7K Circuit

Our local Council has constructed a road through some bushland. This road connects to existing roads creating a 7K circuit for me. Good of them wasn't it. I ran the circuit on Tuesday, not feeling too good after my aborted marathon effort, in 40 mins. Today I ran it in 32. Must have been feeling a bit better.

My first Marathon DNF

What a sad day for me in Toowoomba on Sunday. My first DNF in a marathon. During the second lap of four I felt myself tiring considerably. During the third lap I had to let my training buddy, Tegwen, go. She was running really well and went on to come second behind Siri.

I pulled the plug at 28K. I had tried walking and running, but my legs just didn't seem to want to do any more so I listened to them. I thought I would not gain anything by pushing myself and I did not want to spend weeks recovering. The 500K relay is in 5 weeks and I don't want to let the team down. I will concentrate my training over the next few weeks on preparation for the Relay.

Robyn, my wife, thought that it was great that I could exercise enough common sense to call it a day. There is always another one.

Road to Toowoomda

The Toowoomba Marathon is looming. Only 5 more days. As I have said previously, I haven't done any marathon specific training so it will be a steady as she goes sort of marathon. I am just trying to think of it as a long training run. I just hope that the weather is better than last year. I don't really want to be running in the cold, wind and rain.

I did a 15K run yeasterday and didn't feel all that great, so it will be an interesting marathon.

Confidence Booster

This morning I met my running buddy, Tegwen, at Park Road at 5:00AM. We both needed to test ourselves to check our preparedness for the Toowoomba Marathon. We thought 30K should do the trick and set off along the river to Breakfast Creek and a bit beyond to take us to 15k out and then run the same course back. I think Tegwen's fitness is bit better than mine at the moment....we are usually pretty evenly matched. Today I was struggling a bit to keep up with her but I was determined to do so as I the extra effort wouldn't do me any harm.

Though I was pleased to finish the 30K I didn't feel to bad and I think we achieved what we set out to do. We passed our test and received a great confidence boost. Those niggling doubts about my ability to finish a marathon on October 15 have been stiffled to a large degree.

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.

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.

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.

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.
************************************************************
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.
************************************************************

14K Champs

It was a great run a the Brisbane Road Runners 14K Champs this morning. The weather was glorious......it had to be 'cause it is Clairie's birthday!

Though I enjoyed the run, I felt like I was pushing myself to the limit. I really think I gave it everything this morning, without killing myself that is. I finished in 1:01:33 and came third in my category behind Ron Peters and James Keightly. Ron came third overall so that is tough competition.

Next year I move up a category (or is it down) and Ron still has a couple of years till he turns 55. So there may be a window of opportunity for me to win my category at some stage.

4th Place

Like Tesso, I came 4th in my category in the Noosa Half. I pleasantly surprised to discover that when checking the Half Marathon results.

What a brilliant event it was. The weather was perfect, the atmosphere magic and the people were happy and friendly. A bit like Canberra really, but not cold.

My plan was to get home between 1:30 and 1:35. I made it in 1:32:52. Considering my reduced training since the Gold Coast Marathon, I am very happy with that.

I enjoyed the whole run. Clairie kept the pressure on for the first few K then a mate from the Brisbane Road Runners caught up with me and, having run in the Ipswich Half with him in July, I new that he could keep up a pretty good pace which would sustain me through the middle section of the race. I knew that a point would come where I would be over the hump and would be able to pull away. This I did at about 16K. I felt good and was able to pick off a few that had passed me earlier.

My recovery has been good and my knee is holding up well. I have been sticking to a strict diet of Blackmore's Joint Formula.

A little too far

I met up with a couple of Buddies at Chelmer this morning and were undecided as to where or how far we would run until 2 seconds before we took the first steps. I it had in mind not to do more than 18K's as I am running the Noosa Half on Sunday. I also had limited time. We set out to do a loop from Chelmer through Tennyson, Fairfield, Dutton Park, Highgate Hill, South Brisbane, over the Gray Street bridge, along the bike path to Toowong, through St Lucia and Indooroopilly, over the Indooroopilly bridge and back to the start.

This turned out to be 22 K's and took 1:56. I think I will take it easy between now and Sunday. I can't say that I have trained for Noosa so my expectations aren't high, though I hope to get in under 1:35. If I am ever to crack the 1:30 the I am going to have to train specifically for that and Noosa is ceratinly a good race to do it.

Getting there

After missing out on my run yesterday morning due to marshalling duties at West End for the club I went for a run from home yesterday afternoon. I did 12k in 58 mins and was just about floored by the heat. I thought it was supposed to be winter. I was quite surprised.

I have been suffering some, errr make that a lot of, pain in my knees over recent months. Today, though, I think it is easing. I have been running through it. After I warm up it not too bad, but I suffer for it afterwards. This has really been nagging at me and I have been fearing that my running days might be limited. Noosa is still very much on the agenda though.

409th

Yep! I came 409th in the Bridge to brisbane 12 K fun run last Sunday. I happy with that place out the umteen thousand who ran/walked it. It appears that my chip time was 51:17. I am happy with that.

The Sunday Mail race report today is a collectors item. There is a great colour photo of Clairie and Tesso.

Next Sunday is the Noosa Half.

Bridge 2 Brisbane

I was determined not to repeat the mistakes of last year...running late forgetting chip etc. This year I was in the carpark at 5:00AM and on the first shuttle bus to the start line. This year the chips were the good old shoelace type, so was able to thread it in on Saturday night...no chance of forgetting it. I think I would know if I wasn't wearing my shoes when I left home.

The morning was no where near as cold as previous years. What a blessing. I was one of the first at the start line. While I was standing there waiting and chatting, Clairie and Tesso came up behind me an yelled a greeting. I got such a fright I neally took off up the bridge even before the Wheelies started.

I killed myself running up the bridge and was very glad to get to the top. The run down the other side is great. The rest of the course is quite flat. I was feeling a bit tense in the middle section of the race and seemed to be suffering a fair bit of pain in my gut. However, I knew that if I kept going it would ease and I would be able to relax. I was right, and was able to enjoy the last 4 K's to finish in 51:30 (av 4:18per K).

It was good to catch up with Robert Song and Peterhorse plus Clairie and Tesso after the race. All seemed pleased with their efforts including Mr Clairie and Master Clairie who both finished in 58mins - well done.

I hope Robert Song isn't paying for running hard with a sore leg.

Ready for the B2B

Though I haven't done a great deal of training I feel ready for the Bridge to Brisbane tomorrow. I am looking forward to the run but standing in the cold waiting for the start doesn't turn me on.

I hope to see a lot of my running buddies out there tomorrow. All the best everyone.

Park 2 Park

What a fantastic morning it was this morning. The Park 2 Park half Marathon in Ipswich got under way just after 6:30AM with the temperature at a cool 3 degrees. There was good field for this, only the second of these events. We ran an initial 1.1K and then set out on 4 laps of a very hilly course. The weather provided ideal running conditions. There were water tables every K manned by very enthusastic volunteers..mostly school children as there is a competition for the best water stop.

I tried to maintain a relaxed attitude during the race but that didn't make the hills any easier. Intraining did a splendid job in organising the event. The 10K an 5K races were very well supported.

I finished in about the same time as last year, 1:38.

I will attempt to support this event every year. The event is promoted by the Ipswich Hospital Foundation which has a vision of making Ipswich the healthiest city in Austrlia.

Jetty to Jetty

I did the Jetty to Jetty 10K at Redcliffe this morning. It was freezing while waiting for the start. The breeze coming of Moreton Bay was quite chilly. The course is an out and back and goes from the Woody Point jetty to the Redcliffe jetty and back. It really enjoyed the race and managed 41:31 with which I was very happy.

I met Iron Pete and got a big cheer from RITH. Glenno beat me to the line by 1 second.

An Award

I spent Thursday and Friday last week at a very intense planning workshop. Each of the participants, 12 in all, had to give a presentation. My contribution was very short but apparently had some impact as our Group manager awarded for me the "best presentation" . I work with a bunch of young high achievers and sometimes feel quite out of my league so my award means a great deal to me.

Today was much warmer than last Sunday and I enjoyed my 16K run immensely.

Running Cold

On Sunday morning a group of us ran from a mates place at Tamborine Village. It was the coldest I have ever been while running. I wasn't dressed for the cold and didn't expect it to be so cold. It was freezing and no amount of running was going to warm me. My hands were numb, my ears were frozen, my legs were stiff. It was not a pleasant experience. We had a really good barby afterwards but I still couldn't get warm.

This morning I ran from home and even managed to work up a sweat.

Tomorrow I am off to Kingscliff, just south of Tweed Heads, for two days for a planning workshop with my work colleagues. Should be a good couple of days.

Gold Coast Marathon

My 7th Marathon, the 3rd Gold Coast, but no PB this time. After a rare burst of confidence and a genuine belief that I was I the verge of a new PB I set off to the Gold coast at 4:30 on sunday morning in great anticipation.

There was a wonderful atmosphere and the start couldn't come quick enough. I headed for the start with Lizzle and was glad it felt much warmer being sheltered from the cold breeze in the crowd waiting for the gun. A tap on the shoulder had me turn and find Robert Song standing there. I was really pleased that he was able to make it. He has been so focused on this race and to face the possibility of being sidelined by injury must been very disheartening.

The gun went off an off we went. I was determined just to run my own race and not be influenced by pacers or other runners. I did weaken for a short while, when I was mesmerised by a gorgeous young lady in little red shorts but I couldn't keep up with her.

I reached the half a minute under my planned time of 1:38 and was still slightly under when I hit 32K. At that stage I started experinceing some pain in the groin which slowed me a bit. I did, however, manage to run through this but by the 35 or 36K marks I was really tiring. My legs were getting heavier and less responsive. By 39K it was becoming a real mental challenge to keep going. I was getting very slow and even walked a few pces now and again.

The finish shute at the Gold Coast is torture. It seems to go on forever. Is was good to be in it at last though, and make it to the finish line. This I did in 3:23.

My three Gold Coast marathons have been my toughest. So far the Coast has not been kind to me but I love being part of it. I can't imagine not being there.

Cheers from the CoolRunning Cheer Squad and from Tesso and other CR's like Little K and Iliketoast along the way gave me a big boost.

Hugs from Clairie and Tesso after the race made it all worthwhile.

When I rang Robyn after the race I asked her to pop down to the local Chemist and hire a wheelchair for me. She laughed and thought I was joking.