AFTER NEW ZEALAND GOLD COAST HALF MARATHON >

Well since the disappointment of NZ is well and truly over I have been able to get back into the swing of things by modifying my training to the extent that I am only running every 2nd day with a minimum of 12km per session .The extra recovery time is allowing me to train at a faster overall speed than before ,I have also been avoiding downhill running as this was the cause of recent injuries .The results so far have been encouraging , on 4 weeks training I ran the sri shimoy off road 1/2 marathon in 1hr 41 min running a very even pace throughout and 4 weeks later doing the gold coast 1/2 in 1 hr 39 min 54 sec, recovering really quickly after both .Now I will start to increase the distances and introduce some longer runs in preparation for the Sydney marathon in late September ,this race has not been kind to me in the past so I will be preparing well enough to be ready for anything .
On the gold coast it was good to catch up with a lot of my old brat triathlon club members who now reside there as we attended the 50th birthday do of ex president marcel van kampen  who has signed up to do the port Macquarie ironman his first for 19 years ! marcel had a good run in the 1/2 as did tony golden and murray king and what about kerrin hill finished her first 1/2 in 20years ! 42 year old ex brat saul Maloney finished the full marathon in 3hrs 2 min for a 12 min pb and to think I use to race against his dad in the early eighties ! The numbers at the gold coast were massive nearly 11000 in the 1/2 , 6,000 in the marathon , and 7000 in the 10km and a heap in the kids fun runs, running the 1/2 you felt like you had someone in your pocket the whole way !
On a finishing note I was very pleased to hear that my good friend in Canada margreet dietz is finally back running after a year on the sidelines with injury .Margreet showed great patience and perserverance during this time and it is a credit to her to be back running when a lesser person would have turned it up and given it away .
Happy and safe training to all .

LATE SETBACK .

Due to fly out to new zealand on tuesday morning for the rotorua marathon on 4th may .As you may have read in my last blog training had been going well and everything was on track ...... untill 3weeks ago .The day after finishing a hot and tiring 30km run my lower left calf muscle was sore  tight and very localised , i rested it for 3 days and then resumed some small runs, not too bad starting to loosen up i thought ,then towards the end of a easy 14kmer it seized up again ,something was not right , even after a solid massage session it would tighten up after about 15 min of running .I sought treatment and went to a new guy who checked me out for every thing and discovered i had a couple of small muscle tears, not even grade one .where my achillies meets the bottom of the calf muscle ,solution stay off it for a week then resume at 20% capacity .After a couple of 3km run/walk sessions i am now able to run on it ,will it hold up for 42kms ? i will just have to see, its getting better by the day but i think i will be just running to finish as i have missed a lot of training the last month ,i have a good base so that should see me thru ,just have to pace it slowly and let it warm up .On my return im going to have to sit down and evalute my training as what i want to do and what my body is prepared to let me do are different ,After about 80km a week i start to get the niggles ,i need to train smarter and incorporate more recovery days into the training week .I sometimes really need to remember how old i am ! .On another note if anybody wants to talk to me about anything  running feel free to get in touch ,i may not have been the fastest but i know stuff! i have been a student of the sport for over 40 years and am still learning ! Thank you for your interest ,happy and safe training .

THE LAST PUSH

With just on a month till i venture over to new zealand for the rotorua marathon its time for the last push home .The last couple of months have been very tough training in the heat and humidity a fact borne out in my last 30km run ,despite starting at 8'oclock in the morning i was soaked in sweat by 6km and was forced several times in the last 8kms to stop under shade and let my body cool down despite taking on plenty of fluids. Finishing training runs with my i've been running in the sauna look has been a regular thing .Despite this the training has piled up my Achilles tendon is holding up despite a few scarces and i have probably erred on the side of caution with my buildup .I have one more big long run planned and will start throwing in more shorter faster runs . The barmaid coach is in the running for the coach of the year for her outstanding efforts in keeping me off the coopers beer and sending me home for early nights ,not only that she trained up the other staff to do the same thing  when she wasn't there !!!! what a woman! I was going to have a hitout on easter monday in an off road 1\2 marathon but wasn't prepared to risk my tendon on the rough terrain and decided against it again erring on the side of caution .Visits to the chiro and massage therapist are on the cards as  my body is like an old 2nd hand car, needs lots of maintenance .Im not expecting to set the world on fire over there just have a solid run and finish what i started 37 years ago . I bet rotorua still smells the same . Thanks for your interest .

RETURN TO RACING

Last sunday i made my long awaited return to racing competing in the sri chinoy 14km road race which was two 7km loops around iron cove bay near balmain in sydney.
I was keen to test my fitness but was wary to not expect too much after such a long lay off. Training was building up steadily for rotorua marathon in early may and i was up to 80km a week , tendon trouble was nearly a memory ,well i still have to be carefull !
Barmaid coach had barred me from my beloved coopers beer and had been sending me home early on the days she let me go to the golf club ! I could'nt cheat she got eyes and ears everywhere !
Race morning was another humid affair ,i was determined not to go out to fast and try and run even pace and thats exactly how it panned out ,first km 4-35 last km 4-33 garmin average pace 4-33 for a finish time of 1 hr 4min 48 sec which got me 2nd in the over 50s and 4th women! Pulled up well and after a easy run on monday was straight back into my program which included my first 30km run for nearly a year on weds which i handled ok .While my time was'nt super quick there was plenty of strength there and it felt good to be in a racing environment . This should come in handy for my next hitout the sri chinmoy 1/2 marathon in centenial park easter monday a bit over a month out from marathon . In the meantime will keep building the milage careful and try and stay heathy .If your reading this i thank you for your interest.
P.S interesting fact the guy that came 3rd in the over 50s beat me out of 3rd by 1 sec in the schoolboys under 15 divison in the 1973 city to surf !

FUELLING THE RUNNER.

While i was off running injured for 5 months i made a concious decision to watch what i was eating as i did not want a huge weight gain and i simply hate feeling and looking like a slob .A friend lent me a book called eat and run by scott jurek one of the best ultra runners of all time. This guy won the western states 100 mile trail race, one of the hardest and most prestigious races in the world ,not once but seven times in a row and has a host of other huge accomplishments to his name .What grabbed me the most was early in his career he used to pig out at mcdonalds and not pay much attention to his diet ,as he improved he did, he gradually became a vegetarian and then a vegan. General opion was he would not get enough calories to sustain his huge training and racing regime but guess what he found he had more energy than ever and recovered from fatigue and injuries so much quicker than normal .This intrigued me so i started making some changes to my own diet .This wasn't that hard as i have never used sugar, butter ,salt or processed crap and have mainly been a white meat eater ,what i did do was to start eating a lot more raw foods mainly in salad type meals ,stir fries meant only warming the veggies as not to kill all the enzymes and i also started using a lot  of grated raw ginger and garlic to most meals as these have excellant anti  inflammatory  qualities .Even though i have always used good wholemeal or grain bread i cut back on this also instead eating more fruit early in the mornings instead of toast ,I even cut back on my coffee intake which is very hard when you live and work in bondi, the coffee capital of australia ! I also made a effort to drink more fluids during the day as i work outside in the sun all day .
THE RESULT
After 5 months off injured barely able to walk i only gained 3 kilos ,now im back in serious training im finding I'm recovering much quicker and generally have much more energy during the day.After consulting with guru coach john hill I'm drinking and fuelling up more during and after long runs and am really noticing a difference.
It hasn't really been that hard just a bit of adjustment here and there and putting a bit of thought into shopping and cooking .I get strange looks off my co -workers at morning tea time when im having a tuna salad with fruit and there hoeing into hungry jacks !
The hardest part was giving up my beloved coopers pale ale beer which isn't nicknamed  lunatic soap for nothing!
My tendon is holding up nicely and my marathon plan for may in nz is coming along nicely with 3 races planned in the lead up .Is nice to be back in action again .
 If you are reading this i thank you for your time and interest .

PS if you can get hold of scott jureks book eat and run do so as its a great read !

PROGRESS

Im now into my 4th week of straight running after 6 weeks of walk run rehab running and 5 months of f completly , one of the longest injury breaks i've ever had . Started off with slow 3km runs every 2nd day and after 2weeks  doing these easy at 5min km pace am now into my 2nd week of steady 7km runs every 2nd day  . In 2 weeks i'm running these 3min quicker at the same heart rate and will continue this till the end of january when i feel i be ready to get back into a regular daily training pattern .
Its not all plain sailing though ,i still have to do my rehab stretching routine before each run and specific stretches afterwards as well as using the ice pack , massage is also important as i need to keep my calf muscles loose .
Being optomestic i have booked and paid for my trip to the rotorua marathon in early may,this gives me thirteen weeks to get marathon fit from the end of january which i feel handled correctly is possible ,i'm not looking for a pb over there just a decent run to finish what i started all those years ago .
Speaking of pbs i am now concentrating on the runner i am now not the runner i was or the runner i want to be , if i do that these less chance of hurting myself , i have to remember i'm 54 years old and cannot race and train at the speeds i used to , i also need to place a lot of emphasis on rest and recovery ,going distance is not  a problem but the speed i run is .This is why i think in the future the ultras are the way to go for me i can run all day at a slow pace and my mentality seems to suit these sort of events ,in short they attract running eccentrics like me looking for new challenges .
If your reading this blog i thank you for your interest !

The road back

well after 5months out with a lower achillies tendon injury i am finally able to say im on the road back .I've been given the all clear to start reducing the walk sections in my rehab running program and start running more ,this i have to be very carefull with because if i stuff up i'll set myself back months more and the tendon may never be the same again.The time out was not good and not being able to get a proper diagnosis early was very frustrating ,those that know me well know that i like a drink or two, well during this time i think the profits of the golf club went up considerably and i probably visited some dark places i would'nt wish on anybody, suffering more than a few heavy bouts of depression and aniexty where i was starting to question the state of my mental health but i have come out the other end of the tunnel with the support of a few good people with my best interests at heart and am now doing 36min sessions of running / walking .Its good to get the endorphens flowing again and the sweat on the singlet ,I am aiming to be marathon fit by early may when i want to be in new zealand doing the rotorua marathon ,why you might ask ? well 35years ago i competed in the same race injuring my foot and having to drop out at 20 miles ,i thought it would be really cool to go back and run those last 6miles and say i've finished the race .Thats the plan and the sports physio said it was a realistic one ,just have to be patient and positive ! The journey continues . Happy and safe training to anyone reading this .

WINTER OF DISCONTENT

Last Sunday i contested the sri chinmoy 1/2 marathon cross country race in centennial park . I had a solid race finishing in 1hr 38m 23s, was i happy no i was run down for 3rd in the over 50s in the last 800 metres by a guy I've beaten before ,i was left feeling very frustrated because this winter has been one setback after another .After thinking I'd gotten over the recent flu it came back to sucker punch me 6 days before the race .What has been more frustrating is illness and injuries caused me to have to back off training, my biggest week in the last 5 weeks has only been 49 km not exactly long race mileage .
Where am i going with this you might ask ? well as i prepare to enter my 42nd year of running I've realised i have to take a step back and be thankful that i can still run and compete at all, i have to realise that at age 54 my best competitive days are behind me and whether i like it or not these not a lot of difference between my training pace and my racing pace these days ,a running friend offered me the following ,when your in your fifties your not running for time your running against father time .
And isn't that what its all about as you get older keeping the body healthy and moving, to remember why you started running in the first place, because it made you feel good , it made you feel like someone special' it gave you a feeling no one could take off you a feeling non runners could never understand .
I will still race but i won't get myself so worked up and frustrated by results i will be thankful that after all these years i am  still able to keep going. Its hard to find the motivation and the drive sometimes but when you find yourself laughing in the middle of a great training run saying to yourself how good is this its all worth it .

RETURN TO RACING

Last Sunday i made a long awaited return to racing at the sri chinmoy half marathon at dolls point .It was a pretty low key affair with only 138 starters with more in the 10 and 5km events .
I have had a lot of setbacks the last 6 months and the lead up to this wasn't without its problems ,a troublesome itb problem had forced me to back off intensity and mileage and i then managed to pick up a cold 6 days before the race but i felt well enough to compete .I got thru it OK but only after  dying a slow death the last 3km ,i probably ran the first 5km too fast for my conditioning after my brain forgot my age ! The cold affected me as i had several coughing fits in the 2nd half of the race ,my time was disappointing 1hr 39m 24s on a slightly long course 'garmin 300metres ' which is marathon pace,an average of 4m 40 per km. I wasn't feeling real flash afterwards and even less at the presentation where i discovered I'd missed 3rd in the over 50s by 1 place and 45 seconds ! the winner had come 2nd outright in a amazing 1hr 20min ,i was however 3rd womann !
The good news is i didn't bash my legs up being able to resume running the next day and now 2 days latter the cold is nearly gone . They have another half on in 3 weeks all cross country in centennial park
which i will have another go .I was planning to do the m7 black town marathon at the end of July but due to the itb problem i will defer probably to the Sydney marathon .
Looking back in my diary i was amazed that the only two races I'd done in the last 12 months were last July's m7 black town marathon and the 50miler ultra in Canada ,most of the small local races i used to run  have dried up .
Theres a lot of work to be done i just don't need anymore disruptions !

MINOR SETBACK AND A CHANCE MEETING

Training has been going well ,long runs up to 30 kms which i was suprised by the ease i was doing them ,however pushing the downhills on my tempo run have caused my right itb to flare up next to my knee i think i have caught it in the early stages and with a few days off plus ice and streching im hoping i,ll be right .
I have to be careful as i forget how old i am and how long i,ve been running and tend to push myself too hard and the body won't handle it ,its like the mind is willing and the body is weak! i also think i need to stay off the downhills which don't seem to agree with my body although I'll miss charging down military road at 3-40 km pace at the end of my tempo runs .
On another note i bumped into my old mate chip van halan aka wayne salter aka chip monk salter aka chipmonk Frazier lets just say the monk,
 before he headed back to his base in france .Still a fantastic athlete in his early 40s who has in his resume  plenty of sub 9hr iron mans and a aust singlet in the 1990 commonwealth games among numerous other achevements.
The monk is a bit of a nomad moves around a lot has a lot to say and is not afraid to speak his mind on athletic subjects ,this has not endeared him to officialdom and fellow athletes over the years and a lot of people shun him or just think he's a bit weird but the more i talked to him this Saturday morning down at the beach about numerous subjects the more i admired him because i saw some of myself in him ,i too know what its like to be shunned by fellow athletes, to be described as an eccentric because i do things my way and stick to my beliefs ,integrity is a dying art .
So monk keep living how you do,, keep being true to what you believe in, keep experimenting with your training and diet,  your

  a wealth of knowledge who never stops learning never stops looking .people who shun you are missing out .
I don't know when i'll see the monk again but as we parted ways his final words were ,what people don't understand they fear ,i could'nt have said it better its a statement i have used many times myself.

getting it together .

After setback after setback i am finally putting some decent milage together in the hope of doing a late july marathon or a early spring one .
I have now moved to a new work roster which give me 2 days off during the week and 3 days every 2nd week appart from the extra financial gain working the weekend the bonus is i can get great long runs in the middle of the week in great weather in great locations with hardly anybody around and have good recovery time ,the weekend work is more relaxed and the week seems to go more quickly.
Lately all my friends have been tearing round and excelling everywhere from margreet dietzs great marathon pb in vancover to john hill just missing his age group record in port maquarie australian ironman to john howes smashing the north face 100km race in the blue mountains of sydney ,and not to forget tony goldens age group win in the byron bay triathlon ,hopefully i can get my fitness up to pre ultra levels and let one happen ,canada changed my whole mental approach to long racing and i am keen to test it out .
happy and safe training .

on the road back

Have started back slow and steady running after the hernia surgery ,scars have healed and am only getting a twinge now and then .
Am now doing 6km runs at 5min km pace every 2nd day and pulling up well ,this will increase next week when i will start to run every day at varing distances ,i haven't really done any consistant milage since the whistler 50 last november so it will be a bit tough for a while but my body will adjust.
Its been tough being inactive and off work am now looking forward to my old training routes ,gold coast marathon early july looks like the plan .

post surgery plans

Had my hernia surgery late monday afternoon 6th febuary,everything went very well ,recovery going even better no bruising or swelling still have to take it easy for a few weeks.
Looking at the running calendar my plans to go and run the rotorua marathon in nz will have to wait till next year as i would not be ready by the april 29th race date canberra marathon is even earlier so i will probably give in to the rumblings coming from my mates up north in 'gods country' and aim for the gold coast marathon which is normally in july baring that there is also the blacktown marathon on in july .Should be back running soon totally refreshed and ready to go.Many thanks to my friends for their support of my well being during this week.

unexpected setback

After only one run in the new year a unexpected setback occurred, a right side indirect inguinal hernia which will require day surgery to fix.This happened after two work related incidents the second where i felt the popping sensation of the tear.The good news is i will be covered by workers compensation so won't be out of pocket and will bypass the public hospital system and be done in the private sector quickly.Recovery will be quick and i should be back in full training in a matter of weeks.My doctor has told me i can still run with it as long as i feel no pain but it will only be short and slow as i'm a bit wary of it.It will be my first hospital visit in 24 years!

post whistler recovery

The week after the ultra run was very surprising ,a bit sore going down stairs but generally better
than after a hard marathon. A lot of short trail walks were done with a very easy short 20min group
run done on the day of my departure back to australia.The first week back i visited the chiro and also had a 45 min massage. ,I also did a 7km run the day i got back but i think i pushed it a little to much. The inside quad/groin ploblem i had before the ultra was still bothering me ,short runs were possible every 2nd day but it was nagging .Enter jean louie massage therapest of 20years standing who found the cause of my suffering
and continued to add to it over severval sessions.He also showed me some excellent stretches for the problem. So now i am poised to enter the new year ready to go,i will slowly build up again with a plan to try and run a fast marathon around april/may.Running a 50 miler has given me so much confidence and self belief that has been lacking the last few years i just have to be carefull and train smart .

Merry Chistmas everyone!

Merry Christmas!

whistler 80km ultra marathon

For a long time I had a yearning to visit Canada -- I don't really know why but it was there -- and after 40 years of running I had a yearning to run an ultra marathon. So I decided to do both at the same time, and visit my friends Margreet and Tim. Both who are accomplished endurance athletes and would be toeing the line with me.

I had had a pretty good build up at home, averaging 80km to 100km a week, with plenty of long runs and long solid tempo workouts under my belt. A slight abductor strain caused me to taper a bit earlier than I would have liked but this probably worked in my favour as I was fresh and well rested on race day.

Race morning was  a very chilly -3 degrees so I was dressed appropriately in tights, thermal long-sleeve top and lightweight rain jacket. I also added a skull cap, wool blend gloves, and thin wool blend socks. You were allowed a drop bag to discard or pick up extra gear and nutrition.

As we were running in the dark for the first 2 hours, headlamps or flashlights were mandatory. This made the first 17km loop pass rather quickly. We had been warned about bears at the prerace briefing so I was pretty alert during this time.
Starting the second lap with daylight, I became aware of  the spectacular mountain scenery that surrounded us, and the snow and ice on the back trail section of the course which I noticed my lightweight road shoes were not handling very well.

So at 30 km, I did a quick change into my trail shoes at the drop zone and I was away.

Between 40km and 60km I seemed to be in a euphoric state, running easily even singing tunes to myself, However this all changed at about 64km when a general feeling of fatigue began to set in.
Once I got to the last aid station with about 5km to go, I fuelled up on coke. I knew i was going to finish.

The last 3km were a roller coaster of emotions and I fought back tears as I remembered some of my running mentors from younger days who are no longer with us. Around a corner and into the last half mile into whistler village and I was home.

I made a few rookie ultra mistakes with nutrition and footwear but overall I was ecstatic with my performance and proved to myself that you can do a lot more than you think you can, you just have to believe in yourself.

On the trails

photo by Teresa Nightingale

*purchase pending

Looking for eagles in Squamish

With Margreet and Luka in Brackendale at the eagle lookout

Whistler 50

Overall 23

Age group 3/7

08:27:11

Average pace 6:21 per kilometre or 10:13 per mile

To see all of the results, click here

http://www.raceheadquarters.com/results/2011/run/W50M2011OA_U.html