Brisbane Half Tomorrow

I am looking forward to the Brisbane half. There will be about 800 lining up at the start. That's pretty exciting. I hope the bikers know to stay off the path tomorrow. I am feeling good and anxious to put in a good solid run with the Gold Coast Marathon in mind. I haven't done a lot of running since Canberra, but enough to keep the legs in shape.

I took my grandson to his soccer match this morning. It's really good to see the kids getting out there and being active. The parents are very well behaved so watching the game is quite enjoyable.

Waiting for the Half

I am just sitting tight waiting for the Half at the Brisbane Marathon Festival on Sunday. I ran 16K on Sunday and 16K today and seem to have recovered well from the Canberra Marathon. This Half and the Queensland Half at Doomben will be part of my training campaign for the Gold Coast Marathon in July.

I am not setting any goals for the Half on Sunday so I will just take it as it comes.

It would be wonderful if the Brisbane Marathon Festival could develop into an Australian premier event. However it seems as though it might be a battle against the Brisbane City Council constraints in order to achieve that goal.

Loking forward to the Half

I am really looking forward to running the Half at the Brisbane Marathon Festival on Sunday.

It will be good to see the Brisbane Marathon Festival develop in to one of Australia's major running events.

A new path

I decided to go on an adventure in the dark this morning. After running a bit over 4k of my ususal route instead of turning right at the intersection I went straight ahead. I was running on a footpath I had never been on before, and it still being dark I had to be a bit cautious. I kept going until my Garmin beeped the 6K mark and turned and ran the 6K home. My 12K took me 1:02 this morning.

Cool Weather Runner

The weather in Canberra was ideal for running for me as was borne out by my better than expected marathon time. During my training campaign for Canberra I was running through the hottest part of a South East Queensland summer. Running times for my regular 12K undulating circuit ranged from 57 minutes to 1 hr 4 minutes.

Over the Easter break I was looking at some of the data from my Garmin Forerunner 201 and noted that some of the better times for the circuit were down round the 54 min mark. These were back in September 2004. So I set myself a challenge: to get back to, at least sometimes, running the 12k faster now that the cooler weather is returning.

Easter Monday: 58:10
Tuesday: Rest (stuffed up with a head cold)
Wednesday: 54:37 (Yahoo!)

First after the Marathon

I went for my first run since the Canberra Marathon today. 12K in 58:10. As I have entered the Half at the Brisbane Marathon Festival I thought I had better get the legs moving again.

The Easter break has been good. On Good Friday I took my grandchildren to the Intraining Easter Egg Run where we walked the 3k. I think I came in last. The kids really enjoyed themselves, particularly the egg throwing competition.

My Canberra Marathon

On Sunday 9 April 2006 I ran my 6th marathon, my 2nd in Canberrra. There is a marvelloous atmosphere at this event. It is a very accessible event and therefore attended by many CoolRunners. This makes it very social and a time to catch with old friends and meet some of the CooolRunners whom you have come to know in to some degree via the CoolRunning website.

We have spent a lot of time conversing with eachother over the internet. An event like Canberra becomes very special.

Congratulations to Norma, Claire, Tara and Matt on there great individual achievements. I was privileged to spend time with them on the weekend to to be able to share some of their excitement.

For me, the weekend, a gift from Robyn my wife, exceeded all expectations. I will always treasure the experience.

My run went very well except for the last 4K's which were very hard. I had run out of steam.

Finishing in 3:21:27 was a special added bonus to the whole weekend.

A great week

My week got off to a good start by running too far on Sunday 27K. I hadn't felt well on Saturday and woke Sunday morning with a thumpming headache. I knew the best cure for that was a good run. I met my running buddies, one of whom is training for the Brisbane Marathon, and set off not knowing where or for how long. 27 slow k later my headache was gone but I had a sore calf again. That's getting better now but I have a cold which will be gone by Sunday.

Bring on Sunday. Canberra here I come.

1 week to go

This time next week I will be in Canberra and heading off to lunch at Manuka with my running friends. The main topic of conversation will most likely be running and probably more specifically the Canberra Marathon, the reason for the invasion of the Nations Capital.

On Sunday April 9 at 7:00 AM almost a thousand of us will be at the start line for the 30th Canberra Marathon. This will be my 6th marathon since I first started running in September 2001. I ran my first marathon at the Gold Coast in July 2004.

Being a runner has changed my life. It's not just the exercise and health benefits, it's the total sense of well being that comes from working and achieving and being part of the running community.

At the start line on Sunday I will be among so many friends who encourage and support each other. This is a very special part of what running a marathon is about. There is, however, very little that can compare to elation of having endured and to have crossed the finish line. That is truly special.

What a runner experiences during a marathon is a very personal journey which is almost impossible to articulate but one which expresses itself in so many ways in our lives from that point onwards.