Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggg ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mood: --->

No run last night. I had a few niggles. The kids were sick. The wife was sick. So I pulled the pin. I've got a no-pain-no-gain massage at Jackie's this morning. That should be fun. Mood: --->

17.90km | Easy | 1:47:21 I left this morning at 7.00am with a very hairy tongue. Not a good start. Maybe a few too many beers last night... Anyways, I popped voltaren, massaged Deeeeeeep Heat into the shins and took off into the fresh morning air. I sort of did the Sydney Striders Clovelly Canter in reverse today. I ran down to Coogee first then ran the Coastal Walk back to North Bondi, then up to Bondi Junction, then into Centennial Park (love that Car Free day !) to soak up the remaining Kms to home. Whilst I felt pretty wasted toward the 15km mark (about Waverley Oval) but it was after a solid 80 mins of rolling hills. After that the terrain pretty much leveled out for an easy stroll home. Wait for it....! No pain in the foot, shins or calves ! How good is that ! Mood: ---> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Joke of the Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A man goes to the nursing home to visit his 84 year-old father. While there he notices the nurse is giving his father hot chocolate and Viagra. The man asks, "Why are you doing that? I mean, at his age what will it do for him?" The nurse explains, "The hot chocolate will help him sleep." The man says, "And the Viagra?" "Keeps him from falling out of bed."

55:XX | Easy I ran down to North Bondi and return last night. I popped voltaren about an hour before and massaged my shins and calves with Goanna Oil just before I left. I still felt a tightness in both upper calves. Interestingly, I see that www.sportsinjuryclinic.net recommends two or three deep massage sessions to eliminate the problem. Its says "..superficial massage to the skin is not likely to be deep enough..", which suggests that my woosy efforts to massage are a waste of time. I'm thinking that I'll book a session @ Jackie's for Monday. EDIT: Appointment made with Amanda @ Jackie's for 10.00am Monday Wednesday. Mood: ---> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Joke of the Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Priest decides to skip Sunday services and go to the golf course to hit a few... When he gets there, he discovers there isn't anybody else around, and he has the entire course to himself.. But he does have witnesses...Seems God and Jesus are keeping an eye on him, and they don't approve of his church hooky-playing.. "Look at that guy," Jesus says, "He should be in church instead of out there. C'mon, Dad, let me hit him with a lightning bolt or something." "No," God says, "I've something else in mind for him. Watch what happens when he makes his next shot." Guy sets up a ball, drives it off the tee-It sails 200 yards and lands squarely in the hole. "What kind of punishment is that, Dad?!" Jesus yells, "That has to be one of the greatest golf shots in history!!" "That's right, son, indeed it is....and because he's alone, he can't tell anyone about it."

45:00 | Slooooow I ran into the city along Oxford Street to Hyde Park and return last night. From the moment I put the first foot onto the ground the back of my calves were very, very sore and tight. I hobbled all the way, there and back. I must have looked a real sight ! Yes I stretched beforehand. Yes I massaged Goanna Oil for a good 5 mins beforehand as well. I gave them more than enough attention, but to no avail. Recalcitrant little buggers ! I stretched and iced afterwards and feel perfectly fine this morning. As if it never happened. Go figure !?!? Mood: ---> ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Joke of the Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~ OK. This could be the worst joke ever written. You've been warned ! The world’s worst conductor was directing up his band during a practice for an upcoming concert. Half way through the first act he was directing with wild abandon when, out of his hand, his baton flew and impaled itself in the eye of a flute player instantly killing her. The police arrive shortly after and ruled the case as an accident. The following week at practice, he again was caught up in the music of the second act and out of his hand flew the baton, which this time struck a flute player in the eye instantly killing her. The police arrived and after consideration ruled the case an accident. The following week at practice the conductor again got lost in the moment of the music of the third act and out of his hand flew the baton this time hitting a trumpet player in the eye and killing him instantly. After the police arrived they could not believe that this was an accident after the third death, and the conductor was arrested. The conductor was tried and sentenced to death in the electric chair. After strapping him in the chair operator threw the switch, nothing happened. Again he threw the switch and nothing happened. The warden was frustrated by this time and demanded that the chair operator explain what the problem was, to which the chair operator explained, "Well, everyone knows he's a bad conductor!"

14km | Easy | 81:56 I intended to run the whole of the course today on the grass, however my shins and calves were feeling especially good this morning. So I decided to mix it up and ran the Queens Park portion on the grass and the Centennial Park bit on the pathway. It was one of those great-to-be-alive mornings and I can tell you, it was even better that I was able to be out there running. I ran with the aim of each 7km loop to be around 40:00. That would put me at 120 mins for the Half next month. I did it pretty easy and felt that I had plenty in the tank. That puts me in a great position as I intend to run with the 1:50 Runners World Pace Group. The main thing is that I had zero shin pain and zero calf pain today. Looks like the ice, voltaren and self massage is paying off. Very happy with that ! Mood: ---> ~~~~~~~~~~ Joke of the Day ~~~~~~~~~~ Yossel Abramowitz worked in a pickle factory and unfortunately he had a strong desire to put his penis in the pickle slicer. This went on for years and finally Yossel could not stand it any longer and he decided to seek professional help. He spent five months with a psychiatrist who finally gave up and told him that since his desire was so powerful, the only way to get over it was to put his penis in the pickle slicer. Yossel decided to do in the next day, at work. The following day Yossel came home from work early. His wife Sarah was very worried and asked why he was home at this time. He told her for the first time of his long-time desire, to put his penis in the pickle slicer, and that today he had done it and had been fired as a result. Sarah gasped and ran over to him. She yanked down his pants and his underwear only to find his penis perfectly normal and intact. She said to him, "I do not understand. What happened to the pickle slicer?" Yossel replied, "She got fired too."

I headed out last night to run my Thursday hill reps. I do these because (a) I can't do speed work because whenever I have in the past I always got injured, (b) I read somewhere that "hill sessions are speedwork in disguise" and (c) My (short) experience is that my fitness improves significantly from both hill sessions and Sunday longruns. I ran 20 mins in a loop around Bondi Junction/Woollahra as a warm-up and finished at Ruthven Street. Whilst my shins were sore, it was probably more the back of my calves that was giving the most grief. Notwithstanding the 3 times daily stretching, these babies are still cramping up. Almost is if they go on strike when the going gets tough. Argh ! I will try self massage with Goanna Oil tonight and Saturday morning before I attempt my planned 14km run on the grass in Centennial Park. Failing that I'm thinking that I will go and see Verity at Jackie's Sports Massage early next week. Last time I saw her she managed to knead out all the resident niggles on board. Ouch ! Anyway, all up it was 10 x 300m hill reps, then 10 mins warmdown with a total of 65 mins on my feet. Mood: ---> ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Joke of the Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cannibals captured three men. The men are told that they will be skinned and eaten and then their skin will be used to make canoes. Then they are each given a final request. The first man asks to be killed as quickly and painlessly as possible. His request is granted, and they poison him. The second man asks for paper and a pen so that he can write a farewell letter to his family. This request is granted, and after he writes his letter, they kill him saving his skin for their canoes. Now it is the third man's turn. He asks for a fork. The cannibals are confused, but it is his final request, so they give him a fork. As soon as he has the fork he begins stabbing himself all over and shouts, "To hell with your canoes!"

10km | Easy I ran down to Nth Bondi Surf Club late last night. I don't usually run much past 9:00pm but after 2 blackouts last night, we were a tad disrupted and getting the kids fed and stories read before bed was a challenge. It was 5 degrees outside so the tights and long sleeve dri-fit was the go. I stretched for about 5 mins before I set off and my shins and the back of my calves were sore (read: tight) right from the start. Things seemed to warm up at about 3kms and I settled into a good rhythmn. At about 4km I reach Bondi Beach and head down to the boardwalk between the sand and the Pavillion. The concrete along that stretch always causes me grief and I feel the jarring in my lower legs on each stride. I must remember to run along the roadway next time. Gota take care of these old man legs ! I reached Nth Bondi in about 25 mins and turned around for the long haul back to Bondi Junction. I arrived home feeling pretty wasted. Its a long drag up hill for about 3.5km up to the communications tower at Bronte Road and I really enjoy the hard work, but I was feeling unusually trashed. Lets put that down to a long day and also running on a full tummy (and probably a touch dehydrated). The main thing is that I'm 80% injury free and progressing well towards the half in 3 or so weeks time. I will do hill reps on Thursday night to try and claw back some of that lost condition. Sunday I will run 14km in the Park. Mood: ---> ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Joke of the Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is an animation created for a song by the aussie band TISM (This is Serious Mum). Not really a joke (probably more a like social comment on my teenage sexlife!) Funny stuff anyway. Sound on please. WARNING: Over 18 years only !

. . .

The CoolRunning Cheer Squad consisting of myself, Johnny Dark and Superflake assembled just up from the Nth Bondi Surf Club. Soon after the lead runners, the two Tanzanians and Monas were chasing down Supported CoolRunner Martin Dent. It was great to see the elite athletes fly past effortlessly. It was a perfect example of "running quietly" as Podrunner puts it. Soon after the masses thumped down the hill. I now understand Andy. Don't know how to do it, but at least I understand. Great to catch up with many Coolrunners, Bloggers and Striders. Mood: ---> ~~~~~~~~~ Joke of the day ~~~~~~~~~ A vampire bat came flapping in from the night covered in fresh blood and parked himself on the roof of the cave to get some sleep. Pretty soon all the other bats smelled the blood and began hassling him about where he got it. He told them to go away and let him get some sleep but they persisted until finally he gave in. "OK, follow me" he said and flew out of the cave with hundreds of bats behind him. Down through the valley they went, across a river and into a forest full of trees. Finally he slowed down and all the other bats excitedly milled around him. "Now, do you see that tree over there?" he asked. "Yes, Yes, Yes!" the bats all screamed in a frenzy. "Good" said the bat, "Because I sure as hell didn't!"

10km |Easy I woke up this morning feeling totally crap. I hauled myself out of the sack at 6.00am and hit the road up to Queens Park. All up I did 4 x 2.5km laps of the outside fence run. My foot was fine but my calves were cramping again pretty bad. I stretched before, during and after and gave the lower legs a 10 min drench with the hose afterwards as well. Other than that - pretty happy ! Mood: --->

7.3km | Easy I ran down to Icebergs @ Bondi Beach last night feeling pretty fresh all the way. I've been working pretty hard on my foot in the last 48 hours. Morning and night I have been either dunking my foot into an ice slurry or wrapping it in a towel with an microwave heat pack. All that together with Voltaren seems to have paid off. I finished the run with zero pain in my foot and it remains that way this morning. Phew ! My shins/calves however were giving me grief big time. Whilst I stretched before and massaged with Deep Heat (that usually works OK), I was cramping by the time I got down to Bondi. Not surprisingly, the run home (which is all uphill) was not fun. The odd thing was that when I had shin splints earlier in the year, it was really only on my left leg. That was were Andy the Pod said that my pronation was most prominent. Now I have it equally on both legs. That’s good I think, meaning that my orthotics have evened out any mechanical imbalance in my stride. I'm confident that my shin splints this time around can be resolved within a week or two with a strict stretching regime and more ice. Running home last night I was feeling great from the waist up and seemed to have regained much of my lost condition. I was even thinking that if I could stabilise my shins in the next day or two, I could run the C2S. We'll see how I feel after a light run on Saturday afternoon. Probably just wishfull thinking... Mood: ---> ~~~~~~~~~~~ Joke of the Day ~~~~~~~~~~~

My City to Surf Bear Cottage T-shirt was delivered to the office this morning. Sky blue dri-fit with navy blue sponsors print. Very nice. We have raised over $20,000.00 (collectively) so far for Westmead Childrens Hospital, so Scott from Team Bear Cottage tells me. A very worthy cause indeed. There will be 152 runners (um, make that 151) on race day for Bear Cottage and apparantly we're all invited to the sponsors tent after the race. Looking forward to that ! Mood: --->

5km | Easy I ran down to the end of Birrell Street to Bronte (or is it Tamarama ?) last night. It was my first run on a hard surface and also my first run involving hills. The 5kms felt like 50km at times. By the end I felt like I had blown out a few cobwebs and felt pretty fresh. My shin splints seem to be back. Probably because of tight calves so I spent a fair while stretching before and after and applied an ice pack as well. The foot held up OK. I did feel a ping every now and then. I also felt a minor ping when I put weight on it this morning getting out of bed. Shin splints. Capsulitis. Many would wonder why I bother. Me too. Mood: ---> ~~~~~~~~~~~ Joke of the Day ~~~~~~~~~~~ A couple was celebrating their golden wedding anniversary. Their domestic tranquillity had long been the talk of the town. A local newspaper reporter was inquiring as to the secret of their long and happy marriage. "Well, it dates back to our honeymoon," explained the lady. "We visited the Grand Canyon and took a trip down to the bottom of the canyon by pack mule. We hadn't gone too far when my husband's mule stumbled. "My husband quietly said 'That's once.' We proceeded a little farther when the mule stumbled again. Once more my husband quietly said, 'That's twice.' We hadn't gone a half-mile when the mule stumbled a third time. My husband promptly removed a revolver from his pocket and shot him. I started to protest over his treatment of the mule when he looked at me and quietly said 'That's once.'"

I bought an AFL "Clapper" on Ebay last week as my contribution to the CR C2S Cheersquad. Whilst I purchased it in Westcoast Eagles colours (yellow and blue) it arrived today in the yellow and brown colours of the Geelong Hawkes. Gee ya'd think for $1.99 they could get it right ! Oh well, its the thought (and the noise) that counts. Also today I received my Sydney Half Marathon pack containing my bib, chip and some other junk. With the half being 33 days away, I would say that I'm a slim chance at best of running. At the very least I guess I could run it as an easy jog and treat it as a long run. There is enough time for me to train for it as I'm sure that my base is adequate to cope. I think the plan will be to run 5kms tonight, 7kms on Thursday and then 10kms on Sunday. If I get through these runs OK then I can plan a little further ahead. Above all - yes I will be cautious (bordering on paranoid) to avoid further injury in the near future. Mood:---> ~~~~~~~~~~ Joke of the Day ~~~~~~~~~~ The judge frowned at the tired robber and said, “then you admit breaking into the same store on three successive nights?” ”Yes, your honor.” “And why was that?” “Because my wife wanted a dress.” The judge check with his records, “But it says here you broke in three nights in a row!” “Yes sir. She made me exchange it two times !”

20:00 | Easy I ran another two laps of Queens Park this morning. I guess its about 3km all up. No problems, no pain. Very happy so far. Mood: ---> ~~~~~~~~~~~ Joke of the Day ~~~~~~~~~~~ . . WARNING:Rude bits . .

20:00 | Easy RUN (!) on grass Its one month today since my last run. On the morning that my fellow Sydney Striders (and CoolRunners) raced at Lane Cove, I made my second comeback - this time with success ! I walked over to Queens Park and did two laps of the inside run, which is flat and grassy soft. No pings, no pain, so its all good. Thats the good news. The bad news is that although I have been working hard on the bike and walking for the past month, I was puffing out there like a 50-a-day smoker ! Just shows that a heap of aerobic excerise is hardly comparable to genuine weight baring (anaerobic ?) exercise. Now to just ease my way back into it, with out any setbacks and build up to maybe a 5km run next weekend. ~~~~~~~~~~ Joke of the Day ~~~~~~~~~~ One day an Irishman, who has been stranded on a desert island for over ten long years, sees an unusual speck on the horizon. "It's certainly not a ship," he thinks to himself. As the speck gets closer and closer, he begins to rule out the possibilities of a small boat, then even a raft. Suddenly, emerging from the surf comes a drop dead gorgeous blonde woman wearing a wet suit and scuba gear. She approaches the stunned man and says to him, "Tell me how long has it been since you've had a cigarette?" "Ten years," replies the Irishman. With that, she reaches over and unzips a waterproof pocket on her left sleeve and pulls out a pack of fresh cigarettes. He takes one, lights it, takes a long drag and says, "Faith and begorah! Is that good!" "And how long has it been since you've had a sip of good Irish Whiskey?" she asks him. Trembling, the castaway replies, "Ten years." She reaches over, unzips her right sleeve, pulls out a flask and hands it to him. He opens the flask, takes a long swig and says, "Tis absolutely fantastic!" At this point she starts slowly unzipping the long zipper that runs down the front of her wet suit, looks at the man and asks, "And how long has it been since you've played around?" With tears in his eyes, the man falls to his knees and sobs, "Oh, Sweet Jesus! Don't tell me you've got golf clubs in there too." Mood: ---> :)

I walked into the City this morning. It took me about an hour and had no real issues with the foot. www.whereis.com.au tells me that its 5.18km door to door. How cool is that website ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Joke of the Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ STOP PRESS Yesterday, scientists revealed that beer contains small traces of female hormones. To prove their theory, the scientists fed 100 men 12 schooners of beer and observed that 100% of them gained weight, talked excessively without making sense, became emotional, couldn't drive, and refused to apologize when wrong. No further testing is planned.

With the Footy season over for Gronk Jnr (aged 6) and Clovelly Nippers not starting until September(ish), I decided to dislocate his lazy bone and take him with me for some exercise over the weekend. Whilst I don't wish to be an exercise tyrant, I do feel that he needs a gentle push in that direction. I want exercise to be part of his life long term and figure that whilst he may winge a bit at this age, but will thank me in later life. We walked across to Centennial Park and did a mid-afternoon lap of the Horse Track on Saturday. If I recall correctly a thread on CR had the lap being around 3.9km. I walked in my 2100's with orthotics and it felt pretty good the whole of the way around with only the odd "ping" to remind me that I shouldn't get too cocky. Gee there was a lot of runners about. With only 2 weeks to the C2S, the weekend warriors were out in force cramming their last minute K's in. Good luck to them all. Sunday was a big day for Gronk Jnr. This was the day that his training wheels on his bike were to scheduled to come off. After a short training wheel removing ceremony, we did a wobbly lap of the park (with me holding onto the back of his seat for most of the way) and a few of the children's bike track. We arrived home safely and without having lost too much skin. One little scrape on the knee for him and a hack on my ankle was a good result for his first hit out I think. He had a great time except for the problem at the bike track when he was embarrassed in front of a few girls that he had a Thomas the Tank Engine helmet. Mum will fix that problem with a new helmet before we re-visit the park next weekend, I promised. This week I plan to walk either to or from Edgecliff Station each day. I wish that there was an exercise that I could do in addition to walking that could strengthen the floppy ligaments in my foot. Must talk to Larry the Physio about that ... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Joke of the Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A very religious man lived right next door to an atheist. While the religious one prayed day in, day out, and was constantly on his knees in communion with his Lord, the atheist never even looked twice at a church. However, the atheist's life was good, he had a well-paying job and a beautiful wife, and his children were healthy and good- natured, whereas the pious man's job was strenuous and his wages were low, his wife was getting fatter every day and his kids wouldn't give him the time of the day. So one day, deep in prayer as usual, he raised his eyes towards heaven and asked: "Oh God, I honour you every day, I ask your advice for every problem and confess to you my every sin. Yet my neighbour, who doesn't even believe in you and certainly never prays, seems blessed with every happiness, while I go poor and suffer many an indignity. Why is this?" And with a clap of thunder a great voice was heard from above: "BECAUSE HE DOESN'T BOTHER ME ALL THE TIME!"