Sat 1 Oct, first track race for the season

19km today and 84km for the week so far

What a beautiful day, blue skys and only a little wind. A couple of hours at a Little A's working bee, sweeping...then off to Aberfeldie for the first round of the AV T&F Shield Competition. My intent for the day was to run a 1500, go for a 40+ min run and maybe do a 400.

Arrived 50 minutes prior to the start of Div 1 1500s, I dropped my bag and took of for an easy 15 min run, followed by a few fast strides on the bend and then 15 minutes of stretching and a handful of strides on the gravel track, all felt good. I was fairly sure today I would break my PB of 5:02 and also break the 5 min barrier. I was alloted into the 4:50-5:10 group, a race of 16, I was on the start line, but on the far right hand side, the race started quite quickly, the first 50m would have been my 800 pace. I settled on the inside rail directly behind 2 known runners, using them to protect me fro the head wind up the front straight, first lap Burkie calls "72, too fast", this was my pace for a 800 last season, but I continued on, I wanted to remain directly behind the 2 runners and again be protected from the wind in the front straight, the second lap was 77/78 and the third was 82ish, but I held on to run 58 for the final 300 and run a very nice PB of 4:54.20. Burkie believes with another few races and getting my early pace right a sub 4:50 should happen.

For my cool down I went for a 40 minute run with Adam, who was on his way home. I squeezed in a couple other 10-12 minute runs throughout the arvo and did the necessary warm ups for a 400 (62.40 PB). Followed by a 15 minute cool down and some stretching.

Fri 30 Sep, Stats for the month & the Tan

9km today and 65km for the week so far

September's Stats
TOTAL KM : 236km ( Missed days: 10 days)

YEARLY TOTAL: 2401km

EXCUSES: just stuff

PROBLEMS: not a lot of sleep & a little stress

RACES:
4/9- 21.1km Vic Half Marathon Champs 1h 29m 47s (PB)
18/9 - The Tan, relay leg 14:42 (PB)
25 Sep - 5k Sri Chinmoy 19:40 (PB)

OCTOBER RACES:
Some track racing, nothing else

GOALS: Prepare myself for Zatopek (5 Dec), back into 80k weeks and hill work.


Ran two laps of the Tan after work (5.30pm) with a 5 min run to Govt Dve and then 5 min to the car afterwards. Easy pace around with a few drops of rain, but very nice weather, temp wise. First lap was 18:15 & the second was 17:20, but they both felt very easy. An enjoyable way o finish the working week.

Regarding my monthly k's, I was hoping for a few more, closer to 300, but a bit of lack of get up & go dropped a few days from my schedule, but overall fairly happy with my work. Obviously the higlightwas 3 races and 3 PBs, the half marathon a real highlight!!!

Wed 28 Sep, mid week longish run

18km today and 56km for the week

Had today off from work, slept in until 8ish, which is late for me and meet Connor & Declan and took them to the movies and had lunch, which was all good. In the arvo I managed to squeeze in a 85 minute along the Werribee River and the surrounding streets of where I am staying.

I concentrated for the first 60 minutes going along at an easy pace, probably 4:55ish, for the 10 minutes I picked up the pace to 4:30ish and then for 15-20 minutes I ran at 10k race pace which was quite enjoyable.

A very windy day and ran into a lot of head & cross winds but all was ok. Tomorrow I am going to spectate the Vic Mile Championships at OP & the Skins events, should be a good evening with some quality races. I could have run one of the heats for the mile, and did think about it, as I have never run on OP but as I haven't been concentrating on the short stuff I decided against it, I know I would have probably come last but.... anyway.

Plan to run 1 or 2 laps of the Tan at lunchtime tomorrow.

Tue 27 Sep, track session

13km today and 38km for the week

A great session today, arrived at the track 5ish and went for a 16 min warm up on the roads with a training partner, had a good chat about stuff. A few strides and some general stretching, a few more strides and some drills. Tonight's session is with 2 training partners and will be the same session as last week, 2x2k, 3x1k & 1x800m with 100 sec recovery (jog & walk).

Splits (recovery):
2k - 7:44 (1:46)
2k - 7:49 (1:43)
1k - 3:53 (1:44)
1k - 3:59 (1:51)
1k - 3:54 (2:10)
800m - 2:44 (walked a lap, then 5 lap jogging cool down)

The best part was I was able to talk the majority of the time and providing encouragement to the one of the partners who was working hard to stay with me in the latter stages of the session.

Enjoyable.

Mon 26 Sep, local run

9km today and 24km for the week

The mind is a very powerful and if it is racing with thoughts, sometimes not even a run can help. I use my running like most people for fitness & well being but of course very importantly I use it as a stress relief. Yesterday I received some news that made the mind race and I was hoping my evening run would help erase or at least blunt the sting, but to no avail, I only type this so I can see that no matter what I will try to settle things in my life and to show to myself in time that some of my runs will not be as good as others.


Yesterday I drove to the aths track and ran from there for 9kms, whilst I moved along at a nice pace and I seemed fairly fluent and I did note my breathing never settled and my heart rate was a little higher than normal for the pace I was running, so I cut my run short, I was planning on running 12-15k.

I need to be aware when things start to get on top of me, yesterday I got fairly cranky at a Club Committee meeting and may have (did) lost my cool and probably let everyone know that I am not a controlled as would like most to believe I am.

Speed session planned at the track on Tuesday night, maybe some more 2k reps with some 1's to finish off with, will wait & see. Wed; having the day off, planning on a long run, 2 hours or so in the bush, i hope that will help.

Sun 25 Sep, Sri Chinmoy

15km today and the week



CHEER THE RED & THE WHITE!!!

What a mark, your a hero Leo Barry!





What a game, it may have been only 4 points but a win is a win!!!

A long night was had and lots of celebrating, but I woke early on Sunday morning, crawled out of bed & decided I would race at Burnley in a 10k race, in hindsight, not very smart!

I arrived with 20 minutes to spare, registered and jogged for 15 minutes, took the line after a little bit of organising mucking around and off I went. I missed the first km marker, hit the second km at 7:45 (too fast), the next km in 3:51, at the 4k mark I decided it wasn't happening so I withdrew at the 5km mark in 19:40. Went for a jog for 15 minutes and then chatted with a few CRs & AV runners. Whilst the time for 5k was ok, I could have gone faster if I did race that distance, which is good and it is a new PB by 17 seconds.

At 11am I went down to my local aths track where some of the guys were time trailing a 600 & 2k. I did a few easy laps and then did the 600m time trail, started well, went past the 400 mark in 63 and then withdrew just before the 500, the latic acid was really building and I was getting very untidy, I don't think Burkie thought it was such a good idea doing the trail anyway, I finished with 5 laps with the boys and then went home to get ready for an Engagement Party.

Fri 23 Sep, a local run

10km today and 56km for the week

Went for a run in the evening around Riverbend Park and associated tracks around th river, 4.30ish pace for first 10 minutes and then picked up the pace to 4.20ish. Got quite sweaty and even took off the singlet whilst along the river, 2 reasons, I was starting to get the rub sensation and because I was warm and I probably don't scare as many people nowadays as I am under 80kg.

Grand Final day today, Swans all the way!!! Taking Connor & Declan to Punt Rd oval to watch the footy on the BIG screens and if the Swans do win, the team will be going to the ground at 6pm.

Plan a You Yangs run tomorrow or a 2k & 600m time trail, depends which one tickles my fancy when I wake in the morning, if I do the time trail I will still go for an easy run later on. Burkie has planned the trail for the track runners.

Thu 22 Sep, track session

13km today and 46km for the week

Thank you everyone for your messages and support!

Didn't run on Wed, too many other things to do and then by the evening I just was over it all. Thu, I was wanting to go for a run in the morning, but knew I was planning on a big session in the evening at the track, so I left myself fresh.

Warm up of 5 or 6 laps followed by 5x70m, changed shoes and did some stretching and then did 3x80m with my flats.

Today's session with Dave S for company on the majority of the session, 2x2k, 3x1k, 1x800m, excluding the 800, all laps were to be between 93-95 sec, 10k pace. Dave was suggested by Burkie to do 1200 when I did 2000s, excluding that he was right by my side. I don't have my watch with me, but all laps we easily within my timeframe and had a ball, I was able to provide encouragement to Dave whilst running and I felt fairly comfortable the entire session. Impressed!

Food Intake:
Over the past few days I have maintained a good diet and not had any alcohol or junk which is good. With no scales to check, I am sure I have continued to lose a little bit as my pants and belt are looser than before!

Tue 20 Sep, track session

7km today and 33km for the week, 79.3kg

Track session at 5pm, quads are still a little sore from Sunday and I'm not that keen for a hard session, personal life has been very draining and I'm not that full of energy.

5 lap warm up and a bunch of run thru's, session was not really planned as I didn't know if I really felt like it, so off I went and did some 800s x 4 and then decided enough was enough. Splits, too fast, 2:44, 2:46, 2:46 & 2:48 with a 2 min recovery between.

Finished with a 4 lap cool down.

Will not get to run probably tmw, unless its late, sadly I will be looking for somewhere to live (by myself)! (I know this may be news to some)

But to happy news, read the link below, GO SWANS.

Mon 19 Sep, lap of Albert Park

9km today and 26km for the week, 79.4kg

Could feel the effects of yesterday's race, some soreness in the quads, but nothing real bad. Slept better last night, probably from 11 to 3ish. Some close friends will know why.

Today I was able to get into the city just before 7am so a morning run was to be had. I ran from the Barracks to Albert Park at a nice even easy pace and continued on easy to medium pace for awhile, using one the km markers I ascertained I was sittingon 4:30ish pace, which felt comfortable, but I knew I needed to slow a bit more. I returned to the barracks, puffing a little harder than I should have been, so I did a slow lap of the exterior of the barracks, just over 5 min extra.

Nice to run out some of my personal problems, I just wish it was that easy.

Sun 18 Sep, AV Tan Relays

17km today and for the week, 79.4kg


Well today is the final round of the Athletics Victoria Winter Competition, with Western A's having the possibility of winning three Premierships (Men Div 5 & U20 and Women Div 3, two are 100% definite), it should be a great day, followed by Club BBQ along the Yarra.

Today we were introducing 4 new U16s to the senior competition (not Little A's), 2 competing in the Men U16, 1 as an U18 women & 1 in the men Div 7 team, three of them ended up in teams that finished on the podium and walked away with team medals, well done.

Div 5, needed to win today to take the Premiership away from Mentone, the 2 teams have been very close all season and it should be a good race. We started with a 12.30 runner and were 62 seconds ahead at the change over, but our second runner ran mid 14s and there's 11:40ish OMG, from there we chased and discovered that our last 2 and Mentone's last 2 were of similar abilities and the gap remained, we crossed the second and have finished 2nd for the season and should be promoted to Division 4 next year!!! :-)

Div 7, the dumping ground, we had a team but so did more than 20 other teams, I have no idea where we finished, there were some very fast runners and then the normal guys as well. Most importantly we had a team, both myself & Mick ran PBs and the other 2 ran for the first time on the Tan, so we all walked away happy and hope we finished in the top 5 or so. TBA

My own race,warm up was a lap of the Tan with some team mates. I was expecting to race well, I was fairly fresh, but the few days before the race I had been having some sleeping problems and had only had 4-6 hours sleep over a 3 day period. To stop things off, the stress of my life was becoming a little over the top and I vomited a few times prior to the race, just to make things even harder (rolleyes), but I wanted to race today, I couldn't stay at home anymore. I was asked to run the final leg of our team, which I was happy to do, my previous best for the Tan was 15:20 and I was hoping to break that today, Mick ran an = PB of 15:07, so I was hopeful I could break 15. I took off at a quick pace and settled probably 300m into the race, at the 1k mark I was feeling good, but was aware I may have been 5-10sec too fast, with Anderson St hill in front of me, I maintained pace and really pushed myself on the flat and around the corner. The final 1k I was breathing harder than I can ever remember and I worked up on a Sandy Div 6 runner and past him with ease, I was starting to lose form with 300 to go but I held on for a great PB of 14:42.

Splits:3:46, 3:58, 3:52 & 3:05 for the final 800+.

Afterwards I felt very ordinary, and released the final contents of my stomach, thankfully with some dignity. I had a great cool down run on nearly 40 minutes and then enjoyed some time with friends.



The photo is on the start of the Div 5 race, our fastest athlete is wearing the hat (12:26, I think for the Tan).

Fri 16 Sep, Fawkner Park

6km today and 50km for the week, 79.5kg

Early run (6am), 2 very easy laps of Fawkner Park, starting & finishing at Victoria Barracks. Looking forward to the weekend race, Tan relays, currently my Club will have 7 teams, 2 men, 2 women, men U20 & U16 and women U18, with four members making their winter debut.

Rest tomorrow, will be at a Soccer Family/Presentation Day for many hours.

Food Intake;
Breaky: 3 clices of wholemeal toast with vegemite, glass of OJ & a banana
Morning snack: tub of yogurt & a mandarin
Lunch: 2 gourmet sausages & salad (work BBQ)
Late arvo snack: about a cup of almonds & sultanas
Dinner: big bowl of varios steamed vegies & some potato too

Thu 15 Sep, track session

9km today and 44km for the week, 79.5kg

Arrived at the track about 5:20pm, again late, dealing with so many life issues. Quickly spoke to Cam, first time I had seen him in nearly 2 weeks and then took off and did 7 laps of the track to warm up, with company after my first, which was good, I needed to talk instead of brooding. After my laps, I did 3 60m strides and then some stretching and limited drills. I put on my spikes to start allowing my body to become re-use to them and did 5 more 70m strides at a quickish pace.


Tonight Burkie suggested 6x400m at 80sec, which I agreed but I knew I would go faster, but I ended up too fast. Splits (recovery):
72 (85sec)
73 (105sec, I changed out of my spikes into flats)
76 (90sec)
76 (91sec)
80 (88sec)
75.8 (walked 150m)

Finished off with 7/8 laps with company for 4/5.

Food Intake:
Breaky: Nutra grain & slice of multi grain toast with vegemite
Morning tea: apple & 1/2 tub of plain yogurt
Lunch: small bowl of pasta, tomato based with chicken
Afternoon: can of red bull & orange
Tea: steamed fish & green vegies
Supper: couple of handful of dried fruit & 2 dry salada

5 1/2 bottles of water

Wed 14 Sep, run along the Yarra

9km today and 35km for the week, 79.6kg

I would have liked to run further today, but with work constraints and attending an Opening Doors Workshop at Olympic Park I could only manage just over 9k in my allocated time. I started with a lap around the outside of Vic Barracks at warm up pace and did a handful of quad, calf & hammie stretches, then i made my way down to the river, city side at a quickish pace. Once I got on the path alongside the river I ran at 5km pace until I got to the bridge at Chapel St (all up 20:30) and deliberately slowed down to a comfortable 4:40ish pace and returned back to the Barracks. A quick 50 sit ups & 30 push ups followed by some calf, achilles & hammie stretching.

Today's eats:
Breaky - Special K with a dollop of yogurt & low fat milk
Morning snack - apple, low fat museli bar, herbal tea
Lunch - Vegie Green curry with noodles, med serve, can of V
Arvo snack - salada with vegemite handful of dry fruit, herbal tea
Dinner - spaghetti pasta with a little meat sauce
Supper - coffee & couple of finger s/w

5 bottles of water throughout the day & night


Meeting at OP was interesting, AV are encouraging their Clubs to be open to all members, including AWD athletes, this was a way for our CLub to show an interest and to pick up some useful info. The talks by Peter Russell, multiple para olympian & world champ gold medalist, & Tim (surname ???) who also has won many medals were extremely interesting and funny.

Tue 13 Sep, midday run & evening track session

16km today and 26km for the week, 79.7kg

I ran at lunch today to break the day up and get out of the office, I ran the tan + today (St Kilda Rd, Domain & Punt Rd), caught up with a friend near the pillars and walked over to AV to sort some things and then jogged back to work.


Evening session; arrived at the track about 5:15pm, too late to catch up with what Mick was doing (I think he went for a road run) and most others I know are starting to prepare for track racing, so I knew I was by myself tonight. I ran 5 laps for a warm up and then 5x70m stride thru's, followed by some basic & limited stretching. Tonight I planned 6/8x1k repeats (depending on how I felt) at my 10k pace, 95sec per lap with a 90 sec jogging recovery (NO walking). I haven't done much long rep work in the past few weeks, so a little slower was probably a good idea & taking into account my weekend actvities. After my w/up jog, I felt my legs were a little cool so I changed into my nike tights and wore a coolmax T.

Splits (recovery):
3:58 (1:29)
3:58 (1:32)
3:55 (1:35)
3:57 (1:35)
4:01 (1:33)
4:03 (walked 300m)

After my walk I put on jacket, did a few light calf & achilles stretches and then took off and did a seven lap cool down, which is slightly longer than normal, but a few others joined and so I was happy to just chat & run. All up not a bad session, but would have preferred the last 2 to be slightly quicker.

Today's eating
Breaky: small glass of OJ & a medium bowl of Special K & museli
Morning snack: wholemeal s/w with egg & lettuce, herbal tea
Lunch: pea & ham soup with a slice of multi grain bread
Arvo snack: couple of handfuls of sultanas
Dinner: crumbed fish & vegies with sweet potato mash
Super: herbal tea & 4 snakes alive

Drank 4 or 5 bottles of water throughtout the day.

I'll probably only note my food intake for a week or so, I'm assuming I'll get very bored of writing things down.

Mon 12 Sep, a run along the river

10km today and for the week, 79.8kg

Didn't run on the weekend, but all of my weekend partying is coming to an end, back to getting serious and because I have nothing else planned. Saturday night was a blast, Western A's celebrated 10 years and the partying went until 5/6am and a 'little' bit of alcohol was consumed. And yet again I possibly made an arse of myself but I'll survive. Enough about that

Today I went out for a 10k ish run along the Yarra City Trail up to Chapel St bridge and then back towards the city, up Punt, down Walsh, up Anderson and then along Domain until I got to Govt Dve, then a lap around the exterior of Vic Barracks. Needed to clear my head, so 10 minutes into the run I started to lift the pace and ran at 10k race pace for approx 25 minutes, a great workout.


Over the past month I have been partying a little harder than normal and I have probably affected some of short term goals, but its all about choice. Over the past week I have received a couple of messages on my blog and a few e-mails from friends who have helped me make a few decisions regarding how much I want to run faster than I currently am, whilst I never will be good, I do want to be better than I am and I so much want to 'break' 40 minutes for 10km, so a few sacrifices will be made. Firstly my last drink of alcohol until the second week of December was had at about 5.30am on Sunday morning, and reduce my intake of food slightly and really watch and think about what I'm going to eat, no more museli bars & such, lots of fruit & veg. Its funny I mentioned to a couple of friends that I was hoping to lose 3-5kg and they kind of freaked and said that I didn't have it to lose, whilst I have over the past 2 years lost a lot of weight I'm sure that I could be slightly smaller around the stomach and upper legs, well I hope so. So for the next month or so I'll probably dribble on about my food intake too much, cause I know no-one else is really interested in what I do, so I put here so I can read about it & over analyse it all.

Today:
breaky - small bowl of cerial with low fat milk & a bottle of water whilst driving to work
morning snack - can of V, apple and another bottle & a half of water
lunch - green salad & a piece of chicken, a piece of wholemeal bread, more water (esp after run)
arvo - 2 dry salada biscuits, handful of dried fruit
dinner - chicken & stir fry vegies
supper - water

Fri 9 Sep, a couple of laps of the Tan

8km today, 54km for the week, 79.7kg

Lunch time run, just before 1pm, out for 2 laps of the Tan, first one was easy to cruising just over 17 minutes. On arrival at the pillars I had a 5 min break and took off to run a fast lap, with the idea of getting to re-know how to run the course fast, noting it has been 2 years since last racing around the Tan during the Corporate Cup. The fast lap was 15:20, I was intending on takingmy km splits, but I forgot to hit the button on the 2nd & 3rd km spots, the first was in 3:52, which felt very comfy, so I was hoping to move up Anderson well and then continue on, but it wasn't a fluent as I had hoped.

Whilst typing I thought I would check what my PB is for the Tan, it was 15:40, so I should be happy, that time was set in Jul 05. I am hoping at the Tan Relays (Sun 18 Sep) I can break 15 minutes, or at least get damm close!

Thu 8 Sep, lunch time & an evening track session

12km today, 46km for the week, 79.8kg

I need to get back into my routine, change of circumstances has affected my morning sessions, as at next week I am going to have to start getting up at 5am to get 2 or 3 sessions in early and then use 1 or 2 lunch times & 1 or 2 evening sessions. I intend to return to 6-7 sessions a week for the next month and then increase to 7-8 sessions. As well I have decided that after this weekend (Western A's 10th Anniversary Dinner) I will remove alcohol from my diet and reassess my intake of other foods, increasing vegies & fruit.

But to get to my runs on Thursday, at lunch I ran approach 6km with a guy from work, he worked hard and I was happy with the pace, probably 4.30-4.40 pace, ran from the barracks upto the Yarra and then along until we got to Punt Rd, up the hill and then around the 'outer' Tan. Followed by some stretching, I have noticed that the achilles is still tightish after the w/e race.

Evening, I arrived at the track late (5.30) and it was very windy, to run against the wind was an effort, I was at the track mainly for a short meeting and to wear my spikes for the first time in many months. I ran 5 laps of the track in reverse, ensuring each lap was faster than the last, stretched for 15 minutes and then did 5x80 at pace with my DS trainers and then I put on the spikes and did 5x80 faster with my spikes, especially concentrating on the first 20m, like a 800m start. Finished off with 4 laps to cool down and then meeting & home.

Tue 6 Sep, a run from the track

9km today, 34km for the week Recovered fairly well from the race, I know I should have done a cool down on Sunday after the race, but I didn't. I know I should have run a few easy k's on Monday but I decided to protect my chaffing and give it a rest. But overall I felt ok, I could feel a little in the quads & a bit on the achilles/calf region (probably from my flats).

I arrived at the track about 5:15pm tonight, a little late, some people in my household have trouble with time! Anyway the guys were slowly moving around the track, waiting for me, which is good of them. I rang to let them know I was running late & Dave mention that he wasn't 100% & I knew Mick wasn't either, so we agreed an easy jog would be better than trying to do interval work.

So once I was ready the three of us made our way out and did 45 minutes of easy running, chatting and complaining about how sore we were & lots of general chatting.
Afterwards I remained at the track and did more than 15 minutes of good stretching.


Yesterday I sent an email to my coach trying to work out how I would attack the next 3 months, with T&F upcoming, but I want to remain focused on a sub 40 min 10k and running in the lower grade Zatopek at Box Hill on Monday 5 Dec. Basically the plan will be to return to the previous months style of training, re-introduce the hill work and go from there, the only difference will be I will also run a few track races, but I will run a handful of 5000m races for the experience of multiple laps.





A picture of Sunday's race, not me, but the middle of the field!

Sun 4 Sep, Vic Half Marathon Championships

25km today, 79.8kg

A beautiful morning, coolish with an expected top temperature of 18 degrees awaited, there was no wind and with a relatively fastish course (less the 7 U turns) I was hoping to day was the day where I would get one of my 2005 goals, sub 90 minutes.

Up at 5:15am so I could have breaky hours before the race, small bowl of porridge & a bottle of watered down Gatorade (50/50), showered and watched the news until 6:30 and then hopped into the car & sipped on another bottle of watered down gatorade with a small banana. I arrived and parked near the start line at 7:10, 50 minutes prior to the start, I picked up the Club notes from AV, registered with the Vic Masters for the O35 age group and then went for a 15 min easy warm up. 30 minutes prior to the start the entire team had arrived and I did some light stretching and was feeling very good. 15 minutes prior to dumped my bag into my car, I was ready with a light jacket to remain warm.

On the start line said hi to a few guys I have got to know quite well via CR, Fish, Jegster, Chris B, Old Miler & a few others, lots of best wishes. I looked behind me and noticed that a lot of people were behind me, strangely over the past year I have slowly moved myself further up the starting group, I used to start on the very back line. The group walked to the official start line and then bang, off we went, with most of the Western A' guys all starting together, 300m or so into the race Gary mentioned that we may have been going sub 85 pace (a slight stretch of the truth, but he got his point across), so a slight slow down was required, we hit the first k marker in 4:10 (I think). For what ever reason I had not decided to use my lap function for every km, in hindsight I wish I did, but I did note each lap time??? I was fortune it enough to have Gary (uncle) ran along side me for the majority of the race, which was great, someone to keep me in control, someone to chat with occasionally and to motivate me when it started to get tough.

For those who do not know this course, it is an approximate 6k + looped course, out & back = 3k ish and then the opposite direction out & back = 3k ish, meaning 7 laps of a sort. (probably didn't explain very well, oh well). Gary was calling out km times and I was taking lap times, from memory the first 10 k's were generally 4:14ish, some slightly faster & some slower, but generally consistent, I past the 10k marker in 41:45ish, which was pleasing. I was becoming confident of achieving my goal around the 15k mark, but at the same time it was becoming harder to continue on, with the lat 3k taking quite a long time and there was no big finish today, just a BIG smile when I crossed the line.

Lap Splits:
12:50
11:55
13:10
12:19
13:08
12:03
14:19
Total time: 1h 29m 47s

Obviously the 2 laps are different distances, but the course is accredited, as it was used for qualifying purposes for the World Half Marathon.

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Thu 1 Sep, track session, again

11km today & 30km for week

The plan today was to run 2 laps of the Tan, but I forgot my running gear, so I decided I would train at the track. I started with 5 laps of the track in lane 4-8 and then 10x70m run throughs with some drills on the slow return & some light stretching after the first 5 repeats.

After a brief chat with Burkie re my pace for Sunday's Half we agreed 15 minutes of bends & straights and then a few laps just slightly faster than my HM pace. I ended up doing 18 minutes of bends & straights before doing 3 laps at 100 sec per lap, but all 3 were too fast so I stopped & walked a lap to try and get the faster stuff out of my rhythm and then did 2 more, which were only 1-2 too fast.

Finishing with 5 laps to cool down dressed in pants & top, it was starting to cool down quite dramatically & quickly.

I'm hoping that the weather will be nice to me on Sunday and I think I am ready to have a go at my 'wanted' time. Hopefully I get it right on Sunday, I have stuffed up many other things this week........ :-(

Wed 31 Aug, tready & gym work

7km today & 19km for week, 80.1kg

Left work after a day of meetings & a training course in the arvo, walked outside and it started raining, so I headed for the gym to jump on a treadmill, it was cooling down & very windy and I was in a singlet so it seemed like a good idea.

Arrived in the gym to discover the treadmills were full and the skiing thing was out of action, so onto a bike & wait. 12 minutes on the bike @ 30kph before a treadmill became available. I started at 4.40 pace for the first km and then moved up to 4.30 for 2k, then I moved it upto 4.15 for 1k then 4.00 upto the 5.5km mark and then I pushed it up to 3.50 pace for 500m, all of this was at 1% incline, after the 6k i slowed down to 5 min pace for 1km. Always a good sweat in the gym, hopped off, cleaned the machine and moved over to the free weights for some back, chest, arms & some lunges for good measure.

Stats for the month: for various reasons I had my lowest monthly kms for the year, 210km, which is dramatically down, this is only the second time below 250k. Two races in the month, Coliban Relay (5k) & Frankston 16k XC, both were PBs so everything is going well. Rolled my ankle and I have had some tightening in the hamstrings but nothing eventuated from that :-) All seems to be going well, HM this Sunday, then probably a month of speed work and then 2 hard months fully preparing for Zatopek, may consider dropping a few things from the diet to see if I can shred a kg or 2 for this.

2165km for 2005

Tue 30 Aug, track session

12km for day & week, 80.2kg

According to Weatherzone the wind just before training was 32kt with gusts up 45kt, I'm not sure if that is big, but it was extremely hard to run in. Meet up with 2 guys from the Club for our warm up at 4.45pm, we went out onto the road for 16 minutes, some with a BIG tail wind, then across our right shoulder & then into our face on the return, luckily it was cruising & chatting pace.

On return to the track I did a few basic stretches & then a bunch of run throughs with the wind and a couple of leg drills on the return, then a few extra quad & hammie stretches. Checked what the session was going to be, I knew it was to be either 300s or 200s, dodging the head wind and prep for the HM on Sunday. Continuous 200s for 25 minutes, 200m at 40-42 pace and then a jog diagonally across and then go again, no walking and no stopping. Four of us ran the session tonight, which always make the job easier.

Splits were very consistent, all between 39 & 40, with one 41 & 38. After 19 repeats we agreed a 400 to finish would be a nice bit of a test, which was interesting to see, I managed 38 & 41 into the wind, not bad at all I thought.

Did 2 lap slow cool down with the guys and then I put on my LS top & red flashing light and jogged home, just over 3kms, very windy but a nice way to finish off the session.


Half marathon on Sunday, if the weather is ok, I will be aiming for sub 90, last year I ran over 95 so this will be a big improvement, my current PB is 95:50 which unless I fall over I will beat, but I really want the sub 90.

25-28 Aug, my trip to SA for the National X-C

0km during these 4 days but lots of walking

Well the walking will not make up for the lack of running, but I did walk a lot of kms, with a lack of knowledge of public transport and lots of time on my side I walked from my hotel to friends a few times, walking back & forth from Vic Park Racecourse all added up.

No running as I couldn't be bothered at times, I was hung over other times and to tired other times and the remainder of the time was spent watching others run!!!

Well as expected the best race was the U20 men, tight and hard racing, whilst other races may have had better athletes the U20s know how to race and not just run a time trial. Both the Open races were my next favorites, and its a pity many of the underage kids didn't remain to look & learn.

All up a great few days away, too much to drink, lots of restaurant food, but I'll get over it!

Wed 24 Aug, afternoon jog along the Yarra

13km today so far, 35km for the week, 80kg

Finished up early to go for a run before going home, an easy to mid pace run, felt good, but didn't push it hard during the entire run, just remained one paced. Paths are very quiet during the day (3pm).

Leave for Adelaide early tommorow morning, will take my gear and hope to get one or two runs in, but will wait & see, there may be too much partying happening.

Tue 23 Aug, morning & evening sessions

13km today so far, 22km for the week, 80kg

Up & out the door at 5.10am (OMG) for an easy 5k, I have been enjoying the occassional double up day and an easy 4-5k hasn't proved to be a problem. The time well thats not too bad, but I would prefer to be able to do it later, but I have other commitments. Started raining about 2k into the morning trot & was a little cool, wore beanie, LS dri fit & tights.

Evening session

An ordinary session, just never got into it. Did 6 laps to warm up anti-clockwise and then a few strides. Plan 6-8x1000 (90 sec per 400) with 90ish sec to recover (floating).

Splits (recovery)
3:40 (1:31)
3:49 (1.34)
3:48 (1.33)
1:31 for 400 & withdrew

Just never felt comfortable, tired ???, just didn't feel right from the first one and without a partner I took the easy option. Finished off with 5 lap cool down and went home.

Mon 22 Aug, a couple of Tan + laps

9km today, 9km for the week, 80.1kg

No run on Sunday, got to bed as the sun was coming up...

Monday lunchtime was the time for my first run of the week and the Tan was the location, but some detours were required due to the council's 'hacking' of the elm trees and closing some of the paths.

2 laps of the Tan with the + being Domain Rd onto St Kilda Rd and then back onton the Tan at Government Drive. Easy pace run, a little cool but still wore my CR singlet, first time in a while I have worn the singlet and not received a "hi CoolRunner", oh well.

Western A' Committee meeting tonight to put the final touches to the 10th Anniversary Dinner.

Sat 20 Aug, Coliban relays

11km today, 65km for the week

What a day, the weather was nice to us, probably 15-16 degress, a bit of sun, little to no wind and thankfully the reported rain stayed away. All Western A athletes (15, 3 teams) arrived nice and early and we had no problems prior to the race. AV supply buses to get athletes to their legs, which we use, and this went off without any problems. This year we had 3 teams, for the first time ever more women athletes than men, 1 men (Div 5) & 2 women (both Div 3).

The race started with Div 2 leaving first at 1.00pm (Div 1 & 2 run 2 furtherlegs) and 10 min later Div 1 took off. 1:15pm was the start time for the women, which seen the first leg runners taking off for a 6.3km testing leg with some hills up and down. The remaining men's division took off 10 minutes after the ladies. Our first runner (Dave) was aware of his competition (Mentone) but reckons they (both Div 5 & 7) took off like mad men with 1.5k to go and he couldn't stay with them, at the change over we were in 2nd place in Div 5, about 30 sec behind. The second leg is a 5k leg with an extremely hard last 1.2km of up a very steep hill and then down a very steep descent on gravel (very testing), during this leg South Bendigo made a big move and passed both us & Mentone and were never sighted again, by either team. More stories to follow about this leg, the 2nd girls team had an interesting experience.

The 3rd leg I didn't get to see as I was at the 3/4 changeover doing a few k's to start my w/up. At this change over I got to see the S.Bendigo team who were moving very fast and were competing with the Div 3 teams (I think they were the 5th-6th men's team overall at this stage), next were Mentone they were about 50 seconds ahead of us and their runner was looking good. At this stage our number 1 women's team was still ahead of the Div 5 team by 80-90 seconds, with both of our fastest runners completing the 4th leg it meant a tight finish was probable between myself and our fastest junior runner on the 5k leg. Adam (ads) did make up ground on Narelle and I started about 15 sec behind Bec for the final 5k, I worked fairly hard for the first 2k up the hills to try and make up my ground here as I knew that Bec (competing in Nat X-C next week) would get stronger on the flat. Just after the crest of the hill I past Bec and gave her some encouragement, but I wasn't sure if this was the last time I would see her as I may have gone too fast too early. Strangely Bec & I had been stirring each other for the past few days leading up to the day re who was faster, so it was good for a bit of fun.

With 2k to go I was thinking it would be fitting to finish off together but I thought I could see a yellow singlet ahead (Mentone) so I tried to continue on, just in case. Lots of Club supporters were giving myself & Bec a lot of encouragement and I was also receiving some advice by the women's teams 'to slow down' :), I was on the aths track for the final 300m, whilst nearing the 200m mark I heard the announcer mention that the winning Div 3 team was just hitting the track and I knew I was now about 100m ahead & I could just cruise in for my finish; 19:55 for the 4.9km, not that good, but a PB of many minutes compared to 2 years ago.

The Club had a good day (not great), a win in Women's Div 3, fourth also in wmn Div 3 and the men finished 3rd in Div 5. As with every year there is always a story to come from the day, and this year the Div 3 wmn No. 2 team had an exciting time. Our 2nd runner followed a Sth Melb runner off the course and ended up running an extra 4km and for a sprinter is a long way and I think she ended up running the furtherest that she has in her life, but like true champions the girls continued and finished with a smile, but just a little further back than they thought they would (time wise).

A big night in Bendigo was had, lots of good food & wine, and lots of dancing and then of course the sun came up and we had a couple of hours sleep and then breaky and a trip back to the west.

:-)

Fri 19 Aug, rest day

0km today, 54km for the week

Rest day prior to the Coliban Relay, feeling good and starting to get over the disappointment of my Div 7 team not being in a position to compete for the Premiership.

Here's a map of the Tan, need to post to allow me to respond to someone on the Ausrun forum.

Thu 18 Aug, a light run & a few strides

6km today, 54km for the week

Went for an easy 20 minute run from the track just to blow away tight muscles, then did 15 minutes of stretching, lots of hammie, lower back & glutes. Then I did some run throughs (5x80) and then 5 bends, jogged a lap and went home.

Feel much better for it!

At least that made me feel good, last night I found out that 2 of our U20s decided they didn't want to run at Coliban which has caused a lot of problems and we can now only gather a weak Div 5 team, there goes the Div 7 team and our chance of promotion to Div 6 in 2006.

Wed 17 Aug, Albert Park area

9m today, 48km for the week

Ran at lunchtime, with no problems in the legs except they felt heavy. Burkie suggest easy, so the plan was for 40 mins or so at around 4.40ish pace and strangely that was the pace I sat on the majority of the time according to the distance markers around Albert Park.

I started at Vic Barracks and ran towards Albert Park at a easy pace, once I arrived there I did 10 minutes of quad and hammie stretching, and then I continued on. When I passed a distance marker I hit the lap function and strangely that 1km was exactly 4.40, the next 4.41 & then 4.40, I then left the path and ran around pit building and the oval areas. But it never ceases to amaze me that you can just pick a pace and generally be near & around it. I ran around on the grass for 10 min or so and then jumped back onto the path, next km was 4.39 and that was into a head wind, very strange.

I then moved away from the path again and made my way back to the barracks area via St Kilda Rd. An easy run, but the legs are heavy and will benefit from some easy days as I will be racing. Finally we have confirmed 10 men runners for our teams at Harcourt to Bendigo relay. I am in the second team and I should be told what leg I have been selected for before Friday (I hope).

Tue 16 Aug, morning & afternoon sessions

12.5km today, 38.5km for the week

I parked at the Tan at 6.35am this morning, a hive of activity, there are a lot more walkers & runners at this time than later on between 7 & 8, especially large groups. Ran a very comfortable 18 min lap of the Tan, for some extra k's and so I would do some stretching afterwards. I have noticed that my stretching & flexibility is not as good as it was early in the year, I was nearly at the stage where I could get my head on my knee when stretching but not now. I am sure if I was to have a 'full on' massage I would be in a lot of discomfort.

Track session this evening, more to follow.

Arrived at the track 5ish and went off for a 15 min warm up , a few stretches and lots of chatting followed by 5x60 at pace. Tonights session is planned 600s, at 5k pace, when I started I wasn't sure how many I was suppose to do or how many I felt I could do.

Splits (floating recov)
2:08 (1:34)
2:07 (1:32)
2:06 (1:37)
2:05 (1:36)
2:09 3 1/2 lap cool down

Not a very good session, never felt like I was flowing along nicely (Burkie's said I looked angry from the start). I finished early as I had feelings of my hammies feeling tighter the further I went on, no soreness but whilst sitting here I can feel they need a good massage or stretch, probably both.

Burkie wants me to finish off with an easy week, with a hopeful race on the weekend (if we can get the second team up???) and to make sure I didn't overload over the w/e (I don't think so). Last weeks very small 30 something k's and now another small week will see small kms for the month.

Mon 15 Aug, the Tan & Fawkner Park

8km today, 26km for the week, 80.2kg

Still very windy this morning, at 6.50am, ran a lap around the exterior of Vic Barracks, and then over to Govt Dve, a few basic stretches and I then noticed that the wind was dropping, excellent I thought. Took off, an easy one today, within minutes it was raining...

Did a lap of the Tan & Fawkner Park, at a nice pace except for the finish. I ran the Tan upto the top of Anderson and then made my way over to Fawkner, a lap of Fawkner and returned back to the Tan. This is when I decided I would return to Govt Dve at 5k race pace???? Why, I'm not really sure, but I did enjoy myself afterwards.

Went to the gym afterwards to do some basic stretches, got involved in a short chat and then went to work. A great way to start a dreary day and the first day of the working week.

Sun 14 Aug, Dandenong NP

17.5k today & for the week, 80.2kg

Today I took two Western A' U20 runners with me to Ferny Creek, both had been out there once before, but I was hoping that they would get to experience a run where they were not the dominating runners and of course get to meet & chat with some other runners with like abilities. Both Luke & Chris tell me that they both really enjoyed themselves and really enjoyed the soft surface.

Today's run was enjoyable and I was quite happy with my pace but I tired quite quickly in the latter parts of the run on the S Bends, I'm sure I could have continued on but I decided that 82 minutes would be enough for the day. I am guessing my distance today.

I hope all of the Syndey running community had a great day in the C2S. A handful of Melbourne runners that I know made the trip too. Will be up at 3.20am to support Craig 'Buster' Mottram in his chance at a World Championship medal!!!

Fri 12 Aug, Yarra River Trail run

13.5k today, 34.5km for the week

Very much a reduced week, with sore ankle, taking away basically 2 days and then being on course and pouring rain for 2 days. A very nice and enjoyable run along the Yarra Trail over MacRobertson bridge and a lap of Vic Barracks. I did the MacRobertson loop in 58 minutes which was nice and didn't feel too hard.

Should get out today around the Hoppers area and tomorrow I might go to Ferney Creek or hang around my local area, will wait & see how the day progresses, family commitments will decide.

Photographs from Frankston AV Cross Country

First up is Cameron in the U20 6km race, he had a shocker here, firstly partying the night before and getting to bed at 4.30am, secondly his shin hurting greatly and then a breathing probably just after the start of the 2nd lap. Not a good day for Cam.









The second photo shows the men's race somewhere on the first lap I suspect, with Adam appearing bottom left!






The third photo is one of Cam's mates and training partners, Luke.

Tue 09 Aug, morning & arvo track session

4k in morning & 9k in evening, 21km for the week

This morning I jumped on the tready, did the first 5 min @ 12.5kph, then 2 min @ 13, then 2 min @ 13.5kph, then 1-2 min at 14kph and then just over 4 min at 16kph, all easy except obviously for the last bit were I worked up a great deal of sweat. Jumped on a bike, did an easy 5k @ 25kph. Lots of core stuff and some lat pull downs and back work, all light weights with high reps. Ankle, probably 90-95%.


Drove home in the BIG wind & pouring rain, hmmm, a track session. Arrived in Hoppers, thankfully the rain subsided and I got down to the track and it looked like maybe 1 hour without rain (here's hoping). I went out on the local roads for 15+ min to warm up, returned & did some stretching followed by 7x70m strides, more stretching. I know the legs are heavy & the wind is VERY strong, probably the worse I have seen it in a long time. 4x800 tonight, with 2 min recovery, did the session with young Dave... (Wes A's will understand).

Splits: 3:02, 3:04, 3:06 & 3:06, a lot slower than normal, but the wind was strong and of course last saturday has taken a 'toll'.


Watched Bekele run last night, excellent race!

Mon 08 Aug, in the gym

8km today & week

Ankle is still not 100%, probably 85ish, so I stayed in the gym and used machines. Freerunner machine an easy 8km, no impact. Then onto the bike and did 5k at 30kph, sitting between 125-130bpm. Lots of core stuff too.

Sun 07 Aug, sore ankle

No run today today, as mentioned in yesterday's entry, I rolled my ankle and there is a sore spot on the outside of my left ankle, on and just below the ankle joint.

I got 5 sessions in last night with ice and popped some anti-inflams. Woke today to find only a little swelling and some slight discolour already, which is good. If I had to I reckon I could run on even surface today, but I know better and will ice some more and take the family out for breaky.

Sat 06 Aug, 16km X-C race @ Frankston

79.9kg, 20km today, 69km for week

The long drive to Frankston was taken early to take Cameron to his State Team meeting and like all things associated with schools it was running late and was poorly organised, but....the uniforms look very good.

Got to the course only 45 minutes prior to Cam's race (a 'dog' of a race is all that needs to be said). When the U20 race started myself and one other Club runner followed and checked out the 4km course for our warm up. Lots of turns and some wet patches and mud, with a few very short nasty hills, one of which proved to be nearly on hands & knees on the last lap... Whilst completing my warm up and checking over my shoulder for oncoming leaders I stuck my left foot in a hole and rolled my ankle, ouch. The ankle was causing me some problems when I started to cool down, so some tape and a continual warm up was in store to allow me to race.

The race started and I tried to make sure I kept myself in the clear so I could concentrate on my footing. The first 2 laps were VERY hard and I was seriously contemplating withdrawing, my ankle was sore and the course was proving to be quite difficult. But I knew I was sitting in 4th spot for our team, which meant I was still in a Div 5 spot so I continued on, but our 5th runner was catching at the 1/2 way mark. But about 1k into the 3rd lap I started to feel stronger (ankle still sore on some turns) so I started to push harder on the downhills. With a lap to go I knew I was pulling away from Mick (5th Western A) and I was starting to pass a few athletes fro other clubs. With 2km to go I knew I was catching a Mentone athlete (main comp in Div 5), with 1km to go I positioned myself 10m behind him and sat until we hit the aths track (300m to go), sat alongside him at the 200m and then kicked home and beat him by quite a bit, Burkie reckons I am getting a rep for my kick and obviously I need to start further back, but I explained my tactics, which he just smiled.

After the race I was very tired and sore, straight after the race I got ice and started the icing process, so no cool down run, which a few hours later I did really notice. The St. John's guy looked at my ankle, he smiled when I mentioned that I did it on my warm up and still raced, you know, that smile... he did mention what ligament I gave a tweak but I forgot within minutes. Ice, anti-inflams and elevation, with possible physio if it isn't fine'ish by Monday.

Splits: 17:15, 18:38, 18:38 & 18:12 = 1h 12m 44s PB

No run on Sunday, :-(

Fri 5 Aug, an easy 6k

80.1kg, 6km today, 49km for week

Yesterday I had a day's rest, reason; a 6 car pile up on the Westgate Bridge, it took me 1h 45m to get to work instead of the normal 25 minutes. Lunch time it was pouring and I didn't feel that needy for a run and after work both Julie & I had other commitments, so a rest day was declared!

Today arrived in the city in time for an easy 6km along the river and then onto the Tan, very even paced. Normally I do not run the day before a long race, but I have a few sore spots and I thought the slow jog may help.


Tommorrow off to Frankston, Cam has a Schools State X-C Team meeting at 10am so an early trip to Frankston is instore, then Cam has a 6km X-C and I have 16km. The past 2 years this race has been at Coburg, last year easily was the hardest race of my AV life, 1h 22m 48s = 5:11 pace, I fell & slipt 2 or 3 times and lost my footing many times, so the flat & dry course I am expecting at Frankston should easily be a PB even without taking in account my better fitness.

I am not placing any time constraints onto my race until after my warm up run on the course. Whilst not overly fresh, I should do ok, I need to, I have promoted into the Div 5 team again.

Just checked my yearly totals, tomorrow will see me complete my 2000th km.

Wed 3 Aug, mid long run

79.8kg, 12km today, 43km for week

Interesting day... off for my morning run, no probs there, ran around Fawkner Park twice, then the Tan and then along the river back to Flinders St & then to Vic Barracks. Even pace, whilst on the Tan, I was using the markers to check I was sitting on 4:30ish pace, sometimes slightly faster & others slightly slower. Legs feel ok, not great but ok. Tommorrow I will do a sharpening session and rest on Friday and hopefully all will be fine for the 16km Cross Country race, it needs to be, I have discovered I will be in the Div 5 team, injuries & work commitments.

Received a phone call today from the Primary School V.Principal, fighting and fighting and then not allowing the teacher to separate him, and he is only 6........
As this has been brewing for awhile he had to be removed from the school for the day, as the heading said, an interesting day!

Tue 2 Aug, track session???

6km all up today (grrr) 31km for week

Returned home today from 2 days of Conferenecing and getting alot achieved, too bad the same cannot be said about the Wyndham Council. For months Western A's have had our hours reduced at the track and it has caused many problems, hence why I have been finishing work early to get at least one track session in a week. Three weeks ago we were told this would probably be corrected, but NO, the Rughby CLub do not agree and we cannot be on the track whenm they may be training????

I arrived at the track about 5:20 today with the hope of being allowed to train until 7pm but no I was told we have reverted back and we must be off the track at 5:45pm, the Rugby start training 6:30-7:00pm????

So I did a reduced w/up, some strides & then 3x400 and then pissed off home, very angry!!! Got home, Julie listened to me for awhile and then she told me to go for a short run to cool down, which I did. 5k on the road.

Mon 1 Aug, a bush run

11km today, 25km for the week

Today I have been at Aitken Hill Conference Centre, work Executive Group Planning Conference. The Centre was owned by BHP and was their World HQ Training facility for their Executives, but five years ago it was sold to the private sector. About 15 min past the airport on 120 hectares, so very nice for a run after a days conferenceing.

Out on some trails, with the kagaroos and rabbits, just over 11kms according to the Reception's walking track guide.

Sun 31 Jul, Monthly Stats & You Yangs

79.6kg, 14km today, 14km for the week

Well the month of Jul has come & gone, statistics for the month:
- Monthly kilometres = 290km
- Biggest week = 85km
- Injuries & niggles = nil, excluding heavy legs
- Races = 6k Road Relay (24:50), an ordinary 10k Road 'fun run' (41:49) & Vic 12km Cross Country Champs (49:23, noting that it may have been 400m short)
- Highlights = Ferny Creek 1h 45m, Bundoora race - short or not I ran bloody well & my track session of 8x1000 all between 3:47 & 3:52, 2-3 months ago I couldn't do 4 reps under 4 min & that was with 2 min recovery.
- Weight = have sat slightly under 80kg for more than any other month that I can remember :-)

This morning a small group meet at the front gate of the You Yang park, intent was 2 were running 1 lap and myself & Dave were doing that plus 30 minutes more, but not everything went to plan. We seen Adam with some Hobson Bay Hobos, they had just finished 2 laps of GCD and were looking like it had been tough work... ;-)

Off we went, a touch faster than normal (I think), I reckon we may have been trying to keep up with Narelle, but after a km or so it felt ok, in hindsight we were still probably going to fast but we had settled into that groove. Once into the hilly areas I could tell it was going to be a long day at the office, laboring on the hills but felt ok everywhere else. About 25 minutes into the run everyone was moving slightly away from me as we were going up one of the steeper hills. Today the unthinkable, I had to walk a few times :-( , my legs were tired, once returning to the flat or even small inclines I was fine, but the steep ones got me everytime. After the last of the BIG hills I zoomed down the BIG down hill, once at the bottom I found Dave, he was having BIG calf issues and was unable to run anymore and walking was very difficult. So I left him with the intent of running the last 20 min at my 10k race pace and then return in my car & pick Dave up. With 1km to go I was flying and then the last hill and I died, the legs just didn't have the ability to race up the hill. Still I finished in 65:14, which is pretty good considering the amount I walked today.

On return to the car park, I walked & drank water, had my banana, put my jacket on and then drove to pick Dave up, in a fair bit of discomfort it would appear. Overall an ok run but I know a few easy days are required.

Sat 30 Jul, Gellibrand Hill run

79.8kg, 14.5km today, 85km for the week

An easy pace 67 min in the Woodlands Historic Park, I started the first 10 minutes by myself and then returned to the car park to join in with everyone else. I knew that the majority of the juniors were on strict instructions for an easy one. I was at the front of the pack chatting with Cameron about stuff, especially how it was very slow and it was important to remain together for at least the first 20 minutes.

The rest of the run was slightly faster but still very close to 12.5kph (according to the bike riding coach), myself, Cam & Jason picked up the pace on the hills and then dropped back or ran around in circles until the girls caught up.

Very easy & enjoyable run. You Yangs tomorrow, probably 90-100 minutes.

Fri 29 Jul, Rest Day

The heading says it all, decided to take a day off from running, got to work earlier and finished a little later, got heaps of work done.

Tonight Western A's AGM, I have decided to drop one or 2 of my roles within the Club and just retain Secretary, Club Delegate for AV meetings & POC for all interested members (this is one I would like to lose). But will be getting rid of the Club Registrar, which is fairly easy but it does have a couple of weeks of activity & playing with money (dislike) and every bugger leaves it to the last minute which pisses me off. At least now in Sep/Oct & Apr/May I will be able to train instead of 'holding people's hands' and doing their bloody rego forms for them!!!

Well thats off the chest now I can go and do something else :) .

Thu 28 Jul, afternoon session

8km today, 70km for the week so far

Left the office at 3.30pm today, took advantage of an early start & no lunch break. Got changed and drop my bag & clothes at my car on the Tan. Ran an easy lap and then did some stretching at the Pillars, followed by 3 stride throughs of 50ish metres.

Starting at the Pillars I ran to the 500m mark, a recovery and then returned. 6x500m with a jog/walk quickish recovery.

Splits (recover):
1:47 (1:10)
1:47 (1:12)
1:51 (1:12)
1:52 (1:13)
1:51 (1:11)
1:54 (jog back from the pillars to Govt Dve)

The last couple were hard, lost a little form, I suspect a fairly big week. Last night I fell asleep in my chair watching the box at 10.15 (this is unheard of for me). But still I wanted a return to aa hard week. All cool!

Wed 27 Jul, mid week longish run

13km today, 62km for the week so far

This morning I wanted to get to work early so I could 'hog' the colour printer and do some athletics work prior to starting my own work. This meant missing out on my morning run, but the plan was to knock of at 3ish and get 60+ in.

And surprisingly the plan worked, minutes after 3pm I ran out the door with bag and walked briskly to my car and dropped of my gear, near the Shrine. From there I ran along the Tan crossed over the Swan St bridge and made my way down to MacRobertson bridge. I had been going for nearly 20 minutes before I couldn't feel the effects of last nights session. Cruising pace, back along the river until I got to Anderson St which I went up and then down Walsh, checked out the infamous Airlie St hill and then up Punt Rd, then back onto the Tan until I got back to the car.

Nice, needed to run the legs out, but I am a little more tired than normal, but that might have something to do with a few late nights too.

Thanks for the comments on my notes from yesterday Martin, you are very correct, I am not too worried about making my 1k repeats faster but really want to work on the recovery, 90 seconds, hmmm will be hard, but then if it wasn't hard everyone would be doing it! :)

Tue 26 Jul, morning easy run & speed session in evening

79.5kg, 23km today, 49km for the week so far

Didn't feel like starting work very early today, so I went for an easy 5km run through the city and around the outside of the barracks, then spent 15 minutes stretching my legs. Now sitting at my desk I feel great & looking forward to 6x1000 tonight.

Evening session
Arrived at the track at 5pm and did a few laps of the complex with Dave, bit of chat & stuff whilst warming up. Minimal stretching and 3 run thrus. The wind is up which did cause a few concerns, but...must get on with it.

A few days ago I sent an email to Burkie thanking him for efforts in the past months & all of his time & effort with helping me work towards my goals. I also reminded him of some of my goals (sub 90m for HM, sub 40m for 10, & Zatopek), well I think he must have decided it was time for me to up the 'anti'. Tonight's session, with wind & all, 8x1000k, normal pace & normal recovery (jog/walk).

We take off for our first rep, big gusts of wind on the corner leading into the back straight, hmmm, we'll hit this 3 times each 1k repeat. Both of us stick together and work on setting a solid but controlled pace, which is good considering we had 7 to go. Young Dave joined in on our 2nd rep and did a few 1km reps and then some 600s with us. We agreed we would change our starting point (start at the 200) on the 5th, which meant only hitting the big winds twice per rep.

Splits & (recovery):
3:47 (1:35)
3:47 (1:43)
3:51 (1:50)
3:53 (2:02)
3:52 (1:47)
3:51 (1:52)
3:51 (1:53)
3:46 (4 lap cool down)

The 2 min break was me, preparing for 4 reps to go. A great session and very pleased with the results and consistent times. Burkie suggested that the recovery times must get closer to 90 seconds, oh shit, that's going to be hard!

Of course Dave was consistently in front of me by a few seconds each lap, but its great to have someone to start & finish with and of course chase around the big brown/reddish circle.

Mon 25 Jul, figure 8 course

79.4kg, 12km today, 26km for the week so far

This morning I arrived in the Southbank area just after 7am, feeling great, no soreness from the past few days. I parked along the Tan and was intending on taking off from there and not dropping my clothes at work. But I was unsure of my toilet requirements, so I did a 8 minute w/up first. After my toilet break :-) I started my session for the day.

I ran along the Tan at a cruising pace, up Anderson for the first time. The course is up Anderson, turn left, down Walsh, turn right, up Punt, turn right, down Walsh, turn left up Anderson again and then I repeat. Figure 8s. When I complete the third trip up Anderson I turn onto the tan and I pushed hard back to Govt Dve. 44:58, an excellent run.

Sun 24 Jul, easy run along the Werribee River

79.5kg, 14km today, 14km for the week so far

The majority of Burkie's squad were meeting at Wyndham Park at 9am, myself & Cam got there early so we did 10 minute before others got there.. Then myself & Mick went for 60 minutes along the river, up past President Park & Riverbend Reserve, then returned along the opposite side, chatting the entire way and just rolling the legs over.

On return I did about 10-15 minutes of stretching on my mat. Cam did the same, but on return to the park he did some running down hill training with Burkie and then he helped out a couple of the young girls with the same drills.

Sat 23 Jul, Vic X-C Champs at Bundoora

79.5kg, 18km today, 67km for the week so far

This morning I went to Cobbledicks Ford with Connor for his cross country race, this is the hardest race in his circuit, a big hill & downhill. No soccer today, cannot fit both in, but this ensures that he will finish 3rd in his age group, which is good considering he missed so many races, but there is no doubting he never would have won the U6s this year, young L beats all of the U7s and only 1 or 2 U8 beats him.

Left home 12:10pm with Cam , pick up Adam and arrive at Bundoora a hour before Cam's 8k race, he needs a good one today to get his confidence back, too many problems with his breathing. Cam's race was extremely good, a great time and no breathing problems, finished 9th!!! :)

I had already run a lap of the course prior to Cam's race and I went off for another 2k slow run 45 minutes prior to my race. Very windy today, but the course is hard under-foot, the wind is in our face going up Mt Cooper.

All of the Western A's start together (7 only, 1 short for 2 teams :( ), move off at a good pace and I want to ensure I stay with a big group to hide from the wind up Mt Cooper the first time, which I did sucessfully. I thought I would run my laps about the 13 min mark, but not so, the first lap was 11:55, too fast???, I hope not.
On my 2nd lap I noticed I was quite close to Gary (my uncle who I have never beaten), I was now concerned that I was going too fast, but I continued on. My third lap up Mt Cooper I made the passing move on Gary and I was in the unknown, but continued on strongly. On the downhill, prior to the road crossing, Simon Field zoomed past me and made me feel very slow, WOW. It wasn't for another 150m or so before a couple others past me. (note: I was lapped by 6 runners).

Once I started the 4th I concentrated on continuing my pace and once to the top of the hill I worked the down hill and tried to start working on guys ahead of me. I was feeling good and tried to move faster, I was slowly gaining on a few, after crossing the road a young Collingwood athlete caught up to me and sat directly behind until the final small hill when you can see the finishing line, he made a move to my outside and I tried to increase my pace, he remained next to me, we started to hit the straight he took off and I responded as fast as I could, I wasn't catching him but I did pass 3 others in the final 50 metres which I never would have if not for this final surge.

I look at my watch, I cannot believe it, I ran 49 minutes & 23 seconds!!! Last year 56:59. Splits: 11:54, 12:25, 12:36 & 12:27 This year is the first time I have consistently run faster last laps.

I am so happy with this time, I can hardly believe it. :) :) :)

Thu 21 Jul, a local run

10.5km today, 49km for the week so far

Another busy day today at work, arrived just after 7am, intended to run at lunch, discovered that I missed my run at 2.30pm when I stopped fo lunch, hmmm.

When I got home I changed and out the door for an easy 10 1/2km in just over 45 minutes. Nice and easy, blew out the cobwebs of a full day. Local roads & paths from home past plaza, fire station, police station, DPI, past the track, over railway line down to Hoppers Club and back home.

Stretched whilst listening to reading from Connor from his grade one readers. Plan for an easy lap of the tan tmw.

Race on Saturday.

Wed 20 Jul, went for a walk

0km today, 38km for the week so far

Arrived at work early to today to put final touches on a large conference that I had to organise for 60 people and played catch up with e-mails and stuff.

I was going to go for an easy run at lunch but instead I just enjoyed a relaxing walk in the park for 30 minutes.

Tue 19 Jul, light track session

10km today, 38km for the week so far, 80.0kg

Well things are not great, back is tight, legs feel heavy and actually they feel like I have done a hard hill session. Track session tonight, will not be a big one.

Arrived at the track and went for a run with Dave, just over 16 minutes, a few light stretches and a couple of strides to loosen up. Light session, 5x600m Burkie has set and young Jason as a partner.

Splits & recovery:
2:11 (1:15)
2:08 (1:15)
2:08 (1:17)
2:10 (1:19)
2:04

Two lap cool down and then dressed and jogged home for 17 minutes.

Probably no run tomorrow, unless I can squeeze it in at lunch, organising a big conference in the morning.

Mon 18 Jul, around the G etc

9km, 28km for the week so far, 80.2kg

Felt fine this morning, still pissed about yesterday, but I'll get over it. I sent an e-mail to Start to Finish just to let them know I wasn't happy with the directions at the HM loop and gave them some positive thoughts for the future running of that particular event. I didn't tell them this, but I cannot see me running another S2F event for awhile, they are over priced and I have had regular problems with their organising & overall conduct of races. The Sri Chinmoy do a much better event.


Today I ran into the city then around the MCG over to Goschs Paddock and around the outer Tan, cruisy pace, rolling the legs over. Very cool this morning, wore my nike tights and white coolmax T, gloves would have handy but they were in the wash.

Busy day today, up & down the stairs heaps, so that was a good workout.

Sun 17 Jul, Sandy Point 10km Race

19km & same for the week

The Sandy Point 10km Race at Sandringham, road race and a flat one to 'boot', but known to be affected by the winds along the bay... Left home at 6.30am, according to Fox Weather it was 5 degrees and the wind was picking up. Arrived early and checked out the toilet situation, as per normal this is a let down for most fun runs. It is cold & windy and the bay sounds like it is as rough as the Bass Strait. 40 minutes prior to the start of the race, Cam & I check out some trails along the bay, the surf is up, which is not good as the bay shouldn't have surf, oh well it will be tough. We go for an easy 15 minutes and return to the car, change over to flats and do some strides and some stretching. Both of us are planning singlets and shorts, & I am racing with gloves.

Ten minutes prior to the race we make our way over to the start area in racing gear, we go back to the car to get jackets and we will trust the world and leave near the start/finish line (they we ok).

The race starts and I have a nice starting position, off we go, I'm probably in the first 20, once onto the roads I notice the wind, about a km into the race, a Sandy girl catches and passes, I link with her and she has a small pack following her (well done guys, 8 guys using a small frame girl as a wind barrier), I pass the 2km marker, 7.43, too bloody fast, about a km further that was confirmed, I started to feel the effects of the start and I dropped off the small pack, I was by myself and BANG the wind got me, 16:20 at the 4k mark and the race was gone. I struggled along and improved slightly but not much.

At the 9k area the HM runners were being directed to do an extra loop before returning back up the road, well no-one told me and here I am including an extra bit to my race, SHIT, a fellow 10k runner who was very shitty made me aware of it and I turned and only lost 15-20 seconds, back onto the road and finished the race without really increasing my pace too much.

41:49, not happy, even though this time is my second or third fastest, the whole race was a waste of time and effort. My mistake was the start and the first 2 kms, I did not remain calm and got carried away, I should know better.

2k Splits: 7:43 8:37 8:34 8:28 8:25

Cam too ran too fast for the first 4k and blew up in the final 3ks, he too did the extra loop, but the difference for him was that he did the entire loop and was passed by many who did not do this loop, but chatting with a few others I know of at least more than 20 runners who ran a part of or the entire loop in the 10k race!!!

I will be letting the organisers know that this occurred and they need to relook at this part of the race! The highlight of the morning was the 40 minute run along the Bay Trail after the race!

Now to prepare myself for the 12km AV race at Bundoora on Saturday.

Sat 16 Jul, the day before the 10km Race

49km for the week, 80.2kg

Didn't run yesterday or this morning, excluding a little bit of a jog taking the U6-8 soccer kids for a warm up. The weather was ok this morning but this arvo has set in badly, strong winds, wet & cold, forecast for tmw is 6-12 degrees, wet & cold with strong winds :-(







As you can see the weather is here to stay and has been affecting the majority of the State.


My predictions for the race, depending on the wind, not worried about the rain or cold, I am hoping to run between 39:59 & 40:30, there are 465 starters for the race plus any others on the day. I'm fresher with a few days off but I will have to wait & see.

I'll let the blogging world know tmw.

WOW 14 a day!

(s20StuMac)

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Thu 14 Jul, The Tan

49km for the week, 80.2kg

Didn't run yesterday, varying reasons, but....

Today I ran at lunch, I ran 2k easy and got myself to the Pillars of Wisdom for a fast lap of the Tan, well I was hoping, whilst I set a PB (previous time from Nov 2003) it was very soft, the legs felt like lead weights and I was breathing like a steam train.

Time: 15m 40s
Splits: 3.47, 4.19, 4.13 & 3.20

Not very happy at all & I suspect that the hope of 39:59 - 40:20 for Sunday is probably not a realistic time for right now. :-(

Tue 12 Jul, track session

42km for the week, so far 79.9kg

Today I don't feel any affects of the weekend run now which is good, I assume that my track session in the evening will probably not be one of the best, but it should be solid. My lower back is still causing some grief when bending down or after sitting for a long period at the desk, but no problems when walking or running. I still have the sniffles & a tickly throat but nothing serious, probably still remaining from last week.

Today Julie stayed home to spend the day with her visiting mum, priot to returning to Sydney on Wed morning, they had hoped to go to the movies and do coffee etc but there was a bomb scare at the Werribee Plaza and it was closed down from 9.30 to after 1pm.

I arrived at the track after dropping Declan at home after child care/kinder and picked up Cam. I ran 3 laps of the complex with Adrian (CR) and then did some drills & stride thru's, some stretching and then the light rain came in. So as a result I moved my gear off the track under cover and returned to run in the rain, 6x800, aim 2:55 with no more than 90 sec break which should be jogged.

Splits (recovery):
2.54 (1.16)
2.56 (1.22)
2.58 (1.39)
3.02 (1.50)
3.02 (1.42)
2.59 (5 laps of c/d)

As can be seen the recovery breaks ended more than they should have been & I included walking, after the third rep it was all an effort, but I got thru, a little down but still alot better than months ago.

Mon 11 Jul, in & around the parks

31km for the week, so far 79.9kg

Woke up at 5.20am this morning to get into the city for my run and ready for a morning conference. My lower back is heaps tighter and more noticeable, hard to put my socls and shoes on and I notice it more in the car when driving, but walking & running is ok 100%??? I did do 20 minutes of back stretching when watching "50 First Dates" last night, but with little improvemnt.

This morning I wore all black, black nike dri fit T & my adidas tights & shorts, probably could have done without the tights, but it was ok. I ran around the Tan for the first 10 min (using the 250m markers, I was travelling 4.45 pace), then I went into the gardens and jogged in there for a bit, back onto the Tan and did a quick 500m to check my pace (1:59, the exact pace for my 10k). Move over to Fawkner Park and did a lap and then returned to the Tan. I did another 500m at pace (1:58 :-) perfect), cruised until just past Govt Dve and did another a 1k at pace (3:55 very happy). A nice little confidence builder, after a hard day yesterday and having already run a few k's I was happy I could get right onto my 4 min per k pace.

Effects from yesterday can be felt a little when walking up and down the stairs at work, but my policy of walking the stairs on Mon-Thu will remain.

Sun 10 Jul, Ferny Creek run

19km for the week, so far 79.9kg

A small celebration for Cam last night, the last of Cam's mates left my place just before 1am, most were going to work or running in the morning in the local area. I decided to drive to Ferny Creek and meet up with Old Miler's squad at 8am, hmmm nice drive. Took just over 60 minutes as I turned too early when on the Tourist Rd and went touring the Ferny Creek, but made it in time to rush to the toilet and do some quick strethces.

Lots of Sandy, Malvern Runners & some MMM, but had the oportunity to meet again Eat Em, but for the first time, Pepster, Journeyman & Tiger Boy. Old Miler was slightly late due to the "Volvo" getting a puncture....so JM took us for an easy 8 min warm up thru some lovely lane ways that you would never seen in the west.

Returned to the main car park and caught up with Old Miler & KSC and the remainder of the group and we made off into the trails, for the first 15 minutes or so, everyone stayed together which was great, to be running with guys & gals who are capable of much faster was a pleasure.

Got to run some soft trails, with a bit of mud, and some nice hills which required a fair bit of effort, so overall a great session and a nice way to run 100 or so minutes.

My lower back is a little sore, ok when walking & running, but I do notice it when sitting and trying to bend down and stuff.

Sat 9 Jul, the race

61km for the week

Well it rained the entire day, and the wind picked up during the race adn got steadily harder throughout the latter legs. I ran second today, unsure where we finished, but I think the Div 7 team finished 5th ish.

A PB, but not surprised, I am fitter than last year, 24 min 50 sec (splits 12:19 & 12:31), fairly even, I'm sure I could have gone a bit faster.

Very cold and my lower back have stiffened up. The highlight of the day was meeting Shaun Creighton after all was finished. Shaun e-mailed me a few times over previous months, via CR, he has offered to act as a mentor for Cam over the Steeples and to help Cam's coach with any pointers that he may be interested in, for those who unaware, Shaun is the Australian Recorder holder for the 3k Steeple, 8:20ish in 1992 and he is also the AR for the 10000m, 27:31ish, competed in Olympics etc...

Club wise, we had a good day, 1st in Div 5 men, Div 3 women also won and the U20 men came second, I'm unsure about our 2nd women's team or the U16s.

More to follow about the results

Sat 9 Jul, race morning

49km for the week 80.1kg

I didn't run yesterday, normally for races of 10km or less I go for an easy run the day before, about 30 minutes, but yesterday I awoke with an obvious 'cold' onset. So I decided to take it easy, start taking some "Ease a Cold" herbal remedies and increase my citrus and water intake.

Its now Saturday morning and I have just checked some blogs for inspiration for my race day, still reading some GC blogs and I re-read MPHaz's blog as I found that very inspiring and I hope I can use that for bigger & further things... Today the family have made their way to Phillip Island with wife's mother (visiting from Sydney), so I am alone for the weekend, party..... :-)

Today I am racing a 4 person team relay of legs of 6.2km at Sandown racecourse, historically a windy course, last year I ran 26:15 and I hope I smash this by a few minutes, the Club is looking the strongest ever with 6 teams competing and a strong Div 7 team with me as No. 3, so here's hoping for a good one!

Thu 7 Jul, Cam turned 18 today

49km for the week

Today I decided to run at lunchtime, this would allow me to drop some Club Registrations forms off at Olympic Park and then do some short sharp work on the Tan, wearing a singlet in the 'warmth' of the day, how sad, thinking that 13-14 degrees is warm....

Left the office just after 12pm and cruised over to Olympic Park and dropped into the AV office. Then I ran along the river upto Anderson St, crossed the bridge and made my way back to the pillars of wisdom, where I did some hamstring, calf, quad & ITB work. Fartlek style work today, hard for 250m cruise 250m & then hard for 250m, then I briskly walked up to the cnr of Anderson and then turned jogged slowly back to the marker and did the same back. On return to the pillars I decided I would do some hill repeats to various points. Six repeats all between 25-28sec, short & sweet, jogging down each time. During this time I saw Old Miler & KSC with a group chatting prior to taking off for their lunchtime session. I then jogged back to the Barracks and back to work.


Happy 18th Cam. I picked Cameron up from training tonight and brought him back to my place for dinner and then I was took him back to where he was meeting his mother. I gave him a piece of paper for his birthday, before opening, his comments were, "gees dad you're getting cheaper each year (no card, no paper & what appeared to be no present)". Opening he found a CarSales.com advertisement for a used car upto the value of $2500, he was VERY happy & of course I am very happy that I am in a financial position to be able to do this for him.

Wed 6 Jul, Yarra River run

39km for the week

Felt ok this morning, can feel some spots in the hip area, but nothing I'm concerned with, I just think a few body parts were pushed around in last nights session.

The first 40 minutes of my run along the Yarra, felt great but then I started to tire fairly quickly so I dramatically reduced the pace and didn't worry about trying to finish off harder.


Sandown Relays this weekend, I will be in the Div 7 team, 4x6.2km. Western A's will have the strongest team in Div 7 for the four years I have been involved, so very much looking forward to it. The Club are looking good this weekend with six teams, 2 open men, 2 open women, 1 U20 men & 1 U16 women - WOW.

Tue 5 Jul, some 600s

25km for the week

Arrived first at the track, threw my bag over the locked gate and took off for a 20 min easy warm up on the back roads between Hoppers & Pt Cook. Arrived back at the track, already just after 5pm and you can feel the evening dew starting to set, I put on my vest jacket and do some drills, heel to bum, high leg lifts, side steps etc, then 5x70 stride throughs at pace. Followed by some good hamstring stretching & some calf stuff.

Whilst I am doing my drills & stride thru's I noticed that Adrian (CR) was doing a few laps of the complex, so this meant I may have someone to follow on the track, depending on his program.

I suggested earlier on the phone, Burkie has suggested 8x600m with a short break, diagonal cross over jogging. A little faster than normal was planned was aiming at 85sec per 400m (hmmmm). Adrian tells me that he wants to do his 600s in 2 min so he will start on my outside and join in, which is great, I enjoy the company, even if I'm following.

Splits & (recovery)
2:07 (55s)
2:08 (57s)
2:08 (1:00)
2:05 (1:20, deliberately longer)
2:05 (1:04)
2:07 (1:05)
2:08 (1:05)
2:04 (walked 200m).

One of the juniors (13yr boy) joined in on my 4th and finished my session with me, always nice to be reminded that a 13 year old can easily do... I finished off with 5 laps to cool down.

Mon 4 Jul, missed my long run :-(

79.9kg 14km for the week

I didn't get out for a run yesterday, I was contemplating doing a track session instead of my long run, the boys could have mucked around in the jumping pits or the steeple chase water jump, but I decided to have a cooked breaky with the boys and go for a swim. The family must come first, sometimes.... :-)

Monday morning, arrived at the Barracks just after 7.10pm, not sure of the temperature but it was more comfortable than it had been for awhile, coolmax T & shorts today. I made my way down towards Albert Park, 2 laps, the first was a cruisy 21:50 and the second was 20:33. On my second lap I sat on 4:30 pace for the first 2km and then pushed up to 4:20, 4:15 and flat out for the last 700 or so, a nice way to finish off and then I jogged slowly back to the barracks, 8:30.

Felt strong, but that probably had something to do with an easy week and weekend. Will remain a mid pace week, with the 6.2k relays on Saturday.

Sat 02 Jul, Brisbane Ranges

79.8kg 56km for the week

This weekend I am a single parent and so running will be difficult, but not impossible. A large group of Western A's are meeting at 2pm at Boar Gully in the Brisbane Ranges (near Bacchus Marsh), followed by a BBQ.

Arrived at 1.40pm, Cam looked after the boys for 25 minutes whilst I went for a warm up and then pushed for the last 15 minutes, I returned to the camping area and stretched. Then when every one went for their 60-90 minute runs I went and set boys up on a hill with their toys, drinks and snacks. I started at the bottom of the hill and then moved up the 250-300m hill at my 5k ish pace and did continual repeats x 30, a nice work out without being a killer.

Boys had a hoot, saw a koala & a few kangaroos and enjoyed having dinner in the middle of the bush over an open fire.

Fri 1 Jul, the start of a new month

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I thought whilst enjoying the simplicity of blogger image I would include a picy of Cameron (17) going on to a second place in a open age 5km race at Sri Chinmoy @ Burnley in March 2005.








Some thoughts & stats for the month of June 2005.

TOTAL KM JUN (MAY): 285km (306km)

YEARLY TOTAL: 1665km (1380km)

EXCUSES: Should have easily broken 300k this month but lost days when tired last week and lost 25-30km with bug over last 2 days. 8 days off, the most off in a month this year! Weight at the end of the month =80kgs

PROBLEMS: Tummy bug, no leg problems at all.

RACES: 15km Road Race @ Albert Park = 1h 2m 36s (PB 5m 11s)

UPCOMING RACES: 6.2km Road Relay @ Sandown & 12km Vic X-C Champs @ Bundoora 23 Jul, possibly 10km @ Sandringham 17 Jul.

GOALS: Get back into another month around the 300+ kms & of course working towards 40 minutes for 10km. Hopefully run my 2000th km for the year this month, but with 3 races this month I may struggle to build up the kms, I will need to be conscience of this!