Long overdue update

I haven't been keeping this blog up to date for a while now, but I have still been running. I haven't really done anything of note lately. I went in a casual 10 km race in Auckland while at a conference over there coming in around 10th in 39:17, not bad for the lack of training and also a late night the night before (conference dinner).



I still haven't decided which events I'll be targeting later in the year. I may try to improve my PB in the marathon in August. I have been doing my long runs mostly on trails over the last 6 months and I've really enjoyed that (with a few exceptions like the weekend). This leads me to thinking that I should do the Trailblazer (either 50 or 100 km) in October or the Yurrebilla trail run (non-competitive) also in October I think. If I have time, I may go in a few of the shorter SARRC events between no and the marathon. I'm also thinking about going in some SA athletics XC events or the joggers world series. I may even do some of the SA masters athletics events now that I meet their age requirements (30).



That's right, I am now in my 4th decade. To celebrate the day I ran 30 km. I also got some new treads (pictured below) which have been excellent for the mix of trail and road running that I've been doing recently.

Anyway, I hope the update has been sufficient for nyone who is still reading this blog. I'm sure I've missed heaps of things. I hope to keep the blog a bit more up-to-date to keep me motivated and stay on track for whatever events I go for in the future.

See you out there.

Great half, at a cost

So I've been gone for a while, sorry about that.

Yesterday I ran the Barossa Half marathon in 1:23:15, around 20 sec better than the last time I ran in the Barossa half in 2004, but not a PB for the half. I think that is a pretty good time though, because my PB was set on the "downhill" Greenbelt course. I wetn pretty much all out, and had nothing left in the tank at the end. My legs are pretty sore today. The top of my foot is a little sore, which I think is because of a combination of heavy training and aging shoes . I also went into the race feeling slightly sick, and now today I've come down with a bad sore throat and other nasty symptoms. I guess that's what you get for not listening to your body. The good news is that my calf/achilles feels fine, no soreness or weakness either during or after the event, so I think it is nearly back to normal (after 14 or more months).

Even more amazing is the time that Carly got. Last year she ran a half in 2:23. Yesterday she ran it in 1:51, a 32 minute improvement! She has really worked hard on her running and weight this year, and it has certainly paid off.

Evolution of a Mo - Day 7

Lookin good!
My mo spurred me on to a third place in today's invitation fun run for the corporate cup. My time for the event was two seconds slower than last fortnight, but it didn't count towards out team's points. I still feel pretty sore from digging etc on the weekend, so I'm pretty happy with that time. Everyone in the invitational got 1 free adult ticket on the the Kangaroo Island ferry which is nice, but I don't know that I'll be able to use it before it runs out at the end of March. It turns out that our team was 3rd fastest in the 4.5km event and 44th in the improvement points, so well done team!

Smashed PB again

Well I managed to beat my previous time in the corporate cup again. This time I ran 15:46 for the 4.5km. It was not easy. I felt terrible the whole way with my legs feeling really heavy and slow. I also had a sore lower back after my run from the Tram terminus to Pinky Flat. I'm now thinking that the sore back could have something to do with lifting a whole heap of stuff while setting up and packing up at the race for life on Sunday (I did a 21km long run in to the city and then helped with the event rather than running in it). My average heart rate this morning was lower again at 171 bpm, so my fitness seems to be improving despite my tired and sore legs.

Race Time @ Ave.HR

1. 18:10 @ 178
2. 17:33 @ 169
3. 17:05 @ 171
4. 16:49 @ 175
5. 16:22 @ 178
6. 16:12 @ 174
7. 15:46 @ 171

I've got my tights on now to try and help my legs recover, and I'll monitor my back over the next couple of days. Today's run is the last official run for the corporate cup, but there is a fun run and presentation next fortnight. The exciting part is that there is an invitation race for the faster runners as part of the fun run which includes prizes for the winners. Considering I came 3rd overall in the last run and I'll probably be in the top 5 again this week, I think I'll go in it. It'll be nice to go out and race on the course again after all these time trials.

The only other event I am considering at the moment is the Blackhill Challenge. I'm still not sure I'm ready for the hills in this event. I certainly have the speed, but I've been doing little to no hill work all year. In the last two years I have gone in this event, I have been coming off the 50km and 100km Trailblazer events, so I've had plenty of hills in my legs, but less speed. This year will be the opposite. I guess I should give it a go. It might be interesting to see what sort of training has the better result. I might also get out and do some hill repeats at Montefiore hill later this week.

OK. That's enough for now. Happy running people.

Not a PW

So I might have been a little hasty with the PW call. I really thought I did better than that in 1999. I do recall however, that I had to stop for a couple of minutes to go to the toilet that day (poor race preparation), so it probably still makes this year a bad result.

1999
00:48:19
254

2000
00:45:03
82

2006
00:47:04
135

Not even close

Did the C2B in a PW of 47:04. It was all going well until about km 3 when I started feeling the heat. Then I missed 3 out of 3 grabs at water at the first drink station and didn't stop to get anything. I made sure that I got heaps of water at the next two stations. I think wearing the compression tights was a mistake too, just a little too hot for them today. My impression is that I just wasn't fit enough to do 45 for 12km. I gave it everything, but it just wasn't there. That's OK. I haven't been doing the miles in training and my intensity hasn't been high enough. The disappointing thing is that my two previous runs in the C2B were before I started running "seriously" when I was a hockey player: 46:30 in 1999 and 45:03 in 2000. I must have been fitter then than I thought.

Splits @ HR
1- 3:29 @ 156
2- 3:35 @ 178
3- 3:39 @ 183
4- 3:42 @ 185
5- 3:51 @ 185
6- 3:58 @ 183 22:15
7- 4:06 @ 180
8- 4:07 @ 181
10- 8:27 @ 179 missed the split
11- 4:10 @ 181
12- 3:55 @ 184 47:04

Anyway, I'm happy to have done the event again. The atmoshere was great, the event was huge, I got a nice massage afterwards, and I went for a cool dip in the sea which was really refreshing. There were 23,500 people there today and I'm not sure how much bigger they can make this event given the crowding at the finish area. Walking back to the tram, there were still thousands of people coming through. Luckily I got to the tram before there was a huge line to get back into the city.

There is a slight tingle in the achilles, so I'll have to monitor that. This may well be my last event for the year, apart from the remaining corporate cup runs. There is the Blackhill Challenge in November, an event that I really love and have done well in in the last two years, but I'm not sure that I'll have time for it and the hills might not be too good for the achilles if it comes up a bit sore still.

So stay tuned for what may be fewer entries about just staying fit until next year.

Edit: Official time 47:04. Equal 135th out of 7000-odd.

False start

Sprang out of bed this morning at 7.30 and exclaimed "oh shit! the race!" to which my wife rolled over and said "David, it's Saturday". Whoops.

I'd been dreaming about getting the bus to the start. so when I woke up, I guess I assumed I had to go. This is odd for a few reasons. 1) I don't normally remember my dreams. 2) I'm catching the tram to the start tomorrow. 3) I'd already woken up earlier when one of the kids woke up too early, so I knew it was Saturday already.

PM in AM CC!

That's right, our PM, little Johnny Howard, was out there this morning powering around the Torrens in his tragic Wallabies track suit. Except he was going the wrong way for the Corporate Cup! As much as I don't agree with his politics, I have to say that he is setting a good example by getting out there and exercising, despite a busy schedule.

How did my run go? Well I've raised the bar again with a 17:05 for the 4.5km course. I was really pushing it this morning and only eased off with about 500m to go when I realised that I was well under my previous time. I still think I can improve quite a bit, and I think I probably had a little bit taken away by the half on the weekend, but how long can I continue this sort of improvement. The calf/achilles felt fine during the run, but there is still some tightness there when I cool down. I'll have to keep a close watch on that and keep up the stretching and massage.

I'm now seriously considering a crack at my PB of 45:03 for the City 2 Bay. My pace this morning was about 3:47 and I'd need a pace of at least 3:45 to crack 45 min. I was pushing pretty hard this morning and I don't know that I could have maintained it for 12km, but I am coming off the back of a half marathon and I would have the added advantage of having other runners to pace in the C2B. Anyway, we'll see how training goes over the next 2 weeks. I might use the next CC run as a test to see whether I can manage the required pace, and then enter straight afterwards if I'm feeling OK.

Half marathon report

Well what a great day!

Nice to meet CRs Simlin and Wardman, if only briefly. Sorry guys, everything was a bit of a rush and I had to catch up with so many people out there. Wardman, congratulations on getting through your first half. Simlin, well done on getting through the 10, onward and upward. To the Mystery Sydney Strider CR (or was that Nando, I'm confused now), I called out to you about 200m from the finish as we went past, I hope you're OK because you looked in pretty bad shape.

We went really well. Baden had set a target of 1:45 for the half and we did it in 1:36. We basically went out at a comfortable pace and managed to keep it going til about 18km, then I picked up the pace and brought it home hard with Baden picking up my shoulder. I think for the first time ever, I managed a negative split of about 48:38 for the first 10.6km and 47:22 for the second 10.5km. Baden was pretty happy and I was very pleased that it went so well.
Our km splits were:
4:56 (1.1Km)
4:25
4:35
4:37
4:41
4:34
4:38
4:36
4:37
4:38
4:34
4:20 (a bit short I think)
5:02 (hence a bit long)
4:30
4:37
4:47
4:17
4:26
4:27
4:18
4:14

Total 1:35:58

My wife battled through in 2:20 and paid for not having an energy drink or lollies out on the course, but it was an excellent effort condsidering it was her first half and she has had limited preparation over the last 4 weeks due to injury and sickness. Thanks to the woman who gave her a couple of Jellybeans with 6 or 7 km to go, apparently they were the two most energising jellybeans ever consumed!

The weather out there was perfect for good times, cool in the morning with the sun coming out but not really heating up and no wind to speak of. I know a few people had really good times in the marathon. I'm kind of disappointed that I wasn't able to do the marathon, although I probably wouldn't have gone close to my PB despite the good conditions. Oh well, there's always next year. A little birdy tells me that the organisers WILL have a new course next year and it sounds like it will be a good one. I can't give away any more so stay tuned!

100th Entry - Why I race.

As my 100th entry I thought I'd have a philosophical look at why I go in races.

Why do I go in races? As a runner, it is a fairly fundamental question. I recently read in someone's blog that they thought previously they thought they deserved a race because of all their hard work in training. Another person had pointed out to them that they could alternatively view a race as a reward and hence something to be enjoyed. What I think this all boils down to is whether you see the race as a right or a priviledge.

If you think it is a right, then you may think you deserve a good result for hard work and a poor result for lazy work. So no matter what you do on the race day, you deserve the result: a very fatalistic approach. This may result in you not making the most of what happens on race day.

If you think it is a priviledge, then you will enjoy the race because it is a reward for all the training you have done and hence will try to make the most of the reward regardless of how hard you trained. I think this is a very positive way to approach racing, especially when you are doing it as a social pastime. This approach may result in you not working as hard in training because no matter what effort you put in during training, you know you will enjoy the race anyway.

So this got me thinking - why do Irace? I think I have taken aspects of both of these approaches into races. However, for the most part I see racing in an entirely different light to the two previous approaches.

I see racing as a test, a test of how well I can do based on my personal ability, my training and my effort on the day. And, I suppose if I'm really honest, it is somewhat egotistically a test of how good I am compared to other competitors. I suppose I like tests in general, so it it no surprise that that I would want to test my ability for running.

I do find races rewarding and I really do enjoy the atmosphere on the day, but I don't think it is my primary reason for racing. I get the most satisfaction from testing myself; laying my body on the line and giving 100% to see what I am capable of on that day. Perhaps this is the reason why I can't hold back in races or try to run at a slower pace with someone else (if this is the case, please don't anyone ask me to pace for you because I may not hang around for long!). I find I just have to go my hardest and there is little stopping me.

Of course there are several other reasons why I race including general health benefits, being a good role model for my kids, pleasing parents (sad I know), raising money for charities and encouraging others to take up a healthy lifestyle, but I consider that they merely prop up my main motivation for racing.

I suppose an allied question would be why do I run at all? And that is a question for another day. I will say that this entry may remain subject to additional thoughts and editing as I continue to ponder these questions.

I hope all those who have read my previous 99 entries have enjoyed them and I hope everyone sticks around to read the next 100.

Bling but no PB

There's good news and bad news.

First the bad news - I didn't get a PB - actually I ran about 15 seconds slower (36:56) than last year's event (36:41). The course was new but was also potentially faster, although there was a reasonable headwind for 3 km in the second half of the race. The temperature was warmish but not so hot as to significantly affect performance.

So to the good news. I came third, no girls beat me Tesso, and I felt like I had a pretty good run. The field wasn't as strong as last year but I'll take the result anyway. I got a medal for my efforts and as soon as we have some money (this may be a while), I'll be keeping my wife to her word and getting some racing flats. In case you hadn't heard, she said that if I get a top three place in an official race, I can get a pair of racing flats.

I'm pretty happy with the results, but obviously I'll need to work a bit more on my speed to be able to get up there in the results again and to get some PBs. This week I'm going to have a bit of recovery, then back into things next week building up to the next major events, a 10km run in April and a couple of half marathons in May.

Twilight race - 2nd!

On a spur of the moment decision, I went in the SARRC twilight race 3 last night. It was two 4.5km laps of the Torrens lake. I thought it might be good to try and run at the pace that I want to do for the 10km race on the 26th, which would be about 32:15 for the 9 km. I went out hard as usual, got dropped early by the guy who won and dropped the guy who came third on a small hill on the way down to the weir. First lap was 16:29 (Ave HR 171), and although I tried to keep the pace up, the second lap was 17:15 (Ave HR 179). Final official time of 33:45, between the winner in 32:08 and third place 34:05. The pace was a bit less than what I wanted, but I couldn't have gone much faster and I'm pleased with the result which is the highest place I've ever got in any individual race. Hopefully the conditions will be more suited to a good time at Glenelg. My legs - in particular my calves - felt quite tight and heavy, so hopefully with a bit of a mini-taper next week, I'll be nice and fresh for the race.

Oz day fun run

Finished 5th male, 6th overall. Got beaten by the same girl that has beaten me in several other shorter events (she must be getting sick of me "pacing" her by now!). Time 29:49. I was quite happy with this performance given that I still had a little bit of sinus trouble and the temperature during the race was 31-33C. The event was well organised - almost too well organised for the size of the field, ie. marshalls at almost any slight deviation in the course.

Ran the hardest I've run for quite some time. First lap was 14:20 and second was 15:27 but my average HR was 175 in the first lap and 187(!!!) in the second, so I think the heat might have been getting to me in the latter half. I definitely felt overheated by the end, and needed some ice on the noggin to cool down, but recovered fine. Feeling a little sore but not too bad today. May run home as a recovery run.

The pace for this race was a little slower than my PB from last year's Glenelg Classic 10km, so I still have a bit of work to do if I want to get that PB under 36 min (plus pray for a cooler morning for the race).

Re: Red shoes. If I had enough money, I would love to get a pair of these asics flats.

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.

We did it!

After having to run in the 50km event in the 2004 trailblazer challenge, I set my sights on the 100km event for 2005. When Phil Laing asked if I'd like to join the Power of Four team for this year's event, I knew I'd be in with a chance of meeting my three goals for the event: finishing the 100km as a complete team, winning the event, and finishing the event in a good time. Well the event is over and we have fulfilled at least two of the goals.

Despite a couple of the guys having some GI problems in the middle to second half of the course, we finished the event as a complete team. Those digestive problems cleared up eventually and we finished strongly.

Not sure about the other team's results yet, but we were the first team in ahead of an incomplete team about 30-40 minutes after us.

We finished in 16h 14min. This time was a couple of hours slower than our goal of 14 hours, but the GI problems put paid to that. It is also about 35 minutes slower than last year's Power of four time. I think it was a pretty good time given the problems we had on the day, plus the fact that we hadn't run together as a team before the event. It's also not too bad for my first 100km event. I felt like I could have gone quite a bit faster on the day and could have run a lot more of the course instead of walking, which is a good sign for future events.

Overall, I'm very happy with the result, and I had a great time over the whole day. I didn't have any 'moments' out there which is largely due to the efforts of the support team for continually shovelling food and drink into me - thankyou Murray, Darryl and Tim (and Dad for picking us up in the morning).

After the event, RunCarly picked me up and we went home. Thankfully we had the kids staying with grandparents. In the morning we went and picked them up and I went for a swim at Aldinga Beach which did wonders for the aching legs. Today the legs feel tired and heavy but not too sore. I still have a bit of a sore throat and sniffly nose (made worse by the bad hayfever conditions in Adelaide today), but I should make a full recovery by the weekend.

So there are my thoughts about the event. Now I must get back to work.

But before that, here is a photo of the team before the race. L to R back: Me, Tim (support), Murray (support), Steve, Erik. Front: Phil, Darryl (support).
And me before the race.

We're in the 100... Touch wood

Damn, just lost a post that I'd nearly fisnished writing. Here we go again.

Went for a 50km run on the first (and hardest) half of the trailblazer course yesterday with Phil. Legs and fitness felt good, so I feel confident that I'll be able to complete the 100km on Saturday. All I need to do now is stay well and recover from this weekend's run.

RunCarly and I bought new 3 phones on Saturday so now we can call each other cheaply, take photos/videos, send emails and a plethora of other things. I took a photo and video clip of the top falls at Waterfall Gully during the run yesterday.


Edit Tuesday: How stupid am I? Must have been a bit delirious when I committed the moment to memory. These are the third falls in Morialta. We didn't even run through Waterfall Gully! Thanks for the pickup Phil.

SARRC "Time Trial"

Ran in the SARRC 10km Time Trial yesterday. Legs were still sore, but this wasn't going to affect my performance in this event. The aim of this time trial was not to run as fast as you can, but to judge your pace accurately. The clock was set at 730am with two hours counting down. You start the run at the time that you think it will take you to run 10km and try to get to the finish right on 0:00, and you're not allowed to take a watch or "any other time keeping device" (whatever that could be?). Given the sorry state of my legs, I thought I'd take 50mins, although when the time came, I needed to go to the toilet so I ended up starting at 48 minutes instead. I found it pretty hard going most of the way - I must have really wiped out my legs last weekend. Ended up coming in with 17 seconds to spare. The winner came in 7 seconds under. Almost everyone came in under time they estimated and most finished around 2 minutes either side of 0:00. Free breakfast afterwards went down well. This was a fun event and quite useful to get the soreness out of the legs with no pressure to run fast.

Foot is still a bit sore. I've narrowed it down to a muscle on the outer side of the foot below the ankle bone. If anyone has any idea what this muscle is called or has had a similar injury, your comments would be appreciated.

Too darn hot! - Marathon PB... just!

Woke up on Sunday morning to a stinking hot northerly, this was a bit of a worry as it seemed to be a bit too hot. Found out after the race that the minimum was 19 degrees! Anyway, I went out really hard for the first 10km or so with a couple of guys who were aiming for sub 3 hours. We were running at just over 4 min kilometers which was obviously way too fast for me. I went through halfway in about 1:28 then really started to slow down with the heat, it was going to be a huge struggle all the way to the end. Thankfully I had put heaps of sports drink out on the course, and I drank almost all of it. I got a second (third?) wind at about 10km to go but it didn't last long. I even had to walk up a couple of steep little hills near the end. It was looking like I might not even get a PB with 2-3km to go so with 2km to go I put in one final effort and sustained it to the end, coming in around 3:19.20 - a PB of exactly 6 minutes! I had hoped for a much faster time of under 3:25 which may have been a bit too ambitious, but the heat definitely shelved that idea. The cold from the week leading up to the race may have played a small part too, but I felt pretty good by Sunday morning. So under the circumstances, I am pretty happy with the result.

The aftermath. After the finish I almost collapsed as I left the finishing area, I steadied myself, got a few drinks and went and laid down for 15 minutes. I went and chatted with a few SARRCs and CRs after my lie down, watched the presentation, then went back to my parents house to recover for the rest of the day. I went and picked up RunCarly from the airport last night then went home and relaxed some more. I managed to get a fair bit of chafing and a couple of minor blisters, but I have also sustained some bruising or muscle damage to the outside of my left foot. I'll have to monitor this injury, it is very tender at the moment and is preventing me from walking comfortably. Other than that my legs feel quite good today.

Sore and happy,
RunDave.

Trailblazer finish

Here we are finishing the Trailblazer last year. Babette was pretty tired but managed to smile for the camera. As usual, I didn't even notice that there was a camera, but trust me I was feeling pretty good.

I'm having a meeting with my team for this year's Trailblazer today. OK, now I have to go and finish my talk for next week's conferences in beautiful warm Darwin.

Trailblazer

Went for a run this morning with Addi. Felt better, legs weren't sore and I was able to go at a reasonable pace. HR was still a little high though.

AGR,
I have put a link to the Trailblazer with my other links. This event is very well organised and very challenging, but you can enter several distances. The really good part about this race is that you have to work together as a team, if you don't then it would be a pretty bad day or two. There are a couple of pictures of me and my running partner from last year, Babette, on the website, see if you can find me. We are the odd couple: a tiny 47 year old mother of two and a medium build 27 year old guy (me). We ran most of the 50k event and finished in about 7:15.