Help!!! / Plugs

Help

I was fiddling around with my blog setup yesterday and "borrowed" some html from Wobblyman to do a new mileage table, but now I seem to have pushed all the sidebar contents down to the bottom of the page. Can anyone have a look at my source code and see where I might have gone wrong?

Edit: Fixed now, thanks for jogging my memory Dave.

Plugs

AGR, here are some pics of my plugs. Firstly the old "tunnels" and then my current plugs. This is as large as I plan to go.


PS. Didn't run yesterday because I ran out of time. Ran into uni today and the legs were still pretty sore from the race on Tuesday. Must have been the running on sand that did it.

Two Jetties

Woke up to a rather warm day with a screaming northerly yesterday morning (30C at 9am and 35km/h). Ran slowly down to Glenelg to register for the Two Jetties race and then waited the hour or so until it started. The run goes south on the beach from Glenelg Jetty to the Brighton Jetty and back for a total of about 8.4km. Went out hard on the way out (around 16 min) and then found it quite difficult coming back into the hot northerly finishing in 13th or 14th place with a time of 35:38. Was racing against a guy in the last 500m but about 200m out my necklace suddenly came off and I had to stop and pick it and the ring that was attached up (sentimental reasons). It was a shame because we were shaping up for a good sprint finish. Anyway, I was pretty happy with the result considering the conditions. I think I have reasonable fitness now to build on for some better performances early next year. RunCarly met with me at the finish with the kids and Addi and we went and got Boost juices then walked home.

2000 km

Just noticed that I have clicked over 2000 km for this year. Will probably add up to about 2100 by the end of the year with this weeks and next weeks totals. That'll be 185 km less than last year. I feel like I've run better this year and have been sick less so I'm happy that the lower mileage has actually helped. Hopefully next year I can increase the mileage a little but still run smarter as I have done this year. There are still a few things I can improve upon like doing some speedwork and doing some weights/core strengthening.

Popped into SARRC today and got myself a club singlet, which hopefully I'll break out for the Two Jetties run on Tuesday.

Not quite a long run, but a long post

I was going to do an hour and a half run around my area for my long run yesterdaymorning, but I decided to drive over to the bottom of Brownhill Creek and run up into Belair CP via the Yurrebilla trail and back down the trail that comes down between Old Belair Rd and Belair Rd. Felt really good during the run although I got off the Yurrebilla trail a bit and ended up running through the park on a different trail. Got back to the car in 1:12, a little less than I'd hoped but I decided to go home after that to get ready for the Christmas shopping onslaught. We got most of the shopping done and then had RunCarly's work Christmas dinner where I proceeded to eat way too much and drank a bit too much as well (feeling less than 100% today).

Last week I got in four solid10km runs to or from uni, although I did find myself getting very angry during those runs thinking about the events unfolding in Sydney. I don't enjoy running when I'm upset or angry. I was finding myself running past people or cars thinking "that guy could be a racist" or "I hope that person doesn't think I'm a racist". Stupid irrational second guessing I know, and very emotionally exhausting. I'm dealing with it a bit better now, especially thanks to the comments from various people on my blog and on Coolrunning, and also the public show of condemnation given by a few celebrities and members of the public on the weekend. I still think our political "leaders" have their heads in the sand over this issue though, and the media in general still seems to be pushing the story in a sensationalist fashion. I hope this issue isn't forgotten though. It would be really sad if we didn't address the underlying problems of racism, violence and intolerance in our society.

This is turning into a long post. I've put some new goals in my profile. Some of them lofty, most of them recycled or altered from last year, all of them achievable. In the short term, I am aiming to go in several shorter races over the next two months, starting with the Two Jetties fun run on the 27th of December. If you live in SA or are visiting that week, I hope I'll see you out there.

If I don't blog between now and Christmas, have a safe and peaceful time and don't eat too many fruit mince pies!

Vexed

I am vexed! I'm sitting here almost in tears typing this. Where is the overwhelming public outcry over the race riots in Sydney? Where is the fierce condemnation of this behaviour on websites and blogs all around Australia. We should be damning the actions and the people involved.

John Howard came out and said there was no evidence that the new terror laws had contributed to the situation. If that's the case then he should have said that if these people had viewed them as an excuse to escalate racist actions then they have terribly misinterpreted the reasons for these laws.

He also stated that he didn't think that racism is a big problem in Australia. BULLSHIT!!! If 5000 are willing to overtly show their racism as on Sunday, how many more are sitting at home nodding their heads in approval: 10, 50, 100 times that many? How many more say nothing, but don't condemn the actions? The truth is, we have a huge racism problem in Australia and we are too scared to admit it. How many times over the last few days have we heard the racist mantra "I'm not racist, but...", or "I don't agree with what happened, but...". No buts. If you think that any racist behaviour is justified, then you are a bloody racist.

John Howard, Kim Beazley et al, the nation is crying out for leadership on this issue. How can we solve a problem when you won't admit that there is a problem?

Can anyone tell me if there are going to be any marches/protests in the capital cities against this behaviour? The silent majority must speak out on this issue before it escalates any further. We can't afford apathy.

The word un-Australian has been bandied about a lot over the last few days and has been used to justify and condemn all kinds of behaviour. Well, I for one condemn the events in Sydney as inhuman. The apparent complicity of the general public through their inaction is just as bad.

Stupid day to run

Ran 16km yesterday as my "long" run. Ran 6km first with the dog and then picked up my bag and ran into uni. It was hot in Adelaide yesterday By the time I got into the city it was around 34 degrees and I was feeling pretty ill despite drinking heaps before, during and after the run. I probably should have cancelled the run totally, but I've been slack and hadn't run at all since I got back from Canberra. Definitely "ran myself ugly" as I mentioned on Go Girls blog. Feeling much better now, but it really made me feel quite ill for a couple of hours. Oh, and the time was horribly slow.
PS. Work has started on our new house: earthworks have been done, pipes have been laid, steel delivered, and I wouldn't be surprised if the slab is poured before xmas

RunDave MIA

OK, I've been in Canberra for the last week and a half working at the Uni there, staying with my Brother-in-law and his wife in Barton. I was very busy for most of the time and didn't really have much access to the internet. I got home yesterday morning but didn't have time to blog then either.

So what have I been up to. It took me a couple of days to settle in to working on the LA-ICPMS (don't ask what it is please, other than to say it is a complex chemical analytical instrument), so I didn't get a run in for the first three days. Last Thursday I ran into ANU 5km-ish and then up Black Mountain and back (Photo). The next day I ran over to and up Mt Ainslie and back then into ANU. For the rest of the time I was there, I either ran into or home from ANU or did sessions at the Gym in the apartment complex.

Things that I think were notable about running over there.

1. I thought Black Mountain was harder than Mt Ainsley, is that a fair comment?
2. I was amazed by the number of people walking, running and cycling in Canberra.
3. Elliptical trainers can give you a good workout.

In between working like a crazed man on the weekdays, I was able to go to a couple of really nice parties and relax on the weekend. I also got some good shots of the storm that hit Canberra last Friday, causing millions of dollars damage, uprooting or debranching heaps of trees and killing one man.

Finally, and regretably, since I finished my work over there a few days earlier than I expected, I couldn't justify staying the five extra days to go in the Black Mountain Challenge, so I came home. I was really looking forward to going in it too, especially after running up it last week. Maybe some other time. It's also annoying because there is such a long break between events in Adelaide from early December to late January.

RunDave