Pre & post solstice

I've always liked the way that daylight time starts to increase only about a quarter of the way into winter. If the weather gets me down at least I can resort to the thought that every single day there is more daylight available.

June stats & info:
Runs: 18
Time on feet (running): 15hr 07 min
K's: 156*
Barefoot K's: 5
Longest run: 85min/14.6k
Weight: 88kg
Waist: haven't checked
Watch: ran the whole month watchless, so times are approx. I have a feeling that the 156km total is pretty accurate as I reckon I can judge my pace pretty well.
Highlights:
- Getting up & about to hit the road by 6:25am last Sunday for a 'long' run, experiencing sun rise on the run & pulling up fine after the run.
- On 29 June realising that I've gone over 150k for the month for the first time since last Sept & thinking 'that was pretty easy' (physically, mentally and logistically).

*10th biggest month ever

2009 K's:
Jan 09: 51.4
Feb 09: 71.7
Mar 09: 94.9
Apr 09: 102.6
May 09: 123.3
Jun 09: 156.8

Haven't registered yet for the Melb half marathon, will get around to it.

Plan for next 8-10 weeks:
Stay healthy, run consistently, eat well, lengthen the long run, have a lighter week or two (injury prevention), do some bike riding, keep self-massaging the R calf after most runs (more injury prevention).



Yeah.

End of May check-in

2009 ks:
Jan 09 51.4
Feb 09 71.7
Mar 09 94.9
Apr 09 102.6
May 09 123.3
Slow but steady increase.

Average May pace: approx 5:30 min/km

Weight: 89kg
Waist: 94cm
Slow but steady decrease.

May was a good running month for me. My right shin/calf which started playing up in Sept last year seems to have finally settled down. After most runs I self-massage the calf which seems to be doing the trick.

Longest run for the month was 13.5k on the 24th. This included 1k of barefoot running on soft grass.

I now feel entitled to look forward to training through winter and doing the Melb half marathon for the 3rd year in a row. I’ll probably do some small fun runs in the lead-up as well. The Coburg Bluestone Classic is coming up later this month. I did this 2 years ago. It’s a 15k’er with 8k of hilly cross country. This would be a tough challenge for me in my current state. I will avoid.

The plastic watchband on my 4yo Casio Phys sports watch finally fully perished so I’m doing all things, including running, watchless at the moment. I’m now procrastinating over whether I try to get a suitable watchband, buy a new sports watch or just go without, which isn’t bothering me at this stage.

Wishing The Church the best of Luck

It’s exciting times at Steven Kilbey’s house. He’s been granted a visa to enter the States (this was never a shoo-in given his long-ago gear possession incident), so he and the other 3 who make up The Church can get on with their Nth American tour to support their brilliant new album ‘Untitled #23’. In more good news it’s getting rave reviews everywhere including Rolling Stone & AllMusic.com. Best news of all is it’s up around the top 50 on Amazon’s interest level gauge. I hope it explodes & sells bucket loads everywhere. S. Kilbey so deserves and NEEDs the money. Check out his blog entry for 13 May. The excitement is palpable.

I basically don’t listen to FM radio anymore, so I dunno if the likes of JJJ, RRR & PBS are playing tracks from it. They bloody well should be supporting this magnificent Australia band. I won’t mention the commercial stations as they are just unmentionable….

The last track on the album ‘Operetta’ has such an emotional feel to it. It’s hard to put your finger on. It wont happen the first time you hear it. You need to have about 5 listens to ‘get’ the structure of the song, then if you take the time to LISTEN and let the song envelop you, you’re off on a journey. The music and lyrics somehow work wonderfully together to make you reminisce and yearn for something in your past. It’s deeply sad and optimistic all in one. The moment when SK sings:
piano, drums and trumpet
just like the old days….
and then a brief and simple yet perfect trumpet solo plays. That moment is just sooooo emotional. And it’s not just me saying this. Numerous posters on the Hotel Womb message board have spoken about being overcome at the same part of this track.

It’s a rare thing for music to get me like this. IMHO elite songwrting talent, clear vision of what’s desired and elite performance-execution need to come together for it to happen.

The Church have done this on some of their earlier tracks (bastards!, sob), but this ‘Operetta’ really gets ya good/bad.


My running is going pretty well. We had a one night stay at the Novatel Forest resort at Creswick (between Ballarat & Daylesford) on the Mothers’ Day weekend. I was able to slip out for a 20 min run on the Sat afternoon. There’s a golf course at the resort which I ran through on the way to the forest trails. Ahhhhhhh I just love running on forest trails. Pitty I only had time for a shorty. I highly recommend the Novatel Forest resort for a short getaway close to Melb. We’ll be back, preferably for a 2-3 night stay. There’s a heap more forest trail for me to do!

I did 102.6km in April (first time >100 since Sept 2008).
I did 27.5 k’s in the last week.
Weight is still around 89kg.

50k in a day

So, last Saturday I did the ‘Go The Extra Mile’ 50km walk. Me & about 130 other entrants started at Jells Part at 07:00am & followed the Dandenong Creek track to the foot of the Dandenongs. I did about 4k of running in the first (flat) half. Because of the running, I arrived at pit stop #2 - Doongalla picnic ground – about 15 min ahead of my team mates. I ate & drank & tended to my feet for a while & because I was under no obligation to stay with the team for the whole 50km, was about to set off for the hilly 3rd leg when they arrived. Because we were together again I decided to wait. It turned into a 60min pit stop which was way too long for me. I was cold by the time we resumed. Now we were moving again I was happy enough to stay with the team now. There was no choice really as the 3rd leg was too hilly to run anyway.

The last 1-2k of the 3rd leg was steep downhill which was a bit painful and mentally irritating. I much prefer uphill. The 3rd pit stop was at the bottom of the ‘1,000 steps’ which lead up to One Tree Hill picnic ground. The 3rd pit stop was also way too long for my liking (about 45 min). Made it up the ‘1000 steps’ pretty easy. We did an accidental extra 800m at the top when we missed a route marker. The final leg was 12k (12.8 for us). We completed the last bit in darkness, finally finishing at about 7:30pm. My legs held up really well. They became a bit achy at about the 20k mark, but their condition didn’t really deteriorate any further from there. It took waaaaay longer than I was expecting because:

a) I didn’t do as much running as I though I might.
b) Deciding to wait with the team during the marathon pit stops
c) Re the Dandenongs, she does not surrender her k’s lightly on her hilly bits.

I’m ever so impressed with my 43 year old legs. Surgery on both knees (including a reconstruction), ropey veins, excess kgs around the waist, a 4kg backpack and some serious up ‘n’ down hills were no trouble for them.

I’ve since done a 8.5 k run and some bike riding. DOMS are fin. Now that (mostly) walking event’s done I can focus on building up my long runs. Yay.

It don't come easy

Had a family holiday in Adelaide just prior to Easter which was lovely. Stayed in glenelG & did some short runs along the beach. Didn’t do any long runs as it’s a bit rude & self-indulgent to leave the wife & kids waiting while you’re away on hols.

Tue 31/03/2009 Tan 9.4
Thu 02/04/2009 Glenelg Beach 3.2
Fri 03/04/2009 Glenelg Beach 5.0
Sun 05/04/2009 Glenelg Beach 5.0
Tue 07/04/2009 Glenelg Beach 5.0
Thu 09/04/2009 Werribee river 6.5
Fri 10/04/2009 Werribee river 6.2
Sun 12/04/2009 Werribee river 6.1
Mon 13/04/2009 You Yangs 3.5 hours of bush walking with a bit of running
Wed 15/04/2009 Swan St Bridge 6.6

Most of these were at around 5:15 pace.

Ks for March were 96. I should be over the 100 mark in April for the first time since Sept 08.

My calf/shin thing is still there but I seem to have worked out how to minimise it with self massage & ice after a run.

I’m actually not finding it easy to churn out these modest runs. I’m stubbornly running too fast most of the time. My heart rate has been high 150s-160 whereas I should slow down & keep it to mid-high 130s. The problem is, when I know I’ve only got 35-40 mins to run I lose discipline push the pace up. I’m sure this is doing very little, if anything for my endurance. To start reclaiming my endurance I need to do a 60 min slow run & keep building weekly long runs from there. Right. Sounds like a plan.

Another factor that’s getting my heart rate up is the fact that I’m running at 89kg. When I was 78kg I could cruise around at the pace & HR I was happy with. I believe the weight will drop when I resume long runs & get back to minimum 150 k per month.

Exercise highlight was undoubtedly the Easter Monday You Yangs odyssey. The weather was the same as last time at the YY, not a breath of wind, crisp pre-dawn leading to gorgeous sunny morning. I started before first light again and did Branding Yard track, Flinders Peak & the East-West loop. At the top of the peak I stopped to look at the view & listen to the near-silence. It was amazing to be able to see a 100km radius yet hear virtually nothing. Serene solitude........

You Yangs walk

I got up so early on Saturday morning that I arrived at the You Yangs main entrance gate in the pitch black at 06:30am.

My objective was to walk in the bush & on the undulations for about 2.5 hours in preparation for the ‘go the extra mile’ 50km charity walk/run that I’m doing on Sun 02 May (for more details refer to the coolrunning calendar).

As I set off I looked up at the flashing red beacon at the top of Flinders Peak, the highest point at the You Yangs & decided that getting to it was a must do.

The first couple of ks were on the moderately uphill sealed road leading up to the turntable car park. I had my bicycle headlight with me which I switched on every now & then to see what was about but mostly I just walked in the dark & looked at the stars. The sound of my footsteps on the road caused a bunch of cockys to rustle & squawk in the trees overhead. A few wallabies hopped away too.

When I got to the carpark I turned the bike light on again to read the signs. The light caught the eyes of a good sized kangaroo (at least 5ft tall) not far away. We looked at each other for a while, then I made the ‘skippy’ noise and it hopped away.

There was enough pre-sunrise light to safely make my way up the Flinders Peak track. My jacket & bikelight went into the backpack & some fruit came out. I was happy & slightly excited to be there, alone. It was all panning out better than I had hoped.

The walk to the peak includes 345 steps. I noticed I was much more aware of my heavy breathing and fast thumping heart during this vigorous walk compared to a run. Out of curiosity I stopped to checked my heart rate: ~120. On a typical run it in the mid 130s & I barely notice it.

I spent a couple of minutes at the top of the peak looking around. The sun was yet to appear but the sky was pink in the East. There was barely a breath of wind up there. Ate some more fruit on the way down. I got onto the East-West track and ran for about 1km. This track is basically a loop running around Flinders Peak about 1/3rd of the way up. It is mostly runnable & definitely one to re-visit. I did the full loop & then ran the 2-3ks down the road back to the car. All up 2hr 27 min on feet. A good workout, even though I only did about 3.5 ks of running.

This was my first time exercising at the You Yangs, pretty crazy considering I live only 25 mins from there. I will definitely be back. Next time I’ll do, or partly do, the great circle drive (12 ish ks).

The DOMS in the legs have been pretty bad. I’ve just done a 9k run which hopefully will free things up a bit. The troublesome shin is not too bad.

No buts about it

In terms of cycling I need to HTFU.

I rode my heavy old mountain bike to work on Wed morning. Set off at 6:30am and the ride took 1 hr36 min. The bike computer said it was 33.5kms. All up it was a good ride. At one point my pump broke lose from the bracket & fell to the ground. Luckily it didn't get caught up in the works so no harm done, just had to turn around to pick it up & put it in the backpack.

I was pretty uncomfortable during the final 6ks. The main issue was a sore bum. I know from experience that reguular riding hardens you up down there. My legs were pretty shot too. 3,600 running ks over the last 2 years hasn't made me a strong cyclist from the get-go (although I'm sure it's way better than starting from the couch).

I left the bike at work over night & rode it home yesterday afternoon. The Southerly change hit just after I reached the federation trail so it was a strong headwind all the way to Werribee station (to pick up my car). 35km ride in 1hr 52min. Tough, tough going. At times my speed was down to 14kps due to the wind (& tired legs). After a good sleep my legs feel quite good today. I'll do some running on the weekend. My shin/calf niggle feels good after all that riding. Maybe it's helping.

The plan is to ride in once or twice per week. Riding home on the same day is too much for me atm. Instead of leaving the bike at work overnight, I'll take it on the train & ride home from the station. Eventually I might get bike-fit enough to ride in & back on the same day. If I keep this up over winter I mught just reward myself with a nice new road bike which should cut down the travel time significantly.

I hope to run in the Wyndham fun run on 29 Mar. Probably do the 8.6k option along the Werribee river (details are on the CR calendar).

Have a good weekend. I'm looking forward to mine (well, duh).