Thu 18 Oct 07, Airlie St repeats in the morning

Just before 7am I jogged from work along the Tan, past Anderson St, turned up Walsh and then left and walked from the corner until arriving at the infamous Airlie St. I did some basic stretching after my 9 min warm up jog.

For those who have not had the pleasure of Airlie St, it is a quiet residential street which is slightly steeper than Anderson St, a nice quiet spot for hill repeats.


View Larger Map

Starting at the first light pole and running at good pace up a strong hill upto the T intersection, the intent was for hard even splits, in sets of 4, run to the top, turn and walk for 30 sec then jog, after 4 reps to walk the entire way back and then return to the 30 sec walk & then jog.

Reps (recovery):
54.7 (1.38)
58.1 (1.31)
59.7 (1.36)
61.1 (2.09)
58.2 (1.44)
1.01 (2.10)
59.2 (2.06)
1.00 Then walked for 2 min and then jogged back onto Domain Rd and back to St Kilda Rd until I arrived at the Barracks in 11 minutes.

Nice morning, sunny, only breezy and about 14 degrees when I started. The hill was tough work today,, really hard for the final 20m, but I'm happy I completed the session, a tad longer recoveries than planned, but, its ok.

Wed 17 Oct 07, a run along the Yarra

I got into the city on the Tan just after 6:40am, I jogged from work to the 3k marker on the Tan and jogged gently to the 2k marker, 5:05 which fitted into my plan, then I turned back and hit the 2k marker in 4:50, from then on each time I had a measurement I was sitting on 4:40 pace.

I ran past the Pillars and then crossed over to the dirt path along the Yarra, running upto Chapel/Church St, crossed the bridge and ran back up to Fed Square and then along St Kilda Rd back to work

Finished off with 10 min of stretching on the grass in the Barracks. Cool morning, T shirt & long Skins.


Little Aths General training tonight, a couple of laps and then I took the boys for some accelerations on the bend. Tonight I took the discus group.... yuk, but with only 3 coaches and more than 60 kids all together I had no choice as I had promised a throw tonight.

Tue 16 Oct 07, track session, 25 x 200m

Surprise, surprise, it was cool today and bloody windy at the VU track, so annoying! I arrived just a few minutes after 5pm and a few of the younger guys had already started and they prefer to do their w/up on the track where I and the other older guys prefer the dirt trail, softer. Myself, Adam & Cookie did 3 laps of the complex and then we joined in with Daniel, Pierre, Troy & Blair (another new teenager boy, excellent). We did 5x60m strides with the wind at our back, excellent, all concentration on form.

With the strong winds in Melbourne today (well at least in the West) we cancelled our 800s and went for a 200m endurance session, 25x400m in 43ish seconds with a jogging recovery, we crossed the infield but had to go the long way to dodge the throwers chucking hammers and discuss more than 50m (bugger those really good throwers) :-) .

The watch I wore tonight has only 27 laps so I don't have any record of all 25 reps and recoveries, here are the final 14 reps:

41.3, 44.1, 42.8, 43.4, 43.3, 43.3, 44.6, 43.7, 42.8, 43.9, 41.5, 41.4, 42.1, 39.8

The first 11 reps were all between 41-43 sec, the recoveries were on average between 63 - 70ish seconds, some were slower due to waiting for other groups to pass. A really good session, with a good size group, we shared the lead and worked well together. Finished off with a 200m walking cool down and then 3 laps in the outside lanes.

Mon 15 Oct 07, a few days of doing f.all running

Today I was going to run in the morning, but K was sick so Julie asked me to take C to school in the city, I was going to run at lunchtime, but... i got 'side tracked' and missed it. So after work I went to the track slightly early for relay training and ran 5 laps before a few U10s, Connor & 1 U11 I coach joined me, so we ran 2 more laps, then a 3rd which involved dynamic actions and some drills. Then I took Teagan & Sarah (U10s) for some accelerations and then we did 10 minutes of standing starts, so a short sharp coaching session, both of the girls enjoyed the individual coaching and thanked me (always nice). Then I took the warm ups for all of the Relay teams, probably 60+ kids, 2 laps and then some dynamic stretching and then some gentle strides finished with 2 40m accelerations. All up I managed 10 laps, so some sort of a run...


Sun: Hmmmm, not feeling the best, skipped the morning run, no pity... self inflicted and seriously not well! Finally started moving 1:30ish, had something to eat, watched Stoner win the Aussie GP, slept again and then finally went for a slow jog about 5pm and slow it had to be, I was not capable of much faster than 6 min per km pace. Finished off the weekend and day at a dinner for Western Aths Winter Teams.


Sat: Connor's 9th birthday, so I went to his place before Little Aths and gave him a pair of Roller Blades, I watched him open a few presents before leaving and arriving at the track to coordinate starting block training for the U12s and a few U13 kids. A long morning at Little Aths, then to Connor's birthday party at a Rolling Skate Rink in Laverton for 3 hours. Intended to go for a run once home, but got side tracked and then ....


Fri: I was going to run in the morning, but I slept in until 7:30, so I took my gear for a lunchtime run, but a meeting got in the way. I then finished work early for an appt, which didn't go very well and just wasn't in the mood...run gone.

Thu 11 Oct 07, Indoor football and a short track session

Today the Indoor soccer team I play in made the Plate Final (the final for the bottom half of the competition). 10 teams in the comp, 4 into the finals and the bottom 6 play off in a lose and your out comp for the Plate and we made it. On Tuesday I noticed that our Captain & VC were away with work, so I thought I would contact the organisers to find out what was happening, luckily I did, we were on in 2 hours, luckily I found 5 players and play we did...winners are grinners, 5-3 our favour and I was lucky enough to have my foot in the right spot twice... :-)


I arrived at the track nice and early, I am trying to get my session in early so I can watch and coach on Thursday nights, but maybe I might need to join in for the company and for the push along. This arvo I did 6x400 with 2 min break, I should have done x8, but ...

A 3k warm up, 4x60m strides and some dynamic stretching then into my session.
Splits:79.1, 80.4, 78.9, 78.8, 79.3 & 78.5 all with 1:50-2 min recovery. Really I should have done the final 2 reps, but...I woossed (sp) out! I finished off with a 3 lap cool down with a few of the boys who were arriving at 5pm.

Wed 10 Oct 07, an early morning run & some 'bad' news

On the Tan early, I started near Government Dve, jogged for 5 min back towards the 2km marker, once there I turned and ran clockwise at a faster pace, a lap of the Tan in 16:30, and then I slowed back to approx 4:40 pace for 8 min.

At 6:45am I meet up with a friend on the Tan and we then ran from there, around the Tan, river, Gosch's Paddock, river and back to the cars on the Tan, about 33 minutes. All up 11ish kms.


In the evening I took Little Aths General Training, with a few laps warm up and then some accelerations I was able to run out a few sore spots, which was good.

The bad news:

Myf is on the move...

Why, it can't be, she can't leave the J's, I can't listen to Triple M, but (there's always a but), she will move back to Melbourne and she is still without a boyfriend.. hmmmm ;-)

Tue 09 Oct 07, 6x800 reps

Started tonight with a lap of the complex by myself, then I picked up Cookie (back from China) and Justin, then on the third I convinced Michelle to join us too, then some gentle stretching and 5x50m strides with a slow shuffle back.

After our strides I chatted with Michelle about her session and convinced her to get her the girls to start their strides. Myself, Cookie, Justin & Troy then made our way up to the s/f line, the plan was 6x800m in 3m 05s with a 60 sec recovery. Troy was going to do 600m reps as this was his first track session after his footy season.

Reps:
3:05
3:03
3:05
3:02
3:02
3:02

All of the recoveries were between 60-65 sec, some were longer waiting for others to finish their rep and not wanting to get in the way. After the reps, I walked 200m and then jogged 3 laps of the track in lane 8.

Solid session and about 9.5km for the night.

Mon 08 Oct 07, running laps to get some k's in...

I was all ready to leave home just after 6am for a run, but cirrcumstances changed and I needed to change my plans. So tonight I picked up Connor from his city school at 3:30pm and we went to the track. Connor had relay training at 5:30om, so we got there early, he played with his soccer ball with some other kids that arrived early and I ran some easy paced laps.

I started off with 3 gentle laps (2 min per lap) and I then did some stretching and then jogged a lap with Connor. I then ran 10 laps in lane 3, 4 & 5 (alternating each lap to break the boredom), most of the laps were run in 1m 45s ish...

I stopped after 10 laps, a quick chat with Burkie and then ran 5 more laps in 110 in lane 5. I then did some drills and strides for 15 minutes.

Finally a session, I was hoping to run 10k this morning, but you can only do what you can do! :-)

Sun 07 Oct 07, a tired run

The boys visited this weekend, so no running, but an enjoyable weekend. Sat was the second rego day for WLAC, so we spent a few hours there doing stuff. We visited a friend to help her put some 'snake eyes' contact lenses in and she had Harry Potter 1,2 & 3, so as I had never seen, that was our Sat 'late' evening TV viewing, much to the boys (6 & 9) delight.

So a late start to Sun (8.30, well late for them), no spectating of the MM. WLAC first round today, both C & D had 60m hurdles, LJ, 70m & 200m and I ran the On Track Program and then helped with a few 70m races and then was one of the officials for the 400s.


I intended on going for a 75-90 min run after Little Aths, but a late finish and just feeling tired, I only managed 40 minutes.

Thu 04 Oct 07, an early track session

Today I started work before 7am, so I left early (3:30ish)and I took the opportunity to do my track session early so I could better watch & coach. I got to the track and it was WINDY (so annoying, because by 5:30 the wind was nearly gone), I started off with 2 laps of the Complex and then finished with a lap of the track.

Some dynamic stretching involving swinging leg ex's, then sideways stepping and criss cross on the track followed by drills; marching, skipping, high knee skipping, bummies & then 4x50m strides, all up 22 min before attempting, 5x400m x 2 @ 82 sec with 45 sec recovery between reps & 2 minbetween sets....

Well the session didn't really go to plan, it was a tad windy for that pace and to be honest during this transition period I'm not ready for that intensity and I'm not fit enough. After my first rep I amended my expectations to 85 sec per lap.

Splits: 82.1, 85.1, 85.2, 85.1 & 85.0 (all recoveries 45 sec), 2 min break; 85.3, 86.5, 87.2, (now swapping to 200m), 41.3, 41.3, 42.9 & 42.8

And to say that the 200m reps were any good would be a lie, I was struggling and probably should have finished up. I did my cool down of 4 laps with some of Burkie's early starters (they were w/up).


I then sat back and watched & directed (I do that better ;-) )

Wed 03 Oct 07, my last S2F training run as a Run Leader

I started with a gentle 6.5km run this morning, along the Tan, Yarra, around the G and then back over to the Tan. Sat in the park afterwards stretching, so tight especially in my hips and hamstrings, I need to start stretching more, not just my calfs & achilles.


A game of indoor football during my lunch break, an easy win, 9-2 (even I scored a couple). Not to hard of a game, but a nice little work out.


Tonight I jogged to Fed Square for my final gig as a Run Leader for S2F. I am finishing up as I have committed myself to running the General Training for Werribee Little Aths on Wednesday nights and also I am over the RL gig, whilst the freebies are good and a little bit of pay for running, I have found myself bored with missing out on consistency with the runners, (different faces each week) and annoyed with those who are there to run fast which makes my job harder. Anyway, nearly 2 years and many good memories, so I'll leave it there!

Tonight's run was just over 10k, averaging below 5 min pace, which wasn't the plan, afterwards I walked back to my car.

Tue 02 Oct 07, a track session

Well I survived my trip to Sydney and I took some photo's on my mob, just views from the room etc. I was lucky enough to stay 5 min from the Coogee Pub just off Arden St and only 1 street away from the beach..WOW, gees I could live there, well if someone wants to pay my rent etc!! One of the guys I was with, his company owns a three bedroom 3 story apartment with some VERY nice views! As per normal when guys go away with no real concerns, we drank too much, but thankfully I survived, no bruises and no other probs!



9am Sun morning from the balcony.



This shows the street and of course the great views!


The visit to Sydney started as my two mates are Storm fans so they organised a few tickets and i was able to go for the fun. RL is not my cup of tea, much prefer Aussie Rules, soccer & Rugby, then probably netball & hockey etc, so you can see RL is way down the order, but a weekend with mates, is WAY more important. I was surprised to see only 80,000 at the ground and I was surprised even though the media said no-one was barracking for Manly, I think they forgot to go the game, more than 80% were wearing maroon. Anyway we watched the AFL & the NRL, all I can say is, thank god for an exciting game between Scotland & Italy, because the other codes were; yawn....



The view from where I sat at the NRL Grand Final



And the team I provided some support for was Melbourne


That's right, a running thread... a track session...

2km warm up and then some light dynamic stretching and then followed byy 5x50m strides on the grass whilst waiting for a large group completing a 2k time trial. Four of us tonight training together, 6x800m in 3:05 with a 60 sec recovery.

Splits:
3:04
3:03
3:03
3:03
3:04
2:58

We walked 300m and then a couple of us finished off with a 2k cool down, which was good. Whilst my times are faster than last week (same set) it was a much tougher session, a little bit more wind, but I think it had more to do with my w/e activities. :-)

September 2007, Running Statistics

September km's: 226 (last year 240)

Year to Date: 2426 (last year 2356)

Niggles/injury: Throughout the month, infected r.foot caused 5 days of no running. R.achilles attachment is still annoying but manageable.

Excuses: Kms down from where I would like because of infected foot and a few days of partying!

Sep Races: State HM Champs 9 Sep & Tan Relays 22 Sep, both average.

Oct Races: none planned

Upcoming Goals: to run faster, smarter & better

General thoughts: Minimal racing after the Winter Series. Enjoying my coaching and hopefully a few of the athletes will experience a good summer with a solid winter base which has gone very well.

Sat 29 Sep 07, last run for the month

Up early, I'm off to Sydney for a BOYS weekend of too much drinking! I hit the roads just before 6:30am for a solid 12k run, coolish morning, but little wind and some nice sunshine!

I hope I don't end up in hospital or the lock up over the weekend... :-)

Fri 28 Sep 07, a short run

I spent the majority of the day at the Melb Show as a volunteer with VLAA, OMG it was cold & WINDY!!! What a shocker!

I got home just after 4pm and I went for an easy 30 min stroll as running may not be on the agenda over the weekend, with a trip to Sydney with some mates for a drinking weekend.... and these two guys CAN drink and will make me look very much an amateur!

Thu 27 Sep 07, fartlek in the morning

This morning I arrived on the Tan at 6:30ish, an easyish fartlek session and some gentle running in and around the Tan & the Botanical Gardens. I jogged for 5 minutes before meeting a friend and then we jogged on the Tan to the bottom of Anderson St near the Morrell Bridge before stopping to do some light stretching and then some rolling strides.

I found a flat pathway where we did 4x30 sec efforts at my 800m pace with a 15 sec walk, then jog. Second set was 4x30 sec efforts at approx 600m pace with the same recovery and then 2x20 sec at approx 400 pace, then a gentle jog to a set of stairs where I did some quick steps up the stairs, followed by a gentle jog back.

Probably 6k for the morning. I arrived at the track in the evening about 5:20pm, was really windy and I decided I would concentrate on coaching and not worry about fighting the wind!

Wed 26 Sep 07, a short tempo run

I worked at the Melb Show today with the Vic Little Aths starting races on a grass 33m 6 lane track for five hours, a little bit of fun which the kids enjoy, doing the same on Friday.

After a little walk around the Show I decided a short visit to the gym at the RAAF Base on the way home, just 30 min of core work and some lower back stuff to break the core work.


I drove to Riverbend at 5pm, I took off for a 6 min warm up along the river and then picked the pace up for 20 minutes and tried to run with my HR between 158-162bpm, I was surprised that I was a little more tired than expected and I thought I wasn't going as fast as I expected. I then ran 40 min at a gentle pace to finish of the session. Stretching afterwards, calf, achilles, hammies & ITB (totally forgot quads). Approx 12km for the evening

Tue 25 Sep 07, track session

Tonight I started with a 2k warm up and some light stretching before joining a couple of 16 year olds for a set of 6x800m in 3:10 with 60 sec recovery. I then finished off with a 2k cool down too.

Splits:
3:12 (first 200m had the extra 2 sec)
3:07
3:09
3:09
3:09
3:04

We finshed off with a 300m walk before going off for the cool down, a good solid session, not to hard but with my current fitness probably the right pace. 9k for the evening.

Mon 24 Sep 07, just a light jog

My legs were tired today, I can feel tired quads, a combination of a BIG weekend, racing and training. No real probs, I am aware of my r.achilles, but not a problem, no other probs from the 'silly' events that I do not normally do and will not until 2008 Club Pentathlon Day :-)


I arrived at the track to help out with Relay Training and was asked to take over the coaching of the U9 boys relay team, the Team Manager suggested that she could manage the team and since I wasn't helping any teams I could coach the boys, a handful of 8 boys.

I agreed and then went and ran 3 laps to get my legs going whilst the kids were still congregating. I then took the all of the age groups for 2 laps and then some basic drills and dynamic stretching before handing them over to their Team Managers.

All up 2k of easy running.

Sun 23 Sep 07, YY run & Club Pentathlon

I started the day at the end of Toynes Rd at the You Yangs for a run with Adrian (already been running for 50 min prior), Bel, Mel and myself, there were others but they were running in a different group. We ran the Branding Loop Rd (5.4km), with it starting to warm up we stopped for a drink and then continued along GCD and ran the Stockyard route. A tough 10.5k run, some big long hills and some very steep downs and ups, just not as long. The final 2km Adrian and I ran back about 13kph. A good run which we all enjoyed, 16km for the morning.

This afternoon Western Aths had our Annual Pentathlon, a fun day where we encourage participation, fun and encourage the finalisation of our registrations for the Summer Season. The events, my performances and limited comments. LJ, this was the danger event, the most likely for me to get injured and I should have stuck with a 3-5 step run up and jump, but I mucked around and tried to stride through, luckily no injury probs, excluding a jarred knee for 30 min or so - result very shit. I have thrown 32m two seasons ago but as my technique relies on my ability to throw and NO jav ability I decided I would stick with a 5 step run up Jav - 20m something, 200m - 30.2sec, Discus - I have NO idea how to do this event so I just chucked it like a Little Aths kids and encouraged the call of 1, 2, 3 - 19m something , 800m - it was very windy and I knew I was tired sore from yesterday and this morning and I was VERY lacking in speed so I decided to cruise, 2:35, I did have a go in the final 150m but the weekend was a LONG one and there was no kick.

A fun day, which I found myself to be very tired and I fell asleep just after 11pm and missed the Rugby :-(

Sat 22 Sep 07, Tan Relays, Rd 10 of the Winter Series

19 degrees, perfect blue skies and hardly any wind, beautiful day for running! Today was the final race of the 10 race AV Winter Series. Team goals today were to run as fast as possible (of course) but to enjoy our Club comaradrie and to introduce two new members to the Club.

As the Team Manager I selected myself in the Div 7 team (slowest male) and I ran the last leg, not the best run today, slower than the previous two years...15:15

1k splits: 3:54, 4:11, 3:57, just not fast enough and sadly I was passed by a young Box Hill runner with 1.5km to go and we finished 4th. The Div 6 team finished 2nd for the day, but we were announced as the Div 6 Premiers (more than 40 points ahead of 2nd). Our Div 3 team were hoping that we could finish ahead of Sandringham as they were 2 points behind us in 5th spot for the season, but we were finished 7th and Sandy 4th, so we have finished 5th out of 14 teams in our first year. I'm unsure where our two women teams finished, but the majority of the ladies were all very happy.

So with a w/up lap, race lap and a cool down = 10km for the day.



Western Aths runners at the Tan for the last race of the Winter Series



Receiving the Premiership on behalf of many runners who have helped us win the Div 6 Premiership :-)

Thu 20 Sep 07, Indoor football & an easy jog in the evening

Today I went for a 15 min run prior to indoor football and then we played a game with 3 reserves, another win and two more an we will be in the finals. I even managed to score a goal today! :-)


Once I arrived at the track I ran 5 laps around the outside lanes and on the grass , dodging the plovers. I then stopped and did some static stretching. I then ran 3 laps with Justin (15) and then three laps with Bel. I wasn't in the mood for a session today and I thought a few laps would be more than enough. Tonight I had three runners coming to the track and I wanted to pay them a bit of attention as Scott & Michelle were joining our Club and had also agreed to race in the Tan Relays on Sat. I then ran two laps of the complex with Scott and then stood around and watched their session.

All up for the day, not including the game of soccer: 9k of gentle running

Wed 19 Sep 07, S2F run

I ran down to Fed Square (1k) and then me, Rupert & Rob took a group of 20 or so for a 12km run, along the 10k Mara event and then we added 2km along the Yarra across from Southbank and then back. Most of the run at 5:30-45 pace.

Then Rupert & I jogged back, 14k for the evening.

Tue 18 Sep 07, an easy track session

Plovers were very BAD! I ran to warm up for 10 minutes, then some stretching and then 10 minutes of drills, marching, high knees, bummies, step overs & then finishing off with strides.

Tonight's set: 800m (2:55), 600m (2:11), 400m (1:27), 300m (59s), 200 (36.3), approx 150m (23.1)

Three lap cool down and then 3 lap cool down later on with Sarah.

Mon 17 Sep 07, relay coaching (kind of) & a short run

I took the very large group of WLAC kids who came to the track for relay training, I took them for an all up 10 min w/up which included two laps of the track, some dynamic stretching and then some 50m strides, then over to their team managers. Wasn't really required to do much else from then on, I helped with a few pointers but that was it, so I'm not really sure of my involvement from here, which I and a couple of others found to be quite strange. Oh well


Here in Vic, U9's is the first age group that kids can run relays at Region & State level, so I have been asking Connor if he wanted to be involved, and surprisingly yesterday he asked what time I was picking him up for relay training. I told him befoe we arrived, that he needed to commit as this was a team event and there would be others relying on him as he should be the 3rd or 4th runner picked or will lead the second team. He was telling me on the way home that he really enjoyed himself, which was great to hear.


After dropping Connor at home I parked at my place and then went for an easy 30 minute run and then stretched for 15 minutes.

Sun 16 Sep 07, You Yangs

Finally I was able to release some of the 'junk' out of my foot on Friday night and finally stop limping. Yesterday I was busy with helping out at Little Aths Registration Day and then spent the day at work. :-(

This morning I went to meet a group of club mates and ran just over 12km on a hilly course, foot was fine, but afterwards the achilles decided to say hello. The legs were a bit rusty but I managed fairly easily.

Tue 12 Sep 07, no running, a visit to the gym (yawn)

Sore foot still and lots more fluid or swelling, blood blister is starting to become more noticeable but still a long way from the surface, but it looks like an elephant foot is attached to my ankle and I am already sick of limping...

Well I decided I better do something physical, I had cancelled my run leaders gig due to my foot. I left work at 5:30pm and went to the gym for nearly 40 minutes, warmed up on the bike, then did some stretching and then about 10-15 minutes of core work...blah blah blah

Tue 11 Sep 07, Melb Uni achilles testing & a very sore foot

This morning I had an appt at the School of Physio at Melb Uni, many months ago I volunteered for an achilles study and they needed to re-do one of the tests. So I arrived at 7:30am, jogging from work, so a few kms away, so I was already warmed up, so they placed a lot of 'buttons' all over me, about 30 of them, when seen on the computer you could see lines representing me running (if that makes sense), like a stick man (I wish).

So with all of the bits & pieces attached I had to run a 20m course at a certain speed and hit certain spots on the ground, 20 times, 10 with orthotics and 10 without, but of course you need to get the right pace and hit spots with no markers.... so many runs were done. Which I started to struggle with as my foot was becoming sorer and sorer.

This morning I noticed that some colour was starting to appear on the pad of my r.foot and was still sore to push on. Well after running to the Uni and then doing the test and trying (I mean trying) to run back to work I checked my foot out and it was starting to look worse and was even sorer (esp wearing 'dress' shoes). By the arvo my foot was swollen.

Some chatting with a medico friend she tells me that it sounds like a blood blister very deep and it will eventually come to the surface and ONLY then will I be able to release the pressure.

No training tonight (esp with a slight limp), just coaching which turned out to be good as I was able to spend a little more time dodging the rain and chatting with two new runners who have asked me to coach them.

Mon 10 Sep 07, very easy jog

I woke up feeling fine this morning until I got out of bed, the bottom of my r.foot is quite tender, and this morning I couldn't see anything, but this evening I can see a little bit of colour, so maybe a bruise?? My legs felt fine, basically felt like a hardish long run, so pretty happy with that.

Team & individual results have been published. GREAT news for our Club, 2nd in Men's Div 3 (wow), first in Men's Div 6 and 6th in Womens Div 2. We are VERY happy with these results, we think this means we have consolidated in the top 4 in Div 3 in our first year, very HAPPY with that and far exceeds are hopes. Div 6 we move further ahead and the women have settled in the top 10 of 15 teams.


I arrived at the track early before coaching Little Aths and I ran 6 laps very easy, I then did 2 laps with the kids and some drills and I feel quite good now, but my foot is still uncomfortable, but ok to run on. But I have no intentions of anything hard this week.

Sun 09 Sep 07, Vic Half Marathon Championships

Round nine of the AV Winter Series and the second last race. Western Aths had 15 runners today, which is a new club record (12 years) and the first time we were fielding a complete women's team! :-) Today we had 11 men running and only the first 9 would be collecting points for the teams comp (Div 3 & 6), but the extras are excellent, for the just in case senario! I knew I would more than likely be the number 11 today.



That's me on the far left

Today's plan was to run 4:10 pace and see what would happen, a beautiful morning, sunny, NO wind at all and nice temperature to start a HM. For the first 3kms I ran with my uncle Gary and Adrian, we passed the 3k marker in 12:25 (5 seconds ahead of schedule). Just after the 3k marker Gary started to pull away and then a km later Adrian started to move away too, I thought I must have slowed down, but at the 6km marker the time was 24:54, so I was still on target. A couple km down the road I started to get a little bit of discomfort in my right foot in the fore foot pad which got sorer with each step. Just past the 9k marker I passed Burkie & Clare (team photographer today) and asked for her to get my Nike Zooms from my bag and I would change at the 12k area. The pain was very distracting and I was starting to realise I was not fit enough to run at 4:10 pace so I slowed to 4:20 pace for the next 3k and then changed my shoes, much to the amusement of a few 'bloggers' who were spectating today (Em, Jo, Sam, Sara & maybe others too) and they were sitting next to a large contingent of Western Aths supporters too.



The change in progress, always hard when you are tired & sweaty



The offending shoes were my racing flats, very light and didn't work well for me today.

I recommenced running and the extra cushioning helped heaps, but I had now decided I would cruise the remainder of the run and for the next 2km I sat on 4:30 pace, throughout this time I decided as it appeared all of the Western A' guys in front were going to finish I thought I would offer some pacing duties to one of the young girls who was running her first HM and looked to be starting to struggle, she was aiming for sub 100 min. She said yes, so I slowed up and basically jogged 6 min pace and slower until she caught up. I ran with Bec for 7 and a bit km and we sat on 5 min pace and she crossed the line in 1h 39m 30s, she was very exhausted but very happy.

So overall I was disappointed with my run today, but at least something good came from it all and all 15 Western Aths runner finished with loads running PBs, but sadly we had one guy who really struggled for the final few kms and appears to have re-injured his strained abductor.

32 runners & supporters made our way into a cafe in Richmond and we enjoyed a great brunch and a good chat afterwards. :-)

Thu 06 Sep 07, easy day

I ran a lap of the Tan this morning, 18:10, and then I went to the gym at the Barracks and then stretched for 15-20 minutes.


A game of indoor football at lunch and we had a win. I took it easy and played as our goalie tonight.


No training at the track tonight, just coaching.

Wed 05 Sep 07, morning & evening runs

This morning started with an approx 6km run, gentle pace, around parts of the Tan and Fawkner Park with a short stretching session afterwards.


This evening I jogged from work directly to Fed Square, I was one of the 3 Run Leaders for the 12km group, I took the back of the group and cruised 5:45-6 min pace. A few were struggling so I reduce the run to approx 10.5km. Jogged back to my car after a chat with a few of the participants and then fellow run leaders.

Tue 4 Sep 07, a trial run (of sorts)

Today at the track I decided to run 3k just faster than my planned (hoped) HM time. I started off with a 2k warm up on the grass around the Complex and dodging bloody plovers (why did they come back???). Some quick stretches and then I trotted over to the 200m start and took off and concentrated getting into my HM groove ASAP, aiming for 4:10 per km on Sunday I needed to hit each lap in 100 sec, with tonight's wind I knew that I would have to work at touch harder than I will (hopefully) on Sunday. I past the 200m mark in 49 sec (excellent).

Splits: 99, 99, 97, 98, 97, 98, 97, 48 with my HRM sitting in the 160 region for the first few laps and then settled 163-5bpm.

Just to break it up I ran two more laps, 90 & 85, just to break it up, I then finished off with a 2.5km cool down, 1/2 with Ads.

Mon 03 Sep 07, the Tan & Fawkner Park

Just before 7am, I ran from Govt Dve, clockwise on the Tan up Anderson St and then over to Fawkner Park and completed a lap of Fawkner before returning to the Tan. Steady pace only, with the knowledge that it was only 12 hours ago that I ran on Sunday evening.

A busy night, picking up the 3 boys, coaching my squad of Little A's, dinner for the boys and then a dinner party with 4 friends. A sucker for punishment, the boys coming over for a few hours was a last minute agreement. Funnily it all worked out perfectly (well I thought dinner was pretty good).




Connor (not the best photo)




Declan waiting for dinner




Kaelan playing

Sun 02 Sep 07, an easy 60 min run in the dark

Father's Day...C, D & K stayed over and we went to the local park and had breaky using the BBQ's and we hung out there for 90 minutes, swinging & sliding, a nice morning. Then coffee for me and hot chocolates/milkshakes with cookies for the boys at the Coffee Pot in Werribee.




After a short walk along the river the boys convinced me that they needed to visit their favorite shop, a pet shop in Werribee which has lots of reptiles. Then we watched a DVD and played chess, yes even my 6 year old knows the basics.






I wasn't sure if a run was going to happen, as I wasn't in the mood for it when I dropped the boys back with Julie at 5ish, but just before 7pm I got changed and took off for a relaxing 12km run from home, sitting just above and below 5k per min pace!

Hmmmm, Rupert may have guessed the 'style' of training. Will be visiting Gregor for my tests after the HM.

Sat 01 Sep 07, first day of spring

A sunny morning, but not warm, under 10 degrees. The three youngest boys are coming to stay this arvo so I can't join in with the Club 'pack run' and with a hair cut appt at 9am I decided to get out on the roads at 7:30ish.

From home with my HRM, I ran gently for 10 minutes before upping the pace with the intent of running 30 min at 160-165bpm, which I basically did, but I did go a bit over and sometimes a bit under. An interesting job maintaining a pace set by my HR. Once I have completeed the threshold testing with Gregor I intend on completing this style of session more often.

Hair cut and then breaky in Werribee, I love mushroom ommletes.

August 2007 Running Statistics

August km's: 299 (last year 229)

Year to Date: 2200 (last year 2115)

Niggles/injury: My right achilles attachment is annoying but manageable, shins need massaging, but again manageable.

Excuses: Loads of work & unpaid work, so I have been tired. Missing consistent long runs but....

Races: Just two, Sandown 6.2km Relay - a solid run but 10-15 sec slower than 2006. 8km XC - DNF.

Upcoming races: State HM Champs 9 Sep & Tan Relays 22 Sep

Goals for August: to run consistent splits in the HM

General thoughts: I will have a break from racing after the Winter Series and I am going to change my style of training (more to follow). Really enjoying my coaching and hopefully a few of the athletes will experience a good summer with a solid winter base.

Thu 30 Aug 07, hill reps on Airlie St & indoor football

Today started on the Tan just after 6:30am, I cut through the gardens and ran on the grass upto the Pillars area and then I ran along the dirt path up and across Anderson St, up Walsh and then left into that st.. Walked along and then stretched at the bottom of Airlie St, I did 5 reps of 60 sec at med pace up the hill with walk backs and then finished off with a hard rep of 43 sec. Jogged back to the start point on the Tan, a nice morning for a set and then 5-8 min of lower leg stretching.

At lunch I played a game of indoor football, yet again we lost, 8-4.. :-(

No evening session.

Wed 29 Aug 07, an easy morning run

I took off from the Pillars at 6:45am, not feeling the best, but running. I felt 'ordinary', not sure if it was because of was sooooo tired or did I have a stomach bug??

An easy 46 minute run along the Yarra, past Tennis Centre, past the 'G', around and through the Fitzroy Gardens and back along the Yarra.

Got to work and decided I would tidy up a few things, burn some work onto a CD and go home and sleep and then do some work. Cancelled my S2F training run and sent a few other emails, welcoming a new squad of approx 20 juniors to Western Aths, along with a new coach.

For any Western Aths readers, I found a blog of our Tassie contigent, it hasn't been updated for a month, but I have left a message, say hi to him.... :-)

http://barrierboy.blogspot.com/

Tue 28 Aug 07, an easy track session

I started my warm ups after a chat with Burkie about doing a lactic test in the coming weeks with Gregor from ATE, I then took off for a lap of the Complex with a young girl who has just started up with Burkie, she will be an U13 this season, nice young girl.

After Bec dropped off to join the other juniors who were starting to arrive I continued on for two more laps, some stretching and I then did some longer strides, 8 reps of criss cross on the infield.

Reps tonight were all different as I wasn't in a settle mood, 1200 (4:35), 1000 (3:48), 800 (3:01), 600 (2:16) & 400 (1:25), recoveries were all between 60-90 sec depending on how I felt. I finished off with a few laps of the infield and then 1 lap of the complex, followed by lots of stretching and chatting whilst watching Clare's set.

Mon 27 Aug 07, morning run & Western Aths AGM

Started early today, on the Tan right on 6am and jogged two laps of the Tan. No times as I forgot my watch but they were both slow, very slow. The first lap I felt like a cripple, I thought I was dragging a sled with me. Both my legs were heavy & tired, my right achilles felt like a knife was sticking into me and I just felt like the whole experience was wrong! The second lap, thankfully, was better, still slow, probably mid 18's.

Tonight I took my young group for a training session, concentrating on starts and technique over short distances. Then two girls who are preparing themselves for competition at the PS District Champs, they are both moving up in height over the hurdles, so I took them for some basic drills and then we worked on the stride leading up to the first hurdle. I then got a few finer points from one of the Club hurdle coaches and then off to the AGM, another year as the Western Aths Secretary :-)

Sun 26 Aug 07, Sunday runs

Today I was attending a meeting at Olympic Park from 11am-2pm, so I arrived at the You Yangs at the Toynes Rd 'dead end' at 7:40am by myself as the Club run was scheduled for 8:30am so I ran the Stockyard route and then returned back to the gate so I could run with some company.

I actually noticed that the Stockyard trip (10k) was a little harder than normal, Sat's run must have taken more out of me than I thought. Once back at the Toynes Rd gate I took off with the group, Burkie on his bike and we jogged along the Branding Yard Road, after a km myself and two of the girls moved ahead and sat on 12kph for 6k, we then stopped at the car and had a quick drink, I then took Mel for a trip on the Branding Yard Trail which was a 5k path. All up 21km for the morning.

After the meeting I had an easy 7k run along the Yarra with a friend, the trip was suppose to be further but her calf was annoying her so a shorter trip was called for.

Sat 25 Aug 07, Club 'Pack' Run

A beautiful day, hardly any wind, 22 degrees and lots of sun....yay :-) I arrived at the Brisbane Ranges at Boar Gully just before 2pm. We waited for the last few to arrive and took off for our run about 2:10pm, today I ran with Bec & Mel, our plan was 70-80 minutes. Mel who is still getting a feel for the Club came out to the Brisbane Ranges for the first time and jumped in with myself & Bec, we ran from Boar Gully up onto the main road and then onto Farm Track and went to run some trails I had been on once or twice before.

Bec & I were probably a little to fast for Mel, so after 40 minutes I suggested we run up Loop Track for 10 min and then turn around and meet back at the intersection of Loop & Farm Tracks, this allowed us all to get 20 minutes at a pace we wanted.

Once we regrouped with cruised along back to Boar Gully, Mel stopped at the BBQ area, Bec continued on until we hit 14k and I ran and returned and stopped on 15km.

It was great to feel the sun!!!

Thu 23 Aug 07, indoor football & a light track session

A game of indoor at lunchtime, no reserves, so a great workout!

At the track tonight for a light session, 5 laps of the track with Belinda, then some light stretches, 4 stride throughs on the infield and a lot of chatting as I wasn't in a rush tonight as I had a meeting at the track at 7pm.

Tonight's session I decided to run an easy set, so I set my watch for 30 sec on the timer, on/off pace, 10 laps, I then walked for 2 min and then did another 4 laps.

Lots of stretching and chatting afterwards.

Wed 22 Aug 07, morning & evening

An easy jog in the morning, just to roll the legs over and have a good stretch afterwards. 6 min per km pace, on the Tan, along the river, around the MCG, back along the river & finished on the Tan. Needed to have a good stretch of the r.achilles & r.hip flexor & abductor.


This evening I jogged to Fed Square in a direct route, first time in awhile which worked well, when I arrived all of the Run Leaders were given our Asics gear, so the extra time allowed me to get changed and change shoes etc. We did pretty well actually, my experience with Asics is they are normally not as generous as other companies. Shirt, shorts, 2 pairs of socks, jacket & shoes (2120). The shirt and socks are excellent, I didn't wear the shorts tonight, not a fan of the shoes, they feel very heavy and have a very hard ride, hopefully they will soften up. Not that impressed we didn't get to choose the style of shoe (ie neutral). The jacket is too big and I hope I can swap for a medium.

Tonight we ran the same course as last week, just over 12km, about 25 participants, I was the back marker.

Tue 21 Aug 07, long reps

Down to the track tonigh, I wanted to concentrate on completing my session, doing it a little slower than normal and wanting to walk away feeling good about the session. My intent was to run 4x1200m @ 95 sec per lap, which works out to be just faster than 4 min per km pace with a 90 sec recovery.

I arrived at the track just as Cam was finishing his session, so he ran 3k cool down whilst I was starting my warm up. It was starting to cool down and the breeze was very cold and getting stronger. After my w/up jog I did my dynamic stretching and then a few drills and then 5x70m strides on the track. I chatted with a new potential member, Mel, who I had been chatting to about joining the Club and getting involved, she is a 45 min 10k runner who is preparing herself for the Melb Marathon.

Tonight I decided to note my HR after each 1200m rep.

Splits (recovery 90 sec):
4:53 (153 bpm)
4:55 (159 bpm)
4:50 (161 bpm)
4:50 (162 bpm)

I then jogged a lap of the complex then put on a dry T and skins and then jogged for another 10 minutes, before stopping to watch a few track sessions.

Mon 20 Aug 07, the Tan in the morning

Arrived on the Tan this morning, a quick check of the air temp, OMG, 4 degrees, WTF! Oh well, I took off on the Tan, first lap 18:31, second lap 17:25 and I then ran a further 5 minutes and then turned around and ran back 5 min. Both laps anticlockwise, all up 10k for the morning. Felt good.


Coaching Little Aths kids in the evening, a smaller group than normal, which is fine due to being in between season, 14 tonight. Good news, a 16 year old boy contacted me tonight, he wants to join my Tue/Thu group and concetrate on 15's & 3k races, I currently coach his 14 year old sister.

Tagged (not sure I'll list all, summarise will be easier):

Jobs I’ve Held: first 17 years - paper boy, shop assistant, farm hand. 17-37 years old - soldier (many differing roles), 37+ - consultant, Public Servant

Movies I Can Watch Over & Over: none really, happy to watch most movies two or three times, but thats about it

My Guilty Pleasures: beer & vodka

Places I have lived (in order): Richmond, Preston, Bankstown (NSW), Lansvale (NSW), Liverpool (NSW), Holsworthy (NSW), Seymour (now 10 years old), Murchison, Kapooka (NSW), Watsonia, Laverton, Ingleburn (NSW), Watsonia, Brunswick, Carlton, Preston, Reservoir, Rosanna, Belconnen (ACT), Toowoomba (Qld), Enoggera (Qld), Toowoomba (Qld), Hoppers Crossing, Werribee & Hoppers Crossing (that's all places exceeding 3 months, many more less than 3 months

Shows I enjoy: Neighbours (yer I know), Spicks & Specks, Top Gear, Will & Grace

Places I Have Been on Holiday: every state in Australia

Favorite Foods: spicy Thai, Mexican, Indian & good ole pizza

Websites I Visit Daily: Athletics Victoria, Aths Aust, CoolRunning, Runners World & S2F, Weatherzone, Herald Sun

Body Parts I Have Injured: nearly 20 years of contact sport and just over 20 years of military life, way too many to mention; broken bones only, nose more than 5 times (2 ops), r.arm twice, r.wrist, r.hand twice, lots of fingers, l.collar bone, lots of ribs many times, toes a few times and a chip in my r.ankle, multiple stressies in left leg and once in right leg.


Awards I’ve Won: Lots of football trophies, made Vic Country team as an U16, lots of cricket too, a couple of overage State medals in 2006. Numerous miltary awards (most proud of a Chief of the Army Commendation)

Nicknames You’ve Been Called: I don't remember ever having one, always been called Stuart or Stu, if I have had nick names they have never stuck

Sun 19 Aug 07, a local run & a short YY run

I went out for my run after 1pm when the boys went back home. I started from my place and ran to a friends to get a lift for a gentle run at the You Yangs. The first 8km was on the local roads which I ran in 36:12. Then a drive and a tougher 8.5km run on some tough hills, I ran this at a much easier pace and intensity.



Kaelan just before he left my place.

Sat 18 Aug 07, WLAC Handicap race & AV Round 8 8km XC

At least the day started off well! I went to the WLAC XC Presentation Day which started with a 1500m handicap race which combined all age groups, I was the rabbit and ran the entire course. The first two place getters of the race were a 12 & 14 year olds I coach, both started way ahead of where they really should have been as the Centre uses a formula which uses their PBs from the XC season but also their 1500 & 800 PB times from the track season, well those times were before coaching, so they had a BIG advantage and were nearly 20 seconds ahead of 3rd... Presentations, C & D were both very happy to get third in their respective age groups, especially D as this was his second trophy and his first placing trophy.




After the Presentation I took off home to make lunches and to organise the boys. I left home 10 before 12pm, stopping along the way to drop off, then pick up Cam in Lav & then Ads near Spotswood, arriving in Fairfield at Yarra Bend just after 1pm. We walked to the starting area and quickly organised the boys (they were playing) so I could take off for a warm up with the guys. We ran the 3k course for a look-see, not too hilly, but heaps of uneven ground, long grass, not a typical course for AV, but a honest one. The course for the men today was one 2km loop then 2x3km loops.

Not too many good words about my actual race, my first DNF in a few years and to sum it up "a very frustrating experience"!!! The race for me finished at approximately the 5.5-6km area. Just after completing the first 3k loop I became quite unsettled and tried to walk it off, I re-started running again after receiving some concerned comments from Tim C (Sandy AC & the AV Winter Mngr), cruising past (not racing) Burkie I checked if the rest of the 10 Western Aths guys were still running (knowing I was an extra), they were, so I thought well I'll just cruise for the remainder of the run and play it safe. But up the next slight hill I became dizzy again and so I decided enough was enough and stepped off the course. I then sat on the sidelines with a few concerned AV persons, once settled I wandered back and got dressed and took some time alone. Which ended up chatting with D who came over to see how I beat Cameron... :-) at least he had been watching.

This may be the end of the winter season for me, three races now, a rest from racing may be on the cards, my current confidence of me completing races is quite low. And for the regular readers, yes I did go to the doc last time, lots of tests, NO problems, very healthy according to the tests.

Known splits: 2k - 8:24, 3km - 13:04

Fri 17 Aug 07, no running

No running but a running related post. Today I helped as the Finishing Marshall for all of the sprint events at my son's schools athletics comp, very interesting to watch unlaned sprints.... :-)

Good to take the day off and help out, the boys were happy and excited by walking to school and then having their daad there at assembly, only 5 parents could help.

Thu 16 Aug 07, Tan fartlek

This morning just after 6:30 I did a light fartlek session on the Tan, a tad more unstructured then I normally do, but it was a good session, differing paces, differing recoveries etc in & around the Botanical Gardens.

I was a little off at the start, a big running day on Wed (so a little tired in the legs), was entering my 3rd day of my cleansing diet and a cold is starting to take hold (mainly throat and sinus).

I decided to not train this evening (bends & straights was the plan), I decided to rest & visit the optometrist to pick up new contacts and work out why my eyes have been red for so many days (hopefully as a result of old contacts).

Wed 15 Aug 07, morning run & Melb Marathon training group

I arrived on the Tan just after 6:30, I started with a jog on the grass for 11 minutes & then ran for 45 minutes along the Yarra. Once finished I stretched for 5-8 minutes. This morning I didn't feel too cold, but for some reason my hands were FREEZING, bright red, they didn't warm up for about 15 minutes afterwards. Avg HR was 118 for the trip.

A game of indoor football at lunchtime, we got thrashed, 6-1, I was the only scorer today.

This evening I ran from work to Fed Square, when I got to Princes Bridge I ran along the Yarra, just past the back of Fed Square and then up onto Flinders and then back tracked. Tonight I was the back marker for the 12k group, wearing my Garmin for interest sake the course measured 12.3km and we sat on average 5:05 pace.

Jogged back to work with Rupert. A few kms today, probably 24km for the day with a game of indoor football.

Tue 14 Aug 07, track session

I started my track session with 2 laps of the Complex, strangely we haven't had the plovers swooping for the past 2 weeks, but they are still there, I assume that their nest must have destroyed. After my laps I chatted with George (Willi AC) whilst I did my dynamic stretching, then I did some bummies & high knee drills, then I did 4 strides, slightly different to my normal, running the entire 100m doing 50m at one pace, then slow it down for 5-10 and then break into a slightly faster stride.

Tonight's session was 3x800, 2x600 & 2x400

Splits (recovery):
2:59 (65)
2:54 (60)
2:55 (70)
2:11 (75)
2:14 (88)
1:23 (75)
1:22 (walked 300m)

A short cool down to finish off. Not the greatest session, but felt ok, My average HR for the reps & recovery was 142bpm.

Mon 13 Aug 07, morning stroll around the Tan

Arrived at the Tan just after 6am and had to start in the rain, as per normal, I ran two laps, one in each direction. It rained the entire time I was running, first lap 17:56 & 2nd in 17:30. Back to work for a hot shower.
________________________________

Coaching Little Aths kids, just a short session, with a warm up around 1500m and then lots of drills. A couple of relay games and then a game of keepings off which ended up being non refereed as I thought they were having fun and didn't need me... :-)

Fri 10 Aug 07, a stroll outside Woodend

Not really Woodend, but I was at a Conference Centre about 15 min into the bush past Woodend for a two day work course. Finished work about 6pm on Thursday evening, showered and then back to the restaurant for a decent meal and then LOTS of beers and darts until 1am.

Up early and decided to take advantage of being in unknown territory, ran along the bush road for 20 minutes and then turned back and came back in 19:45, even paced, cold & windy. Soft dirt road which I shared with lots and lots of kangaroos.

Back to the grind of talking & planning for the rest of the day. Back to Melbourne for a BIG weekend, David is up from Warrnambool and there will be a bit of partying happening!!! :-)

Thursday morning I did a really good fartlek session with Clare in the Botanical Gardens and on the Tan at 6:30am, then to work to finish off a presentation for the Conference, Doctor's appt and then drove to Woodend.

Wed 08 Aug 07, mid week kms

My day of running started on the Tan at 6:30, I started jogging on the grass areas for nearly 15 minutes, then back to my car, light stretch I then took off for another 5 minutes of gentle running before moving to the Yarra. Today I wore my new Nike HRM, the first 20 minutes of running I averaged 135bpm. Along the river was a very gentle run enjoying the pleasant morning along the river, 40 minutes, an easy way to clock up a few extra kms. Average HR 123bpm for the final 40 minutes.
__________________________________

Tonight I dropped my gear at my car, Rupert was parked behind me, so we jogged to Fed Square. Tonight the group was a bit smaller than last week, probably 12-15 participants, Rupert and I were the Run Leaders and again we went with me at the front and Rupert at the back, we ran up St Kilda Rd, around the Tan from Govt Dve, across Morrell Bridge, down to the Tennis Centre, around the MCG, an entire lap of Fitzroy Gardens, back to the G and then back along the river upto St Kilda Rd and back to the Attrium. Walked back to my car, chatting.

Tue 07 Aug 07, an evening session

Tonight I got the track early and went for a 32 min run along the Fed Trail, jogging for 10 min at 12kph, then I picked up the pace to averaging around 14kph, and then 5 min at nearly 15kph according to the Garmin and then returning back into the VU car park to have a disagreement with those damn plovers!

On arrival at the track the gates were still locked so I jogged around the car park using short strides to entertain myself. Once into the track I did some drills and then 5x400m at varying paces with 45 sec recovery.

Reps:92.3, 89.7, 85.1, 81.1, 77.6

I then jogged 2 laps of the track. Hung around to watch/coach both Michelle's (2x1000, 2x800 & 2x600 @ 105-110 sec per lap) & Clare's (4x400 & 4x300) sessions .

Mon 06 Aug 07, the Tan

Arrived on the Tan 6:45ish, first lap of the Tan clockwise 18:00 and then turned around at the 3k marker (where my car was parked) and ran at my 10k race pace until turning onto Anderson St and slowing down at the first rubbish bin where the highest point is, jogged down Anderson. As I was nearing the bottom 1/3 I seen Clare running up, asked if she wanted company, so I turned and ran with her. She was completing a lap of the Tan, gentle pace then tempo pace from the top of Anderson St to Govt Dve and then tempo from the Pillars to the bottom of Anderson and then return to the Pillars. We then parted and I returned back to the 3k marker, all up 58:47 of running.

Coaching in the evening with my Little Aths group and then helped my ex to fix the set up on her new PC and then off to a WLAC Committee meeting.

Sun 05 Aug 07, You Yangs

Normal Sunday morning, a trip out to the You Yangs (about 25 min from home), even though I am out here nearly every week, very rarely do I run the same course, therefore boredom is not a problem.

Today I arrived just before 8:30am, Adrian had already run for 40 minutes and with most of the other guys off running elsewhere we took off straight away, running around Big Rock and some paths nearby that we had never seen, then onto GCD in the opposite direction to normal, then turning left at the quarry and onto the horse trails. Back to the front gate, 10.3km in 51 min, I dropped Adrian there and continued on the flats trails going towards the 'greyhound trail', eventually turning back (now into a bloody head wind), back to the front gate, 1h 23m, 17.4km.

The Swans are finally starting to show some of the form of the past 2 seasons, whilst only playing one of the teams done the bottom, we sometimes tend to play at that level, so it was good for a high scoring win.

I just visted Andrew's blog and thought I would check out my Blog's rating, I was expecting to be rated M as I thought I had used the F word a few times, but no I was rated G.... :-)

Sat 04 Aug 07, Sandown Relays, Rd 7

Running wise, today started at Cobbledicks Ford just outside of Werribee, today was the final round of the WLAC XC Season, with a couple of the age groups point champs to be decided today, involving a couple of the kids I coach.

I did a gentle 6 min jog with a couple of the older kids and then 1km as the 'rabbit' for the U6-8 age group, so 2k for the start of the day. A nice way to be able to stretch out a couple of sore spots.
___________________________________________

Today the AV Winter Series was back to Sandown, this time for the relays. My Club had two men's teams, two open women's teams & three junior women's teams. I was in the men's Div 6 team and would be running the final leg. The Div 6 team after the first change over were sitting 2nd out of 13 starting teams, more than 1 minute behind the very strong Geelong team today. Geelong had a very strong Div 1 team today so this means there lower Div teams become very strong. By the end of the day they beat our team by nearly 3 minutes and we finished 2nd nearly 2 min ahead of third.

Like last year, I ran the final leg for our team, knowing that the final leg is tough, no one to run with, all you do is pass the slow runners or get past by the strong finishing Div 1 & 2 teams. 6.2km of running without actually running more than one step alongside another runner, this being one of the main reasons why I dislike relays. When I started my leg I knew we were 2-3 min behind Geelong, so no chance of catching and I believed that we were approx 2 min ahead of 3rd & 4th. So with little to run for my main aim (want) today was to run as even as I possibly could. Last year I ran 24:43, this year whilst slower, was a way better run, 25:06.12 according to my watch (AV times haven't been released yet), my laps were 12:27.76 & 12:38.56 which I was very happy with. Like last year I didn't get to run with others, no packs, hardly anyone to work on to catch etc, so being only 11 sec dif was great!

With my morning run, w/up, race & c/down I got in at least 12km for the day and found myself VERY tired by the 9pm!!!



Just starting to tire it would appear, the upright and slight backwards lean appears to be starting.

Thu 02 Aug 07, a morning speed session on the Tan

I started the day doing a session with Clare, meeting on the Tan early. We jogged for 9 minutes, some light stretching and then a few strides. The session was 8x250m, the first 6 with Clare and the final 2 by myself, so Clare could do her pace without me annoying. We finished off with a gentle 5 min cool down jog.


A VERY busy day at the office, hardly spoke, preparing for a big meeting regarding authorised positions, even Government organisations have to downsize even when workloads are increased, more equipment to be purchased, more requirements required o/seas with deployed troops, but downsizing we are.... As the Business Manager a lot of the collection of HR info falls on my shoulders and some BIG d's were made today which will affect others. :-(

A quick game of indoor football, I only made the second half. No track session for me tonight. I dropped into the track for a quick chat and to do some coaching, but that wasn't required so I went home after some quick shopping and a casual 5k jog.

Wed 01 Aug 07, S2F group

Before heading off to the S2F group I ran a lap of the Tan with Clare and then ran up St Kilda Rd, up along the river for 10 min before heading to Fed Square and taking the 10k group.

Tonight Rupert & I took a group of over 30 up along St Kilda Rd, around Fawkner Park, over to the Tan, then up to the Church St train bridge and back upto St Kilda Rd and back to the Attrium, nearly 11k according to a Garmin.

July 2007 Running Statistics

July Km's: 263 (last year 293)

Year to Date: 1886 (last year 1786)

Niggles/injury: A few...again aware of my hip flexors & abductor region, sore after the XC. And honestly, aware of my lower legs too.

Excuses: I missed a five days of solid training due to medical reasons after the State XC race.

Races: 5km leg in the Ekiden Relay, 12km XC at Bundoora, neither were that good.

Upcoming races: Sandown 6.2km road relay & 8km XC

Goals for July: consolidate & build for a HM in Sep

General thoughts: It would be nice to feel the sun whilst running, it would also be nice to run without having to do a load of washing everytime, singlets, shorts & socks are so much easier that all of these other items of clothing. Same thoughts as June...

Tue 31 Jul 07, a day off work

Don't you love days off from work!!! Clearing some flex leave, getting it back down below 20 hours. With more than nine hours sleep WOW WOW!! For those who know me well will know that is not normal, but it was a GREAT sleep. I woke up just after 8:30am and decided a nice easy run run of about 5k would be nice, finishing at the Aquatic Centre where one of the PTs promised me a free swim entry. I took advantage of that and swam a VERY easy 750m and then hung out in the hydro pool which was a lot warmer than the lap pool!!

Arrived at the track 4:30ish and tried to warm up with the swooping plovers which just make it bloody hard work! Some dynamic stretching and then 5x60m strides on the infield with the wind. The wind was VERY strong and was making running VERY difficult and I decided any attempt of 1k repeats was gone! Before getting into my strides I helped lower the nets on the discus cage before the poles were bent any further with the 'gale force' winds.

I changed my session to 200m reps, starting at the jav run up and finishing at the other jav run up and then jog back up the infield into the head wind. Starting was even diffcult, the first 5 reps or so I nearly got blown off the track into the infield after just starting and before the discus cage.

Reps: 40.1, 39.7, 35.9, 37.9, 38.3, 37.6, 36.4, 37.1, 37.5, 39.5/// 41.1, 38.7, 37.1, 38.3, 39.1, 40.1, 37.6, 37.8, 37.6 & 35.9

Most of the recoveries were between 1:03 & 1:07, the jog was quite tough but slow into the tough wind! A couple of times I had slightly longer recoveries so I could chat with Michelle about the session I wanted her to do with 3 girls from Burkie's squad; 15x150m, concentrating on being on her toes but staying relaxed on the back straight using the tail wind. A few reps later I delayed my recovery to ask Clare to change her session from 600s & 400s to 12x200m in the same manner as mine. After my 10th rep I changed from my flats to my Zooms for a bit poor stability and support.

My recovery was 12 minutes of jogging along the back straight and through the infield in the opposite direction as the groups still training so I could watch and coach on the move, the only way to stay warm. Funnily whilst jogging I was thinking this is a funny way to watch the session of the athletes I'm coaching, but afterwards Burkie mention that my way of including my recovery and coaching was a great idea.

Mon 30 Jul 07, the Tan

I did two laps of the Tan early this morning, both clockwise. I was tired from a long day yesterday, but knew I needed the kms. 17:55 & 17:04

Yesterday (Sunday) was spent as a VLAA Official (Finishing Marshall) for the Vic Little Aths XC Champs at Lardner Park. A long day with heaps of races, but an experience that I really enjoyed, a different aspect to running, the volunteering to help others.

A couple of the kids I coach finished in the top 10, with one with a top three, but all of the kids ran their best on the day and thats all I can ask. Due to some marshalling issues, most of the kids I coach didn't get a warm up in prior to their race, as I told them to run for 5-10 minutes 3 races prior to theirs, but with over anxious marshalling officials they ended up in marshalling 50 minutes before their race. :-( If I wasn't officiating I would have been able to adjust the kids way of thinking and got them doing stuff in marshalling, oh well, we live and learn.

Sat 28 Jul 07, You Yangs

The day started with working bee for WLAC, we were checking all of our equipment for the upcoming season, preparing hurdles to receive new wood and lots of other manual labour bits & pieces. For those who know me well, manual labour isn't one of my favorite past times, but I was here.

The Western Aths 'pack run' was scheduled to be at Ferny Creek today, but with driving to Warragul for the State Little Aths XC Champs tmw I decided a local run would suit better. Both Clare & Belinda agreed and we made our way out to the You Yangs at 3pm.

I parked at Toynes Rd, Clare ran 65 min and took off on GCD and then went into the main rd into the Stockyards, so a few hills for Clare. Belinda ran with me and we ran the entire Stockyards path, Bel had never run this side of the park before (not including GCD) so she like me a few months ago was very pleasantly surprised. A tough run with loads of hills, 62 min, 11.5km. A nice arvo for a run!

Thu 26 Jul 07, early run, indoor football, coaching

I started the day with an early run, light drizzle, not too cold at all, about a km into my run, it started pouring. Ran for 40 minutes at a nice pace, home by 6:15am and then quick shower and off to work.

A game of indoor football, we had a win, 8-3, only 1 reserve, a great workout.

At the track tonight I ran five laps and mucked around with a soccer ball on the infield before many arrived, whilst Tegan was warming up with her training partner I did some drills and then strides with Ads. I then finished off with some chatting & coaching with Tegan & later Clare. A couple of laps throughout the evening.

Wed 25 Jul 07, mid week run & S2F group

From work I ran just short of 35 minutes prior to arriving at Fed Square, averaging 4:50 pace, then with Rupert I took the 10k group which was run at quite a slow pace tonight, the first 3-4km felt like they were slower than 6min pace and then we increased a little.

Straight after the run I stopped and spoke to a guy about the pain he was feeling in his legs and then raced back to work for a shower and off to Olympic Park for the AV AGM.

Tue 24 Jul 07, track session

At the track before 5pm, 4 lap warm up and on my 4th lap the 'stupid' plovers started swooping, I really dislike swooping birds!!! Anyway, stopped and chatted to Burkie about last night's Committee meeting and then did my drills, skipping with high knees, simple bummies, double bummies (2 on a leg before swapping) and then some cross overs, then 8x60m strides, starting quite slow and picking up the pace each rep.



My VU Complex enemy!!

Tonight's plan was 6x800 (edit, not 8x) @ 92-95 sec per lap with 45-60 sec recovery. I started off and felt ok, but after 2 I knew this might be beyond me. Fourth rep I pulled off the track feeling not right, decided to be smart, finished the session with lots of gentle jogging whilst watch Michelle's session (her first track session) and then Clare's.

Splits (recovery):
3:00 (42 sec incl 30 sec walk)
2:59 (43 sec, as above)
3:02 (60 sec, walking)
pulled off at 500m. Walked for a few minutes and then jogged 2 laps, then another 2 with Michelle & then many infield laps watching & coaching.

Mon 23 Jul 07, the Tan

Second week in a row, on the Tan nice and early, a lap in either direction, no times as my watch has died (battery). Even paced run, funnily I thought it was warm, and sadly it was 5 degrees when I started, since when did I think that 5 was warm.

Sun 22 Jul 07, an easy run

Thanks for everyone's concerns, but it seems to only affect me when working hard and tiring..

Cold morning, 1 degrees when I pulled up at the gates of the You Yangs, no other club members there yet, so I went and jogged for 12 minutes, waited until 8:35 and took off with Adrian & Cookie. None of us wanted a hard run so we stuck on the horse trail to the left of the park and then eventually made our way over the other side of the road and ran on the Plantation area. As a group we ran just over 65, so over 75 for me for the morning.

Right achilles a bit tender, groin muscles sore like last XC, but the legs aren't too bad.

Sat 21 Jul 07, Vic XC Champs, 12km

Today didn't go the way I hoped, whilst I'm not a fan of XC racing and I knew it was going to be tough going with the soft going, I was hoping to not have the probs that I did! But I shouldn't be too surprised a tough week dealing with some 'mediation issues', some big work issues that may me seek new employment and then just other stuff.

I took Adam & Cam with me and we arrived as per normal approx 60 min before race time, we took off 45 min before the start and did 15 min of investigating the course and warming up. Of course with all of the races prior the course was very muddy and chopped up.

Western Aths men had two teams (Div 3 & 6), which included myself (this means I had to run & finish), great camaraderie between the men, we all like to warm up together and most importantly we all discussed finishing for the team and the only exception of not finishing is if you are REALLY injured and can't run, but if you can slowly jog, then we will!

I started with the 8 other Club members and off we went, today I decided to wear my spikes, first time over 12km... Much of the first 7-8km was run very close to Tim C (AV Winter Manager & Club Dev Officer), we chatted about stuff, but I always thought I was going to drop off Tim, he is a much better runner, just not fit at the moment. To be honest I would have loved to pull out at the 6k mark as I was over the experience, but I knew I was the 9th required runner and to be honest it was just hard, no injury etc, just needed to find some 'heart muscle'.

The fourth lap was where my race became 'different', on the final 3k lap I was working up the final hill and I was following an Essendon runner who I had been following for 8k or so, I was only a metre behind him & I was thinking I could get him on the down hill and finishing straight, but I experienced a dizzy spot and ended up on the ground, I recovered quickly and was helped by an Oakleigh runner who walked with me for 10m or so, I thanked him and started to jog and within a few hundred metres felt ok and finished off the race. Not good, I know.

Splits:
12:14
12:35
13:03
13:11

51:03 256th male & 70th Over 40

After the race I recovered by resting on the ground, untill all seemed better, to be honest not sure where to go, I've had so many tests lately for this issue and others that I just can't be fucked worrying about it, but I'm sure a beer or many will help the thoughts tonight :-/

Thu 19 Jul 07, track session (kind of)

I arrived at the track early, too early, the gates were still locked, but I was already dressed so I went off for a 20 min run along the Fed Trail towards Werribee. Once at the track I did 10 minutes of drills and 6x60m strides working up a really good sweat.

Changed into my flats and then took off to do 6x400m but the session went downhill from here. Not feeling very good I swapped to 200m on (36-39), 200m off (55-59), but after 5 laps I called it a day.

Sat down for 20 minutes then stayed around to do some coaching.

Wed 18 Jul 07, a city run

I started with 25 minutes of running at 5k pace and then took the 5km S2F group. I took them about 5.5km or a bit further. Did stretching for 5 who remained after the run and then I ran for a further 15 min. All up about 13-14k of gentle running.

Tue 17 Jul 07, track session

Fuck its cold here in Melbourne today, 4:30pm it was raining, windy and only 5 degrees! I started with 6 laps of the track, then some drills and then 5x70m strides. Flats on and this was my first mistake, I took off my jacket. 8x600m @ 90 sec per lap with a 45 sec recovery walk and then jog back to the line and go. The first 2 reps I felt like I was warming up, but from then on I got slightly colder with each lap!

Splits: (recovery)
2:13 (67)
2:13 (67)
2:13 (66)
2:13 (68)
2:14 (68)
2:15 (66)
2:16 (66)
2:17 (jogged 200m to get clothes on & that was the end, no cool down and no stretching, just get clothes on!)

I actually don't think my intensity slowed, but the wind hot stronger, the rain got heavier and it got colder. When I got back in my car it was 4 degrees, but I wouldn't have surprised to see 0!

Mon 16 Jul 07, the Tan & Little Aths coaching

Packed my bag and was ready for work the night before (wow...organised), I set my alarm for 5:20am with all intentions of an early start involving two laps of the Tan. Alarm went and I changed my mind, but thankfully I hit snooze, which is 10 minutes, alarm again... and I thankfully got up, dressed, breaky, water and off. Arrived in the city 6:15, dropped my stuff at work and made my way to the Tan.

By the time I hit the roundabout it was just over 3 mins, hit lap and ran clockwise at a comfortable pace which turned out to be 5 min per km for at least 3km (just short of 15 min), 18:20 for my first lap. I then turned and did a lap anti clockwise, but I did 3 500m at a faster pace and completed the lap in 16:50, finally with some sweat in the very cool morning air.


Tonight I had heaps of kids, nearly 30, whilst its nice that my Monday session is being talked about throughout the kids and parents, if I always have so many I will probably need some help. Thankfully throughout the session one of the dads who has spoken to me about helping out throughout the WLAC General Training arrived and he sat in the middle of my circuit encouraging and providing advice, which was greatly appreciated.

Sun 15 Jul 07, You Yangs

Finally a real run, first in a week. Arrived at 8:20ish and instead of waiting for everyone I took off for a 10 min stroll with my jacket still on (5 degrees). On arrival back at my car, Cookie & Luke were there and it was just after *;30, Bel crook and no Tegan??? So we took off in beautiful sunshine upto the Turntable Carpark, 11:40.

A quick toilet break and then onto Branding Yard Trail, anti clockwise, at the 4k mark on this trail there is a 'monster hill', only 850m but an elevation rise of 120m during that time (yep I walked a little). Myself & Cookie went back towards Turntable and Luke & Mitch (he met us at Turntable) went the opposite direction as they wanted 1h 45m and I was only after 70 minutes (+ extra bit). Spotted Benita Johnson enjoying a run around the YY, alongside her was Matty Griffin from Eureka AC & the AV office.

Finishing at the front gate, a bit of a chat, limited stretching and then took Clare & Michelle back home as they had things to do.

Chatting with Michelle re the All School T&F Champs in Nov, we have agreed that that can be aim for the coming months and she is going to start coming to the track on Tue evenings, which will be great, another person at the track using me to help with their running, I must admit I am really enjoying this facet of my sport. :-)

Sat 14 Jul 07, Western Aths welcome WLAC

This morning Western Aths hosted WLAC for a long gentle run at the You Yangs on the Branding Yard Trail. Burkie suggested it a few months ago to the WLAC Committee, a great way to introduce non racing, gentle running to the younger athletes of Werribee Little Aths. As I am on both Committees I organised the activity, we had some Western Aths members to help out as 'leaders' and I organised some freebies from AV & VLAA, stickers, balloons, tattoos and also some AV flyers and lolly pops.

The plan, break into small groups of like abilities and then go for a 5km run along the Branding Yard Trail. A fairly successful morning, I think, numbers were a little lower than I expected, but not bad for our first attempt at this. Maybe next year we could also invite Brimbank LAC (of sorts, a feeder Club for Western Aths).


So today was my first running since Tuesday evening, today I took 5 kids ranging from 6-8, so I probably got 2.5km of VERY easy running. Later in the arvo I did a 8k medium paced run, nothing special but of course did end up getting very wet from the rain and never really warmed up! But a run is a run!

Thu 12 Jul 07, still no running

Still no running in accordance with the Doc's instructions/suggestion, he did say I could go for easy runs, but not exceeding 30 minutes until the weekend. But C, D & K are visiting this week so it has kind of fell well for me.

The new DS Trainer 13 has been released in the USA:

Tue 10 Jul 07, yawnnnnnn

No running that really matter today, second day in a row. I have the sleeping and eating thing in check now, but the doc has STRONGLY suggested no hard running of any shape or form for 5 days, just to make sure I have all of the 'stuff' out of me.

Last night I slept 10 hours and today I was HUNGRY, two things that didn't happen last week. So that was good!

I went to the track tonight for coaching purposes and to stroll a few laps, 6 in total, the first 2 with C & D.

Sun 08 Jul 07, a gentle stroll

An early morning run of 60 minutes, a flat run at a comfortable pace but shorter than originally planned.


Coliban Ekiden Relay Harcourt to Bendigo, I was selected to run in the Men's Div 6 team, as the slowest runner I ran the easiest leg, 5.0km, the final leg. I knew that our team would be one of the top 3 teams out off 11 competing teams. After the second leg we were sitting in 2nd behind KSB and that is the way it finished. I ran 20:19 for my 5k road leg and we finished probably 3-5 minutes after KSB, but comfortably in front of third.

My run was very ordinary, but that was expected as I have hardly slept or eaten this week.


Western Aths had six competing teams, a record for the Club, three men & three women. Men Div 3 - 3rd, Men Div 6 - 2nd, Men Div 7 - 7th, Wmn Div 2 - 3rd, Wmn Div 3 - 3rd & Wmn Div 4 - 2nd.



Western Aths Div 6 Men, 3rd/4th change over, Greg to Mitch, I took over from Mitch, thankfully no pictures of me.

Thu 05 Jul 07, fartlek & track

Meeting Clare for a fartlek session this morning, whilst waiting I jogged around the Botanical Gardens on the grass for 12 minutes once she arrived we took off and jogged for 6 minutes before doing some dynamic stretching and some static calf work. All up a light 30 minute fartlek session.

No indoor football for me today as I went to lunch with one of my bosses who is going on a 12 month world tour, Africa, Sth America, Scotland and then finishing in USA...hmmmm...very jealous.


Only 8 degrees and light rain when I arrived at the track, with the outside track very wet I warmed up on the track, 6 laps and then some stretching, drills and strides.

I did 6x400m with floats for recoveries. Reps 78, 78, 80, 79, 81 & 78, the floats were just over 1 min, a tad too slow hence why the reps were so fast, its not like I can run 3k at that pace.

Wed 04 Jul 07, S2F coaching

I managed a quickish 4k run in prior to arriving at Fed Square. I was going to take one of the 10k groups, but for some reason the 5k group was way bigger than the 10k group, so I moved over to help Rupert out and run as the back marker for the 5k group.

Once finished I took the stretching session and then myself and Rupert ran back to the Tan and then I continued on to my car. All up just over 10k for the night, but I should have left work earlier and tried to get 10k in prior to the S2F session. Oh well, I have a bigger day planned for tmw and I'll get a run in on Friday too.

Tue 03 Jul 07, a light run in the morning & an evening track session

Clearing some flex leave today, slept in until 7:30ish and then went out for a slow 5km run this morning from home. Stretched whilst watching really BAD morning TV on Channel 7, not sure of the name.

Tonight's track session plan is 400/400/600/600/800/800/600/600/400/400 = 5.6km of effort @ 92 sec per lap (3:50 per km pace) with a 60 sec walking/jogging recovery.


After organising Burkie's squad and hatting with a few open male runners I got into my w/up of 3km with Cam and then some drills and strides. My session was fairly controlled.

Splits: (recovery)
400m 1:30 (55)
400m 1:29 (57)
600m 2:16 (53)
600m 2:17 (57)
800m 3:02 (59)
800m 3:00 (54)
600m 2:15 (65) distracted coaching
600m 2:15 (64) as above
400m 1:28 (55)
400m 1:25

In my final reps I was chatting with a girl I am coaching and had convinced to do her reps at the track and not on her tready. I organised Cam to do a few strides with her to give her an idea. My cool down involved doing her first 2 reps of 400s @ approx 110.

Whilst watching Tegan, Clare & Roz do the session I jogged around and took note of form & times.

Mon 02 Jul 07, a light run only

At work 7ish and left at 3pm so I could go to Werribee Hosp to have a follow up check up to ensure the shitty stuff from Fri had started to disseminate, blood & urine. I feel much better after not sleeping very well for a few days and feeling slightly off colour, but this is the same each time.


I arrived at the track in time to put the Club's newsletter on the noticeboard and then jog a few laps before the handful of kids rocked up. Tonight I was looking after Burkie's squad too, as he is down the coast with a training group for four days. As Burkie's teens started arriving I passed on their sessions (mostly recovery), only having to change one session due to soreness.

Light rain falling I knew my squad would be dramatically reduced, with only 6 kids we started on the track with 2 laps and then an extra lap incorporating our dynamic stretches and drills, then a lap of surges. With the rain getting stronger I took the group onto the grandstand and we did some stair work broken up with running around the pavilion and other areas protected from the rain.

With the kids leaving and a couple of the pro's finishing up I jogged three laps to allow the guys some extra time with the lights.

Sun 01 Jul 07, You Yangs

The weather was fairly good today for a run. A few of us met at the front gate at 8:30am, myself, Cookie & Luke ran together with two ex members of the Club from 20 years ago. We ran up to Turntable Car Park, along Rockwell onto GCD, up to the entry point for the Stockyards. This was the first time I was running through the Stockyards in the clockwise direction, an easier task, but still some nice sharp hills to be tackled.

Both Luke & Cookie surged on all of the hills and then either jogged at the top and waited or more often, they jogged back to me and then when up again with me. All up just over 18km.