A Good Week

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

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

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

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

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

Something Concrete

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

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

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

A Perfect Sunday

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Morning After

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

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

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

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

Return of the Running Buddy

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

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

A tough 10 miles

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

Noosa Half

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

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

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

What's in a name?

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

C2S

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

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

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

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

A Rare Pleasure

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

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

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

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

Park 2 Park Ipswich Half

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

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

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

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

Thoroughly Enjoyable

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

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

Rail Trail Fun Run

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

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

Oh well!

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

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

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

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

BRRC 10K Champs

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

A Better Sunday

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

Less than 2 weeks to the Gold Coast Marathon.

Long Slow Run

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

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

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

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

Queensland Half Marathon

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

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

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

Just can't get Moving

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

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

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

A Little More Respectable

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