Update

As promised.

I saw my physio on Wednesday. As suspected, I have a small tendonopathy on the inside of my right achilles tendon. He did some work on it and prescibed some eccentric exercises in the form of slow heel dips - 3x20 at 20 sec per dip - and ice massage. All this I was expecting, but I needed to hear it from a professional as well as get advice specific to my condition. He also said that my back soreness is probably due to overcompensating for the achilles soreness, so he recommended my usual stretching regimen to help with that. Interestingly the soreness was located in the iliosacral vertebrae rather than the lumbar vertebrae, further indicating that it has nothing to do with my spondylolythesis.

WARNING: Bodily functions discussed. So to the exercises and massage. The first few days went OK, but then late Friday I started feeling bloated and tired. I think I had some digestive issues resulting in constipation. I felt like crap all yesterday and I've hardly eaten anything all weekend. I've been burping and farting all weekend and haven't felt motivated to do anything. I couldn't even eat all of the lovely dinner my wife prepared last night, much to her dismay (and in shame I slept on the couch until late night when I finally crawled into bed). I'm feeling a lot better this afternoon. I've cleared most of the backlog so to speak, and I'm less gassy, although it is still there a bit. I started eating LSA on Thursday, I wonder if that has anything to do with it? I'll cut out the LSA and eat plenty of fruit and veg - if I can fit it in - and see how that goes.

I'll get in some more dips this afternoon and some more icing. My back soreness has mostly gone away so I can get back into the strengthening exercises soon too. I'll update in a few days or after my next physio visit on Wednesday.

I've been tagged

I've been tagged by Tesso and Beki, so I guess I should pull my finger out and contribute.

I will preface this quiz with the statement that I am injured at the moment, so these answers are what I usually do and not what I'm doing at the moment. Also, the answers may be tinged with a hint of frustration at not being able to participate in many of the answers given below.

1. What time of day do you run?

Anytime. I usually run to or from work and rarely both. Sometimes I get up early and take the dog for a run, and lately I have been running with the Track Timers on Thursday mornings. I usually do my long run on Sunday morning.

2. What are your favourite runs?

My favorite run is anywhere around the towns of Yankalilla and Normanville about 1 hour south of Adelaide. I just head out and run anywhere through the rolling hills or along the beach. It is beautiful countryside, with little traffic on the dirt roads and clean fresh air.

3. What is your favorite song to run to?

Well I don't run with an MP3 player, so I don't listen to music while I run, but I do get songs stuck in my head that I sing to myself (singing aloud may incite incidents of road rage).

Anything from The Magnetic Fields' album 69 Love Songs, H&C Holy Grail, Cold Chisel Khe Sanh (lately for some unknown reason), Many others that I can't think of right now. Often I'll get a snippet or loop of a song stuck in my head and repeat it over the whole run, eg 'Isaac or Fuzz' by MGF.

4. What book are you reading at the moment?

The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien. I've read this a couple of times before and I've read TLOTR twice too. I lost my copy of The Hobbit a few years ago, so when I saw an old (1973) copy sitting in a second-hand book stall at Myponga markets on Saturday, I couldn't resist and snapped it up for $2. I've started reading it aloud to our 4 year old daughter. Hope she doesn't get too scared by Goblins, Gollum or Mirkwood!

Oh yeah, and The Art of War by Sun Tzu.

5. When did you start running?

I started running seriously in February 2004. Before this I had done a bit of running mainly as training for my hockey career. Before the age of 17, I had always relied on the minimum training and games to keep me fit. After I finished year twelve, I was overweight, slow and unfit. My state sports institute coach took me aside and basically told me that, and if I didn't do something about it I would lose my institute place. He gave me a program of running exercises involving sprint work, resistance training and longer distance sessions as well as some advice on healthy eating. Over that summer I lost about 13kg and reinvented myself as a hockey player. Since then I have always seen fitness as a high priority whether it be for hockey or just for running.

6. What's your post-race/post-run ritual?

Drink, warm down, stretch, eat, collect awards (just kidding), shower then home or home then shower. Sometimes we'll go out for lunch or coffee after a race.

7. What do you eat before you run?

Jam on toast and juice. Sometimes an espresso. Sometimes Sustagen. I can eat most light meals before running, but not milk.

8. What's your favorite running accessory?

Coolrunning hat followed closely by my polar heart rate monitor.

9. What's your motivation for running?

I've written at length about why I race here. So I would have to say that my motivation for running in the first place is so that I can race and hence so that I can test my ability.

10. What are your running shoes?

Rotating three pairs of Mizuno Wave Mustangs.

11. What is your next running goal?

My next running goal is to run sub 3 hours in the Adelaide Marathon. It is a fair way off, but I think I will need all that time to rebuild my strength from my present injury. Along the way I wouldn't mind getting under 36min for 10km. I might also have a crack at the top 50 in the Adelaide City to Bay.

I tag all the people from the Track Timers blog. I'd like to hear more about your running life guys,

Serious inactivity

I ran on Thursday and still felt uncomfortable but not too sore. Then over the weekend the lower back and right leg got progressively worse, to the point where walking was uncomfortable. So no running for this little black duck. Even a fair amount of stretching didn't seem to alleviate the problem. So I have bitten the bullet and done what I should have done weeks ago: I have booked in to see my physiotherapist tomorrow. I thought I could get out of this mess myself, but I seem to have made things worse, so it is my only option really.

So I haven't run since Thursday, I won't be running for at least another couple of weeks, and I can't even walk comfortably. Added to this is the fact that I havn't kept up with the blog too well, and although I have been browsing bloglines, I haven't been leaving any comments or replying to those left on mine. So sorry to my audience for neglecting you for the last week. I promise I will keep everyone updated with my progress, and as an added bonus, I will answer the 11 questions I was tagged with by Tesso and Beki soon.

So...

I've come to the realisation that my achilles problem is probably a result of my neglected back and abdominal strengthening and stretching. I have been getting a lot of tightness through my hips, lower back and hamstings as well as my knees and calves. Basically the whole right-hand side from the lower back down feels tight and causes some pain while running. This is similar to what I used to get playing hockey and I overcame it by continual stretching and strengthening exercises. Since I retired from hockey and started running, I basically gave up these exercises thinking that they were unnecessary for this type of activity. How stupid! So I have started back with my old regime of stretching and I'll work to rebuild the strength and stability that I worked so hard to achieve to be able to play hockey. This may be a slow process, and running may be quite painful for a while, but I will get it fixed.

I ran home from uni on Sunday night, which is when I fully realised that the old problems were back. The time was OK - 50 min for 10.5km - but I was uncomfortable most of the way. I took Addi for a run this morning; more discomfort, but not as bad due to the fact that I had done about 30 min stretching for a 29 min run.

Anyway, feel free to drop me a reminder every now and then to keep up the exercises.

Oo oo, I nearly forgot. It was my birthday last week and I had a really nice dinner with the family and went to a housewarming at my cousin's (who shares the same birthday as me) new house . I think over the 2-3 days around my birthday, I had a grand total of 5, yes 5 cakes. All of them good, all of them very fatty, so hopefully I haven't put on any weight from this.

Croweater

Tesso asked about the nickname for South Australians. As I commented in her blog, we are the croweaters. I have been a proud croweater all my life, but it occurred to me that I didn't actually know why we are called that. I had a rough idea of what it might be, and as it turns out I was nearly right. I thought I'd make it one of my words, not because it has been a favourite word of mine, just because I find it intriguing.

Wikipedia entry:
Croweater is an Australian slang term for people from South Australia. Early settlers often ate the breast meat of crows, parrots and cockatoos when there was a shortage of red meat and the term croweater entered the lexicon in the late 1800s. The term is not considered derogatory.

Now for running news. Yesterday I went for a run at lunchtime. I ran across to the uni loop (2.2km loop) and ran three laps. As I was running, I noticed that my HR was quite high. I wasn't sure if this was due to lost fitness or running too fast. It turns out it may have been a bit of both. In my haste to get out and finally do some running I ran around 4:10-4:20/km which is a lot faster than my usual steady runs. My average HR for each lap was 165, 163 and 167 and the times were 9:31, 9:15 and 9:31. I had the achilles strapped up and it felt fine. The legs still feel OK today, so I think I may be on the way back. Even so, I will make sure I take things slowly.

I did some strength work again this morning which felt really good. I have taken up a new approach to sleep after reading this article. I am going to bed only when I feel tired and setting the alarm for 5:30am every morning. I started on Sunday morning so I could take advantage of the end of daylight savings. Getting up this early was difficult for the first few days, but it has given me more time to get ready and do other things in the morning. I have also found that I am actually tired at night and ready to sleep instead of staying up past midnight and still not feeling tired. As suggested in the article, I'm going to give this approach 30 days to see how it goes, but as I said, I've already seen some benefits.

SARRC singlet

Tesso and anyone else running in Canberra, this is me modelling the SARRC singlet if you are trying to find the Track Timers. Shorts will differ. Sorry about the small pics, they were "borrowed" from the Oz day fun run event photographer. Links here and here to the larger photos with HUGE watermarks obscuring most of the photo. I really love the top photo, but I wasn't keen on forking out the exorbitant price for the prints.

Patience

No, it is not one of my favourite words, nor is it one of my stronger qualities. I do like it as a name. It is rare in Australia, but I have seen a few African and Carribean people with that name. But I digress. The achilles is slowly recovering, but I'm taking it slowly so as to avoid a recurrence. The next month should be pretty lean as I build up slowly. Not sure what races I'll be aiming at, but there is a chance that I might be able to make it to the Barossa half. We'll have to see if we have enough $$$ for that though.

The cold is totally gone, but RunCarly is sick now. There is also a nasty 'flu going around at the moment which I will try my hardest to avoid.

Got back into the weights and strengthening yesterday. I'm hoping that this will pay off in the long term by strengthening my core and thus helping my running form and preventing any other injuries. I have a congenital back problem called spondylolysis, which was a problem many times through my hockey career. The main problem that it causes is tightness and pain in the hamstrings, but it can refer to other muscles. I'm thinking that it may be involved in the achilles/calf problem, so any stretching and strengthening of my back and abdominals should have some benefit.

Anyway, have to get back to work. I'll update how I go with running around the track on Thursday morning.

Serendipity

The word for today is serendipity. I'll leave the history of the word for the reference below. The reason I like the word is because it conveys a sense of more than just luck in making a discovery, but also the skill to recognise something of benefit. You could call it a combination of fortune and perception. It takes nothing to receive something by luck, but it is truly serendipitous to be on a path that leads to an accident in the first place, and then to perceive that the accident is of benefit. I guess what it says to me is that you make your own luck.


ser·en·dip·i·ty ( P ) Pronunciation Key (srn-dp-t)n. pl. ser·en·dip·i·ties

The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.
The fact or occurrence of such discoveries.
An instance of making such a discovery.

[From the characters in the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip, who made such discoveries, from Persian Sarandp, Sri Lanka, from Arabic sarandb.]

seren·dipi·tous adj. seren·dipi·tous·ly adv.

Word History: We are indebted to the English author Horace Walpole for the word serendipity, which he coined in one of the 3,000 or more letters on which his literary reputation primarily rests. In a letter of January 28, 1754, Walpole says that “this discovery, indeed, is almost of that kind which I call Serendipity, a very expressive word.” Walpole formed the word on an old name for Sri Lanka, Serendip. He explained that this name was part of the title of “a silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses traveled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of....”

Baby Steps

Went for a run this morning with the track timers. I just did slow laps of the track while they did speedwork. Got in 5km in about 25 minutes. The effort wasn't too hard and the achilles felt OK. I strapped it using a technique I saw on a sports injury website. We'll see how the leg feels over the next couple of days before setting out for another run. At the moment it will be baby steps to see how much I can do and whether I've recovered. Will keep up stretching and massage. Now that I'm over the cold, I'll try and do some more strength sessions too.

Nice to meet Michel (hope I got your name right) out at the session this morning. It is awesome to know that there are people out there that are following my running progress and life, and even nicer to meet some of you.

Speaking of meeting people. Phil, Robbo and Murray of Track Timers blog fame are going over to Canberra for the marathon (Phil is doing the 50km). Feel free to say hi to them any of you who may be reading my blog and are running in Canberra. The guys will probably be wearing SARRC singlets. Phil met a few of you at 6FT a few weeks ago, but I'm sure the other guys would love some conversation and encouragement.

I think I'll put a favourite word in another entry.

What is the word for...

that chalky yucky feeling you get in your mouth when you eat an unripe banana? You know the one, where you screw your face up and try to suck the leftover banana residue out of your mouth whilst making a silly sucking noise.

I've been savouring my 'nanies lately in the event that the destruction of the banana crop by cyclone Larry will push the price of the remaining crops through the roof into luxury status. They're already $5/kilo, up from $2-3/kilo, but they are still good quality. It's times like these that you start to appreciate what you've previously taken for granted. I generally eat a banana a day. I wonder what price I'll pay to continue this habit?

Almost over the cold. Achilles is feeling a lot better. Might take one more weekend off just for good measure.

: (

Still sick, still feeling like the achilles is not quite right. That's all I have to say about the matter. : (

Good news, bad news, good news

The good news is that my achilles is feeling a lot better. As suggested by several websites, I think I will move on to some achilles and calf strengthening exercises tomorrow, now that the pain is gone.

The bad news is that I've got a cold. It came on only a few hours after RunCarly came home from Canberra, so that's a bit of a bummer.

Which brings me to the other good (sort of) news. I'm sick, but I'm injured anyway, so it isn't affecting my running. And since I'm not running, the cold might only take a few days to go away rather than weeks. How's that for twisted logic?

BTW. What a great 5000m race last night at the Commonwealth Games!

Tautology

Today is the first day that I have felt real improvement with my leg. There is still soreness in the muscle on the inside of my lower leg, but the achilles isn't feeling tight and "funny" and the tingles have gone. I've done a few weights sessions now and I think that will help my much neglected core strength a lot. Feeling a bit depressed that I haven't run for a week and I couldn't do my long run, especially seeing all the inspirational running in the marathon and the triathlon.

Today's word is dedicated to the appalling abuse of language by the commentators at channel nine. Along with their overuse of cliches, numerous errors of logic, ridiculous parochialism and continual mispronunciation of names, the nine commentators have managed to take tautology to new levels. I'm sure their mission statement reads: "If we can't find a superlative, we'll make one up". This word is very important to me because it reminds me to say exactly what I mean.

tau·tol·o·gy ( P ) Pronunciation Key (tô-tl-j)n. pl. tau·tol·o·gies
Needless repetition of the same sense in different words; redundancy.
An instance of such repetition.
Logic. An empty or vacuous statement composed of simpler statements in a fashion that makes it logically true whether the simpler statements are factually true or false; for example, the statement Either it will rain tomorrow or it will not rain tomorrow.

Vulgar

Still injured. Have done a couple of weights sessions and my muscles are telling me all about it. Not very happy about not being able to run. I'm sure my leg actually felt worse yesterday than the previous three days rest. It feels a bit better today, so hopefully things are on the way up. Plenty of stretching and massage now and some strengthening exercises when all the soreness is gone. I'm thinking about doing some riding to keep the fitness up. I'll get the bike out tomorrow and see if I can get it to work.

My word today is vulgar. It's not quite the correct descriptor for how my leg feels, but it is close. I like the word vulgar because of the repulsion it can illicit. After reading the history of the word, it might make me sound a bit pretentious.

vul·gar ( P ) Pronunciation Key (vlgr)adj.

Crudely indecent.
Deficient in taste, delicacy, or refinement.
Marked by a lack of good breeding; boorish. See Synonyms at common.
Offensively excessive in self-display or expenditure; ostentatious: the huge vulgar houses and cars of the newly rich.
Spoken by or expressed in language spoken by the common people; vernacular: the technical and vulgar names for an animal species.
Of or associated with the great masses of people; common.

[Middle English, from Latin vulgris, from vulgus, the common people.]
vulgar·ly adv. vulgar·ness n.

Word History: The word vulgar now brings to mind off-color jokes and offensive epithets, but it once had more neutral meanings. Vulgar is an example of pejoration, the process by which a word develops negative meanings over time. The ancestor of vulgar, the Latin word vulgris (from vulgus, “the common people”), meant “of or belonging to the common people, everyday,” as well as “belonging to or associated with the lower orders.” Vulgris also meant “ordinary,” “common (of vocabulary, for example),” and “shared by all.” An extension of this meaning was “sexually promiscuous,” a sense that could have led to the English sense of “indecent.” Our word, first recorded in a work composed in 1391, entered English during the Middle English period, and in Middle English and later English we find not only the senses of the Latin word mentioned above but also related senses. What is common may be seen as debased, and in the 17th century we begin to find instances of vulgar that make explicit what had been implicit. Vulgar then came to mean “deficient in taste, delicacy, or refinement.” From such uses vulgar has continued to go downhill, and at present “crudely indecent” is among the commonest senses of the word.

I'm injured/Reciprocity

I'm injured.
There, I said it. I've been denying it for almost two weeks now (and as my dad always says, denial isn't just a river in Egypt). The injury isn't bad and it really doesn't hurt too much, but something isn't right with my achilles/calf. It feels tight and knotted; almost like it is ready to tear at some moment. I don't want to continue running and wait for that moment. I'll be taking at least this week off to make sure it gets better. In the meantime I think I'll try and do some weights and much-needed core strengthening.

Today's word is relevant to my blogging activity. The word is reciprocity and I'm guilty of showing a lack of it. I am very busy at work at the moment and I haven't been able to return many of the comments on my blog or keep up with reading everyone's blogs on bloglines. So sorry for my lack of reciprocity.

rec·i·proc·i·ty ( P ) Pronunciation Key n. pl. rec·i·proc·i·ties
A reciprocal condition or relationship.
A mutual or cooperative interchange of favors or privileges, especially the exchange of rights or privileges of trade between nations.

reciprocity
n 1: a relation of mutual dependence or action or influence [syn: reciprocality] 2: mutual exchange of commercial or other privileges

[From Latin reciprocus, alternating. See per1 in Indo-European Roots.]

Eclectic

Just realised I haven't logged what I have done in the last week. On Tuesday I had an easy 5km. Wednesday I ran into uni a little harder (10.5km). Thursday morning we did Mona fartlek (well done the Steve on Australia's Brainiest last night). Friday I did a recovery run from home to uni. And yesterday I went for a 21km long run. The achilles and calf are still feeling not 100%, but still no real pain. The run didn't feel too good. I just felt a bit flat in the legs and kind of struggled over the 21km. I was glad when I got back to the start. The calf was feeling a bit sorer today but felt much better after a good stretch. I'll push on and see how training goes this week.

Now to my next word. I had hinted that the next word would be "vulgar", but that will have to wait for next week. Today it is eclectic. I like it because it describes my tastes and my way of life in general. I particularly like the usage of the word as a noun and hope that one day people apply it to me. Also, this week I have included the derivation of the word because it always interests me where words have come from and how they came to be part of our language. I may have to go back and add the derivation of my previous words.

e·clec·tic ( P ) Pronunciation Key adj.

Selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources, systems, or styles: an eclectic taste in music; an eclectic approach to managing the economy.

Made up of or combining elements from a variety of sources: “a popular bar patronized by an eclectic collection of artists, writers, secretaries and aging soldiers on reserve duty” (Curtis Wilkie).

n. One that follows an eclectic method.

[Greek eklektikos, selective, from eklektos, selected, from eklegein, to select : ek-, out; see ecto- + legein, to gather; see leg- in Indo-European Roots.]

PS. Well done to everyone who ran the Six Foot Track Ultramarathon on Saturday. Phil, it sounds like you had a real battle out there.

Coffee bad...Noooooooooooo!

I read some rather disheartening news about coffee yesterday in New Scientists feature article about agricultural water use. Coffee was the worst offender taking 20,000 litres to make a kilo of coffee! In comparison, it took 11,000 litres of water to make a Quarter-pounder and 5000 to make 1kg of cheese and 2000 to make a litre of milk. In a world where water is becoming scarcer, it makes me think about how much of it I drink and also reminds me to appreciate it a lot more. Out at training this morning, one of the guys suggested that I get fair-trade coffee so at least the growers are getting a good deal. I suppose the important thing is that we realise what goes in to producing a lot of the things we take for granted.

Last night on Jamie Oliver's show they showed him killing a lamb to eat with a family he was living with in rural Italy. He made a really good point that if you're not prepared to find out what really happens to all the animals you eat, then maybe you shouldn't be eating them. So many people are detached from the food that they eat, that they find the death of animals repulsive, but have no problem eating the same animals. I am so glad they showed it. I don't eat meat myself, but anything showing the reality of eating meat is a good thing I think. Not that a lamb raised on a picturesque farm and slaughtered very gently by a squirming pommie chef is anywhere near the conditions of a crowded, dirty and compassionless abbatoir, but it does show people that an animal has to be killed so that you can eat your lamb roast.

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.

Toilette

Ever wanted a better word for the vulgar phrase (vulgar is also another favourite word of mine - stay tuned) "shit, shave and shower"? Well, toilette is it. It is a polite way of saying that you have performed your daily ritual of cleaning and making yourself look and smell good. It may also be a sneaky way of commenting on someone's cleanliness and smell, eg. "He/she had a rather unpleasant toilette". I suppose it is a fairly old-fashioned word, but in this world of newly fabricated, re-defined and lost words, I believe that some deserve to be preserved.


toi·lette ( P ) Pronunciation Key (twä-let)n.
The act or process of dressing or grooming oneself; toilet.
A person's dress or style of dress.
A gown or costume.

Longish run

I tentatively went for a long run this morning. Got up late after working late last night and then took Addi to the beach and back (6.5km) and then ran directly into uni (10.5km) for a longish run of 17km. The achilles felt OK, and, owing to the four days off, my legs felt pretty fresh which, is a change for my long run. It wasn't really such a long run, but it was good to get back out there. The calf is feeling a little bit tight now, so plenty of stretching and massage over the next week and hopefully I can quickly build up to the mileage I was doing two weeks ago.

Ugly Sculpture Comp

My achilles still feels a little bit sore so no running today. Instead I have taken up the challenge from Wobblyman to find the world's ugliest sculpture. I think I have two contenders.

First are the famous 'Fones' on the Barr-Smith Lawns at the University of Adelaide. Over 15 years of O-week bunnies have basked in their ugliness whilst consuming copious amounts of free beer and playing pointless sports such as hacky-sack and frisbee. They are there as a permanent reminder to all other people that beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

The second sculpture is located in the Hughes Plaza at uni. I'm not sure of the sculpture's name or date, but it is near the the mathematics and computer science departments, so I guess it is some form of conceptual art trying to represent a number of intersecting planes. However, other than the fact that it has always looked like it is unfinished and made of substandard materials, it has faded and rusted over the years and looks as dated and run-down as the architecture in the plaza itself.

I nominate these two pieces of 'art' as the ugliest sculptures in Australia at least.

Niggle

Didn't run home last night and didn't do speedwork this morning. My Achilles is still feeling a little sore and weak. I don't feel confident pushing it so I'll probably take off another couple of days before testing it out. I was intending on having a light week this week - looks like it will be a really light week.

Idiosyncrasy

I like to use this word because we are all unavoidably different. Plus it is a really polite way to say that someone is just plain weird. Eg "He certainly has his idiosyncrasies".

Idiosyncrasy
n : a behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual [syn: foible, mannerism]

id·i·o·syn·cra·sy (d--sngkr-s)n.
A structural or behavioral trait peculiar to an individual or a group.
A physiological or temperamental peculiarity.
An unusual individual reaction to food or a drug.



Ran home last night. Legs were really sore. Feeling a little niggle in my right achilles. Running home tonight to see how it feels. Hopefully I'll be able to do a light speed session tomorrow.

Red shoe alert

Maybe these are my dream shoes. Red racing flats from Mizuno. 220 grams! It must be love.

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.

Speedwork/Revovery/Pert

Had a light speedwork session yesterday to get the legs turning over quickly. Did a couple of km warmup, then 5x400 reps at 1:21 to 1:25 pace with 200m slow recovery between reps then a short break and then 5 more of the same. Finished with a couple more km warmdown and run over to the cafe where we have breakfast.

This morning I ran into SARDI 6km as a recovery run from yesterday. I'll have 48 hours to recover for the 10km race on Sunday morning.

Sunday after the race I will be going to work at SARDI for the open day. If anyone in Adelaide is interested, here are the details.

Next word: Pert. Not the brand of shampoo, although I have used it in the past (before long hair). It's one of those words that just snaps cleanly off the tongue. It gives a feeling of no-nonsense boldness and fun.

pert ( P ) (pûrt)adj. pert·er, pert·est
Trim and stylish in appearance; jaunty: a pert hat.
High-spirited; vivacious.
Impudently bold; saucy.

Feeling good/Stochastic

Legs are still feeling sore, but I've been getting some good solid runs in, and once they warm up, they feel really good. I'll have a light speed session tomorrow then take it easy until Sunday's race.

Another favourite word today: stochastic. It's a word often used by scientists to explain variability in results or observations when there is no other credible explanation. Ie "I've no idea why the growth rates are different in the two locations. It must be due to stochastic effects". Once again, I'm not entirely sure why I like it, but I suspect it has to do with the fact that you can still sound like you know what is going on even though you don't.


sto·chas·tic ( P ) adj.

Of, relating to, or characterized by conjecture; conjectural.

Statistics.

1. Involving or containing a random variable or variables: stochastic calculus.
2. Involving chance or probability: a stochastic simulation.
   

My Favourite Words

I've decided to start a list of my favourite words. Why? Because I like some words more than others and I love etymology.

My absolute favourite word for the last couple of years: heterodoxy. I'm not exactly sure why I love this word so much, but I feel like it describes my personality a bit. I like the sound of it. I think that perhaps it is self-fulfilling, in that the conventional or common word to use would be unorthodox. Hence I prefer to use the unorthodox word for unorthodox. Get it? Plus, I have rather heterodox beliefs regarding spirituality.

het·er·o·dox·y ( P ) n. pl. het·er·o·dox·ies
The condition or quality of being heterodox.
A heterodox opinion or doctrine.

het·er·o·dox ( P ) adj.
Not in agreement with accepted beliefs, especially in church doctrine or dogma.
Holding unorthodox opinions.

Long run Saturday/ Sarah's

Slept in this morning because the kids stayed at my parents last night. Didn't end up getting out for the long run until after 10am. Ran up to the top of the Waite institute then continued up along some steep trails into the bush. Ran around the hill and back down into housing and generally got lost and backtracked for about 10min. Eventually made my way out into suburbia at the top of Cross Roads, then ran through back streets into uni. Going on time (1:46) and stuffing around factors, I'd say I did about 22km, which is less than I'd wanted, but probably enough for now. Felt pretty good the whole way and picked up the pace a bit in the last couple of km.

The reason the kids were at my parents place is because we went out to dinner with Carly's parents to Sarah's Sisters Restaurant in Semaphore (formerly Sarah's Cafe in Pt Adelaide). This is without doubt the best vegetarian restaurant in Adelaide, and probably one of the better restaurants full-stop. Without going into too much detail about the food, the format of the meals is a 5-6 course degustation, starting with soup, moving through 3-4 different courses and finishing with desert. All the dishes were very nice, although not for those on a strict weight-loss diet. It probably wasn't the best thing for the night before a long run, but I didn't seem to have any trouble today. If you live in Adelaide, or are visiting sometime, I very highly recommend this restaurant.

OK, at the request of Tesso, here is what we ate. I bear no responsibility for keyboards damaged by drool. And apologies about the vague description of most of the dishes, I can't remember what most of them were called. First up was a spicy lentil and vegetable soup. This was quite sweet and I think it may have had roast capsicum and fennel in it. Next was spinach and ricotta Gnocchi. These were Golf ball sized balls of goodness covered in a light tomato sauce. Next was a mushroom and zucchini casserole. This was the highlight of the meal for me. It was a beautiful blend of spices and the mushrooms were tender and juicy. This was followed by a refreshing Waldorf salad, the smell of which was so good, it was almost too good to eat. I can't remember if this next dish was before or after the salad, but it was a warm thai noodle salad with lots of Coriander, mild chilli and satay sauce. Finally, the desert was Tiramisu and chocolate mousse cake and we all had coffees (double shot capuccino for me as usual). I just had the Tiramisu, but you could have both if you wanted. I thought the Tiramisu was OK but it was a bit rich for me. For drinks I started with a Little Creatures Pale Ale (Mmmmmm floral hoppy nose) and we shared a bottle of BYO d'Arenberg cab sauv/merlot/petit verdot/cab franc over dinner which was also excellent.

Slow recovery

Well, after the solid race on Tuesday night I was very tired and sore on Wednesday, so I took the day off running. I missed speedwork on Thursday morning because Carly wanted to do a walk before I ran into work. I did a slow recovery run into uni which loosened the legs up a bit, but I was sore all day. This morning I found that I could run in a lot faster, but the legs do still feel a bit tired and slight soreness. Lower back is a little bit niggly too, but I think it just needs some stretching.

I'll be doing my long run tomorrow morning instead of Sunday this week, because it is our son's second birthday party on Sunday. Looking to do about 25 km this week, dropping back from the last couple of weeks to work on a mini-taper before the 10km next weekend.

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.

Long run, sore body

This will be a quick entry today, I have heaps of work to do. Sorry if I've missed replying to any comments.

Went for a good 31km long run this morning (2:27). Much faster than the long run last weekend (4:45s vs 5:15s). Body is very sore now. This is partly due to the hard pace of the run and partly due to shifting a couple of tonnes of fill by wheelbarrow yesterday at the building site. Rest tomorrow and hopefully the body will be a bit fresher by Tuesday. I really need a massage!

Yesterday's speed session, today's tempo run.

Ran the 9 km into the city for the speed session yesterday. Let's call it a very long warmup. I thought my legs would still be sore from the weekend, but the long warmup loosened them up to the point where I had to stop mayself going too hard before the speed session. We did fast laps of a 400m track in decreasing then increasing sets with about 2 min rest between each set - ie 4 laps, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2. My times went 5:48(1:27/lap), 4:18(1:26/lap), 2:43(1:21.5/lap), 1:17, 1:14, 2:51(1:25.5/lap). So I kept it fairly consistent speedwise, except for the single lap set, which were a bit easier to go faster. HR was up around 176 for most of these efforts. Warmed down and then ran over to uni. Legs were very tired by the end of all this.

This morning I ran into uni. I thought I'd take it easy the whole way to let the legs recover. By about 4km into the run I felt that the legs had loosened up a lot, so at the halfway mark I picked up the pace quite a bit and ran hard all the way into uni. First half 25:35 AveHR 141, MaxHR 154. Second half 21:16 AveHR 155, MaxHR 164.

Rest day tomorrow, then 30ish km Sunday.

My legs are toast

After the 36km on Sunday, I took Monday off and then Tuesday as well because (a), I ran out of time and (b), because my legs were still pretty sore and tired. Ran into Uni today and the legs were still pretty stiff, but they loosened up as I went along. Hopefully they will be recovered enough for the speedwork tomorrow morning. That's all I have now, might add some more later.

Big week

Stepped up the km this week to 77, partly due to my long run being 36km instead of 30. Long run started at Normanville and went out to Ingalalla Falls (pictured) and came back via Ridge road and then Yankalilla. I love running in this area, especially because of the baked goods you can have afterwards at from the Yankalilla bakery.
Earlier in the week I did a Mona fartlek with the thursday morning speedwork group which was fun. I'd never done the mona fartlek before and very little of any fartlek for that matter. It was also good to have someone leading the session - it makes it a lot easier to concentrate on running rather than the time.
Other than those 2 sessions, I did several other 6-11km runs. Legs are pretty sore today - probably not as sore as Tesso and Tankgirl - so I'll have the day off.
RunDave out.

PS. I've lost a couple of kilos over the last two weeks, which is OK, but now I need to make sure I don't lose too much weight.

January Mileage

JAN: 237

A strong start to the year for me. Lost 4 days to a headcold, but got over it quickly by heeding my body's warning and taking the days off. Will build on this in the coming month and try to get some more speedwork in for the 10km race later in the month.

Also, ran in this morning 11km feeling very strong after having sore legs yesterday during two shorter 6km runs. Will try to get to the 6am speed session with the Track Timers tomorrow morning.

Schvetty long run

Ran the 11-12km into SARRC this morning then over 18km out to Northgate and back. Probably a total of 30 km which is more than I had planned, but running to SARRC is the easiest way to get there without taking the car. It was so humid this morning, I sweated buckets. Someone asked if my Camelback had burst again! After cooling down and having breakfast, I discovered that I had some nasty chafing, ouch! Went into uni and did a bit of work. Legs are pretty sore now. Should have stretched more. On the bus now (sweating more!) emailing this entry from my phone to the blog.

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.

4 things about me

This seems to be a work in progress, I keep remembering things and making changes. Sorry Blogliners.

Four Jobs You've Had in Your Life:

1. Student
2. Wine shop assistant
3. Fisheries biologist
4. Student

Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over:

1. Any of star wars episodes 4-6
2. Happy Gilmore
3. The Deer Hunter
4. Forest Gump
   

Four Places You've Lived:

1. Brukunga (see if you can find it)
2. Mt Barker SA
3. Glenunga
4. Ascot Park
   

TV Shows You Love to Watch:

1. Enough Rope
2. Little Britain
3. Kath and Kim
4. We can be heroes
   

Four Places You've Been on Vacation:

1. Melbourne
2. Sydney
3. Canberra
4. Normanville
   

Four Websites You Visit Daily:

1. Coolrunning
2. SARRC
3. Weatherzone
4. Google
   

Four of Your Favorite Foods:

1. Cibo Gelati
2. Stinky cheese (stilton, blue vein, shropshire, blue brie etc)
3. Pizza
4. Asparagus

Places You'd Rather Be:

1. Running in the hills
2. Running on the beach
3. Normanville
4. Barossa Valley (drinking wine)
   
   

Four Albums You Can't Live Without:

1. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Best of (just for "the ship song")
2. Daft Punk - Discovery
3. George - Polyserena
4. The Magnetic Fields - 69 love songs
   
   

Four Random Things About You:

1. I have odd hair growth: Eg, hairy legs but bare chest and back; I grow a beard and all I get is a goatee, no cheek hair.
2. I'm vegetarian.
3. I'm a skeptic.
4. I like red shoes.

Here are my current ones.

My Caffeinality

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Actually, I drink double shot capuccino mostly, except when I'm out running when I usually get a double macchiato.

Hoooooooooooooooooot!

42 - 33 - 41. Yesterday's max, last night's min and today's forecast max (already reached 40), combined with this lingering head-cold, has made running this weekend out of the question. Mybe the break will mean I'll be nice and fresh for the Oz day fun run.

Here's a photo I told Tesso I'd put up. This guy in my office really loves V.

I was going so well until...

I got a bit of a headcold. But I have listened to my body and haven't tried to run through it, so hopefully I'll be right in a couple of days. I don't feel too bad, but my sinuses are very blocked up and the constant moving between cold office air and hot outside air isn't helping. Anyway, I have to get myself well for the Oz day fun run on Thursday. I really need to be well for work's sake at the moment too!

I did speedwork!

Yesterday I did 10x "400m" with one minute rest between intevals. I ran between 1:17 and 1:20 for each interaval. I'm not sure if the distance was exactly 400m because when I paced it, I got 440 paces while on Gmap I measured just over 400m. I went pretty hard, so I'm happy that I wasn't too sore today for my long run. Today I ran into SARRC 11km then did the 15km run with them, although I was 15 minutes late, so I was catching up the whole time. Feeling pretty tired now especially considering that I did 71km this week up from 60km last week.

Hidden 20 km

Found out today from the Gmap Pedometer that my run from home to uni is really 10.5 km rather than the 10 km that I thought. I've run this route approximately 40 times since we moved, so that equals 20 extra kilometers that I have run in the last year. I ran a 5km tempo run this morning from home to half way in (21:36) and then a slow run the rest of the way (25:38). Discovered that my "halfway" point is really 5.3 km so my tempo run was nearly at 4 min/km.

Hopefully tomorrow morning I can do some 400m repeats.

I'm working on a 4 things about me list that I hope to publish in the next few days.

Vegetarians produce less gas

This article very effectively explains one of my major reasons for being vegetarian. Check it out.

2P's guide to running a track ultramrathon

2P has just written a most excellent guide/report on how to plan and run in a track ultra. I reckon if you're even thinking about doing one, then have a read of his guide.

Sunday Sunburn and Great Quote

Ran into uni on Sunday and then a further 12 km to total 22km for my long run, but I forgot to put sunscreen on and I got a bit burnt on my shoulders. Ran home last night too. It's pretty hot in Adelaide for the last week or so and I've certainly been sweating it out during most of my runs. Haven't really got any speed sessions in yet other than putting in some faster efforts during my 10 km runs to or from work.

Got an email newsletter about the 2006 Southern Charity Challenge which is the event that I went in last year with RunCarly. I think this year we might go separately in the half marathon instead of walking the 60 km together. We just won't have time to get out on any long walks this year. Anyway, at the bottom of the newsletter was this quote which I thought was quite inspirational.

"No one in the world can change truth. What we can and should do is seek truth and serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is within. Beyond the armies of occupation and of the extermination camps, two irreconcilable armies lie in the depth of every soul. And of what use are the victories of the battlefield if we are defeated in our innermost selves?"Maximilian Kolbe, The Real Conflict

Glenelg Goal and Great Post

I've set myself a goal of running sub-36 minute 10km at the Glenelg classic in February. I suppose I should start doing some speedwork huh.

Lady Jove recently blogged this thought provoking entry so I thought I'd link to it.

Slow start to 2006

Since I did my long run on Saturday, I thought I'd have a rest on New Year's day. Well I ended up having a rest on Monday and Tuesday as well. I did go for a couple of long walks on Sunday and Monday with RunCarly, Addi and the kids. So This morning was my first run for the year: 10 km into uni which I ran in a pretty good time (46:12) although I have just had three days rest.

I ended up reaching 2116 km for the year with my Saturday long run of 20-ish km pushing me over the 2100. Regarding the long run. I bought a new pair of Spalding running shorts last week from Target and made the huge mistake of testing them out on my long run. I'm not sure if it was the shorts or the extremely hot weather, but I ended up with very bad chafing. It made me walk bowlegged for the next 24 hours - quite appropriate given that we went to a cowboy themed new years eve party. I'll have to see if they are any better at shorter distances or better weather conditions

RunCarly has started back with WW after missing a month or so. Her loss hasn't been much yet, but she is putting in some good miles walking and running and I have to say that she is starting to look a lot fitter (and hotter!!). Must be the increased muscle tone replacing the loss in bodyfat.

I have a question from any of the runners out there. RunCarly wears out her shoes almost exclusively on the ball of her foot. She currently has Brooks Radius, which she finds quite comfortable, but she has almost worn through to the sockliner while the heal is still pristine! Does anyone know of a neutral running shoe that has a very durable forefoot? My mizuno mustangs have a reasonably durable forefoot, but I was thinking maybe something like the Brooks Adrenalin ASRs (actually stability trail running shoes) because of their more solid soles. Any ideas?

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

Michelle Leslie - Response to A Girl Running et al

As much as I think that what she did and how she did it was morally wrong, I actually think that she did very well to get out of a sticky situation. In contrast to the case of Shapelle, her defence was organised in a very calm, methodical and sensitive way so that it worked in with the conventions and sensitivities of the Indonesian justice system. In other words, she used the limited evidence and legal precedents in the most appropriate way without pissing the judges off. If I were in her position (which I wouldn't be, because I don't have any huge desire to go to Indonesia anytime soon), I would have done exactly the same thing.

On another point, I think she should take money for her story and then donate it all to charity - perhaps a drug rehabilitation clinic, an anti-drug lobby group or a youth at risk intervention program.

Finally, can you believe that after three months in a dirty prison cell, her hair and skin still look great. Some people have all the luck!

Off to Canberra

But before I head off, I have to prepare a whole heap of samples to take to the lab in Canberra, so I have been very busy for the last two weeks and will be busy right up until I leave on Monday morning. I've been back into the running too, running most days and doing a 20 ish km run on Sunday. Also ran home from work 6 km on Sunday night making a total of 26 km for the day. Legs were very sore and tired after that.

We had the Trailblazer presentation night on Friday night where we were presented with our trophies and a nice hydration pack each - donated by Paddy Pallin.

I'll be pretty much stuck in the lab while in Canberra, but hopefully I'll be able to get in a few trail runs and maybe the Black Mountain Challenge. Feeling fairly fit at the moment so it will be interesting to see how that goes if I do get to enter.

Interim post

Have been sick for the last week or so. Hopefully I'll be able to run home tonight.

DOMS

Went in the Blackhill Challenge on Sunday. Bettered the time from last year by about 40 seconds and got in under an hour. A quality field saw my placing drop from 9th last year to 10th this year. Felt pretty good after the race and all day Monday, but today I've been hit by a combination of a minor cold and pretty bad DOMS. I can't believe you can feel so good after a race and then days later feel so sore! I did a warm down run and stretching (sort of), but I don't think the half dozen beers I had on Sunday afternoon would have helped much. Won't be running for another couple of days I think.

Hoping to travel over to Canberra for work in the first two weeks of December, so I might try and work in a run in the Black Mountain Challenge.

Annual Review/Leigh Creek

I've had a very busy last week or two so I haven't posted much. I had my annual review last week and I have to say that it went pretty well, but I think that over the coming 6-12 months I won't be able to post as often while I finish my PhD.

Anyway, I went up to Leigh Creek on the weekend for a mate's son's christening. Saw a lot of this...

Went for a run on Saturday morning out to the Aroona dam (Leigh Creek's reservoir) about 11 km out of town.

Saw lots of spectacular views like this...

and this...

And got back in time to miss a thunderstorm and torrential downpour. Had a good time despite the long drive up and back. Discovered a great little cafe/bakery at Copley, 5 km out of Leigh Creek. Got in a good long run as I mentioned before. And finally, I became a Godparent for the first time.

I'm it!

It seems that I've been tagged.
The rules are:

1. Go into your archives.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (or the closest one to it)
4. Post the text of your sentence in your blog along with these rules.
5. Tag five other people.

Here's my post from 01/07/2005.

"Hopefully my fitness will pick up quickly as I get back into things."

Speaking about recovering from illness as usual.

I've decided to be a bit of a spoil-sport and not tag anyone. I just can't seem to find anyone who hasn't been tagged yet. I'm not sure if this is good blog etiquette or not, so let me know if I have made a huge web faux pas.

Good recovery

Ran home last night. Legs felt pretty good. I took it fairly easy, but there was very little soreness and they didn't even feel too heavy. I plan to do shorter runs for the next couple of weeks. Maybe a longer run next weekend when I'm in Leigh Creek for my mate's son's baptism. Hopefully I'll be able to afford to go in the Blackhill Challenge (a 12 km hill run on the 6th of November) since I had a good result there last year.
I haven't tagged anyone yet because I can't find anyone who hasn't been tagged before. Does it die with me or do I start retagging people?
Finally, I must add that this is the first blog entry that I have emailed from my phone, so sorry for the typos and disjointed sentences.

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.

Addi

For everyone who asked, here is a photo of our dog Addi

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.

Ouch!

Made my comeback yesterday with a 36-ish km run from Morialta to Mt Lofty and back via Waterfall Gully. I have lost a lot of from over the last three weeks and the last 10km were a real struggle. The team structure for the trailblazer still isn't finalized, but it looks like the most likely outcome is that Phil and I do the 50km event together. This might be good given that I struggled to run 36km!

I'll take it easy for the next couple of days then do a couple of shorter runs and then another similar length run next weekend. The good news is that I don't feel like the illness has come back after the run, so I think I may have beat it.

I got a virus on my home PC on Sunday and spent a lot of Sunday night and half of Monday afternoon getting rid of it.

I see a scary pattern forming.

Have a look at the monthly kilometres table to the right. See a pattern? I don't know how to avoid this horrible cycle of two months solid training then one month dominated by two-three weeks of illness. I've been very careful this year not to increase training too quickly and to have rest weeks following big events. My nutrition has been good and I've been working on my sleep patterns. Stress levels have been high though due to PhD and land division issues, but there isn't much I can do about those things. The pattern is starting to look very strong. Just to back it up further, I was sick in December and September last year too and had pretty good running through October and November. Anyone got any ideas (besides not running)?

PS. Yay, 50 posts.

Still sick, still busy

When will this cough end? Everyday the cough seems to be a little bit better, but not quite enough to be able to get back on the track. I've been very busy too, which probably doesn't help. Trailblazer team arrangements are still looking dicey. We did have a good fundraising event for the AFL grand final though. Gotta go.

Coffee addicts, read on.

I was reading CJ's blog earlier and the picture on it reminded me of this picture. It also prompted me to write a blog about one of my other great loves: coffee.

I love coffee. I drink truckloads of it. I have a loyalty card for every coffee franchise in existence. I only drink "good" coffee. We have a percolator in our office at uni with all the supplies we need to keep us caffeinated for at least a week. I won't drink 'Bland 43' or 'Intestinal Roast' or any other forms of 'instant death' unless I get really desperate and I'm a long way from a source of good coffee. My regular morning coffee is from Bravo Expresso underneath David Jones in Adelaide. Earlier this year I stupidly tried to reduce the amount of coffee I drink. This resulted in headaches and a severe sense of longing for my good friend coffee. I think I lasted two weeks. Enough ranting about coffee, back to work.

PS. Still sick, but I'm recovering now thanks to a day off work and a trip to the doctor for some antibiotics.

PPS. Sorry about the rude language.

Mmmm, beans...

Lurgy

I've had a cough for the last five days. After my long run last week I felt great. On Monday I still felt great then on Tuesday I started to feel like something was coming on. Since then I've had an awful chestcold with a nasty cough. It has loosened up a bit today and I feel like I'm on the mend. The upshot of this is that I will have to miss at least another few days of training.

In better news, we may have found a replacement member for the Power of Four, although she still needs to go for a run with Phil to see if she is compatible with our team. Assuming Andy's knee gets better, we should be on our way to running in the trailblazer event.

Amber's Gully to Bridgewater

Ran the trailblazer course from Amber's Gully to Bridgewater Yesterday (about 40km, maybe 1-2 km more) . It took a while, but we got there in the end. I felt really good, so at about 28km, I ran ahead to get a coffee and muffin at Mt Lofty Summit. There was a bit of rain and the track was a little bit muddy, but I really hope we have similar conditions for the run. The temperature was ideal for running unlike two weeks ago. At the end of the run my Polar showed that I had burned 5024 Calories over the whole run. I can't eat that much food in a day let alone in 5 hours!

We still haven't found a replacement runner, but we are following up some options.

This week: 2-3 runs during the week totalling 30-40km then a long run on Sunday of about 40-45km. I won't be running in the city to bay because I have to look after the kids while RunCarly runs in it. I had considered running in it with the kids in a pram, but I think the cost outweighs the benefit and it also would interfere with me doing my long run.

Busy Week/ Trailblazer help

This week has been very busy, so I'll be brief.

Ran into uni 10km on Wednesday. Legs still felt a bit heavy so I took it easy.

Ran home 10km on Thursday night. This was the first time my legs felt good since the marathon. No soreness, no fatigue and no sore foot.

Ran into uni this morning then ran over to do two laps of the uni loop, so a total of 15 km. Everything felt good again so I guess I must have recovered from the marathon. Good thing too, because we are doing a 40km training run for trailblazer on Sunday morning.

Some news about the trailblazer. We officially now only have three team members and we need four. If anyone from Adelaide (or elsewhere) knows someone who would like to run in this 100km event, send me an email.

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.

Amazing recovery?

Went for a 5km run on the treadmill this morning. I took it fairly easy, taking 25min to finish. At the start my legs felt great. I thought "Wow, I've recovered really well, what was I thinking earlier in the week". Then the legs started to get sorer and sorer. After 4km, they didn't get any worse. The foot didn't feel bad at all, but it was a little sore after the run. Seems OK now. I guess the recovery isn't as amazing as I thought, although I can't believe I could barely walk on Monday. The cold is hanging around too.

Amazing recovery

My legs feel so much better today. I can't believe that I could hardly walk on Monday. I feel like I could break in to a run now. The bruising under my left foot has all but gone too. I still have a bit of a cold hanging around so the rest this week should help to clear that up.

The traffic on my blog has gone up considerably in the last three days, thanks I think in part to George at SARRC who mentioned the blog in the news and notes section (incidentally, this is a great place to catch up on news and gossip about running and walking in SA and beyond). Thanks everyone for your interest and please feel free to leave comments.

HobbleDave

Legs - still feeling very sore but a bit better. Foot - feeling much better. Anti-inflammatories are my friends. Feeling a bit congested too, cold might be still lingering a bit. I think I'll be having the week off with a possible 10km run with SARRC on Sunday. Walking to the bus stop is hard enough at the moment!

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.

Stay Calm!

Started to develop a sore throat on Monday afternoon, which led to a sore throat all yesterday. I took affirmative action having early nights last night and Monday night, and taking lots of vitamins, fruit and water. The throat feels much better this morning but I am a bit congested now. I will keep being very cautious with sleep, nutrition and NO RUNNING! Fingers crossed I'll be alright for Sunday. I'm pretty confident I will be.

Easing up / Race plan?

Went for an 18km run this morning with SARRC. I was 5 or so minutes late so I went out at a solid pace to try and pick up with everyone else. Caught up with them about half way and then ran back at a good pace with Mandy. Everything felt really good, so I left it at that rather than doing the extra 5km that I had intended, I don't want to overdo things a week out from the Marathon.

I feel like if I can get through this week smoothly, then I will be able to have a crack at 3:05 or faster. I'm not sure about my race plan yet. Should I go out hard and see what I've got left at the end? or should I go out at a steady pace and then try to get an even split or negative split? All my running so far has been to go hard and then see if I can limp home not too slowly. I'm not very good at monitoring pace, so even if I do try to go out slower, I might not get it right anyway. I wouldn't mind anyones thoughts on this.

LL, I don't mind running in the current weather, I find the rain and cold exhilarating. The treadmill is so that my wife can run without having to get someone (me) to mind the kids. I may use it next week as a recovery from the marathon though.

New stuff = no money

Ran into work yesterday. Legs were sore to start out with, then loosened up towards the end. I'll run home tonight to get the rest of the soreness out then do a faster run home tomorrow night.

After buying a treadmill on Saturday, we have very little money at the moment. We'll have to be very thrifty for the next couple of months. We have a few things we need to sell on ebay or the trading post which may help a little.

Thankfully I bought a new pair of my favourite runners on Sunday (Mizuno wave mustangs). They were on special at the athletes foot. I ran in them yesterday and they were just as good as usual. Hopefully I'll have them broken in in time for the marathon.

Well done Mottram

Didn't stay up for the race last night, but woke up this morning keen to hear how the race went. Very glad to hear that Craig Mottram got a bronze medal in the 5000m at the World Champs. What a great effort. Hopefully the significance of this result is recognised by the Australian media and public. He didn't win, but he has shown that he is one of the world's best runners.

I didn't run on Friday or Saturday due to some knee soreness. I did my long run with Phil on Sunday from CP1 to CP3 of the trailblazer - 27km. This section involves four very big climbs and three ascents with no flat stuff to speak of. It was a tough workout and took just over 3:15. Legs didn't get too hammered though and they feel really good today. I'll be tapering fairly heavily now for the marathon, which I'm feeling really good about.

I have established a new blog for my Trailblazer team to log and discuss training, tactics, fundraising and any other issues. Check it out if you're interested. http://trailblazer2005.blogspot.com

Sore legs

Legs were really sore on the run home last night and had a little soreness through the ITB. Probably a combination of older shoes and the higher mileage over the last month. I think I'll retire a couple of pairs of runners now, I was trying to milk a few extra kms out of them. I had a run planned for today but I will give it a miss so that the legs recover for the weekend long run and so that I don't overdo it for the marathon. This weekend I will be doing CP1 to CP3 of the trailblazer = 27km with some big hills. After that, some serious taper for the marathon.

I epilated the legs the other night (ouch) to make massage easier and less hair pulling (and to get the legs looking good for the marathon : ). Seems timely now seeing that the soreness from extra km is really starting to show.

Also, can anyone tell me how I can insert some text into any of the coloured boxes at the top of this page. I'd like to put a description of the blog up there like I've seen on other blogs.

SOLD!

We have a contract on the block of land we were selling. The cooling off has finished and now we have the long wait until settlement. It's not subject to any major conditions so we are confident that it will go ahead. What a relief! After that, the fun begins - building a new house.

Ran into work 6km yesterday and the legs felt like bricks. Let's hope they feel better on the 10km run home tonight.

Mondayitis

Don't you just hate those Monday mornings when nothing seems to go right. Woke up an hour late (at least) this morning, rushed to get the kids ready for childcare, battled all the other late risers to get the kids to childcare and wife to work, only to get a phone call from RunCarly 30 seconds after dropping her off saying that we have to go back and pick up the kids because they have "school sores" which are highly infectious. Finally got to work and now have to finish off an urgent report. Didn't have breakfast this morning but did have one of my favourite snacks when I finally got to work: a Nana Divers Oven baked Yoghurt and Apricot Mini Meal.

Enough about Monday. Yesterday I had a huge workout on my long run. Ran 35km over hill and dale around the Normanville-Myponga region. Let me just say that the run down to and back up from Myponga Beach would have to be one of the hardest runs around. 20 odd minutes down, 35 odd minutes back up and that was in the early part of my run. Back up the top of the hill it started pissing down and I got soaked through. Finished off the run well, struggled towards the end a bit, but got an excellent 3:05 workout with some huge hills included. This makes me feel much more confident about doing the marathon in a good time. Not too sore today either.

Update: RunCarly just called from home, our son just chucked up everywhere.

Never playing golf again!

Or not until the next time someone asks me to come along and have a bash. After Sunday my legs have recovered from the 34km run, but my back and shoulders still haven't recovered from hitting 70-odd golf balls at the driving range. Doesn't affect the running though, which is going well. If I don't get a blog in before then, I plan to do a 35-36 km long run around the Normanville area on Sunday morning. This will be my longest run before the Marathon on the 28th. http://tinyurl.com/a2688

Sore all over

Went out for the first trailblazer training run yesterday, about 34km from Pinky flat to Morialta bottom gate. The run took over 3:30 but it was a good run and it kept me on my feet for a time well over what I want to run the Marathon in, so that is a good sign. The weather was beautiful and the track was quite good given all the rain we've had. Later in the day some friends came over and we went out to the driving range. I don't play golf, but I can hit the ball OK from my hockey background. However, I haven't played hockey for almost two years now, and I have lost a lot of that hitting strength. Consequently, I am very sore in the oblique abdominal muscles, my shoulders and my forearms. My legs are pretty sore and heavy from the run too. No run today, but I'll have to get a recovery run in tomorrow. I haven't caught the flu from my daughter either (edit: I don't think she had the flu anyway)! Woot yay!