Great half, at a cost

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

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

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

Quagmire

quagmire \KWAG-myr; KWOG-\, noun:
1. Soft, wet, miry land that shakes or yields under the feet.
2. A difficult or precarious position or situation; a predicament.
3. Our driveway.

Quagmire is from quag, a dialectical variant of quake (from Old English cwacian) + mire, from Old Norse myrr, "a swamp."

Commute PB clarification

1. No, I don't take a taxi, and if I did take public transport to work, it would take far longer than running.
2. I have since discovered that the distance is 7.5 km measured on Google Earth (GE). The speedo on my bike was out by a fair bit, so I re-measured the circumference and changed the settings, and now it measures the same as GE.
3. I have since run a much faster time to work: 29:50. So the previous PB is redundant now anyway.

Commuting PB

Got a PB for my 8 km commute to work today, 31:14 with a pack and in 27 degree heat. Easy run home was pretty quick too, around 35 min.

Going to try very hard and get up for tracktimes tomorrow morning. Hopefully I'll do some Yasso 800s.

I have a new interesting word coming soon. Stay posted!

Slack blogger!

I've been back from sea for over 10 days and I still haven't posted. I am slack. And busy.

I've been really trying to get stuck into the running since I got back. I want to go in a couple of events soon. I'm not sure which ones yet, but I think I'll start with the Greenbelt half. I put on a bit of weight out on the boat due to the inactivity and ready supply of energy-dense foods so I have a couple of kg to lose if I want to be competitive. 78 when I got back (probably holding a bit of fluid), 76.5 now and I want to get down to 73-74. I got in 63 km last week and I'm aiming for that again this week, with some added cycling to and from work some days.

If you are interested in such things, I am part of Phil's campaign to raise awareness of China's human rights abuses in Tibet. I'm donating all my mileage (running and cycling) to the million km for tibet project. If you are interested, feel free to join the Yahoo group here. You could also check out the Race for Tibet website.

It's my BD on the weekend, so we're going down to Normanville to stay at the in-laws and have a nice dinner etc. It also means that I'll be able to do my long run in one of my favourite areas to run.

Anyway, have a safe and happy Easter.

Dave

PS. I never got a photo of my new 'do, and then out at sea I got bored and shaved it all off. Here is a rather fuzzy and stupid photo of the new new 'do.

Long overdue update

Sorry for the long overdue post. This is what I've been up to.

1. Went out to sea for two weeks;
2. Came home and have been busy at work for two weeks;
3. Had our son's delayed birthday party;
4. Have been trying to cram as much running and cycling into the last two weeks, before heading out to sea for another two weeks tomorrow.
5. Went to Womadelaide on Saturday which was great, but hot and dusty;
6. Highlights were Lior, Augie March, Deborah Conway (yes seriously, she was great!), Blue King Brown, Sarah Donovan (who managed to conjure up a cool change), and the Waifs (even though one of the girls forgot the words to "London still" - making babies does that it seems).

In other news, dad is doing well. He's back at work part-time and going walking twice a day. He seems to have made a very good recovery and the doctors think so too.

For those who have requested a photo of the new 'do, you'll have to wait a few more weeks, until I get back from sea. I could take a picture now, but it has grown out a bit and really is starting to look a bit crap.

Running is going OK despite the interruptions. Starting to think about some events to go in. I think I'll start with the Greenbelt Half for a start and then see how things go with time, money, fitness and injury etc.

I'll be back in a couple of weeks.

Dave

Big week

Very busy and eventful week. Riding home from work on Monday I got a flat (after only riding the bike a few times since I've started riding again), so on Tuesday I went and purchased some of that hard tape to line the inside of the tyre. Hopefully no more niggly flats.

On Tuesday I had a job interview which I think went pretty well. It just depends what sort of candidate they are looking for and how good the other applicants were I should find out tomorrow if I got it.

Beforehand, I found out that dad was about to go in for an angiogram to investigate the cause of some chest pains he has been getting over the last few weeks. It turned out that he had one very blocked coronary artery and two more that weren't too good, so he was checked straight into hospital and eventually had a triple bypass on Saturday afternoon. The scary thing is that my dad is a fairly healthy man, he isn't overweight and he eats a pretty healthy diet, he exercises regularly (which is why he noticed the chest pain and exhaustion), but he was a heavy smoker before he had me, so I guess it can catch up with you eventually (30 years after quitting). I also found out that his dad also had a bypass operation at around the age of 60. Mum's dad also had a bypass in his sixties I think. Hopefully my own lifestyle choices (vegetarian non-smoking distance-runner) prevent me from ever having any troubles, but the history is there in black and white.

So anyway, the operation went well and dad is doing fine. He optimistically thinks he'll be back at work in 3 weeks, everyone else reckons 5-6 weeks at least.

Finally, I went out for a 1.5 hour long run this morning and came back 2.5 hours later with 29.5km. In 31 degree heat! Drank about 4 litres of water while I was out and more when I got back. I actually ended up with a headache later in the day, so I wonder whether I drank enough or too much water. Just to be safe, I drank a really strong glass of Gatorade and added a pinch of salt. Feeling better now.

So there is the update from me. Pretty long and rambling.

Did I mention that I cut all my hair off. I did it three weeks ago in preparation for starting the new job and for a few interviews. I've also been keeping clean-shaven. Everyone seems to think that I look younger. Hopefully that is a good thing.

Bye now.

Very Busy Update

I've been very busy with work and study. Evidence of this is the fact that I started this post 2 days ago, and have only just got around to finishing it. Sorry if I haven't been keeping up with everyone's blogs or returning comments.

I've been running about 45-50km over the last couple of weeks, had a couple of good long runs and a good speed session. I've started working at SARDI 3 days a week while I continue my PhD. SARDI is in a location that just isn't very easy to get to via public transport, so I'm going to pull the bike out and start getting around on that a bit more. Should save money on bus tickets too.

Not a long run

But a nice brisk 12.5 km in around 57 minutes instead. I ran out of time to go for a long run so I kept it shorter and picked the pace up a bit. It was an interesting run too. I ran up to the foothills above Belair Road near Clapham. There are some really nice houses up there and some really "interesting" ones too. Earlier in the day I went for an 8 km walk with my wife and the kids (in the pusher). Not sure what made more sorer! I don't normally include walks in my mileage total, but with the fast pace that my wife walks, maybe I should.

Run it out

My knee was quite sore for a while, but I seem to have run it out. I only had a few days off over xmas, and it was still sore after that. Since then I've run a fair bit including my 27km new year's eve run, but it has only got better. I guess sometimes you've just got to dig deep and keep running through the discomfort. I did also adjust my orthotics slightly and bought new shoes so that might have helped. Today I went for a sharp 9km run around North Adelaide in 40.22 (Bayden, I hope you don't come back too unfit) and my knee felt great. We'll see how the knee feels after my long run tomorrow. The new shoes and shorts are excellent.

New Dogs

Got new shoes yesterday. I've switched to the Riders because the Mustangs aren't widely available anymore, plus they seemed to be wearing out a bit too quickly. They shall go into my running diary as Mizuno 6 or M6 for short. They aren't entirely red, but they do have red on them, which can only be a good thing. I also got a great pair of Nike Dri-fit shorts for $10 out of the sale bin. They didn't have a price tag and they had a mark on them, so I made an offer. Bargain! I ran into uni this morning wearing both of the new purchases and I'm pleased to say that they were both excellent.

http://www.mizunoeurope.com/sport/product.asp?poid=3664&ssc=333340&index=&cid=55

Marino Panorama

This is a panorama I threw together from a whole pile of photos I took during my long run on the weekend. It is taken from a bench in front of the Marino lighthouse. I just twisted around and took about 15 photos. The resolution isn't so good because a) it was on my Sony Ericsson k608i mobile phone, b) I had to save as a lower res for blogger to accept it, and c) I'm not much of a photographer anyway. I think it turned out quite well nevertheless. I'm thinking of making it my new header. Click on the photo to see it larger.

RunDaveLog

Kilometres Run
Year	'04	'05	'06	'07
Jan	0	158	237	191
Feb	0	238	244	100.5
Mar	328	72 (sick)	79 (injured)	156.5
Apr	249.5	226	38.5 (injured)	286
May	149	216	54.5	277
June	312.5	78 (sick)	124.5	269
July	50 (sick)	225	60 (Injured/sick)	211
Aug	213	210	141.5	110.5
Sep	323	90 (sick)	133	-
Oct	120 (sick)	260	214.5	-
Nov	287.5	129	157.5	-
Dec	191	242	154	-
Total	2224	2116	1638	1587.5

Blue = Km for Tibet

Final long run for the year

Things have been pretty quiet around here. I haven't managed to do a lot of running over the past two weeks due to a sore knee, xmas stuff and a lack of resolve. So with today being the last day of the year and a Sunday, I went out and did one last long run for the year. 27km later I'm fairly tired and sore, but happy I got out for a good long run. My run took me up to the Marino Lighthouse and I got some good pics of the view back across Adelaide.

Finally a cool change and some rain

Probably not enough so even break the parched surface. But it feels nice.
Went for a nice run this morning with the Track Times lads (and girls). It was hot! 32 degrees at 6am! Then we all had a hard-earned (lol) breakfast at the usual place.

Week off

Ran 13km yesterday down to the beach along to Brighton jetty and back. The beach was packed with people walking and running. I took Addi and she only started to lag behind in the last 2-3 km. That was my first run since last Sunday. It took me all week to get over the sinus infection, but it seems to be gone now, so it was worth it. My left knee is still a little sore though. I'll have to monitor that. Looking forward to keeping running over xmas to work off all the extra food and alcohol consumed.

We had a small family house-warming party yesterday which was good. I still haven't posted any photos of the house, but I'll try and get some up in the next week. Just about everything inside the house is completed. We just need to get our fancy light fittings installed. Outside, there is still a lot of work to be done including in the following order: the driveway, paths around the house, a paved area out the back and of course the garden.

We now have broadband internet and Foxtel, so we should be kept busy at work and play. Of course I abused the novelty of having Foxtel by getting very little sleep on the weekend and watching all sorts of crap (and some good stuff). Watched some NFL on Friday night (49ers vs Seattle). I'd forgotten how much I liked American football. I used to watch it on the ABC hosted by Don Lane when I was a kid. Of course my team back then was the 49ers because they were the dominant team. Then they stopped showing it over here and then we didn't get pay TV, so it has been a long time since I've seen a whole game. NFL is the only American sport I've ever enjoyed. Baseball is too slow and Basketball should only be a 5 minute long game right?. I didn't even get ice hockey, even though I played field hockey my whole life. NFL just seems to be the right mix of tactical sophistication, ball handling skill and brute physical force. Anyway, enough of my love for the pointy-ball game. Hopefully I can catch a few more games over summer.

Km for Tibet

So far I've run 220 km for Tibet. You can dedicate your training km to a free Tibet by emailing them to Journeyman Phil each week or month. Check out his blog entry for a Million Km for Tibet and join up. Also, check out the Race for Tibet website and the Australia Tibet Council website.

I might need to take a few days off running to get rid of some knee soreness and a sinus infection that I can't seem to shake. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up my km for Tibet.

Pretty warm today

Make that hot! When I stepped out of the house this morning, I couldn't believe how hot it was already: 30 degrees and I had my tights on! I guess combination of the insulation and the AC in our new house is working. My left knee has been a bit sore over the last couple of days, but I made it into the city OK. The tights don't actually make me overheat too much, but anything over 25C is probably a little too high. Anyway, it's 40 degrees now and drier than a dead dingo's donger, so I can't complain too much.

I've been doing a fair bit of this today.

Evolution of a Mo - Epilogue

Well now that Movember is officially over, the Mo is gone. It was an interesting experience, and I'm very happy that I was able to raise a bit of money for men's health issues. Thankyou to everyone who donated and thanks for all the support and comments. Now it's back to the regular look for me.

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.