Evolution of a Mo - Day 28

Kind of like Russell Hammond from Stillwater (band in Almost Famous) but with longer hair.

I got to looking at more images of Billy Crudup and I was amazed at how similar we look (except he has better teeth and a slight dimple in his chin). Then I found this image from Without Limits, a film about Steve Prefontaine. Freaky hey. Now if only I could run like Pre.

Evolution of a Mo - Day 27

Having a bit of fun with the Mo over the last couple of days of Movember. I think this one looks a bit more respectable than the chopper mo.
Ran home last night then ran into uni this morning to go for a 9 km run with Bay. So 31km in the last 13 hours has left me feeling a little sore and tired, but I didn't get to go on a long run on the weekend because I was digging trenches all weekend. All this hard physical work is building up the muscle in my arms and torso. I hope this isn't to the detriment of my running.

The price of bananas is coming down (apparently). The price will reportedly be down to around $2/kg by February. Woohoo!

Evolution of a Mo - Day 26

Tammy suggested that I was looking a bit like James Hetfield. I had to look him up though (not a huge Metallica fan). I think it looks a bit more like this guy below. Which is to say, Spark-Driver, I'm not that impressed with the the look, and I will be reverting back to the goatee at the end of Movember.


For the international readers, this is Mark "Chopper" Read, a notorious criminal and standover man in the Australian underworld. Yes, he has no ears. He chopped them off in prison. You do not want to cross this guy! He has reputedly turned away from crime - probably because he found that he could make heaps of dosh flogging his stories through other media - and is now an author of several dodgy books, had a film about him acted by Eric Bana (of Hulk fame), and wait for it, has written a children's book called "Hooky the Cripple".

Oh yeah, I really want to look like him!

Evolution of a Mo - Day 21

The hiker Mo. Had a postgaduate retreat at Morialta today, so I stayed at my parents place last night to walk around there the next day. Decided to walk up old Norton Summit Rd and then back down through the park to the place where the meeting was held. It was a bit foggy and drizzly this morning, but this is a shot of the city somewhere behind me. Looks like a bit of a bad hair day too.

Evolution of a Mo - Day 20

Getting some volume now. Looking pretty scary too. I'm still not used to it and I don't think I'm ready to maintain it past the end of Movember. The gala partè is on Friday, but I'm too busy to attend. Hopefully I can raise a little bit more by the end of the month. I'm impressed by the amount that the Mo-ray Eels have raised so far. If everybody did such a good job, we'd have a cure for this in no time!

This pic is post-run. Did 9km at lunch with Bay.

Evolution of a Mo - Day 16

This one is for Deege.

Evolution of a Mo - Day 14

Look Spark Driver, no hair on that chin!
Do I look a bit gaunt here?

Evolution of a Mo - Day 13

So I've been a bit slack with the Mo updates, but I have a good excuse. We moved into out new house! And I've been really busy doing all the little things you need to do to get yourself set in the new place, so I just haven't had time. I've only been for one run since Wednesday too! Anyway, here it is the 13 day old mo. Enjoy! Pictures of the new house will come soon, I just need to find the time to take them.

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!

Evolution of a Mo - Day 5

Can you see it now? I've put the details for my registration below. I'm in a team named the Mo-ray eels and my rego number is 39009.

Here's the spiel:

During Movember (the month formerly known as November) I’ll be growin a moustache. That’s right I’m bringing the Mo back because I’m passionate about changing the state of men’s health.
Male health is a major issue, did you know:
Men are far less healthy than women. The average life expectancy of males is 6 years less than females.
Every year in Australia 2,700 men die of prostate cancer – more than the number of women who die from breast cancer.
Depression affects 1 in 6 men…Most don’t seek help. Untreated depression is a leading risk factor for suicide. Rates of suicide are more than double the national road toll.
Help me change the face of men’s health by sponsoring my mo.
Please go to http://www.movember.com/au/sponsor/?action=sponsorlink&rego=39009, enter my Rego number which is 39009 and your credit card details. All donations of $2 and over are tax deductible.
The money raised by Movember will be used to change the face of men's health by creating awareness and funding research into prostate cancer and male depression.
Movember culminates at the end of the month at the Gala Partè where I’ll be parading my Mo on the cat walk for a chance to be crowned the Man of Movember. If you want to be part of this great night you’ll have to purchase a Gala Parte ticket for $33.00 (inc GST).
\nCheers\nDavid\nMore info is available at www.movember.com\nMovember is proudly grown by Motorola, Polaroid, Remington and VB.\nMovember is proud partners with the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue - the national depression initiative.

Cheers
David

More info is available at http://www.movember.com/
Movember is proudly grown by Motorola, Polaroid, Remington and VB.
Movember is proud partners with the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue - the national depression initiative.

Evolution of a Mo - Day 3

After a long hard day's work digging a sunken garden/retaining wall out the back of our new house.
Glad I didn't go in the Blackhill Challenge the next morning. Every muscle my body was aching! Went for a "long" run anyway (ca 13 km) and it took me 15 minutes to loosen up!

Evolution of a Mo - Day 2

Can you see it yet?

Not going in the Blackhill Challenge on Sunday. We've got too much to do on the house. Looking forward to racing in the invitational fun run for corporate cup next week instead. Next event after that is likely to be the SARRC Christmas Frolic.

A million kilometres for Tibet

Check out the Race for Tibet website and then pledge your training/racing kilometres to "A million kilometres for Tibet".

China, you cannot brutalise an entire nation and get away with it.

Evolution of a Mo - Day 1

Late starter, blank canvas.

I may be a day late, but I have decided to do the Mo thang for Movember. Here is a pic of the blank canvas (shaved last night, taken today) and a before photo for comparison (complaints about picture quality can be sent to Sony-Ericsson). I'll put up the details of my Mo crew soon, so you can donate your hard-earned to prostate cancer research and other men's health issues (no, not the mag). We have a history of prostate cancer in our family, so I really want them to find a cure.

So, what style of mo am I going for? You'll just have to wait and see!

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.

I ran with Buster in Adelaide!

Ok not quite. But I was running on the uni-loop at the same time as him just 10 minutes ago. Sure, he was running in the opposite direction to me and it was half dark, but I did say g'day and he and his running partner said g'day back. I was just about wetting myself, I was that excited. Really kicked home in the session after that (so I could get back here and write about it). I didn't see him around the other side of the loop, so he must have stopped, but I was running through my head how I might be able to get his autograph on my CR cap. Alas, it was not to be. Anyone know what he is doing in Adelaide? I think I read that he has finished his season, so I assume he is back in OZ having a well earned break.

Anyway, that's my excitement for the day. Back to work now.

Bodybuilding vs Bold and Beautiful

It has been a week since my last entry which is due to a combination of slackness, piles of work and not that much to write about.

I'm feeling really fit at the moment, although yesterday I felt pretty tired during my run at lunchtime, so I'm not running today. Hopefully I'll get out to Track Times tomorrow morning for a speed session ahead of the Race for life on Sunday. Looking forward to the last Corporate Cup race next week.

Last night I saw a program called Shock Docs on channel 8+1. Not my usual taste in TV, but the two subjects were very interesting. First was a story about English female bodybuilder Joanna Thomas' journey to the Olympia titles in Las Vegas. The second story was about the Bold and Beautiful Beauty Pageant, a beauty contest for women over size 18.

I'm a bit torn over these two stories as I think that both may promote unhealthy lifestyles. I'm not saying that the women in either of the competitions didn't have some form of beauty (although some of the contestants really did have me wondering what could be described as beauty). I actually thought some of them were quite attractive, but the underlying health issues were a real concern.

The bodybuilding girls seemed to be engaging in some fairly risky practices such as fasting, dehydration, extremely low bodyfat %, unnecessary cosmetic surgery, and presumably some form of pharmaceutical assistance. My initial reaction to this story was that many of the women did not look natural or feminine. The weird part is that I've seen plenty of physique and figure competitors who are muscley, attractive and feminine, and seem to achieve this through fairly healthy lifestyles. So are the different divisions two totally different sports, or is the bodybuilding just a more extreme form of the the same behaviour? I don't know, but I'd like to find out.

On the other hand, the BBWs were basically glorifying obesity. I know they are saying that they are happy with the way they are, but it says to all obese people that it is OK to be that way. Well it is not. I accept that we shouldn't discriminate against obese people, but I think it is incorrect to condone it.

I think that despite the fact that I had a stonger negative initial reaction to the bodybuilding women, in hindsight I actually respect that form of lifestyle more than the BBW. The bodybuilders clearly have to work extremely hard and make enormous sacrifices to compete. The BBW really don't have to do anything other than eat too much and then make themselves look beautiful. One group is rewarded for extreme hard work and sacrifice, the other is rewarded for no hard work at all. Or am I missing something here?

Meeting Tesso - PB

I'm not sure what was the highlight of my morning, meeting Tesso or getting a PB for the 4.5km lap of the Torrens at Corporate Cup.

I got there reasonably early this morning to beat the heat (forecast 34 degrees). I saw Tesso running along the other side of the Torrens, so I knew we would cross paths. Went out hard as usual doing the 1st km in 3:27 (ran past Tesso after about 500m), slowed a little over the next 2km but then brought it home in the last 1.5km for a PB over that course of 16:12. This is 10 sec faster than last fortnight and 4 seconds faster than my previous PB on this course set in 2005 during the SARRC twilight race.

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

Above is my progression during the Corporate cup with average heart rate. Up until last run, I was getting the feeling that I was just improving by running harder and not actually getting much fitter, so I am pleased that my average HR has decreased this fortnight. Can I go sub 16 next fortnight in the last run of the series? We shall see. After seeing me run this morning, Tesso said she expects no less, so the pressure is on!

Went for a few km warmdown and chinwag with Tesso after the run. It was really nice to meet up with her and talk running and other stuff for a little while. I was moaning and groaning most of the way because the run really took a lot out of me, so I hope I wasn't too incoherent. After a while Tesso went back to get ready for work and I trotted back to Uni. I'm feeling a bit better now, although the hayfever is pretty bad now with the hot northerly blowing today.

Anyway, a great start to the day, back to work now.

Surprising quote

"Only through the readiness to accept historical truth can a sound understanding of contemporary reality be reached." - Pope Benedict XVI

First, let me say that although I was baptised a Catholic, I don't really subscribe to any religion at the moment. I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment - given in the context of aboriginal reconciliation in this country - I'm just surprised that the current pope said it. And, is he prepared to apply it to all instances of "historical truth"? Time will tell.

100 things about me - work in progress

1. I don't subscribe to any religion
2. I used to be Catholic, but I got sick of their hypocrisy
3. I am a spiritual person
4. We put down anthroposophy as our religion on the last census, although it is not a religion as such
5. I like the original Star Wars movies and hate the new ones
6. Empire Strikes Back is my favourite of course.
8. I like watching boxing.
9. My body type would be suited to boxing, but no one I know would ever accept me doing it.
10. I played hockey for SA at every junior age group and for the National Hockey League team.
11. I got sick of hockey and started distance running in 2004.
12. I am very competitive.
13. I have never stolen a pig.
14. I am allergic to horses
15. I love bananas and have been very unhappy since Larry hit town
16. I'm vegetarian (lacto-ovo)
17. ...