R&R

Three weeks post Boston and I've really enjoyed the Rest and Relaxation. This is probably the most true rest I've had for some time. Although I missed a lot of running at the start of the year, I was very mentally focussed on running and rehab, and did a lot of non running exercise/rehab.

The last 3 weeks I've done very little, and very little cross training. I flew back in to Perth Sunday and went back to work monday - so a week of jetlag and catchup work meant I didn't have time or energy to exercise - a good rest for my femur (although it still aches at night suggesting the stress fracture hasn't fully healed yet)

Boston photos attached!

The hills really are alive!

Driving round New England is a great way to recover post marathon - last 2 nights in Vermont at the Trapp family lodge - where the real van Trapp family settled after fleeing Austria.

I had intended not running for the rest of the trip, but the trails beckoned. There are a bunch of Cross Country Skiing trails ( no snow currently) and Mountain Bike Trails which were great to jog around. 10k in TB style with plenty of walks and exploring. My legs have continued to be very sore after this marathon compared with most, but they warmed up nicely.

Today the right thigh/stress reaction is aching pretty badly, so I might need to go back to the plan of no running for a few weeks.

Meanwhile the diet of 3 cooked meals a day and plenty of wine should leave me needing to drop a few kgs when I get home. Back to the gym I guess.

Boston Marathon

3:01:06 - have to be happy with that!

Rob and I got on an early bus and chatted nervously for the 45 min drive to Hopkinton.
Had a bagel, muesli bar, coffee and gatorade before the run. The 3 hours at the village went fairly quickly as we tried not to freeze and took turns going to the toilets. They must have improved on last year as the longest I had to wait was 5 minutes, and that was just before we left.

We split at the clothes drop-off and made the long walk to the start - got to the corral 20 min before the start, just in time for the anthem and flyby. Two guys next to me peed on the ground in the corral - just as Sugar described last year.

Suddenly we were off, and I was surprised to be on a good pace within a few hundred metres. My thigh was aching on the initial downhill kms, but there was too much going on to notice.

I ran at the pace of those around me - and before I knew it it was 8km. There had been a continuous wall of people lining the roads. The kms kept coming fast as I looked out for the various landmarks described by others -Ashland, Framingham, Natick, the mirror to check out your form.

I have to thank Sugar and B'man for their suggestion re putting my name on my singlet. I had large clearly printed Craig/Australia on my singlet and had pretty much continuous callouts and cries of AussieAussieAussie. Initially I was calling back OiOiOi, later just Oi, later just raising my hand, towards the end just grimacing. I think I gave out more high fives than I have in my entire life. Especially at Wellesley - where I didn't stop for a kiss, but did high five continuously for about 500m.

I knew I was likely to hit the wall in the second half, but decided to enjoy feeling good for as long as it lasted. Initially that was to do a decent half, then 25k, then 28k, then get over heartbreak hill. I managed to do all these, to my great surprise.

I ran into Newton xpecting 3 hills, and thought they were a long time coming. Finally there was a decent hill and I got over it OK, expecting 2 more. But someone on a microphone called out that we had got over heartbreak hill! They really were little hills.

After 35k is when I started to really stuggle - and it was my quads that went. I was kind of hoping that it was all downhill from here and I had enough in the bank to go sub3. But there was enough flat and uphill to make me struggle. First I walked through a drink station and started cramping up as I got runnng again. Then over the last 5k I stopped 3 or 4 times. Each time the crowd would scream at me - dont stop Craig! another advantage of my labelled singlet, and when I started shuffling again they would cheer. I suspect if this was Perth I would have ended up doing 3:05-3:10. I still held out hope of scraping under 3hrs until 40k, but the little underpass around that part was too much for me and I walked a little again.

As Clown described, turning in to Boylston I felt a surge of excitement, but the finish line seemed to be like a mirage until I finally passed it.

At the finish I realised how cold it was, and started to shiver. I went and sat on one of the chair in the medical tent before getting my gear and meeting Rob and the girls. Had a quiet afternoon and a fun dinner. Have to say that my legs are the sorest they've been since my first marathon - driving is going to be a challenge.

Congrats Rob on a PB, although it wasn't quite what you hoped/deserved, it will happen!
Personally I am ecstatic I ran as fast as I did on the prep, and have no regrets. With that little training in my legs over 4 months I knew I was going to hit the wall and am only amazed I got as far as I did in good time.

More holiday for me now - hope to see all in the coming weeks. Many thanks for all the support.

Boston Marathon - preamble

First of all, my apologies for my 'radio silence' of the last 3 weeks. This came down to two things. First - I spat the dummy to some extent. Having used all that emotional energy to get back from the knee surgery, to then injure the other leg was pretty gut wrenching. But I knew if I was going to get to run Boston I needed to take the last 3 weeks pretty much completely off running. The way I am, if I was to continue posting, looking at other's blogs and strands updates, I was going to be sucked up into training more than I should - trying to keep up with the Jones's, as it were (or keep up with the Clowns).

So I stopped logging and blogging and actually did what I intended - ran very little.

3rd week out I did elliptical trainer every day, and tried a couple of runs. An aborted Sunday run with Rob was the last straw - had to walk back at 3k because the thigh was so sore.

2 weeks out I did 4 days elliptical, one day running treadmill.
Final week 4x treadmill runs total 20k - the thigh hurt, but was bearable

We were lucky to have 9 days in the US prior to the run. I didn't focus on it at all and enjoyed New York, and food/wine with my brother an his family. Only when we made it to Boston and caught up with Rob did I start thinking about the run at all.

The expo at Boston was huge, and I think I carbo loaded quite well just on the energy bar samples. We also had pasta dinners the two nights preceding the run.

I had no idea what to expect - I had run less than 20k each of the last 3 weeks off a short base. But I knew from Darlington that I had the ability to run well off little training

Three weeks 'til Boston

Not much to report since Friday.

First of all congrats to Sugar and Biscuitman for their Bridges results, and to Sling for another near miss to go sub3 in the Marathon - it's beckoning this year.

I ran Sat morning to test the thigh out - did 1km jogs interpersed with stretches. In the 8k I ran the only moderately painfree part was a km I ran barefoot on an oval nearby, obviously the more forefoot gait is less of a strain.

This morning I managed an anti-inflammatory assisted 20km, although the whole session took nearly 3 hours - my wife was about to send out a search party after I told her I'd be out for an hour and a half. I hobbled down to the Scotch college playing fields and ran 1km loops on the grass, again the best and fastest were the 2k run barefoot. I had a good patch from 10-15k run continuously then the thigh got worse again.

So that's the last 'long' run per se in my prep - will try to run 4 days this coming week and if by some sheer chance things are feeling better I might try for another 20k next weekend, but I'd rather not chance it if there's a chance of making things worse. Hopefully I'll get down to the gym for some bike and elliptical in the interim, or even some water running.

On a side note, humorous bargain of the week : Tiger Woods/Nike golf gift pack (golf shirt, cap and Nike 1 balls) reduced from $140 to $30 at Rebel. When your stocks are down, they're down! Great B'day present for Dad though - the golf balls are worth the price alone and the TW logo on the shirt is pretty subtle. Anyway, once he wins the Masters he'll be popular again.

(I note the media knew he was reconciling with his wife when she started wearing Nike shirts again)

Trouble

The thigh pain was not a mere muscle strain
I think I knew this already, but once my antiinflammatories wore off on Wednesday's run I knew things were worse - couldn't run home due to the pain - a deep ache in the thigh

I organised an MRI and it showed a periosteal stress reaction on the femur - a Grade 1 injury where Grade 3 is a stress fracture. (pre-stress fracture you might say) There were no changes in the cortex (middle) of the bone. Classic scenario with altered gait fr4om the other knee and rapid increase in mileage after 4 weeks off.

To my surprise, the specialist thinks I can still run Boston. Without cortical changes this is unlikely to progress to a full stress fracture. I will need to markedly reduce my training from now, though, so the plan made with Mona is out the window. With 3 and a half weeks left it's a long taper keeping the legs turing over with minimal stress on the leg.

So aim will be back to just finishing, I'll be watching my pain closely, but hopefully I can still run Boston!!!!

Steve Monaghetti Camp

I can honestly say that the camp exceeded all expectations for me.

From Friday night's recovery run where I ran the first couple of km at the back f the pack, chatting to Mona about my running, the whole weekend continued with running as the focus.

Without going into too much boring detail, lessons/impressions:

MONA
Steve was incredibly accessible, humble and down to earth. He helped me devise a shorter, more severe taper taking into account my short preparation and travel commitments in the last week. One overwhelming message was that running more easy paced total distance will help improvement far more than any session. He ran twice a day, 200k per week, week in week out with 19k/10% each week quality - a Mona fartlek or 400s, and a timetrial on a rolling hilly course of 8k, plus fairly frequent short races mainly cross country.

RAF
Unexpectedly for me, Raf opened up a new insight into running culture for me. His passion for WA running is compelling, especially for the nurturing of potential young elite runners. Certainly my perception of his store and the Frontrunner coaching groups has changed, and a number of us seem to be considering getting involved in some way, so I guess the camp achieved that purpose for him - to make it the centre of distance running excellence in the state. (Much was spoken about the deficiencies of the WAMC in catering to certain runners which was also very interesting). Mona mentined that in some ways it's sad we have one big running club rather than several small ones who could compete in various events more often, as is done in the Eastern States.

Physio/Dietician Sessions
I dont think a description by me would do justice to the nutrition talk - but it certainly had us all talking about it for the entire weekend - which must be good! I now know that Mexican food is ridiculous and Thai food is a joke!
The physio session was refreshing in that the focus was on running as the best thing to do to help strengthen running muscles, and that a small number of strenghtening exercises, taking a small amount of time, is all you need to do if not currently injured.

Participants
Great group of people all talking about the same stuff, nearly all 'mid-pack' runners, of varying ability

On to the running -
Monday 6.1k@4:58 - pretty stiff and sore post HM
Tuesday 20.1k@4:36. Still felt stiff and sore but it was such a glorious night I kept on plodding
Wed 12k@4:21 with 3k at 4:00 and later 1.5k@4:00 - knee felt pretty sore after this, so I took Thursday off
Friday am 10.25k@4:37 - easy
Friday pm 8.7k@5:17 - easy group run at camp on gravel road, rolling hills.
Sat am Mona fartlek with Mona - how cool is that! Partly on gravel and partly on grass - did 5.35k in the 20min all up - worked pretty hard. 4k w/up, 3.7k c/down
Sat pm 10.58k@4:53 - Rob and took a wrong turn on this recovery run after we split from the group, but it was a lovely evening to run and we got to use the breadcrumb function on our garmins

Sun am 20.6k@450s or so (accidentally stopped my Garmin for a bit) This was hilly and more intense than a usual long run, hence the shortness. My knee struggled on the steep downhills on the trail.

So 101km for the week and 319km for the month so far, with two more weeks of full on training. Mona suggested in the next two weeks I try to fit in an extra long run midweek one week to make up for my lack of distance - my speed seems more than adequate from the HM and the Fartlek session.

BOSTON BIB NUMBER

2379!!!

This one's for Memphis and Mav

Darlington HM this week - my only hitout prior to the Marathon, so I felt psychologically it was an important race to do.

Mon Mar 8, 2010	10.02	48:03	4:47		X
Tue Mar 9, 2010	10.00	46:11	4:37		X
Tue Mar 9, 2010	11.00	48:00	4:21		X
Wed Mar 10, 2010	13.50	59:30	4:24		X
Fri Mar 12, 2010	14.04	1:02:01	4:25		X
Sat Mar 13, 2010	10.09	47:18	4:41
Sun Mar 14, 2010	21.26	1:25:56	4:02

Total 89.90km

Total 6:36:59

Avg. 4:24

Monday and Tuesday am I was pretty stiff and sore - took an antiinflammatory on Tuesday after the am run

Tuesday pm did a treadmill interval effort, a bit like a Yasso. Continuous 5x1k at 3:38 with 500m at 5:15 recoveries at 1% gradient. The 7km session was just over 28 min (although treadmill easier than road)

Wed pm ran too fast in too hot conditions, hit the red zone and felt hot and nauseous all night. Lucky to escape without catching a virus as I usually do after a session like this.

Thurs off to ensure recovery from Wed

Friday am still hot - 29 degree minimum, but hit a really good rhythm thanks to my first rest day in a couple of weeks. Felt smooth for once

Sat am held back nice and easy

Today - first mistake was to have curry the night before a race. Didn't bother me before or during, but had a pretty uncomfortable time for a few hours after the run - spent some quality time with the doulton.

2 k warm up then assembled to start. Wanted an effort based hitout to see where I was. Took off fairly conservatively for me, and hit a comfortable rhythm quickly. Shocked by the route change with a steep down then steep up at 4-5k which stunned the legs a bit, but I soon got into the swing of the slow uphill on which I seem to thrive. I was sitting 50m behind BigKev and his minions for most of the race, picking off a couple of stragglers but not making ground on them.

Hit halfway going at 4:10s or so and was a bit tentative initially going downhill, was rapidly overtaken by a couple of longstriders, despite me doing 3:50s. Colin Francis passed me like I was standing still.

Struggled a bit with the quads and took a 20m walk at the 17k drink station although this only slowed the split to 4:00. Hung tough down the final 3k dirt and managed to pass Peter Sullivan with a couple of hundred metres to go - he said something to me that I wasn't sure if it was encouraging or disparaging about me trying to gain a couple of seconds in the final couple of hundred metres - either way that guy is always intense!

Pretty pleased to scrape in under 1:26 - a fair way behind last years time albeit on a slightly harder course and more difficult conditions

3:55/4:16/4:10/4:08/4:03 20:32 (up 70m)
4:03/4:15/4:13/4:14/4:11 20:56 (up 90m)
4:02/4:03/4:02/4:00/3:51 19:58 (down 17m)
3:53/3:51/4:00/4:01/3:50 19:35 (down 110m)
3:51 (down 30m)

It has been suggested to me that I might be back on the sub3:00 trail for Boston, and to be honest if my prep continues well I'll defintely put myself in the position at 32k to do it if I have the legs, but lets knuckle down to a couple more training weeks first (a bit of Mona magic should help too)

Longer, Stronger

True to my word, I focussed on endurance and strength this week

126km @ 4:40

Mon Mar 1, 2010	28.11	2:14:12	4:46		X
Tue Mar 2, 2010	16.08	1:13:54	4:35		X
Wed Mar 3, 2010	14.11	1:04:02	4:32		X
Thu Mar 4, 2010	10.05	49:01	4:52		X
Fri Mar 5, 2010	2.97	14:19	4:49		X
Fri Mar 5, 2010	10.00	42:05	4:12		X
Fri Mar 5, 2010	1.69	07:45	4:35		X
Sat Mar 6, 2010	11.05	52:43	4:46		X
Sun Mar 7, 2010	32.01	2:30:55	4:42

Trialling Cut&Paste from Strands

Monday long run see last weeks post
Tuesday pm medium 16k run along the river. First 10k easy then sped up a little to keep up with someone who passed me, although splits dnt really reflect this
Wed pm medium 14k run. Was an easier effort than Tues but faster
Thurs am First true recovery run for a while - nice in a way to have really aching legs
Friday am. Intended longer tempo. After 3k warmup set out at 4:00s and lasted 1.5k sore shins and knee so I pulled back to a jog. After a few more km I felt good again and did 5k@4:00
Sat am recovery
Sun am. Long run with Clown. Wet back to the old hillier route Kings Park-Bold Park loop - North to Scaborough - back to Hale Rd and up over the tw stage hill then back to Kings Park. We took it fairly steady and did quite well. Even managed 4:10s for the last 1.5km.

The body has coped OK with the mileage. Left (bad) knee sore on downhills only. Right quads quite sore right in the middle just above the kneecap (quads tendon) - a different type of quad pain than I've had before.

My week has probably been influenced by my rereading of Lydiard's book, and I intend to push on wih 100km plus weeks with only one tempo/faster session and no intervals foer the next 3 weeks. I'll not taper for Darlington in mileage but will keep the pace easier this week.

I'm starting to get used to Strands despite it being ridiculously slow and the interface being a bit clunky. Despite this I intend to keep up my weekly post - a nice way to look back at how I was feeling beyond reading the numbers. My only other concern is the rise of miles as the running unit for Clown and Biscuitman, for example Clown ran to finish 20 miles today rather than to finish 32km and did a 5 mile tempo rather than 8k - what country are we living in - pull your head in Clown :)

Grist for the mill

The treadmill, that is.

Had a couple of treadmill workouts this week to beat the heat, although with only an evaporative A/C at the gym, it took 35 and dry to 25 and humid - not sure which was worse. On one of the sessions I sweated so much my feet were slipping on the treadmill surface!

70km@ 4:36

Monday rest after the long Sunday run - felt OK
Tues am 9.85k@ 4:43 - easy
Tues pm 11.5k treadmill - warmup then 5k@4:00, 2k@4:00, 3k@4:00. Most was on no incline so easier than running that pace on the roads. It was hot. Damn hot. Hot and wet - good when you're with a woman, not good when you're on a treadmill ( to paraphrase Robyn Williams)

Wed pm 10k treadmill 4:30s overall but did 2 progression inclines - each one minute increased gradient 1% until 6%/6min, at 4:00s

Thurs - rest.
Friday 13.8k@4:43 flat
Saturday 14k@4:45 including Kings Park loop
Sunday 10k@4:48 treadmill - didn't run morning as was watching Mum do the short course womens triathlon up at Hilary's - was one of the few 60+ and for a lifetime non-athlete she did impressively well.


Monday am 28.1k with Rob. Included 2x9k Kings Park loops and 10k flat along the river. Was OK until after the 19k stop when Clown decided to pick up from our 4:45-4:50 pace to 4:20-4:25s for 5k - I fell behind a little but gradually wound up some speed. This knackered us for the last section back up to the top of King's Park so after a little walk/jog section, we walked back to the car.

Tues-Mon almost 100k (if I include about 3k run along the side of the bike leg on Sunday) first of this volume for some time.

The knee is holding up OK, body is coping OK. I feel a little flabby although have only gained 1kg on the scales - not sure how that happened with the higher mileage but will go off alcohol for March to rein that in.

My aim is a 400km+ March focussing on endurance and strength. Long runs, longer tempo and Kings Park runs will be the foci. I know it's too little too late for a sub3, but a solidly finished sub 3:10 would be nice.

Question for Biscuitman and Sugar - How were the drink stations at Boston? Very congested? Better to go for early tables or the late? Did you find the Gatorade 'Endurance Formula" noticably more salty than normal electrolyte drinks?


...and finally, I was struck by the efforts of TB,Nate,Dave & Co at the track ultra. Not sure if awestruck or dumbstruck is the right word, but struck either way. 6 or 12hrs in that heat is crazy - made this morning's effort seem pedestrian. Kudos to you all

Top of the wazza

Better week - 80k@4:39

Mon 10k@4:50
Tues 9k including 5x1k intervals. 3:41/3:35/3:44/3:39 final one only 500m
Wed 10k@4:40
Thurs rest
Friday 12k with 6k tempo. Garmin out of battery so not sure of pace. Expectations exceeded ability inthis one as I thought of last years 20k tempo efforts
Sat 10k@4:50
Sun 30k@4:44. Sore knee after saturday run made me wuss out on running with Biscuitman - decided to stay closer to home in case things went awry.

First 5k in 4:55s until I met Clown, running at his fast clip we went up to 4:30's or so for the next 6k then slowed down to 4:40-4:45s for the rest. Felt surprisingly good for the first 25k, then struggled a bit to the finish

So the mileage has really picked up, and although the knee swells and pains after the run, it's generally well behaved whilst I'm running. I must admit to breaking my self imposed rule and took an anti-inflammatory yesterday, may explain today's pain free effort

Tempus Fugit

Only 9 weeks 'til Boston!

55km in 4:40 this week

The week started badly - lasted 300m on Monday morning before having to turn back with pain under the kneecap (the aftereffect of my longer sunday run)

Tuesday 11k easy@4:45
Wednesday (pm) 11k with 5k@4:05 and 2k@4:00
Thurs (pm) 11k easy @4:45
Friday rest
Saturday 22k@4:40 - ran along the river to the belltower and back. Was briefly tempted to venture up into Kings Park but decided to play it safe. Took only one break at 16k mark - happy with that.

This morning I kept time at the Point Walter run, seeing Clown and Biscuitman both run 5k PBs although both would seem to have room to improve on these.

I trialled my new Socceroos shirt (EBay) this week as a potential Boston shirt - it's the lightest of any of the Green&Gold shirts I've come across although still fairly baggy and heavy compared to running specific shirts - we'll see how it goes on a less humid day

I'm Back, Baby

... in the immortal words of George Costanza.

Well the return to running plan is already out the window. 44k in 5 sessions. All easy 4:40-5:00 whilst running, plenty of breaks for stretching.

I started carefully with 3k treadmill then 5k treadmill/2k road Mon and Wed respectively

Friday 10k on the road/paths in multiple small sections, max 2k at once (out there for well over an hour)
Saturday 10k, max 5k at once
Sunday 14k, max 7k at once

Knee a bit niggly first 5-10 min until it warms up, then OK unless steep up/down hill
I've obviously got some altered gait/abductor weakness as my inner heel is scraping the inside of the other leg/calf unless I concentrate on form.
Niggles in plantar fascia, calf,hamstrings and glutes are all to be expcted after a prolonged break but nothing I'm getting too excited about.

I'm going to upgrade my return schedule, would like to get up to 70k/week in the next 2 weeks then back to the 10% rule and if all is good start adding some hills/tempo intervals.

Ready and raring to go

OK - 17 days since the surgery, ready to go.

Stitches came out on Tuesday, have done some crosstrainer, water running, and a little exercise bike (although this still hurts a bit at the point of maximum flexion).

I can hear you all asking - have you run? Of course I've tried! I have little self control. So much so that I told the trainer at the gym to pull me up if he saw me trying to run on the treadmill this week. I did and he did.(I didn't get far before he noticed)

The wound which leaked has healed, but the area still balloons out when I do a ew minutes on the crosstrainer. Strapping it helps a little.

This week I intend to start some gentle running. I'll try to stick to treadmill initially, then some grass running down near Steve's, progressing to flat running on the path around the river. Hills will have to wait.

I've drawn up a fairly conservative return to running schedule,

Feb Wk 1 20k 4x5k
Feb wk 2 30k 4 runs, long 10
Feb wk 3 40k 4 runs long 12
Feb wk4 50k 5 runs long 15
Mar wk1 60k 5 runs long 18
Mar wk2 70k 6 runs long 21
Mar wk3 80k 6 runs long 25
Mar wk4 85k 6 runs long 30
Mar5,Apr1 90k 6 runs long 32

April wks 2 and 3 taper

Looking at it, maybe not so conservative. I suspect I'll be keen to do more in weeks 2 and 3, but then may be hit quite hard by the progressive mileage increase thereafter. I intend to make marathon goal pace 4:30s for now, and may not do anything faster than MP, certainly not in the first 5 weeks. If I'm training well and the knee is good I woud rather start adding in hills at MP at that point rather than tempos.

The only race I'll consider doing is Dalington half - my long run should be up to 21k that weekend and if things are good I'd look at doing it in 95.

Anyway, these plans are almost certain to change to some extent - but it's nice to have some direction.

In preparation I've been looking for running shoes. I've decided despite many pairs of shoes, they are all wrong or worn out, and I'm going back to Asics2130 exclusively. So I've been watching out for a bargain.

Back when we were down south at NewYear I found a pair my size at the Dunsborough sports store for $120, but since couldn't find any my size in Perth, only 2140/2150s. Then I noticed you could buy 2 pairs womens 2130s for $100 at JimKidd - WTF. I did some research, wnt down and am now the proud owner of 2 pairs size 12 (equiv mens 10.5) wide womens 2130s. They are a couple of mm narrower in the toe box but otherwise pretty much exactly the same as he mens.
I did need to get out the black laundry marker and make the colour scheme a little more masculine, but I'm keen to get out and try them.

It's a bit weird. I've read that more womens then mens running shoes are sold in Australia, but they obviously like buying new. Another example was DS trainers, never on sale in mens ($220) were $109 in womens!

But I digress. Hopefully a positive post next week about how well I've coped with returning to running!

(PS - I've enrolled for the Mona training weekend)

Scuppered

WARNING: This post may contain discussion of surgery and medical conditions. I have been reminded over the last week that not everyone is comfortable with this.

My plans of an accelerated recovery program (ala Jana Pittman ) were scuppered this week when I literally sprang a leak. I'd had Thurs-Sun effectively off my feet and seemed to be going well. I was allowed to go to work on Monday, but walking out to the car I felt something rip in my port wound and out came an obscene amount of honey-like joint fluid.

This fluid leakage continued unabated for the next 24hours, soaking dressing after dressing, even when I was asleep. The only positive was that the swelling was going down! I went to see the surgeon the next day and he put a stitch in the wound. For those technically minded I had developed a synovial fistula

Positive - the leakage stopped. Negative - Minimal walking, no cycling/cross training for another week and no swimming for another week until the stitch comes out.

So here I am slowly going crazy with lack of aerobic exercise. I joined the gym and tried the 'water wheel' ergo - like an exercise bike for your arms - but my upper body is so weak I last about 5 minutes and have to stop. I have also rediscovered my dislike of upper body weight training.

So delayed again - shouldn't be a big deal but given my hopes for a Boston finish each further week not running is a further two weeks lost in return - one to regain fitness and one to improve from there. Looks like it will be six weeks gap between runs, four between reasonable aerobic activity.

Cool pics

Screenshots from my DVD!
Amazingly little pain, home watching the cricket by 11:30


1. Hole in cartilage (probe in the hole). There is a second hole/fissure lower left




2. View from another angle



Flattening out/'chomping' the edges

A view of the finished product

Under the Knife

It's been a rollercoaster of a fortnight.

The MRI scan surprisingly showed my lateral meniscus was normal, but a large chunk of cartilage had torn off from the lateral part of the patellofemoral joint - lateral femoral trochlea. (ie under my kneecap).

This seemed unusual to me. Most cases of patellofemoral injuries I come across are to do with bad biomechanics and seen in new runners, often overweight. To have gone so long without knee pain and then a sudden tear seemed wierd. A couple of factors sprang to mind. Firstly I did have a 'sticky' feeling in the knee on descent in Nepal - with the added weight of the pack this activity put a lot more stress on the knee. Secondly I tried a run without orthotics - I think it was the day the pain first came, if not it was the preceeding day. Having run in orthotics always in the last 5 years did this change the forces in the knee?

Anyhow, I am now both an inveterate and a degenerate runner.

An intercurrent gastro infection contracted from one of my nursing homes delayed the visit to the surgeon. In the meantime I have now gone 2 weeks without any running of note. I've headed out a couple of times since the swelling has settled down, with 3k the longest distance covered running. I fashioned my own deepwater running flotation belt from a cheap lifevest I bought at Anaconda (cut off the shoulder part) and have done a couple of sessions - lots of fun but difficult to get a cardiovascular workout of any note.

I saw the surgeon today. My options were twofold. With a large fragment of cartilage floating about inside my knee joint (it has moved to the back), and with the size of the defect in the cartilage, leaving it be was not one of the options. The option I took was to have arthroscopic surgery to trim the edges of the defect and remove the fragment. The second option was for a MACI graft - they harvest some of your own cartilage, grow it in a lab, then graft it back in a couple of weeks later. The negatives of this are 1. cost 2. 12 months until you can run again. Being, as I mentioned, an inveterate runner, this was not my option.

The surgery is first thing Thursday morning (quick but good). The surgeon is confident I'll be running 3-4 weeks after the surgery and thinks I'll be OK to run Boston, although clealy not in PB time with over a month no running then a gradual buildup. I'll be happy to be able to run it at all, and would think best case scenario 3:15 (but there's a lot of water to pass under the bridge before that)

The surgeon told me one of the Eagles players had a very similar looking injury on MRI and recovered successfully. A quick google search shows both Kerr and Brett Jones have had arthroscopic surgery on this area behind the kneecap - Clown may have a better idea given his deep and abiding affection for all things Eagles.

Next progress report hopefully 7 days postop and starting some deepwater running!

2009 in review, challenging times ahead

Belated 'year in review' post, I've just returned from 4 days down at Bunker Bay.

2009 was obviously a breakthrough year for me.

The springboard was good fitness coming into the year. This had been a weakness in previous years, and I used SixInch 08 as a goal to help this.

Jan/Feb - A very solid training block (including 42 consecutive days). Matilda Bay (38:21) 10k PB

March - PB for HM Darlington (1:23:06). Running in my best form ever at this point

April - Canberra in April (DNF) was a disappointment - perhaps a case of getting ahead of myself.

May/June - some good training interrupted by an ankle sprain and a flu

Jul - Perth Marathon (3:04:08) was also a bit of a letdown, despite being a 10 minute PB.

August - City To Surf Marathon (2:57:51) was the clear highlight of the year,

Septmber - a 10k PB at Freo (38:03) capping things off

October - light/rest month

November - Everest Base Camp trek with Clown was a non-running highlight.

December - third consecutive SixInch trail Marathon was a nice way to finish off an all round great year.


2010 has got off to a bad start. On Tuesday morning I felt a few twinges in my left knee. That evening the knee joint developed an effusion (fluid on the joint). Since then I have been unable to run for more than a couple of hundred metres.

It appears I have torn my lateral meniscus (cartilage) in the left knee. Most of the time this does not heal itself and requires surgery - Henry/Homo went though this a couple of years back.

I'm not sure where this leaves me. First up I need to see a specialist, probably get an MRI and discus the options. My initial thought was that Boston was off the cards entirely. More research suggests that I should wait and see. People have got bak running a week after this type of surgery.

Most famously, Joan Benoit won the 1984 Olympic Marathon Trial only 17 days after this type of surgery in 2:31, then 4 months later went on to win the inaugural LA Olympic Womens Marathon.

Update in a week!

Six Inch 2009

Well I did it - couldn't help myself. As expected it was a tough morning on the trails.

Saturday night I made my appearance at the family Christmas Party, got to sleep about 10, up at 2.

It was a hot morning in Perth, luckily a little cooler in Dwellingup, about 16C at 0430 start, 25 by the time I finished - but felt pretty hot in the exposed sections in the last 10k

My race went probably as one would expect - good speed from the good year, lacking endurance.
Starting up the long hill of the first couple of km, I fell into 5th/6th place with Nate - similar to last year. Just as per last year those in front of us - this time Big Kev and Brett, missed a turnoff. I missed it too - but Nate was close behind me and called me back to make the turn. This put us in 3rd/4th (somewhat undeservedly)

The 23k station was 1hr52 - 7 minutes faster than last year, and nate caught me there. The next few km we played yo-yo as Nate passed me up the hills ( I walked up) then I pulled back to him over the down/flats.

I made a little gap at Oakley dam and tried to push on to the second drink station ahead of him - in 2hr45 again about 7 min faster than last year.

I really started to struggle from here on in, walk-jogging the rest. I had a scare with 3k to go when I saw someone about 400m behind me. I mustered up all my remaining energy and finished ahead of them, ony to find out it was the leader of the 11k race, and that Nate was several mintes behind me - needn't have hurt myself so much.

Overall time 4hrs3 minutes -about 6 minutes slower than last year - I dont really believe I lost 13 minutes on last year in the last 10k - unfortunately I lost all my Garmin data from 08 so I can only go by what I wrote on my blog.

I feel sore in the calves, quads and hammies, but luckily no specific tendon or loint niggles (had a stiff feeling knee during the week)

Kudos to Dave for winning, Bruce for second despite cramps, and Nate for fourth. Commiserations to Kev and Brett - I'm sure they would have beated me had they run the 5k less.


On an entirely different front I went down to Perth's new runners store this week and couldn't go past the KSwiss Kona in Australian flag design - as seen in last RFYL magazine. First impressions are light and firm, quite stable for the weight. I've had brief thoughts of running Boston in these, but they might lack a bit of cushioning. Need try them on some longer tempos

I also bought a Nathan brand fuel belt style water carrier with 2x300ml bottles. Wore it today and found it surprisingly good. Much better than camelback and the Target waist pack I used last year. I may even try it on a long run rather than carrying the Powerade bottle

Back In the Habit

Like Whoopi Goldberg or Robbie Coltrane.

This week was about the body and mind getting used to running regularly again. Luckily I rediscovered my mojo at the start of the week and finally had some spring back in my step-

Mon rest
Tues 10k@4:12 (fartlek) - included 2k@3:40 - felt really good, finally shaken the virus. PM played golf for the first time in over a year and did surprisingly well (for me)

Wed am 10k@4:18 (fartlek) - included 2k@4:00, 2k@3:50
Wed pm 9k@4:25 - consistent pace
Thurs am, 5.5k@4:45 - legs shot by the last 2 days
Friday am 8.5k@4:40- still pretty fatigued, but in a good way
Sat am 11k@4:30 - tried to hold back a little for City Beach

Sun am City Beach funrun 8k. Hot one! About 27C at the start, 30C at the finish.
I was keen to make sure I toughed out the full 8k and not stop after one lap. Met up with Sugar, Sas and Biscuitman before the start. My plan had been 345 first km, then slow down to 3:55-400s until the last km and finish fast if I had the legs

Garmin Splits were 3:42/3:51/3:41/3:43 14:59 halfway Garmin 15:14 on course

This is where the struggle began - had felt I had controlled things OK til here but the heat was biting and the 6th km was the killer (for all I subsequently discovered)

Second half 3:56/4:02/4:08/3:55 - 8k by Garmin 31:01
Race time 31:17.
I walked 10m at the 6k hairpin, but it didn't slow things down too much

So the overall race was about as expected. I'll be interested to see the times of the leaders as many seemed a bit slower than usual - perhaps making my run a bit better than at first glance

Nice to see Biscuitman returning from injury with a controlled effort, Sugar ran well but didn't push himself too hard.

This week I'll try to run every day. The hot forecast has strengthened my resolve not to run Six Inch, although there is a little part of me that wont completely discount it yet.

In two minds

regarding Six Inch.

On the downside:

• I have a persistent (Khumbu) cough and nasal/sinus congestion still present now 2 weeks after return from Nepal.
• My Resting HR is still not down where it should be.
• I'd not run more than 21k since the C2S Marathon in August (until today)
• As previously documented, I am unlikely to be able to hold myself back on the day
• Running may cause a significant 'bump' in my base training for Boston, or at worst an injury
• Tiff would like me to attend the family XMas party on the saturday after bailing at 8pm the last 2 years

On the upside:

• I managed 6 runs totalling 88k this week without major issues
• I ran 28k today feeling pretty good
• Running SixInch last year really launched my good year
• I enjoy supporting the race as it grows, and enjoy the race day itself

This week -

Mon, Wed,Fri, Sat 10k each at easy pace (4:30-4:45)
Tues pm 19k@ 4:24 through Kings Park
Sun am 28.2k@4:40 through Kings Park

Today went off at 6am - was already 20degrees, but cooler than yesterday, was 25 at the finish.
Brief drink stop at 13k, toilet stop at 24k only, ran solidly the whole way and felt I could have run 5k more at that pace. Recovered well.

Right now I really am undecided. I'll see how this week goes health and running wise, see what the weather forecast ends up being, see if Clown is up to running (wasn't looking promising last I heard), and see what quality wine is being consumed at the party!

Om mani padme hum

Picture at KalaPatthar 5545m - Clown, Me, Dad

Back from Nepal, and spiritually re-energised. Physically, not so much...

Another great trekking experience.

I even managed to do a couple of treadmill runs in Kathmandu (1400m) after the trek - Friday am 10k in 5x2k at 4:00, pm 7k easy

Sat am 6.5k mainly easy

Unfortunately it's been a struggle so far upon return. After no sleep overnight on the plane I tried to go for a run Sun afternoon. I lasted 8k then had to lie down on the grass by the river for 10minutes as I felt faint, and walked about 4k home. Since then I've been a bit off colour, resting HR up to about 60, and have run twice 10k very easy.

So it's a little over 3 weeks til Six Inch and it's definitely going to be a training run. I hope to put in some medium long runs the next couple of weekends, no point going too long aqnd damaging the legs, no real point tapering more than a couple of days. I really have no idea what to expect - might have a better idea in the next few days as my body returns to normal. I should have great oxygen carrying capabilities, it dependsa more upon whether my legs pick up quickly enough.

I definitely want to go back to Nepal again - tentative plans Mera Peak (6461m) 2011!

Off to Sagarmāthā

Quick update post before flying out tonight.

Not much going on running wise in recent weeks. Once I realised that the John Gilmour 10k track was postponed until after I'd left, there was no event to prepare for.

I ran 250km in October - mainly 10-15k runs - easy, medium, fartlek. On Friday I ran a 6.5k tempo at 3:50s which felt a little harder than it would have 2 months ago.

If we can find somewhere nice to run, and I can throw off yet another niggling virus, Clown&I might do a couple of light jogs in Kathmandu, before the trekking starts in earnest.

My Boston Marathon confirmation has come in the mail and they've taken my money, so that's well and truly in my thoughts already. I've downloaded some elevation profiles from MapMyRun (each a little different as the Garmin altitude function isn't that great) and also of Perth runs, to find some corresponding hills to train on. I was surprised to see the significant overall altitude drop at Boston, and that the gradient of the hills doesn't match the two in the City to Surf Marathon, although they do come later. I'm sure Sugar and Biscuitman can give me a blow-by-blow of these hills!

Anyway, back in 3 weeks relaxed, fit, and ready to launch a short but concerted training block for SixInch

Freo 10k

38:03 - PB but not quite my potential best at present

I started the week on Monday public holiday playing squash for the first time in about 8 years.
The rest of the week was spent limping with aching hip abductors (glutes and piriformis) - it's amazing what muscles you dont use running that do get used in a lateral movement sport.

I managed to hobble through 10k jogs Tues, Thurs and Sat am, started loosening up on Saturday

This morning started off poorly as I forgot my Garmin - so I ran blind (didnt even have a normal watch). I did about 5k easy to try and loosen the backside up ,so to speak

The start was as congested as usual , but things freed up after 700m or so and I hit a reasonable rhythm. I had been planning on staying in touch with biscuitman, but sadly his injury prevented him running, and Sugar was out of my league. I ran the first 5k keeping pace with the girl eho I think won the 5k womens event, as well as with the young blond guy from intervals (Clown knows the one!). They both stopped at 5k, which I passed at 18:45.

I started the second lap about 100m behind the leading female runner. One of the female marshalls yelled out a couple of times that those of us behind her were being 'chicked' and that we should try to pass her to save ourselves embarrassment. I thought this a little inappropriate but I did set my sights on gradually winding her in. I was also just behind Felipe Jalpa - who has a style which looks like he's jogging, and with Mike Haederle . I plodded along and gained about 20m on the leading female each kilometre, passing her with about 400m to go.

I thought to myself that this must be what it's like for Clown when running - it was my legs (or more specifically my upper butt) that was limiting me rather than my cardiorespiratory system. The good thing was that I felt fine afterwards, and even played another hour of squash this afternoon (paying for it now)

So I think I have another 30-45 seconds in me over the 10k, and am toying with the idea of focussing on the John Gilmour 10k track race to set a PB.

Congrats to Sugar on third place and a PB, even if not quite the target time
Good luck to Clown, Sling and TB next week in Melbourne - three PBs coming up



And on a final note, a couple of the fast young 5k guys were wearing nasal strips as pictured. My thoughts:
a. Breathe through your mouth
b. I dont care if it makes you run faster, you guys look like dicks

Go the Mighty Cats

An up and down running week this week - and it started with the 'up'

Tuesday night ran for the first time at AK reserve - the replacement track for Perry Lakes. The surface was great, and fast. Apparently it is the same surface as at the Beijing Olympics -

It's a "dual-durometer" construction made of asphalt and stone base, polyurethane (PU) surface and a butyl rubber layer that helps with high return of energy during striding and exceptional shock absorption.

The track surface is finished with embedded ethylene propylene diene monomer granules for advanced traction. Unlike sheet rubber applied to asphalt with glue, PU is chemically bonded to the asphalt. Because PU is poured into place, if offers a seamless surface without tripping hazards.

The redoubtable Biscuitman was running a Yasso 800 session at 2:40s, so I decided to join in for the ride. I went in thinking I'd do 6 or so, but ended up doing the first 5, then skipped the 6th - jogging 800m with Rob instead, and returned for the last 4. So 9 of 10 - but a nice little break in the middle.

Splits - 2:37/2:40/2:41/2:39/2:39 (break) 2:42/2:43/2:39/2:37

I knew it was going to be fast when the warmup 3.5k was at 4:10s!
The 2:40 jogs were just under 600m

I felt a bit intimidated initially running on a real track - then I thought why be intimidated by a bunch of teenagers? Luckily we'd finished when some of the big guns of WA distance running started their session. (Kudos to TB and Clown for a good interval session too - perhaps we can start our own Tuesday interval group this summer)

What I got out of the session (apart from confirming the fact that Biscuitman is a gun), was that despite the limitations of the sesion as a predictor, I feel I still have a bit of marathon improvement in me if I can tap into that potential.


Anyway, the other thing I got from the session was a virus on Thursday - a sure sign I pushed too hard. So the rest of the week was a bit of a write-off, 3x10k easy 4:45-5:00 pace runs.

On the non running front - the Cats had a well deserved win yesterday, and today we did the Nepal Trek shopping - spending inordinate amounts on trekking gear.

Freo 10k next week? maybe...

Freo HM

Happy enough with this week

Tuesday Tempo 10k in 38:45 -eased in with a 4:08/4:05, then 5k in 18:40, and had to work the last 3k into the wind in 3:50s. This was to test my knee pre the Half, and things were fine

Thurs and Fri 12k each 3 laps around the tan. I did one fast lap on Fri am but I forgot my Garmin charger so not sure how fast it was. Ran anticlockwise this time which feels the harder way to do it.

Sun - Freo HM in about 86 flat. No exact time as I didn't enter - in Melbourne wed-fri and working sat am, should have entered online but didn't ,and they've stopped on the day entries. Felt a bit of a freeloader running without entering but I only had about 3 plastic cups of water en route and would happily have paid had they let me.

I ran with Rob as a bit of a pacer - 19:34/19:44/20:40/20:46 the 5k splits. I felt fine most of the run but had to dig a bit in the last 2k into the wind as Rob pushed things up a notch. I tried to be surreptitious finishing to the side of the chute, but a few people gave me some funny looks.

Great PB for Rob who's injuries didn't slow him down much this time and hopefully builds some confidence for Melbourne. Also solid efforts from Gunner and Coops - both looked comfortable each time I crossed paths with them. TB was handing out drinks - many thanks (looks like you've lost some weight - can see it in your face)

Go the Cats!

Sore Knee

I've been paying for my great Marathon over the last couple of weeks. Initially I thought it would be the left groin/hip flexor which would bother me, but that can be run through and settles with stretching.

More annoyingly is some pes anserinus tendonitis/bursitis in the right knee. It doesn't appear until about 8k, but when it comes it's quite nasty. Akin to ITBS on the medial aspect of the knee/proximal tibia.

On the plus side, I've got another overuse injury to add to the collection - I've now become much better at diagnosing and treating sporting injuries in the last couple of years.

So lots of stretching (esp hamstrings) and no runs beyond 10k - 38k total last week, 54k this week.

Apart from this the body feels good on easy runs, but after trying anything approaching a quality session I feel it the next day

I was hoping to run the Freo HM with Clown next week, but will have to see how it goes. An option may be to run 'til the knee gets sore then pull out. A quick trip to Melbourne for a couple of meetings Thurs and Friday mean I also have the opportunity to beat my Tan lap time.

Looking more closely at those High School times from my last post I'm beginning to question my memory - surely I never ran that fast. I'll take a look and see if I have any records to confirm their veracity. I cant imagine ever being as fast as Sugar is now!

And finally, speaking of fast - I saw the Triathlon World Champs on TV -Alistair Brownlee won with a 10k of 29:04 - that's pretty impressive after 1500m swim and 40k cycle!

Official result

Your Net time: 02:57:51	Your Gun time: 02:57:54
Your first-half split (Net Time): 01:28:59	Your first-half split (Gun Time): 01:29:03

That would make second Half 1:28:52
7 second negative split


So I've consumed some fatty food and some very nice wine, and celebrated as well as possible with wife away in US/Europe

Having achieved a goal which took 5 years and 8 marathon starts to achieve, there is a considerable let down feeling and sense of aimlessness
Luckily running is such a part of my life that I couldn't fathom not continuing to run regularly
Boston is the next significant goal, and with the sub 3 out of the way, and Clown's sub 3 on the way, we can relax and enjoy it.
Beyond that I guess it's hard to go from there. There is no great marathon milestone in my reach, unless averaging sub 4 min/km counts

5k and 10k runs don't really push my buttons. Ultras are attractive but very hard work
I did toy with the idea of challenging my year 12 school athletics results - 2:04 800m and 4:21 1500m

I entered the marathon time in the VDOT calculator - comes in at 54.3
Predicted times
5k 18:34
10k 38:31
HM 1:25:13
1500m 5:01
3000m 10:44


Short term I've got a nasty left hip flexor strain with a noticeable swelling in the groin (get your mind out of the gutter), so I expect a couple of weeks before I'm running again

My finest hour

2:57:59 by my watch. How do you like those apples ( I almost said this to the girl giving out fruit in the recovery tent a la Matt Damon, but took pity on her)

Leading up to this one, I wanted to focus on 2 things - mental discipline not to go too fast in the middle third, and adequate nutrition.

I decided to use 7km chunks as my targets, as indiviual kms were too variable with the hills. I wanted Nothing under 29, nothing over 30 for each of the sixths.

29:14/29:16/29:09/29:22/29:18/29:15 by the Garmin - all within 2 sec/km of each other.

So I started conservatively, feeling quite good. I tucked in a group of about 6 - mainly South African guys who I expect are stalwarts of WAMC/Darlington. I heard one had run 2:17 in his younger days. I'm not a chatty marathoner, so I just listened.

Nothing really happened in the first HM. I took powerade at every station, and grabbed a Gu at 15k and had it with some water at the next station. I didn't walk any of the stations, often needing to take 2 paper cups to get adequate fluid after spillage.

It was a buzz to go pass the assembling hordes before attacking Market St. I've run it several times in training and took a head down approach. The aforementioned ex2:17 runner bounded ahead up the hill, but we reassembled in Kings Park. We made up some time on the downhill, and after the U turn at the bottom of the hill, I found I had pulled ahead of the group. I didn't speed up so I assume they slowed for some reason. I ran the rest of Kings Park solo.

Turning into Kings Park road we were partitioned off from the 12k runners, but then the fun started. On the pre race map it said we took a little left detour into Thomas St, but this didnt happen. We turned right and merger into hordes of walkers/joggers. Knowing we had a Barker St turn left I moved to the path on the left of the road, but there was noone ther telling Marathoners to turn left. I did but I pity those who weren't familiar with the course. There was a guy 100m ahead of me down Kings Park road who obviously go lost in there beacause he was nowhere to be seen when turning into Barker road just a few hundred m ahead.

Running thru Subi I felt good, but again turning into Hay St we merged with the masses, and I spent km 34-38 weaving through joggers. This didnt slow me down much and helped distract me from the big hill. The problem was that the 2 drink stations along here were packed with people stopping and I went about 7k without a drink.

So we turn down Stevenson and I'm alone again. I suddenly became acutely aware of the fact I was at 38k, on pace and feeling pretty good (I had a left groin niggle quite badly in KP but it faded on flatter terrain). I was in a new situation for me whereby I started picking off runners one by one. The first was Verity Tolhurst, who I had run near in Canbeera this year before I blew up. I started feeling the pain at the 40k hill towards WC highway, but I wasn't about to stop.

At this point I was glad to see Clown running towards me and he said some encouraging words. At this point I was pumped. My shoe had picked up a long piece of sticky tape flapping about but I wasnt going to stop and pull it off. I even managed to find some energy for sub 4 pace in the last 500m, and took 2 guys in this last bit.

Surprisingly I felt OK afterwards, apart from an incredibly sore right groin/hip flexor which I suspect is going to be very annoying in the coming fortnight.

So my 5 year goal is complete, in style, on a hilly course. I guess I do better with hills - my PB in HM and Mara are now on hilly courses, and in retrospect in School Xcountry I always did best in the hilly ones.

Why today? Luck, lighter weight, no virus in the leadup, good weather, disciplined pacing all played a part.

Congrats to all those I saw out there - Gunner and Coops, Craig/Duffer with a Mara PB, TB I saw at the start and not the end. Sugar and Biscuitman I look forward to your 12k reports. Clown thanks for coming down and supporting despite not running the HM - you'll go sub3 in Melbourne. Homo - next time. Sling - you'll go sub3 sooner or later.

I'll post my official time and HM split when available

Looking for inspiration

I'm not getting it from the Eagles, the Aussie cricket team or the Wallabies.

I am finding it in Bolt, Bekele and Hooker.

It's been a fairly uninteresting fortnight from me

Week 1 71k@ 4:28
Mon 10.1@ 4:26
Tues 20.1@ 4:24 - Kings Park - held back
Wed 10k@4:17 with fartlek total about 2.5k@5k pace
Fri 10k@4:38 - preflight to Sydney
Sat 20.6k@4:32 - Sydney Botanic gardens and Harbour Bridge

Week 2 77k@ 4:32
Mon 11.6k@ 4:21 - with 3k@10k pace
Tues 10.4k@4:26
Wed 19.3k@4:36 Kings Park even easier
Fri 10.1k@4:26 - 4x500m 10k pace
Sat 10.7k@4:33
Sun 15.6k@4:42 - with Rob - last 7k of marathon and back

I felt fairly heavy in the legs all week up til yesterday. Have some fears of having a race like Slig's half - perhaps not enough rest post Perth

Of note in this prep compared to my one for Perth -
1. No illness for the first time ever in the 4 weeks leading up to a marathon
2. Average pace 4:30 over the last 4 weeks compared with 4:19 in the 4 leading up to Perth
3. No really hard efforts this time - last time 20k@ 4:01, this time 4:11 - 3 and a half weeks out
last time 39k@4:24, ths time 34k@4:32 3 weeks out.

So more kms (426v373 in last 5weeks) at slower pace.

I don't know what that all means, but I'm still heading out with the plan as per 2 weeks ago - 88:xx flat first half, hopefully hold sub 3 times to 35k, see what happens from there

This week - max 10k runs Tues-Fri, easy pace with strides

Where to aim?

85k this week ( was on track for 100 until today)

Mon 6.2k @4:50 - recovery
Tues 20.3k @ 4:11 - through Kings Park marathon loop at a bit faster than MP
Wed 12.2k @ 4:31 - felt really lethargic
Thurs rest
Fri 11.7k @4:15 - MP - Garmin had some sort of malfunction so ran on feel - sportstracks interpreted the run properly and had gone faster than I expected
Sat 34.3k @4:35. Had to move long run to unfamiliar Sat am due to marshalling duties on Sun. Drizzling at the start, some heavier showers and clearing towards the end. Very similar course to last week - mainly on marathon course. Felt pretty crappy today so was happy with it all in all and hade a bit of a secong wind at 30k which was promising.

Sun - marshalled at Womens Classic ,meant to run in the afternoon but work and family commitments prevented it. Felt in a funk all day - very annoyed with constant work calls and just couldnt relax.


So I'm starting to think about the race plan for C2s. Up until now I've said that I wouldn't worry about the time, but that would be disingenuous. I would like to set myself up with a chance for a PB but not put pressure on myself.

Given the course, I think a first half of 1:28:xx would be the plan. Then I would expect to be able to hold on to sub 3hr pace through KP and subiaco. My plan then is to see what happens with the last 6k. Either I have some juice left and kick on, or I'm struggling and lose as little as possible.

The alternative would be to take it out really easy and finish strong, but I would still like to give myself the possibility of a sub3 finish - as unlikely as that is.

City to Surf Marathon (probably)

I'm 90% decided on running the marathon at the end of the month.

I managed 105k this week, and that was one of my self imposed criteria (the ability to do a couple of 100+ weeks) for trying the full Mara so soon after Perth.

Thanks for the comments last week - many were along the lines of what I was thinking already. Craig - I appreciate your input - and I'm certainly very aware of the over fast speed I tend to train at. Sadly there continues to be a disconnect between my intentions and actions. Terming my 4:19 average run as 'Easy' last week is evidence of this - 'easy' was my intention, the result clearly wasn't.

I'd like to say I was successful in slowing down this week, but it was only true to a very limited extent. The only way I've really been able to slow down is by running with my brother-in-law on saturday, who is training for a sub 1hr 12k C2S.

Mon 8.7k@4:37 -easy(ish)
Tues 20.2k@ 4:23 - though Kings Park for the first time in a couple of years
Wed 15k@ 4:25 - again through Kings Park
Thurs rest
Friday 12k with 3x1k 3:33/3:28/3:33 - I still find it amazingly hard to run fast this early in the morning

Sat 15k@4:55 - including 10k through KP with Luke at race pace for him - looking good

Sunday 33.5k@4:35 - solo long run - basically ran on the marathon course - started at the 14k mark through to 30k mark, then the start to 14k mark, with 2k each way from home.
This felt like a real plod, despite the speed, my legs complaining about the recent mileage and introduction of hills. Tried to minimise stops - only a quick water fill at 20k and again at 30k.

I had been 100% about running the Mara yesterday, but this mornings effort with some pretty fatigued legs scared me as I imagined being at the 33k point of the race feeling like that and needing to get over the hills to come.

On the non-running front, I'm back on the sauce - celebrated with some Moet and a bottle of 1997 Keyneton Estate - a little past its prime but still a lovely drop. Hopefully I will limit myself to weekend drinking only.

I'm a little concerned at the City to Surf plans. Mara starts 0730, 12k at 0900. This means i will be running up St Georges Tce exactly as the 12k starts, as was the organiser's plan to add to the atmosphere. The intention is that the 12k runners will all be on the right hand side of the road, and we'll stay on the left. Having experienced several City to Surf starts, I have my doubts over the organiser's ability to stop 25000 people spreading across the lanes. The site FAQ says that there will be a physical barrier or median strip to stop this happening - if it's just the median strip I have my concerns especially on the first hill. I think that after the KP detour things will be fine - and the courses do diverge through Subi

Looking at my GPS record I'm also reminded that it doesnt like running down St Georges Tce - poor signal with all those buildings - wont be able to rely on it there.

What to do?

Wound it back up to 88k this week

Mon rest
Tues 14.8k@ 4:06 with 10k in 40min tempo
Wed 20k@4:22
Thurs rest
Fri 10k@4:26 easy
Sat 10k@4:18 easy
Sun 33k@4:35 - long run with Rob

Feeling not quite recovered 3 weeks post Mara - paces for effort 5-10sec slower than a month ago.

More importantly the motivation ain't there to do a full on marathon prep. To run Monday and Thursday for me requires a deal of willpower as these are my long work days - wasnt up to it this week, and after puttin in for the first 6 months of the year I'm leaning towards settling down to 80k weeks in 5days running

This still doesnt decide my City to Surf decision - it would be nice to run a slower, more controlled marathon (if such a thing exists), would also be nice to target a fast 12k, or I could hitch on with Clown and Homo in the HM.

Then Clown has thrown a spanner in the works with his plans for Melbourne Mara in October.

Lets wait and see.

Dry July

Three weeks no alcohol - a record for me for a long time - and on the downhill run to the end of the month. I finally registered on the Dry July website and put my money where my mouth is (the money I would have otherwise spent on wine) - so I can't stop now.

On the running front I've taken it nice and easy post marathon - weather, busy work and a 4 day weekend in Melbourne helping to keep me from doing too much too soon.

Week 1 40k total - mainly easy, a little fartlek, did some without the watch to keep my mind off the pace.

Week 2 - 55km total. As above plus one obligatory lap of the Tan in Melbourne - did 13:55 for the 3.82km, 3:38 average - pretty pleased as I was running by myself on a surprisingly quiet track.

As Clown mentioned on his blog - great sporting time of year - two reasons to stay up late - the usual Tour, and the Ashes. Tonight will be a big one - outside of Cadel and Lance, I'm an Andy Shleck fan. I'm also holding out some hope for an improbable result at Lords - weather and umpiring permitting.

We watched collingwood v hawthorn last night at the 'G, and the Pies fans behind us reinforced their reputation as the lowest common denominator as they treated the children with us (and their own children) to an education in swearing. Unfortunately after they spent the pre match discussing how their amateur boxing bouts went down at the local town hall went this week, we weren't game to say anything. On the upside, they all left at 3 quarter time (to 'avoid the traffic' apparently, rather than to see their team get shellacked by a resurgent Hawthorn). I'll never complain about Dockers fans again!

As for me, I'm lacking a bit of direction in my running right now - will see if I have the energy to ramp it up to 100km+ weeks in the next fortnight to help me decide C2S 12/HM/Mara

Perth Marathon 2009

3:04:08 - 10minute PB but not quite what I was aiming for

The leadup week was OK - Tuesday ran too fast 8k in 3:55s, so took Wed off, 5.5k@4:30 Thurs, 7.5k@4:30 Fri

Saturday I had a sore throat and felt hot and sweaty, I convinced myself I had a virus and wouldn't run today. Of course I woke up feeling fine

The warmup was unremarkable other than one contact lens slipping to the side of my eye such that I couldn't retrieve it, and forgetting my Ipod headphones.

We started off OK - hit 10k bang on 42 mins. We were running in a small group on the cyclepath. At about 14k this guy came up on the right of me - I was running alongside Rob. He proceeded to veer to his left towards me, knocking my elbow with his, and really pissed me off. I muttered something but he stayed there. I fell back a little but he slowed a little too, then I sped up a little and he did the same, still knocking me with his elbow. I swore and sped up significantly under a burst of adrenaline. Sadly this was about the same time Rob's groin hurt and he never caught me up.

Anyway, I fell into a rhythm that saw me get to half way in 88:35, and I continued at 4:10-4:15s for the next 10k. At 32k I was 2hrs15 and thought I was still a realistic chance. I started to struggle at this point and didnt really find someone I could tag along with. I passed Dave Kennedy, but he wasn't having a fast day after a very recent 100k ultra.

I slowed to 4:30s and at 36k was 4:33 and realised it wasn't going to be sub3 today. The last 5k were 4:50-5:00s and my left quad cramped up big time. For good or bad I was still passing those around me even at this pace - I think in the last 10k I passed 5 people and only one passed me.

The cramp really developed in the last 500m such that I limped through the finish and couldnt sit down for a few minutes. In my usual style I could barely talk or sit up afterwards - so again sorry to you all who wanted a chat - I dont do well post marathon!

I went home and slept for a couple of hours and rewarded myself with my first fast food in several months - a chicken burger from Hungry Jacks. I also wasn;t tempted to break my Dry July and will continue off the alcohol.

Congrats first to Sling for a top performance at Gold Coast. Clown for persevering through groin pain. Homo for battling the stomach cramps. Gunner for another solid Mara in his leadup to Busselton. The Sugary Biscuit team for their 3rd place. TB for leading the field at the start ('cos that's how you roll') then toughing out another long day at the office.

5k Garmin splits (read 400m long)
20:33/20:51/20:57/20:42/20:46/21:21/22:14/24:10
Halves 88:35/95:33

My immediate thought is to never do another - so let's give it a week or two.

All the hard work is done

Taper week - 65k@4:20

Monday 10.1k@4:10 - fairly consistent effort - felt great after my week off
Tues 10.2k@ 3:51 - 5k tempo 4:06/3:53/3:46/3:44/3:44 - 19:19
1min break then 2k 3:42/3:38
1min break then 1k 3:38
1min break then 2k home 4:20/3:57
This felt surprisingly controlled

Wed 10.8k@4:09 - didnt feel great - took a little walk at half way
Thurs off
Fri 7.8k@4:24 - easy
Sat10.3k@4:24 - easy
Sun 16k@4:47 - gentle run in the breezy conditions with Homo and Clown - resisted the temptation to farther or faster

So... light runs <10k Tues,Wed,Fri this week.
The plan on Sunday is out in 88:XX and take things from there

Rob, Henry and I will be having a pasta dinner Friday probably at Valdarno in Dalkeith at 7pm - if anyone wants to come and shoot the breeze, let me know.

Good luck all with the last taper week.

Swine Flu Part 2

I made a comments to Clown last week about the rituals involved pre marathon - Friday night Carb dinner with other runners, entering the day before at Runners World, dropping off my self prepared drinks, race morning breakfast etc.

The one I forgot about was my pre Marathon virus, which has happened every Perth Marathon, somewhere between 3 and 1 week out. This one came on Tuesday, and was complicated by my contact with Swine Flu - such that on wednesday when I developed fevers and muscle aches, I had to have swabs and be quarantined. I don't think I had swine flu ('novel H1N1' to be politically correct) but advice from the health dept said I needed to stay away from work. So I started my Tamiflu and stayed at home, eating and watching DVDs for 3 days. Guess I'll find out this week if I did or not.

Running wise I played it safe - 12k@4:10s on Tues then no running whilst sick. Feeling better this morning I headed out for 12k@4:25 with Rob and cruised, felt energised by the run after only one run in the preceding week. I really wanted to head out for a second this afternoon but decided to play it safe.

My understanding is that I should have lost minimal performance with this time off (?0.6% or one minute over the marathon!). This week will see running 5 or 6 days with shortish sessions with plenty of time at MP and tempo pace (total 60k). The good news is that my achilles and hamstring tendonitis is much improved.

Swine Flu!

Swine flu scare this week proved to be nothing to be concerned about (perhaps like the 'pandemic' itself) I tested some patients on Monday and was called later by the lab to say they came back positive for swine flu - luckily I had been wearing a mask when I plunged a swab into the deep recesses of their noses and throats.

On the running front - a good week. 99.3k@4:17

Monday 8.4k@4:39 - recovery
Tuesday 20.1k@4:01 - this was planned as a MP run. After last weeks 4:21 pace I decided to start faster than my usual 4:40s. On a perfect night I found myself in the zone and flying. At 15k I encountered Homo running the other way and as I stopped and we chatted I became aware of just how well I was going. I immediately picked up where I left off and powered home. It felt effortless at the time, but subsequently I developed a niggle in the left achilles which stayed all week

Wed 8.5k@4:24 - recovery
Thurs rest
Fri 11.3k@4:07 - did 2x1.5k intervals at 3:35 pace, but felt hampered by the achilles
Sat 11.95k@4:13
Sun 39k@4:24 - easy 8k before meeting Rob then we ran together about 20k at 4:20s or so. Pushed a couple of km at MP and then 2k 34-36k @4:05s then back to average pace for the last couple.

After my Canberra debacle I'm keeping expectations in check. This week 85k similar pace.

YTD 1999k@4:32

Back in the saddle

So I'd pre-empted the pod's advice and ran anyway this week

105km@4:24

Monday as previously documented the 3k of race@3:39. After coming home I ran down to Mosman Park easy 10k@4:37

Tuesday 12.3k@4:22 - MP for 10k of this (2k warmup)

Wed 20k@4:20 - MP except for a section of running into galeforce winds - tempo effort, slow pace. The only plus was that the cyclists seem worse affected than me and I passed a couple of them

Thurs rest
Fri 12k@4:17 - MP
Sat13.7k@4:20 - MP after 2k warmup

Sunday 34.5k@4:30 - tough start after a cousin's 21st Sat night- little sleep and a little nauseous. No Rob to push me along so I headed down to Lake Monger to give me a target of sdome type. Saw Rob there and as we warmed up and chatted he missed the start - my bad! Running back I hit a second wind and ran the last 10k in 43 min, with the last 5k@4:12.

So it was largely MP running this week, and a bit of a confidence booster - my first 100k+ since early March. One more similar week before starting to reduce. Foot feels fine

Had my running shoe bargain of the year this weekend. Went down to Rebel Sport in Claremont and on the clearance table they had a pair of DS Trainer 13's in my size for $29.99 - the tag was labelled Blackhawk but I checked with the salesguy and he said the price stood - bargain!

No stress, I'm in my cubist period!

No, I'm not Picasso, but I am happy

Saw Darryn S (podiatrist) today re the foot and he told me he's 100% sure it's not a stress fracture. It's a cuboid subluxation syndrome , brought on by that high mileage week and probably too much running on the left camber road to rest my medial ankle sprain.

So I got some mobilisation massage and strapping and I'm free to keep running on it! Yay!

NEPAL 2009

Enchanted by the scenery, clean mountain air and gentle manner of the Buddhist Sherpas in 2007, I'm planning on heading back to Nepal this year.

This time I'm taking my father, hopefully my brother-in-law who went last time, and anyone else who might be interested.

The options are:

1.Everest Base Camp - 20 day trip, 15 day trek, 5545m high point - the classic trek and the same one as we did last time - I'd be happy to do the same again.

2. Annapurna Circuit - 24 day trip, 18 day trek, 5416m high point - said to be more scenic than Everest but with less prestige.

3 Everest Circuit - 25 day trip, 20 day trek - Base Camp trek plus over ChoLa pass and Gokyo Lakes

I'll do any (like the sound of #3), but time availability may be a limit for some. The planned time would be starting late october/early november.

Clown I can forward you the World Expeditions Book if you're still interested. The everest base camp treks fill up reasonably early, there are places left on the departing 2/11 and 16/11 treks. Annapurn has spots departing 29/10, 5/11. Everest circuit 4/11.

There are great entry level mountaineering trips, and trips to the more isolated Tibetan and Bhutan Himalayas that I'd love to do in the future, but this year these somewhat easier ones are on the cards!

Glass Half Full

I was definitely in the half empty camp the last two days, but a beautiful day today can only make me optimistic

The week started well, after my good Sunday run last week. The ankle was barely an issue and I started running a little on grass and less even surfaces

Mon 10.1k@ 4:35 recovery
Tues am 9k @ 4:25 with 3.5k tempo 4:00s
Tues pm 5x1k intervals 3:29/3:33/3:33/3:33/3:30 - 60sec walk recov, 2.25kw/up, 2k w/down

Wed 11.5k@4:08 - 6.5k then 2.5k@tempo 4:00 - 60sec between
Thurs 7.5k@4:37 recovery
Fri 10.2k@4:28

So at this point I had run 110k in the past 7 days with some good quality sessions thrown in
With 300m to go on Fri am I developed a sudden pain in my left lateral midfoot, such that I couldn't run. The rest of the day I was barely able to walk - couldnt transition from heel to forefoot and push off. The pain and tenderness was initially diffuse ,but since has localised to the cuboid bone and the base of the 5th metatarsal, which is where peroneus muscles insert.

Hopefully I have peroneus tendonitis, as the alternative, a stress fracture of the 5th MT, doesn't bear thinking about. i've since read that peroneal tendinitis often occurs in the context of recovery from sprained ankles - assumedly I've changed my gait to protect my ankle, and strained the other side of the foot in the process

From what I've read I should take a week off then gradually restart running. But that was never going to happen. I took Sat off, than tried a little jog Sunday am - lasting about 5k bafore stopping with the pain.

Today, I decided again against my better judgement, to go down to the Lake Gwelup funrun. Our practice is just down the road and were a sponsor. Bob&Tiffany from TBL were there as well, and I wasn't going to miss my chance to see real B grade celebrities in the flesh.

The run was one or two laps of the lake - 3k or 6k. Biscuitman was there, looking fit. We took off in a crowd of little kids and I got a bit caught up at the start. Coming up to the 3k in 11min flat just ahead of biscuitman, I decided the ache, although bearable, wasn't a good sign and I pulled out there ( I was also buggered). Perhaps I should have gone on because Biscuitman ran a great 2nd place in about 23:30 and the next runner was some way behind him, so I could probably have held onto third.

Having made it through the 3k, now with the foot up and iced, I'm a bit more optimistic. I'll probably get an XRay tomorrow just to exclude a fracture (as much as an XRay can), and then try running 5x10k or so during the week. I've got a feeling it wont be too bad, the fact it came on so suddenly makes me think it was an acute tear/strain, and thus should go quite quickly.

At least I have another injury to add to my collection - it makes a great difference when a patient comes in with a sports injury if I can say 'I've had that' - although I still advise them to be more conservative in their recovery than I am with myself.

Saved by the long run

Wussed out this Thursday and Friday - afraid of a little dark, wind and rain I elected to stay in bed. Luckily I redeemed myself this morning

Mon 10.75@4:24 recovery - felt great, maybe thanks to using the skins again for recovery on Sun
Tues 20.1@4:18 - MP run after first 2k. Had to tough it out a bit in the last few km
Wed10.4@4:30 - recovery
Thurs - wussed out
Fri - got up at 545, got dressed, stepped out, turned around, went back to bed for another hour!
Sat 12.1k @4:28 - heavy rain, for some reason sore shins, but moved to tempo for the last 4k
Sun 38.2k@4:35s - with Rob, around the river
Started off a bit slow and struggled in the first 15k thanks to a hangover, but then found some rhythm and felt really good, longest training run ever I think and could have gone further had there been any point.

Overall 91.6km @4:29

Lets see if I can toughen up this week and go 100k+ again

Ready to go

2 weeks post injury, back to near normal and ready to log some mileage
80km this week

Mon 10k@ 4:45 with walks
Tues 18k @4:30 pretty sore by the end
Wed 10k @4:22 - did about 3k at tempo pace and paid the price with a flare of pain
Thurs off
Fri 8.5k @4:20 - stopped short as still sore
Sat rest
Sun 33.8k@4:27.

Long run with Rob, very happy with the consistent pace, over most of the run. Minimised stops as the ankle gets more sore when it cools down. It felt good except on a couple of winding sections and any sharp left turns. Rob pushed the pace up to 4:10s 28-32k, and I almost held on dropping only about 20m.

This week I'll hope to get up to 100k, staying at MP fastest and on flat straight roads and paths. I'm feeling alot more confident after todays run, and glad this sprain was minor compared to others'. Having said that, I can see why in other sports (eg football), ankle sprains are such a worry, because I still cant do any significant lateral movement.

Sprained ankle

Apologies to any residents in a 1km radius of me on Monday morning, who were exposed to a string of expletives more familiar at a Freo wharf or a Pilbara minesite.

Last Sunday morning, after a good long run, Clown and I sat by the edge of the river and discussed the dangers of injury running on dark mornings. The very next morning up at quarter to six, I decided against my better judgement to hop up onto the soft grss on the verge. Within 5 steps I had steppen into a hole and rolled my left ankle ( eversion injury). Luckily I'd only gone 800m by that point and hobbled home.

Running was not possible in the next four days - each attempt was met with sharp pain. Saturday morning I managed a walk/jog (ankle heavily strapped) on flat surface for a few km. This morning I managed about 12k, again with plenty of walks, and was running with a limping gait by the end.

I really need to get a bike - I did no exercise at all in the intervening days and felt absolutely awful, a reminder of the strength of addiction to exercise.

One sidenote is that I realise now if I were ever to take up triathlon and shave my legs, Mrs Epi would leave me - the comments about the shaved left ankle/calf have not been complimentary to say the least!

Hopefully gradually back to comfortable running over the next 7 days.

Hopefully I can gradually get going

Like falling off a bike

Back to training - just like falling off a bike -you never forget

Had hoped to run every day but a busy return to work schedule blew that away
Still 89k@ 4:24

Mon 11.1k@4:26- recovery
Tues 16k@ 4:19 - MP after the first 2k
Wed 9.5k@4:30
Fri 17k@4:15 - overall MP, although middle 6k stretch at 4:00s
Sun 35k@4:30s - Ran with Rob around the river, felt pretty good throughout other than sore quads, which has been a feature of the entire week. Was surprised at how spritely I felt in the final 2k after Rob & I parted ways

I'm looking at developing the Tues and Friday sessions to 20k+ at MP on a regular basis to make me feel more comfortable at that pace, with 35k+ sunday runs and filling the rest of the week with easier runs. This means intervals will go until after Perth Mara, but thats OK.

Garmin died this morning, apparent battery problems although I'm going to get a mains USB charger and see if that can kickstart things - apparently charging thru the USB port on the computer is a lower voltage and may not be enough to charge a completely empty battery. Otherwise it's a decision between another 305, a 205 or wait for the 310xt