A long lap of the Lake

Even though I didn't get up early this morning, my lovely wife said I should go for a run anyway.So after 8am I went to the Lillydale Lake once again, as expected at this time of the morning there were plenty of people out and about. I tried to do my twisting looped course a little different today, again it was nice for the same course not to feel the same.

 

As I was leaving I went to grab my watch, but decided I would leave it at home today. I'm glad I did, although a couple of times I did wonder how long I had been going for. Right from the start I felt OK, I didn't feel like I had to force it today, but the pace was not fast.... The sun was out and the air almost felt heavy. I did notice that the gravel path had been topped up, so a number of the ruts had been filled, but the loose surface was not quite to my liking, I prefer a firm surface to run on.

 

Out in the wetlands I decided the stretch again, and as in the past I felt much better afterwards. Even though my knee was not painful, it did feel a little aggravated, but tonight I have no feeling of pain or tightness, so I'm happy about that. I was able to work a bit harder in the end, I even powered up a hill after telling myself not to be 'soft' about my knee...

 

At the end I had a quick chat to another runner from Coldstream who is hoping to complete a half-marathon one day. Its funny how the long distance running bug gets to people who just started for a 'bit of exercise'.

 

Hopefully next week, I can get out for more than just 1 run.

 

M

Friday in the City

Out of bed this morning after a shortened nights sleep, but with 2 boys and the recent cricket etc, I hardly notice anymore.
It was chilly in my small car - the big car had to stay home, at $1.30 its too thirsty - but a clear and fine morning.

I knew as soon as I was out of bed that the standard 36hr lag of pre-season cricket training soreness had hit....hobbling like and old man!!
So I decided to give myself a longer warm-up to get to the ususal meeting place, and I ran down Collins from the eastern end, it was very nice, much nicer than the Bourke St norm.
10mins and met running buddy 1 waiting for buddy 2. A little time to stretch. Feeling OK.
B2 didn't show so that meant we were to go to the Tan in case he was late he would find us.

Easy pace along the river, feeling OK on the Tan - ever noticed how the Anderson St hill actually starts about 300m before you actually get there. Knee is OK. Pace steady. On the final stages of the Tan and back along the river the legs start to feel a little heavy, but not ridiculously so. I do comment to B1 that I would have struggled a lot more on my own. Collins St again, we part ways, and I realise that the 'very nice' Collins St was not so nice going up.
60min after leaving the car, I decide to walk the remaining 500m, knee a little sore now.

Overall, OK run, disappointed that I can't shake the niggle, I'm going to have to be more diligent on the stretches / self massage / exercises etc.

Later today the legs are OK, still stiff from cricket but thats normal.
BTW, it seems somehow they have convinced me that I'd make a good 3rds captain, one of us is crazy I suppose time will tell.

M

I have a shed

What is it about acquiring things that helps us feel like we are accomplishing something?
Today I came home to a new garden shed. I paid for delivery and installation, so there wasn't the 'I built this' feeling (although I did lay the concrete slab), but there was a definite feeling of something good.

Have you ever had this feeling?

Is it something linked to success? or an accumulation of 'things'?
Maybe for me it was like ticking a box, one task out of the way.
Admittedly, the shed will make things easier for storage etc, and Mrs Clarke had been asking a little more frequently about it.

If it is about gaining completion, I wonder if I will learn from this feeling and be a little more proactive to get some other things sorted out? Unfortunately I don't hold out much hope, as I am one for great ideas, but a little slow on the 'get it happening' or 'get it finished' (read: concrete was laid in May...)

Either way, I'll enjoy filling up my shed!!

M

Why is it so?

Today I was reading someone’s Blog, they were talking about how they have had to battle with their self confidence due to a comment made by someone else. They felt they had to do a ‘status check’ on their life before moving on. Fortunately I now read that they have moved past this and made some fantastic positive steps and are back on track!!

 

It seems that there is so much going on in society that tells people who they should be and how they should act and what they should look like to be considered ‘normal’. What is normal? and who gets to make the rules? But more importantly – why do people think that it is their place to pass judgement or comment? Who are they anyway?

 

I suppose the reason for these comments is that I have become increasingly disillusioned by our ‘society’, so much so that I am more and more referring it to a ‘group of people that live close to each other’. But at the same time, many want to have their say about those who they would not otherwise make any effort to relate to.

 

When I started running, I noticed that whenever I passed someone there would often be an effort to NOT look at me and forget about a smile or a hello. So I decided to say hello to everyone I passed and see what the reactions would be, it varied from a cheery reply, a surprised belated reply, polite reply, a smile, a nod, but there are still many who ignore the greeting all together. Even in our street – and I am to blame here also – we only speak to one of our neighbours regularly, and most I have not met despite being there a year now.

 

So why do we still feel that we have to measure up to some unwritten expectations? Even though we associate with relatively few people in our society.

 

To those that feel like they have to conform or perform to fit in, my message is:

‘Be true to yourself, be happy with who you are, impress only yourself. If you are not impacting on someone’s quality of life, then you do what you feel is best for you. If someone wants to waste their time critising you, let them. Don’t waste your time by being worried about it. Unless you ask for someones opinion, don’t worry about the freebies that are offered’

 

BTW – next time you are standing with an ‘awkward silence’ with a stranger in a queue or when you pass someone on your run – say hello, you will bring our society one little bit closer. Imagine if everyone gave a polite greeting to a stranger even just 5 times a week, that would be 100 million contacts with strangers in Australia every week!!

 

M

 

 

PolCom - 4

As mentioned I attended a First Aid course for the last 2 days, and a comment made by the trainer got me thinking about a topic briefly mentioned on the Ausrun forum a little while ago.

 

The comment was along the lines of ‘people who have had some form of First Aid training are less likely to have accidents while driving or in the workplace’. I can’t exactly recall if or how this was substantiated, but that aside and assuming it is correct why our government doesn’t do more to get more people trained in First Aid.

 

This is in a similar line to the issue of obesity and lack of fitness in society. The government would know how much money is being spent on health and how many lives are lost due to avoidable life choices, yet there is a far greater push to publicise other causes of death (eg road toll, drug abuse etc).

 

Surely a government that is looking out for the interests of the public would start to consider how to get more people living a health and fitness conscious lifestyle, and getting safety training etc if these things will directly contribute to a reduced burden on the health system, a greater quality of life and a reduced death toll from avoidable life choices.

 

We all know that participating in exercise and healthy eating does not come for free, and attending training is not free either. Doing nothing certainly comes at a great discount…. So why are these positive activities not subsidised by the government in some way? Surely it can be done through the tax system, reduced Medicare levy for a healthy lifestyle choice – I know I don’t use the $800+ I contribute via tax each year, tax deductions for exercise equipment over a certain value, or gym / club memberships.

 

There has to be a way our government can make a positive impact on the people in society and their health and fitness.

 

M

 

PS – For those curious minds wondering if I am doing anything about the topics I raise on this little blog? Currently I am working towards learning who the best people to contact are in order to discuss these issues.

If you have a strong feeling one way or another on any of , then leave a comment – make YOUR feelings known too.

Monday in Croydon

On Monday I attended day 1 of my First Aid course, located in Croydon and a 4.30pm finish meant that I wasn’t going to miss a chance for a run.

Parked at the Fred Gale (??) oval and ran very easy along the creek trail towards Bayswater.

Passed a few walkers and runners, then I passed a guy in his 20’s (maybe), looking very sullen sitting on a bench beer in one hand, empty bottle on the ground.

It is sad to see, but for me it is a reminder of the fact that I am doing the right thing for me by getting out for a run.

 

I got to Eastfield road at about 12 mins so I thought I’d stretch and head back to the athletics track. As I am aware I need to take things easy on my knee for a while, and running a little is better than not at all.

 

I got to the track and their was a father and son doing 300m repeats, and it made me wonder if either of my boys will want to do that one day….

I decided that I would do some 400s  with a 200m slow jog recovery, each rep working a bit harder. I used to run 400m as a teen so it was also a bit of a check to see if I could ever run at the same pace for a once off 400.

Laps were approx, 1.50, 1.38, 1.31, 1.18 with about 60sec jog between, happy enough in that the laps did get quicker as planned at 1.18 I was not at 100%, but at the same time I realise that I will need to do many more speed sessions before a 55 sec 400 is going to be possible.

 

So after about 30 mins of running I was happy to head home. With my knee not even giving a whimper.

 

I was great to be out in the warm afternoon doing something good for me.

 

M

Family

It's been a great week for us at home.
My 2 boys - J is 3yrs and Z is 9mths.

In the last days it has been more and more apparent how fast they do grow up.
Z has been crawling only a short time, but already he is pulling himself up and 'cruising', so the break from being 'on-hand' at all times was short lived as we now need to ensure there are no 'big bangs'. But it is great to see him becoming more independant.
J was very excited last night as he helped dress himself, he pulled on his pants and helped with the buttons, and he was so excited to tell mum all about it.

Being a Dad for 2 fantastic boys is excellent!!

M

Thursday night Lake run

Again an early finish at work so it was off to the Lillydale Lake for another 30-40mins.

I wanted to test a longer loop that I have run parts of but never as a full circuit, I’ve mentioned before that the lake is only 2.5ks and I’m not a big fan of covering the same ground over and over on the same run.

 

In case someone local reads this I’ll describe the course, especially as I did really enjoy it and will use it again when I visit the lake.

 

Starting at the playground.

Go left (south..ish), don’t cross the bridge, go left towards the wetlands.

Follow the path towards the main road.

Right at the road and follow it through to the newly created park area.

Head right and cross the footbridge to the new estate.

At the footpath go left to the wetlands.

Do a lap of the wetlands (on the corner of Hull Rd)

Back up the footpath towards the Lake.

When you get to the gravel head down the hill to the lakeside.

At the lake go right.

Follow it around to the bridge but do not cross.

Go right towards the wetlands.

Go right and go up the zig zag boardwalk.

At the top go right and back down the hill to the lake again.

At the lakeside go left.

Do a lap of the lake to the far end of the dam wall.

Go up the hill rather than on the lower trail.

This goes past the hospital.

Soon you are back at the playground.

 

This course took me 35ish mins, so estimate somewhere between 7-8km

A good mixture of flats, small hills, measured sections (lakeside), and changing scenery.

 

Even 2 laps at an hour plus would not be too monotonous.

 

Legs felt better than Wed night, but my ITB (??maybe) niggle returned, so more stretching on the agenda.

Result is that I did have to cancel my normal Friday morning run, but 3 days in a row might have been pushing it too much.

 

Next run will depend on how the knee feels, so perhaps it will not be until Monday evening when I might make a return to the Niketown Running Club.

 

It feels good to be running regularly again.

 

M

Wed night trot

After last weeks successful start to my new ‘running habit’, it took a couple of days to get this week under way.

 

Last week I ran on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, I decided it best to take it easy and so I did not run over the weekend.

The beginning of the week was taken up with work and a day off that did not eventuate…

 

Wednesday night I was determined to get a run under my belt, so I took my gear to work and headed straight for a running trail near work.

I’ve run the Dandenong Creek trail several times but always heading south, so I ran the other way, and I’m kind of glad I did, while it not a bad trail it is certainly not as nice as it is when you go south.

 

It was cool and it was very windy, but I was happy to be out there.

I stretched a bit earlier than the last couple of runs, as the legs and back were a little stiff and sore, but it did not seem to make much difference.

Determined to get the k’s into the legs I pushed on to a 20min turnaround, and then walked for 60 secs before running back into the wind….

 

In a bit of hurt, I pushed harder trying to pace my way out of it and it almost worked in that I got back in 19mins and the hurt was reduced, or was I just numb??

 

Cool down was shortened as there were a couple of characters in the carpark that I wanted to stay clear of, in the car and home.

Radio suggested it was 9 deg – a bit chilly and more like the morning temps I have run in.

 

M