May's running stat's

More running this month than any other this year...

May km's - 244km

YTD - 962km

Injuries - nothing to report, most of the niggles are less niggling

Excuses - busy busy busy and I happily put the running concerns of others ahead of my own.

Races - XCR'09 Rd 2 Warragul 8km XC and Rd 3 Sandown 10k road, neither very well raced, but I ran!

Upcoming - XCR'09 Rd 4 Lake Wendouree 15km road race

Goals - Continue on with regular running and with 6 weeks to go until State XC Champs I will be busy with coaching.

Summary - May was the most kms this year so at least I continue to get a few extra kms in, but again in the BIG picture still minimal in the 'bank', but a 2nd over 200km.

You Yangs

62 minutes of running at the YY, easy running, nothing special. Legs felt ok, why wouldn't they...I really should have run a bit better yesterday everyone else was talking about how sore they were, not me... :(


A good day, an enjoyable run, a nice breaky, some grocery shopping, some house work, some shopping with Jo and some general bumming around.

XCR'09 Series, Round Three, SKINS Sandown 10km Classic

The day started at Cobbledicks Ford for Little Aths racing, a good days racing, some of my squad are really flying and as a group are really dominating their races. One particular girl, Lexie, a little 8 year old girl easily beats all of the U8, 9 & 10 girls and is only beaten by 2 of my U10 boys. Harley is an U14 boys who I would really like to see start racing with AV, he wins every open race too easily, he needs the comp but due to family stuff he can't make the Sat arvo comp, but I think I'll get him in four weeks for one race and one other, that may be enough prior to the VLAA State XC Champs.
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Arriving nice and early so I can get my Team Manager duties out of the way and then put on my coaching hat and go for a settling warm up with 2 of my U14 girls, once their race commenced I continued on for my 10 minute w/up (15 min all up), to be honest I felt ok during this period and on the line I thought 43ish minutes was possible, worse case 44.

Today I started mid pack and settled into my preferred pace quickly going through the first km marker in 4:25, I slightly increased the next and went through in 4:22, followed by 4:23. After 3k I thought I was going along ok, not too fast but ok (for my current fitness etc). For the first 3k I was very aware that a lady from my Club was sitting on my shoulder or just behind, Mel was working and breathing a tad harder than she probably should have been. Just after the 3k marker a few Club supporters cheered myself on, & Mel & Bec & Loren & Jo....ohhh so I am the wind break, a quick look over my shoulder and there was half of the Wes Aths women team within 10-15m tagging along for the ride :-) and so they should have been using the BIG guy who was running approx their pace!

The next 2k were ok, but a tad harder but sitting approx 4:30 area, on the back straight 5k area Bec moved alongside and then after 200m or so moved slightly ahead, I past the 6k marker and thought well this is the half way marker (pain wise and effort wise). A few hundred metres later into the straight I heard some familiar foot steps, Jo was right alongside me...my first thought was, yes she is running well, second thought was FUCK she is easily going to beat me and this of course is when the bad thoughts started.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not fussed at all being beaten by Jo or anyone else, but I am not running well in my fitness but MOST of all in my head, as a GENERAL rule I am not a TOUGH runner, I am a front runner I could never be a VAL Pro runner where I need to chase the slower person...and this has been an issue for a few years.

I knew I was starting to slow, not just in my mind, when Jo pulled alongside, so the coaches hat came on and a quick few words of encouragement and then the instructions Jo didn't want a that time, "move up onto Bec who was 5m ahead, grab onto that small pack, leave me now" and off she went. I struggled up the straight past all of the Club cheer squad etc and once around the bend (7k) I walked for 5m, why....who the fuck knows, but I did and I did a few other times in the next 2 km...all of the walking breaks were very short, but they were there and they should not have been and really they were NOT required.

The final 1.2km were run well considering and I passed probably 15 or more in the final straight, and why wouldn't I??? I should not have been running past these runners, I shouldn't have been there! 45:46 A PW by a long way, but I'll get over it.


Lots of thinking to do, why, how etc, will I bother, will I not etc. But overall I enjoy running and I love the team concept, so I'll probably continue on and just suck it up and hope to get fitter and just 'roll along'.

Gym and a L O N G shitty 'Planning Conference

In the gym at 6:20am, OMG this early morning stuff is getting easier.... I started on the tready for an easy 2k and then an easy 2k on the bike. Myself & my training partner then did some incline bench press, incline flys, shoulder press, biceps curls mixed with some incline crunches, then crunches on the ball and finished with 3x1 min planks.


Today's work day commenced at the Novotel St Kilda at 8am and I walked out the front door at 6:15pm...then back to work for 30 minutes before making the trek home...I've had better days.

Some 200m reps during winter is always nice!

This morning out of bed just before 5am to watch the Champions League, whilst the result was not what I was hoping for, I sadly believe that the best team on the day won the game, deservedly.

I watched the game until 6am (we were losing 1 - nil), then a quickish trip into the city, jogged to the gym and took control of the big TV, straight onto ESPN, shit United are two down and the final 10 minutes we didn't look like we were going to score... :(

Whilst in the gym, 5 minutes on the bike and 5 min on the tready before some deep squats followed by lunges, then cable cross overs, bicep & tricep work, bench inclined sit ups, fit ball & med ball core work followed up with crunches.
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Tonight at the track, a couple of outer lane laps followed by 4x100m strides and then into 20x200m in 44/45 sec pace with a 100m walk in approx 60 sec, a nice steady set prior to a 10k road race on Saturday.

3:45 felt very easy, yes only 200m efforts, but nice and easy was how they all felt, with myself & David leading the pack we chatted nearly the entire session. Finished off with a 3 lap cool down.
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Last night the Man Mundine won again, but I ask the female readers, what do you think of Sonny Bill Williams body, if you don't like tatts then please ignore the sleeve, but OMG I was watching the highlights of his fight lasdt night, I would be running so fast and far away, he is 'built'!!!

Gym, indoor football & coaching session

Minimal running today, just over 2k on the treadmill. Gym set and a great win in my teams indoor soccer game, 4-1.

No running tonight with my Squad, too busy and I told the group today was about form form and form and looking comfortable but moving quickly.

Gym & Ballan Holden set

Chest, shoulders, lunges, squats and core - 50 minutes, to start the day.


Tonight's set along the Fed Trail was a 8 min run and then 4x4 minute efforts with 2:30 min recovery, a slightly shorter timed recovery and only 60 sec of walking and the remaining time floating at 6 min pace (according to Jo's Garmin).

I felt strong and easily could have done another 2 sets, maybe it is true, I am getting fitter and it is time to build this up now. Shuffle back for the cool down.

A few days off from running

A few days off for me, but not my squad, with Little Aths races, training pack runs and organising long running partners they all got out and I spent a good weekend with the boys, even though I did nearly stick their DS consoles 'where the sun don't shine'.


I even slacked off this morning and didn't go to the gym for my bike ride... :(

This evening I managed to squeeze into a steady 42 minutes along the Werribee river starting and finishing at Wyndham Park, then I picked up my squad and strode another 41 minutes with the kids in a different direction, the only difference was the pouring rain for the last 25 minutes.

Today I clicked over 200k for the month and 900k for the year, sadly my 2nd biggest month for the year, but it is going forward. yay


Tonight was my first Club Committee meeting as the President and having to run the meeting, etc.

A late start for work

Taking advantage of flexible working hours, I organised with my boss to get to work between 11am-12 noon, I took the morning off to go out to Bundoora to watch three girls I coach compete in their XC Champs representing their school in Year level races.

After crawling out of bed at the respectable time of 7am, I decided I could go for a light stroll as running this weekend will be minimal with my boys staying over etc.. So I went and ran a 5km course I have measured along Skeleton Creek.


Racing was very good, 3 top ten finishes, 4th & 6th in the Year 7 race and 7th in the Year 8 race. Claire (4th) ran a GREAT race and was very close to 3rd, a girl she has never beaten before, but all ran very well, but Claire's was a standout.

Gym & a track workout

45 minutes in the gym with Tania, we did 20 minutes on the bike at a steady pace followed by some upper back and core (planks planks & more planks), gotta love planks.


At the track tonight for a pyramid set for my squad, 1000m, 800m, 600m, 400m, 600m, 800m, 1000m at 96 sec per lap (4 min pace). With 3 of the girls competing in the the Co-Educational Secondary XC Champs (no idea what that means) at Bundoora on Friday morning I gave them a night of 10x100m strides with some drills and stretching. This meant a smaller group than normal, 5 or 6, with Jo missing the 1k reps due to school aths training prior to the set. Myself and David jogged just over 2k to warm up and then 4x100m strides, ready to go.

A few weeks ago I could not have done this set as well as I did today, whilst we missed the first rep and ran 4:04 the rest were right on and I was very happy in how I felt, I basically felt in control and this shows that I am getting fitter (finally), but still a long way off where I would like to be, but....I am improving.

Three lap cool down in the outer lanes.

Tan, gym & coaching

An easy lap of the Tan and then into the gym with 3 from work for 45 minutes, chest back & core.

I jogged 2km with a few of the teenage girls today and I ran the 4x100m strides and then stood and coached.

Just 6k today.

Gym session & Ballan Holden set

45 minutes in the gym today, a fairly normal set for me, an all round hit out.
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Ballan Holden tonight, a couple of newbies tonight, Harley (14) and Scott (nearly 12), brothers, both will benefit a lot from this session in 4-6 weeks, more so Harley as he is the distance runner and Scott 200-400m runner who plays footy during the winter and runs XC for the fitness.

We started with a 7 min warm up and then into 4x5 min with 90 sec walk & 90 sec shuffle. Before the session I was worried that I was going to crash & burn tonight, but happily I felt fairly strong and held an even pace.

Overall a boring session to talk about, running along a bike path, but the kind of solid set I am building my winter season around, but after Sandown it will be time to change it up a bit, by reducing the recovery, I bet that will not be popular, thankfully I'm not after a popularity award.

Werribee River run

Yawn, yawn & more yawning. Today I had to sit through a 5 + hour briefing regarding the White Paper and how it affects my agency as we are the Defence Acquisition agency and the Reform Program that we need to undertake so the Government can strip us bare so they can then buy buy & buy and look good...are you bored yet, well I was and by the time the briefing finished I was in such a blah mood that I decided I would use some time owing.



I arrived at Wyndham Park at 3:59 and off I started running along the dirt trail in the direction of Riverbend Park, my legs were very heavy and after 15 minutes I was still strolling with heavy legs! Once at Riverbend I crossed the river via the dam wall and started my run back via Presidents Park and then back onto the trail. Nearing Wyndham Park I made a detour towards Chrinside Oval and then ran down Watton St (main st), back to my start point in 48 minutes. I noticed Harley (14) had arrived, so I grabbed him and we took off for a run, 9:30 minutes = 57 minutes.



Then off for a 16 min stroll with my squad and then lots of pointing/coaching, a good Monday run, not to hard, not to slow etc.

Guess where I ran today?

96 minutes of running today, up & down was the call of the day and struggling as well. I started off nice and relaxed organising my first 65 minutes with Blair, we followed the group and after a 5 minutes we started to move up through the group and then continued on. The first 3.5km was a nice comfortable pace but then Blair and I left the others and we moved up to Turntable, fuk my legs were not happy, once at the top I found Blair jogging around a short 350m circuit then off along the rolling hills of Rockwell.

We followed yesterday's run, past Saddleback and onto the MTB trail alongside GCD, once at the Stockyards carpark we then followed GCD back to Toynes, 66 minutes. I then chatted with an injured tri guy who ran with us last winter and then I took off for 30 minutes with Belinda.

A tough but enjoyable run today, followed by a good cooked breaky and then a bit of shopping with Jo. May of my juniors ran today at the Bacchus Marsh XC Open Day, five podiums resulting in two course records.

Club Pack Run

Friday morning was in the gym for an all round set, predominantly chest, back & core, but other major groups were visited too.


Our Club Pack runs move about the place and this week the run was scheduled for the You Yangs, yes some of us visit the YY weekly, so we ensure that we select a trail that is visited by only a few and not often. We started at Big Rock and today I decided where the majority would go (yes I can be a bit bossy or at least very persuasive), but I also coached 4 of the group and I also know a lot of the trails in comparison to others.

I suggested a 50 minute course which could be extended by those who were doing their long runs upto 60/70/75/90 and two of the U20 boys did just over 100 minutes. The first 20 minutes of the run really hurt a few, constant hills until I got them onto a new MTB trail which follows GCD for 2km and then moves into the bush and snakes its way to the Stockyards (home of the State MTB course). We arrived at the turn around spot in 28 minutes and then split into smaller packs, I turned with a couple of ladies and some of the girls I coach and from here my run turned 'pear shaped', I needed to take on a 'carer's role' with an un-named person I coach, we had turned and were running down a steepish hill and this person had dropped to 15m off the back of the pack, I turned and gave some encouragement and saw a strained expression. To cut a long story short, the person said to me they had 'pooed themselves', the poor bugger. SO we walked back to the starting point, I'm not sure how bad it was, but they didn't want to run, so we didn't, gees I was cold when we got back to the parents.

So not exactly what I wanted, but as a coach I am prepared to make sacrifices, I did manage nearly 6km of hilly running.

Just the gym today

A very sore foot today meant no running, I had scheduled a light morning stroll and a track session in the evening, but I was limping, so the gym for me.

Instead of just completing a weights set, I split my 45 minutes between the bike, the stepper (yuk) and the FreeRunner machine. The bike was tough work, an interval session; then onto the stepper, whilst my HR was displaying 132bpm most of the time it was my legs that were screaming a lot after 7 minutes and then onto the FreeRunner which was just like running but with no impact and was enjoyable sitting in the mid 140bpm.

Then 10 min of an ab workout involving crunches and then planks.

Gym, indoor football & coaching session

In the gym for 50-55 min, chest, shoulders, upper back, arms & core.


Indoor football at lunch, another good win, 5-3. We are now 4th on the ladder (out of 12) and starting to get close to finals.


Training at the track tonight for my squad, I stood and coached, a few sore spots, so I decided to rest up.

The regular Tuesday set

I started the day on the Tan, 2km of easy running with one of the ladies from work, including some hopping, jumping, step ups, push ups, lunges and some planks.


This evening I jogged for 8 minutes before meeting up with my squad, then 8 minutes with them before stopping for some easy stretching, then 4x4 min of efforts 1km, 1km, 1km & 1.1km, very happy with the consistency. This is the first time I have worn Jo's Garmin for this session, I wondered if I was hitting 1k in the 4 min and I had two 13 year old girls only a couple of steps behind me, I suspect in the coming months of their good days and my not so good I think I will have some side company!

Finished off with a 1.8km cool down.

A Monday....again

Work.......hmmm nothing else need be said!


I started early, so I could enjoy 35-40 minutes prior to meeting my Squad at Wyndham Park. I started my run through the park, after 5 minutes I picked up my pace so I could keep my HRM showing 145ish and that is where I sat for the 30 minutes, 145-152bpm. My run was an exploring run and re-visiting some of the loops I take the kids over.

Once back at my car a quick change from my singlet into a T and I grabbed my jacket. A few minutes after 5pm, I took the group off for a 20 minute run, I took them along a few of the trails I had explored today and then we ran down Watton St (Werribee's main shopping strip), much to the surprise of many late shoppers seeing a group of 20 kids running and talking (screaming too).

For me I only ran two hill reps to set the pace and a 8 minute cool down. A good evening of running, a nice back up to a busy weekend of running.

Mother's Day

I tend to be a shit son and tend to forget birthdays etc, BUT Mother's Day I'm fairly good and this year I even sent a card and a small present. My mum doesn't see me or my boys a lot, I have such a busy life the 3-3.5 hour return drive (Murchison) just doesn't fit into my lifestyle a lot...I can hear many shaking their heads, but that is me! And to make matters worse, I'm not very good with the phone either! Whilst again I didn't visit mum (she was busy trekking around Beechworth for the day), I did manage to send a small present, the present was a CD of photo's made into a Windows Media movie with music etc, lots of photo's from my mobile etc, ala like below.




Last night I dropped my boys back at home with Julie just before 9pm so they could spend the day with their mum, this meant I could enjoy my long run in the morning. Jo & I picked David T up for our trek to the YY, with it being MD, I only had the only girl who is old enough to stroll along with the adults, she enjoyed 9.1km with us before we dropped her and a couple of other 13-15 year old girls back at Toynes Rd. Then a smaller group continued on, Jo moved in a different direction after 11.5km and then I was next to drop off the pack after 85 minutes.

Throughout the first 10k of the run we sat on an average of 5:25, my HRM was nearly identical to DT's, I seemed to be happily sitting 135ish for most of the trip. But around the 13k mark I noticed I was sitting mid to high 140's, the legs were starting to complain, so that was when I decided to call it a day.

Quads and the glute are a touch tired, but the calves and hammies are all good. :-)

XCR'09 Series, Round Two, Lardner Park 8km XC

The day started with Jo organising herself to get to an APS race and then me with my boys in tow I was off to a Little Aths XC race at 8:45am....hmmm, it would appear that we like XC racing...

Wet & cold was the weather here in the west and my Little Aths squad were racing in Altona on the hardest course in their WLAC schedule, a very big hill, but to be honest, if they race the hill well they generally PB as the majority of the 1k course is down hill.

After watching four Little Aths races, I returned home, made some lunches and packed the bags and the trek t Lardner Park was underway with Connor, Declan & Kaelan. On arrival we carted all of the Club stuff to near the finishing line, strangely this job was made easier with lots of little hands available.

My first job was set up our area and get all of the info out there, as Team Manager. Then I changed hats and took on the role of a coach with two girls in the U14's, one for the first time with AV, they both did well 16 & 17th out of 30 girls over the 2km course. Then a quick check on my boys, a quick chat with two ladies I coach re spikes (Jo was already convinced) and then I took off for my warm up, just over 2.5km of flattish running.

My race was 8km, 2x4km laps, I knew it was going to be a shit run, but I needed to be there running, I needed it for my season, my Club needed more runners and my fitness and ability to run hard needed it too!

I dislike running on grass and it really showed again today, 18:46 for my first lap and slower for my second, but to be honest, I don't really give a shit, last year I hobbled around walking with a serious achilles injury, this year I ran! 32:25 (Edit: 38:25) on my watch and the AV timing, shit and yes it involved a little bit of walking! I do not like very step short hills, my mind nearly always wins.

A very short 1k cool down to run my legs out after running 8k in spikes (to stop the slipping, not because I'm fast).

Then I watched some of the ladies race and then a long drive home after some Club Presentations, home just after 6pm....a long day.

The Aths TV show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89zIrz0FN4w

Just the gym today

In the gym for 45 minutes, starting with 1k on the tready and then 5 min on the bike. Weights - upper back, oblique lifts, a little bit of shoulder, chest and then core work.


I picked the boys up tonight, a light dinner and a wander around the shopping centre, letting the boys choose their stores, so lots of toy sections.

Indoor football & a track session

I decided no gym today and enjoyed an extra 25 minutes in bed. Indoor football today at lunch, a good game it was goal for goal in the first half, 5 all at 1/2 time, but the second half was very different and it ended up a win to us 10-6. Yay us, the scores are high, probably because it is indoor and the game is played with a very aggressive attack style and it is a HARD job for the goalies!
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Track set tonight; 6x400m in 90ish with a 200m shuffle. Starting with a 4 lap w/up and then 4x100m strides before getting into the set, again I wore my HRM.

• 87.02
• 91.35
• 91.78
• 92.04
• 90.78
• 88.08

My watch doesn't retain the HR data, but my memory has the highs starting in low 160's and the highest was 172 on the 5th, I didn't note the last. Tonight I felt very comfortable, to be honest the session felt relatively easy and I reckon I could have done 4 more reps at that pace, which is great, as I couldn't 2 months ago!

I jogged a few laps with Claire, chatting about a niggle she is experiencing and upcoming races and just general stuff.

Ease it up

In the gym in the morning for a 55 minute set, lots of bits & pieces, but finished off with a good core workout of planks & then crunches. The plank set was; 45 sec front, 45 sec left side, 45 sec front, 45 sec other side; then a 30 sec rest then back into planks again, same set but 30 sec intervals. Then into 10 table top crunches, then 10 side crunches each side, 30 sec break and repeat. Lots of shaking during the planks and lots of pain during the crunches.


Tonight I strolled around the track with my group, a 12 minute warm up, then I did 1x100m stride and then watched the remaining strides, then 1x400m and 1x200m shuffle to set the pace. I jogged 5 laps afterwards chatting with various athletes.


Overall I should have run to & from the track, but work and time management happened today, but a freshening is ok too.

Tue at Ballan

In the gym this morning, 50 minutes of good work, a solid 15 min finish of core after some other upper body work.
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Tonight a good sized group met for our session, tonight a little easier with an upcoming AV XC race, the plan was for 4 x 4 min of efforts with a 3 min recovery (walking 2 min & 1 min of shuffle). For me, my first rep was run just under 4 min per k pace and I believe the other 3 reps were very close. I decided to reduce the session from 4 x 5 min due to the AV XCR'09 Rd 2 and a few of the other girls have had a few hard weeks.

The last few days I have been using HRM on one of the girls in the group, tonight I wore mine. Fairly happy with some of the results, after each rep the results were:

• 156
• 157
• 159
• 161

It is interesting noting the HR of a young fit 13 year old girl, next week I will pick a different 13 year year old girl. But overall a good solid set, which involved 8 min of warm up & a good 6-8 min cool down!

Just rolling the legs over

A coaching session at Wyndham Park this evening; as a reader you probably think as an overall package I spend more time worrying about others and I think that would be true; as a coach I have more than 20 athletes of various ages & many parents who entrust me with their preparations and ability to achieve their best, at this stage in their running life.

But I do consider Mondays an easy day, but I would have preferred to arrive 20-30 minutes prior so I could roll MY legs over, but... Once everyone was ready, we took off for a 15-18 min stroll, starting along the river, then a residential path, over the railway line, back down to the river, over the river (a rock path). We then re-grouped and ran along the path that circles Chrinside Park (home of the Werribee VFL Tigers). Stopping for some light stretching near the pool, we then returned back to Chrinside Park and actually run a lap of the ground on the boundary line, which the boys thought was pretty cool.

After some more running we finally returned to our start point after 16/17 minutes of easy running. Then the group broke into some drills & strides, whilst drills & strides sound easy, eventually the kids tire as their is no waling only drill, stride and then jog back for 8-10 minutes, I only do one or two of these, so my running is minimal here.

Then an hilly interval run with a shuffle for recovery and then back running fast again, 6 reps of this circuit, I only ran one, the remainder of the time is spent coaching. We then finished off with a 6 min cool down jog and some stretching.

This session will need to start earlier in a few weeks, it was very dark at 6pm.

Sunday morning...

It isn't winter yet and it wasn't too cold today, BUT, the Skins came out today, according to the Weather Channel is was 5 degrees, but by the time we arrived at the YY at 8am it was 6 closer to 7. I took off by myself for 20 minutes of easy pace running, then picked up my group and took them along GCD, starting on a hill (I know, how mean), we then moved onto a fire trail and then onto some 'real' bush trails, back onto GCD and up another sharp hill before turning around and returning to Toynes.

The group had run 27 minutes, which was enough for a couple of the younger girls, but I continued on with Elyse, Courtney & Jo & Mechelle were accompanying us for 6 minutes before we went separate ways, an extra 13 minutes for the two girls.

A quick chat with the mums and then off for another 35 minutes of running along some of the local trails, all up 93:25 of running today, the plan was 100, but that was suffice.

A beautiful blue sky morning with crisp temps.

Woodlands Historic Park

The first run for the month of May was a Club 'pack' run scheduled at Gellibrand Hill, it is strange that we name it so as most don't venture to the hill. We ran at the Woodlands Historic Park this afternoon, an enjoyable park with soft horse trails, rolling hills with lots of native fauna & animals.

I had one of my junior boys with me today, Bailey, who ran a nice controlled 8km run. Once back at our start point I had a quick chat with Leanne (Bailey's mum) and then took off for another 2.5km loop just to chuck a few extra k's in the legs on nice soft trails.

If the park was a little closer (44km) I would run her more regularly, a nice spot, anyone in the west should visit (just past the airport).