30th July, 6.5km, Vomero

Quick jaunt tonight - seems I've discovered night running again - 3 of the last 4 runs have been after 8pm.

The legs were a little heavy so I suppose it was a bit of recovery.

No watch again, just ticking over without any real effort.

Looks like I'll be helping S2F with their long run training groups on Saturdays in the lead up to Melbourne Marathon '07. It will be good to get out and about with a group again. I am a little nervous about wearing the Asics sponsor gear, since it is forever - literally - since I've run in anything other than Nike stuff. I'm sure the Asics will be just fine, but a first for me just the same.

28th July, 13km, Skylon

Night time run. Fast start, then consistent hard effort.
Lots of hills, with a tough uphill to get home - as always.

Lower back felt very rough, legs mostly good. Recent lower shin tightness and calf tightness has disappeared, must be getting a little conditioning in there.
Right leg a little 'heavy', might be still catching up from the small groin strain. As it did hang around unknowingly (due to not running) longer than thought. No trouble or pain tonight.

Happy with pace, did not have to walk any hills. Less than an hour to cover 13km, including a couple of stretching stops to loosen back.

Skylon shoes are great.

3 decent runs this week, hopefully a shorter gentler run tomorrow night, then long run during the week - maybe Tuesday.

26th July, 14km Span Triax

Had to drop off the car for a service, so provided a perfect excuse to run home.

Planned a slightly extended route to take it to 10km+

Again no watch, just run.

From Croydon went up Kent to Yarra Rd. Had planned to go to Holloway Rd then home via Black Springs Rd.

Here's a big tip: Run along Yarra Rd. Gravel trail feels like the country. Pure runners gold. Or maybe I was just in a good mood, but will definitely go back again.

Today it was Yarra to Homestead and then to Black Springs (which is rougher, but not too bad)
The uphill to home is always tough, today was not as bad as it could have been.

Happy with 14km.

23rd July - 10km, Skylon

Ran because I'd run out of excuses not to.

Just laced on the wheels and went, no watch, no plan, no pressure.
Started quick then dialed it right back to just enjoy the road.

Along the way I ran into my dream suburban street - I use the word suburban because I also have a dream for a country property - I use the word dream because there is currently a vacant block for sale in this said street.
I have a strong feeling that I'll 'accidently' find myself running in this street regularly, at least until the dream dies with the block being sold.... unfortunately not to me since I don't have a spare $369,000 to buy - forget about the building bit :(

This street is a court, high on the hill, approx 16 homes in total, one side is mostly a reserve with large trees. The vacant block is on the good side, with amazing views to the city.

My trouble is I dream big......which makes it tough for them to come true.....



Thoroughly enjoyed the run so it was worth getting out the door.

15th July - 25km, 2hr, Perseus

Lucky I didn't see Stu's comment until after this mornings run, it might have been enough to give me an excuse not to run.....

By late last night the pain in the neck had settled nicely. So I dutifully set the alarm for 5.50am, which would mean a long run starting in the dark, but also meant I could be home by 9am.

Up and out, and the pains and niggles did not feature....I must have still been asleep.

Not keen on running any hills I went to the Koonung Trail along the Eastern Fwy. I've plotted the course here http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/australia/mitcham/599590968 and if you check the profile you will see I was mistaken.... It was not a hilly course, but it was all down and then all up.....gently but noticeable on the way home.

Early in the run I was not enjoying the cold, or the dark or the tightness in the shins.
Warmed up better once it was light. Then found a nice rhythm to the turn around, after approx 1hr??? Only unsure due to the battery in SDM going flat along the way. So even the overall time is an educated guess based on my memory for the departure time.

No pain in the problem areas of my back and neck. I little tight in the glutes, but nothing to cause struggle. One leg got a little sore near the groin, but I'm sure its not anything that will hang around.

Given the uphill return, I'm guessing its a double negative split. Slightly less time, but with uphill creating greater effort, so a double negative....... if that is legitimate.

Also worth noting the new 'equipment' I saw along the way. It seems the council has installed gym like machines in 2 or 3 groups, so creating an outdoor exercise area to simulate the indoor commercial venues. They looked generally vandal proof and sturdy. If I lived closer I might be tempted to take advantage of these machines. Great to see something new, that genuinely promotes some exercise and activity.

More than 12hrs later, I'm feeling good about the run.
This week, I'll just be aiming to get out every second day.

13th July, 9.5km, 47min, Span

A pretty nasty week for me.
Started with poor motivation on the weekend, so the longish run on Sunday night meant running early Monday was out, then Tuesday came and went, Wednesday no running early then the trouble started.

At work that day we had to re-do a lot of the merchandising through the store, so this meant a lot of lifting and bending and awkward work in amongst shelves and racking etc. Nothing too tough, but it did go on most of the day. I believe this laid the platform for my trouble.

After work I arranged to meet some guys for a game of squash, in theory a great idea!! In practice it was a disaster.

It took about 3mins after a warm-up for me to get an almighty pain in the back. Nothing that I haven't had before, but I knew it would mean a few days of getting about like an old man. So the rest of the game was a bit stiff and sore. Throw it in with the fact I haven't played in 10 years or so, and it made for an almost comical event.....

Thursday morning confirmed the inevitable. Sore back and jabs of pain whenever changing position. To explain - the reason for my flippant sentiments is that I have had back trouble since my teens due to a genetic fault in my vertebra spacing. Simply means it cops a bit of extra pressure under stressful conditions.

By Friday my back was OK, but the muscles used on Wednesday night were objecting, mainly the quads and glutes.

So here we are on Saturday and I had to at least see if I could move. We took the boys down to Lillydale Lake where a walk around showed no major pain or trouble. I had my running gear with me just in case, so I got clearance to run home.

A direct route would have taken about 25min, so I planned an extended version. Without a watch I had to guess on a course to take about 40min. Of course, getting from the Lake to home is uphill whichever way you go. It was decided that I would take on a couple of hills that I had not run up before. Hull Rd from the wetlands to the top of Lakeside Dr- a steep sucker early on. Then Bimbadeen Dr, followed by the slow rise to the highest point in Mooroolbark.

Close to home I felt too fresh to have been going 40min with those hills, so I did a bit of loopy work to extend it out. When home in 47min I was pleasantly surprised. The legs and back and glutes all felt really good.

But - my trouble is not yet over. Showering after the run, I tipped my head back to wash my hair and felt a spasm in my neck just below the shoulder line.....grrr ......why me.....humph.
So here I am gingerly moving my head and neck etc, hoping it settles quickly so I can get out for a long slow trot tomorrow morning. To try an salvage some running for this week.

8th July, 17km, 73min, Span.

How Bizarre.....

Yesterday I could not put in a title for the post, no change today, but I did get an e-mail copy of the post....something that has been missing for some time now despite changes and updates to try and fix it.....

What a terrible weekend for running? No, not the weather. Just me and my love of a soft warm bed.

Saturday morning - alarm set, alarm goes off, alarm ignored....no running
Sunday morning - alarm set, alarm goes off, alarm ignored.....no running, go to work.

When I got home, I quickly changed into my running gear, knowing that I couldn't get out until boys were in bed, but I knew I'd go if I was in my gear.

Out the door, motivation not too high, air cold, feeling unenthused.

Planned on trying to go for over an hour, just not sure how much more.
The chosen route was all going to be OK in the dark, it was just an old course with the boundaries expanded to turn a 50-55min run into 65min+. Mostly got it right, but made a mess once into the back streets of Mooroolbark, although checking the map again showed I would have probably ended up in a real muddle had I taken the original ideas.

I kept the pace on the high side, but didn't take the hills too seriously, just made sure the momentum was OK.

Close to home I saw 60min tick over, so extended the course to give me another 13min running. Happy with the 73min for almost 17km. Ave pace better than 4m40s so the flatter sections would have been 4m30s or less.

At the end I was glad it was over. I think 60min is the most I can take at night in the dark. The mornings are OK since it is normally light by the time its all done. Tonight was a reasonable compromise for missing the all important longer run.... back into it next week.

6th July - 12.5km, Skylon

Blogger is not allowing me to set a title....????

Up early due to guests coming for breakfast.

Out the door at 6.20, planned on running for an hour or so.
Took in a nice loop including Exeter Rd and Lyons Rd.

Finished in about 58min so pleased with the outing, didn't have to push at any point, just let it happen.

3rd July, 10km, 43min, Perseus

In what was supposed to be just a loosener after the weekend long run, it turned out a little differently.....

Day off, so I was able to run in the afternoon daylight - might have even had a little sunshine - at the Lillydale Lake.

It was ominous early after deciding that hospital hill would be a good warm-up when my right calf decided a spasm was a funny joke - yeah real funny. Fortunately it was something that came and then slowly went away.

The pace was definitely easy early on, but at some point I realised I was moving quicker than planned. It seemed a bit too easy so just went with it. The session became a bit of a Kenyan faster faster faster run. Mix this up with changing my route a couple of times to stretch it out you can tell I was just in a groove.

When I finished I was a bit spent, but not enough to feel stressed. Guessing that I'd been going for roughly 40min as per the plan I was happy. So imagine my surprise when a time check revealed only 37m30s, and almost 9km. So allowing for over distance error it is still an average of less than 4m20s. Given the easy start and the couple of hills I had, the last few km had to be at or around 4min/k. Without being in pain or fatigue at this speed I was very happy.

To finish off I jogged slowly to the water dribble (not enough to be a bubbler or fountain) and back to round it off at 10km - incl another hospital hill just to repay the joke on my calf.....

1st July, 21km 1hr47m, Vomero

With a Sunday off, I took the chance to meet up with Tim Crosbie (Old Miler) and his HVT squad http://www.hvtraining.com/ at Sherbrooke. On the way I picked up JH & PJ.

After plenty of rain the trails were all very soft and muddy, so it was going to be a messy affair.

The early parts of the run were just teasers for what was to come later. After almost an hour we had done much more downhill and flat ground running that I thought was possible, but that only meant the uphill was yet to come.

I had never been up in that part of the Dandenongs so was a little surprised when we almost got to Belgrave. From here it was mostly uphill. The first one was good, felt pretty comfortable. But after that any long hill requiring sustained effort became too much to keep the running momentum going, so several walk breaks were in order. It seems that my endurance is still not quite aligned with my leg speed, since when I get moving I actually go OK.

I understand that I am really only just getting back into some longer work, but it is still frustrating when I think about how much I've lost in this area. I shudder to think what I would have done if I attempted to join these guys 3 or 4 weeks ago....

JH was clearly still in great shape after all his marathon work, and he made it look all too easy. PJ took advantage of having the super coach around and stuck with OM for most of the session.

Felt pretty good after the run, so lingering pains from the run. Not hard to guess what I'll be working on each weekend run that I get the chance.....longer longer longer.

Just remembered, I haven't rinsed my shoes yet - better do that before they set like rock with the mud covering.

Thanks to Tim & Kate and the crowd for having us along.