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."

Brisbane Half Tomorrow

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

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

Waiting for the Half

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

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

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

Loking forward to the Half

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

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

A new path

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

Cool Weather Runner

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

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

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

First after the Marathon

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

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

My Canberra Marathon

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

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

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

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

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

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