28 September, 2006

At Last!

After several attempts to update my blog, here I am at last. Lack of time and poor health have conspired to keep me away.

I am still feeling very poorly at the moment. the virus which KO'd me last week has left me feeling exhausted. Last Sunday I attempted to run the 10K handicap race at West End but had to quit after 5K. I was stuffed. It was good to see Clairie there putting in a big effort.

I am still keen to do the Toowoomba Marathon and hope that I will have regained some get up and go by then. I have run a couple of times this week, but nothing too startling. I see if I can clock up a few K's tomorrow.

17 September, 2006

Disappointment

I have been looking forward, for some time, to doing the Toowoomba Hilly Half. However, on Friday I succumbed to a virus that has benn devastating my family. That put me out of the running well and truly.

I have just read on CoolRunning about Tesso's win in the 8K at Kangaroo Point. What fantastic effort. Nobody could be more deserving of a win. Congratulations Tesso.

I am Planning to run the Toowoomba Marathon on 15 October. I have done any specific training for it. I ran it last year in adverse weather conditions and thought it would be a good one to have another go at as the last big run of the season.

10 September, 2006

25K Among Friends

One of the best things about running is the friends you make. It was so good to turn up at West End this morning an be greeted by some of my running friends. Tesso, RITH, Robert Song, Beagle, Hannah, Glassman, Runner Bee, Ron Peters...all CoolRunners. Clairie was conspicuous by her absence. I believe she is in recovery mode after her big Glasshouse Run.

This morning's event was the Brisbane Road Runners 25K Championship. I was ready to put in a big effort and knew that 1st and 2nd in my category were out of the question as Ron Peters and James Keightly were there ready to put in bigger efforts. I went out a little too fast but settled back into a steady pace. We had to do 5 x 5K laps. By the 18K mark I was wishing it was over but had no doubt that I would keep on going to the end.

As I passed the start finish line at 20K I noticed James had called it a day. This really surprised me but gave me a boost as it meant I would be 2nd after Ron in my category. Ron Peters is a real running machine. Not only did come first in our category, he beat me by about 4k, and he was the outright winner after wresting the lead from a couple of young guys less than half his age.

I was pleased with my time of 1:52:52 and with my silver medal.

Rith cruised through his run which he did at his marathon pace in preparation for Melbourne in October. Tesso was happy with her effort and is well and truly back on track. Beagle was about a minute behind me for most of the race but in the last lap he passed me with about 1800 metres to go. I had expected him to pass me much earlier but I learnt from Robert Song that Beagle did 30K at Glasshouse last week. Robert Song ran the 10K today in 44 and was happy with that. Runner Bee was Race Director today and did a great job. Hannah, after her fantastic 50K Glasshouse run last week, realised at 5k into the 25 that she really hadn't recovered as well as she had thought and wisely pulled out of the race. Glassman, after his 100K last week, turned up today to lend his support. That's the sort of person Ian is.

It is impossible not to have friends when you are a Runner.

05 September, 2006

Bad to Good

On Sunday I went out for a run on my own from home. It being Farther's Day I thought I should be home when my grandchildren woke as they were expecting me to be there for them to load me up with their presents.......which they did.

I did a little over 20K but what a hard slog it was. I seemed to be struggling the whole way. when I arrived home I felt wiped out. I had to put on a good front for the kids sake but I really just wanted to have a little lie down (poor old bugger). By mid-afternoon I felt fine.

I had my usual Monday rest day then this morning I took the plunge and woke at 4:40 am set off on my good old faithful 12K circuit. I was really surprised at how good I felt. I thoroughly enjoyed the run and was pleased to get home in 59 minutes.
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R.I.P Steve Irwin. A one in 20 million person the world will miss. My heart goes out to his family at this very sad time.
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