Coastal Path !

Saturday, September 29, 2007

10.32km | Easy


I've been waiting to run the Coastal Path down to Bondi since May. Gee, I missed it. I got out the door at about 6.30am and headed down to Clovelly. It's quite a hilly run and it wasn't long before my lack of fitness was biting me hard. Running out of Clovelly towards the Cemetery I was really blowing. That pretty much continued for the rest of the run including a struggle up the long haul of Bondi Road. A real wake up call that, as I used to gallop up Bondi Road only 6 months ago.


I said last week that Striders next week will be ugly and I'm not wrong. Not sure where it will be held, but if it's Land Cove then it will be a very tough morning at the office indeed.

Update

Friday, September 28, 2007

Tuesday 5km - The achillies was giving me a little trouble Monday and Tuesday whilst sitting at work. I was getting the odd short sharp pain. Anyway come Tuesday night it was feeling OK so I trotted around the block. No dramas with the leg.


Thursday 6km - I didn't get out until well after 10.00pm. Just did a 5km except that I took in a Queens Park/Darley Road extension. No dramas again with the leg, just short of breath at the end. I'll put that down to a strong expresso that I had late in the afternoon.

Sydney Running Festival - 4km

Monday, September 24, 2007

It was an early start for the family to catch a 6.30am train at Bondi Junction to Town Hall. There we parted company with Jackson & I heading off to Milsons Point and The Bride & my daughter to the Opera House to see the finish.


This was by far the biggest race Jackson has entered and the sheer numbers and location is something that he will remember for some time I'm sure. We arrived at the start just in time for the start of the marathon and Jackson (on my shoulders) was sending his cheers to all the CoolRunners & Stiders he could find. Soon we were lining up at the start and Ooh Aah Glenn McGrath set us on our way.


We spent the first 500m weaving our way through prams and walkers. It was hard to find a rhythm when you had to stop to a walk because Aunty Pat, Uncle Frank, Rachel and Craig with the twins in the pram all needed to do their walk/run thing side by side creating a 5m impassable barrier *rolls eyes*. Once we were on the Bridge however things got easier and we ran at a pretty good pace. We got down on the Cahill and both upped the pace and then cruised down Macquarie Street to the Opera House where The Bride captured the Hollywood finish on video. It was a solid run by the little tike with a time of 24:xx by my watch. As I said to him afterwards - that's better than my marathon pace ! Very proud of him.


What's next ? Race 2 of Shri Chinmoy around the Bay in a few weeks for Jackson and October Striders 10km for me (now that could be ugly !)

It is better to have blogged late...


...than to have never blogged at all ! Yes this CBF'd attitude to blogging has got to stop and I will do something about it, er soon.


Tuesday - Ran a 6km hilly route through North Randwick. It was the first time for centuries that I have ran hills and I pulled up the next day with a sore left achilles. It's an injury that has bugged me for nearly two years, so it's nothing new. I just have to remember not to stretch my calf too much and it will settle down in a few weeks.


Thursday - Just did a flat 5km around the block. The archilles only hurts when I stretch it. I can just hear Larry the Physio say "So don't stretch it !" LOL.


Saturday - I did early morning 5km inside Centennial Park. I tried to run at a faster pace than my usual plod and was still passed by a Nanna with a walking frame. No dry mouth or tightness in the chest, so perhaps some fitness is returning ?

The week that was...

Monday, September 17, 2007

Two weeks ago I CBF'd running. Well the good news is that I've been managing a few runs here and there but CBF'd blogging. LOL


Tuesday: I went down to Bondi Beach and ran for 30 mins on the soft sand. It was hard going and my legs turned to jelly after about 20 mins. It was my first run on the sand since the Bondi Barefoot whenever that was - April maybe. Anyway the good thing is that recovery is pretty quick so I was right to go for my next run.


Thursday: I ran 6km around Bondi Junction and took in a little bit of Randwick. No pain in the leg, so I'm pretty confident that this stessie business is officially behind me now.


Saturday: We had a busy day planned so I left home early for a run in the park. I ran a 5km loop which takes in the walking path and the upper roads towards Oxford Street. I ran it a little quicker than my usual plod and found it tough with the whole dry mouth and tight lungs thing happening. Man, I am so unfit.


Sunday: With the 4km Bridge Run next Sunday, I had to get Jackson out for a run. So in the afternoon we headed out in the fading light for the same 5km loop that I did Saturday. The aim of the day was to run it an extra slow heart rate and show Jackson that he can achieve a solid run without getting wasted. So we just plodded along at his conversation pace and managed to complete the whole 5km loop without any walk stops. He did really great and was surprised that he felt so good at the end. He is definitely ready for a good run across the bridge next Sunday morning.

Sri Chinmoy 4km

Sunday, September 09, 2007
Centennial Park | grass | easy


It wasn't exactly a cast of 1,000's down at Mackay Oval this morning. In fact the numbers dwindled even moreso once the 14km and 7km groups were sent on their way.


At the start/finish line for the 4km we had two girls in the U17 category, a girl around Jackson's age, her Dad and us. So in the light rain we set off dodging puddles & mud. Jackson took off like a bear was chasing him and led the group out to the first turn around the lake. He was clearly going out fast because of the pretty girl in the group. I didn't have the heart to chip him in front of her and tell him to run at his pace rather than hers. At about the 1km mark he was blowing up big time, the girl and her Dad had moved 50m ahead. As he was gasping for air I said to him that he would learn a valuable lesson today. LOL


For the rest of the race Jackson was running on empty and really regretting going out hard. We plodded to the finish line and stayed for a little while for the pancakes and presentation. Presentation you ask ? Yep because of the small numbers, Jackson picked up a 1st place bling in his category and I got a 2nd place bling in mine. LOL.


Good to see CRs Blkbox, Beki, PlodBod, Ellie (solo cheer squad) & Vurt out there as well.

Update

Friday, September 07, 2007

I had a bad dose of CBF'd syndrome this week. So I only got out Tuesday night for 25 mins in the rain for a slow jog.


With Friday being a public holiday in Sydney, Jackson and I drove down the road to Clovelly and we ran the coastal path up to Bronte Beach. That worked out at about 5km return. It was a tough run for the little guy with all those stairs and hills. Not to mention the grave yard which spooked him into a quick PB. LOL.


The leg is feeling fine and I'm really looking forward to a full summer's running.

Fathers Day 5

Sunday, September 02, 2007
5km | easy


There was no need to wake the tribe this morning as the kids found their way to our bedroom to jump on me bright and early for Fathers Day. A nice breaky later and we were on our way to Olympics Park for the Fathers Day 5.


Jackson said he was nervous about the run but I assured him that he had already run pretty close to the race distance before so I didn't think that he would have a problem. Anyway, if he got fatigued I told him that I was happy to squeeze in a walk break or two if required


The turnout was pretty poor and based on the number of volunteers in lime green shirts, they must have expected a huge walk up on the day. Anyway that meant that it was a very manageable crowd with no pushing or shoving at the start. Good for us.


It was gun time and the race director passed the mic to the Minister for Health who wished us all well. Oddly we then had to listen to a Rob Thomas song before the air horn was sounded. From the GO we ran up past Telstra Stadium down to the International Tennis Centre, around the Hockey complex, down the straight of the Athletics track, into the bowels of Telstra Stadium (wow always wanted to see that car park - not) and once around Acer Arena.


Jackson did very well and ran a solid 2.5km to the drinks station. From there we had a rest while we drank our cup of water and then walked up the hill to the 3km mark. From there we ran the rest of the way to the finish line and even sprinted the last 500m or so for a Hollywood finish. His time was a credible 36:37 and I have one very proud kid on my hands. Onwards and upwards to Sri Chinmoy 4km Cross Country next weekend at Centennial Park.