A long Run and monthly totals.

Due to work and family commitments I missed a run on Saturday but yesterday, (Sunday) I still made it out the door for my long run.

The Hal Higdon program called for a 27km run and with five and a bit laps of my local 5km circuit I managed 27.5km in 2:21:37.


My 1km splits. I'm very happy with this effort.

Even though I covered the same territory five times the runs was quite enjoyable. The hilliest part of this course is also where I hit a stiff westerly head wind but with a few shouts at the elements I managed to push through. My apologies if I scared any neighbors.

Up to the 20km mark I felt fantastic. I reckon after this Marathon business I will concentrate my efforts of Halfs, improving my best time.

I have registered for my first Fatass event. The Bellarine Rail Trail is a 32km or 64km run comming up on Sunday the 20th of August. The family and I are going to make a weekend of it and stay at Sal's parents place at nearby Ocean Grove and I will run the 32km from Geelong to Queenscliff. We are all looking forward to that weekend.

Today is a rest/cross training day and I have just returned from the swimming pool. A few laps to free up the muscles a little but it was not really needed. Soon as I finished the long run yesterday I showered and put on my Skins. Compared to the way I felt after the 30km Sri Chinmoy my legs are 100% better.

Yesterdays run brings my monthly total to....drum roll please... 257.55km!! That is 85km more than my previous best of 172km in March. The kilometres are really starting to add up.

My monthly weight average is 95.7 kilos. The weight has actually fluctuated a bit this month. It was tending to creep up until I started myself on a low calorie/low fat diet. I have to admit that even after giving up smokes, alcohol and starting a exercise regime, sticking to a healthy diet is one of the toughest things I have ever done.

Now that was silly...

I think I did something a bit silly this morning. I paid my $100 and registered for the 2006 Melbourne Marathon.

Now that I have paid there is no going back, only forward. Come October 8th and I will be running in a marathon.

Thursday the 27th of July

Oscar and I went out for our 10km training loop and completed it in 0:48:29.

This run can be viewed at Motionbased.

I am well on my way to making a official sub 50 minute 10km race for the defense Lake Attack. Not only have I registered for this race but also the rest of the family, wife Sal, kids Lucy(9) and Ben(6) will participating in the 5km walk. Good luck to all.

Today the 28th of July

I played with The Garminator and set it for a Quick workout of 13 kilometres, pace of 5:20. The run was down a road in to the neighboring suburb of Cranbourne to 6.5km and return. I tried to keep myself at the 5:20 pace but kept speeding up. Ended up completing 13km in 1:06:26. An average 5:04 pace.

More Motionbased details here.

Tesso asked "Who is that CR hot on your tail?" referring to the pic here. I can honestly say I do not know. He is wearing a yellow bib so he was in the Half but I'm afraid to say that I did not meet him on the day. If any other Melbournians out there have an idea please let me know.

I spy another Coolrunner.

The Sri Chinmoy website has published some photos from Sundays run. There was a few pics of me but I found this one that I am kind of happy with.


I went for a run along the Yarra River in Melbourne today. I ended up running a 10.58km in 0:51:38. I ran out 5.2km following the river but when I couldn't find somewhere to cross I had to turn back and return to work.

At about 6.9km I was surprised to see another runner heading towards me wearing a Coolrunning cap. After the initial shock I recognized Steve out for one of his Yarra runs. We stopped and chatted for a short time but I had to push on back to work.


The splits from today's run. The 5:26 time included climbing some stairs to cross the river at the rail bridge.

I made it back with about 15 minutes to clean up, change and grab a Boost Juice (they help me cool quickly after a run) before running my 5pm Williamstown train.

Except for the time constraints todays run was very enjoyable. Exploring a different path was interesting and the chance encounter with Steve made my day. I will endeavor to get out along side the Yarra River more often.

Some things I learnt.

After a few days retrospect I have been thinking a lot about the Sri Chinmoy Princess Park run and believe I have learnt a few things from the 30km experience.

1/When running at night take a torch.
The most annoying thing about the Princess Park run was having to enter with a stupid injury. If I hadn't tripped over a curb while out running in darkness four nights previously I would have been in better shape for the big event.

2/Take the Fuelbelt on Race day.
I brought my Fuelbelt and a bottle of Gatorade on the day but with a last minute decision I left them in the car. I figured there would be frequent aid stations on the course and there was. But I did noticed many other runners wearing Fuelbelts with sports drinks. Maybe more fuel for the longer run and certainly a lot easier to drink out of than a cup.

3/Wearing Skins
The Skins I bought a few days previously stayed in my backpack during the run. My plan was to don them straight after the race but I didn't put them on till after I got home and showered. I noticed again that a lot of runners were wearing them during the event and I started to think that I should have too. What's the point of $100+ sports tights when I don't wear them during sport?

3/Bladder Control
It's not just while running but also during day to day life. I just can't seem to hold on as good as I used to. I have been joking that it must mean I am getting old but my wife thinks I should get a check-up. I will arrange to see a doctor during the next week. I would be very frustrated to have to stop for a piss during my marathon and have the legs stiffen up again.

It has been a few days since the run and nearly a week since I fell. The pain in my knee from the fall has been superseded by my aching leg muscles. I have struggled to get in and out of cars and walk up stairs let alone attempt to go for a run.

Tomorrow at work I have a long meal break so I may go for a slow, leisurely run along the Yarra River. I am at my highest monthly total and only need a few more kilometres to crack the 200 for July.

P.S Is it just me or is anyone else having trouble uploading pics to blogger??

30km Sri Chinmoy

Well against good judgment I decided to compete in the 30km Sri Chinmoy at Princess Park this morning.

I woke bright and early with my knee still a bit swollen and sore. Made a couple pieces of toast then picked up my friend Salli, and her sister-in-law Karen for the drive into the City.

The girls were going into the 5km walk and we noticed it had been raining overnight. I mentioned how it never rains for a Sri Chinmoy event and things would be ok.

At Princess Park a bubbly Beki introduced her self and them I caught up with some other Coolrunners. Tiger Boy, Rohan, Azza, Eat 'Em, Lostboys A & B, Jaykay, Chiliman and Steve. There was lots of other yellow and blue gear and as usually I'm sorry I didn't get everyone's names.

Before the race started I positioned myself right at the front. Figured it would be good to get a flying start without dodging slower runners.

It was explained that the course was a 5km circuit. The 30kmers would have to complete 6 laps and the Halfs would run 4. Their was some grumbles as it was announced that the half marathoners would have to turn back, and rejoin at the back of the pack, after the first straight to make up the 1.1km.

We had the moment of reflection then Ready, Set, GO! The race had started.

I was running quite well, maybe too good as Garminator told me I was at 3:50 pace! I was worried I would burn up on the first 5km circuit so had to make an effort to slow down.

The course passed under Royal Parade via a couple of bridges. It went out near Melbourne Zoo then looped back on itself. Garminator didn't like the bridges and paused himself. While running I had to make some adjustments and turn off the auto pause feature. I was passing under the bridges another 11 times and didn't want the stopwatch paused everytime I did.

The first 5km lap was completed in 23:16 and I was feeling pretty good. I figured if I continued at a reasonable pace I would finish 30km in around 2 and a half, maybe three quarter hours.

10km passed at 48:04 (woohoo PB) and 15km at 1:13:22. 20km I was at 1:38:59 and still feeling pretty fresh.

Salli and Karen had well and truly finished there 5km and came out to cheer me for the 15km mark. They then went for a coffee then came back for more cheers when I passed under the banner for the 5th time. Completing 25km in 2:03:53.

I was feeling pretty stuffed by now. I could feel the injured knee was getting tight, and I kept reminding myself that the furthest I had run before this was 22km's. I also had a infrequent need for the toilet that came and went. I was starting to think that if I had run in the half marathon I would have been finished by now. Still just one more lap didn't sound so bad so I pushed on.

After I passed the last drink station at 28km I spotted a toilet block and the need for a piss wouldn't wait further. Stopping I could feel my legs stiffening up and the will to go on was evaporating.

After a steady km pace of 5:00 to 5:30, the 29th kilometre pace blew out to 7:19! I was reduced to a walk and even stopping to stretch the legs and very sore knee. Other runners going past were shouting out encouragement and I felt a little silly walking so close to the end.

With effort I didn't know I had I started with a slow jog then pushing on to a 5:30 pace again.

Within sight of the finish line the back of my left knee started cramping. In my head I was saying "No way, not now!" and ran/hoped/limped over the finish line completing 30km in 2:36:50.

The earlier finishers had done a great job of clearing out the pancakes but I wolfed down four of the best mandarines I think I had ever had. Strange that in the last 5 km's I started feeling hungry.

Considering I had trained no where near this distance, and that I was carrying a stupid injury. I felt that I did ok.

With Garminator cracking the shits about the bridges I don't entirely trust his data but further details can be found at Motionbased.

It is 11 weeks to the Melbourne Marathon and after today's effort, with more training kilometres and long runs. The goal of running 42.195 is even more plausible.

Decision time

Injury Report

The stiffness and swelling from my knee has abated a bit and even though it doesn't feel 100%, I now have full movement so I am going ahead with the 30km Sri Chinmoy run in the morning.

Thanks to everyone for their great comments and good wishes.

Car Buying

Today after much deliberation and thought my wife Sal and I bought a new car.

It is a new Honda Jazz Vti-s. It has a zippy 1.5 litre motor with a 7 speed automatic. Most importantly it will also have a 5 year warranty.
It will be replacing our ageing, petrol guzzling, Holden VS Commodore.
This car will be added to the stable and keep our other Honda, a 7 seater 2004 Odyssey, company.

The new car is still making its way from Japan and should be here in a week or so.

LATE EDIT: I just found out that a very Coolrunner that I met at the Melbourne Zoo Super Summer Series, Alisonjc, now has her own blog. It is a very entertaining read and can be found at www.lbtepa.blogspot.com. Enjoy!

Bugger!

Tuesday 18th of July

This morning Oscar and I ran my 10km circuit. According to the Hal Higdon Marathon plan I am supposed to be running a 6.5km but I have been getting a little bored with the short kilometre runs, and decided to extend the distance a little.

We completed the 10.1km in 0:48:35. This has been my best 10km time yet and I am happy to make my sub 50 minute goal.

Motionbased details for this run can be found here.

The defense Lake Attack was the first race I ran in last year. I completed 5km in 0:26:11 and since then have become a lot faster. The race will be held again on Sunday the 27th of August and I will be returning to Albert Park Lake for a 10km this time. I look forward to making my sub 50 minute 10km time official, and beating my previous lake lap record.

Wednesday 19th of July

My mid-week longish run had to wait till I got home from work about 6pm. It was dark and very cold when I set off for a 13km run around the suburb.

I was enjoying the run till the 2.1km mark when I tripped on a round-about and fell heavily, landing on my left knee, chest and hands.

I regained my posture and collected the Fuelbelt water bottles that had scattered across the road and managed to jog/limp around the corner and checked myself for damage under better lighting.

My left knee had copped a graze under the Nike running tights but thankfully no rips or tears. A nipple ring I wear was half knocked out and I had to remove it completely to avoiding losing it. Otherwise the damage seemed minimal so I completed my planned 13km run in 1:08:05.

Motionbased details for this run can be found here.

In hindsight I should have headed straight home and RICE my knee but it felt ok when I was moving. It is only now after being at work all day and giving it very little attention that it has swelled and stiffened up.

My taper for Sundays 30km Sri Chinmoy has started a few days earlier than I planned. And as much as I hate to think it my participation in the event may be in jeopardy.

As the title said...BUGGER!!!

On a happier note Rebel Sport in the Bourke St Mall were having a 20% off storewide sale today. I dropped in and bought a pair of Skins tights and a Everlast Hoodie. I can't seem to resist a sporting goods sale anymore :-)

Sunday long run.

Today had a fallback distance of 16km's in the Hal Higdon marathon plan.

After catching up with chores I set out alone just before midday. I covered part of my pre-Garmin 15km course (it was a bit short of 15) and had to fill in for the last 2km's.

I am pretty happy with my splits. They are pretty consistent with the terrain I ran on.
Elevation/Distance

In the end I ran 16.5kms in 1:25:01. 11km's into the run and I passed a local Fish and Chip shop. The smell wafting out of the place wouldn't leave me so once I had freshed up I headed back to get the family lunch. Hot chips on a cold winters day...Yum.

More information on this run can be found at Motionbased.

I haven't mentioned it much but I have received my race number (Pink 2978) for next Sundays 30km Sri Chinmoy at Princess Park. The furthest I have run so far is 22.7km and I am a little nervous. This event was always going to be the measuring stick for the Melbourne Marathon and I hope I will be up for it.

In the Coolrunning forums I have noticed the thread for the Fat Ass Bellarine Rail trail long run. I have added my name to the list and I am looking forward to the experience. The family and I can stay at the in-laws in Ocean Grove for the weekend, and will then watch me stagger into Queenscliff after running 34km's on the Sunday.

A wet Melbourne.

Today I had planned on a 11km run in the city during my mealbreak, but due to the constant rain in Melbourne, I was restricted to the treadmill in the social club's gym.
A very wet MCG viewed from Richmond station.

I ran a boring 11km's in 1:02:20 while watching TV.

My 1000km milestone came and passed and I didn't even notice, only remembering later when I was getting changed.

1.7 kilometres to go.

As the title suggests I have 1.7kms to go before I crack 1000k's this year. I'm almost tempted to go for a spin around the block to even it out.

But it is getting late and I have already had dinner so this milestone will have to wait for another day.

It has been 3 days since my last post and I will quickly catch up.

Tuesday the 11th
The area we live in is still growing and there is new housing estates popping up everywhere. It also has plenty of beautiful display homes close by that my wife Sal and I like to browse through. Oscar and I set off this day for just a cruise through some of the newer areas to check out land sites and get a feel for the area.

We ended up running 7.8kms in 0:40:01 and covered a bit of ground. I noticed some brand new homes that people had moved into in the past week. It reminded me of when we shifted into our current house. It had been raining for two weeks and we had a brand new home in the middle of a sea of mud. It was so much work to get the garden and outside areas to what we have now. I'm not too sure if I really want to go back and do it all again.

More details can be found on Motionbased.

Wednesday the 12th
On this day the Hal Higdon Marathon plan has me running a 11km distance. Once again Oscar and I set off but this time I just set the Garminator for 5.5km and turned back home when the alarm sounded. 11km in 0:53:56.

I was impressed with the splits on this run. The two highest times was while climbing hills.

If that doesn't totally bore you more information can be found at Motionbased.

Thursday the 13th
Today I had a one and a half hour meal break in the City so I took my running gear to work.

I set off from Flinders st Station and turned on the Garminator when I got to the north bank of the Yarra river. Then headed east till I arrived at the Anderson st bridge. I crossed the Yarra and pushed myself up the Anderson st hill and completed a clockwise circuit of The Tan.

Back at Anderson st I turned back to work this time following the south bank of the river.

(Gggrrr here I wanted to add some boring but very cool maps and graphs but bloody Blogger won't let me!!)

I ended up covering 8.42kms in 0:40:40. More information can be found at Motionbased here.

Tomorrow is a rest day and also a DDO/RDO/EDO (whatever you may call it) from work.

I will be back for my 1000k breaking run on Saturday.

Just to catch up.

Looks like I have a blogging post and a few runs to catch up on....

Friday I went back to Lysterfield Lake with my friend Salli. She was going to walk a lap of the lake while I would run two . I figured I would catch her easy on my second lap but I couldn't believe it when she beat me back to the car! I ran 12.9km and Salli walked 6.5km in 1:04:35.

I know Salli reads this and I am throwing out the challenge. I want a rematch!

Saturday Oscar and I set off for a 11km pace run in accordance to Hal Higdons Marathon training plan. I pushed for a fast pace and got it completing 11.1km in 0:55:30. Oscar had been awhile since his last run, Lysterfield Lake doesn't allow doggy visitors. He still did a great job of keeping up.

Later that day I registered for the 30km Sri Chinmoy Princess Park run. I reckon this event will be a good indication to see if I am up for the marathon distance.

Sunday and I had my long planned, much anticipated 22.5km long run. I had never run this distance before and it has been six weeks since my Half Marathon debut, I was feeling a little apprehensive.

I set off alone. Anything over 15km's is too far for Oscar and without him I can run on the roads.

Without going into every pavement pounding kilometre I will summarize and say it was a good run that felt pretty gruelling at times. It got tough towards the end, especially as I was so close to home but found that I had to make up 3 kilometres. Weaving up and down some local streets soon stretched the k's out.

My wife Sal flung open the door when I arrived home and exclaimed how worried she had been for me, "You have been gone for hours" she cried.

"22.76km in 1:59:59" (woohoo under 2 hours!) I replied with a sheepish grin and trying not to fall over. It was good to get home.

The long run brought my weekly total to 87.54km's, a new top weekly score. After slacking off last weekend it has also brought me back on track with the marathon plan and a well earned rest day today.

Now for a few questions. I don't think Krispy Kreme doughnuts are all that. I'm not sure why people are still queuing for them three weeks after the store had opened. Maybe a well thought out and planned advertising campaign.

I would love to meet the legendary Tesso at the Melbourne Marathon. I bags running next to her for 1km then eating her dust when she takes off at some crazy 4:45 pace for the rest of the race :-)

A long Lysterfield Lake run.

Yesterday I had a slack day with no running. I had things on in the morning and CFA stuff in the afternoon.

My wife Sal arrived home from work and after the very successful lasagna dinner, she went and lined up for 40 minutes at the new Krispy Kreme for two boxes of doughnuts.

The Fountain Gate Krispy Kreme store opened at our local shopping centre on the 22nd of June and amazingly people are still queuing up. It has a 24hour drive thru that has had a constant stream of cars. I think I am in the wrong business.

After dropping the kids off at school this morning I drove again to Lysterfield Lake for a leisurely, "lets see where this trail leads" sort of run.

I set off across the dam wall in the morning sun feeling pretty pumped. As I had planned on a slow run I decided I could take some time for picture taking to add to the blog.

Just after the wall is a steep short hill. At the top I turned right and ran up the Tramline Walk trail.

There where so many kangaroos out and about that I soon got sick of stopping to take their picture. The ones that were on the track soon moved and others close by didn't seem to mind a guy running around in tight black leggings huffing and puffing like a steam train.


I ended up following a bike track that seemed to meander through the bush. The Asics Kayanos were probably not the best shoe for trial running. With rain all night the pathways were a little wet and became very slippery . I'm glad I wore my old shoes because it wasn't long before they were filthy dirty.

I pushed on out further in the park than I have ever gone before. Thankful that I had taken my laminated park map and that the Garminators tracking function was working so well.

It was a very slow pace. I was stopped often to consult the map, take pictures and even a couple of phone calls.

(At this point I am trying to upload a couple more pictures but Blogger is being very bloody painful and won't let me do it. Time to wind up this post.)

In the end I had covered 15.51km in 1:28:50. Not a very fast time but I did enjoy myself.

More information of this run can be found at Motionbased.

Two laps of Lysterfield Lake

After Monday nights good run and everyones great comments to my last post I set out yesterday to run two laps of Lysterfield Lake.

I ended up running 13.06km in 1:06:52. The track elavation is a bit more up and down than my normal, surburban running courses and I think my 1km splits reflect this.

More details of this run can be found at Motionbased (thanks Steve).

The Garmin 305 has been grouse. I have enjoyed its company and feel it was money well spent. The only small problem would be the time I now spend on the computer analyzing the data and creating maps. I am currently planning out some different routes for some more varied input.

Yesterday I googled minced meat recipes and found this lasagna dish. I showed it to my wife Sal and she has requested it for dinner. So while I am blogging I have to frequently check the meat sauce that is now on the stove. Hopefully it will work out and I can give good reviews of it later.

A weekend to recharge

Last Friday I set out for my regular 10km run. It didn't go as well as I hoped and I had a few problems. The Garminator lost its satellite lock and I had to stop and have a fiddle with it. Then at the 6.5km mark I was reduced to a walk for a bit after powering up a short, steep hill. My heartrate had peaked at 191 bpm at the summit so I decided to walk it out for a few hundred metres to bring it back under control. I got back home after 10.9km in 0:52:38.

This weekend, as anyone who lives in Melbourne knows, was fairly poor weather wise. I had a 10km run Saturday and a 21km long run scheduled for Sunday. But due to the rain, shopping for dining room tables with the wife or just not being in the mood for it I didn't get any running done.

I checked out the new Melbourne Marathon website on Sunday and started to question my goals. Am I ready for a full marathon? Do I have the determination for it? Am I being unrealistic? My weight lose has stalled a little this month and I wonder will I be too heavy for a marathon?

The family and I went to the cinema that afternoon to watch Superman Returns. It was a great, feel good movie and helped put to marathons and running out of my mind for the rest of the night.

This evening Oscar and I went set out for a evenly paced, 10km run around the suburb
It was over a different route than normal and was actually a bit of fun. After a few days of breaking in my new Asics Kayanos were getting their first run and they felt great. I didn't push myself too hard and ended up completing 10.3km in 0:52:14.

After such a enjoyable run my thoughts have turned back to my goals. I reckon I can make up my lost kilometres from the weekend during the next few days and be back on track. The McMillan Running calculator reckons I could run a marathon in 3:45:10 at 5:21 pace/km. With focus and training I am back to believing that it is indeed a realistic goal.