Xmas Running

Yesterday I set out from Park Road at 5:00AM. Tegwen bougth along some of her Tuesday/Thrusday running buddies, Tony, Gerrard (Gossens) and Brian. We ran to the Goodwill Bridge then to Highgate Hill and on to the Green Bridge. Gerrard and Brian left us at this point and headed back to Park Road while the rest of us headed up river to somewhere behind the Indooroopilly Golf Course (I think). We covered 20k all up, in very humid conditions.

Tegwen and her family are off overseas for a month so I will be missing a running buddy till February. It might give me a chance to keep up with her when we are in serious training for Canberra..... for the first couple of weeks at least.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone. Thank you for all your support, encouragement and interest during 2007. I hope 2008 wiil see you attain all those goals you have been dreaming of.

Rob

Hi Folks

Hi Folks,

I am sorry it has taken me so long to get back to my blog. Life gets a little hectic sometimes. though I do admit that I did spend some time away with my lovely wife, Robyn.

The 500K Relay was, again, an absolutely terrific experience. Our team, Southern Cross Runners, came 10th out of 18 teams. We didn't do as well as we would have liked but it certainly wasn't for the lack of trying. The whole team worked extremely well together with each memeber putting in a super effort.

I ran 7 times over the three days, 3 Friday, 3 Saturday and 1 Sunday. Runs averaged 5K and varied in degree of dificulty according to the terrain. Each leg of the relay has a grading from 1 to 10, 10 being the most difficult. One of mine was graded 9, but after running it i wuold have graded it about 8. The majority are graded at about 4 or 5. Though running 7 times over three days does not sound a lot, the the issue is that you run them as hard as you possibly can because you really don't want to let your team mates down. This, combined with sleep deprivation, results in you being totally stuffed by the end of the weekend. None of of this detracts from it being a terrific experience.

As for which will be my 10th Marathon.......... Canberra 2008 of course!

Less Than week to the 500K Relay

Next weekend is the 500K Summer Challenge. This will be my 5th 500K Relay. It's such a fantastic weekend. This year the course has changed a lot due to problems getting Police permits to run on main roads. We set out on Friday morning from Helensvale again this year but instead of finishing in Ipswich we are finishing in Gatton.

This morning Tegwen and I did 17k at 5:00 min pace. I really enjoyed the run today and finished feeling quite good. I would like to be able to report that I have been clocking up the sort of K's that Robert Song has but not so.

Two Times Over

Tegwen, my running buddy, was celebrating her birthday today and decided to do that by running from Park Road to Mt Cootha, completing two laaps and back to Park Road. We ran with Tony, a guy Tegwen does speed work with, who is competing in a Triple Triathlon in Canberra in a couple of weeks. He is one of a three man team and is doing the running. Needless to say, he beat us to the top on both laps.

We did 27K's all up but it did take us 2:33 which was a tad on the slow side but I, for one, could not have run Mt Cootha any faster. I was totally stuffed.

Last Wednesday evening I competed in my 7th Cool Night Classic. This marked the 6th aniversary of my first ever fun run. This year's Cool Night Classic was incresed in length from 5.13K's to 5.75K's. I finished in 24:24. Under 25 minutes as I had hoped. I did the 5.13 last year in 21:55 so I have slowed a bit.

Jacaranda Festival 10K

For the third year in a row I ran in the Goodna Jacaranda Festival 10K Fun Run. This year I had a post on CoolRunning. That attracted two CR's, Aidan Hobbs and Graham. We had a field of about 30 runners. A bit disappointing for such an easy going no fuss run. I enterented in the over 55 category as did a local running identity, Tom Nugent. Tom is very fast and won our category and also came in 3rd overall. Darryl Crooke won the race for the third year in a row. He ran 33:25. Aidan came in 20 seconds behind Darryl. David Topp from the Brisbane Road Runners came in 4th. I came 2nd in my category at 43:25 and 7th overall. Barry McGaffin of Intraining came third.

There were presentations after the event. Category winners were awarded trophies and cash prizes. I received an engraved medal and $30 cash. My first ever cash prize. After anouncing the category winners, Darryl, Aidan and David were in the Open category, they then awarde prizes to the overall place-getters. I thought that would be the first three but they continued on to the 7th place and I received another $30. How's that! Don't worry I don't plan on giving up my day job.

At Last!

At last! A Sunday run that I feel good about. I met running buddy Tegwen at Park Road at 5:30AM. Tegwen has recovered well from her ankle injury so we decided to stretch ourselves a bit and run some extra K's. We ran along the river to Newstead then cut accross to the Brisbane General Hospital, on through Victoria Park to Gregory Terrace, the Normanby, Petrie Terrace, Milton Road and arrives back at Park Road in 1:43 having covered 21K. We were pretty pleased with ourselves.

I spent the rest of the day working on the cubby. I still have a lot to do.

A Good Week

Well at last I have managed to run 4 days in a row.

My week: Sunday 10K - 44:15, Monday - rest, Tuesday 12K - 57:20, Wedneday 12K - 56:20, Thursday 6K - 31M, Friday 12K - 56:40.

This morning I forced my myself not to look at my watch until I pressed the stop button at the end. I am a bit time obsessed. I was pleased with my effort today as it didn't feel as if I was working as hard as I was on Wednesday.

Tonight at 10:45 Robyn, my wife, arrives back in Brisbane after touring Europe with her sister for three weeks. She will be exhausted. I am looking forward to meeting her at the airport.

I have finally committed myself to running in the 500K relay again this year. There has been a change to the team. Previously we were callled Brisbane Road Runners, howerver gradually the team has been comprised more and more of Toowoomba runners and we get sponsorship from Toowoomba businesses so the name has been changed to Southern Cross. Our major sponsor is Southern Cross Ford who supply us with vehicles.

Something Concrete

I have had to give up my 12 k circuit for a while as most of it is run on concrete paths. My right knee and hip were beginning to get to painful after running the circuit. I now run a 12K, 6K out and back, course. Most of this is on bitumen but 2K of the 6 is dirt track wit a few ruts and ridges. I have run this three times now and am beginning to get some relief in my knee and hip. The knee pain is such that if I sit in one position for too long the pain gradually increases to the point I feel nauseous. This can happen on my 35 min train trip to work. Once I can move or stretch my leg it is almost instant relief.

Anyway, my first new 12 k was 1:02, 2ND 1:04 and the third, today, was 57:30.

On Sunday I ran the 10k In 44:15 at Brisbane Road Runners at West End. It was the Road Runners 25 year anniversary. They had a good turn out. The run was free and included, breakfast and sausage sizzle, and free coffee from one of those mobile machines. It was a very pleasant run and morning.

A Perfect Sunday

Well that will teach me not to read CR for a while. I drove to from Ipswich to Toowoomba on Sunday morning, arriving at the Hilly Half start at 6:15 to find one runner, Greg, there just in case some poor bunny didn't get the message that the race had been cancelled.

Greg offered me a bottle of wine for my trouble. After accepting the wine and preparing to return home, Greg informed me that some of the Toowoomba Road Runners were meeting at 7:00 and running the course just as their Sunday long run. I said that will do me and set off in a group of about 12. We took it fairly easy at the start then a small group started pulling away so I thought I might as well put in a bit of an effort and set off with them.

It was a pretty tough course which took me 1:46 to complete. As I was running I was wondering how I would be going if it was a race. Not very much better I think.

So the morning wasn't a write off. I go to run the Hilly Half, which I hadn't done before, I met some very friendly runners, got a bottle wine and I didn't have to pay $30 entry fee. The weather was perfect. A good morning by all accounts.

Many thanks to Greg, Joe, Trevor, Glen, Denis, Roger, Robert and the other Toowoomba runners for their friendly hospitality and a good run.

I drove home, stopping at Maca's near Gatton on the way for a Delux Brekie Roll. I arrived home at about 11:00AM and spent the rest of the day working on the cubby. I slept well last night. I was stuffed.

The Morning After

This morning when the alarm went off at 4:40 and I awoke with a shock. It seemed like my head had just hit the pillow. It also felt like it had been hit by a brick for, in fact my head had only just hit the pillow about 2.5 hours before. That was when I had arrived home after the Ball. I had a fantastic time at the Ball but at a cost, so my head was telling me. The Ball was the ENERGEX (the company I work for) Spring Ball organised by the Recreation Club. There were over 500 in attendance most of whom seemed to be on the dance floor all at one time due to the music provide by an excellent band.

I headed to Park Road and ran 15K at a 5:25 pace, the best I could manage.

Robyn, my wife, did not accompany me to the Ball because she is holidaying in Paris with her sister.

There was no progress on the cubby this weekend due to other commitments on Saturday and some post Ball recuperation today.

Return of the Running Buddy

At last my running buddy, Tegwen, joined us for a run this morning. She still has to to take it easy, at least running wise. Last week she swam 10K in the UQ pool. Today we did 15K at about 5:15, a nice comfortable pace. It was good to have her back.

Below are some photos of progress on the cubby. It has been a bit slow due to weekends away at the City 2 Surf and the Noosa Half. That's me on the roof. A not very comfortable position I might add.

A tough 10 miles

After not running since the Noosa Half I set off to run the 10 Mile at West End on Sunday. After a week of rest I thought I would be able to manage 16K without too much trouble. Wrong! I couldn't believe how hard I had to work. After 6K I was averaging 4:32 per k and didn't think i could maintain that pace. I was thinking about the Noosa Half and averaging 4:21K for that race and wondering how the hell I managed it. I was running with another guy, Malcolm, and he started to put a bit of distance between us. I thought I would have to let him go. Then I decided that I was being a bit soft and put in an effort an caught him again. We kept each other honest then and by the end of the race we managed to get the average pace down to 4:28 to finish in 1:12. It was a good hit out after a lazy week.

Noosa Half

Another terrific Noosa Half. This is always such a good event. Because of the 2 laps you get to see everyone on the course and give your friends a bis cheer. It was great to have TD (Don) from Canberra out there today. After training in the Canberra winter, Noosa's humidity was a bit of a shock to his system. Toasty bought his 1:40 pace group in with a few seconds to spare. Well done Toasty. You seemed to be the only pacer to keep a group with you all the way.

I ran a good race today. I checked my pace after a few K's and was a bit surprised to find that I was running 4:19 K's. I was sure I wouldn't be able to keep that up. It did creep out to 4:23 at the end of the first lap but thanks to a guy named Gary (I'd never met him before) who said he was using me as his pacer, I worked a bit harder and managed to finish the race with an average pace of 4:21 and crossed the line in 1:33:14. I was very pleased with that. Gary came in not far behind me.

The CoolRunning cheer squad did a fantastic job again. Thank you Cirque and crew. I missed Tesso and Clairie.

What's in a name?

Like TD, it's time for Eddie to go. Though I liked being Eddie, Rob is my name and I like Rob too. I'll still answer to Eddie because Eddie has been good to me. Nothing else changes, I am still me and I like being me.

C2S

Whow! What an experience that was! 65,000 people! I am glad we were all heading in the same direction.

What a great weekend I had. I flew down with friends on Friday, booked into the Medina on Crown and headed out for some lunch. Our weekend was organised by Di and Phil Hungerford from the RunInn. There were about 25 of us altogether. Friday night was dinner at Betty's Soup Kitchen, Saturday morning was a run round the Opera House etc., then breakfast. We then hopped aboard the hired mini-bus and did a tour of the C2S course. That was really beneficial. Saturday we did a Rocks Pub Tour with dinner at the Lord Nelson.

Sunday morning I headed to the start line with a couple of other guys. I got the to start line of the Blue group (third Wave) just as they were stretching the rope across the road. So I plonked down on the road at the rope with about four others and there I sat while the hordes arrived.
They allowed a bit of a gap between waves so when I took off the way was fairly clear until the tunnel. Even then I was surprised that I was able to keep running steadily, with lots of ducking and weaving, all the way. Having driven over the course, I knew when I had reached Heartbreak Hill and was able to work my way up quite well. My Garmin also helped, in that I was able to keep in mind how far I still had to go and pace myself accordingly. As I came into Bondi I was feeling really good and put in a bit of an effort, with the help of the CR Cheer Squad, to use up my reserves. I was very happy to to cross the line in just over 66 minutes.

It was terrific to catch up with Tesso, the temporary (I hope) Sydneysider. Then another pleasant surprise when Ewen came along a little later. I wasn't able to leave my group and go a wandering to find the rest of the CR crew. I may have been left behind.

A Rare Pleasure

Since being too slack to brave the cold and dark on my own in the mornings, I have been doing some runs in my lunch break. I run from the City Gardens and follow various routes around the City reaches of the Brisbane River. On Friday I was heading along Edward Street to start my run when who should I bump into but Langy (RITH). He was in his civvies but asked if I would mind waiting for him to change. So it was a rare pleasure for me to be able to have a run with Langy. We did almost 9K through South Bank, Kangaroo Point, Story Bridge etc. Langy is just recovering from illness, so I was able to keep up with him. We hope to be able to connect for some runs more often.

I ran from Park Road this morning and had to run most of it on my own. I did bump into my running buddy Tegwen who was walking with another victim of injury, our mate Geoff. Tegwen is on the mend and is able to run short distances. I did 17.6k this morning, average 5 min pace. Next weekend I will be in Sydney for the C2S. It's my first one and I didn't apply for a preferred start so will be leaving in the third wave. Of course I don't actually expect to be able to run much for the first 5K, so I am told.

Noosa Half is the next weekend. Once again I haven't put the effort into training so can't expect wondrous things. I love the event though so it will be good just be a part of it.

Here are some photos of the progress on the Cubby. They include my grandson, Jordan and dog, Casper.

Park 2 Park Ipswich Half

Another glorious morning in Ipswich and again I competed in the Park 2 Park Half Marathon. I just reread my post on this event for last year. I reported that I ran 1:38 which was the same as the year before (2005). Well, guess what, I did the same again, 1:37:50 to be exact. How is that for consistency. I was really pleased with the run this morning. It was a bit chilly at the start, and the run up through Queens Park isn't getting any easier, never-the-less it is still a great event and very enjoyable.

The 1st and 2nd place getters were a couple of young Tanzanian guys. They lapped me while I was still in my third lap, they in their fourth/last lap. They looked so good.

The Park 2 Park events, Half, 10K, 5k and a Kids race, are organised by the Ipswich Hospital Foundation. They do a terrific job. Intraining's Chris Gale was the race director.

I thought I may have to give today's race a miss as I sprained my ankle during last Sunday's run. It was quite swollen until Wednesday though the pain had gone by then. I ran on Thursday and it seemed OK and gave me no trouble this morning.

Thoroughly Enjoyable

I had a thoroughly enjoyable run this morning. It was reminiscent of my Sunday morning runs I used to have before I really started training for marathons etc. I did 19K's in 1:35, average 4:58 per K. It was good just to run without feeling I had to actually have achieved something special time or distance wise. I just enjoyed running. It was a bit chilly at the start but I didn't take long to warm up.

I don't think I have mentioned before that I am doing the City to Surf for the first time this year. I am giving the Bridge to Brisbane a miss. It is the weekend before and as it takes up so much of Sunday, I thought, being away all weekend in Sydney the next week, it would not be fair to the family. Besides, I have started a project with Jordan, my grandson. We are building a cubby house/fort in the back yard. We bought some materials today and started digging the post holes. I don't think he is going to let me have too many weekends off until the project is complete.

Rail Trail Fun Run

I did something different today. I hadn't even heard of it before, but this year was the 5th year it has been run. The Rail Trail Fun Run is an 8.3K run between Lowood and Fernvale, country towns in the Brisbane Valley west of Brisbane and only 35 mins from my home. The Rail Trail is an excellent running path which has been constructed along the path of the old rail line which was pulled up years ago. Each year they alternate the start and finish, this year starting in Lowood. Chris Reeves won for the 5th time. He did it in 25 mins, I did it in 36. Chris did the half at GC last Sunday in 66 mins.

My daughter, Cynthia, and her children, Jordan and Georgia, came with me today. They took the 3K option and enjoyed it very much. There were over 600 participants a big increase over last year's record of 423. Chris Gale from Intraining was the race director.

Oh well!

A PW for me. A Personal worst by one minute. That is what I achieved at the Gold Coast on Sunday. I didn't put in the preparation and set out from the start just hoping to get under 3:30. I sat with the 3:30 bus for a while but thought I may just be able to do a bit better as I wasn't feeling too bad. It wasn't till I got to 37K that the wheels fell off. I wasn't a pretty sight for the last 5K. It was very tough going. My energy was completly spent. It seemed to take all my effort to keep moving forward.

Never-the-less, I managed to finish in 3:32:08. My previous worst being 3:31:16. I still came 17th out of 142 finishers in my category. I am happy with that.

I have to say that I have never enjoyed the Gold Coast Marathon. I have done 4 and they have all been somewhat of a challenge as compared to my most enjoyable marathons, Sydney 2004 and Canberra 2007.

Congratulations to Robert Song. I was so happpy that he had such a good run and such a fantastic result. The good part about the GC was seeing Coolrunner's like, Tesso, Eagle, Peterhorse, Iliketoast, Johnny Dark and Plu (a surpirise in the full), also Vurt out there on the road. The cheer squad was terrific. I was so sorry to hear that LL's plans were thwarted by the airlines. That was really terrible.

BRRC 10K Champs

What a good race! I went without any real plan of how I was going to tackle the race. I set out from the start with Robert Song. I left him behind for about 2 K and then he passed me making it look so easy. He is in very good form at the moment. I managed to hang onto an average pace of 4:12 - 4:15 to finish in 42:23. This has been a consistent pace for me over my last few 10K races. I was pleased to be able to do it again. I won my age category. I have a window of opportunity to do this while Ron Peters is still in the 50-54 bracket. Ron won the race yesterday by a very good margin. He moves up to my category next April.

A Better Sunday

Because I didn't intend running very far on Sunday I didn't get to Park Road until 5:30AM. The rest of the crew had left so I was on my own. I headed out along the River towards New Farm and Newstead. I was surprised to catch up with 3 of the early crew under the Story Bridge. It turned out they had only left about 10 minutes before me. Further along I caught up with 2 more about 500 m past the end of the floating walkway. They were heading to Newstead and across to the Hospital then through Victoria Park and back to Milton. That sounded good to me so I kept going on my own and got to Park Road in 98 minutes having covered 21K at an average pace of 4:45. I felt good all the way. Totally the reverse from last week's horror run.

Less than 2 weeks to the Gold Coast Marathon.

Long Slow Run

After yesterday's freezing cold blustery weather I thought this morning might bring more of the same. Thankfully it was much better. No blustery wind and nowhere near as cold.

I missed my running buddy, Tegwen, this morning. She tripped during speed training and has well and truly busted her ankle. No Gold Coast Marathon for her this year.

I set out from Park Road at 5:00 AM with Bruce who is training for GC but is a tad slower than me. We stuck together for the first 19K by which time my legs were hurting like hell. I don't know what was causing the muscle soreness but I was doing it tough. I thought if I sped up a bit it might help, so I left Bruce and tried to lift the pace a bit. I only managed to drop the average pace from 5:47 to 5:37 per K. After 35K and 3hrs16mins on my legs I was sure glad to get back to Park Road.

GC is only three weeks away. I hope my legs come good in that time.

Queensland Half Marathon

After having had a stomach ailment all week, I didn't have any great expectations for the half Marathon at Doomben on Sunday. I was still feeling off on Saturday and wondered if I would have enough stemina to get through the race on Sunday. Amazingly I felt a lot better Sunday morning and was glad to be there at the start. SpeedyGeoff and I sized each other up, played down our own expectations...you know the usual stuff. Neither of us felt like we were at our best.

Nevertheless, I gave it all I had. My average pace gradually slowed through the whole race and I finished with an averge of 4:27 per K and a time of 1:34:16. Not that bad cosidering the week I had had. I did pass Geoff along the way. I think the humidity, and it was humid, may have been giving him a bit of trouble.

I wasn't able to stay for the presentations and didn't find out until this morning that I came third in my category (M55-59). That put a smile on my face.

Just can't get Moving

Since Canberra I have been stiff and sore and just can't seem to regain any bounce. I have enterted the Queensland Half Maratnon at Doomben and know I can make the distance but feel lack any ability to maitain the sort of pace that I will be happy with. I am hoping that just being there with my running friends will lift my sprits and give me the get up and go that I need.

I have done very little running recently. I did only 15 last Sunday, 7 on Monday and 12K on Wednesday. That's it for the week. I was happy with 56:38 for my 12k circuit on Wednesday but I am not recovering well.

Tomorrow's long run might sort me out. I am still keen to do the Gold Coast Marathon. Time is running out for me to get my mo-jo back.

A Little More Respectable

Well this morning's 31K felt better then last Monday's 34. Today we finished in 2:36:38, an average pace of 5:04.

Back to the Blog

Yep, I am still here and I have done some running. I have not been running to a program though.

I had a great morning back at the Brisbane Road Runners last Sunday. it was really good to catch up with lots of people like Tesso, Clairie, Robert Song, Beagle among many others.

The 10K went well. I managed to finish in 42:09, an average pace of 4:12.

On Monday, the Labour Day Holiday, my running buddy, Tegwen, and I ran 33.7K. I found the run very hard and found I had to really work at just moving forward. We averaged 5:17 and were glad to get back to Tegwen's place where her husband made us a delicious coffee. We sure appreciated it.

There was no running by me on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday I plodded my 12K circuit and finished in 63 mins, average pace 5:18. Today I was determined to put in a bit of an effort. I ran the 12K circuit again but this time in 54:20, average pace 4:31. That made me feel a bit better.

What a Slacko!

Whow! have I been slack this week. I ran Teusday, 12K in 59 Mins and today, 12K in 56 Mins. The other days I have felt too bone tired (slack) to get out of bed.

On Sunday I am going to Brisbane Road Runners at West End to do the 10K then on Monday, Labour Day Holiday, I am meeting my running buddy, Tegwen, and we are doing 32K.

I am really looking forward to the 10K at West End. It is so long since I have run there. I will probably hardly know anyone.

Marathons

With less than 9 weeks to the Gold Coast Marathon I am back on the road.Last week I ran 6 days and clocked up 73K's including 27 on Sunday 29th. I managed to run the 27 at an average pace of 4:57. I haven't been doing any speed work or hills etc. I just don't have the get up and go at this stage.

I won't be putting as much effort into training for Gold Coast as I did for Canberra. I have always had high expectations of myself at the Gold Coast and, except the the first in 2004, have been disappointed in my results. For some reason I have found GC a hard course and have enjoyed Sydney and Canberrra more.

The Gold Coast will be my 9th Marathon and I will just be running it as I feel on the day with no expecations of a PB or anything splendid like that. I will just be looking to keep it under 3:30, anything better will be a bonus.

My marathon history so far:

1. Gold Coast 2004 3:21:58
2. Sydney 2004 3:18:40
3. Canberra 2005 3:25:59
4. Gold Coast 2005 3:31:16
5. Toowoomba 2005 3:30:29
6. Canberra 2006 3:21:27
7. Gold Coast 2006 3:22:59
8. Canberra 2007 3:14:55

My Canberra Race Report

The Canberra Marathon has become a very significant part of my life. The marathon weekend is a special time. Not only is it the culmination of a lot of hard work but the beginning of a new season of Australian distance running..... well for me it is because their always seems to be so many events to choose from after Canberra.

This was my third year in Canberra and and once again I came home uplifted and elated, not only from having completed a marathon but also from catching up with, and spending time with so many wonderful friends. This is something I would never have experienced without running.

My real journey to Canberra 2007 began back on 9th January when I began Susan Hobson's marathon training program. That was a fairly daunting commitment for me. I am glad to say that, except for the last couple of weeks when the Flu took hold of me, I stuck to it like glue. Thank you Susan. What a difference it made to running a marathon. Sure the sickness towards the end knocked my confidence around, as my blog testifies, but I have to say that on the day I felt much stronger and better prepared than I ever have before.

There was something else I did which I haven't done before. On the Friday before race day I logged onto CoolRunning and was looking at the Canberra Marathon - Sub 3:30 Hr Bus (first Time) topic. Brick had posted a posted a 5K split plan to achieve a 3:20 marathon time (post # 61). I thought it was just what I needed, not having used something like that before. I copied and pasted in Word, printed it off, calculated the average pace for each 5 K split and wrote them down against each of the split times. I stuck this to a piece of cardboard wrapped it in sticky tape to protect it then tied it to my Garmin with a zip tie. You wouldn't believe how much doing this little exercise helped my confidence for the race.

I was able to use this plan to great benefit in my race and unbeknown to me someone else's race as well. This I found out after the race from another elated runner. Here is the story in his own words from the Canberra Marathon 2007 topic on CoolRunning (post # 224) :

Brick said:
At the start line I had a problem with my HR Monitor not starting the stop watch properly, it only starts the stop watch if it can get a HR reading and I had not wet the contacts (silly mistake) so i had no choice than to just run on a steady pace.Got to the 5KM marker and asked a person next to me what the race time was and he said 24:10 so spot on my target.This prson had a CR cap on so talked to him for a bit it was speedygeoff as we talked another CR cap ran past I ask who is that he said that is Eddie he is targetting 3:20 so I siad see ya and started after Eddie I nevr caught him but could see him for most of the race.

Thanks Eddie, I know I mention this yesterday to you but it was great.

Eddie was sitting on the exact splits I had set I only found after the race he had used the splits I posted last week.

How good is that! Thank YOU Brick.

I hit the Half point right on plan and was very pleased. I continued to be amazed at how good I felt through the whole race. At the 35K mark I was ahead of the plan by at least 2 minutes and began not to pay too much heed to it as I felt good and thought I would make the most of the feeling. If I was going to hit the wall further on, then so be it. It didn't happen, there was no wall. When I finally turned the corner into the home straight and saw the clock I mad a dash for the line and cracked the 3:15 to record a 3:14:55 marathon.

All the rest of the day I had to keep massaging my face muscles because they were aching from grinning so much.

No matter what difference it may have made to my time, I am glad I took time out to give Clairie a hug. I also stopped and gave a hug to my friend Barb Williams, one of my running buddies from Brisbane who now lives in Canberra.

I owe a great deal to my running buddy, Tegwen Howell, who kept me honest in the long training runs. Tegwen recorded a PB in the Marathon at 3:28:54 (from 3:30:00, Toowoomba 2006) and went of to complete 50K in 4:14:33. Congratulations Tegwen. I am so proud of you.

Thank you again to everyone who gave me so much encouragement and support in my journey to a new marathon PB. An unforgettable experience.

Canberra Marathon 2007

Words simply don't describe my latest marathon experience. How can I possibly articulate how I felt after crossing the finish line to record a personal best time of 3:14:55. My previous best, set in Sydney in 2004, was 3:18:40 giving me a new PB by 3 mins 45 secs.

This was my third Canberra Marathon. My results have been:

2005 3:25:59
2006 3:21:57
2007 3:14:55

Hmmm! If I keep improving at that rate.............?????????????????????????

I have been wanting to recapture the Sydney 2004 experience. That certainly happened on Sunday. The whole race went so well. I hoped for a PB but to actually go sub 3:15 totally blew me away.

The support and encouragement both leading up to and during the Marathon has been absolutely fantastic. I cannot say how much it has been truly appreciated and how much it contributed to my greatest run so far.

I shall post a more detailed race report soon.

Last Post

Last Post before Canberra. How the weeks have flown. My journey to the 2007 Canberra Marathon has been different from any other because I have put more effort into preparation, this however has been marred by sickness which certainly robbed me of confidence, if nothing else.

Since feeling better, I have put in a couple of good solid runs which have pleased me greatly. My 10K at the Easter Egg Run was a good example.

I am really looking forward to being in Canberra again and catching up with so many running friends, even if just to say thanks for all the encouragement and support. I am also looking forward to the race. I am experiencing the pre-race jitters. I try to relax but find myself again mulling over some aspect of the run.

This morning's last run was a very easy and pleasant 7K. I didn't wear a watch and was not at all concerned about pace or time. It was a matter of keeping the legs ticking over.

I was very upset to read Robert Song's bad news. It is such a shame that you won't be with us in Canberra Robert Song.

All the best everyone and thanks for sharing my journey to the 2007 Canberra Marathon. All the best Scott for your Nagano Marathon and Tuggeranong Don for your Boston Marathon.

Home Alone

I had some time home alone yesterday, a rare event, and though there are lots of things screaming at me to be done, I got to thinkng about how nice the weather was and how I hadn't run since Friday, and how I supposed to have done a 16K on Sunday, and how it would be nice to go for a run. So I decided to head for Park Road and run along the River to New Farm and back. Mind you, I started my run at 12:45 PM...yes, the middle of the day.

There was a nice breeze coming off the River which at the start lulled me into thinking I might stay less than hot during the run. I didn't feel too bad until I got to the floating walkway, then it was full sun and I began to heat up very quickly. I began to slow a bit. I kept going and turned round at 8K, according to my Garmin, along the path at New Farm not far past the City Cat jetty. I took it easy on the way back until I was exiting the City Gardens and heading along under the riverside express way when I was feeling OK again and lifted my pace a bit. My splits for the last 4 K were 4:50, 4:41, 4:33 and 4:18. I averaged 4:52 for the 16K and was back at Park Road in 1:18.

I just have to cool my heels till Sunday now. I just do some short runs, probably my 7K circuit, to keep things ticking over.

Good Friday

I took my grandchildren, Jordan 9 and Georgia 8 to the Easter Egg Run today at West End. Steve, the Footman, Manning and his wife Margo from the Intraining Running Centre organise this event each year. There is a 10K, 3K and a kids 1K plus an egg & spoon race and an egg throwing competion and also a choclate easter egg hunt. It's a real fun family time. Jordan & Georgia love it. Jordan ran in the 1k, his first, and finished in 5:o5. I was very proud of him.

While I ran the 10K Jordan and Georgia walked the 3K with some friends. It was so good to run in a race. It is amazing who the competitive spirit kicks in and carries you along. I said before the race that I would be happy to run at 5:00 Min pace. At the start line I stood back in the middle of the crowd and just started at what I thought was a nice easy pace. At the first K marker I checked my Garmin which beeped the 1K at about the same time and was surprised to see 4:15. I thought something must be wrong with the Garmin. I just kept on going and finished the first 5K in 21:18. The Garmin was telling the truth. I had guy running on my heels in the 6th K and ran that in 3:54. I was very happy when I finished the race in 42:10, average pace 4:13.

Happy Easter everyone.

A Beautiful Sunday

What a glorius morning it was this morning.

After having had to take myself off to the Doctor on Thursday with infected sinuses I was feeling a bit miserable. The course of antibiotics and nasal spray seem to be doing the trick so this morning I was feeling much better.

I hadn't run since Wednesday so was rearing to go this morning. The program called for 26 but I ended up with only 24K. I reckoned that was OK. What was also OK was my average pace of 4:42 mins per K. My last K was 4:09.

With Canberra now only 2 weeks away I am glad to have had such a good run this morning. It has given me quite a boost.

Couldn't Help Myself

I just couldn't help myself. I just had to give myself a test. After my long slow run on Sunday and my interupted training I thought I would put some effort into my 12K circuit this morning as a bit of a test run. I have been pleased to read how well others Canberra Marathoners have been running recently, but after my bout of sickness, was feeling a bit edgyabout my own fitness. However, this morning I was able to complete the undulating 12K in 54 mins at an average pace of 4:30. Now I am feeling less edgy.

A bit of trivia....how is this for coincidence. In the 2005 Canberra Marathon my bib number was 187 and I finished in 187th place. This year my bib number is again 187.

Last Long Run

After a week of ups and downs, 33K will have to do for my last long run before Canberra. I t was supposed to be 34 with the last 30 minutes at a steady pace. I had a relapse of the virus I have been battling for a couple of weeks so what was to be the toughest week of the training program with a 100 top quality K's ended up 77 not quite top quality K's. I have still put in more work for this marathon than any other and am hoping the three week tapering program will serve to hone what work I have done to date.

Though I wasn't able to, or I thought it unwise to, stick to Susan's prescribed run this morning, I did enjoy the run and the very comfortable pace we ran. We averaged 5:20 per k to bring us home in 2:54. The humidity was pretty high and lots of water had to be consumed.

I am looking forward to the taper program over the next three weeks and am getting excited about running my 8th marathon, my 3rd in Canberra. Now comes the time when I start visualising my run, especially the part where I cross the line for a PB.

Midweek 20K

Oh boy, I think my run on Sunday finally caught up with me. Yesterday I was supposed to do 5 x 4Min tempo runs but just couldn't get my legs to respond. I opted to just rum my 12K undulating circuit and allow my pace to improve as I warmed up. I ws surprised to finish with an average pace of 4:44.

Today I set out at 4:10 AM to run 20K and was rather dismayed to find that I was feeling well below parr. I just couldn't get going. I even got lost this morning. I headed into new territory, in the dark, and some thoughtful individual had changed a street sign and I end up in the the back streets somewhere. I eventually wound my way to familiar territory. I still couldn't get moving though. I did make 20K but at an average pace of 5:18.

A Boost

This morning's run was really good. 30K in 2:23, average pace 4:46. The humidity was much less than last week and running was much less exhausting. I had a 4:09 for the 27th K and then 4:13, 4:14 and 4:23 to finish to finish off.

The run was a real boost after my enforced easy week. Hopefully I can stick with the program this week and make it to the total of 100K which includes a 34K next Sunday. The last big effort before the Marathon.

Feeling Desperate

I have hardly run at all this last week. 12K on Monday and 12K on Thursday. I ended up taking Friday off work..a very rare thing for me...to see if I could hit this bug for six. I am feeling much better today. I am getting desperate to get out and feeling anxious about the setback to my training program.

I had a call from my running buddy, Tegwen, this morning to find out wheter I wanted to start earlier than the planned 5:00AM for the 30K tomorrow. Due to the forecast high temperatures we decided a 4:45 AM would be good. We are just doing 15 out and back along the river. That should take us from Park Road to about 1K along Kingsford Smith Drive past the Breakfast Creek bridge. This is all flat, something we opted for after last week's 24 hills.

A Set Back

I have caught a cold and am feeling a bit miserable. I haven't run for 2 days :-( . Never mind, the rest has done my right knee a world of good. I will probably go out for an easy run tomorrow.

I have started using Google Reader to keep up with my blog reading. It is a really great system. It indicates who has new posts, then I just click on the post Title and it takes me to the Blog so I can leave a comment. I guess this is old news to you guys but I think it is terrific. I tried Bloglines but never had much success...not that I really persevered. Now I have no trouble keeping up with the Blogs. Thank you Mr. Google.

A Wee bit Hot

I thought I was going to die yesterday. We set out from Park Road at 4:50 AM and 15 minutes into the run I was dripping sweat. What shocker. I think it was the hottest and most humid morning of the entire summer. Had we known it was going to be so awful I don't think we would have chosen to go the Western Freeway - Oxley - StLucia route. We counted 24 hills. Though I was supposed to do 34K we arrived back in 32 and there was no way I was going to keep on going for another 2K. I was totally stuffed. My Garmin said I averaged 5:09. I was having real trouble trying to imagine doing 42.2 @ 4:40 pace. It seems totally inconceivable.

The 12k recovery this morning was run at 5:40 pace. I coped with that OK.

Confused

I am confused about how all the training works and what improvement I should be expecting to see. I have been sticking to Susan Hobson's program like chewing gum under a shoe. I am pleased with how I feel and with my recovery after long sessions....but my times don't differ much from similar distances for the same period last year. I have to admit that, even though I work hard, I am not absolutely busting my gut. Though I must say that after hitting the final second in a hill session I can barley take another step. I guess that is almost gut busting.

I have a 34K'er again tomorrow. It will be interesting to see how I go.

Now the Easy Week is Over

During the easy week I felt terrible and didn't feel like I was recovering at all. It hasn't helped that the high humidity has returned with a vengence. My 20K on Sunday ended up being 22K because of some scare in the City Botanical Gardens. It was a very slow run and I felt disappointed because before the run I had visions of doing some spectacular time.

Yesterday my 12K easy was again slow....1:03:57. That's OK, it was ment to be slow. Last week I was dreading getting back into the intensive training again. So this morning I was really surprised to have felt so good after my run. Today's program called for 12K including 4 x 4 min at Anaerobic Threshold with a 2 min slow jog between. My 4 x4's averaged about 4:15 and I finished the 12K in 57:45. Maybe I recovered better than I thought.

I couldn't get up in the morning

I allowed myself some flexibility this week, since it is an easy week. I haven't been sleeping too well and this morning wasn't feeling the best when the alarm woke me so I thought I would swap tomorrow's rest day with today's 10K with fartleks. I was glad I thought of it really. I want to make the most of this week as the next three will be very intensive.

Hey! the marathon is next month. Yahoo!

A Ton of Fun

I don't recall having hit the Ton in a week before. Actually I got to 108K due to the back to front week end. Yesterday running buddy, Tegwen, and I set out from her place at Chelmer and followed exactly the same route as last Saturday. I was hoping for an improvement in time but only managed to cut 4 minutes which brought us home in 2:50. A 5:00 min per K average. I was well and truly spent and took a few hours to feel sort of normal again.

This morning I went along to Park Road at 5:30 to meet the usual crowd that run from there. The program only called for 8K (what should have been Saturday's run) but I ended up doing 16K at a nice recovery pace. Hence the 108K for the week.

This week Susan's program has scheduled an easy week, so back down to about 60K for the week. Then over the next three we build to a 100K in the third and the following three weeks we taper to the big race.

Stuffed

I have to say that this morning was a bit of a struggle. After doing 20K yesterday in1:40 this morning's 13K including 4 x 1 min and 2 x 2 min hill reps was not easy. Anyone seeing me doing my 2 min hills would not think that I was digging deep. I think I was on the verge of rolling back down the hill on the last one.

Another back to front weekend this weekend. My running buddy, Tegwen, has committments on Sunday so again we will be doing the long run on Saturday. The program says 34 and we know a route that will give us exactly that thanks to my miscalcualtion last Saturday. Then a nice short run on Sunday and I will hit the 100K for the week.

75Ks to go & 36Years to celebrate

Well that is 25K completed out of the scheduled 100 for the week. Yesterday was 12K easy. I love that run. Today was 13K including 3 x 7 min Tempo with 3 min jog between. I managed to average 4:17 per K for the Tempo runs. I found the 3rd set very tough. The undulations don't help. After the last set I was struggling to jog. I averaged 4:58 for the full 13K.

Tomorrow is 20K. I'll have to get an early night tonight and set the alarm for an earlier start.

Today is Robyn and my wedding aniversary. We were marrried in 1971. So that is 36 years. Robyn said to me this morning "How about another 36?". She didn't have to ask.

A Slight Deviation

This morning I had a social outing with some friends. I did a 3 k run as part a team effort in the short Triathlon at Bribie Island. I also did a 4k easy run prior to the event to loosen up after having run 34K on Saturday.

Our team came 6th out of 8 teams in our category. However, even though I was a bit slow at 13:15 for the 3k, I was 1st in our category for the run and 3rd out of the 24 teams over all categories.

Yesterday the program called for 32K but due to a miscalculation on my part we ended up doing 34. This we did at an average pace of 5:05. The weather wasn't too bad but still quite humid. Though I kept the fluids and gels up I was still very thirsty when we finished.

I was surprised to be be able to run at all this morning. The fact that I could is, I feel sure, due to Susan's excellent training program (or I didn't work hard enough yesterday).

I finished the week, today, with a total of 95K. Next week......100K!!!!!

Life on the Run

After the long run on Sunday, I enjoyed the 12K easy on Monday. However, during the run I realised my right calf was very tight and would need some nursing. It was just at that point where you know the wrong move or sudden exertion could do some damage. On Tuesday, Susan's progam called for an Anaerobic Threshold session and I knew I would have to have a strategy to deal with this. The session called for 12k including 4 x4 min @ AT with 2 min slow jog recovery between.

I decided to take the long way down to the local sporting field and use the grass running track for the AT session then take the short way home. This worked out really well. the run down was a little over 5K. The AT session on the track wasn't really run at the required pace as I was still very conscious of the tight calf. Never-the-less after 5K on the track I ceratinly felt like I had a good workout. Then it was 2 K home.

This morning's 18K was done with the tight calf still to the forefront of my mind. I ended up averaging 5:10 K's which was exactly the same as the 18 k two weeks ago. So that wasn't too bad. I am pleased to say that after a good stretching session following this morning's run, the calf feels much better. Bring on the Tempo + Hills tomorrow........what am I saying!

A hard day at the Office

Susan's program called for 28K today so running buddy Tegwen and I decided to set out from Park Road at 5:00 AM and run a circuit we run once before in November last Year. This took us out along the hilly Western Freeway bike path (naughty us) to Seventeen Mile Rocks, out through Oxley, back along Oxley Road to Chelmer, through Indooroopilly, St Lucia to Toowong, along the river to Milton and Park Road.

Last time we did this 27.7K circuit it took us 2:25. Today we did it in 2:18. Something must be working.

That brings another solid week to a close with 85K under the belt. Tomorrow is 12K easy...I look forward to that.

Hanging in there

Well I don't know whetheror not I am doing Susan's program justice but I am sticking with it. the Easy week seems way behind me now with the K's for this week set to hit 85 after the 28 on Sunday. I found this week s Tempo run hard going and the fartleks a challenge, but always in the back of my mind I keep wondering if I am really working hard enough. At the end of the day the race result will tell. On the other hand I want to keep on enjoying running, so I don't want the training to kill that joy. I hope I have the balance right.

Ahhh! the burdens we bear.

Cranking up again

After the nice easy week it is time to crank up the training again. I clocked up 60 K's last week finishing with 21 in 1:39 on Sunday.

Up until today Susan's program has called for an easy 8 on Monday but from today that has increased to 12. Tomorrow is an 11 K including Tempo..2 x 7 min with 3 min jog between. The tempo to be run at 10 seconds less than my 10K race pace. Susan says that the tempo is to be "hard work". I hope I can do it justice. I estimate my Tempo run will have to be run at about 4:22 pace. I better set my Garmin pacer to keep me honest.

Easy Week

Susan has given us an easy week this week. Monday - rest, Tueasday - 10 klm easy - I did this in 59:19, Wednesday - 12 klm - 58:18 for me, Thursday - 10 klm including fartleks - 48:28 for me. Tomorrow is rest, Saturday - 5 klm and Sunday 20 klm. Total 57 k for the week.

The lull before the storm. Next week is 85 k, then 94 k and the week beginning 19th Feb will be 100k. Phew! I am exhausted just thinking about it.

Ah! That's Better

After my shocker long run last week...31K in 2:48... I am pleased to report that today I felt much better and manged 34K in 2:50. That's an average of 5 Min K's. It was hard work. My running buddy, Tegwen, and I left Park Road at 4:45AM and heade along the river to the Goodwill Bridge. As Susan Hobson's program asks for the long runs to include some hills we decided that to go out and back along the river would not meet that requirement. We therefore decided to cross the bridge and head for Dutton Park, Fairfield, Yeronga, Tennyson, Chelmer, Indooroopilly, then to the University where we did a loop to ensure we would make up the 34K's. We then headed over the new bridge to Dutton Park and back to Southbank, over the Goodwill Bridge again and along the river to Park Road. There are a few hills in that little lot I can tell you.

It was a good feeling to have completed the run and put in the effort to tackle the hills. So that is 86K's for the week and another week that I have stuck to Susan's program.

My Marathon PB is 3:18:40..Sydney 2004. If I can better that in Canberra I willbe happy.

Glad I am not Fast

After 10K steady followed by 6 x 100m strides on Tuesday, 18K on Wednesday - I think my longest ever midweek run - the program today called for 10K including 10 x 1 min hills with jog down recovery. Why am I am glad I am not fast? If I was I would have to run further than the 220m I managed in 1 minute. I stuck with the 220m but by the 10th it was taking a tad longer than 1 minute. After the warm up and the hills I had done just over 6K's. My last 4K's were not exactly fast.

Have a great Australia Day holiday. A rest day for me. Saturday will be 8k and the big one on Sunday..34K.

Doing it Tough

Once again I stuck to the Susan Hobson training program and finished the week with a total of 83K's. the tough part was my long run yesterday morning (Sunday). Right from the start I felt like I was really working and couldn't help wondering how I was going to feel at the end of the 30K's. It humidity was very high and I am afraid that is not, for me, conducive to any sort of reasonable performance. I never doubted for a moment that I would complete the run. Once you are out there you really don't have a lot of choice.

The run ended up being 31K and took me 2Hrs 48mins. So after my previous Sunday's pace being 4:56 for 26K it was a bit disappointing to have to work hard for a pace of 5:25 for 31K.

My 8k recovery run this morning was painfully slow and I couldn't help wondering how my 10K at "steady" pace will be tomorrow. Hopefully I can complete it in a faster time than the 46 min it took me for the 8 this morning.

A Change of Category

Today is my last day in the 50-54 Age Category. Tomorrow I turn 55 and still have no prospect of winning my age category races. From what I have seen the competition intensifies as you get older.

Never-the-less I still, after having been running for only a little over 5 years, harbour a belief that there lurks within me the ability to pull another PB out of the hat. I will be extatic if I can do that in Canberra.

For the first time, while training on my own, I actually managed to stick at, and complete a set of fartleks. (2 x 60 sec, 4 x 30 sec, 2 x 60 sec, 4 x 30 sec, 2 x 60sec while doing a 10K ru over rolling hillls) .

Pleased with Myself

Well I have managed to stick with the marathon training program for one whole week. Amazing! I have run every one of the 76K's in the prescribed manner. Today's long run was 26K's. I started out nice and easy..15 minutes at 5:30 pace, then uped the pace to 5:00 per K, and finished the last 15minutes at 4:30 pace. There were a few variations throughout but overall I managed an average pace of 4:56 per K. The humidity was extremely high but there was cloud cover, so conditions weren't too bad.

My total K's for the previous week was 60 and the most I had done for some time. To jump up 16K in a week I thought might be a big ask, but I am glad to have achieved it and still feel pretty good. The week's training has given me a much needed mental boost.

This week will see a total of 82K, including a 30K run next Sunday. It is a long time since I put in that sort of effort and am looking forward to the challenge.

Susan Hobson

I have decided that my trainng fo Canberra needs to be more structured tahn my training for previous marathons so i took a look at the programs avilable on at: http://www.canberramarathon.com.au/index.php?pageid=123. I have opted for the Susan Hobson Sub 3:30 Program. Susan explains the progam well and it looks like one I should be able to adhere to.

This morning I did a 10K steady run followed by 6x100m strides. "Steady" means: runnning just within your comfort zone but running the first 15 minutes at easy pace to warm up. I amanaged an average of 4:40 per for the run.

I wasn't sure how I would go with the strides after running 10k. After measuring out 100 metres I thought well here goes. I was amazed! I felt so light and fast. It was an incredible sensation. I really enjoyed the remaining five sets. It was good to feel so good, mentally at least, after a training session. It seems a while since I felt like that.

Nice quiet Saturday

I am enjoying a nice quiet Saturday at home and looking forward, as always, to my Sunday run. Though there is a 10K run at West End with the Brisbane Road Runners, I am opting out and heading to Park Road for a longer run with some running buddies. The long runs are crucial training for the Canberra Marathon in April.

I haven't been running a lot at West End because I am having real trouble running the 5K loop. It never used to bother me but since the club has reversed the direction of the run I just don't seem to like it. I guess that sounds crazy. Also, Sunday is the only day I can do my long runs and need to stick to my program. This doesn't always fit in with the Road Runners program.

I still love to go to West End to catch up with the wonderful people there and will try to take advantage of suitable races there because of the great benefit derived from running in races.

Time has flown

Gosh where has the time gone. Christmas and New Year seem a distant memory. I hope everyone had a great time and that the New Year has lots of exciting things in store for you.

I have been doing some running and had the pleasure of having a run with Tuggeranong Don last week. Don was up from Canberra visiting family for Christmas. After he well and truly trounced me in the 10K race at West End on Christmas Eve we decided to meet up for a run on Wednesday morning.

We met at Park Road and headed for the Uni of Qld so that we could run over the new bridge accross the Brisbane River. It's good to have an alternative crossing to add some variety to our runs. It was a trip down memory lane for Don as he studied at UQ and, as a child, used to live at Highgate Hill, one of the areas we ran through as we headed for South Bank on our way back to Park Road.

It was terrific to catch up with Don again and look forward to seeing him in Canberra again in April.

Yesterday I had the rare pleasure of running in the rain. We need the rain so much.