20km | LSD | grass/trail | 1:50:00 I was harbouring thoughts last night of making my CR 5km Challenge debut this morning. But I woke around 5.00am and basically couldn't be bothered driving out to the Bay etc. So I had some breakie and decided on a leisurely trek around Centennial, Queens and Moore Parks. The outside/inside fence run of Centennial Park with a diversion out to Federation Way and then the perimeter of Queens Park is 10kms all up. So I did two laps. It was a wonderful run on a beautiful morning. I can sense that the old legs appreciated the soft surface too. I have no niggles today. Mood: --->

5km | soft sand I headed down to the beach again last night for some more soft surface running to look after my old bones. I think I'm feeling the effects of the years running in the old legs. Now the weather has warmed up a tad I will be spending more time down on the sand and the grass for the rest of 06. That's what my body is asking for right now. The sand was extra chilly on the toes last night and it took a lap or two for them to get used to the cold (numbed maybe?). The beach was deserted except for another runner going in the opposite direction at Coolangatta Gold pace. By the time I was nearly finished he had caught me and swooshed past me like I was standing still. My legs were feeling quite fatigued but not as jelly like as they would have been this time last summer, so I'm pretty happy with my second hit out of the season. Whilst my legs are tired, I have no niggles to report this morning. Mood: --->

3km | soft sand Walking home tonight I was feeling little pings in both my left ITB and the pesky calf. Trundling down the last hill into Queens Park I was actually thinking that I may not run at all. But by the time I got home and pulled on the long skins, I was starting to feel almost OK. The skins always seem to calm down the niggly bits. So I decided to hit the sand anyway. I temperature of the sand was cool but tolerable as was the fresh on-shore breeze. All niggles survived the 3 laps of Bondi without complaining too much. I finished up pretty quick as I didn't want to go out too hard for the first time on the sand for over six months. Feeling pretty solid in the legs and looking forward to heading down there next week for a longer slog. Mood: --->

5km | Easy After spending most of the day attending to household chores (list courtesy of the Bride) I took the opportunity to slip out for a quick run around Centennial Park before it got dark. Recently I had been thinking about buying a pair of racing flats or at least some stability performance shoes to use for races up to 10km. I had purchased a pair of Loco Banditos earlier in the year and frankly didn't like them. Don't ask me why, but they just don't feel right. On Saturday I fished out a pair of Mizunos that had hardly been used from when I first started running. They are a pair similar to the Elixirs (pic above) that you can buy now. A lightweight shoe with a little bit of stability thrown in. I had to ditch them at the time after Andy the Pod correctly steered me towards a more cushioned stability shoe (Asics 2100/2110) to cope with the shin splints etc that were emerging. So yesterday I ran in the Mizunos around the walking path of the Park including the upper road near the underground resevoirs. They felt very light and speedy but man did I miss the cushioning of my Asics trainers. This morning in fact my legs are stiff like I ran a 20km+ LSD. Now that could also be a result of running on consecutive days, which I havn't been able to do of late. So at the moment the jury is out on whether they are the go or not. I have a short 5km run scheduled for Thursday so I'll give them another shot and see what happens. The pesky calf was OK after it warmed up a bit yesterday. The ice and stretching routines designed by Larry the Physio seem to be working pretty good. This week I restart my summer season of soft sand running down at Bondi Beach. I really enjoyed last summer playing in the sandpit and felt the benefits of the core strength that it brings. Blkbox has threatened to come down on Tuesday night, so it will be good to have some company. Lets hope that the sand temp is up after the recent warm weather. Last time I went down there (July ?) running barefoot at night felt like running on snow. Brrrr. Mood: --->

15km | LSD I met Blkbox and PortRunr (who was down from Port Macquarie) at Centennial Park for my first run since Sunday. I saw Larry the Physio on Wednesday and he worked on my pesky calf. He said that I had a calf strain and also had scar tissue build up from a tear or two ago. He massaged the calf and broke down some of the scar tissue. He also gave me a bunch of exercises to do for my calves and most importantly my hip flexors which are apparently recalcitrant at the moment. I popped a voltaren with breakie and turned up ready for my run hardly feeling anything in the calf with the exception of a mild pull every now and then. We ran half a lap of the park and then headed down Oxford Street then Macquarie Street to the Opera House. We then ducked through the Botanical Gardens after a little rest and then home via Woolloomooloo and Taylor Square. It was simply breathtaking running along the harbour in the early morning. The calf survived the run ok and it was only when I ramped it up for a Hollywood finish in the last 500m that it started to complain. So I'm pretty happy with its progress. Waiter ! More ice please. What a awesome morning to be a runner ! Mood: --->

Yep that's me 21.05 kms into the race. Mood: --->

Ouch do I have massive DOMS ! So on International Talk Like a Pirate Day I feel that it is entirely appropriate that when walking down stairs today that I say "Arrrrrrr". I'm off to see Larry the Physio tonight about the pesky calf. Hopefully we can nip it in the bud quick smart. I'm hoping to start some longer runs on the weekend (I think Blkbox is now training for Canberra 07 so I aim to tag along until his distances start to get ridiculous). I also want to revisit my sand running now that the weather is getting warmer and won't attempt that until the calf is 100%. EDIT: I arrived yesterday afternoon at the surgery only to be told that they had booked me into see Andy the Pod instead of Larry the Physio. *groan* So its off work early again today to do it all over again. Mood: --->

21.1km | 98:02 | Race | PB We arrived at Milsons Point for the start with about half an hour to spare which allowed us to check out bags in and catch up with a few CoolRunners. I maneuvered myself over to the start and found a spot near the 100 min Striders Pacer. It was my aim to follow him out of the mayhem that is the first KM or so and then move ahead - and stay that way if possible. I had printed off splits for a 97:00 finish and hope to follow them as best I could. I was feeling pretty good over the bridge and down to Darling Harbour but did feel the pesky calf even then. Oh, many thanks to the young lady in the Goldsborough building in Darling Harbour who was flashing her breasts to the runners as we went over the fly over too. That got a cheer from the boys. But I digress. After a few Kms I hooked up with Strider Robert Conners who was shooting for the same time as I was. Trouble is that the lack of KM markers had us guessing our pace for most of the way. Still, Robert was confident that we were on target as we made our way up the City West Link to Liechhardt. Gee that was a long drag up that hill. I took an vanilla Endura gel at about 14km which seemed to pick me a up for the journey home (hmm caffeine). At that point Robert seemed to think that we were on about 96:xx pace but it was getting pretty evident that were slowing as we ran towards the city. By the time we hit Observatory Hill I struggled to run the hills with any real form and watched a heap of the field pass me by until I got back onto the Harbour Bridge. I was pretty wasted frankly. More hill work required methinks especially with the Striders Internal half coming up next month at Lane Cove. I managed to crawl home from there for a 98:02 which I am pretty stoked about. Time to lose another bunch of Kgs and get some long runs back into the weekend program. I just need to get fitter if I am going to avoid going all soft at the back end like i did today in future races. After the run it was great to watch the marathon runners come home from the Cheersquad vantage point on the Cahill Expressway. Some great runs by CoolRunners and Striders in what turned out to be quite hot conditions for the guys doing the 42kms. I am walking about with a tight right calf right now and may have to get it seen too if I aim to step up the training in the coming weeks as it just doesn't seem to want to go away. Mood: --->

5km | Easy I did my last run last night. Whilst I was feeling strong and pain free, I had this overwhelming feeling like I was cramming for exams. Sigh. Still, no niggles is a good thing. So I no complain. I will attempt to use up some of this nervous energy at my son's ten pin bowling 8th birthday party at Fox Studios this afternoon. Should be fun for all the boys (and Dad too). ;-) Mood: --->

8km | Easy I've put on 1.5kgs in the past two weeks. Of course a glass-half-full response to that would be that I've replaced fat with lean muscle. My belt suggests otherwise. :( Talking about piggies, I have an infection in my little toe - you know the one that ran wee, wee all the way home ? I did it at the playground on Sunday when another boy let his bike fall on my foot. I told on his Mum. My daughter took me home and put a Wiggles band-aid on it. Anyway that's prevented me from running until last night and even then the pain was bearable at best. I bumped into Superflake at York Road last night. He was nearing the end of his run as I was warming up. Nice to see you Paul. From there I headed down Clovelly way, through Bronte and up the Junction, a bit of Woollahra and home. I started slow and finished hard, so I have a little bit of confidence that my level of fitness is hanging in there notwithstanding the lack of running over the past fortnight or so. Not sure how Sunday will go (Blackmores 1/2M). No doubt I will be hyped so mojo wont be an issue, but it's been a pretty average preparation so I fear that I will fail dismally. So I'm up against it. Still, I will aim to run the first 10km in 45:xx and try and hang on as best I can. From there its mind over body, right ? "Top results are reached only through pain. But eventually you like this pain. You'll find the more difficulties you have on the way, the more you will enjoy your success." Mood: --->

15km | LSD Blkbox and I set off from Queens Park bright and early and ran down to Coogee Beach via Randwick and then followed the coastal path to Bondi and return. The weather was atrocious for most of the way with the wind and rain almost driving us off the path up high on the headland near Glamorama. It was a pleasure to get a solid run in for a change and I arrived home feeling really great. The legs felt schmick all the way apart from the pesky calf, so I'm feeling OK now about Blackmores next weekend. Not sure if I'm in sub 100 form but I'm not going to die wondering. I'll give it a crack if the weather is kind and the planets align. Mood: --->

7km | Easy OK so I'm still in pain. Why ? Because I have concluded that Crystal the Masseuse has no freekin idea. Surely after a massage on Wednesday I should be feeling on top of my game by Friday ? Nooooooooooooooooooo. Instead I've got pain in the ITB, left upper calf, right mif calf (old pesky injury) and right butt cheek. Yes I know, I should be seeing Easy Tiger. OK, ok learnt my lesson. Yes I will see Easy Tiger next time. Meanwhile, I did bugger all running last week as I tapered for Striders 10km, and this week was supposed to be a hardish week leading up to Blackmores. Instead I've done hardly anything and any running that I have done has been low quality crap. Rant over. Mood: --->

7km | Recovery With my legs still suffering from massive DOMS, I ran last night on the soft surface of the outside fence run of Centennial Park. Most of it was at nanna pace and it bloody hurt all the way. I'm having a massage this morning at Jackie's Sports Massage. My regular girl Berta has flown the coop so I'm getting done by Crystal. Sounds kinda naughty really. ;-) Mood: --->

10km | Race | 42:56 PB I was collected in the Blkbox mobile bright and early and we headed out to Manly for our first Striders North Head run. I took a couple of voltaren rapids for the pesky calf early on and lined up this morning without any real expectations. I said to Will (who was marshaling today) that I would just shoot out for a few Kms and see how I feel. That's probably not a very sound race tactic, but I was secretly concerned about doing damage to my calf, seeing that I have three important 1/2 Marathons coming up in the next 3 months. At the gun I took off chasing the 45m pacer and aimed to get ahead of him by the 1km mark, surge in the second km so that I could settle into an even pace by 3 or 4km and try and hold on. The pesky calf spoke to me a few times up to 4km mark but seemed to settle down slowly once it got warm. So I decided I could got for it. At the 5km mark the lungs were burning and the legs tired. So I latched on to a bunch of fitter-younger-stronger Striders ahead of me and relied on them to pull me home. Many thanks to Strider Paul if your out there. It was his encouragement that got me to about the 9km mark. Anyway from what I saw my splits are as follows: 04:14 01km 04:11 02km 04:12 03km 04:13 04km 04:22 05km 21:11 04:23 06km 04:25 07km 04:19 08km 04:28 09km 04:08 10km 42:56 From my Lane Cove run last month which gave me a 44:04 PB, the minute better time today I guess is about right, seeing I wasn't climbing up any hills like Scribbly. Looking at my splits, it looks like I went out too hard again *rolls eyes*. So with a bit more training (and maybe start some intervals after the Sydney half) I can see the potential of even better results in the future. Mood: --->

10Km | moderate Ran a quickish 10km last night. The calf was a little sore. Striders at North Head is on Saturday and I'm ready to bust a gut and see what happens. Nothing much else to say really other than I just got back from a loooong lunch. *hic* Mood: --->