Finale

Sunday, March 25, 2007
Week 15 of 18 35km | LSD The last time I blogged was just after my hilly midweek run to Vaulcuse and Miners made the comment that he hoped that the hills didn't aggravate my achilles. It didn't, but would you believe that one of the girls at work dropped a full archive box right on my ankle the day after ? LOL nothing surprises me when it comes to my injuries. So since then I've been on ice and had to move this longrun from Saturday to today, just to give me that extra day. Last night the achilles was still niggly whilst traversing stairs, so I decided that I would run but stick around the local area. That way I could pull the pin if need be. So I headed out and just plodded away. I was pretty tight in the left heel for the first 10km or so, but it seemed to sort itself out after then. I ran myself dizzy around the park for a couple of hours and ran into Lulu & Ellie up near Flinders Street. Nice to see you both ! I was pretty wasted by then and continued feeling that way until I got home at about the 32km mark. I then picked up Jackson and we headed into the park for his training run for the Kids Marathon. We managed a tad under 3km and he finished feeling pretty fresh condsidering it was his longest run by far. Dad on the other hand was not feeling as fresh and was really feeling it in the hips and tib-ants. So that's it. My longest run ever and I think I'll be able to manage 42km OK. It won't be easy though as I'll be on the hard road for over 4 hours. To be frank I'm more worried about recovery than the race. Taper time now, whatever that means. Mood: --->

No map, no brains.

Thursday, March 22, 2007
Week 15 of 18 15km | Easy After reading stories and other child wrangling activities I headed out the door without a plan. I decided to just run and work out where I was going along the way. First through Bondi Junction and then down Old South Head Road. Soon I found myself running up Heart Break Hill Jnr to Vaucluse. Now that was a dumb move. Once I got up there I followed the C2S route down to Bondi Beach and of course that meant that I had to run up a very grinding hill of Bondi Road. Second dumb move. I got home and mapped it out and was surprised that it was 15km. Felt like less than that. One more run before the taper. Halla-freekin-lewya. Way too old for this gig. Mood: --->

Sloooowly

Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Week 15 of 18 5km | Easy I must admit that after my 30km run on Saturday that the old legs were a tad creeky for a day or two afterwards. I headed out for my usual 5km loop around Bondi Junction and spent half the time leaning against poles stretching. I got to complete the 5km eventually but it must have taken me a good 40 mins by the time I got home. After my shower I spent another 20 mins stretching my hips, glutes, back and other bits and finished up feeling much better. Mood: --->

Kids Marathon training - week 7

Monday, March 19, 2007

La Perouse

Saturday, March 17, 2007
Week 14 of 18 30km | LSD I didn't sleep well last night. Way too muggy for mine. So when the alarm woke me at 5.00am the old snooze button got a workout a few times. I eventually got my act together and got out the door a little before 7.00am. My plan was simple. Jump onto Anzac Parade and run until the road runs out, then turn around and run back. Add a lap of the park and go home and veg out. Uncle Hal had me down for 22kms this week with the final big one next week of 32km. But I have been feeling a little under done of late (read: he's been bludging). So I decided to bump it up this week to 30km and 36 next week. I ran with my fuel belt full of water and took two gels (Endura Vanilla. Best I've tasted. Hmm caffeine) to have at the one and two hour marks. Nothing much to report. I just plodded it out. Arrived at La Perouse and had a little walk/drink break for about a minute and then ran back home. On the way back I was joined by part time CR Mmad Al and his Cool Lurker mate Gordon. Nice blokes (runners always are). Mmad stands for Malabar Mums and Dads. Al is running the famous Boston Marathon next month. Hope you have a great race Al ! I arrived home pretty trashed but feeling like I could go on with it, so I guess that's the main thing. Mood: --->

Opera House

Thursday, March 15, 2007
Week 14 of 18 14km | easy Yesterday afternoon I had no intention of going for a run. Too tired and basically CBF. Then I visited PortRunner's blog who is also making his Canberra debut and he put me to shame. He's a model of consistancy compared to me. That was enough motivation to get me out the door and off my lazy arse. Thanks Paul. I found it tough going on the hard pavement of Oxford Street and the City. My legs were complaining big time running down Macquarie Street. By the time I got down to the Opera House however it all seemed to turn around. Maybe because it's so beautiful down there at night. The Harbour Bridge was looking majestic and of course the Opera House was looking amazing. It's a special place for me as I got married to the Bride in the northern foyer of the Concert Hall overlooking the harbour 17 years ago. After a lap around the OH, I ducked down and ran along Circular Quay then up Phillip Street towards home. Thankfully the second half of my run seemed easier than the first and the run back over Oxford Street seemed to be over in just a few minutes. Oh, I was wearing my Sydney Striders singlet (when will I get to race with them again ?) and got a "GO STRIDER" call from the other side of the road around Paddinghurst. Mood: --->

Toosday

Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Week 14 of 18 5km | easy Uncle Hal had me down for 8kms last night but I was just too tired to bother. Suffering from a temporary dose of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome I was lucky to even pull on the shoes and roll the legs over. So it was 5km or nothing. I ran my usual 5km loop only in reverse because I couldn't be bothered running up the York Road hill first up. So I headed up Birrell Street and soon found my left hip and associated bits very sore. That had me stopped outside the geriatric hospital in Waverley (yeah, very appropriate) stretching the hips and glutes etc for a good 5 mins. That seemed to make a difference and I finished the 5km feeling tired but pretty loose. I'm supposed to do 15km tonight. Might do it Thursday instead. Too tired. Hmm, I know I put that mojo somewhere .... Mood: --->

Kids Marathon Training Week - 6

Monday, March 12, 2007
. The Sunday run with my 8yo son Jackson was due and he asked if we could run around Queens Park this week instead of Centennial. Not sure why he asked that because the Queens Park route is harder than we have been doing with a few sharp hills to contend with. I wasn't going to argue as a run on the grass is much better for my old bones compared to the hard road of Centennial. Jackson handled it well, with only a few moments of encouragement needed from Dad. It was bloody hot out there and he finished very red faced and tired. Afterwards we spoke about Canberra and how I will be sending his entry form off this week. He asked that after Canberra if we could continue our running training. Noice. Hey, maybe there is a Fathers Day 5km in him come September ? (I thought about a CR Challenge but that involves running back which will be way down the track for him). Needless to say I'm very proud of what he has achieved so far. My only disappointment is that his Canberra Race is on whilst I'm running mine.

Mojo lost, now found.

Saturday, March 10, 2007
Week 13 of 18 30km | LSD The last few days have been a bit of a mess. My last run was pretty crappy and left me with low mojo. Work is mad and so is everything at home with kids sport, ballet, birthday parties etc. So much so that I had to email Blkbox and cancel our planned run this morning. A twist of fate with my daughter waking up with a fever in the early hours of this morning created a window of opportunity that I just couldn't pass up. Swimming lessons were canned and my run was on. So after a few more hours sleep I rolled out of bed at 5.00am for a run around the park. Whilst lacing on the shoes I decided to run the 10km loop which takes in Centennial, Queens and a bit of Moore Park - and bugger it, I'm going to do 3 laps. So I did. Larry the Physio will probably have kittens when he finds out that I cracked 30km but hey, it was on trail/grass so the legs feel fine. All up 3:10 time on my feet. Thanks for all your comments after the last post. Just the kick up the arse I needed. Mood: --->

Trashed

Thursday, March 08, 2007
Week 13 of 18 12km | easy With Uncle Hal barely acknowledging my existence, I attempted to jump back on board last night with the prescribed 15kms. I got out the door at 8.15pm and only managed a few hundred meters before I realized that my legs were massively sore (DOMS ?) and super fatigued. Hmmm. From then on it was just a battle of minds. Every second step I was getting a message to bail out and go home. I stuck it out for most of the way. I was supposed to run all the way into the Cross and home via Oxford Street, but I piked out at Double Bay and headed home. Mind you the hill from Cooper Park up to Bondi Junction is just ridiculously steep so I was suitably punished. I'm due to run tonight but I'm not sure I can make it. If the rain holds off I'm happy to run 5km on the sand down at Bondi. If it's raining then I'll just take the day off and spin at home. I'm beginning to think that I'm too old for this marathon gig. Mood: --->

Midnight run

Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Week 13 of 18 5km | Easy With the Bride at the kids school doing P&C stuff, I sat idol at home waiting for her return so i could go on my run. By the time she got home and I got out the door it was super late, raining, windy and spooky. It was very odd running at such a strange hour. Very odd also for the drivers in their cars looking at this weirdo running around in the rain at midnight. LOL. Mood: --->

Sunday arvo in the park

Sunday, March 04, 2007
Week 12 of 18 16.5km | easy I delayed departure for this one few times because of the heat. In the end I didn't get out the door until about 6.00pm. Jackson's kids marathon training was canned by management (read: Mum) cos it was way too hot. Fair enough too. Not too hot for lunatic Dad to go for a run though. Rather than run amok in the streets, I decided to try and find some shade in the park. So I ran myself dizzy for an hour and a half trying to clock up 16 or 17 kms. Did OK and came home and stood under a cold shower for 10 mins to cool my core temp down. Got out and was still sweating for ages. Gee I hope its not hot for those doing 6-foot next week ! Mood: --->

Malabar or bust

Friday, March 02, 2007
Week 12 of 18 13km | easy I'm now running a modified Uncle Hal program which means that I have to up my weekly mileage and slowly bump the weekend long run over the next 4 Sundays to 32km. Then slip into a 2 week taper. Tonight I ran a bit of a roller coaster route out through Maroubra then Malabar Road back up through Coogee via Arden Street. Arden is a killer. I didn't walk any of it, but I concede that it was fairy steps all the way going up a few of those never ending hills. Mood: --->

Update !

Thursday, March 01, 2007
Week 12 of 18 I saw Larry the Physio on Thursday night and he put me through my paces to test the calf (soleus). Basically I can jump with bent bad leg up and down now without any pain. So I'm 100% in his eyes. We spent most of the session dealing then with my left hip which is always been out of alignment. I have a bunch of yoga type exercises to point the hip where it's suppose to be. I'm also doing a bunch of nasty tummy crunches (legs up in the air at 45 degrees crossed at ankles) aimed at releasing my hip flexors. I'm doing all these twice a day and will go back to see him in 3 weeks. I discussed the whole Canberra Marathon thing with him and we now have a revised plan to get me to the start line. I'm pretty content with it all.