I am not sure why for some periods of time we update blogs and emails religioulsy, and other times, they just slip away. Its been a while since updating my "online" running buddies, blog and spreadsheets! happy to say its due, in part, to the amount of running and excercise Mouse and I have been doing! The other factor may be that Mouse and get probably 200 emails between us a day for work, and the novelty is gone by the the end of the day!!!
Life at home as been rather uneventful, in a nice way :-) We have been happy at home, warm, and well fed ( we love to cook for each other and eat!! ) The kids all performed recently for Education week in dancing and singing, and i expect good reports from the teachers...but its interview night in 2 weeks ...time will tell!!! Jnr 2 made it to the District cross country competion, and came 21st - up from about 70th last year. Jnr 1 has made a home movie with his friends for a short film competition ( an example of previous work! ) , and Jnr Jnr has been learning the keyboard.
I will let ( encourage! ) Mouse to record for all time and all to view her events lately, but to summarise, shes done Club Champs Tri, had a birthday, and done some fantastic track work :-)
I have been following a Marathon Training Plan from Endurance Training - it seems to work for me so far as keep me motivated, and I am completing 75% of the sessions, most of those alone, so a plan i can follow and adjust to is important. I picked a target marathon goal of 3:45, and pace of 5:19mins/km - eeeek!!!
The runs i have done with friends have been really great motivators. I have my semi-regular long runs with Benny and Marlz (thanks guys!), a few with Mouse when kids etc allow ( always great, everytime ), some recovery runs with our "Slow Running Group" at work ( their name, not mine ;-) ) , one long run with a bunch of mad CR's in the rain, and the first of hopefully more to come speed/stength sessions with Cameron off CR too.
The training plan is hitting peak time now - 35km long run this week, and woodford to glenbrook next week, then taper. The plan is to do Cities again this year in late July, followed by Blackmores in September. Both are key races for me for different reasons. I want to do Cities faster this year then last year ( 3:53 last year - my first sub four ) And the Sydney Marathon - i can see the harbour, the bridge, the quay and opera house now, and hear the crowds as you run towards them all. It will be an awesome finishing chute, so i want perform well there too!!
Both, coupled with some long runs leading to XMAS, put me in a good position to train for 6-foot - not to complete, but just to be ready to train for it. After this years whimpy injury and change of plans, i want to build the fitness and stay there over the silly season, ready for 6-ft build up.
I am pretty keen to attend, and hopefully keep going, the Sydney West CR 5km Challenge Its really close to home, and should be a nice route and location. Early in the morning is a good time to do the run there, before the million families turn up, especially in summer. Actually, summer morning there, with breakfast afterwards, will be brilliant!
Well, I am glad i put some thoughts on the blog......thanks for stopping by!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
A full day monday
Its been a good week thus far...on the weekend we went swimming for a few laps at Blacktown pools. Georgia tried out flippers, hand fins and generally mucked around in the lap lane, whilst Rach and I alternated doing laps.
Saturday night was a cocktail party with one of rach's friends to make up for missing our engagement party...well it was a great party, and all the way over at Bondi, so it was Sunday morning before we got home, and there was no way we would make SMC!!! ( atleast not sober! ) Thomo wins again!!!
On Monday, I went in the NSW Police Games, in triathlon and cycling. Both were a lot of fun. I comfortably swam the 500mtrs ( slowly, but even over took one or two others...) leaving the water about 6 from last. The 20km cycle was solid - i tried to keep the bike above 28km per hr at all times, and achieved that for sure. And then came my favourite leg, the run. I started off slow, letting the run come to me after the bike, and built it up. From about 1.25km i started overtaking people. I got a perverse sense of pleasure overtaking those in tri suits!! Is that wrong :-) I didn't record the times of any of the legs very well, but was under 5km min for the run i think from the rough recording i made. I am stoked with that!!!
In the afternoon, a team of us took part in the 40km cycle. There were dozens of experienced riders, and then us. I learnt the fun of drafting, and since there was a headwind on the long 2km side of the lap, really tried hard to share the load with some other riders on the track. The headwind was tough - it dropped your speed by 10km an hour if you did not put in a BIG effort. I finished that in about 1:20:00, which is better then expected!
All in all, it was a great day - and a great reminder to me that there is nothing like an entry form and payment to get me off my bum and out and exercising!!!
Now...bring on a long weekend, chocolate and the easter show!!
Saturday night was a cocktail party with one of rach's friends to make up for missing our engagement party...well it was a great party, and all the way over at Bondi, so it was Sunday morning before we got home, and there was no way we would make SMC!!! ( atleast not sober! ) Thomo wins again!!!
On Monday, I went in the NSW Police Games, in triathlon and cycling. Both were a lot of fun. I comfortably swam the 500mtrs ( slowly, but even over took one or two others...) leaving the water about 6 from last. The 20km cycle was solid - i tried to keep the bike above 28km per hr at all times, and achieved that for sure. And then came my favourite leg, the run. I started off slow, letting the run come to me after the bike, and built it up. From about 1.25km i started overtaking people. I got a perverse sense of pleasure overtaking those in tri suits!! Is that wrong :-) I didn't record the times of any of the legs very well, but was under 5km min for the run i think from the rough recording i made. I am stoked with that!!!
In the afternoon, a team of us took part in the 40km cycle. There were dozens of experienced riders, and then us. I learnt the fun of drafting, and since there was a headwind on the long 2km side of the lap, really tried hard to share the load with some other riders on the track. The headwind was tough - it dropped your speed by 10km an hour if you did not put in a BIG effort. I finished that in about 1:20:00, which is better then expected!
All in all, it was a great day - and a great reminder to me that there is nothing like an entry form and payment to get me off my bum and out and exercising!!!
Now...bring on a long weekend, chocolate and the easter show!!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Project "Get Fitness Back"
Project "Get Fitness Back" has begun!!
Fitness is slowly coming back now for Rach and I after some time off...we both have cycled a few times in the last week and swam as well, which is great. I can now (semi)comfortably do 600mtrs without stopping, gasping for air etc...which is good since I am doing my 2nd ever tri next week - the police games - the swim is 500mtrs! I have dibs on last place...thats at 7am, and some fellow IT nerds are doing the cycling that afternoon - 40km....i will sleep well that night i know.
Last night i was out for a 10km run - died in the @ss at 1.5km with asthma, struggled to 2km, then turned around before puking. I didnt take ventolin ( stupid i know ). But my walk home became a shuffle, then a jog, and just before the final turn off the M7 for home, i started feeling good and kept running. So after my crappy start and rest breaks, i did the 10km in 1:01, which I am stoked about. I have been putting off taking part in a study into asthma medications on long distance runners - mainly as i have not been doing any long runs lately - but they emailed me the other day and I really should contribute. It could help them, and help me understand my own condition and parameters better too.....
It was great reading the 6ft reports - and seeing the photos too. I will be there next year inspired once more. Bruce, Scurry and Andre from PPR all had runs that inspired me - thankyou and congratulations!
PS - to get back in shape, i will have to stop eating burgers called "The Fat Bastard"
- check out the size of it, and yes, no salad!!
Fitness is slowly coming back now for Rach and I after some time off...we both have cycled a few times in the last week and swam as well, which is great. I can now (semi)comfortably do 600mtrs without stopping, gasping for air etc...which is good since I am doing my 2nd ever tri next week - the police games - the swim is 500mtrs! I have dibs on last place...thats at 7am, and some fellow IT nerds are doing the cycling that afternoon - 40km....i will sleep well that night i know.
Last night i was out for a 10km run - died in the @ss at 1.5km with asthma, struggled to 2km, then turned around before puking. I didnt take ventolin ( stupid i know ). But my walk home became a shuffle, then a jog, and just before the final turn off the M7 for home, i started feeling good and kept running. So after my crappy start and rest breaks, i did the 10km in 1:01, which I am stoked about. I have been putting off taking part in a study into asthma medications on long distance runners - mainly as i have not been doing any long runs lately - but they emailed me the other day and I really should contribute. It could help them, and help me understand my own condition and parameters better too.....
It was great reading the 6ft reports - and seeing the photos too. I will be there next year inspired once more. Bruce, Scurry and Andre from PPR all had runs that inspired me - thankyou and congratulations!
PS - to get back in shape, i will have to stop eating burgers called "The Fat Bastard"
- check out the size of it, and yes, no salad!!
Friday, February 22, 2008
its been a long time...(ntr)
Well, its been a long time ( about 2 months ) since we wrote anything....why?? um...injury and lack of mojo perhaps?? are they related - yes.
Since the CR XMAS run, i was training hard for 6ft actually - the shortest and hardest session being hill reps up rooty hill in 99% humidity, and one magic run at quarry road was started at 5pm, and i finished it at dusk with a headlamp!
i was hitting quarry road for 2 laps for a few weeks in a row, when it then hit me back! I started the run with a slight sore right knee, and finished with a very sore left knee, around to my calf. This pain persisted with any running at all until about 3 weeks ago. Given i was playing catch up ( and breaking the "10% increase in exercise" rule ) when i got injured, I have given up on 6ft this year, but will target it next year instead. Bummer. Atleast this time i wont have virtually 4 months off running before the training commences!
That said, my first run since the knee injury was actually my first Tri - an enticer with Hills. It was so much fun. Rach and I did all together, and the kids had such a great time also. I loved that afternoon! I have signed up to do the tri in the police games on 17 March - 500 / 20 /5. (also doing cycling on same day 40km, and 8km run the week before) I am not worried about the ride or run ( and have no probs coming last! ) but still the swim is daunting! Rach and I have been training a little for the Club Champs, and i have been to the pool twice this week, where i can now swim ( slowly and poorly, and a mixture of breaststroke and freestyle ) 600 metres without stopping or pushing off the edges. It is so hard!
How is it one can run for hours, and feel OK, but swim for 5 mins and feel absolutely spent!!! I am sure it is doing my asthma a world of good ( theory says it should ) but i am yet to notice a reduction in ventolin usage....hmmm..
I know how serious (or not ) i intend to take tri's - they are the cross training to marathon goals. As such, i am reluctant to spend $$ on bike improvements, however i am very tempted to get cleats and shoes for my bike. Problem is the retail value of my bike ( which i think is great! ) will more then double with the addition of new pedals and shoes!!! C'mon ebay! drop me a bargain!!!
Great news ....Rach and I have a wedding date planned...Feb 14 2009! What can i say - a great day for such a great day. ( And we just confirmed that our very good friend will be conducting the ceremony for us too! yay!)
Finally, back to running, we did SMC last week. It was great to be back at our club ( thats what it feels like ) chatting and waving to old running friends and familiar faces ( Ray ( or BB!), Luis, Andre and Terry from PPR, Mike "the marathon marvel" to recall a few) . I really enjoyed it, and it was longest run ( 10km ) in about 6 weeks, so it was such a release of endorphins and relief to do it there, and feel good at the end. It was a great run! Thanks rach ( your gorgeous when you run! ), Thomo, Heather and Keg for a good morning out! This week, I went running with a workmate on Wednesday - he is a great cyclist, but struggles running, and i was glad i could help him achieve longer running spans between walks - i hope i can keep do some more with my group friends at work - they help me so much in the office!
Cheers to returning to fitness!!!
Since the CR XMAS run, i was training hard for 6ft actually - the shortest and hardest session being hill reps up rooty hill in 99% humidity, and one magic run at quarry road was started at 5pm, and i finished it at dusk with a headlamp!
i was hitting quarry road for 2 laps for a few weeks in a row, when it then hit me back! I started the run with a slight sore right knee, and finished with a very sore left knee, around to my calf. This pain persisted with any running at all until about 3 weeks ago. Given i was playing catch up ( and breaking the "10% increase in exercise" rule ) when i got injured, I have given up on 6ft this year, but will target it next year instead. Bummer. Atleast this time i wont have virtually 4 months off running before the training commences!
That said, my first run since the knee injury was actually my first Tri - an enticer with Hills. It was so much fun. Rach and I did all together, and the kids had such a great time also. I loved that afternoon! I have signed up to do the tri in the police games on 17 March - 500 / 20 /5. (also doing cycling on same day 40km, and 8km run the week before) I am not worried about the ride or run ( and have no probs coming last! ) but still the swim is daunting! Rach and I have been training a little for the Club Champs, and i have been to the pool twice this week, where i can now swim ( slowly and poorly, and a mixture of breaststroke and freestyle ) 600 metres without stopping or pushing off the edges. It is so hard!
How is it one can run for hours, and feel OK, but swim for 5 mins and feel absolutely spent!!! I am sure it is doing my asthma a world of good ( theory says it should ) but i am yet to notice a reduction in ventolin usage....hmmm..
I know how serious (or not ) i intend to take tri's - they are the cross training to marathon goals. As such, i am reluctant to spend $$ on bike improvements, however i am very tempted to get cleats and shoes for my bike. Problem is the retail value of my bike ( which i think is great! ) will more then double with the addition of new pedals and shoes!!! C'mon ebay! drop me a bargain!!!
Great news ....Rach and I have a wedding date planned...Feb 14 2009! What can i say - a great day for such a great day. ( And we just confirmed that our very good friend will be conducting the ceremony for us too! yay!)
Finally, back to running, we did SMC last week. It was great to be back at our club ( thats what it feels like ) chatting and waving to old running friends and familiar faces ( Ray ( or BB!), Luis, Andre and Terry from PPR, Mike "the marathon marvel" to recall a few) . I really enjoyed it, and it was longest run ( 10km ) in about 6 weeks, so it was such a release of endorphins and relief to do it there, and feel good at the end. It was a great run! Thanks rach ( your gorgeous when you run! ), Thomo, Heather and Keg for a good morning out! This week, I went running with a workmate on Wednesday - he is a great cyclist, but struggles running, and i was glad i could help him achieve longer running spans between walks - i hope i can keep do some more with my group friends at work - they help me so much in the office!
Cheers to returning to fitness!!!
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Merry Christmas all
Well the come back trail is going well. We all did the 5km last Friday evening at Chunderbolt's race in the 5km twilight series. Kids had a ball, I had a ball and NTR enjoyed the walk with mini mouse jr... Dinner with the lovely Benny and Des after was also fantastic :-)
Saturday morning saw me get back into brick and for the first time ever I did the whole thing!!!! Normally the guys are way too fast and I have to drop a lap on the bike in order to finish in time but this week for some strange reason I got it all in, yippee.
Christmas yesterday saw me get SO spoilt!! I won't list everything but the best bits from NTR: vegetarian cooking class at Manly; cycling glasses with the 4 different lenses and a beach chair I have been "hinting" at for a couple of years now!! The kids all bought me a gorgeous and HUGE photo frame with about 12 photo spaces so we can put pics of us all together in it. That one bought a tear to my eye!!
All in all very spoilt and with all the new gear of course I had the urge to get angel out for a ride. BUT my bike pants were in the wash so I went for a 5km run with Ian, kids and basil the beagle. Felt great and ran back with Lachlan as the girls had headed back early with Ian. It was fantastic running with Lachlan, he was trying out his new running shirt and he loved it.
He is much closer to my pace than NTR so I think I may have found myself a new running partner! :-)
Saturday morning saw me get back into brick and for the first time ever I did the whole thing!!!! Normally the guys are way too fast and I have to drop a lap on the bike in order to finish in time but this week for some strange reason I got it all in, yippee.
Christmas yesterday saw me get SO spoilt!! I won't list everything but the best bits from NTR: vegetarian cooking class at Manly; cycling glasses with the 4 different lenses and a beach chair I have been "hinting" at for a couple of years now!! The kids all bought me a gorgeous and HUGE photo frame with about 12 photo spaces so we can put pics of us all together in it. That one bought a tear to my eye!!
All in all very spoilt and with all the new gear of course I had the urge to get angel out for a ride. BUT my bike pants were in the wash so I went for a 5km run with Ian, kids and basil the beagle. Felt great and ran back with Lachlan as the girls had headed back early with Ian. It was fantastic running with Lachlan, he was trying out his new running shirt and he loved it.
He is much closer to my pace than NTR so I think I may have found myself a new running partner! :-)
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
quick running update... (ntr)
Its certainly been hot and humid lately, and 3-4months of little activity, but plenty of carbo loading are evident. Its great though to find it tough, knowing that it will come together if i just remain a little consistent in training.
A summary of what been happening from my running log...
4/12/2007 8.8km 0:55:00 casual run 30degrees A very hot humid day to choose to start running again after European holidays - plus it was my birthday. Very hot, along the parklands track to nurragingy and back.
7/12/2007 5km 0:30:00 parra park 34degrees Hot return - met a colleague by chance, and stopped for a a chat.
9/12/2007 12km 2:00:00 quarry road 25degrees 1 lap running/walking of quarry road with Rach - great to exercise together again! Yeah!!
11/12/2007 3km 0:30:00 rooty hill repeats 30degrees 6 hill repeats of rooty hill - stupidly tough!
13/12/2007 10km 1:00:00 tempo training run 25degrees 5 sets of 2km at 5min pace, with 2km running recoveries.
17/12/2007 22km 2:30:00 training long run 34degrees Hot humid run, Nurragingy and back, then on M7 to Obriens glass seven hills. Had to develop plan of 2km run, 30 sec recovery to cope with lack of fitness and the heat.
I am looking forward to some more long runs - i need to get a new mp3 player. I love listening to music and podcasts on the long solo runs. Tip to remember: although it looks nice and shiny now, ipod shuffles do not recover from an accidental round in the washing machine....
Now, how to run whilst enjoying the festive season and all the bevies' it is sure to offer.....
A summary of what been happening from my running log...
4/12/2007 8.8km 0:55:00 casual run 30degrees A very hot humid day to choose to start running again after European holidays - plus it was my birthday. Very hot, along the parklands track to nurragingy and back.
7/12/2007 5km 0:30:00 parra park 34degrees Hot return - met a colleague by chance, and stopped for a a chat.
9/12/2007 12km 2:00:00 quarry road 25degrees 1 lap running/walking of quarry road with Rach - great to exercise together again! Yeah!!
11/12/2007 3km 0:30:00 rooty hill repeats 30degrees 6 hill repeats of rooty hill - stupidly tough!
13/12/2007 10km 1:00:00 tempo training run 25degrees 5 sets of 2km at 5min pace, with 2km running recoveries.
17/12/2007 22km 2:30:00 training long run 34degrees Hot humid run, Nurragingy and back, then on M7 to Obriens glass seven hills. Had to develop plan of 2km run, 30 sec recovery to cope with lack of fitness and the heat.
I am looking forward to some more long runs - i need to get a new mp3 player. I love listening to music and podcasts on the long solo runs. Tip to remember: although it looks nice and shiny now, ipod shuffles do not recover from an accidental round in the washing machine....
Now, how to run whilst enjoying the festive season and all the bevies' it is sure to offer.....
Friday, December 14, 2007
inspiration for me....(ntr)
Tonight, i saw, in my own biased eyes, something very inspiring.
At little A's, a boy in the under 11's was running the last race of this sticky night. I've seen him there for the last 2 years, and he is not the fastest in his age group. Actually, he comes near the back of every event, and even tonight he did not want to run at all. But he did. And the race was the dreaded 1500mtrs. When you 32, and especially when your 11, 1500 metres is a long way.
So it starts as a pack start, and he took off at the 1500 mtr pace he knows - jog to start, run hard at the end. But it was not long when he was at the back. Not much longer, and he was lapped around the 400 metre track by the faster boys, who are quick to run, and quicker to say 11 year old boy style comments to slower runners.
The faster kids had finished and were standing by the finish line, as the boy at the back jogged past them - he had another lap to go. And he kept jogging, asking his younger sister not to run with him cause he finds it embarrassing. And he kept going. And at the end, he gave an almighty sprint to the finish, to come last by a few minutes.
What was inspiring was that normally he would stop. Tonight, for some reason, on the night he did not want to go, this boy didnt stop. Didnt walk. Didnt pass anyone. But still kept going, focused on his run. And the sprint at the end came from nowhere - his body a second before was drooping and dragging his feet behind, before his eyes narrowed, and the jog became a sprint. All the way to the finish, and as he caught his breath, a smirk came over his face, as he knew he had won his own race.
It was a great finish, and a great run, which really inspired me, and will give me the conviction to keep going next time i want to quit, somewhere down the back of the pack. He finished to a few claps, like you get at the back of the pack. Out of however many people are watching a race or run, a couple get the special effort it takes to do something you are not a natural at, and push through.
And on nights like tonight, you can bet the boys father is glad he is wearing sunglasses, as seeing his son growing and running into an inspiring and courageous young man, can fill him with so much pride his eyes may very well have welled up with an unexpected tear.
At little A's, a boy in the under 11's was running the last race of this sticky night. I've seen him there for the last 2 years, and he is not the fastest in his age group. Actually, he comes near the back of every event, and even tonight he did not want to run at all. But he did. And the race was the dreaded 1500mtrs. When you 32, and especially when your 11, 1500 metres is a long way.
So it starts as a pack start, and he took off at the 1500 mtr pace he knows - jog to start, run hard at the end. But it was not long when he was at the back. Not much longer, and he was lapped around the 400 metre track by the faster boys, who are quick to run, and quicker to say 11 year old boy style comments to slower runners.
The faster kids had finished and were standing by the finish line, as the boy at the back jogged past them - he had another lap to go. And he kept jogging, asking his younger sister not to run with him cause he finds it embarrassing. And he kept going. And at the end, he gave an almighty sprint to the finish, to come last by a few minutes.
What was inspiring was that normally he would stop. Tonight, for some reason, on the night he did not want to go, this boy didnt stop. Didnt walk. Didnt pass anyone. But still kept going, focused on his run. And the sprint at the end came from nowhere - his body a second before was drooping and dragging his feet behind, before his eyes narrowed, and the jog became a sprint. All the way to the finish, and as he caught his breath, a smirk came over his face, as he knew he had won his own race.
It was a great finish, and a great run, which really inspired me, and will give me the conviction to keep going next time i want to quit, somewhere down the back of the pack. He finished to a few claps, like you get at the back of the pack. Out of however many people are watching a race or run, a couple get the special effort it takes to do something you are not a natural at, and push through.
And on nights like tonight, you can bet the boys father is glad he is wearing sunglasses, as seeing his son growing and running into an inspiring and courageous young man, can fill him with so much pride his eyes may very well have welled up with an unexpected tear.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
