A wrap up of 2006

My blog began about two years ago to log my training runs, my races, my PBs, my SBs and lots of remarks so I could look back and see where my training was going and maybe even ascertain why it had gone the way it had. And it has done all of those things and more! This year more than others I have meet many other bloggers, I have made many new friends and also strengthened ones that already existed. My blog has been a part of this and I believe it has also helped me to evaluate my life and occassionally it has enable some friends to come and say 'hey Stu, are you alright, would you like a shoulder to lean on' and they were right, I did! So before I summarise my training for 2006, I want to fistly thank everyone who has cared and also those who have read and been motivated. THANK YOU!

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2006 Monthly Totals (2005):
Jan - 219 (322)
Feb - 246 (233)
Mar - 247 (253)
Apr - 256 (265)
May - 213 (307)
Jun - 312 (285)
Jul - 293 (290)
Aug - 229 (210)
Sep - 240 (236)
Oct - 290 (280)
Nov - 213 (262)
Dec - 219 (261)
Total = 3033km (3196km)

2006 Personal Best Times
400m 1:04.057 Nov 06 (not fresh, raced prev on the day)
800m 2:17.16, Apr 06, VMA Champs
1500m 4:52.01, Feb 06, Aberfeldie
3000m 10:49.45, Feb 06, OP
The Tan 14:29, Jul 06, Corp Cup
5000m 19:15, Nov 06, Aberfeldie
10km 41:58, May 06, Williamstown (sick & only one for year)
21.1km 1h 28m 22s, Sep 06, Burnley :-)

2006 Racing Highlights:
My trip to Canberra for the Aust Masters Champs, whilst I didn't race any PBs I had a great time, personally and also racing. There are a handful of guys I raced against who I still see on a regular basis and say hi to!

The half marathon in Sep, I was so worried I hadn't done the long work for this and when I got to the 15km mark I knew it was all good and I ran a 80 sec PB, imagine what I could have done if I was more confident.

Puffing Billy, I got beaten by that 'bloody' train, but my time was fast enough to beat it 9 out of the last 10 years and as I was still in T&F mode, I was impressed that the hills didn't destroy my race more.

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January - I had run are fair bit of the holiday break, maybe too much which resulted in a very sore ITB, which resulted in some sore massages and reduced kms.

February - The ITB calmed down. An enjoyable run through the zoo. My first race at Olympic Park which resulted in a 3k PB. Started Pace Leading duties with S2F.

March - A big month, for the first time I ran 2:18 for an 800, I also PB a 4k race. I was in preparation for the Vic & Aust Masters Champs. But even though I don't live with my children, a magical day on 24 Mar 06, my son Kaelan was born and I was very lucky to be present for the birth and to be there to help Julie.

Not sure why I can't get blogger to post a picture here, but follow this link: http://www.ringo.com/photos/photo.html?photoId=184872120

April - Whilst summarising and checking my blog, I notice my first mention of my heel problem??? A busy racing month, VMA Track Champs, R4K, AMA Track Champs, Geelong HM & Yarra Bend XC. Highlights were going to Canberra as mentioned above, but also a highlight was my first time pacing someone in a race, thanks Crissy for the experience.

May - Highs & lows, I ran a really good Puffing Billy race, then a few days later I had an operation, got sick as a result of and for some reason I thought I could comeback quickly and race a 10k race at Williamstown. ???

June - Two races and neither went to well, but it was my biggest km month for the year, the only time in the 300s.

July - A decent month in kms, but the races were average. A few friends didn't think I had totally recovered from my op & infection two months ago.

August - The mind is a powerful thing and to be honest mine didn't appear to be going in the direction that I would have liked. I missed many training sessions and ran fairly ordinary. A couple of Corp Cups races and my first XC race in spikes, which was a well paced race.

September - I started the month off well with an 80+ sec PB over the Half Marathon distance, then followed up with a few other races... AV Tan Relay & two Corporate Cup races around the Tan and a 5km handicap race at Williamstown, maybe too many races.

October - A bit of a nothing month, in between AV seasons, which resulted in my monthly tally closing in on the 300 mark. For the second month in a row, my heel has been mentioned in my blog.

November - Personal & health issues took me away from my blog and I only made seven entries. I noted this month that my speed hadn't appeared this season yet and I was still racing 3k and shorter, slower than my 2005 pace.

December - With health issues and a bit of lack of motivation, add in end of year functions, results in a fairly ordinary racing month, but the final week of training is starting to show some promise. Now with a little bit of understanding of my health problems I can now start to refocus and think about what I want and how I can achieve that.

Thanks for reading & visiting my Blog!


Stu Mac

Sun 31 Dec 06, You Yangs

The last run for 2006, the plan was to investigate some new trails in the You Yangs Park, 75 minutes for me, Adrian was aiming for the same & Narelle 80 minutes. With some checking of maps we decided we would run into the park upto the car park at the base of Flinders Peak (approx 2.5km uphill) and then run the Branding Trail which is sign posted as 5.5km, then run back to the Rangers Hut and run around Big Rock and then finish off on the road outside to make up the remaining time.

The run upto the Flinders Peak car park was testing for a start to a run, then we hit the trail which was down down & down (which later meant up, up & up). Along the trail was all single file, reminded me very much of Ferny Creek, except without the ferns and greenery :-) , all very dry and arid style bushland. An enjoyable run which Narelle appeared to be enjoying too much as she was moving along at a fairly quickish pace, we turned off on a few side tracks looking for other suitable trails but always returning back to the Branding Trail.

Once I caught the group after the uphill finish of the trail, it was then suggested we move down to Big Rock and run around that and then to the roads. I struggled around the hill surrounding Big Rock and ran the my last 10-15 minutes trailing behind. All up 75 minutes today with a lot of sweating. A nice way to finish off 2006, a run with some Club mates on predominantly a track I had never run before!

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December's Running Stats:

KM December - 219km

2006 Total - 3033km (less than 2005)

Injuries/Illness - An inflamed achilles attachment & an infection

Exuses - Reduced kms due to above

Races next month - Some track racing, nothing major

Races completed - Track races and acted as a Pace Leader for the S2F Christmas Run

January's Goals - Building

Sat 30 Dec 06, St Kilda Beach

I met with David & Gary at Fawkner Park this morning. We decided we would run past Albert Park to the beach and then run along up into St Kilda, enjoying the scenery and then make our way back to Fitzroy St and past Albert Park Lake again, drop David back at home and finishing back at Fawkner. Casual pace, just over 60 minutes, lots of chatting.

After the run I decided I would use the opportunity to use the gym at work. A 55 minute session, with lots of work on the fit ball, including dumbells & core work. Also squeezed in some lunges & squats into today's set.

Tomorrow off to the You Yangs for 75-80 minutes and I have decided that I am going to investigate some trails in the back part of the park, more trails than road and yes even some hills.

Thu 28 Dec 06, the last track session for 2006

Tonight's session was fairly lonely on the track. The sprint group were finishing up when I arrived and most of my training squad had other things on and the remainder of Burkie's squad were holidaying or working, so just me & Adrian.

20x200 @ 37 sec for me and 1-1.5 sec faster for Adrian (15 reps). The first 10 reps were done with a floating recovery, except rep 5, 10 & 15, I walked that recovery. After the 11th rep I decided I would walk 20m and then start the float.

Of the 20 reps, there were two 35s, probably five 36s, twelve 37s and rep 17 was a 38, sadly. Overall with a 3k warm up and a short cool down of predominantly walking a good hard session of short reps turned into a good endurance session, quite windy at the track.


Finally I made it to 3000km for the year, last year I also ran further than 3000km (3196). About six weeks ago I noticed that I might struggle to make the 3000 mark due to my achilles/heel problem, but I made it with still two runs left.

Wed 27 Dec 06, Flinders Peak

My coach is off to walk Cradle Mountain in an organised three day hike, so as he was walking Flinders Peak he decided that a few of his athletes could run it a few times.

So another trip out to the You Yangs (with a slight hang over), parking at the base off we went. The peak is 348m and approx a 2km run up stairs and a gradual slope. The steps being the hardest part, my first trip up was 11 min 50 sec with some walking and the second trip was just over 12 minutes. The first trip was hardest as I was struggling with a head ache and just a general awful feeling, aka.. hangover. Once back down after two trips I jogged for 10 minutes for my cool down.

Tomorrow's run will see me over the 3000 km mark.

Tue 26 Dec 06, a run from home

Nothing special for today, an even paced 5 min per k run, just over 10km on roads and nature strips. Cool morning, I even wore a T whilst running.

Off for some beers today with my training group in the city this arvo/evening.

Sun 24 Dec 06, You Yangs

Today I ran with one of the women from my Club, she is faster than me, but we stuck together for 70 minutes. We did 30 minutes on Great Circle Drive and then we turned off the main road and ventured onto smaler tracks and ran in various directions, sometimes up a hill sometimes left or on a goat track etc etc.

A nice even pace of 4:45 for the first 45 minutes and then we slowly built the pace until we sat on 4:30 for the final 10 minutes. All up a nice run with no problems.

Sat 23 Dec 06, on the Tan with HVT

This morning I met with the HVT squad for a session on the Tan. As this is not my normal training group I checked with Tim to make sure it was fine for me to tag along. But this session like so many in the past few weeks didnot go to plan, during the second effort I had a dizzy spell which resulted in me stumbling and nearly falling. As soon as I recovered I felt fine and was easily able to jog along comfortably at 4:40ish pace for a few k's.
yet again when the intensity is picked up I struggle. After Christmas I will get my results and hopefully that will help explain, until then I will drop all hard work and just cruise.


Thursday; Western A's had their Annual 1km Handicap race in combination with the Christmas Gift (120m handicap) and our Christmas BBQ. I decided that I felt well enough to compete and was hoping to run well, whilst I did run a PB (3:06.9) the run wasn't the best. The first 400 in 72, 800 in 2.28. Finishing off with nearly 10 minutes to cool down, which I ended up not feeling very well.



A picture of the starters for the handicap 1000m, I'm wearing the navy blue nike singlet & my toungue sticking out...

Wed 20 Dec 06, no run

Last day at work today for a few weeks, no travel planned, will see my three youngest a fair bit whilst their mum returns back to work, so I will get reminded of the father duties for the first 2-3 weeks in January.

I didn't run today, not feeling the best, overall feel unwell, nothing to specific. Which seems slightly appropriate as I am off for some tests at hospital tomorrow morning to check on a few anomalies.

If feeling better tomorrow I will be competing in my Club's 1000m Championship race, last year (Feb 06) I didn't compete, in Feb 05 I ran a PB of 3:10.1, I should be able to beat that (hopefully). The race is a going to be held in conjunction with our Christmas BBQ.

Tue 19 Dec 06, gym and two laps of the Tan

Forty minutes in the gym today, back & core was my focus today and finished with five minutes on the bike and then five minutes stretching my legs. Not feeling the best or very enthused I told my training partners and coach I wasn't doing a track session and I ran after work two laps of the Tan.

Mon 18 Dec 06, an easy run

A lunchtime run, pleasant temp around 22 degrees, from Victoria Barracks upto the Yarra, along the Yarra to Chapel, cross the bridge and then return on the city side. After work in the gym for 45 minutes, back, shoulders, arms & a little core work.

Sunday, was 60 minutes within the You Yangs Park, mainly on the flat trying to recover from a big day of athletics on Saturday. Whilst running I got to see the 'who's who' of Australian running, Buster & Benita with another female and the normal MTB rider. And then in the car park, Troopy came over and said hello and he must have a very good memory, as he remembered my name from an introduction probably 9 months ago, I was impressed. Chatted with Troopy about his run and then just some general chit chat about Australian athletics.

Saturday, with warm ups & cool down it turned out be a big day with probably one race too many. Very windy and most were affected by 5-8 sec in the 1500, 1 sec in the 200. I raced a 1500, 200, 5000 & 400, wasn't feeling the best prior to the 400 or afterwards.

Thursday, was at the Zatopek Classic, I ran in the Corporate Relay, 4x800m, 8 teams and my team finished 6th. I had Thursday off for lots of appointments, hospital first, having a few tests, blood and some other bits & pieces. Hair cut & tips.


So to summarise a week, raced Tue, paced Wed, raced Thu, rest Fri, raced Sun. No wonder the heel is still playing up and overall I don't feel the best, run down and not overall happy.

Wed 13 Dec 06, S2F Christmas Run at Albert Park

Went to the gym for 30 minutes, chest, back and some leg stretching after 5 min on the bike at lunch.


Tonight I was the Pace Leader for the 50 min group for the 10k in the Christmas Run. I started with a 2k warm up with Rupert and then stretched my hamstring as they are very tight after yesterday's racing. I ran the 10k in 50:01, but if I continued on at the pace I was going before I slowed down at the 9.25k I would have run 49. Here I encouraged the group of 5-8 who had been running with me nearly the entire time to press on by themselves and for the next 700m I encouraged people to catch me and run sub 50 min.

I know I have said it before, but I really enjoy the pacing jobs. After the run one of the ladies who ran the entire way with me found me and thanked me, she told me that she had run 52 minutes three time before and couldn't believe her new PB was now 49:15, consistency is really a big key.

Tue 12 Dec 06, AV Shield Comp

Tonight the NorthWest Region competed Round Five at Meadowglen in Epping, I competed in the 800m (2:22), 4x200m (1st in Div 4), 3000m (11:29) & 400m (64.3). The 800m was ok, but I am lacking in any raw speed and not racing as well as I would like. The relay was less than 10 min after the 800 and was run at 90%. Straight after the relay I walked jog back to the grandstand (150m) quickly changed my shoes and then jogged to the start of the 3k with full intent on lapping in 92 sec per lap, just collecting points and having a decent hit out. Laps: 92.8, 92.4, 92.1, 91.6, 93.4, 92.4, 94.0 & 42.1. My heel did not particularly enjoy the evening! Tomorrow I am running as a Pace Leader for the 10km S2F Christmas Run and Thursday in a Corporate Relay (4x800) at the Zatopek Classic.


Mon I ran along St Kilda Rd, around Fawkner Park & the Tan, easy pace, just under 8km at lunchtime. Evening 45 minutes in the gym, shoulders and arms, abs & glutes, 10 min of the bike at 90 rpm and then stretching.

Sun 10 Dec 06, 50 minutes along the beach

Today I went to Lorne to watch a mate compete in a mixed team in the Anaconda Adventure Race. Dave S, one of my training partners, completed the 13km ocean paddle and within their division they finished 2nd, still to confirm their overall position, but I assume they would have finished in the top 30 and there were 'hundreds' of teams.

I arrived in Lorne about 6:30am which allowed me to enjoy running along the ocean trails and on the form/hard sand, managing 50 minutes at a comfortable pace and then 10-15 minutes in the water to cool off before watching the BIG race. When I got out of my car at 6:30am it was 28 degrees, I knew it was going to be a hot day. (later in the day it got up to 42 degrees in Melb)

I found this competition very fascinating and interesting, even though I don't ride, paddle or swim, I am sure I could learn enough to have a go a some shorter events in 2007. ???


To answer R2Bs question from my previous entry; I've never thought I do not much core work, maybe 20-20 minutes a week and if I am to look in the mirror I could do a lot more. R2B, I do not have the pleasure of a lean build like many runners, so I every so often when I am starting to feel slightly overweight or I notice myself in the mirror, the core work seems to return.

Fri 08 Dec 06, the Tan & gym

An easy lap of the Tan getting an idea of how I felt after my bug, cruised the tan in just under 17 minutes and then went to the gym for 45 minutes, shoulders, back, core & stretching.

Thu 07 Dec 06, not a well boy

Tueday evening, a sore stomach. Wed morning the gastro bug had taken hold which involved a very sick & sorry person!!! Thu morning finally held down some food, first food since Tue early evening, looked in th emirror and felt thinner??

Attempted to play soccer at lunchtime, wasn't full on energy but we had a few reserves so I was able to take it easy. Withdrew from the Vic Milers 1500m race.

Tue 05 Dec 06, MMM Mile Handicap

My first raced mile race, not on track, an out & back course on the Tan, so I hope I can go a lot faster than today's effort: 5.36

Sun 03 Dec 06, You Yangs

An easy 52 minutes on the soft horse trails down the bottom, no hills and only 50% of the normal Sunday run. Iced my heel afterwards, feeling ok. Ran with a couple of the younger girls at 5 min pace.

Sat 02 Dec 06, AV Shield

Christmas work function yesterday and 'just' one or two drinks were had... alright I was very very very drunk and raced today, so some average performances, but I was there supporting my Club.

800m - 2:30
200m - 29.69
3000m - 11:22
4x400m relay

November's Running Stats

KM November - 213km

Yearly Total - 2824km

Injuries - Inflamed achilles attachment

Excuses - Raced too often in the early part of the month with some big weekly kms on top of 2 speed sessions & generally 2 race days (yep 4 high intensity sessions). Two weeks ago I felt like a Mack truck hit me during my 800m race and since then two very easy weeks (30k a week).

Races Completed - Vic Milers 1500m, MMM Relay (4 races in a day = 14k), Corporate Cup (The Tan), AV Shield Comp (1x5000m, 2x3000m, 2x800m, 1x1500, 400, 200).

Races Coming Up - A few AV Shield T&F races and will be a participant at the S2F Christmas Run.

Goals - Get the inflamed heel in check and hopefully still manage at least 176km....

Thu 30 Nov 06, track session

13km easy running along the Yarra, Tan & Fawkner Park.


Tonight, 8x200m @ 34 sec with a slow shuffle for 65-70 seconds

Splits:
33.4
34.8
35.05
34.7
35.1
34.3
34.7
35.4

I had a physio diagnosis yesterday afternoon. The achille attachment to my heel is inflamed. Instructions, ice after every run, anti-inflams for 4-5 days, reduce speed sessions, no hills and greatly reduced long run, lots of stretching, massage weekly - esp my calves and when the pain has subsided start rehab exercises.

Tue 28 Nov 06, 10x600

10x600m (44 sec per 200 = 2:12), with 90 sec recov

Splits:
2:12.1
2:12.3
2:12.8
2:13.1
2:14.1
2:12.9
2:13.4
2:11.6
2:10.9
1:57.4

Wed 08 Nov 06, Corporate Cup & S2F training

12km today and 38km for the week so far.

I competed in the final round of the Spring Corporate Cup today. With my legs still feeling the slight effects from Sunday I wasn't expecting a great run, but many others did post some decent PBs today and they competed on Sunday, but it wasn't that way for me. I ran 14:43, 13 seconds off my PB.


This afternoon I received an email from Tim asking me if I could stand in for him tonight and take the speed group at S2F, which of course I said yes. 6x500 with 90 sec recovery.

A big group, probably 30ish, which I split into 2 groups and got one of the experienced guys to monitor the recovery times and I ran with the slower group and helped them along. My group were finishing their rep between 1:50-59 for all 6 reps.

On the personal side, there are many occassions in your life when not everything goes your way and I have to come to terms with the decision of others. Time has come for some changes and my blog is one of them, thanks for reading. Stu Mac

Mon 06 Nov 06, recovery run

9km today and 26km for the week so far.

Tired and hungry would be the best way to describe how I feel after yesterdays event. I jogged from work and met a small group at 12:40pm at the Pillars for a casual stroll through the Botanical Gardens, then around Fawkner Park, back to the Tan and finishing at the Pillars again. A quick drink and a short stretch of my quads and then a slow run back to work.

Melbourne Cup tomorrow, so a day off from work which will involve a quiet day of recovering from a few after work drinks (finished 5am ish) and reading the form guide and hopefully a few wins.

Sun 05 Nov 06, Nigel Aylott Relay with the MMM

16-7km today and for the week so far.

Today I raced with the Melbourne Midday Milers in a race dedicated to the memory of Nigel Aylott. There were seven teams with four runners each, a ranking of all runners is published, one through to 28, with the bottom seven this year acting as the Captains and selecting their teams in a fair and logical order, number 28 picks first, then 27 etc. Once everyone has had their first pick the number 22 (team 7) starts the picking of the third team member. Everyone runs four legs which includes a 3km time trial in which 2 members of each team compete.

My stages today were exactly the same as last year, stages 2, 6, 8 & 14. As a general rule most of the "number 4's" ran these legs.

My times: (last year)
3.6km - 14:13 (14:43)
3.25km - 13:48 (12:47), 1 min slower, but this was into a very tough head wind!!!
3km - 11:46 (12:01)
3.7km - 14:10 (13:18), predominantly into a head wind!

Whilst two of my legs were slower than last year, I know I ran a lot better in all four legs, it was just the conditions that slowed the times. This was the same for nearly everyone else who ran these legs this year and last year.

My team was made up of Max (MMM Pres & Malvern Harrier), Mike (MMM runner & KSB AC), Mark (MMM runner & will be running with Sandringham next year, thats all they need, another 77 min HM runner) and of course me... And we were the winning team over the entire day!!! :-)

A great day, lots of sun, tired legs and I'm sure the hunger pains will go away soon.

I'm sure some pictures will soon be published, there were cameras everywhere.

Fri 03 Nov 06, what a morning!!!

10km today and 55km for the week.

A beautiful morning, brillant blue skies and NO wind, coolish, but comfortable. I parked my car at 6:55am along the Tan and then jogged down to Fed Square to meet up with Clarkey. I haven't seen Clarkey since about 4-6 weeks prior to the marathon (3:05), he is still looking very fit and was in good spirits. We ran through the city and down to Princes Park, a casual run, with loads of chatting and catching up, talking about this and that, some running and some not. Before we knew it we were back running through the city and back at Fed Square we were parted ways, back towards our cars.

I checked my watch whilst running along St Kilda Rd, I decided I would run around the parks on the grass until I got to 50 minnutes.

I'm off to the Melb Victory game tonight with Connor & Declan, our first football match at the Docklands, a draw, but a very exciting game against the CC Mariners, 3 all. Four goals in the first 12 minutes made a great start. The crowd were so loud and made a lot of AFL games seem very quiet, its an amazing feel listening to 99% of the supporters barracking for the one team!

Saturday no running planned in preparation for Sunday's Nigel Aylott Relay with the Melb Midday Milers, check out the course description some BIG hills here. A team event with four runners, everyone runs four legs, one being a 3km time trial, a great day and some very tired legs afterwards.

Thu 02 Nov 06, Vic Milers Meet One - 1500m

6km today and 45km for the week so far.

Overnight and throughout the majority of the morning Melbourne received some much required rain, a lot of it! Throughout the morning all I could think about was I had convinced eleven club mates to drive all the way to Box Hill to run in the rain... But thankfully just after 2pm it started to clear.

I arrived at the track around 6:40ish, enough time to sit around and chat and then get changed from my pink shirt (raising money for breast cancer) and other work clothes. In my heat there were four Western A's (pic below), we waited for Brad to race his 800, we were all hoping he could break the 2 min mark tonight, but it wasn't to be, 2:01. :-( bad luck Brad, it will come, very soon!

My race was scheduled for 8:15pm, I was hoping to run 4:55 tonight. I was lined up in the 2nd position (good) and we had a pacer (Vaughan from Sandy & S2F training groups) who was there to lead the pack around for a 4:30 time, but he took off a little fast, which kind of threw me, but it was my fault. My first lap I was settle 3rd or 4th last in a heat of 13, when I past the s/f line the time was called 51/52, shit, way too fast, I was hoping to hear 56/57, so the first 400 was done in 71/2. Along the back straight I caught up to Mitch (too fast too) and we both settled and relaxed, after 600m I went around him. Not sure of my splits from here, I heard 4 min with 300m to go and I crossed 2nd last in 4:56.8 with two of my training partners in front of me and Dave S behind me.

As a club we did well, with Mitch, Dave T & Amy running PBs and seven other happy runners.




From right to left; Mitch, Me, Dave T & Dave S. The pacer is in the green Sandy uniform & the winner, Ash (4:30) in the white singlet with the Malvern blue badge.

October's Running Stats

MONTH'S KMs- 290

YEARLY TOTAL - 2610 (same time last year 2671km)

INJURIES - No injuries, but a niggle in my right heel

EXCUSES - nil

RACES COMPLETED - All Comers 3000m & 1500, 1 Corporate Cup lap of the Tan

RACES COMING UP - Vic Milers 1500m, MMM Relay this Sunday & the Shield T&F Comp commences 11 Nov

GOALS - Regain my motivation and start to race some short races and find some speed.

I was pleasantly surprised with this month's kilometres, I know a 31 day month has helped, but I know I missed a few days and could have easily got over the 300 mark. I was going quite well for the first 2/3s of the month, but my mood got the better of me near the end of the month and I was feeling quite low and missed a few runs, so overall very happy. Also only a handful of races helps build the monthly stats and building a good base is important. Hopefully I can get motivated again and start smiling and get back into the hard work.

The heel is still a bit of a problem and I need some new shoes to help with the increase in effort, but I'll probably have to manage that due to $$$, rent increases, bills, child support and some fines (parking & speeding).

No run on Wednesday, will skip the day and look forward to my 1500m on Thu evening, between 8pm & 8:30pm. Rain is expected, which is fine, I just hope its not too windy, whilst I am not in PB form, I am hoping to run sub 4:55 (last race was 5:00).

Tue 31 Oct 06, track session

8.5km today and 39km for the week so far.

Chained to my computer today working on some reports, so only a brief time on the net tonight. I am racing on Thursday in a Vic Milers meet at Box Hill in a 1500m, more to see where I am at, but also to support an excellent concept. So I thought that I would do short reps tonight, but Burkie suggested we stick with longer reps but lessen the amount, 5x800 @ 3 min with 90 sec recovery.

One of my training partners, Dave S, competes in Ironman comps with a strong emphasis on his kayaking skills, but a few months ago he got the Adventure racing bug, hence why he was buggered tonight. Sat he raced in a flat water 32km Kayak race in Geelong, finished just under 3 hours. Then on Sunday he competed in an Adventure Race at Mt Macedon, I'm not sure of all of the details, but basically it involved 4 hours on a mountain bike and just over 90 minutes of off road running. WOW!!! So tonight he rightly took it easy!

A nice size group (6) jumped in with me tonight, but they were doing 600s or 300s, so I started by myself and then they jumped on at differing marks. Considering the wind tonight I thought we would struggle a bit and be a bit slow, but this was not the case.

Splits (all recoveries were 90-91 sec):
2:53
2:51
2:51
2:52
2:51

Oh well, they were consistent, but a tad fast. An easy run tomorrow and then off to Box Hill for a 1500m race.

Mon 30 Oct 06, a lazy run

10km today and 30km for the week so far.

I got home from work just after 6pm, chatted on the phone to a friend, did some domestic chores and then got changed and went for a run to tick off on the calender, no other reason.

An easy pace and with no real thought or structure, just rolling the legs over. My mind is not really into it at the moment and to be honest I think I'm just looking for a big hole to swallow me all up...

Sun 29 Oct 06, daylight savings starts

20km today and for the week so far.

First run in a few days and to be honest I could have just stayed in doors and forgotten the whole thing, but I didn't. I didn't run on Friday for a few reasons, one nearly 11 hours at work and I gave myself the day off to allow some rest & more icing of my heel, even though it felt ok. Saturday, I didn't run because it was shit weather and that was also my mood and today wasn't much better.

I decided to run the same course as last week except on the return journey I added in a km to round the trip up to 20k, basically the same time as last week, 92 minutes exactly. It was cold and a little breeze and NO sun, last week it was windy and beautiful sunshine all over me. Oh well!

Thu 26 Oct 06, soccer & short reps

7km today and 56km for the week.

A 40 minute game of soccer on a 3/4 sized pitch, six players a side and sadly we had no reserves, a fun game; 5:1 our favour. Lots of running and really enjoyed myself, but I will not be attempting to log those kms run.


Arrived at the track tonight wondering how much the game took out of my legs. Tonight myself, Dave & Dave & Troy (16/17) were doing 6x400m @ 75 sec with 75 sec recovery. The wind on the back straight and at the top of the 200 bend was fairly nasty and in my opinion made the session that little bit harder but for the first time we had some consistent 4's and we were nice & consistent with the recovery break.

Splits (recovery):
78.3 (75) too slow, we relaxed too much on the home straight
76.2 (75)
76.1 (85) we waited for another group to finish their rep
77.4 (76)
77.8 (75)
76.6

Even though we were a few seconds slower than we sceduled, we all thought the wind was a factor, but overall we were very happy as we do not normally get such consistency on the 400 reps or the recoveries. :-)

I finished off the session with only 2 laps, my right heel was becoming sore and so enough was enough today. Since at home I have iced for 20 minutes.

Wed 25 Oct 06, S2F training group

8.5km today and 49km for the week so far.

Thirt degrees one day and maybe 17 or so today...what a shocker, a SW wind, lots of cloud and barely any heat, what a contrast. Enough of the weather report!! A long day at the office, 7am start and finish at 5:40pm with a very short lunch break. Work was VERY busy today and provided a valid reason to miss the Corporate Cup, which was good, because at 10ish I was thinking I might run, but 10.30 came along and I was informed to be at a meeting at 12:30pm, no CC.

Tonight I arrived at Fed Square just before 6pm and organised myself to be looking after the 5km group so I could finish up earlier than normal, shower and then drive to the VIS for the AV Winter AGM. The 5k group invovled running from Fed Sq to the Tan, an entire lap + a few hundred metres and then back via the park system back to Fed Square, probably 5.5km. Today I looked after the front pack who were predominantly ladies who ran comfortably at 5-5:15 pace.

Once finished I conducted a brief stretching session and then ran back to Vic Barracks to shower and then made my way to the VIS.

Tue 24 Oct 06, a bunch of 800s

8km today and 40km for the week so far.

A magnificant day here in Melbourne today, 29 degrees, very little cloud and a breeze, but sadly being an office worker I spent the large majority of it inside. Leaving work at 4:30pm for training and then my day turned to poo....my car keys were attached to my back pack and I threw it into my boot with my laptop and slammm... shit the keys are in the boot!

Luckily I was able to arrange lifts to Werribee with a work colleague and then back with Dave T and Cam brought my spare key to the track, what a 'dick'...

I got dropped off on the highway and then jogged 1.5km to the aths track, some stretching and then jumped in with the Daves, Darren & Bec they were doing 800s at 3 min pace with a 90 sec recovery. Not having my watch (in the boot) I am sketchy with my exact splits, but basically I did 6x800 between 2:56 & 3:02 with a 90 sec recovery, finishing with a cool down of only 2 laps of the outer lanes.

Obviously the change in temperature may have affected the session tonight but I was very flat and knew I would struggle to do a set of 8 so 6 was the GO! Tomorrow I have Corporate Cup at lunch (I might skip it) and then S2F training group in the evening and then the AV Winter AGM meeting which I attend as a club delegate, so a busy day, ohhh and work will be squeezed in between 6:30am to 5:45pm (yep a long one).

Mon 23 Oct 06, a run along the Yarra

13km today and 32km for the week so far.

I could feel the effects of yesterdays run when I started running today at lunchtime in beautiful sunshine (20 degrees). I jogged from work to the 'pillars' on the Tan, just over 1.2km, to meet up with the Melbourne Midday Milers for a 10k run along the Yarra, which I thought was at recovery pace.

We started off with a group of 13 and looking around I knew I might be in dangerous territory, most had an easy weekend and all were A LOT faster than me and after 3-4kms I was starting to drop off the back of the pack. At this stage I was running probably 4:30ish pace or maybe even a tad faster, but I wasn't concerned as it was a beautiful time for a run. Finished off running the 10k MMM course and then made my way back to work, probably more than 60% of the run by myself.

Today I entered a 1500m race on Thu 2 Dec with the Vic Milers Club, hopefully there will be a good crowd of 4:45 runners and I will be able to hang on for a half decent time early in the season, if numbers are down and the second slowest is a 4:30 run then I may reconsider. Hopefully a few Western A members will make the trek to watch a couple of quick kids. Brad (16) has run 2 800s this season in 2:00.?? and is hoping for a tight group to help him break the 2 min barrier and Luke (19) is hoping to break the 4 min barrier for the 1500 for the first time. So even if I don't run there will be some GREAT racing.

Sun 22 Oct 06, Federation Trail

19.1km today and for the week so far.

Left for my run just after 12pm, beautiful day, nearly 20 degrees, only a little bit of wind and loads of sunshine. Plan today was to run 90 minutes on the local roads, no-where in particular, just run.

So I left home and made my way to the Hogan's Rd footy ground/reserve and followed the dirt trail around the exterior of the reserve and then back onto Hogan's Rd, turning onto Morris Rd and making my way towards the Princess Hwy. As I was crossing the railway lines it was then I remembered that the Federation Trail had been opened today so I turned left and made my way onto the trail.

It was here (about 4km) I decided time for some sun so the singlet was off and I enjoyed 60 minute + of no singlet. The path is made up of ashphalt and concrete and follows a drain system. Not to bad for my purpose, ran with no traffic except some bikes, I'll probably visit this path once or twice a month.

I wore my Garmin today and the aim was to sit in the 4:50-5:00 area, which I basically did, 91:20 for 19.1km, so an average just below 4:50 pace.

Sat 21 Oct 06, 1500m race

9km today and 67km for the week so far.

A windy afternoon at Aberfeldie and I was running a little late. With the 1500m races commencing at 2.30pm and I arrived just after 2pm, but I knew I should have at least 40 minutes as the first 2 heats shouldn't involve me. Wind all of my boys in tow today I was able to 'show' Kaelan off to some of my friends for the first time as most had not met him before and there were a few mum's there who wanted to fuss over him and were more than happy to look after him whilst I was warming up and racing. Cam's girl friend's mum was a marvel and looked after him for me... :-)

I took off and got 2.5km warm up and then a few stretches when the sub 4:30 race took off, I also managed to squeeze in some strides and a bit of a chit chat with a few club members and some guys from other clubs. Cam was in the second heat and ran a very smart race, funnily it was only 3 weeks ago I beat him in two 1km time trials, but a bit of consistent training and he is starting the trek back. At the 1000m mark he was 12th, with 300m to go he had move into 3rd and ran 4:30.

My race was the 5-5:10 min group, 15 of us. I was hoping to run 4:55 to 5 min, starting in the middle of the front group I was able to move onto the railing on the back straight and was sitting fairly comfortable. Throughout the race I felt in control of my pace and probably was racing 95-98% so I am happy with my time and finishing 5th in my heat, not a bad start for the season and with today's wind and the knowledge that I had a bit left all looks ok for a decent season. Some of my splits are below:

76.3
82.7
82.5
finish time 5:00.11

Finished off with a 25 min cool down run along the river.

Fri 20 Oct 06, an easy 10km in Hoppers

10km today and 58km for the week so far.

Out the door at 5am for a very easy stroll around a 10k course from home, pleasant morning with no wind. I wore my Garmin to ensure I never ran faster than 4:50 pace, but I was trying to stay on 5 min pace for the majority of the run.

Showered and changed and off to work, arriving just before 7.

I may race a 1500m tomorrow at an All Comers event at Aberfeldie but it will depend on the weather as I will have Connor, Declan & Kaelan (yep even the little one). Kaelan is just staying for the afternoon to give his mum some free time.

And I just noted I ran past 2500km this morning!!!

Thu 19 Oct 06, short reps & a brief session

6km today and 48km for the week so far.

Another long day at the office, starting just after 7am and finishing at 5:40pm, this meant arriving at the track just after 6pm, changed quickly and off for a 2.5k w/up, then 5x70m strides and stretching.

Tonight 5x300m, 52 sec with 3 min recovery, not a normal session for me, much longer breaks than I am used to and this meant the session was very controlled and a bit easy. I trained with Luke tonight, he did 6x300 @ 47 sec with 1 min recovery. So basically I did my rep with his every 2nd, this gave him someone to chase, which he commented helped as he trains by himself quite a bit.

Splits:
51.3
52.4
52.1
52.2
51.5

All the breaks were right on 3 minutes. I walked 300m and then changed tops, shoes and finished off with a few laps to spread the session out. Legs were a little tired at the start of the sessiion, but I was happy I made the effort to train and 'blow' the days work away.

Wed 18 Oct 06, S2F training group

15km today and 42km for the week so far.

I've been noting some of my work hours lately so I can see how I am feeling after some more testing days at work. I suspect the next few weeks will see some bigger hours, even on Sunday night I had to do about 4 hours work in preparation for the Planning Conference. Today I arrived at my desk at 6:30am and left at 5:40pm, quickly changed and then jogged to my car, dropped my back pack and then jogged into Fed Square.

Tonight I was asked to take the 10k group by myself, which was easy as the group was small (6) and for a second week again all males and predominantly of a similar pace. We ran around the MCG grounds, upto Punt Rd and then back around the 'G', upto the Tennis Centre bridge and then crossed the river at Swan St. We then make our way along the river upto Morrell bridge, complete lap of the Tan and then cross back over at Morrell Bridge again and make our back to Fed Square.

A bit of a quick chat with a few of the guys, some gentle stretching and then I jogged upto the Shrine and then back to my car just past Government Drive. I then stretched, into my car and organised to meet a friend in the Southbank region for a quick dinner, before making my way home.

Tomorrow will be another long day at the office, planning to get there before 7am again but hoping I can keep the boss happy and get to training some time between 5-6pm.

Mon & Tue 16/17 Oct 06, Healesville run & a Hoppers run

Tue 14km today and 26.5km for the week so far.
I arrived at home just before 5:30pm, changed and then made my way out the door immediately to stretch the legs after a long day in a conference room and then 100+ minutes in the car returning home. I had let the guys know I wasn't going to the track, ran the local roads mixing my pace, running just over 60 minutes.

My legs were fine after yesterday's run, but today was more steady, excluding the final 15 minutes which were sitting on 4:15 pace. A good sweat and I must admit I am enjoying the sun whilst running at the moment.

Mon 12.5km today and for the week so far.

A two day work Business & Strategic Planning Conference at the RACV Country Club in Healesville, so after a full day on planning etc a 60 minute run was required. Being a few kms out of the township I followed a asphalt bike path along the road which ended up following a waterway (creek/small river/stream) and then I noticed a hill to my left so I turned (yes I do hills, occasionally) and worked my way up, 3-5 min effort and then found myself in an estate with some very nice houses and a few other small hills and rises. With a few lefts and rights and then I started to veer back in the direction of where I started, I soon noticed the estate was again on my right so I did a second lap really picking up the pace and working the hills very hard.

An enjoyable run and managing to get a few kms of hills into the legs at a good pace. First snake sighting for the season, coming back into the grounds of the Club I noticed a small snake, probably short of 1m long sliding across the grass about 20m to my right going away from me, I slowed down so I could watch it move away.

I finished off with about 10 min of stretching and 50 push ups and 100 sit ups/crunches.

Sun 15 Oct 06, why I didn't run

0km today and for the week so far.

One of the girls in my aths club turned 30, so off to a bar in St Kilda, here is me and Dave, early in the night....

Sat 14 Oct 06, All Comers at Aberfeldie

7km today and 61km for the week.

A busy day today, starting with Little A's coaching and coordinating the Under 6's, then a little shopping, then picking up Cam and off to Aberfeldie for the first track race since Apr for me. Both of us are competing in a 3000m race, with my PB of 10:49 I was hoping to give that a work over, but a few toughish sessions this week may stop that and of course a decent breeze at Aberfeldie.

Cam is a little unfit at the moment and has done minimal running since the HM in early Sep, so he agreed to run with me and try to help me with sub 86 sec per lap, which would put me very close to my PB and if all went well I would be able to take a few seconds off. At the same time last year I hadn't broken 11 minutes and today I did, so it would appear things are looking ok at the moment.

Laps:
81.9
84.4
85.8
85.8
88.5
90.8
139.84 (last 600m)

Time: 10:57.24

So I lost my pace around the 2k mark, Cam remained with me, but I told him to stay with me only as long as I was on pace and then do whatever he wanted, he left me with 700m to go and ran 10:29.

We finished off with a 10 min cool down around the Moonee Ponds area and then left.

Fri 13 Oct 06, rest day

0km today and 54km for the week so far.

A running rest day, but I was hoping to get 45-60 minutes in the gym but work was a tad busy today. I even got to work nice and early to to ensure it fitted in, but NO. I arrived at work at 6:40 and left at 5:30 and that was with a bare minimum lunch break, oh well.

Busy weekend, I caught up with Connor tonight for a couple of hours, he turned 8 today. I am taking Connor & Declan to Little A's tomorrow morning, then I need to do a few things at the shops, then off to an All Comers to run a 3000m race. A 30th to attend in the evening at a vodka bar, I'm sure I'll struggle here..... ;-)

Sunday, a Club Pentathlon in the arvo, I may run in the morning depending on my antics on Saturday night.

Thu 12 Oct 06, short track reps (200s)

6km today and 54km for the week so far.

36 degrees, hot northerly and sadly more than 200 fires here in Victoria, it is going to be a very unsafe summer... I think I heard that today was the hottest October day in Victoria in 93 years.

When I arrived at the track at 5pm it was VERY windy and still 34 degrees, even our warm up was hard and kept our talking to a bare minimium when into the head wind. Just Dave S & I tonight, whilst stretching we decided that there was no way we were contending with the wind and so we went for 200s, which would have a cross wind at the start and finish with a tail wind. 10x200, 34 sec with a diagonal walk across the track and restart.

Splits (recovery):
35.9 (77)
34.4 (75)
34.1 (75)
33.9 (74)
35.4 (91) drink stop
34.6 (77)
35.0 (78)
34.7 (85) drink stop
34.7 (71)
33.1 (walk 300m)

Change of shoes (trained in flats) and then three laps to cool down and can you believe it the wind died nearly completely about ten minutes after we finished....

Wed 11 Oct 06, Corporate Cup race & S2F training group

21km today so far and 48km for the week so far.

Lunchtime Corporate Cup race, according to Weatherzone it was 27 degrees with winds of 21 knots... why is it always windy on Wed lunchtimes??? I started with a 1200m warm up to the start line, whilst warming up I noticed that my legs were a little heavy but not too bad. On arrival I chatted and stretched and then got on the start line at 12:25pm, as per normal.

Today's run was my slowest for the Cup so far, 14:49, I didn't get all of my splits, missing the 2k marker; 3.45, 7.57, 3.06. Oh well, much faster than previous years, I might ensure that the final 2 rounds that I reduce my Tue night session and see if I can give my PB of 14:29 a kicking...

S2F training group this evening, will note later. Well I nearly didn't make it to the training group, dramas at work, someone tried very hard to break my safe and I had to wait for the locksmith to come and fix, luckily for me he made it and finished by 5:40. Wednesdays are my long day at work, generally arriving between 7:30 & 8am and leaving at 5:40pm and then off to S2F training group and then get home between 8 & 8:30pm and today was like that.

I jogged down to Fed Square via the Tan, passing my car and dropping off my backpack and some work, just over 1500m. I was allocated the 10k group as per normal, the numbers were down BIG time, generally between the 5k/10k & speed group we can have upto 60+ people, but tonight with the running of the Melb Marathon events the numbers were about 20-25. Very strange tonight, my group tends to be 80% female over many months, but tonight, excluding Leaders, there were 6 males and no females, very strange.

Anyway tonight's run was approx 5 min pace, a few of the guys had run the HM on the w/e and were looking to roll their legs over, mine were feeling quite heavy so I convinced Rupert to be the front Leader and I would look after the rear, but basically we all stuck together. Tonights run was just over 11.5km and with the run to and from I clocked up just over 14km.

Tue 10 Oct 06, long reps

11km today and 27km for the week so far.

What a day and of course I was inside for most of it, at work :-(

For those who are not in Melbourne, it was beautiful, no wind, beautiful sunshine and mid 20's... When I arrived at the track at 5ish it was still 26 degrees and NO wind, which is very unusual for our track! After putting some posters in our Club noticeboard I got changed and then a group of five went off for our 3k warm up. Chatting with the guys who competed at the All Schools, Shuey managed a 2:03 & 52.4, Brad who competed for the Open age group many times as just turned 16 year old, he ran 2:00.3 & back up with a 2:02.

After our warm up and stretching we chatted with Burkie and he suggested 6k's worth of efforts, so 6x1000m was agreed upon, 3:50 pace with 90 sec recovery, so nice and easy.

Splits:
3:49
3:48
3:50
3:47
3:42
3:37

All with an approx 90 sec recovery, strangely the 6th rep was only 6 sec slower than the 'so-called' time trial, but then tonight was very still. Finished with three laps of the outside of the track. All up a good session.

Mon 09 Oct 06, gym & a run in Hoppers area

11km today and 16km for the week so far.

I had to move my car at lunchtime as I could only find a 4 hour spot this morning, so before going to gym I thought I would run 1km to my car, slight move and then stick some more money in the meter and then run back to the gym and do an easy 30 min set in the gym. Mainly shoulders, back and core.


Plan to run this evening when I get home and then attempt to make my place slightly respectable as I have volunteered to be on a small sub-committtee to look into ways of developing a plan for recruitment of athletes to Western A's.

Arrived home and got changed and out for my run just after 5:30pm, cooling down and a little breezy, ran a known 9k course from home which is mainly road and around sporting reserves on grass. Heel was fine, I am aware of the spot if I push on it and it was a little tender first up this morning, but nothing like yesterday. Icing and anti-inflams are working well. Busy night, shower, shops, clean and get ready for tonight's meeting. Bye all

Sun 08 Oct 06, sadly 5km only

5km today and for the week so far.

Out the door this morning at 7:01am for 75-90 minutes, but my r.heel was very sore this morning, it has been for a few weeks and steadily getting sorer on occasions and this morning was one of those times! There have been other runs where it has been tender but the pain subsides as I warm up, but not today.

It was 10 degrees, but sun was out and the wind very mild so it would have been a nice day to stroll, but after 2km and a bit I was very aware that I was limping and considerably favoring one side so I turned back towards home still with the hope of it warming up. But at 4k my opposite hip was starting to hurt from my favoring and the heel was still very annoying so I walked the final 300-400m. I have had discomfort here before, it is the attachment area of the achilles onto the heel.

Once home I got the blue ice and the damp tea towel and spent 20 minutes on the lounge. Re did one hour later and got myself some anti-inflams.


Now in the evening the heel is ok and I was very able to do my Little A's activities,hopping, jumping and running with the U6 kids, but I'll keep up the icing and anti-inflams and probably steer from early morning runs. Definitely not the way to start the weekly kilometres... :-(

Sat 07 Oct 06, two 1k time trials

7km today and 67km for the week so far.

As Connor's soccer presentation went longer than I expected I decided to skip going to Geelong and stay for the end of his presentation and then do a fast session at the track as I knew the track was going to be opened after 3pm. I ran Burkie and he suggested a 2km time trial.

Whilst waiting for Clare to get the keys I asked Cam if he wanted to trial as well, as I know he has been lacking in his training. Cam & I did the normal 3km warm up on the grass and then some stretching. i then did 2x60m strides in my Zoom Elites and then changed to my spikes and did another 4 strides with Cam.

With some unusally warm weather (29) and the wind picking up Cam and I decided to change to two x 1km time trial with a five minute break in between.

Times
3:23
3:31

It was tough work and the wind was a lot harder than I would have preferred, strangely 90 minutes prior it was dead still. The final 200m was very ordinary and I obviously have some work to do before any decent 800/1500 racing will happen. Cam found it tougher than me and withdrew at the 600m mark on the final run.

After I finished Clare asked if I would accompany her whilst she did her final 250 & 150, which I did, i know its hard to do a complete session by yourself, hence why I asked Cam to come along. All three of us did a cooldown of three laps in lane 8, of course in a clockwise direction.

A long run tomorrow before staring the first week back with Little A's, a new bunch of Under 6's to look after (one being Declan). :-)

Fri 06 Oct 06, a day of rest

0km today and 60km for the week so far.

No run today, planning to race a 5000m track at Geelong on Saturday afternoon if the conditions are good, aiming for sub 19, 90 sec per lap will see at PB.

Stuarts Running Blog
(s20StuMac)

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Thu 05 Oct 06, short reps

7km today and 60km for the week so far.

Slightly later than normal due to work, but the guys knew I was running 15 min late, so they kindly waited. As a group of four we started with our 3km warm up on the grass and then a few light stretches, lots of discussion regarding our dislike for the short reps and of course the strong wind that was present as per normal for fast work...

The decision was 6x400, 74/75 sec pace with a 90 sec recovery. For three of us we knew we would be working but Shuey (4 reps) & Troy (4x300) we just cruising in preparation for the All School Champs this weekend.

Splits: (recovery 90 sec)
71.5 (yer yer, too fast)
73.4
74.6
75.4
75.7
77.0 (oh well)

Session over very quickly but this hurts heaps more than the long work, but we all know we need it, but that doesn't mean we have to like it... ;-)

Finished with three slow laps around the outside lanes and along the grass to dodge the sprinters.

Wed 04 Oct 06, S2F training run

15km today and 53km for the week so far.

I finished work just before 5:30, quickly changed and then ran from work over to the Tan and ran anti-clockwise, when I got to the bottom of Anderson I crossed the river and made my way down to Fed Square, arriving just before 6pm, ready to take the 10k group for a run.

Tonight myself & Rupert decided for a change we would change the route, predominantly to dodge the bike commuters, from Fed Square to the MCG's parkland surrounds and then back to the concourse and over the Tennis Centre bridge and then over Swan St bridge and up to Morrel Bridge, a lap of the Tan and then back along the river to Fed Square. Tonight's group were slightly faster than the normal group, probably sitting on 4:45ish pace, the pace being set by a couple of girls who are aiming for a 93 minute HM at Melbourne on Sunday, they were easily cruising.

After returning to the start point, I did some stretches with some of the participants and then ran back to my car, which was 1.5km away.

Tue 03 Oct 06, long reps at the track

12.5km today and 38km for the week so far.

If the winds stay away this is a great time of the year to be in Melbourne, cool mornings and beautiful sunny days! I enjoyed lunch at Southbank today, over looking the Yarra and of course the 'beautiful' people walking up and down... Anyway back to running!

I arrived at the track, changed and was ready to start just after 5pm. Another junior football player appeared tonight, specialising in sprint races but silly enough to listen to me and Dave S and be talked into doing his warm up with us, we convinced him that he was a footballer and not a sprinter and a good warm up would help, 3kms later... :-)


Into some stretching and then confirming with Burkie, 8kms worth of efforts was the schedule, so we (me) decided we would beat the mind games and do 10x800m @ <3 min with a 90 sec recovery (probably last time for long rests, so we are told...)

Splits (recovery):
2.58 (1.31)
2.57 (1.33)
2.58 (1.31)
2.58 (5.10) - toilet break & we decided to wait for him
3.04 (1.32) - not sure what happened here???
2.56 (1.32)
2.57 (1.35)
2.56 (1.35)
2.57 (1.31) - I would have liked this one to be 2.55
2.52 (walk 150m & then 3 laps on the grass outside the track, staying out of the way of everyone)

Very happy with the session, there was a breeze on the back straight, myself & Shuey (16/17) sat at the front sharing inside and outside and Dave settled at the back, sometimes struggling a little. But a great session, lots of sweat and we were very happy to complete. Burkie suggested afterwards, maybe to many reps for you Shuey (even though he is the fastest by a long way) and we need to consider slowing 2-3 sec and shortening the recovery to 75 sec... Oh dear!

Short reps on Thursday.

Baptism/Christening

Here are a couple of photos from the Christening for Kaelan on Sunday. Kaelan is now six months old. The day went really very well and we were lucky with the weather, approx 28 degrees!





This is Kaelan dressed in his outfit which was made my Julie with the left overs of her wedding dress.







The actual pouring of the 'holy' water by the Parish Priest.







All of my boys with me & Julie just after the Christening.

Mon 02 Oct 06, the Tan plus and some repeats of Anderson St

8km today and 25km for the week so far.

A lunchtime run to take advantage of the sunshine and there was a rumour there may be some rain in the evening so I decided to break up my working day. Starting across from Government Dve I ran for 5 minutes on the grassed area before hitting the Tan and running down to the 'Pillars'. Here I stopped for 5 minutes and did some stretching of the hammie and calves and then made my way upto Anderson St where I did five repeats at a 10k paced effort and then I run along the Tan in and out of the trees and just basically ran in different directions until returning to Government Dve.

All up just over 35 minutes of running.

Sun 01 Oct 06, a run from Hoppers to Werribee and back

17km today and for the week so far.

A good night at Adrian's 40th meant yesterday was an afternoon of drinking beer and yelling at the TV and then an evening of drinking beer with friends until 12:30ish. I woke up this morning about 7:45ish and decided to run some beer out of me before the Christening at St Peters. Out the door at 8am, a beautiful morning, already 15 degrees and only a little breeze, cap, singlet, shorts and Garmin in tow. Leaving home I made my way to the Princess Hwy via some local streets, running on a service road into Werribee, around the home of the VFL Werribee Tigers I crossed the railway lines, 7.5km into my run I decided I would take my singlet off and enjoy some sunshine on the body.

Nearing the Werribee racecourse I moved off the roads and followed the trail along the fence line down Ballan Rd until hitting the grassed floodway and turning right towards President Park and then making my way down to the Werribee river and enjoying getting out of the wind which seemed to be picking up. From the river I followed the dirt trails until the Riverbend carpark where I returned to the roads and then made my home.

An enjoyable run, excluding the roadside comments from passerbys, but then whilst not wearing a shirt, you seem to pick up comments that aren't very flattering... 16.9km in 1h 20m 40s, averaging 4.46 pace.

September's Running Stats

SEP KM - 240
YTD - 2356km
INJURIES - not injuries but spots I am aware of...sore right heel and some tightness in the left shin.
EXCUSES - reduced my distances after the HM and took a few days off here & there, just because.
RACES COMPLETED - AV Half Marathon PB by more than 80 seconds, AV Tan Relay & 2 Corporate Cup races around the Tan and a 5km handicap race at Williamstown
RACES COMING UP - One more Corporate Cup & maybe a 800/1500/3000/5000 track race.
GOALS - Start working on some speed and hold my base endurance, maybe even try to lose a kilo or two.

Sat 30 Sep 06, AFL Grand Final Day, Swans V West Coast

8km today and 61km for the week.

Arriving at Williamstown Aths Track at 7:30am to register and prepare myself for the Hobson Bay Running Club 5km Handicap Race starting near the Aths track. Running today as a guest, invited by a few members, one who also runs with Western A's. Typical handicap for a guest, you give your proposed time and they work out your handicap, I proposed approx 19 minute, slightly over inflated (but this probably doesn't surprise some), with out taking into consideration yesterdays 17km run. Oh well...

I arrived and registered and after chatting with a few faces I recognised, I discovered that I knew nearly 15-20 people, strangely a few Wyndham region people and of course others I have just got to know from races and running groups. I started with a 2.5km warm up (with Steven) and then 4x50m strides with Adam (ads). I was starting on 15 minutes, I took off with a couple of guys starting 10 seconds after me that I knew I would be in and around, either me beat them or them get me in the final 500m or so, which is exactly the what happened, both ways.

My run, 19:21 wasn't as fast as I hoped, but it was my 3rd fastest 5k race and my fastest on the road, so I can take that away with me. The tight turns each 1.25km slowed me a bit and of course a decent run on Friday morning took a little of the freshness away.

1.25km Splits:
4.27 (a tad too fast)
4.55 (lost a little concentration)
5.01 (probably should have been 5-10 sec faster)
4.56
19:21.30

A nice breaky afterwards supplied from the Hobo's, not bad for $4...

The AFL Grand Final:As a proud & paid up member of the SFC/SMFC for many years, since the days of Lakeside Oval here in Melbourne and now in Sydney I wish it was a different result but I would rather lose a GF like we did than be hammered or worse still, not make it!

No matter what anyone says, it is better to come 2nd than 3rd or lower...

:(

Fri 29 Sep 06, Riverbend Park

17.25km today and 53km for the week so far.

I was meeting a friend, Clare, at Riverbend this morning for a run, a bit motivation for her and a good way just to catch up with what each other have been upto lately. I decided I would run from home, but not knowing how far it was exactly I gave myself 30 minutes to get there. Leaving home at 6:45am it was just under seven degrees, so I wore my Skins top and singlet, shorts and my Garmin, but it was a beautiful morning, all blue sky and little to no wind.

Arriving at the car park I discovered it was only 4.7km (with a slight detour) so instead of sitting and waiting I kept running until Clare arrived, all up 7.3km at an average of 12.5kph. We took off and made sure we stuck to the areas with no paving around the Werribee River, chatting, averaging 9.5kph for 5.8km. I then ran home averaging 13kph.

A nice way to start a day off from work. Today I had some errands to run and then I was going to Julie's place to help clean up the yard and BBQ etc for Kaelan's Christening this Sunday. With the BBQ cleaned & gas bottle filled and ready to go (first time it has been used since I left) and then I got convinced to help with some weeding and planting and laying mulch, five hours later, but of course I got to spend some time with my three little boys.

Plans for tomorrow is to run the 5km Hobo Handicap at Williamstown, aiming 19ish, will see how the legs pull up after a few hours of gardening. Then watch the Swans hopefully win the 2006 AFL Premiership and then a 40th birthday party, Adrian (a Western A' & a CR) and then Christening on Sunday morning, let's hope I look and feel healthy.... :-)

Thu 28 Sep 06, short reps

7km today and 36km for the week so far.

A beatiful day here in Melbourne today, no wind and lots of sun! Started a warm up with Dave S at 5pm, a comfy 3 laps of the Complex, then stretching and I did 3x60m strides.

A group of four tonight, 6x400m @ 75 sec with recovery of 75-90 sec. 400s are probably one of the tougher sessions for me, but I know they do help, nothing comes easy! One of the keys to 400 reps is getting the first rep right, but as per normal, too fast and the funniest thing was one guy ran 2-3 seconds faster than me and he PAID for it!

Splits (recovery):
1:11.5 (1.15)
1:12.8 (1.20)
1:15.0 (1.25)
1:15.7 (1.31)
1:16.7 (1.29)
1:17.2

After a ten minute break of complaining and general moaning of I'm too old, as a group we rolled around for three laps in lane 8.

Wed 27 Sep 06, Corporate Cup & an evening run

16km today and 29km for the week so far.

Corporate Cup race, 12:25pm, windy but the temperature was nice and enjoyable. Took off with the MMM group and others who look to take off with a fast group.

Splits:
3.50
3.55
3.50
2.56 (final 840m)

This was three seconds off my PB and if you look at my training times and then compare the times from the Tan I would hope to be able to race this faster, but of course there is a rise for the final 150m of the first km and the first 450m of the second km, but still I want to be able to run 14:20ish now. Training last night would have taken something out of the legs and the wind today, but...


Arrived at home right on 6:30pm got changed and made my way out the door and run just over 10km on the local roads, after a long day at work (arrived 7:15) it was good to clear the head a bit. Medium paced and nothing to get excited over, just rolling the legs and ticking the day off my calender.

Tue 26 Sep 06, track session

13km today and for the week so far.

First run since Thu night, no wonder the session seemed easy, I should have run yesterday arvo but I was so pissed off that I just wasn't in the mood and in hindsight I wished that I did. Before I start today's post I want to thank the very heart felt PMs & emails from a lot of people regarding last Thursday's post it means a lot and I thank you for caring & sharing your experiences with me, it means so much.


Arriving at the track just after 5pm and running approx 3k on grass with Dave S and then stretching and chatting regarding tonight's session. With Burkie away he left we with some choices and suggestions as well with some instructions for some of the 'younger' brigade how to involve them into my set of reps. Tonight a couple from another squad joined in, Darren & Missy (only 1k, sore back) and myself & Dave S, with a couple of younger kids jumping in to use us to block the wind whilst they were doing 600s & 400s. Tonight's instructions were 8k's worth with 90 sec recovery, so we decided on 4x1k & 5x800m.

The wind was present, but the sky was beautiful, 18 degrees and brilliant blue, so enjoyable to start & finish in daylight and not having to rely on the track lights.

Splits (all recovery were 90):
3.56 (chatting & concentrating on nice & even)
3.54 (still chatting)
3.50 (concentrated on holding pace into wind)
3.50 (Dave skipped)
3.04 (too slow)
3.02 (the plan was to slowly increase now)
3.01 (holding pace easily)
2.56 (Dave skipped)
2.42 (Darren & I kicked away, Dave right on 3.00)

Even with the wind tonight this was an easy session, probably due to me being fresh, the recoveries were easy to handle. Watched Luke complete 8x1k @ 3:15/6 with 40sec recovery, now that would hurt...

Finished the session with a 300m walk on the grass and then a 3 lap cool down around lane 8 and on the grass dodging the hurdlers and sprinters.

Corporate Cup tomorrow at lunchtime and I'll probably go for a run in and around the city after work, maybe Albert Park or maybe the Werribee River, will see, anyone looking for a run tmw??

Sun 22 Sep 06, another day of no running

0km today and for the week so far.

One of the running forums that I frequent is Runner's World and one of the threads that I read is the 'week that was', a summary of people's training week and I thought some of those thoughts would suit my blog today as I did not run for a third day, but seriously I couldn't care less for many reasons and there good ones.

A had a light week, only 46kms, but in the big picture it is time for a bit of a rest at the moment. I have basically been racing & training regulary since Jan preparing for the Vic & National Masters Champs in Apr and then straight into the AV Winter Series. So really for the next few weeks its all about just allowing the legs to roll over when and how I feel.

Sun: No run, recovering from a party and a longggg night out
Mon: 12k medium paced run on flat ground
Tue: very windy, a bunch of 300m reps, good pace
Wed: 14-15km v.easy pace
Thu: best session for the week, 8k of reps in various distances, very consistent.
Fri: recovering from after training drinks & then enjoying a GREAT Swans win & supporting my team into another grand final. 32 years as a member, I deserve 2 in a row!!!
Sat & Sun: visiting children and the legs will enjoy a few days away

Next week will probably be similar, next Sat will be GF stuff and then a 40th party in the evening and then a Christening on Sunday for Kaelan.

Sometimes you need pull back a bit. Today I enjoyed & spent some time at the pool with Connor & Declan, playing on a big floating obstacle.

Thu 21 Sep 06, long reps at the track

13km today and 46km for the week so far.

Tonight's session is basically what we would normally have done on Tue but we swapped the days around due to the strong winds. With three full laps of the complex in the opposite direction that we normally do (need change in everyone's life) and then some stretching and a few 60m strides to get the legs moving a bit quicker. Tonight myself, the 2 Dave's & Shuey had been told 8kms worth of reps, 10k pace. So after some consideration we decided 1x2k, 2x1200, 2x1000, 2x800 and we would be aiming for 3:55 per km pace for all of the reps and we put the recovery out from 90 sec to 2 min due to the wind. Young Shuey was to do 3/4 of each distance until the 800s, whilst he is by far the fastest Burkie is conscience of his age and also only recently returning back to track after 12-18 months away, but at a Schools comp 2 weeks ago he plucked a 52.8 for 400m after only 3 weeks track training.

With the 2k first we knew it was important to get that right early or the whole session could be destroyed, the first km we hit on 3:55 but then managed to speed up a little in the 2nd half. The rest of the session we stuck to our guns and worked well, Dave S got through the entire session which was a biggie as he didn't feel like he would earlier and of course myself & Dave T decided that the last 800 would see a faster rep to finish the night off.

Splits (recovery):
7.46 (2.01) = 2000m
4.42 (2.00) = 1200m
4.41 (2.00) = 1200m
3.56 (2.00) = 1000m
3.56 (1.59) = 1000m
3.07 (2.00) = 800m
2.46 (walk 200m) = 800m

We finished with a four lap cool down and then chatted with Luke and organised some drinks and pool later in the evening.

Thu 21 Sep 06, life stuff

0km today and 33km for the week so far.

I will run later this afternoon and log that as a separate post. Over the past month or so I have not posted a lot of personnel things in an attempt to not say too much about my life and the direction that it has taken and so as I didn't say anything that I shouldn't. I thank the many comments, emails and phone calls and most importantly the support given. Today's post is for me and for those who are interested in some of my thoughts and I thank you for reading and caring. So if you don't know me, then this post will mean very little.

Today 12 months ago I made a major decision and left my wife, which of course resulted in some very hard times predominantly emotionally. Over the past few days I have tried to analyse who & where my life is actually going and why, for those who know me well will know that I love to analyse things. Am I happy with my decision? For me it was the right decision, but for my wife and now 3 younger boys probably not, so one in particular likes to remind me.

More thoughts later... A few days later & I've kind of decided I won't say much more. Thankfully, I still have a good relationship with Connor (nearly 8) & Declan (5), whilst at times it is strained between Declan & myself but he tends to be happy to see me and stay with me, but he does like to make many comments. Whilst Connor is much quieter and is just happy to chat away and be happy with the times. A big plus has been that I can and do get along with Julie and we can chat and hold a good conversation which has meant I can hang around the house comfortably which means I have been able to spend some time getting to know Kaelan (now 6 months) even enough for him to be able to recognise me as I enter the room and smile. This morning (Sat) I was standing on the porch prior to coming in and I seen Kaelan through the window and he seen me and gave me a big smile, which is a good feeling.

12 months down the road and I've had some moments and made some poor decisions, money is continually tight and paying rent and a lot of child support is a major factor in my life. As well I have made some stupid decisions and even managed to put myself further in debt and picked up many fines in the early days of new car and this all adds up. But the biggest mistake was 6 weeks or so ago, a few days of very little food and then a cold and too much alcohol & basic medication resulted in a mess and I spent a night and morning as a patient, a mistake which I am quite embarrassed about and may remove from here, but at the moment it is here because it kind of helps to remind that I am not indestructible and I do need to be good to myself.

Wed 20 Sep 06, S2F run along the Yarra

14km today and 33km for the week so far.

After nearly eleven hours at work an evening run along the Yarra was going to be a blessing, it would help clear the day's work away and some other bits & pieces. With running from South Melbourne to Fed Square and then doing the 11k run and then running back, I managed to clock up just over 14km.

When I arrived back at my car I jogged over to a grassed area and did 50 sit ups, 50 push ups & 50 crunches. I have also noticed a few tight spots, esp the hammies so I need to start paying a little more attention to my stretching.

Tue 19 Sep 06, track session

7km today and 19km for the week so far.

Well didn't the weather person play games today...last night I hung washing at 10pm and it was cool, this morning I got up at 6am and hung another load and it was 20 degrees and last night's stuff was dry??? The sun hid behind clouds most of the day and it was very windy... I heard tonight that it got to 29 degrees which is not normal for a Melbourne September.

So I arrived at 5pm at the track tonight to blustery winds and a warm 28 degrees, this was going to be a tough track session, especially as Tuesdays are normal longer reps, but Burkie decided we would swap Thu & Tue, thankfully. 8x300 @ 55-6 sec with a 75 sec recovery.

We started with a 3 lap warm up with Tegan, Dave S & Shaun, then loads of stretching, 3 strides and then a change of shoes (DS Racers) and into the session as Shaun needed to leave at 6pm. Tegan moved off to do a similar session with some of the girls and we moved off with Dave T spectating tonight.

Splits (all recoveries between 74-76):
56.7 (strangely we thought we had started to fast)
52.1 (too fast)
54.5
55.1
55.3
54.3
54.1
53.6 (worked the back straight)

A three lap cool down and some stretching and made my way home before the very dark black clouds started to drop their water.

Mon 18 Sep 06, lunchtime run

12km today and for the week so far.

No Sunday run, very tired from the previous nights activities and then got to spend 2 hours with Connor, Declan & Kaelan after their 10 day holiday in Qld and then I got the 'could not be bothered' syndrome.

For probably many reasons my legs felt quite heavy today. I ran from work to the 'Pillars' and met up with the MMM, we decided as a group we would run up to MacRobertson bridge and back. Today I wore my Garmin, all up the run was 11.5km, a little bit windy and nice temp, probably 21 degrees but the sun was hidden...


Last night Buster Mottram 'smashed' the Australian 3000m record and won the World Cup event for a second time all with a smile.

1 OCE Mottram Craig AUS 7:32.19 (CR)
2 AFR Bekele Kenenisa ETH 7:36.25
3 FRA Maazouzi Driss FRA 7:47.80 (SB)

Sat 16 Sep 06, AV Tan Relays

12km today and 58km for the week.

This morning AV conducted the final round of the Winter 2006 Series on the 'infamous' Tan track, which surrounds the Botanical Gardens here in Melbourne. Western A's had entered 3 open men teams, 2 open women teams & 2 junior women team. Today's race we required 3 officials as well as an official with each team, so a big effort for a small club (which is growing). The men lost 3 runners throughout the week to a calf strain, ITB issues & an achilles issue, but thankfully we were still able to field our 2 main teams.

Even though I was not a part of Div 4 today, this is where all of the men's interest was, we needed to finish in front of Wendouree and we wanted a top 3 finish and we would stay 2nd on the ladder and be promoted to Div 3 for Winter 2008, which we hope may attract more interest in the running community.

The Div 4 team filled with Adam (ads), Darren, Dave T, Brad (1st time in Div 4) & Cam (my son), with some very good performances they finished comfortably ahead of Wendouree and finished strongly in 3rd position, so Div 3 here we come. As a club who 4 years ago was struggling in Div 6 & 7 we are very happy and proud of our team.

My team today was Gary (my uncle), Dave S (trg partner), Richard (1st race for the club) & myself, today we were running for ourselves and to cement the team in 6th, which is excellent as we have only filled our team 5/10 races (2 wins), it just shows we could have been highly competitive in our first season in the Div if we could have filled each race.

Off to a great start with Gary breaking 14 min, Dave running high 14's and setting a PB, and then Richard surprising and running 14:03 and finally me in 14:40 (10 sec off PB) and finishing in 3rd spot.

My race, when I started we were in 4th spot and I had Collingwood, Sandringham & Mentone in front of me, and I was following a Wendouree Div 4 runner and I followed him. I missed the 1k split as I hit the wrong button but got the 2k at 7:39, which was a couple seconds ahead of PB pace, but around the 2.5k area I started to feel it in my quads. I tried to relax around the 3k area and work on my form but it didn't really happen and managed a 14:41, which is a good consistent run and faster than last year's race.

Finished the morning with a 25-30 min run with some friends from the Club, a BBQ and then home for a couple of beers before the celebrations tonight at a 'house cooling'...

Thu 14 Sep 06, short track session

6km today and 46km for the week so far.

Short work tonight, 5x400 @ 75 sec per rep with 75 sec recovery, a group of 4. I head wind on the back straight which meant a tail wind for the final 100m which was required. Not a big fan of the 4's, but I suppose if I want to run some fast 8's & 15's I better get use to it very quickly.

Reps (all recoveries were between 74-77sec):
74.7
74.7
74.7
75.1
75.8

Very consistent for the first 4 and then a 1 sec blow out, which is fine! Tan Relays on Saturday morning, the Western A men's teams are looking good. We have 3 open teams with me just scrapping into the Div 6 team, but I would not be surprised to see 2 or 3 of the Div 7 team beat me, we have a group of 4/5 who are very close together and probably what they have done on the day before will probably seperate us. But overall we all will be barracking for the Div 4 team, if they can finish in the top 3 we are confirmed to remain 2nd, which will mean promotion to Div 3!!! :-)

Wed 13 Sep 06, S2F training group

14km today and 40km for the week so far.

Day 2 of a Mangerial Workshop in Bourke St (one more to go) which finished after 5pm, back to work changed and then trotted 1.5km back to Fed Square. I took the 10k group, the course is 10.9km and then jogged back after taking the group for a little stretch. Nice relaxing run.

New wheels tonight, Rbk Premier Road Lite IV , at a very nice price! I would be able to get 2 pairs cheaper than ANY shop and still have change. They have a similar feel to the Nike Zoom Elite and just a little bit heavy than the DS Trainer, lets see how they go.

Tue 12 Sep 06, track session

9km today and 26km for the week so far.

Tonight was a late start, 6pm, which meant even though heaps of the guys had come down to the track tonight I was going to be doing my session alone. Burkie was leaving as I was arriving and passed on my session, 5km worth of repeats, a bit faster than 10km. After changing out of work clothes I completed 3 laps of the Complex, then stretched and did 3 50m strides on the grass as there were sprinters everywhere, not used to these last starts.

I decided tonight I would do 1x1km (90sec per lap), 2x800m (85 sec), 2x600m (80 sec), 2x400m (75-77sec) & 2x200m (35 sec)with a 75 sec recovery. The first km was a little faster than I intended but felt comfortable and as this was my first real workout since the Half Marathon it was good to be puffing a little.

Splits (recovery):
1km - 3:42 (92, got involved in a conversation)
800m - 2:46 (78)
800m - 2:47 (74)
600m - 2:01 (79)
600m - 2:02 (81)
400m - 1:19 (76)
400m - 1:15 (80)
200m - 34 (78)
200m - 35 (walk jog 400m)

I then put on a dry shirt & jacket and ran 4 laps in the outer lanes or on the grass depending on how many hurdles I was dodging. Stretched and then made my way home, not a bad session, not to hard but satisfying.

Mon 11 Sep 06, lunchtime run

8km today and 17km for the week so far.

A beautiful day here in Melbourne, expected top temperature of 18. Perfect blue skys at 12:30pm today in the city. I ran from work to the 'Pillars' and stretched a little whilst waiting for the MMM group to go for their lunchtime run. Just after 12:40 a group of 12 runners made their way through the Botanical Gardens and kept running until getting to Fawkner Park, from here we ran a lap on the grass in an anticlockwise direction and then back onto the Tan, finishing at the 'Pillars'. A quick drink of water and I then ran back to work.

The run is probably further than 8k as the overall run took mid 38 min and we were moving along at a nice pace, but approx is good enough. Once back at work I did my normal 50 sit ups, stretched the basic leg groups and then 50 crunches.

And if you are wondering why so many hyperlinks tonight, well I got pissed off as I still cannot get blogger to post my pictures from the Half Marathon.