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.

Cool Running

I can't believe this weather. The mornings have been so cool and running conditions ideal.

On Sunday morning we ran 18K from Park Road. We headed to the University of Qld with the intention of running over the new bridge accross the Brisbane River. However, when we got there we were disappointed to find that the bridge was closed until the official opening ceremony later in the morning.

On Tuesday I ran my 12K circuit from home. I would have been happy to get in just under the hour and was amazed to do it in 55Mins. The coolness of the early morning was a big help.

This morning, not feeling particularly energetic, I settled for a 7K run and, once again, was very pleased with my time.....33:43.. better than I actully felt I was running.

Sunday Long Run

While many of my friends were doing it tough at Kurrawa, my running buddy, Tegwen, and I thought we would do some character building. We set out from Park Road at 5:00 AM and headed out to Mt Coot-tha via Milton Road. We did 2 laps of the mount and headed back via Sylvan Road. 27K's all up but it did take us 2 Hrs 30 Mins.

We run the mountain anticlockwise which gives you the longest continuous uphill section. On our second lap we were running along on the LH side and quickly gaining on a couple of men who were running/walking on the RH side. as we approached them a cyclist came flying down the road into the sun and knocked one of the men, who were doing a very slow jog at that point. The cyclist, a man in his sixties, came of his bike. He did some damage to his knee, a deep cut and a knee cap that didn't look like it was in the right place anymore. He also had a bad cut on his arm. The runner, who fortunately saw the cyclist coming and managed to begin a dive for safety, had some skin off his leg but was able to keep going. A couple of the cyclists buddies come along soon after the mishap and called an ambulance. We went on our way after ensuring that all that could be done was being done and our assistance was not required.

Now you know why we were running on the LH side. It is much easier to avoid traffic that is coming up the road from behind.

I wasn't feeling too good yesterday, don't know why, but the effects were very evident in my run this morning. By the time we got back to Park Road I was absolutely stuffed. I couldn't have run another step. As for character, it was ousing out of us.

2 Loops

This morning I did 2 loops of my 7K circuit. I set out at 4:30. It was cloudy and cool. I left a bottle of water on my letter box and set off, feeling good. I was back for my drink of water in 34:53. After a few gulps of water I was ready for the 2nd loop. It took me a hundred meters or so to get back into a rhythm and feel comfortable again.

I was able to maintain a steady pace and was even able to keep my uphill climb home down to 5:00 min K. My split for the second loop was 33:29.

Hopefully I will do more and more of the double loops as my Canberra campaign progresses.

Something Different

Some friends of mine invited me to a breakfast barby at Bribie Island and we decided to enter a team in the beginners triathlon ie 300M swim, 13K ride, 3K run. We entered in the corporate team category. I did the run, not being able to swim or ride. It was great fun and we won our category.

I have to get get in some extra K's this week to make up for what I missed on Sunday. So I definitely have to do the second loop of my 7K circuit.

At Last!

At last a moment to Blog.

It took me a few days to get over the big Relay and even then, when I was doing 25K on Sunday my legs were complaining.

I have had big ideas of increasing my mileage through the week but that hasn't happened yet. I have grown too used to my 7K circuit. I would like to, at least one morning per week, run the circuit twice. There now that I have put it in writing I am committed. I'll have to do it now.

My right knee, which has been giving me grief for some time now, seems to be improving. I think this is because I have been trying to avoid running on concrete paths as much as possible.

Now the Relay is Over

What next? Now the 500K Relay is over what will I focus on? I think the answer is the Canberra Marathon.

The 500K Relay. What an experience! Last weekend I participated in my 4th 500K Summer Challenge. A fund raiser for the Endeavour Foundation which which is a support group for over 3000 interlectually handicapped people in Queensland.... my brother, Lindsay, being one of them. This year $100,002.00 was raised.

Our team, Brisbane Road Runners, came 8th out of 19 teams. The relay began at Helensvale at the northern end of the Gold Coast at 4:45 AM (I was picked up by our team bus at 1:45 AM).

The relay is broken into stages and sections. Sections average about 5K in distance and times are recorded at the beginning and end of each stage. A stage can consist of any number of sections. A stage begins and ends where it possible to park, off road, 19 22 seater buses, 19 follow vehicles, 19 drop off vehicles, 19 water vehicles, and the Relay Directors vehicle, an ambulance, a police car, and other support vehicles.

This cavalcade wound it's way around southeast Queensland for three days. From Helensvale to Beaudesert to Boonah to Warwick to Toowoomba to Gatton and finishing in Ipwsich.

I ran 8 sections, the maximum a team member can run. I didn't get much sleep so it has taken me a couple of days to get back on track.

I can't wait to do it again neext year.

A Whole Week

Whow! It is a whole week since I last blogged. What a slacko! I have been running though.

Monday was a day off.
Tuesday was 7K.
Wednesday I did some hill work..neally killed me.
Thursday was 7K.
Friday I slept in.
Saturday was 12K.....I surprised myself with a 56 min time.
Sunday (today) 21K from Park Road with my running buddies.

Next weekend is the 500K Relay. I am looking forward to that. The team bus is leaving Toowoomba at 12:30 AM Friday and picking me up at 1:45 AM on the way through to Helensvale at the northern end of the Gold Coast where the Relay starts at 4:00 AM. Then three days of non-stop action. I don't think there is any other event like this in Australia. It requires a massive amount of organisation.

A Sunday Outing

My running buddy, Tegwen, had a birthday on Saturday so she reckoned she got to choose the run. She came up with a plan to run from Park Road along Milton Road to the Western Freeway. then take the bike path to Jindalee, onto Seventeen Mile Rocks Road and accross to Oxley Road. From there along Oxley Rd to the Indooroopilly bridge, through Indooroopilly via Lambert Rd then through Toowong and along the river back to Park Road.

I measured it on Google Earth and came up with a distance of 27.35K. I thought that was an OK distance but none of our other buddies wanted to go that far so Tegwen & I set off at 5:00 AM yesterday. It was a beautiful morning for running and it was nice to be going somewher different for a change. We had no idea where water might be available so had to take a supply with us. My 1.4 L Camelbak came in handy.

It proved to be a good circuit with enough hills to make it challenging. We will be keeping it in mind for marathon training.

My Garmin measured the distance at 27.7K...pretty close to the Google Earth measure. the run took us 2:25. I was happy with that.

Another Cool Night Classic

Tonight I and 4,699 others ran/walked the Cool Night Classic. The event grows in popularity each year. This was my 6th, and the 5th aniversary of my first ever fun run. The distance has been measured as 5.13K and some of the path is very narrow and becomes exceedingly congested. As a matter of fact it is congested right fromthe start. I found it hard to get any sort of break. At one point when I did, I almost ran slap bang ito a lamp post. I said a naughty word.

Early in the race I saw Clairie run past me. Damn! It was hard to keep sight of her on the crowded path. Eventually however..................... well I have to make the most of it while I still can.........I passed her :-)

I crossed the finish line in 21:55. (2005 21:08, 2004 21:04).

My 7K Challenge

This morning I set myself a challenge to beat 32 minutes for my 7K circuit. I started out relly well and finised the first K in less time than usual. A good sign. I did pretty well to the 5K mark but the last 2K is mostly uphill and always hard yacka. I really have to work hard on this section and, to my dismay, it never seems to get any easier. Never-the-less I manged to trudge my way home and to my astonishment I had made it in 31:38. Yahoo!!!

My 7K challenge to date:

Oct 17 40:06
Oct 19 32:25
Oct 22 34:43
Oct 23 33:20
Oct 24 34:28
Oct 26 34:45
Oct 27 32:54
Oct 31 32:44
Nov 1 31:38

Goodna Jacaranda Festival Fun Run

I reread last year's blog entry for this event to check my time. I did it then in 42:04. Sadly I was a bit slower this year and finished in 43:13. Oh well! next year will be better.

One guy, who would be in his sixties, finished in 36:41. How's that? His name was Tom Nugent. Anyone ever heard of him?

For our $5 entry fee we each (about 25 of us) got a certificate with our official times and a medallion. The same young fellow, 17 year old Darryl Crooke, who won last year, won again this year in the same time of 34 Mins. He said he hadn't been training.

Still here

Yes I am still here. Life has been a little hectic of late and I am afraid tha the blog got a long way down the priority list.... just the blog, not my running friends.

I have been running my 7K circuit regularly and managing to keep my time under 35 minutes. I am hoping this will be good training for the 500K Relay which begins on 17 Nov.

This coming Sunday I am doing a 10K fun run at The Goodna Jacaranda Festival. $5:00 entry fee.

Thursday I have the 5.13K Cool Night Classic in the Brisbane City. So ther are still things happening.

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.
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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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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.

Not long to go

Sunday morning is fast approaching and the anxiety is building. The carbo loading is underway and the little doubts are beginning to niggle and eat there way into the sub-conscious. Some positive thinking will sort them out though.

I thinking of all my friends who are doing various runs on Sunday and hoping that all is going well for them. One friend flies in from Germany tomorrow and is doing the 10K on Sunday. He'l have World Cup fever I reckon.

M762

M762, that's my GCM bib number. Now all I have to do is play it cool for the rest of the week and get to the starting line.

I ran the BRRC 10K championships yesterday. 41:35, av 4:10 pace. It helped clear the cobwebs, not as Clairie said to me about her race, "I didn't want to clear the whole spider farm!". Also, unlike Clairie, I didn't get Gold. I came second in my category. I well and truly trounced again by Ron Peters. I don't mind though, Ron is always so gracious. He is one of the running's true gentlemen.

One week to go

I am heading into West End tomorrow to compete in the Brisbane Road Runners 10K Championships. It should be a very good run. I won't be trying for a PB as I want to keep myself in good shape for the Gold Coast Marathon. At this point in time I am feeling really good.

After the race tomorrow I will have coffee at Park Road then head to South Bank to collect my GCM race kit. Pretty exciting.

2 weeks to go

Yes, only two weeks to the Gold Coast marathon. I am enjoying the reduction in pressure the Taper brings and went ou t for a pleasant run with friends this morning. We did do 28.7K but it was nice and easy.

I am looking forward to the Marathon. There is nothing more I can do training wise so it's just a matter of waiting. I will do some lunch time runs just to keep in tune, elite athlete that I am ;).

Marathon Pace....but

20 Mile race at Brisbane Road Runners Club this morning. That's 32.2 K's. I had plans of getting there early and doing 5 K before the race but arrived a bit late and only mangaed 2.5K. Just plain slack, I know.


This is the last big hit out before the Gold Coast Marathon which is only three weeks away. I had plans of running about 4:50 pace today but once I was out on the road I found I was settling into a quicker pace so decided to see how I would go. I am hoping that I might manage a PB in the GCM this year and that means running at about 4:40 pace. I did manage this for the 32.2K's today, but I didn't feel as if I had another 10K in me at that pace. As a matter of fact I didn't feel I had ioK's at any pace. I have felt pretty drained all day after this morning's effort. How I handle my taper, diet etc. over the next three weeks will be very crucial to my being able to keep up the 4:40 pace for the whole 42.2K's.

It was good to share a race with Robert Song again and a big bonus today was a big hug from Clairie.

A Long 20 Miles

I have finally made up my mind to run the 20 Mile race at West End on Sunday. That will be 32K's. I am planning on doing a 5K warmup so that will take me to 37K.

I have only had one run since the Queensland Half last Sunday. I did 11K in my lunch break yesterday (49 Minutes).

Maybe next time

I am still nursing a desire to run the Half in sub 90. My PB which I ran twice in a row, Doomben and Noosa, is 90:07. That was in 2004. Last Sunday at Doomben I ran 90:33 (official time, 90:30 by my Garmin). I would hate my watch to have recorded 89:58 only to have the official time recorded as 90:31. That would devastate me. It makes me realise though, that in oder to get an officially recorded sub 90 I realy need to aim for at least 88 to be on the safe side.

I loved the run on Sunday. As Tesso said, the conditions were perfect. I didn't think I had it in me to run the pace I did and was truly astonished (but pleasantly surprised) to be running ahead of Robert Song and Toasty - poor Toasty thought the curry would help him hurry but instead it caused him some worry and to the loo he had to scurry.

It was great having Tesso out there again at long last.

What an effort Davo and Cirque put in. Did I love that!!!

It was also fantastic to be able to cheer and be cheered by so manr CR's, running buddies and specially my friend Gidget, Darryl, Megs, Sherilee and her Dad Mark, and Dave.

The Runners Heart

I read a poem last night which touched my runner's heart.

http://www.tuggrunner.blogspot.com/

Where did my energy go?

After another run in the lunch break on Friday (5.2k in 21:09) I was, as usual, lookin forward to my Sunday long run.

At 5:00AM Sunday morning we set out from Park Road to do 32K. I felt pretty good and was enjoying the run, heading out along the river to Breakfast Creek at a fairly steady pace. We turned around at Breakie Creek ( a little over 14:3K) and headed back on the the same course. By the time we had reached NewFarm Park my legs were feeling really tired with about 11K still to go to mke up the 32K. I had consumed to GU's by this time and they didn't seem to have had there usual revitalising effect. I was getting wearier by the step.

We had decided to run over the Story Bridge, around Dockside, through Southbank to the Grey Street bridge and back along the river to Park Road. Running under the cliffs on Kangaroo Point I was feeling knackered, with about 6.5 K's to go. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. You would have thought I was running the last couple of K's of a marathon. With a great deal of relief I evenually made it to Park Road. My average pace was 5:34.

When I got home I was feeling exhausted. I had a shower and had to have a little lie down and took it easy for the rest of the day. I slept well last night and feel good today.....could probably run forever.

When I compare yesterday's run to my run last Sunday, it is hard to comprehend the difference. Last Sunday I was able to finish 30K with a good solid workout.

I hope it was just an Off day. I Have entered the Doomben Half next Sunday so am hoping for another On day.

Out and Back

Yeaterday I did an out and back totalling 12k in 57:15. No Dogs.

Today I bought my gear into work and am going to run at lunch time. I'll see how this goes. I am always a bit pushed for time. But I like running when and where their are others running too.

The dark cold mornings get a bit lonely and eerie.

After Lunch update:

I had a very pleasant run. I aran from the Edward Street entrance of the City Gardens along the River Until I had been going 20 mins. That took me to about 250 Metres beyond Oxley's on the River Restaurant. I arrived back to give me a time of 39:57 for 9.38K. An average pace of 4:16.

Running doggedly

I went out on my 12K circuit this morning. Being very pleased with the way I was running, my mind was off in Tra-la land.

There is, at about the 9K mark, a house where two very nasty dogs live. They used to have a go at me from the other side of a very dodgy fence. The big dog, something like a Ridgeback only smaller, in particular used to have a teeth bearing, viscious snarl. The smaller dog, a bit like a Staffordshire Terrier, put on a very scary display of visciousness.

One morning I ran buy and the fence had been demolished and work strated on a new fence. I could hear the dogs barking from the house. That was good. The fence plus retaining wall construction has been at standstill for some months and the dogs have continued barking from the house. That was good.

This morning I came back from Tra-la land with a thud when I heard the dogs sounding more like they used to when the dodgy fence existed. There is still no fence. There are viscious dogs very near. I kept running. I was no match for them so I used my tried and true defensive tactic. I turned and yelled at them...YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I have a very loud yell. I kept yelling. They hesitated. I ran for a bit. They kept coming. I turned and yelled. The big one stopped and turned. The smaller one kept coming. I kept yelling. I stood my ground bent over until my face was about 30CM from it's face. It was very nasty. I thought If I stop yelling it will have me, I have to keep this up until it gives up. I was thinking this dog could just lunge at me any second now but I can't turn away, I have to call it's bluff. I won. The adrenaline was pumping.
The dog turned. I ran.

The rest of the run was rather uneventful but there was no return vist to Tra-la land.

56:43 this morning.

Sunday fun day

I love Sundays. I love Sunday long runs. Yesterday was no exception. I left Park Road with my runnning buddies at 5:30AM and headed down river to Newstead and continued over the Breakfast Creek bridge until we hit the 15K mark, turned round and headed back the same way. 30K in all.

What spectacular running weather. It is so delightful to go out on such mornings and just enjoy the moment.

Even though..........

Even though I thoroughly enjoyed my run on the Magical Mountain last Sunday and I wasn't sore afterwards, I have has a tough week since.

Monday morning was on eof those Oooooooooooooooooooooooooh! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! mornings. Ouch! I was hurting. Now, that's a good thing of course.....No pain - No gain. Tuesday I was still sore so gave the run a miss. Wednesday I managed 12K in 1:00:58. Thursday I felt so tired in the morning I again gave the run a miss, then slept in, missed breakfast, and just made the train. Friday, today, I ran 12K in 1:00:31.

It hasn't been a good training week but I still alive and kicking. Next week will be better.

Oh what a run!

I am feeling so good after my run this morning. It must the Magical Mountain I ran this morning.

My running buddy, Tegwen, and I..no one else would join us.. set off from Park Road at 5:00AM today and headed up Milton Road to Mt Coot-tha. The section from the entrance to the Botanical Gardens to the junction where the loop round the mountain (big hill really..anything a couple of hundred metres above sea level is called a mountain in Queensland and it probably was a mountain 300 million years ago) meets up is the steepest part of the run. The next section, from J C Slaughter Falls to the summit, is about 3K's of steadily climbing, winding road. It's always good to turn the last bend and see the Channel 10 sign which is illuminated and a welcome sight in the dark.

Once the summit has been conquered the worst is over but there are still a couple of smaller challenges on the way down. We completed one lap (9.6K) and then did the same again. I found the second climb a real challenge. My legs were screaming by the time I hit the top. However, it is always a good feeling to have met the challenge and be heading down again.

We returned via Sylvan Road because it doesn't have any hills. In all we covered 28K in 2:35. I was surprised how good I felt and even after sitting for a while, chatting over a cup of coffee, I didn't feel any soreness when I got up to leave.

All in all, a great morning.

Ho hum

12K in 56:34 today. It was cold but there was no chill in the air. Sometimes, not this morning, when I run through the hollows the temperature drops noticeably.

On a different path

Yesterday I ran my old faithful 12K circuit in an old faithful time of 57:01.

This morning, thinking about Tuggeranong Don's policy of running a different course each day, I decided to go on an adventure. I ran over hill and dale, well some hilly streets at least, not exactly knowing where the next turn would take me. I had a general idea of course, and did make it home eventually. I had to struggle with a few more hills than I had planned but I was taking it easy and just enjoying the experience, be it in the dark.

My total excursion lasted 1:05:05 and was 12.5K in all. I arrived home feeling good and glad I had tried something different. Thanks for the inspiration Don.

Slack Sunday

You wouldn't think I was training for a marathon if you saw me running yesterday. I was taking it pretty easy. In fact it took me 1:40 to run a whole 18K. I had better start getting serious.

Still working up a sweat

Even though it is cool I am still working up a sweat...probably because I am old..ish. Another good run this morning. The cold and dark don't bother me greatly. As long as I can see the white lines in the middle of the road I am right.

12K this morning in 56:12.

Invigorating

I love the cool. My run this morning was invigorating. Runs like this morning refresh my love affair with running. Sorry girls...running is the other woman...just ask Robyn.

12K in 58:27 this morning. I enjoy the return section the most because I am warmed up and feeling good.

A good run

I set out this morning at about 5 o'clock and was surprised that I didn't feel too bad. My quads are a bit sore from Sunday's Half but other than that I had no problems. It was nice and cool and on my way back home, having warmed up nicely, I even felt a bit of the old bounce.

12K in 56:54 with a negative split by 2 mins.

Brisbane Half

What a shocker. I felt a real sense of disappointment during this race. I knew that the way my legs felt, there was not a chance of them coming good during the race. They felt like lead the whole way. I guess I hadn't recovered from the Canberra Marathon as well as I had thought.

My CoolRunning post:

"As much as I looked forward to this race, once I was out there I looked forward to the finish. At the start line I still had high hopes of running about 1:33. Having set out with Robert Song, thinking that if I stuck with him I might stand a chance of a 1:33, I, however, realised early on that my leaden legs were just not going to perform today.

The reality hit home when at about 7K the 1:35 train passed me and I lost Robert Song. I thought then, that I would just do the best I could and came home in 1:38. I just didn't have any bounce in me today. Never mind, there will be another one.

The organisation was teriffic. All the volunteers put in a mighty effort.
Thanks to the CR Cheer squad. There was huge turn out of CR's today. Though the event was a tough one, the atmosphere was amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of the event."