Shin Splints??

My sore right ankle from last Sunday has developed into something that has suspiciously similar symptoms as shin splints.

My ankle and the front of the shin has been very sore up until today when the pain seems to have eased a little.

I have been very frustrated this week. It is the time in my training program when I should be cranking out those big, long runs, but up until this morning I haven't been able to walk without a limp.

This injury flared up after trail running at Lysterfield Lake last Thursday. I'm hoping I haven't bought a pair of evil Asics Gel Eagles trail shoes.

Hopefully after resting this weekend I will be able to start training again. Fingers crossed a weeks rest won't upset the marathon program too much.

Late edit: Thanks for the reminder Simlin. I have just added my monthly totals. This month was a little low due to the last weeks rest. 226.35km is a little short compared to last month. Hopefully I can get it together for September.

Defence Lake Attack.

Once again after a week of being a slack Blogger I have six days to catch up on.

Tuesday the 22nd of August

A run out from work this day. I left Flinders St station and followed the Yarra River to the Anderson St bridge. Turning right I ran a anti-clockwise lap of the Tan and headed back to work.

8.4 kilometres in 0:38:54 (I have really noticed how much faster I have become).

Details can be found at Motionbased here.

Thursday the 24th of August

After heavy rain most of the morning in Melbourne I decided to get those 'still new looking' trail shoes a bit dirty.

After dropping the kids at school I drove to Lysterfield Lake Park and ran a 11.9km circuit in 1:03:36.

I didn't get the shoes that dirty but after stomping in every puddle I could find I got them very wet.

I don't know how it happened but when I left the park to head home my right ankle felt very sore, almost like a sprain.

More Motionbased details found here.


This mystery injury kept me resting for the remainder of the week and I tried to recover it for Sunday morning.

Sunday the 27th of August
Defence Lake Attack

My first competive race I entered 12 months ago is back and this time I was out to set a 10km PB.

The rest of my family, Sal, Lucy and Ben were entered for the 5km walk and it was looking like a fine day.

When we arrived at Albert Park Lake I noticed that the event seemed to be bigger than last year. It was in a different location and seemed to be a lot more tents and military vehicles on display.

I lined up early at the starting gate and half expected a balls up like the previous year when the starters gun wouldn't work.

I think the whole field, ducks and even the swans jumped out of their skin when the start was announced by a gut churning BOOM from a 105mm Howitzer gun!

The starters gun!

I set off fast. I knew I was fast but I was feeling fairly confident that I could keep a good pace. Once I was out of the crowd I started picking targets and reeling them in.

The first lap of the lake went through at 0:20:49. I was elated but also a little disappointed as The Garminator told me the lap was only 4.8km long.

The second lap was a little slower as I was caught up in the 5km walkers. I had to dodge and weave a bit and I lost sight of the next runner that I was pacing off.

Sal copped a slap on the butt as I lapped her and a quick hello to the kids and I continued on.

I crossed the finish line in a record smashing 0:42:15! Beating my previous 10km race time (Olympic Dream) of 0:53:37. I just wish the Garminator told me I had run 10km instead of 9.6.

I gathered my showbag and waited for the family to come in. They would have been under an hour except for congestion in the finishing chute. Very well done guys!

Ben is very happy with his Bling (complementary race medal) and has announced that he will keep it for ever and even his kids will inherit it.

Details for the Defence Lake Attack can be found here and Motionbased results here.

Apart from the discrepancies with the distance I am thrilled with the result. At Tesso's suggestion I was hoping for 45 minutes but would never have imagined sub 43.

My right ankle has pulled up sore again and I have been having a little trouble with my second toe on the left foot since the 34km last weekend. All of a sudden they seemed to have decided that after 400 km's my Asics Kayano's are too small?!? Very weird.

A 50 kilometre weekend. Bellarine Rail Trail.

Saturday the 19th of August

Knowing I would regret it if I didn't, I set out during a few spare hours for a 16km Hal Higdon training run.

I had thought a lot about R2B's comments from a previous post about how fast one of my 17km runs went. I double checked the figures and found that they were all correct so surprisingly I did run 17km in 1:26:00. On Saturday I ended up pushing myself hard and ran 16.1km's in 1:16:21. Again an average pace of 4:44!

All my splits were under 5 minutes except for a steep hill section. I will be working on that one soon :-)

Sunday the 20th of August
Fatass Bellarine Rail Trail Run

After spending the night at my in-laws Ocean Grove place Saturday night (not as bad as it sounds, they are very good in-laws). I woke at 6:30am, had some toast, and drove the half hour trip to the Geelong Showgrounds.

At 7:25 am there was already a lot of people there. I signed the necessary indemnity forms and hopped around keeping warm and chatting to familiar faces.

Once again I met Coolrunners, Tiger Boy, Eat Em', Jaykay, Chilliman, Diane[GH], and Superjacent (aka Steve).

At 7:50am the Race Director Brett (Coolrunnings BDC) gave us a chat on runners safety and good behavior and Lee Troop gave a short speech thanking Brett and his team of volunteers. Lee also asked the Ultra runners doing the 68km to seriously think hard about what they were doing.

With a very informal ready, set, go we all set off and I kept with the leaders group till about the 7.7km mark where I stopped for a short toilet break.

I rejoined the race with two strangers that seemed to be doing a happy pace. One of them was talking about his experience at the Paris Marathon and it was interesting listening.

The Paris Marathon guy upped his ante and joined a forward group and I cotinued to run with the other bloke who I found out was a Coolrunning lurker named Paul.

Paul and I stayed together for quite awhile at a 5:15 to 5:30 pace. We walked through the 16km aid station for water and some lollies then picked up our speed to 5 minutes or less for the next 10 kilometres.

During that time it was a little satisfying to pass the Paris Marathon guy who was reduced to a run alot/walk a little pace.

Paul and I stayed together till 26km's when he had to stop to deal with a stitch.

At the 27.8 km mark The Garminator spat the dummy and lost all satellite reception. I was feeling much the same and was just about stuffed on a long stretch of bitumen road when Tiger Boy and Eat Em' powered up from the rear and swept me along for the last 5 kilometres.

Tiger Boy was doing a fantastic job of Pacer, calling out words of encouragement and I could feel their energy. I managed to keep pace with them till over the finish line and I am so grateful for their assistance.

The Garminator lost signal for 30 minutes and gained it back toward the very end. I am not very happy with its data from this run and will not be posting his results. According to Steve's Mr Garmin the distance was 33.63 kilometres and I completed it in 2:52.

The auther and Steve. Steve is surprised to hear that he is not the only one with a secret camera.

My ever faithful family was at the finish line to meet me and Sal drove me to the local caravan park to shower and get my Skins on before I couldn't walk.

We had a fantastic lunch at the Royal Hotel in Queenscliff where I wolfed down a very yummy and well deserved Rib-Eye steak.

24 hours later and I can't praise the healing powers of Skins enough. My legs feel brand new and feel ready for another 34km run.

The first weekend of long, LONG runs.

Wednesday the 16th of August

According to the Hal Higdons Marathon plan a 16km long run was on the program today.

I set off alone and ran across to the neighboring suburb and back in a big squareish loop.

By the time I got back home I ended up running 17km's in 1:26:06.

My splits for this run.

The splits time blew out to 5:39 in the 11th km when I took a wrong turn and had to go off-road next to the railway track.

More details for this run at Motionbased.

Thursday the 17th of August.

Oscar and I did our old 10km circuit around the estate.

It had rained a little overnight so I wore my new Asics Trail shoes.

I found the Asics Gel Eagles very unforgiving when running on concrete but a lot easier to run on grass that my Kayano's. It was a lot of fun looking for and stomping in any puddles I could find and I made a great mess.

Oscar is a little out of form and was happy to get back home after 10km's in 0:49:38. I'm afraid that I think I am too quick for him and 10km's will be his limit from now on.

More Motionbased details here.

Friday the 18th of August (today).

I had ever intention of moving tomorrows 16km run to today but just can't get myself motivated to do it.

It was sunny earlier but clouding over now. The cold wind is making outdoors a bit nippley (uncomfortable when you have a pierced one) and I'm just not in the mood for it.

I can always run tomorrow but as we are heading to the in-laws at Ocean Grove for the weekend I may not get time for it.

I have the much anticipated Fatass Bellarine Rail Trail 32km on Sunday and I am looking forward to having a great Sunday long run.

That will be the first of my three 32km runs before the taper leading to Melbourne Marathon 2006. I have been thinking of running this 32km then pushing the next two out to 36 kilometres. I think this maybe better preparation for my marathon than having to make up 10km's on the day.

Any ideas or thoughts on this would be very welcome.

Half a week to catch up on.

Seeing as I have been such a busy/lazy blogger I now have three runs to catch up on.

Thursday the 10th of August

On this day I had a straight run down the Yarra River from Flinders St station to the Grange Rd Bridge and returned on the south bank.

It was a distance of 11.2km's and I ran it in 0:53:18.

Apart from the 11th kilometre which involved some stairs I'm pretty happy with the split times.

If you are interested more details can be found at Motionbased.

Saturday the 12th of August.

Due to a expected busy Sunday I moved my 30km long run forward a day early. I started out just after sunrise and ran 7.7km's to the local Garden Supplies where I had to order some pine bark mulch.

With the mulch all paid for and delivery expected around 11am I continued on with my run. I covered some new roads in the area that I have been thinking about and I have come to realize that 30 km's is a bloody long way!

Saturdays Long Run route.

It was with a little disappointment that when I got to a point that I knew was 2 kilometres from home I found that I had covered only 26km. Weaving in and around a few streets to make up the last 4km's was very tough and my km splits times reflect that.

Km splits from Saturdays long run.

In the end I ran 30.7km's in 2:39:21.

More details can be found on Motionbased here.

After arriving back home and showering I donned my Skins with a pair of overalls over the top and proceeded to weed and mulch our garden beds. The Skins did wonders for my leg muscle recovery but by 10pm that night I was struggling to stay awake. It was a early night to bed.

Tuesday the 15th of August (Today).

I have been researching trail shoes for a while to give my Kayano's a rest from the muddy paths around Lysterfield Lake, and decided on the Asics Gel Eagle Trail.

I ordered a pair from Pauls Warehouse last Friday and today they arrived..

To welcome them home I set off to Lysterfield Lake and ran 11.1km's in 0:56:28.

Details for this run are at Motionbased.

The Gel Eagles felt a lot different than my Asics Kayanos. They are heavier and also felt a lot bouncier. The paths around the Lake wern't quite wet or slippery enough today to get the full traction benefits of the trail shoe. I'm hoping to take them to Sassafrass for a real muddy run soon.

The scenic route around Melbourne.

Tuesday the 8th of August.

On Tuesday I showed up for work early and took a run around the more "iconic" parts of Melbourne.

I ran from the Elizabeth St Subway at Flinders St Station and headed down the North Bank toward Birrarung Marr Park. I crossed the footbridge over the train tracks and headed out to do an external lap of the MCG.

Approaching the Melbourne Cricket Ground from the Birrarung Rail Bridge.

I hadn't run around the "G" before and I did find the experience pretty special. There is several statues commemerating sporting achievements scattered around the ground and the size of the place is pretty awesome.

The view from the bottom of the Number 5 light tower.

I then crossed back over toward Rod Laver and Vodaphone Arena's, turned left up Swan St, then right down Hoddle Street to follow the Yarra Trail.

Following the Yarra River I crossed over to the south bank on the Grange Rd Bridge (as recomended by Steve on a earlier run) and headed back to the City.

Melbourne taken from Birrarung Rail Bridge.

My maximum heart-rate monitor was singing away merrily as I joined the multitudes of lunch time runners heading up the Anderson St Hill and I did a half lap of the Tan.

Crossing St Kilda Rd I dodged the crowds on Southbank, crossed the Yarra River again at the Sandridge Rail Bridge, and returning to Flinders St Station 14.2km's and 1:10:31 minutes later.

More details on this run can be found at Motionbased.

Wednesday the 9th of August.

Yesterday I attended at my Gym and had a follow up fitness assesment. My last assesment was 29th of March 2005 and since then it has all been good news.

March last year I weighed 108.7 kilo, now 94.1. My body fat was 36.1% and now a lot healthier 24.8%. On a bike test it was found that my stamina has doubled and the assessor was very happy. I did point out to him that most of my weight loss was contributed to outdoor running and not the gym but he didn't seem to mind.

You ran where??

Thursday the 3rd of August

I ran a fairly slow 6.5kms in 0:42:00 on the treadmill at work tonight. I did this while watching 'Resevoir Dogs' on DVD.

If it wasn't for the movie it would be pretty boring run. I much prefer to get outdoors but I just don't feel that safe running the streets of Melbourne at 10 o'clock at night.

Sunday the 6th of August

After again missing my run on Saturday (may have to change my Friday rest day to here. Saturdays are just too busy) I set out for my long run bright and early this morning.

I was inspired by Chillimans post on Coolrunning regarding the Sassafras creek run but was unavailable to attend this gathering due to their late start.

So instead I drove to Belgrave, where the start of the Great Train Race is held. The plan was to follow the race course for 10 kilometres and return.

I started out just after 7am with a quick hill descent for around 500 metres. It was then a steady but gradual climb into Selby.

The famous Puffing Billy Trestle Bridge.

Except for the kookaburra's laughing at me it was a fairly quiet and peaceful run.

Selby-Aura Vale rd

The 7.8km point found me in front of the Clematis Hotel looking down the road and contemplating if I should continue. The Garminator told me I had only run 7.8km's and I would be foolish to turn around and head back now (thanks Garminator).

(At this point I have made several attempts to load more pictures into this god dammed f*%ken blogger piece of rubbish and it won't allow me! For the sake of my own sanity I have to move on)

I arrived in Emerald after 10.1km's in 0:54:38. I stretched for a little and took another pic.


It was a pleasure to run back to Belgrave. It is mostly downhill with two short but very steep hills. When the maximum heart-rate alarm sounded I walked for a little to the top of the rises then continued running. I think my return times was a lot quicker than my forward time.

(Once again Blogger wont let my splits graph upload ggrrr)

In the end I ran 20.5 kilometres in 1:49:07.

The title of my post is Sal's reaction when I told her I ran from Belgrave to Emerald and back. It is funny how 20 kilometres is starting to feel like an easy distance now.

Late edit: After reading Jaykays shameless plug for her eEay items I have decided to add my own. Click here to have a sticky beak at what I am currently selling on eBay.

111th post

After I doing a rough count I think I passed my 100th post and didn't even notice. Doh!!

Thanks for everyone's great comments with my last post particularly my wife Sal. A little bit embarressed by her response and very humbled. I love you too Chicky!

I have two runs to catch up on.

Tuesday 1st of August

It started as just a run to the Post Office to buy some stamps and send a letter but ended in a 10.2km muddy circuit. Oscar came with me and the skys had cleared a little after raining most of the morning. We had fun splashing in the mud on some of the the dirt and sandy footpaths and arrived back home 0:51:11 minutes later filthy dirty.

More details can be found on Motionbased here.

Wednesday 2nd of August

After not really being in the mood for a longish, mid-week run I eventually forced myself out the door for the programmed 14.5km run. I ended up running 15.4km in 1:16:41 and covered some new roads in the area. I felt a lot better once I got back home after getting off my arse and making the effort for a run.

Once again Motionbased details can be found here.