naughty or Nice List

Superflake
Nice, but has been naughty at times. Neatness and politeness have been very good over the last two weeks. Shows proper respect for others. Shares well, but could always be better. With a little more effort could be near top of "nice" list.

Christmas Day around the Bay

Met up with a dozen cool runners doing laps of the Bay Run at Drumoyne.

I started on the 'last lap' at 6:15 am and jogged around it easy on the concrete and tar.

I was supposed to do 30 mins today but ended up doing 36 mins to finish a lap of the bay which came out as 6.82klms for me.

Then had a champagne breakfast with chocolate provided by Aunty K and Truckie.
Great way to start the day.

Merry Christmas everyone hope Santa gets you something good.

Row 2000m + Bike 10ks

Late morning headed off to the gym to do some exercise.
Gym was closing at 2 pm. Every man and his rugrat was in the pool so had no chance of a swim.

Started off on the rowing machine and did 2000m in a time of 8:02. Still trying to get this under 8 minutes.

Bike on the hills setting. I had no power in the legs at all today.
Got through 10.6 ks in the 22 minutes. Very slack. Average heart rate of 147BPM with a max of 171BPM.

Glad that the gym was air-conditioned as a 37 degree outside temp was not a place to be running in.

Bike 11ks

Legs were very tired tonight. Almost felt like not doing this session at all.

Bike on the hills setting again. Got through 11.03ks in the 22 minutes of the program.
Average heart rate of 144BPM with a max of 171BPM.

That's it I've got nothing else. Can't wait for a beer tomorrow with a few Cool Runners.

Run 20mins, Walk 2mins.

Back into Centennial Park. 28 degrees and a strong 10 knot northerly wind blowing.
Tough conditions to run in.

The program was Run 20 Minutes, Walk 2 Minutes, and then Run 10 Minutes to finish.

The wind and heat was really causing me to lose my stride tonight. Managed to get through 6.28klms in the 32 minutes of the program.

Into the gym tomorrow where it maybe a tad cooler.

Received the Canberra Marathon application in the mail today. I'll post it tomorrow. Can't miss the 30th anniversary run.

Bike 11ks

Into the gym again and I'm getting bored, bored, bored.......

Set the bike on the hills setting but the computer only gave me two large hills for the 22 minutes. That meant having to push really hard on the flat sections and up the bikes setting to 13 out of 20 up the hills.

Did get through 11.25ks in the 22 minutes. Average heart rate was 147BPM with a Max heart rate of 173BPM.

No swimming tonight just did not feel like it.

Run 15mins, Walk 2mins, etc..

Into Centennial Park again. Some nice talent in there today.

Program tonight was Run 15 minutes, Walk 2 minutes, and then Run 15 minutes to finish.
Was feeling very hard at the end of the 2nd 15 mins to keep going.
I thought I hadn't lost much fitness, but maybe I have.

Got through 6.36ks in the 32 minutes of the session. Still enjoying having the walk break in the middle although today's was pretty short.

Off to the gym and pool tomorrow. Need that dodgy swimming stroke.

Surf Club Race with a win thrown in

Have not done a surf club race since round 2 of our comp. Today was round5.
Turned up to discover it was a lake instead of a surf. Dead flat and a high tide so a long swim without the benefit of being able to surf a wave in.
Oh well swim was better than last time, about 150 metres out, 100metres across the buoys and then 150metres back in. Swam ok but still need a lot of work on the swimming.

After one win and a 2nd from two races in the run I discovered today my handicap was 35 seconds. One of my rivals won a race when I wasn't there so his was 60 seconds.
I went out hard and had cleaned up all but one of the field by the time I got to the turnaround which is a big black rock.
Hard work coming back knowing I may get passed spurred me to run faster back. Beat 2nd place by about 20 seconds. And my closest rival was 3rd so I get more points.
We had a high tide again so we had to run on soft wet sand which is hard work.
I think my handicap will be huge next round.

Beers and a bbq on the back lawn of the club, with me being one of the winners of a race today as the free beer man. My civic duty.
I timed the race and ran it in 3:06. So a 35 second handicap was pretty heavy although better than 60 seconds.

Next race is December 27th after Boxing Day Party. A hangover maybe my fuel that day.

Run 12mins, Walk 2mins, etc..

Ran into Centennial Park tonight. Still hot and humid at 6 pm. Temp was 28 degrees.
Managed to avoid the drunks coming out of the racecourse to run around the running track.

The program was Run 12 mins, Walk 2 mins, Run 12 mins, Walk 2 mins, and then run 10 mins to finish.
Got through 7.02 klms in the total 38 minutes. Longest session so far on the road. Broke in some new running shoes tonight.

Surf Club races tomorrow. Looking to win the short run again.

Bike 12ks and Pool 500m

A humid night and an empty gym and pool. Lots of room to work out.

Bike on the hills setting again. Got through 12.15ks in the 22 minutes, my best so far.
Heart rate average was 144BPM with a max of 173BPM. Felt very good on all the hills.

Headed into the pool after that as there was only a couple of people doing laps so had a lane to myself.
Got through 500m in the pool. Didn't time it. It wasn't worth it anyhow.

Watched Australia self destruct in the cricket while in the gym. Not good.

Get home and some %#@!* has parked in my parking bay. First call was to block them from leaving but I then realised what if they leave at 3 am. They will come and wake me up. So in the end left a dirty note on the windscreen.

Run 10mins, Walk 2mins, etc..

Into Centennial Park again. The afternoon sea breeze was pretty strong tonight.

When I was training myself I made up my own training based on what I felt like or learnt from reading different things. Long Run, Tempos, Hills, intervals.

Now I am returning from injury I have a program. Funny that.

Today was Run 10 minutes, Walk 2 minutes, Run 10 minutes, Walk 2 minutes, Run 10 minutes.
Ended up getting through 6.07 klms in the 34 minutes.

Ran into Mohammad and Vat_Man again finishing their session with SW's squad in the park.

Friday is back into the gym plus I must do a few laps in the pool.

Bike 11ks

Very tired today. Not much energy to do this.

On the hills setting again.
Mowed through 11.2ks in the 22 minutes. Average heart rate of 142BPM with a max of 171BPM.

Not many in the gym. I don't blame them the late afternoon weather was so good with a full moon rising as well.

Oh well running tomorrow.

Walk 2mins, Run 8mins etc..

Into Centennial Park for my run tonight. Getting closer to doing a full run session. Should be before Christmas. Love a Christmas present.

The session was walk 2 mins, run 8 mins, walk 2 mins, run 8 mins, walk 2 mins, and then finally run 8 mins to finish. Finished with a total of 5.46klms.

Conditions were very blowy with a strong southerly blowing as well as being humid. Ran around the track at Centennial park, heaps to look at.

Saw Vat, Mohammad and Bright Shoes doing laps of Mackay Oval with Sean Williams squad.

Bike 11ks

Into the gym again.
Legs felt absolutely trashed after that swim on Sunday. They hurt in places they never hurt from running.

Set the bike on the hills setting.
Got through 11.62ks in the 22 minutes. Average heart rate of 144BPM with a max heart rate of 167BPM.
That was easier than I thought it would be. Running tomorrow. Which means I am down to running every 2nd day now on the program. Cool.

Walk 3mins, Run 7mins..etc..

The mission this afternoon was Walk 3 minutes then Run 7 Minutes and do that 3 times.

Headed into Centennial Park after watching Robert Allenby win the Australian Masters Golf tournament.

Felt quite warm even though the temp was only 22 degrees.
Got through 5.13ks in the 30 minutes of the program.

Legs felt ok but the rest of the body is tired from the swim this morning.

Bilgola Ocean Swim 1.5ks

Saturday morning conditions were like glass at the beach.

Turned up to Bilgola beach on Sydney's Northern Beaches this sunday morning for the swim. The conditions had changed to a choppy 3ft swell out the back.
I went in the 2nd wave of swimmers the 35-49 year group plus I think the 20 yr and under as well. The main group of 21-34 went off first.

Had my first problem just getting out through the break when my goggles decided they didn't like the waves and came off under the first wave. Unfortunately they are very hard to adjust when floating in surf so they had to stay around my neck or on my head.

So the pace of the swim went out the window and I just mostly breast stroked around the course. They stayed with the swim straight out course, go nth with the swell and then straight out into the southerly past the headland.
The turning buoy was a long way out and then it was a run back south across the beach into the southerly and then another buoy to back towards the beach.

Finally the last buoy enable me to catch a wave in. Much joy was had by the local Bilgola clubbies as they kept asking me if I had needed rescuing.
My answer was that I haven't been swimming much and I have run a marathon so I refuse to be rescued doing a 1.5k swim. Smartass I know.

Finish time was a very disgusting 42:37. The winner of my age group was Graeme Brewer ex Olympian in 19:xx with the winner doing 17:05.

Need more swimming practice but I had fun and that is the main thing. I think suddenly jumping to 1.5ks from only doing 500m in the pool was a dumb idea.

I believe there were about 600 people doing the swim today. Now how do I get this bloody texta off my arm. Any ideas you tri-athletes?

Gym, Rowing and Bike

Jumped onto the rowing machine for a warm up.
Got through 2000m in 8:20. Hands are a bit sore after pulling hard on the oars.

Bike with the hills setting for 22 minutes.
Did 11ks in the 22 minutes. Average heart rate of 144BPM with a max of 176BPM.

Feel very tired tonight.
I have the Bilgola Ocean Swim tomorrow morning. That's 1.5ks of pain.
And I have another run scheduled. 30 minutes only walk and run alternating.

Gym = Bike 11ks

Another day in the gym.

On the hills setting as per usual. Made it through 11.4ks in the 22 minutes.
Average heart rate of 137BPM with a max heart rate of 172BPM.

Felt pretty easy even though I changed the hardness setting on the bike constantly to make it harder. Ranged between 10 and the top setting of 20.

Walk 5mins, Run 5mins, Walk etc...

The schedule was to Walk 5 mins, Run 5 mins, Walk 5 mins, Run 5 mins, Walk 5 mins and then Run 5 mins to finish.

Headed into Centennial Park tonight to do this session. Very warm still even at 7 pm.
Lots of people training and a few heading to the Moonlight Cinema for the 1st of the season.

Finished up doing 4.46ks in the total 30 minutes. Felt a bit of pain in the legs but nothing remotely like bone pain. Just phantom as Fake Plastic Trees called it or Power Plays like my doctor.

Next day of running is Sunday and I will possibly do the Bilgola Ocean Swim in the morning. The swim is 1.5ks.

At the gym with the Doctor

Down to the gym again. Programmed the bike for the hills setting.

Got through 11ks in the 22 minutes. The computer didn't program in too many hills so had no chance to push hard. Really a slack session on the bike actually.

After the bike hopped onto the rowing machine.
Rowed 2000m in 8:38. Very hard work tonight. Felt buggered.

It was rugrat city in the pool so I couldn't get in for a swim. Would have been very nice in to.

After the workout I ran into my Sports Doctor at the gym. Asked a few questions about my stress fractures. He said I shouldn't be having pain anymore but I should be ok to run again but don't do it too hard at the start. Said to watch out if I had any bone pain.

Got to love the free medical advice. I intend to follow the program I just started and see how it goes. BTW the program is a 7 week one. Might be a little underdone at Canberra Marathon.

Bike 11ks + a Swim

Very muggy night. Well the gym does have aircon so that helps.

Set the bike on the hills setting again.
Got through 11.21ks in the 22minutes. Average heart rate of 144BPM with a max of 179BPM.
Didn't push as hard as I should have at the start. Hence the lower klms achieved for the session.

Then headed to the pool but only got through 250m as I felt really tired.
The swim was good to cool me down anyway. Nice talent in the lane next to me. Lucky I breath both sides.

Walk, Run, Walk, Run

You'll never walk alone.. How could I with so many people in Centennial Park tonight enjoying the late afternoon heat.

Starting to do the Pfitzinger return from injury program specifically written for stress fracture returns.
It said on the first day. Walk 10 minutes, Run 10 minutes, Walk 5 minutes, Run 5 minutes.

Which basically means do something for 30 minutes. I ended up doing 4.36 klms. Woohoo!
I walk fast normally so I was pretty quick even doing the walk and the run was only a jog not really going too fast. Enough heat and pace to break into a sweat as soon as I started the first run section.

It is a slow road back. But the caution is that touching the stress fracture on the spot still does hurt. But when I run I get no pain.

Bike 11ks

Very humid night tonight. Even though I was in the gym.

Hills setting again. Watched the cricket Pakistan vs England while riding the bike. Poms are not going to win that one.

Rode 11.73klms in 22 minutes. Average heart rate of 148BPM with a max of 176BPM.

Legs felt very tired tonight. Wanted to ride further but didn't have enough energy.

Bike 11ks

Into the gym. Let the games begin.

Rode 11.62ks in 22minutes. Hard setting on the hills tonight. Damn hard work.
Average heart rate was 149BPM with a max of 174BPM.

Legs felt like jelly when I got off the bike. Had to stand hanging onto the bike for a few minutes as I felt like falling over.

Soon to be back running. I can feel it.

Bike 12ks

Well almost 12 it was 11.98klms. I was within sight of the line and then the computer stopped. What can you do?

Hills setting again. Set it for 20 minutes + a 2 minute cooldown which you get automatically anyway.
Managed to get through 11.98klms with average heart rate of 139BPM and a max heart rate of 181. Averaged 38.3klms per hour up and down hills. That seems quite ok to me.

Got off the bike and had trouble standing up. Walking back to the shower I was pretty wobbly for a while. God only knows how you ride 180ks and then run a marathon!

CR 5K Challenge

Just as a starter, no running involved for me anyway.

Very cloudy and foggy around the bay at the start. Set all the runners off with the last group only at 18 minutes. Is that the slowest for ages?
Drove the owl around to the finish as she was just running back for training.

Took a few more photos at a very grey looking finish. Started to rain after everyone finished.

I have photos from October and November which I will have to put up on CR. I have to work out how to compress them as the Kodak shop has given me the CD as a full jpeg file. Which means about 800kb per photo. A bit big to post.

Best part is, I do have two photos of Johnny Dark without guide dog. I knew that dog was slowing him down.

Bike 11ks + a Row

Hopped onto the rowing machine first as a warm up.
Did 2000metres in 8:28.

Onto the bike with it set for the hills program again.
Got through 11.15ks in the 22 minutes.
Average heart rate of 147BPM with a max of 174BPM.

Had trouble walking after getting off the bike. Those hills were hard work.

CR 5klm challenge tomorrow morning. Just to start no running just yet.

Bike 14ks

Felt very tired tonight. Maybe the lack of sleep from last night.
Or the two 2 hour meetings with Accountants and Insurance people I had.

Set the exercise bike on the hills setting again. The computer only brought up about 3 large hills. Wasn't enough to keep me pedalling fast.

Got through 14ks in the 30 minutes. Average heart rate of 130BPM with a max of 174BPM.

Just saw that there is an ocean swim at Coogee this Sunday. Actually two.
One is a 1k swim inside the bay at Coogee. The other is 2.4k around Wedding Cake Island and back. I might do the 1k just for something to do.

Bike 14ks

Yet another day in the gym.

Hills again. What else is there to hammer the legs?

Got through 14.71ks in the 30minutes which included a 2 minute cool down.
Max heart rate was 173BPM with an average of 139BPM.

Really depends on how hard I try to push the hills whether the heart rate has a huge jump up.
I try to keep the watts above 90 even up the hills. Doesn't always work. And I get distracted by the TV's and other things.

I've printed out the Pfitzinger return to running program from his website. It looks very slow to build over 7 weeks. May be too slow to me. I probably have more fitness than just starting from scratch.
Hope to start it in early December though. It has a fair bit of walk 10mins run 10 mins, walk 5 mins run 5mins etc. But keeps the other training on the bike going as well.

Bike 11ks + a Row

After speaking to my mate about rowing action thought I might try the machine again.

Did the bike first setting it for the hills format.
Got through 11.51ks in the 22minutes. Top heart rate of 173BPM with an average of 131BPM.
Felt pretty easy through the session.

Got onto the rowing machine after that and did 2000m in a time of 8:25. Slightly quicker than last night. Just need to get the action correct so I don't hurt myself and so the time gets quicker as well.

Bike 10ks + a Row

Gym again. Onto the exercise bike. How unusual.
Set the bike for Random Hill for 22 minutes including a 2 minute cooldown.

Got through 10.1ks in the 22mins with a top HR of only 163BPM. With an average of 123BPM.
Pretty slack actually. Should have pushed a bit harder.

Jumped onto the rowing machine and did 2000m in 8:36. The only thing it seemed to work was my arms and lower back a bit.

Hopefully some of this bike exercise will keep me fit for when I start running again.

Edit: Spoke to a Surf boat rowing mate of mine and he reckons the Olympic rowers do about 6mins for 2000m. He said 8:36 is pretty soft. First time, I'll have to row harder next time.

Eliptical Trainer & Bike

Tried the eliptical trainer. Well the machine where you run without moving your feet I think and it has the two long poles to hang onto. Bloody stupid machine it nearly killed me.
Have not used it before so had to search around the menu first to select something.
Found the forest walk program felt more like forest gump afterwards.

It had 2 hills in it and I set it for 5ks, I didn't realise how hard that machine was to move fast on. It took me 55:58 to do the 5ks. I was sweating like a pig after 500 metres and I still had another 4.5ks to go. Top heart rate was 168BPM with an average of 148. My feet copped the brunt of most of the pain. I must have been lifting my heels too much and sliding forward in my shoes while using it.

Finished off with 15 minutes on the exercise bike where I covered 4.8ks. Average heart rate of 145 with a top of only 165.

I now feel absolutely stuffed after workout.

Bike 14ks

Some nice talent in the pool tonight. Hmmmm.
And where was I riding up and down a friggin hill on the exercise bike in the gym.
They have big windows so I could see everything. Ha.

Set the bike up for 30 minutes which included a 2 minute cool down.
Rode 14.66 ks with a top heart rate of 178BPM. I forgot to look at the average I was that stuffed.
Probably in the 140's I guess.

Bike 11ks

Back at the gym again. Like I have another option.
No talent tonight sorry Jen.

Got through 11.81ks in the 22 minutes. Average heart rate of 141BPM. Forgot to check the top but I think around the 169 mark.

Watched the Poms lose to Pakistan in the first cricket test in Pakistan on one of the gym TV's. Helps keep the Aussies at number one for longer.

Bike 11ks

Off to the gym again. The gym area was a little sparse tonight. But there was a very packed boxercise class going on in another area of the gym.

Set the bike for Random Hill. Damn computer programmed in about 6 hills of varying size in the 22minutes. Hard work tonight.
Got through 11.45ks in the 22minutes including the 2 minute cool down session.

The heart rate average was 147BPM with a top of 173BPM. Not many in the outdoor pool tonight. Me included.

Bike 11ks

I see on the IAAF website that they are having Melbourne as a stop on their world athletics circuit. Not sure if that will conflict with the Comm games or not.

Gym again. Set the bike up for Random Hill for 22 minutes including a 2 minute cool down.
Managed to get through 10.87ks in the time. Average heart rate of 137 with a top of 172.

Left the waterbottle at work so had to buy one from the gym. Don't you hate buying overpriced water. Idiot.

I'm looking at seeing the Sports Doctor at the end of the month to see if he thinks I should run again. No pain when I run but the stress fractures are sore to touch. What do you do?

Bike 14ks

Gym again. Geez I'm getting boring. I used to run once. blah, blah, blah.........

Set the bike for Random Hill. Finally got the time to move so set it for 30 minutes including a 2 minute cool down.
Finished with 14.2ks with an average heart rate of 147. And a peak of 178.
Those hills tonight were damn hard. I must be tired it was a struggle. No wonder the heart rate shot right up.
And nothing to look at. What's going on?

Bike

A very hot afternoon but nice and cool in the gym.

After tuesdays change to the one speed on the bike I changed it back to the Random Hill setting.
Much more fun and the hills make you work hard to keep the revs up on the bike.

I managed 10.41ks in 22 minutes including the 2 minute cool down.
Not many people in the gym tonight, not much talent to look at.

I just can't wait to get back out and run again. But I don't want to re injure to early and then have to wait again. For me I want to start Canberra training in early December but I'll have to see about that.

1 Year Anniversary of the blog

I'm now officially tragic. There hasn't been a lot of running to write about since early August.

I hope 2006 will be better on the injury front.

2005 consisted of a back injury from Golf in January. An achillies injury in March, a foot injury from the Canberra Marathon in April which stayed for a month. Plus the stress fractures late July which are still here. And a sore shoulder from falling off a cliff in September while snow ski-ing. But that was pleasure.

But I love my running so just have to hope I can avoid the injuries as much as possible. Take note stress fractures, you are not welcome here.

Bike

Glad the gym has air-conditioning because it sure was humid tonight.

Set the exercise bike to 10 and put the time at 30 minutes with a 2 minute cool down at the end.
Did 13.1ks in total with an average heart rate of 131.

Setting it manually meant the bike just stayed at the same pressure for the whole 30 minutes. I like the hills setting better. Much more appealing even though I am not cycling anywhere.

Bike

Another trip to the gym at Aussie Stadium. I'm becoming attached. I'm waiting for the gym junkies to offer to build me up on the weights machines. haha.

Set the machine up for Random hill again on the 20minute program with a 2 minute cool down after wards.
Managed 10.65ks in total. With an average heart rate of 127 and a max I think of 163.

Felt pretty good and the heart rate was lower than last time but with the same distance.

A Swim, a run, and almost another win

Went to my Surf Club this morning for their Sunday races.

Found out my shocking attempt at swimming 2 weeks ago didn't give me a better handicap.
So I still swam like a brick in the pretty rough surf. There was also a hell shore break making the other events very interesting when they came back to the beach.

In the run I was given a 30 second handicap after my win last week. The guy I beat on the line, so by 1 second basically was given 20 seconds. He was the 2nd last to start.
The tide was coming up so the sand was very soft.
I managed to keep him pretty close till the end and he finished about 3 seconds ahead.
Hopefully next race in 2 weeks we are only 5 seconds apart in handicap. The ten seconds was a bit hard to reel back in.

I did time the run as well with my stop watch and it was 2:50. Unsure of distance probably close to 750-800metres, but it varies all the time by 10-20 metres depending on where they decide to start from. Doesn't matter it's the finish that counts for points.

Bike

Back to the gym again. A few more people in than on Tuesday of Cup Day.

Set the bike for Random Hill again. So 20minutes with a 2minute cool down on the end.

Managed to 10.7 ks in the 22 minutes. Seems to be getting a lot easier.

Heart rate average was 131 for the session with a top of 160 up one of the hills.

Bike

Another trip to the gym at Aussie Stadium. Best way to avoid the drunken hordes coming out of Randwick Racecourse anyway.

Set the bike up for Random Hill with a setting of 10 out of 20.
Did 9.95ks in the 22minute program which included a 2 minute cool down.

Felt ok. Would much rather be out running though.

Bike again

Another day in the gym at Aussie Stadium.
Pretty well deserted in the gym this afternoon, but the pool was crowded due to the warm temperature. Parents with kids meant I couldn't get into the pool afterwards and didn't want to wait.

Set the bike up on the random hill program with the difficulty set on 10 out of 20.
Did 16ks in the 34 minutes including the cool down program of 2 minutes.
Didn't do the warm up setting this time, just started straight off.

Certainly felt that session after I got off the bike and tried to stand up. The arse hurt like hell for a while. Must be doing me some good.

As I said no swimming was done as I couldn't get in the pool.

CR 5K Challenge

I was the starter I didn't run.
About 40 I would guess took the challenge this morning to get a new PB for 5k.

I did take a few photos but since I was using an old disposable camera that I had lying around the photos won't be up until I get them processed as a CD.

Bike

Another session in the gym on the exercise bike.

Did a 7minute warmup covering 2.4ks during this.

Set the bike up for 25minutes this time with a 2 minue cool down at the end.
Set the bike on setting 10 out of 20, also with the random hill option thrown in.
Covered 12.6ks in the 27 minutes. Heart rate averaged 130 for the whole session. So I probably wasn't pushing hard enough.

Didn't do the swim as the pool was still a little crowded so didn't want to have a crash in the pool by my lack of practice. It's all good anyway.

Bike

Went to the gym for a ride on an exercise bike. I was looking to swim as well, but due to the heat every man and his dog was in the pool. To save having a head-on in the lane I just used the gym instead.

Used a conventional exercise bike this time. Used the same programs as on Saturday.
Which meant a 7 minute warmup in which I covered 2.3ks.
I then did the 20 minute program which throws in an occassional hill, with a 2 minute warm down after that. I covered 9ks during the 22minutes.

I wouldn't have a clue if any of that is good or bad. But it certainly works the legs without getting any impact on the stress fractures. Which is why I am doing this.

A Swim, a run, and a win

Ventured to my surf club for the sunday races instead of doing the Maroubra fun run.

The club has our usual races held for the life saving club every sunday plus the club next door which you join after you have finished your patrols has their own races but only every 2nd weekend.
We have a swim race about 400metres in total out through the surf and back. A board paddle race which is about 800metres. A ski paddle for 800metres and a hard sand run which is roughly 800metres as well.

It was all of scratch(usually handicap) today as it was the first race of the season. Due to my current swimming ability I think I will be getting a good handicap for the rest of the season as I was 3rd last out of the water in a group of about 30 people. I need practice, but it was also a tactic to get a better handicap as I know I won't win the swims anyway.

I didn't go in the board or ski paddle races. Just watched the spills as the surf was pretty good and there was a hell shore break due to the tide being almost full when we started at 11 am.

The run started after that with about 20 of us running on the hard sand with the water running up the bank. The sand actually was very soft due to the approaching high tide.
Sat on the leader all the way to our turn around point which is a big black rock about 400metres away. Kept about 10 metres distance until I noticed I wasn't putting in any extra effort and the leader was coming back to me. Stayed about 5 metres behind out of ear shot until about 30metres to go when I went past him for the win. Late kicker. The handicapper writing the names down at the finish had my competitors name almost down until I snuck through on the line.

BBQ and beers on the back lawn of our club was to follow and as a winner of one of the races I had to buy half a dozen beers. Gotta love those rules.
I think I'm going to get hammered in the handicap for the next race in 2 weeks.

Bike and Swim

Yes it is true. This is not a test.

Went to the gym at Aussie Stadium. The closest one to me and free sort of.
Hopped onto what looked like an exercise bike but actually had arm rests and a beer holder.

Not sure how all the buttons worked on the machine. I wasn't asking.
Hit the warmup button and discovered I had a 7 minute warmup. Managed to cover 2.2 klms during the warmup.

The program was then 20 minutes in which I covered 9 klms. I set the machine so it would throw in the occassional hill.
It then went onto a 2minute warm down in which I covered another 600 metres.

So a total of 29 minutes cycling and covered 10.8 klms. I think I had the bike set on 10 out of 20 for hardness. The fat old bloke next to me had his on 7 so not much of an achievement setting it on 10. Discovered muscles in my arse that I didn't know existed. Arghhh.

Then into the 25metre pool for a few laps. Outdoor heated pool which was not crowded so had the lane to myself. Thank god as I had enough trouble going straight.
Did 500metres and it hurt like hell. I think I managed 50metres without stopping once.
Forgot to time this. Best guess is 20minutes total including stopping.
It has been a long time since I did laps in a pool. Maybe 10 years.
Much prefer catching waves in the surf.

Red Wine Therapy

Was this blog about running once?

A red with dinner. Gotta love it. My cupboard has a few red bottles in it that need to be emptied.
I can only help them.

Fool Man Rising-12.5ks

Well there was a full moon out tonight so it was a good night for a run.

But when I run on grass and I can feel pain in my leg from the stress fracture I know I'm an idiot.

Putting it bluntly. I have decided that I won't run until I can't feel the pain when I press on my tibia. Should have done this in the first place.

If anyone spots me running please feel free to pull me over and take my running shoes and give them to Kevin Tiller as recycled shoes. And I'm not joking.

I can't run at the pace I want without feeling some kind of pain, be it a pins and needles feeling or a sore muscle near the bone feeling.

I hate having to do this as I'm such a stubborn bastard but like the Rugby coach said "You can't run without legs".

As for the run tonight I felt tired and slow and it was a struggle.
Ran 12.5ks in 1:12:24. Average pace of 5:47. I knew it was shit.
Right leg hurt occassionally so that it is enough for me to have my dummy spit.

I'll be off to my surf club on Sunday instead for some malibu board therapy and possibly beer.
Sorry Horrie will have to skip Maroubra fun run and Lane Cove and...........

SMC 10K

Spotted many CR caps and tops when I entered the carpark for the race.
A lot cooler morning than last month and no humidity.

I hadn't decided what pace to run at, just to push as much as the leg and lungs would handle.

Always start a bit too hard at this course, found out first k was about 4mins with the 2.5k coming in about 10:30.

I stopped at every drink station and walked through to give myself a rest.

Ended up running with Papa Luigi from the 5 to 7.5k urging him to go faster. Which he did for a 1 minute PB.

I finished in 44:18 behind Papa and Horrie and Professor.
5 minutes faster than last month without doing an ounce of speed work. And the other race was only 3 weeks ago. Gotta love that.

Still undecided on whether to run the Maroubra Fun Run(8k) as I did it last year.
If the leg is ok I will do it, if not will probably head up to my Surf Club and do the swim/board and run races on the sunday morning.

Rest Day

No running. Right shin feels a bit sore today.

Centennial Park Run 12.5ks

My usual run at the moment.

Very windy tonight as well as being humid.

Ran in only a singlet and shorts.

Ran 12:53ks in a time of 1:05:30. Average pace of 5:13 per klm.

Only drawback was my right stress fracture seems to give me more trouble when I run. And this wasn't the one that I had the swollen leg in the first place. How does that work?

Looks to me like I'll be ripping around the SMC grass course on Sunday.

I have also created myself another blog. Which won't be used until the end of next year. If you click on my profile you can find it. KT may have some issues with the name, I might ask before I start to use the blog too much.
For those interested it is sixfoottrack.blogspot.com. I was surprised no-one had taken it yet.

Faster Centennial Park Run-12.7ks

Ran around the outside of Centennial Park and down to Anzac Pde and then along to Alison Rd.
Then turned around and ran back.

Very humid night. I ran in only shorts and a singlet and was not cold at all.

No pain in the legs at all. Freaked out a few bats in the park as they took off when I ran past.
Scared the crap out of me as well.

Ran 12.7ks in a time of 1:04:20. Average pace of 5:04 per klm.

Recovery Run 12.6ks

In the dark on a very windy night I ran around Centennial Park on the inside on the grass.

Legs felt ok after the half marathon yesterday.

Not much pain other than the quads being a bit sore towards the end.

Ran 12.6ks in 1:07:44. Average pace of 5:22 per klm.

All rebuilding my base stuff at the moment, so I am not worried by any lack of pace in my runs.

Canberra is 6 months away so there is no hurry.

Striders Internal Half Marathon

The morning is run as a handicap so we all finish at about 8:30am.
The first starters went off at 6am and the last at 7:15am.

I had to start at 6:55am as I was given a revised handicap by O Runner of 95mins.

I knew I wouldn't run to that as I have not run over 13ks since mid July.

True to present fitness I got around in a time of 1:43:30. My watch time which I started a bit late. Happy with that time as running a half in 5 min/ks is a good at the moment for me.

Pace was 4:54 per klm. No apparent soreness with the stress fractures.

Next weekend is SMC 10k. I may run all on tar, I'll see how I feel

Rest Day again

Have brothers wedding tomorrow so decided not to run.

Official ring bearer. I don't get them until the church tomorrow and then hand them over within 5 minutes.

Feeling good about the Striders half on Sunday. Won't be a fast run, lucky to be under 5min/ks.

Just want to get through in one piece.

Rest Day

Actually fell asleep in front of the TV watching the news in my running gear.

Woke up an hour later. So decided to forget the run.

I have the half on Sunday so it won't matter missing a run.

Hard and Soft-12.8ks

Half run on the tar/concrete and half on the grass.

Happy to report no sign of pain so far with the stress fractures.

It was 22 degrees when I started so ran in a singlet and shorts. Very humid.

Ran the usual circuit I have been running around Centennial Park via Queens Park, up to Oxford St and then down to Anzac Pde and along to Alison Rd and then back.

Ran 12.8ks in a time of 1:06:35. Average pace of 5:12 per klm.

Quite happy with that, legs are still sore from the weekend.
And I have run three days in a row now. The first time since late July.

Going Soft again-12.6ks

Ran into and out of Centennial Park tonight on the grass.

Wanted to run this faster than I did on Monday.

Hard to go faster when it was dark and the footing underneath is pretty rough.
The grass track around the fence of Centennial Park does cross a lot of tree roots so have to look out for my footing.

Ran 12.6ks in a time of 1:06:51. Average pace of 5:18 per klm.

I wanted to run it faster but the body is still sore from the beating from the Go Karts on Sunday and two days of drinking.

Much to do before the Striders half on Sunday.

A hot morning in the Park-12.6ks

After two dirty hangovers in 2 days it was time to do some running.

Woke up this morning with bruises all over my body. The go karting was excellent yesterday but hell on the body. I have bruises on my back and hips plus an elbow.

Finally started out at 9 am and it was already 25 degrees. Thats hot.

Ran up to Centennial Park and ran around on the grass. A bit cooler in there with the tree shade.
Ran 12.60 ks in a time of 1:10:01. Average pace of 5:33 per klm.

Very hot morning. Legs felt good, as for the rest of the body. I feel like crap. I need a sleep now.

Aim for the rest of the week is to get in 2 more faster runs and then the half on Sunday after a wedding Saturday. Could be ugly. Get the buckets ready.

Brothers Bucks party

Nothing dirty. Don't fear.

Started at 9am with a hangover still going from the previous night. My bus driver picked me up to take me across to Manly to pickup my brother and his friends for the rest of the day.

The drinking started at 9:30 going to the go kart track. Excellent fun the 11 of us had the track to ourselves for 2 X 22min stints.

Very hot, hard work and lots of crashes and bruises later we piled back onto the bus for a ride to Doyles at Watsons Bay. Plenty of eye candy for us to look at on the beach. Summers coming so the girls were working on their tans.

A leisurely 2 hr lunch with much alocohol consumed and the waitress was quite happy with the by now 16 of us handing over $1100. $500 of that in alcohol. It was a great lunch.

Then caught the ferry back to the Quay. A few departed here but the rest of us crawled up the hill to the Australian hotel in the Rocks for the boutique beer festival.
Buy a tasting glass for $5 and then buy $1 tickets for your choice of about ten different breweries.
One of the guys knew someone who worked for the Blue Tongue brewery so we got some free samples before starting.
Listened and half watched the Tigers victory during the time at the pub.

We left the pub about 8 and the guys headed back to manly and I finally got home and passed out with the lights on. Not a good thing. Woke up at 1 am wondering how the lights got on.

An excellent day. And no damage done done to the buck apart from an alcohol induced sore head.

Owl and Tesso's birthday dinner

Went to the restaurant Hannibals in Surry Hills with about 30 people turning up to celebrate.

We were stationed in the cushion room, through the kitchen, downstairs, past the toliets.

The food was excellent and the company was first class. All lounging on cushions and dreaming of arabian nights.

The belly dancer turned up and all hell broke loose. Or was that truckie. I'm not sure.

When it was all over about half of us made it the the Retro nightclub at Darling Harbour. Dancing to 80's music to the small hours. I had to bale early, 1am, as I had my brothers bucks the next day.

The night was excellent, Uncle Dave cutting up the dance floor. Woohoo!

Striders Homebush 10k race

Ventured out to homebush to help as a marshall at the 10k.

I figured that the hard concrete would be no good for the stress fractures. Unsure of that, but better to not chance it.

I was stationed at the wentworth common area which was about 3ks into the race and then 8ks as the runners all came around again.

Had a good time urging on all the runners I know to go faster.

By the time I got back to the start they had almost packed up and left without me. How rude.
I should be ok to race at Lane Cove for the next 10k.

Easy 12ks

Ran a slow 12ks around Centennial Park.

Slow going due to the strong Northerly wind blowing.

Had a fall on a tree root in the park just after starting my run. Not much harm done.

Ran 12.15ks in 1:10:03. Average pace of 5:45 per klm.

Have decided to not run the 10k on Saturday, the concrete won't help the stress fractures.

I will be turning up to help, so I expect PB's from all my readers.

.SMC 10K

Arrived just after to 7 am to a quite humid Smithfield this morning.

My first actual race without injury since Sutherland to Surf late July.

Met up with O Runner, Vat_Man, Horrie and Sarge before the 10k.

Vat was running the 5k and ended up coming 2nd.

I started with Horrie and managed to run almost all the whole 10ks on the grass edges.
Grabbed a drink and walked through all the 3 drink stations. The fitness was not there for this race but the plan was to do it without having pain in my legs. At present so far so good.

I got out to the 5k in 24:40 and arrived back at the finish to stop the clock at 49:01. Actually a PW for a 10k but that is expected. Just took the run slow and gave support to everyone who ran past in the half race and the 10k and the way back.

Met up with a few more CR's after the race including Uncle Dave(2nd in the half in 79:xx) and Papa Luigi fresh from a 5k PB yesterday, Blue Dog, Professor, Bernie G,Eagle, Gnscon and Colin.

Felt ok but still undecided on when to start pushing myself hard again, especially on the hard tar or concrete.
And the three fireys picked up lucky drawer prizes. Rigged!

Slow-13ks

Ran up to Centennial Park and then ran around the inside of the fence on the grass until getting to Fox Studios gates. Ran out and up to Anzac Pde and then down to Alison Rd.
Then turned around and ran back.

Did 13.04ks in a time of 1:14:01. Average pace of 5:40 per klm.

Didn't try and push too hard. Just running it for the k's in the legs at the moment and hoping the stress fracture does not decide to flare up.

Centennial Park-10.2ks

Went out for a run late on Saturday afternoon.
A howling westerly wind was blowing but it wasn't cold at all.

Ran from home up to the Darley Rd gates and then ran around the inside of the park near the fence. Ran around until I got to the Horse grounds at Fox Studios and then ran back again.

Ran 10.2ks in a time of 59:19. Average pace of 5:48 per klm.

Just took the run easy. No pain at the moment with my leg.

.Heli-Ski-ing

With Mt Hutt almost having no snow. Base of 25cms.
I booked a heli-ski-ing day.

Started from a farm in the Rakaia river Gorge.

Snow was pretty soft as it definitely into spring ski-ing conditions now.
5 runs done with a 11,000 ft vertical for the 5.

On one of the drop offs with the helicopter I got out onto the snow ledge which turned out to be a bit icy.
On stepping out and moving along the edge my ski boots slipped and I was down on my face attempting to stop myself sliding down the slope.
I attempted to dig the gloves in to stop but they wouldn't grip and I turned over onto my back as I slid over the edge of the summit we were on.
Discovering that I had a 20ft drop into the bowl below and a further slide of about a 100feet.

Many non manly screams were heard as I attempted to stop myself.
No harm done physically. Only sheer terror as I hurtled over the snow lip and into what as I had not seen what was below.
The helicopter pilot told the guide I went over the edge as he had not seen me. No camera's captured the moment unfortunately.

It was a great day apart from that. Brilliant sunshine and warm temps.

Magpie Mania-11ks

After having a practice on the driving range this morning I ventured out this afternoon for a run.

A cool day 12 degrees with low cloud and fog around.

Ran out of the resort being dived bombed by the same Magpie as earlier in the week.
Must be a nesting mother. Had a couple of cracks at me even though I wore the hat backwards to throw it off.

Ran up the road past a sheep farm one side of the road and a cattle farm on the other.
Plus a few horses thrown in. Ran back around the golf course as I came back into the resort.

Ran 11.04ks in a time of 1:03:49. Average pace of 5:46 per klm.
Ran all the run on grass. Legs felt fine with no hint of any pain.

.Mt Hutt Ski Report

Well the mountain was fogged in as I drove up a treacherous 14klm dirt road.
Due to the low cloud and fog I could only go at about 20k's an hr. Very scary road.
Makes the road up Mt Hotham seem like a freeway.

Conditions were crap, bad visibility, soft snow, dirt, rocks. The mountain would be excellent in a good season. The mountain hasn't had much snow this year.
God I love snow ski-ing.

Had fun anyway, the back of the legs copping a pounding from the chairlift seats.

Road down was even worse after the days ski-ing. An idiot in a 4wd up my arse.
And I could see at best 5metres in front of me, and this road hardly fits two vehicles on it passing each other. Not fun.

And no problem with the recovering stress fracture.

First run back-6ks

Out this morning about 9 am. Very cold wind, ran in a beanie for the first time ever. Most likely never again. Sweated too much.

Ran around the golf course on the grass where I'm staying on my holiday.

It was a very laboured run as I have had a cold since Tuesday which effected my breathing straight away.

Had to avoid a few suspicious magpies swooping at me. Must have been that Striders singlet.

Did a full reconnaisance of the course and the driving range, and had to stop and let a few golfers hit off.
Set some cows off in a neighbouring paddock who thought I was running to open the gate. Set off a stampede.

Ran 6.02ks in 39:37.5. Average pace of 6:34 per klm.
No evidence of any problems with my leg so far. Quite happy with that.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehah

Is that long enough for very very happy.

Saw the DR today and he said I was ok to snowski, which means I am ok to start running again.

Yes, I know start all over again very slowly.

I think I will be doing personal worst's for a while.

Thanks everyone for your advice and support over the last couple of months, I'm very grateful.

Found a Pfitzinger return from injury program that looks ok to use.

I might try and run a bit in NZ as we are staying on a golf resort, so the grass runs will help.

New Zealand High Altitude Training Camp

The plains of Canterbury New Zealand. Hopefully I will be ski-ing as well as playing golf. That's my sister in law currently over there.

Bone Scan

Went to Prince of Wales Hospital for the bone scan today.

It showed that I had a low grade stress fracture in the distal left tibia postero-medially.

Also showed that there is a small area of tracer accumulation on the posterior aspect of the right tibia, most likely due to a prior stress fracture.

I do remember have a feeling like I was kicked in the shin but I can't remember when, possibly last six months, but it went away after a couple of weeks. Obviously not as bad as the left leg.

Now just have to see the Doctor about when I can do any running or snow ski-ing for that matter.

Bone Scan booked

Now have a bone scan booked for this Wednesday.

Inject me with some liquid at Prince of Wales hospital and then come back 2 and half hours later.

Then stay there for an hour and eventually get the results.

Was also reading this off the web:

A particular type of tibial stress fracture occurs in the anterior cortex of the midshaft and is more typical in jumping athletes, such as dancers. Anterior cortex fractures are particularly prone to nonunion and progression to complete fracture.

Now I am pretty sure I wasn't dancing at the time except in pain. And as the pain felt like something in the muscle, that is the reason why I have been through all the medical procedures for this injury.
Although I could have skipped the MRI apparently and the only non medicare/Private health cost. Grrrr.

Sports Doctor-Worst kind of stress fracture

After getting the MRI done yesterday I had to see a Sports Doctor today to get his opinion.

He decided that MRI was not conclusive proof of a Stress Fracture and I needed a bone scan as well. Oh someone please shoot me. That will be the fourth and last one this Doctor promises.

As to keeping fit he suggests the bike and the pool. Champion triathlete in training. Yeah right...
I suggested long fast walks and got the NO. Too much impact stress.

He can't tell me until he gets the bone scan results whether I can go ski-ing or play a lot of golf on my holiday in NZ.

He said because my stress fracture is the anterior of the tibia that is the worst kind. But has to see the bone scan.

Have to try next week to get an appointment as you need 3 hrs in between visits as they inject you with god only knows what.

All I can say sports fans is nothing. I'm crying on the inside. I have no pain walking which is at least a start.
Stay tuned for further updates.

M R I

Finally got to have an MRI on my leg at lunchtime today.

Stick you in a room with headphones on for sound proofing and tell you to lie still for 20mins.

I went to sleep it was so relaxing. Felt like a mexican having a midday siesta.

Seriously being slid on your back into that huge machine freaked me out.

I do have some lovely MRI photos? I think and tomorrow I visit a Sports Doctor who also runs a bit so hopefully he knows the aggravation of wanting to get back into it.

Oh, and no medicare or private health fund rebate so cough up $250. Yes it is cheap Gnscon.

Do runners on our national team if injured in a race get workers comp? Footballers do.

City 2 Surf-Cheer Squad Duties

I actually arrived at Nth Bondi about 9:30 and started the stop watch only about 10 secs behind race time. Chatted to a couple of guys who were having moet and breakfast on the little island just sth of the golf club.Maybe I should have joined them for one.

Met up with Johnny Dark and Gronk as the unofficial cheer squad just near Nth Bondi Rsl corner(about 1k to go). Had a lot of fun yelling go striders(as the 3 of us are) and go cool runner to everyone we saw.As usual high and low points with some races. Looking for Vat_man at a certain time point but the flu had slowed him up.

Watched Fats blitz the course and run to the bar waiting for John Dawlings to catch up. Sorry John.Boof was in disguise so we missed him.Watching Action still chasing Vespa after 13ks at that point.

Spotted 5 miners but they weren't minersrun.The dozen budgy smugglers in pink sluggos.Two guys running past covered in aluminum(usa speak) foil and cardboard airplane boxes. It was the space shuttle.Being recognised by Robin(batman) who ran past and waved at us, we had no idea who it was. Found out later it was Uncle Dave in disguise after losing his bet with Running Wolf.

Had a great time cheering, nice to do it from the other side sometimes when you can't run. Thanks to JD and Gronk for the company for 2 hours of cheering.

MPHaz went past us at about 47mins so I guess was 51-52?
And Blue Dog managed a 55:06. Maybe next year under 55mins.
Thanks for the Beer Blue Dog and the fire brigade, and the Striders for setting up at 3am. Wow.

Be back next year for Running duties.

Stress Fracture- No City 2 Surf

Had a chance this afternoon to get an x ray before seeing the leg specialist.

Xray confirmed that I had no break at all. But...

The leg Dr pressed his finger on the pain spot and I grimaced in pain.
I said did you press the muscle, he said no the bone.

He said 100% certain that I have a stress fracture but to confirm it I am booked for an MRI on thursday.

I also have an appointment with a Dr who is a sports physician who I happened to go to school with years ago. He is going to help with getting me back out on the track as soon as possible without the pain.

So if anyone wants a copy I will soon have an ultrasound, xray and an MRI of my lower leg.
When Buck Rogers gets here in the 25th century can we do all these at once, please.

So no city to surf for me this year. I want to keep running long term so I am not prepared to gamble with my legs for one race.
I may get to the Lake half but I doubt it. More likely late September after my altitude training camp at Mt Hutt(NZ) skiing and golfing.

I'll be joining Mr Dark and the guide dogs at the finish cheering for Striders and Cool Runners of course.

Leg specialist

Seeing a leg specialist on Friday afternoon to determine what is wrong with it.

The swelling has gone down but it is still sore to touch in the same place.

The specialist may send me for an x ray so to circumvent that I will try and get one this afternoon myself to save time.

Then he can look at both the ultrasound and the x ray and pray he then doesn't want a bone scan.

Physio late today

The physio saw my findings from the ultrasound which confirmed what he knew anyway.

But, he said if I only had a muscle strain I would not have this much pain and swelling.

So tomorrow he is calling a leg and ankle specialist to try and hurry an appointment for me.

Hope I can get in before the race and confirm one way or the other DNS or not.

Praying for good news.

Ultrasound on the leg

Another day another Dr.

All the ultrasound confirms is that I have strained my lower anterior left leg muscle(tibialis anterior I think). Can definitely see the strain on the muscle compared to the right leg.
Basically the area around where the fibula ends at the bottom of your leg.

The only recipe was rest and ice/heat.

The resting will have to wait until after C2S.

The ice and heat and a physio today, will go ahead to try and get the pain down.

I will be trying to go as hard as the pain allows on Sunday. Meaning under 55mins is still worth a shot.

Ice, Heat, Ice, Heat......

The joys of injury.
I did see a Dr again late this afternoon and he did say definitely do not have a stress fracture. The same Dr as last week by the way. I have an ultrasound booked for Wednesday morning which may show up the soft tissue injury that the Dr believes I have.

So all I can do is ice, heat and alternate. And try and stay off the leg as much as possible.

I will keep doing this the whole week and then just run the race on Sunday without any warmup in case the leg swells up again.

Woodstock Fun Run 7.75ks

By the time you get to woodstock.....

Drove out to Burwood this morning for a very chilly start. The car was reading 6 degrees at 8am. The Woodstock runners have been putting this race on in varying lengths since 1986, so this was the 20th and maybe the last race. There was also a short 4.26k race.

As is known I still have pain when I run, I knew today would be no different.
The leg feels ok when on the flat and uphill. The pain is manageable. But the downhills hurt like buggery.

The run felt ok in that I let a few people pass between the 2-3k mark to take them again between the 4-5k period.
Ran home in a time of 31:49 for the 7.75k race. Average pace of 4:06 per klm.
Not too bad as the last 2ks is virtually 2 long uphills to the finish and my little leg problem.

Met Easy Tiger(Gary), Silver Fox and Johnny Dark and Timerenko before the race and met Grandpa(Dennis) after the race.
Silver Fox ran pushing the rabbit in pram so the last 2ks uphill would have been a bit hard.
And Grandpa ending up winning his age group in 29:49. Excellent day.

There were a couple of other Striders at the race but I don't who they were/are.

Jamie Harrison won the mens in 25:19 with Sergio Carvalho 2nd. I didn't get 3rd.
Sue Thompson(Mrs Andrew Lloyd) won the womens I didn't hear a time.
Jamie Harrison won the first 5 Woodstock fun runs and came back for the 20th to try and win again. He also has some 2nds and 3rds.

Thanks to the Woodstock runners for organising the race it had marshalls at every corner and this race has a lot of them. I hope you get to have the 21st I would love to run better next year.

East Met Cross Country 6ks

After being told by a doctor that I don't have a stress fracture, although still in pain, I headed for a grassy race this afternoon missing my favourite Striders course due to work this morning. Damn.

Randwick Botany harriers had an organised 2k cross country circuit at Mutch Park at Pagewood.
A couple of decent hills and a bit of dirt running in one section.

The schedule had a 2k,4k and an 8k but we ended up only doing the 6k.

Had splits of 8:05, 16:53 to finish in 25:31. Happy to not let that last one blow out even more.

The leg hurt from the moment I started running, still hurts to walk so nothing unusual there.
Tried to keep 4min k pace but found on my first run, let alone race, in ten days that I had no lung capacity and struggled with my breathing.

How easy is it lose aerobic capacity so quickly.
Legs were sore after the race,but I still think I could coast around the C2S course in a decent time. I may be restricted in my breathing so a shot at sub55 is probably out now.

Met CR's Mohammad, BrightShoes and Chonky doing the race.
I think the winner did 19:19 for the 6k.

Will have a go at Woodstock fun run tomorrow, apparently 120 long race(7.75k) starters.

Leg update. Heartbreak hill here I come

The physio recomended seeing a Dr and getting an xray/bone scan done.

I saw a DR tonight who pushed my fibula hard and told me that no way did I have a stress fracture. This Dr has no fibula after having it removed years ago apparently. Nice scar.

He said what I have is probably an oedema.

Oedema means that too much fluid, mainly water, has accumulated in the body. The term comes from a Greek word meaning ‘a swollen condition’.
The accumulation of fluid may be in a particular location or it may be in several places in the body.

So it's back to lots of hot and cold to try and get rid of the swelling and a long taper for C2S for me to be on the safe side.

I knew myself the pain couldn't be bad enough to be a break, but it just looks horridly swollen like a really bad rolled ankle.

You may see me at a race before C2S, depends on how I am feeling. Good news anyway.

Thanks everyone for your concern.

Physio not good news

Went to see the physio again this afternoon.
He's not happy. Seems to think my bruise has gone up since the last time I saw him.
I think it is still the same.

Still have to do the same exercises for the leg/glute area.

He wants me to get an x-ray/bone scan done as soon as possible to rule out it being a stress fracture.
He believes unless some dramatic improvement occurs I won't be running C2S.
I told him I would crawl to the start run for 55mins and then collapse on the hill at Bondi with a beer. He didn't think it was funny.

The leg feels worse after taking the pressure of me all day, but better in the morning.
If I don't do much morning of C2S then it won't hurt much during the race. Yeah right.

I have to ring my normal GP tomorrow to try and get an x-ray done.

City 2 Surf Number arrives

After emailing last Thursday the City 2 Surf people and getting no response I rang them this morning.

My longshot grovelling attempt at Preferred has failed.
I knew I was no chance anyway.

Starting in the A start Sun Herald edition, that's the first start if you don't know.

Aiming to get under 55mins to get preferred for next year.

Leg update

Feels like crap after a day at work standing on it and walking around.
I still have the same size bruise/bump in the same area.

Still hurts just as much and does not appear to be getting better to me anyway.

I hope it is only muscle soreness. Have another physio appointment on Wednesday to find out more.

Praying and still waiting for my C2S race number. Where is it?

Exercises

Three sets of exercises I have to do every day just to get the leg better to run on.

One works the lower back by being in the push up position and then not moving the bottom half of my body. Works the lower back.

Another involves putting one leg square across the other knee then pulling the knee towards my chest. Works the glute muscle hard.

The last is lying on my side with knees bent but with my legs raised from the knee down. I then have a hand on my hip to stop it from moving out. I then have to open and close my knees. This works the glute muscle again plus my hamstring a bit. This was the important one.

Plus I have to keep icing the leg and using nurofen gel.

Injury news fit to run

Saw the physio this morning straight after CR 5K challenge starting duties.

The doctor is pretty sure it is not a stress fracture as the area of pain is between the fibula and tibia bones in the lower leg.

The doctor said I was tight from my lower back, glutes, calf and into my foot.
May be also related to having a sore hip recently. After he massaged a few areas the pain did decrease which is good.

Anyway, he said rest for a week and do three lots of exercises each day to try and loosen up other muscles to take the pressure off the sore point. Phew!

Have to see him Wednesday, but hopefully I will be right to run Striders next Sat.
If not I will be punching C2S start line for sure. Yeehah!

Pain in the leg

Well, leg feels worse. It feels like I am lugging one of those ankle weights around but only on one leg.
I have an appointment with physio booked for Saturday morning.

All races maybe off until City 2 Surf. But will wait and see what the doctor says.

Hopefully good news.

Rest Day

I now have a very noticeable bruise on the front of my left calf, right next to the shin bone.
The bruise is near the ankle area.

Hoping it will get better from icing the area.

Maybe it was all the downhills I ran on Sunday at the race. I don't know.

Heartbreak Hill 19ks

Felt very warm tonight when I headed out for my run.

Ran the usual route from Randwick up to Vaucluse via Heartbreak Hill and back down Old South Head Rd to home.

A lot slower than last week. Legs felt ok but started to get a pain in my left calf muscle about half way through which slowed me down a bit.

Ran 19ks in 1:28:34. Average pace of 4:39 per klm.

A few runners out tonight, saw about 4 or 5 going down heartbreak hill while I went up.

Recovery Run 13ks

Don't know what I'm recovering from as the race was only 11ks yesterday and not a 30k training run.

Ran my usual course around Centennial park outside, up to oxford st, and then down to fox studios and Anzac pde and then back again.
I thought I said Hi to Amjan up on Oxford St, Not sure it was dark and the car lights were glarey.

Felt very warm out tonight.

Ran 13ks in 1:05:29. Average pace of 5:02 per klm.

Sunday Run 13ks

Went out late on a sensational late winters afternoon for a run.

Ran 13.2ks in a time of 64:35. Average pace of 4:53 per klm.

Nice and relaxed run. Didn't try to push too hard.

Sutherland to Surf 11k race

Arranged to meet Horrie and O Runner and Sportsman near the finish so we could get up to the start on time. Sorry forgot to tell Horrie the pickup spot had moved slightly.

The start was a bit cool being 7 degrees. Met a few other CR's near the start. Prof, found Horrie, Nando,Vat_Man. Vat to me was strangely back a fair way from the line.

I realised the people in front of the line were not moving back so pushed my way a bit further forward to get a clean start. Just avoided a kid going down near me in the 1st 50m.

I wasn't looking at my watch during the race so just ran on how I felt and tried to hold my place once the frenetic start had settled down.
The first marker I saw, I was looking on the ground not realising they were up poles, was the 7k and went through that in 26:10. Must have been a fast start.

At about the 9k mark I noticed a familiar runner about 300m ahead. Blue Dog.
It took all my energy to reel him in and at the Northies cnr he had about 30metres on me.
Kept the same distance until the crowd in the uphill carpark near the finish spurred me on and I got him at the top of the carpark.
I have a good finishing kick sorry Dog.
I thought the turn for home was right there only to find out I had another 200m before turning right for the last 100m.
Managed to knock off about 4 striders in the last 500m. Super series points. Missed too many events anyway.

Finished in a time of 41:48. Average pace of 3:48 per klm. This would give me a 38:00 10k which would be a 1:11 PB. Very happy with that pace. Was aiming for sub 42m.

The course is fairly downhill but there are still at least half a dozen good uphills in it to make it interesting.
Good to see Horrie,Professor and O Runner running 45-46mins which gets them close to the sub 40's in the near future.
Congrats to Guzzo for a close second to Scott Westcott.

Next race Bay run 7k July 31st.

Easy 5ks

Played 9 holes of Golf early afternoon. Best not mentioned.
Later went for a light run around the track at Centennial Park.

Great time of day to run in, sensational late afternoon in the park.

Did 5.22ks in 29:29. Just a very slow jog to stretch the legs.

Weather looks good for the race tomorrow, Sutherland to Surf. Probably a cold start, min is 7 and max 21.

Looking forward to the race. Fast downhill with two small hills. Should be a quick 11ks.

Rest Day

With Cricket and Tour de France watching late last night and a late day at work today I'm resting.

Sutherland to Surf on Sunday lining up with O Runner and Horrie.

Reps 7x1k

Hands felt a bit cold at the start. Not sure of the temp.

Reps were 3:56, 3:51, 3:51, 3:51, 3:52, 3:50, 3:53.

I had a 2min walk recovery between each rep.

Ran in only shorts and a short sleeve top so couldn't have been too cold.

I must be Dreaming 19ks

Mid week Long run from Randwick up to Bondi Junction, down the hill to Bondi and then out to Rose Bay. Turn there and head up heart break hill to the top and run back down to Bondi Junction via Old south head Rd and then back home to Randwick.

Temp was 15 degrees when I started. Is this winter? Gotta love it.
Ran 19.23 ks in 1:27:43. Average pace of 4:33 per klm. 7 seconds per k faster than last week.
Same time, same run, same conditions.

Tonights run was brought to you by the pub at Rose Bay on the right, bottom of heartbreak hill that let me use their toilet, and not by the servo 2ks back who wouldn't. I wasn't shooting up I promise. Arrgh. Where's that public toilet thread again?

Long Reps 4x2ks. Total 10ks

It was 13 degrees when I started. Did a 1k warmup and then got into it.

7:46, 7:44, 7:54, 7:52.

Had a 4min walk recovery between each rep.

Did a 1k cool down.

Legs felt very good.

Recovery Run 13ks

Ran my usual run around the outside of Centennial Park up to Oxford st and down to Fox Studios and Anzac Pde. And then ran back.

Covered 13ks in 1:05:18. Average pace of 5:01 per klm.

Legs felt very tired. Felt quite warm during the run, could have run with a short sleeve top on.

Western Wanderer STaR 31.8ks

This STaR begins on the bay run at Drumoyne and passes through Chiswick, Abbotsford, Cabarita, Concord Golf Course, Five Dock and then a lap around Iron Cove bay to the finish.

I started with the 6:20 group which included Barry Rutter, Suzanne Kelly, Andrew T, Peter Cremen, Jo Cowan and David Martin.
Quite a pacey group I was having to keep up with.

The course is flat being H0 on the hills factor.
A few did the short cut options and we ended up going around the bay run with only 5 of us left with Suzanne Kelly driving the group.

Didn't catch the 6:10 today as they were pretty fast. Spotted Blue Dog after about 25 ks doing his 7am hosting run.

I eventually finished without the others as they were still too quick for me around the bay.
Ran 31.8ks in a time of 2:28:22. Average pace of 4:39 per klm. Same pace I ran for Canberra marathon this year.

My legs feel trashed now. Even the 6:10 group was fast with O Runner going through at 4:54 pace.

Rest Day

Saw Damian at the Sydney Running Centre at Edgecliff and bought some new running shoes.

A pair of Mizuno Wave Inspire's.
I was already using Mizuno's so just a different pair thats all.

Easy 10ks

Ran late after work.
There had been a light shower before I started so roads were pretty wet.

Ran 10.1ks in 44:35. Average pace of 4:25 per klm.

Felt quite relaxed and didn't push too hard.
Ran up to Paddington and then back again.

Speed Session 6x1k reps

16 degrees when I started and did feel humid as well. Not really any wind

Did 6x1k reps with a 2min walk recovery.

3:53, 3:54, 3:51, 3:51, 3:53, 3:51.

Legs felt sore from last nights run. Tried to go faster but just couldn't do it.

Heartbreak Hill Mid Week Long Run 19ks

Usual mid week run.
From Randwick up to Bondi Junction, down to Bondi and along to Rose Bay.
Turn and run up heartbreak hill and then run back home.

When I warmed up I didn't really need the long sleeve top.

Ran 19.11 klms in a time of 1:29:20. Average pace of 4:40 per klm.
2 seconds per klm quicker than last week. Getting there.

Hill Reps 8ks

Cold when I started 13 degrees.

Usual hill near my place.

20 reps up the hill between 45-50 seconds. Recovery back down in 50-55 seconds.

Legs feel pretty sore after this.

Recovery Run 13ks

Legs were a bit sore from yesterday's hills at Dee Why.
Temp about 15 degrees so quite pleasant.

Ran the usual route around the outside of Centennial Park up to Oxford St and then down to the Equestrian Centre. Up to Anzac Pde and down to Marks field and then back again.

Ran 13ks in 1:04:20. Average pace of 4:96 per klm.

Dee Why Dash STaR 30ks

Left home at 5:30am for the drive over to Dee Why and their were stars out and it wasn't raining. Arrive at 6:00 am to discover a howling 30knot westerly breeze and freezing rain.

There were no usual suspects for the 6:10 or the 6:20 starts today.

O Runner and I with 3 others set off very quickly at 6:10 and kept moving at a fairly good pace.
There was almost no conversation between the 5 of us,due to the howling wind and rain up till a drink stop at about 6ks.
I told the guys to keep going as I had to find a toilet in the school we stopped at. Found one eventually.

I passed the MTG going up the hill to Belrose out of Oxford falls.
I proceeded to chase down O Runner, which took some doing as I had a 5min stop for the toilet.

I passed a couple of runners who started at 6:00 am just at the junction of Forest Way and Warringah Rd. Proceeded down Allambie Rd and finally saw O Runner. Took me about 13ks to catch him again.

Kept running down the hill and out to Queenscliff lagoon where we saw some 6:00 starters who managed mostly to stay ahead of us till the end.
It mainly rained the first 5ks and then a few cold showers again from the 20k mark until the end.
I commented to O Runner that I hadn't seen the 6:20 group but he said they left early and came past when we first stopped. I don't blame them for leaving early. It was cold at the start.

Ran 30ks exactly for the morning in a time of 2:28:23. Average pace of 4:56 per klm.
Ran this in late January on a windless day in 2:31. So a lot fitter than then.

CR Drinks @ the Brewhouse

Arrived about 6:30 pm I think.
Chatted to Gnscon, Spud, Mister G, Amjan, Aunty K, Scottie777, Horrie & Belinda, Vat_Man, Bernie G, Blue Dog,Professor and O Runner.
A couple of guys from the striders but I have forgotten their CR names.

Contrary to Gnscon's opinion I did not commit to running Six Foot next year. Sorry Kevin.
I want to run Canberra Marathon fresh, with a goal of sub 3hr.

Beers were good. Those Amber Ales went down well, and I hopped into a cab about midnight. No shots for me. Had to work the next morning.

When's the next one Mister G?

Speed Session 7x1k Reps

I read Gronks blog this afternoon and he had an article on todays about running softly and running tall. In other words trying to run without slapping your feet down, running soft!

Tried to think about that tonight if I started hearing my shoes hit the road.

Started out at 7:00 pm with a temp of 16 degrees and a bit humid as there had been a shower in the area.

Reps were 3:49, 3:54, 3:55, 3:55, 3:56, 3:50, 3:51.
These all done with a 2min walk recovery.
Usually do 6 only but no 6(3:50) felt that good so I did the seventh.

Did a 1k cool down as I ended up over a klm from my home.

Mid Week Hilly Long Run 18ks

Ran from home up to Bondi Junction and then down to Rose Bay shops.
Turned there and ran up Heartbreak Hill and turned at Christison Park to run back down Old South Head to Bondi Junction and then back home.

Lots of hills on this run. It has become my regular midweek run though.

18.69 ks in 1:27:51. Average pace of 4:42 per klm.
Just checked last weeks run. Tonights was 4seconds faster per klm. So that's good.

Temp was 17 degrees when I started with a slight NE breeze.

Rest Day

Don't get time to run in the morning so most nights it is.

Except tonight. Birthday dinner with the family. So no running, only cake.

Recovery Run 12.5ks

Temp of 17 degrees when I started. Felt colder or was that just me.

Ran the usual run around the outside of Centennial Park up to Oxford St and then back down to Anzac Pde. Then ran down to Alison Rd cnr and back again.
Run on grass and dirt mostly with some concrete.

Ran 12.57ks in 67:38. Average pace of 5:22 per klm.

Sunday Long Run 27ks

With too many beers watching the Rugby last night I completely missed the STaR this morning.
Started out on my own at about 10 am.

It was a case of beaches and bays for this run. So hills, hills and more hills.
Ran from my place at Randwick over the hill to Coogee, up out of Cooge to Bondi Junction and then down into Bondi Beach.
I then ran up Military Rd out of Bondi to Christison Park where we turn for the C2S.
Then it was off down Heartbreak Hill to Rose Bay and onward to Double Bay.
Then ran up Ocean St to Centennial Park and did a lap of the track to finish off the morning.

Ran 27:30ks in 2:19:55. Average pace of 5:07 per klm. A bit slow, but it does have plenty of hills on this run. Would much rather have had the company of running a STaR though.

And the view of the harbour and ocean today was superb. Felt like summer. Yachts everywhere.

Striders Homebush 10k race PB 39:11

Out to Homebush for this race. Arrived to the carpark at 6:30 which I though was the closest one. Found out I had missed the turn and parked on the other side of the big hill across the bridge. Luckily other runners were walking to the start, so I followed them.

The start was a bit congested as we found ourselves walking back a 100m as we had lined up too far forward of the start line.
Had a good start, a few puddles needing to be avoided around the Wentworth Common for the first 800m. And then it's back out around part of the homebush bikeways and parking lots until we head back around the common and do it again.

No Polar with me so splits in the head.

3:53 1k, 7:43 2k, 11:38 3k, 15:30 4k, 19:27 for 5k. The first lot felt really good. Didn't feel like I was running too fast.
23:30 6k, 27:33 7k, 31:30 8k, 35:30 9k, 39:11 to finish giving 19:44 for the second 5k not good.

So that's a new PB of 39:11, after taking 37seconds off from last month at Lane Cove.

My thoughts on the run were that although I ran a PB I did not think I was running that fast.
I am disappointed in that I kept pushing under 4min ks until the 5k I then only ran at 4min ks or over until the 3:41 last k.
I didn't think I started too quick. I don't think my running was as relaxed as it can be.
Something to work on this month.

Glenn Guzzo won the mens(30:40) with Charlotte Paul(36:xx) winning the womens race.

Congratulations to Vat_Man who ran 36:29-36:31. Awaiting final time. But a big 38second PB and possibly C2S prefferred start.
And Keith Bateman who ran 33:40 for a 30second PB. He said he can't wait for track season.

Easy 5ks

Showers about tonight and was rained on during this run.
Very windy 40k breeze blowing. 16 degrees.

Ran 5ks in a time of 23:05.

Not real quick, but very windy didn't help.

Hill Reps 6ks

15 reps up the 200m hill in 45-55 seconds.

Recovery back down in 60-70 seconds.

Legs felt like crap so stopped at 15.

Had a 30knot easterly breeze blowing straight into my face for each rep.
Humid night about 16 degrees. No Rain or showers fell.

Mid Week Hilly Long Run 19ks

Spotted a break in the weather so decided to do my midweek run today.
And the forecast for tomorrow is rain. So much better to do a long run tonight.

Ran from Randwick up to Bondi Junction and then down to Rose Bay shops.
Then ran up Heartbreak Hill and back down to Bondi Junction and back home.

Had a couple of showers running up to heartbreak hill. Just light ones.
And then a fairly heavy one on the way back.
The roads were very wet so shoes are a mess.

Ran 19.01ks in a time of 1:30:38. Average pace of 4:46 per klm.

Easy 10ks

Started out late at 7:15 pm. Temp was 16 degrees. The showers had stopped for what seemed a while so I headed out.

Ran around Centennial Park up to Oxford St, then down to Fox Studios.
I then ran up to the Footy Stadium and then back down Anzac Pde to home.

Total was 10ks in a time of 45:10. Average pace of 4:31 per klm.

Ran a bit hard for a recovery run but felt good anyway.

Kembla Joggers Half Marathon 21.1ks PB

Its a new PB of 87:16. Old PB was 89:51 set at Bendigo in Vic and equalled at SMH Half last month.

The race was held at Dapto just South of Wollongong. About 90ks from my place.
Drove down through pouring rain which was really heavy. No way was I running in this rain.

The rain cleared off when I got to the start. We had about 60 starters for the race.
I was told the course only has a few hills between 8-12ks.

Close to the truth. There were a few hills getting to this point and some on the way back as well.
Started out ok and ran through the 3k split in 12:25. I only took my stopwatch instead of the Polar unit. The showers started falling lightly at about the 5k point. They gradually got heavier as the race progressed.

I ran most of the race with a KJ guy called Andrew who had done the Forster full in April.
My split at the 11k almost at the end of the hills was 47:01. Appeared to be holding my pace quite well. But the rain was getting heavier.

I eventually left Andrew and another guy who I have forgotten at about the 15k mark to chase two guys ahead.
I went passed the two of them with about a k to go.
Finished in a new PB of 87:16. And I came in 14th out of about 60.
A PB by 2:35. I also managed to do the last 10.1ks in 40:15. Excellent.

The run was well organised with 4 drink stations on the course.
Of which there was a 15k and an 18k. Right when you need the fluid.
Thanks to all the organisers and Kembla Joggers for the race.

Male winner did 75:40 and female 89:27.
The male record of 72:xx was run when the hilly road between 8-12ks was unsealed dirt.
I met Run 2 Become on the course as he was doing drinks and at the end.
Definitely worth a shot as a PB course. All on sealed roads and mostly car free except the Princes Hway 500m section.

Rest Day

It's been raining since I got home from work.
So I'm not running. Have a lap of the bay early tomorrow in the dark.
Should be fun with the footpath being ripped up.

Wet 4 x 1k Reps

Got out in a hurry to get started as rain had already fallen and more was due.
A cold and windy 9 degrees when I started tonight.

Reps were 4:02(not warmed up), 3:55, 3:50, 3:42.

The rain commenced to fall as I started the last one.
Tried to sprint home before I got wet. Too late hit about half way and got drenched.

Had to forget about the last two as it was too heavy to run in.
All done with a 2min walk recovery.

Heartbreak Hill Mid Week 19ks

A cold and windy 15 degrees when I started at 6:45 pm.

Ran from Randwick up to Bondi Junction and then down to Rose Bay shops.
I then ran up Heart Break Hill and back down Old South Head Rd again to Bondi Junction.
And then back home. Lots of hills in this run including the big C2S one.

Ran 19.04ks in a time of 1:29:15. Average pace of 4:41 per klm.

Very happy with this run. Intentionally tried to push the run faster.

Hill Reps 8ks

20 up the 200m hill.

20 back down as recovery.

Up in 50-55 seconds. Recovery back down in 65-70 seconds.

Legs feel pretty good. Very windy tonight. Westerly blowing.

Easy Monday 13ks

Ran out after work. A bit windy about 17 degrees when I started.
Legs felt good even after the hard hills of yesterdays race.

Ran 13ks in 1:01:30. Average pace of 4:43 per klm.

Nice and relaxed pace on a course that includes hills, grass, sand, tar and concrete to run on.

Mini-Mosmarathon 10ks

After having a cold since Tuesday and still with flem in the lungs I knew I was going to struggle with the hills on this course.
A little rain at the start but that was all for the race duration.

I had a good start and went through the 2k in 8:02 and was at the 5k in 20:10.
Still feeling ok at that stage. With the second half having more hills I knew a sub 40 was way out of the question though. And my legs felt tired.

Was informed by one of the marshalls at about the 7k that I was 50th. Yeehah.

Managed to swap a few times up and down the rest of the 3ks with the two guys behind me.
I was passed with about 500metres to go by a different runner. But then I thought I saw Blue Dog ahead so kicked into top speed and sprinted the last 200m and cruised past the runner in front to get back 50th. The photo should be good Striders top with CR cap.
Checked the results I was 47th. I was only joking about blue dog he didn't run.

Finished in 41:58 on my watch. Crap time but lots of hills and a cold doesn't help.

Winner was Scott Westcott beating his own race record from last year.

Centennial Park Easy Run 4.5ks

Out at 7:30 currently 9 degrees. Hands are very cold. No running gloves.

First run since getting my cold during the week.
Just wanted to do a light run and see how my lungs would handle it.

Only did one lap around Centennial Park track plus the run to and from.

Did 4.52ks in 21:19. Average pace of 4:42 per klm.

Lungs felt ok. Coughing up a fair bit of flem, which is good. Clear them out.

Race looks ok for tomorrow. Mini Mosmarathon.
I know expensive $35(chipped) for a 10k but I went to the primary school so I'm supporting it!

Cold day 2

Damn Tilbury hotel. Let's move the drinks Mister G.
To say... the Brewhouse.
Cold is getting better. Should be ok to run the 10k race on Sunday morning.
Still having trouble breathing.

Cold

No running. Feel too sick. I can't breath and have no balance.
Ahhhh!

Midweek Long Run 18.65ks

Out about 6:45 pm. Temp of 19 degrees. Is this winter in Sydney?

Ran from home up to Vaucluse via old South Head Rd and back down New South Head Rd.

In the process doing heartbreak hill in reverse. Next week I may change and do it from then on to C2S up the hill.

Ran 18.65ks in 1:30:14. Average pace of 4:50 per klm.
Hard hilly run. Quite happy with the pace.

Queens Birthday Recovery Run 8ks

Woke up very late 11:30. I guess I needed the sleep after getting to bed at 3am.

Ran up to Centennial Park and discovered the Zoo had moved.
Couldn't swing a cat in the place, and the ranger actually shut one gate because there were too many cars in there.

Ran 8ks in a time of 40:35. Average pace of 5:04 per klm.
Just ran a couple of laps around the bitumen running track plus the run to and from my place.

Bobbin Head Revisited STaR 30.14ks

Up to Wahroonga this morning with the start from a bus stop.
I did mean to start with the 6:10 group but due to a toilet queue I missed that so headed off with the 6:20 mob. Or as I call it running with the guns.
Group included Vespa, Vat_Man, Silver Fox, Suzanne Kelly, Barry Rutter and Steve Bodnar.

I was hurting after 10ks with us being at 48:20 at this point. But we had run a lot of hills already. Vespa, Vat and I decided we would do our own short version of the course.

This entailed following the course map all the way out and then heading down Bobbin Head Rd until we reached the Boathouse at the bottom. At this point it was 16.61 ks on my watch.
Coming down the road there are some steep hills which we go down thankfully.
Reaching here we could see our breath so it was cold, and fog still hung in the valley.

We took the crumbling sandstone stairs behind the boathouse back up to a service trail to run the 4 or 5ks back to Bobbin Head Rd. Fell once going up one of the hills.
We then proceeded back up Bobbin Head until meeting Burns Rd and turning for home.
I did an extra lap of the park to finish with 30.14ks in a time of 2:27:00. Average pace of 4:52 per klm.

I felt I was struggling all the way with the pace we were running. I thought I was holding Vespa and Vat_Man up so thanks guys for staying with me.

Stayed a while for a chat and then gave Amjan a lift back to the city. Thanks for the company.
Note for me: Must do more hill work.

East Met Cross Country 7.5k

My first cross country race.

The rain arrived about an hour before the race start of 2:30 pm. Made the course a little tricky in parts especially on the downhill corners. The race was held at Sydney Park in Tempe.

The course is 2.5ks in length so three laps was the race total.
It has three very big hills each lap in it. So it is a good leg workout.

Was informed by Blue Dog that I was not to sit and kick on him today.
Fair enough so I kept my distance around the first lap doing 9:23 for the 2.5k. On that pace I was destined for a 5k PB on a hilly course. Way too fast first lap.
The second lap was a huge blowout doing 10:17. With Blue Dog only 8 seconds behind. Time was 19:40 at the 5k.

I managed to hold the third lap better and finished with a 10:02 and a total on my watch of 29:42. Blue dog was 30:10. Couldn't handle the pace hey?
The goal was to do sub 30mins for the 7.5k. So very happy with that.

Finished with a 2k something cool down run with Vat_Man around the park.
The race was run by the Randwick Botany Harriers club.
The race was won by Sean Williams with Keith Bateman in 2nd place. And Vespa was first female home in the 5k. The first female was Cindy King in the 7.5k

The field included Vat_Man, Blue Dog, Bernie G, Vespa, Amjan, Kit.
With Mister G making an appearance on the top of the 3rd hill as I went past on the 2nd lap.

Speed Session 4x1k Reps

Temp of 18 degrees and humidity of 82%.

Ran 4 x 1k reps with a 90 second walk recovery.

Reps were pretty crap 3:55, 3:53, 3:58, 3:52.

I wanted them faster, but the hip is still sore and the air was so heavy.

Mid Week Hilly Run 13ks

Hard, Dark and Hilly.
Started out at 7:30 pm temp was 17 degrees and 82% humidity.

Ran from my place near the racecourse up towards Clovelly beach and then turned and ran along Carrington Rd down to Bondi Junction.
I then ran down old south head Rd to Curlewis St and headed to Bondi Beach.
Turned around after doing two blocks of Campbell Pde and ran back home.

The bad hills are from the racecourse up to Carrington Rd and then the Old South Head Rd hill from the beach up to Bondi Junction.

Ran 13ks in a time of 1:01:51. Pace of 4:45 per klm.

Very happy with that. I still have a sore hip which stops me stretching right out at times.

Rest Day

Home very late from work about 7:15.
Probably should not have run Monday as my hip was sore and my legs felt like crap from Sunday.
So today due to work I am not running.

Recovery Run 12.2ks

Started about 6.30pm with a temp of 17 degrees but quite humid and no breeze.

Ran around the outside of Centennial Park down to Anzac Pde via Oxford St. The usual run I do for this. Surface is some concrete but it has a lot of sand and grass to help the legs.

Ran 12.2ks in a time of 1:08.58. Average of 5.39 per klm.

Legs felt very stiff after the hard run yesterday and the hip is still sore, so just took the run slow.

Striders STaR-Davidson Recreation-29.14ks

On arrival at Lindfield oval we were greeted by the prospect of an extra two ks being added by the host to the course. It was 27ks originally.

Started with the 6:10 group and from about 2ks it quickly split with a group roaring off in the distance. Clearly not sticking to the 5:30/k pace.

The group left included Professor, Truckie, Auntie K and Brian Ogilvy.
We basically stayed together most of the way till the last bush section.
We did see a boat catch on fire in middle harbour, which of course the Prof wanted to put out.

The run is an H4 so has heaps of hills and about 8ks of bush of which the last 6 are on a narrow rocky bush track with many ups and downs. Very enjoyable this section as you run along Middle Harbour and it was quite cool.
I ended up finishing with the Professor and had the ks as 29.14 in a time of 3:00:20.
Did I say we had hills. My slowest ever Long run. Over 6min ks.
I didn't want to push hard anyway as I hurt my hip Thursday and probably should not have run.

Next saturday I will be doing my first cross country race. The race is part of the East Metropolitan series and is at Sydney Park at Alexandria. 3 x 2.5ks of a hilly course. Should be fun.

Striders Lane Cove 10k race PB 39:48

Have not done much training since the SMH Half 2 weeks ago. So I was expecting to struggle for endurance during the race. I did feel like this happened anyway even if I did PB.

The plan was to do sub 40mins again so that worked. Beat the old PB by 6 seconds.
I actually hurt my left hip on the bone on Thursday night doing intervals. Damn pot holes.

The day dawned cold and foggy. Could Action see Blue Dog in the mist? Time would tell.
Started just in front of MPHaz the 40min pacer. Ran consistently even splits, I was 7:50 at the 2k and 15:50 at the 4k and hit the 5k at 20:10 after doing scribblys hill and before the turnaround hill.
6k was 24:05. At this point MPHaz caught up and I thought I was going to get mown down by the train. He ran ahead a bit but I managed to keep pushing to only have Marty about 10 metres ahead most of the way to the finish.
7k split was 28:02, 8k 32:05 9k 36:10 and then a quicker 3:38 to finish with 39:48 and a PB.

Thanks to MPHaz to keeping me on the pace the last 4ks. He let me pass him at the rangers hut entrance.
Blue Dog was ahead all race but couldn't quite peg back the lead I let him have up Scribblys.
About 70metres and 11 seconds.
Hope to push down to 39:30 at Homebush next month. A much flatter course.

Speed Session 6x1k reps

Back to home turf doing the usual 1k along Alison Rd and the side of the bus lane.
Worked out from my old measurement of the course that I was doing about 910 metres.
Fixed that up tonight. Re-recording my distance with the Polar Unit.

Did 6x1k with a 90 second walk recovery between each.

3:50, 3:51, 3:55, 3:55, 3:50, 3:50.

Very consistent reps. It was cold at the start but I am warmed up within 500m of starting so don't feel the cold.

I run in only shorts and a short sleeve training top. I am considering getting a Striders long sleeve this weekend.

Hill Reps 8ks

Back to my old hill for some hard work.

20 Reps up the 200metre hill in times of 50-55 seconds.

20 back down in 65-70 seconds as recovery.

Legs feel quite good. Hopefully will help me tackle Lane Cove on Saturday.

Cruisy Run 13ks

Back in Sydney.
Have not run for a week. Just too busy at work. But that's another matter. This is a running blog.

Ran around the outside of Centennial Park. Where the lights are.
Surface goes from Concrete to grass to dirt to sand and tar. Any more left?
Not many out running tonight. Who said it was cold? Heaps warmer than Melbourne at night.

Ran 13.16ks in a time of 1:00:11. Average pace of 4:33 per klm.

No injuries whatsover. Very happy to be back on home turf.