Slowly getting better

RunningRiding

None yet, going to a friends house for an early dinner (they have kids) so the ride will happen when I get home.

Injury Update
The taping came off my foot last night and I was very nervous taking those first steps this morning. I did my prescribed stretches before getting out of bed, put the sneakers on and tentatively started walking. Happy to report that although there was pain there was far less than there was last week. The taping had stopped me walking funny so the whole foot pain was gone and I could really localise it to one spot. Also the walk to the office from the station was far more comfortable as well.

So back to the Pod this morning for more Chinese foot binding style taping (see pic). The Pod kept telling me that the best thing I did was stop running and come and see her early. She said that she spends too much time trying to fix athletes after they have persisted with an injury rather than getting on it straight away, in fact I got the feeling I was the exception to the rule. As she was taping my foot this morning she laughed at my feet and said "Yep, defintely runners feet"

The taping is to stay on for at least 4 days, but 7 if I can stand it and it stays tight enough. Then I have to just continue with the stretching and I have the all clear to try running gently once I can walk without pain for a couple of days. I don't need to go back unless I am still experiencing the pain after another 3 weeks or so.

My bound foot



*EDIT* never did go for the ride tonight, decided to let it all go for a change and have a few wines with my mate instead, naughty me, I guess that makes today a rest day :-)

Bikini Babe

RunningRiding
2 rides today, 19Kms along the Dandy Creek Trail after work, then back home and another 12.5Km on the exercise bike, so about 31kms all up.

Rambling
Got me some togs today so I can hit the pool for some deep water running. Speedo have come out with some rather funky numbers in heaps of colours, I got these ones -



I can do deep water running classes at either Richmond Rec Centre or the Melb Sports and Aquatic Centre. Though at about $10 a go this rehab business will get costly so I'll go to a couple of classes for technique then just go to my local pool. I'll have to wait until next week because I go back to the Pod to get the foot restrapped tomorrow.

I have a confession to make, I kept visiting my blog today so I could cop another perve at Daniel Craig :-)

Bond, James Bond

Riding
60 minutes of rolling hills on the exercise bike, 28.4 Km. I have settled into a nightly ritual of getting home and jumping on the bike while I watch the evening news. I could just as easily get the pushbike out for a ride but at least on the stationary bike I can get a consistent workout and there is no coasting. Of course a part of me was thinking what a great night it was for speed work, patience my friend, you'll be back. The bright side is that if there is a "good" time for me to get an injury this is it. A few reassuring words of advice from the coach via e-mail brought home to me the value of training with a group under the supervision of a coach. Taking on board the advice and keeping a level head will keep me sane. Now if I am going to give the pool running a go next week I better get me some speedos, thanks goodness they are more flattering than they used to be.

Any Excuse!
I will admit it, with no shame, I LOVE a Bond film, I get goosebumps sitting in the theatre when the theme music starts. The over the top stunts, mad baddies and completely implausible story lines are just pure escapism. The new one is out next week and I can't wait, especially as there is a new Bond, and what can I say, I approve, check this out, how could I not??? Maybe not everyone's cup of tea but I guess I just like a dude with a rough head and to be totally frank I was just looking for an excuse to post this picture ;-)

2 weeks off but coping well

Running
This won't be doom and gloom "poor me", a positive mental attitude is called for here. I honest to goodness felt 90% fine for yesterday's race, but you guessed it have pulled up sore again. Deciding to nip this thing in the bud I took myself off to a Podiatrist this afternoon at The Melbourne Sports Medicine Clinic, thoughtfully located right near my office. I saw an excellent Pod who was very sympathetic to my plight and is keen to get me back out running. Time to stand up and take a bow Ewen, PF it is, albeit a MILD case (can I just stress that again please M I L D). But, believe it or not this is not a running injury, it is an injury that will briefly stop me from running. I have, according to the Pod "extremely" high arches which predisposes me to PF, but the correct running shoes have kept me free of the affliction. Turns out it is my damn normal shoes that have done it. I thought I was doing the right thing by not wearing high heels and going with the flats instead, nope, they are the worst thing for my type of foot because there is not arch support. It all makes sense now, the boots I wore through most of winter were fine, but come the arrival of warmer weather I get into the flat ballet shoes and PF here I come.

Right now the foot is all strapped up to keep the tendon stretched, which believe it or not feels great. This has to stay on until Wednesday night (bag on foot for the shower), then has to come off for some stretching. Then back on Thursday morning for more stretches and strapping for another 3 days, then more stretching and icing and all going well Monday 10th December back out for a run.

And before I get yelled at for running yesterday the Pod said that would not have set me back because for the rest of the week I was doing all the right things with the stretching, icing and massage. The strapping I have now will keep the tendon streched so it can heel, apparently it is the steps first thing in the morning that do most of the damage so this will help prevent that.

The upshot of this was that it was back on the exercise bike this evening, 60 minutes and 28.6 km of intervals. I'll be doing this for the next 2 weeks so I had better get used to it, though next week when the strapping comes off I may give this water running lark a go. So there you go, a common running injury but in my case not caused by running. Needless to say I'll be off to some shops recommended by the Pod for some new shoes to wear to work. I was fearful of having to get into some granny shoes but surprisingly you can get some rather cool looking Hush Puppies these days, the Pod had a great looking pair of lofa's on.

The first person to say I told you so gets popped in the nose :-)

PS - Rather amusing sight trying to shower after my ride, thumb covered in a finger cut from a rubber glove because I still need to keep it dry and foot wrapped in plastic to get the tape dry, ya gotta laugh really.

18:38

Running
Managed to front up for the 4km Spring into Shape run today. I'll get the facts out of the way first, 18:39, average pace 4:40, not happy, should've done better, I expected 18 minutes, maybe a bit under. So I guess I have officially had my first crap race. That's it, no more moaning, I like every run to be a positive experience, in this case it was my first 4km race so I guess that makes it a PB.

So what went wrong? I wasn't focused, my mind was all over the shop and there was too much negative chatter, I just couldn't get my rhythm, didn't help that I couldn't find the 2km marker. Still, I was running without the foot pod so was relying on "feel" for the pace so it was a learning experience. I guess I felt a bit lost without the pacing feedback, but I am not racing with it anymore so this Summer is about learning to live without it. Then about 700 metres from the finish my damn shoe lace came undone, can you believe it?! I always tuck the ends in, but today I forgot, see my mind was not on the game. As I ran my shoe got looser and looser, at one point I seriously considered kicking it off and going back for it, there was no way I was stopping to tie the damn thing. As a result I ended up crossing the finish line looking like a total unco idiot. Though no one said they noticed, which I guess means I normally look like an unco idiot!

Alright, enough of that, looking forward I have a 5km in 2 weeks in Williamstown, looking to go about 22:30 there so time to refocus. I am planning on heading out for an easy 5km or so this afternoon as well, hopefully blow away the cobwebs and start back on a more positive note.

Update
Well, you know I love my stats. The results are up and in the light of things I don't have much to moan about, Category position 8th, Gender position 28th and Overall 106th (out of 720, but there were walkers in there as well). So not bad results for what I decided was a shit race.

Coincidence!
Caught up with one of the guys from my Tuesday night group. There are quite a few people there I haven't spoken to much yet, I said to someone the other night that they should all have their names on the back of their shirts because that is the only bit I see :-) Anyway, had a good chat, turns out he not only lives in my suburb but in the next street over AND he is a contractor who has also been working in the same building I work in, weird hey!

My thumb is much better these days, problem is I now have almost 2 weeks of proper housework to catch up on, just getting this done while I wait for the floors to dry after being mopped, YAWN, I HATE house work, why can't the magic cleaning fairy get it done while I am asleep???

Enough of the bike already

No post yesterday, I had a BBQ last night and after another bout on the bike ran out of time. Then 2 cans of Scotch and Coke and I was too tired to be bothered posting. Yep, sad but true, I am a cheap cheap date people!

Running
Still nothing yesterday. I was going to run yesterday morning, felt OK, yesterday morning, not 100% but pretty good. However a few steps in the pain was still there, very far from unbearable but I still decided to be cautious. I can tell you it was a pretty dejected walk back to the office and I gave in to the negativity for a couple of hours yesterday morning.

By the time I got home I decided to keep trying to make the best of the situation and jumped on the bike (again!), just for 45 minutes of intervals. I worked it pretty hard to make it count and clocked up 21km. Pretty pleased with myself actually, I could have easily come home and sulked on the couch this week. Instead I have ridden for 2 hours 45 minutes and covered almost 74kms in 3 days, just a pity I can't add it to my weekly running mileage ;-)

So, the foot, what's up? It has been stretched, massaged, taped and iced to within and inch of it's life. In fact I have never stretched so much in my life. Also I have not walked barefoot since Wednesday, the shoes go on as soon as I get up, and I wore jeans all week to work so I could wear my runners as they are the most supportive shoes I own. On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd say I am at about 8 right now, so it's looking good for tomorrow, but I won't really know until I get up. I am sure some people have probably suspected Plantar Fasciitis, God knows I have, but I don't think it is that extreme, it is more like an annoying niggle. Anyway, Y A W N, enough analysis, the old shoes have been shelved and I have learned my lesson. I think I need some new flats as well but I am hanging out for the new Zoom Elites, OK not strictly a flat but they are perfect for me because they have just that little bit extra support.

Not the most fascinating post today, I have been pre-occupied with this damn foot, it has made me realise how much I enjoy my running and as much as I have tried to remain positive everynow and then I'd think, Oh No, what if I am off for weeks or months. Another lesson learned STAY OF GOOGLE, nothing fans the flames of paranoia more than a Google search, you'd think I'd have learned me lesson after my "stress fracture" freak out. You know, before I ran I was never over reacted like this, really, someone slap me!

On yer bike

Running
Decided on one more rest day. The foot felt about 90% better today but I decided to err on the side of caution and not run today. By God this level headed mature approach to my running health is just a little bit scary folks. Yes it pisses me off that I have had to miss two days, but better two days rest than two days of shit runs and I have a 4km race on Sunday that I really don't want to miss.

So today's exercise consisted of another 60 minutes on the exercise bike with the News to distract me. I did rolling hills today, 26km again but worked a bit harder. It's funny on the bike, I still work up a sweat and the heart rate was sitting at about 75% to 85% but no huffing and puffing like with running.

Some more ice massage on the foot tonight and it's looking good for a run first thing tomorrow morning because I have a BBQ tomorrow night. Nothing fancy planned for the run, just an easy 10km ahead of Sunday's race.

Rambling
I cracked up last night watching the news as "Our Mary" arrived back home in Hobart to visit family. Fellow passengers were interviewed and one woman said "I can't believe she was one the plane, just sitting there!" Seriously lady, did you expect her to Teleport from Melbourne to Hobart? Does she have some sort of Royal secret powers the rest of us don't? A few years ago she was late paying her bills, running around the supermarket trying to finish the shopping and getting pissed with her mates just like the rest of us, get over it.

Day 1 of the first Test today, Australia finished the day on 3/346, couldn't have asked for a better start. I love this time of year, never short for a Cricket score around my office, at any given time someone will be shouting out an update, and of course there is the great big TV in the lunch room. Now if I only I can get a LAN port patched in there........

Ughh, minor injury alert

Running
Session last night was in Fawker Park, 8 by 300 mtre with 300 mtre float. I don't mind the continuous session because it keeps the momentum going. The track was probably about 300 mtres and my splits were pretty good. I also popped off the track at fast rep 5 for some water because it was a hot dry night and I was parched. I muffed up taking the splits a bit but the fast sets started around 61, held at about 58 and finished with a 55.

Now, no running today, SHOCK! HORROR!, why? You all know by now how I hate to admit a weakness......but I pulled up sore in the arch/heel of my right foot last night. That is part of the reason I didn't blog last night, after shuffling back to Fed Square and driving home I was in a foul mood. It took me 25 minutes to get from Fawkner to my car, was not happy. Anyway, it's my own fault, I think I should have retired my current pair of Brooks about 50Km ago. Trying them on tonight and comparing the feel to a new pair the support is well and truly shot. So Monday night was their last run, IF I ever do any gardening they will be gardening shoes.

So attempting to be sensible I didn't even think of doing my 14Km run tonight, didn't even bring the gear so I wouldn't be tempted. Instead opted for 60 minutes on the exercise bike, B O R I N G and very hard on my bum. Still, 26.5 Kms and I used the interval program to help keep the heart rate up and was better than doing nothing. I have been icing and applying the anti inflammatory cream all day, hopefully it will come good by tomorrow. I won't whinge, just found out today one of the Ausrunners has a stressie and is taking it remarkably well, I would feel guilty if I started sooking about maybe missing a couple of runs.

My real Mo Bro
I have obtained a couple of default Mo Bro's this month who have all gotten the lip fuzz going in the name of charity. But I would like to take the opportunity to unleash my real Mo Bro on blogland. Looking very much like a dodgy 70s vacuum cleaner salesman this is my baby bro in his mustachioed glory, as he said to me, I can't run a Marathon, but I can grow a Mo for charity. People are always commenting how much we look alike, I have to agree, though I don't have a Mo and I am a wee bit prettier :-)



With plenty of time to think while peddling away this afternoon I realised something, I am hungry, really hungry. And not for a meal (well, that goes without saying really), but for my running goals. I can't wait to run for AV next year and I am so excited about getting stuck in and trying to get some good times on the road in the coming 12 months. I WILL run a sub 21 minute 5km, I WILL run a sub 45 minute 10km and I WILL run a sub 100 minute half marathon, I WILL do what it takes. Woo Hoo, Fire in the Belly :-)

Hot enough fer ya?

Running
10km in 55:54, average pace 5:34. Cut me some slack though, it was 34 degrees this afternoon. No real point commenting further, it was a slog, it was hot, there was much sweat, I did not look good, but that's another 10kms ticked off.

NAPCAN
You may remember a few months ago I posted about a day I spent with the kiddies as part of napcan's Child Protection Week. As a reminder NAPCAN stands for the National Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. We support a lot of charities at work, helped by the fact that my company matches every dollar we raise. But the charity that tops out list is NAPCAN because they receive so little government money and run their operations on a shoe string. The Executive Officer, Adam was interviewed on 60 minutes last night and dropped into our office today. What was supposed to be a quick visit ended up being an hour and a half because Adam was so engaging and enthusiastic. Even more interesting was the fact that those of us who made the time to talk with Adam and hear what he had to say do not have any kids. It is amazing how much NAPCAN manage to do with so little, can you believe this, for every $1 that is spent on the prevention of child abuse and neglect the government spends $300 on caring for Kids after the fact. That's right, shutting the gate after the horse has bolted!

There is a pretty powerful add on at the moment, but it is hard to catch because they are relying on donated add time. The add itself was put together by DDB at no charge to NAPCAN. Here is the add if you are interested in seeing it. More importantly if you want to donate any money to NAPCAN you can go to www.childfriendly.org.au all donations are tax deductible. So that is my community service announcement for the day, having met several of their staff and volunteers over the years I can say these guys do a fantastic job and they truly believe in what they do.

Running, Bush Walking, tired....

Running
Long Run day and ran for 1:50:00, ended up being 20.2km with average pace 5:27. I could have met up with my Tuesday night group but I needed to be done by 9am so it was up at the crack of a sparrow's and off to the Koonung Creek Trail. After the wind and the rain during the week, this mornings sunshine was most welcome. Though I found myself drinking heaps at the water fountains and ended up with a couple of stitches to work though, ouch.

This weeks running represented a pretty ideal week with 71Kms and a good mix of speed work, tempo, long and recovery runs. I reckon I'll continue this way until around the start of March when I'll start building the mileage. I am not sure about long run strategy but it seems that I should probably keep them at the 20km mark until next year where again I'll start building. Being that Summer is going to be shorter racing, probably nothing over 5km, unless a 10 ker takes my fancy, there is probably no need to be doing any weekly mileage higher than the 70s and long runs higher than 20Km

The Mountains
After this mornings long run the BF and I headed up to Mount Dandenong for a Bushwalk, it was a valley walk, so a lovely down hill followed by a punishing uphill. It was in a gorgeous spot called the RJ Hamer Arboretum, after one of the many bushfires that have hit the Dandenongs they re-planted one area with lot's of European trees. It is a great spot, one minute you are walking through Conifers, Oaks and Maples, then into the valley and it is back to Aussie bush. Here are some pics







Now, as you can imagine I am pretty tired, and dinner aint gonna cook itself.

More stuff about me

Running
Rest day

Your time starts now
I pinched this idea from the Good Weekend, the magazine that comes with the Saturday Age. One of my favorite sections is called "Your time starts now" and is a list of questions to someone noteworthy. Well I may not be that noteworthy but I have answered the questions anyway :-)

My earliest memory is…Making a plaster plaque in Kinder with my handprint in it and making a big mess painting it

At school I…Loved my grade 2 teacher who played guitar and let us watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in class

My first relationship was…with the library card my mum got me when I was young because I loved reading so much she couldn’t afford to keep me in books

I wish I’d never worn…pale blue bubble gum jeans and RaRa skirts (not together)

My mother always told me…to treat others how I would like to be treated myself

I wish I had…have taken a year to travel before I started Uni, 18 is too young, you need some living behind you to make the most of tertiary education

I wish I hadn’t…have waited until I was 32 to get serious about running

My most humiliating moment was…I can’t honestly say I have had one, perhaps and example of a life lived with too much caution

My happiest moment was…participating in my first half marathon, the sense of achieving something special was amazing, probably so trivial for so many others but I felt like I had conquered the world and no one can take that away from me

My last meal would be…depends on the circumstances but to avoid the tedium of taking the questions too literally I’ll say either a Vegetable Tagine or Wild Mushroom Risotto with my brother’s Sticky Date Pudding for desert

I’m very bad at…singing, yet I still insist on doing it also being told “No, you can’t do that”

When I was a child I wanted to…be an Archaeologist

The book that changed my life is…Alice in Wonderland. I still re-read it every couple of years

It’s not fashionable but I love…when Flame Trees or Eye of the Tiger come on my iPod when I am running, but only when I am running AND to make matters worse I sing out loud. Bang goes my Indie Music cred!

Friends say I am…off my tree

The music I’d like played at my funeral is…not something I have put any thought into, Jeff Buckley’s version of Hallelujah perhaps or to be more clichéd Last Goodbye, ultimately I don’t really care, I’ll be dead after all

If only I could…run a sub 20 minute 5Km

The hardest thing I’ve ever done was…accept a role in the school play when I was in year 7, especially as it involved kissing a boy, I was painfully shy (YES ME)

The last big belly laugh I had was…yesterday, when I suggested embedding my cat In the fresh concrete of my newly repaired driveway to deter local kids from writing their names In it. OK, you had to be there and I have a sick sense of humour

What I don’t find amusing is… Ignorance

I’m always being asked…you ran how far today?

Cat or Dog? Cat, Dogs are too needy

If I wasn’t me I’d like to be…someone who can sing. I wouldn’t want to be another person though, who I am is just fine thanks

If I were a car I’d be…my old 1976 Volvo (my first car), sturdy, not too fast but gets there in the end and doesn’t give up

I often wonder…what the hell is going on

Here comes the Sun

Running
9km in 43:42, average pace 4:51

Today's was a tempo session, being that I am running with only a rough plan at the moment I tend to make the session up after I lace up my shoes. I drove in today and was parked at Fed Square so I decided to warm up as far as The Tan, pick it up to 5km race pace around The Tan and then cool down back to the car via Punt Road just to bring the distance up to 9km. So that is what I did, I was going to do a timed lap of The Tan but I was a bit headstrong and went up Anderson Street waaaaay to fast and was stuffed at the top so I has to take a breather for 30 seconds. Also I didn't take a hard right at the top of the hill, rather I do an extra bit before heading back along the track, so there, I am not posting my lap time because it was not done proper like. All up a great session, pretty high intensity and alot of sweat :-) AND I'll be back to 6 days a week this week.

Rambling
The Make Poverty History concert is on at the Myer Music bowl tonight and concert goers were turning up already while I was doing my run. Given the reason behind the concert I was feeling a bit self conscious in head to toe Nike, I was waiting for someone to tackle me to the ground and beat me for supporting Sweatshop labour, damn my middle class guilt!

Driving home after my run I managed to catch HACK on JJJ. There was a story on girls as young as 17 getting Breast implants!!!! Hello, why are their parents letting this happen?? I find this absolutely outrageous, fair enough if a woman has had a mastectomy, but there would be very little reason for a 17 year old girl to do something like that to herself. I couldn't think of anything more ghastly myself, my cup may not runneth over but I have no complaints, why would I want to stick a couple of silicon sacks on the front, they never look natural? Maybe I am just lucky that my body is in proportion, everything is as it should be and most importantly it let's me run, I guess I would prefer to be streamlined than bumpy. 17 year old girls getting boob jobs! Never would have happened in my day!

Weather marginally better, just

Running
14km in 1:13:00, average pace 5:12.

Isn't it funny that some days you start out thinking that if you manage a run it's going to be shit, but then you end up having a great run. Yep, it's that T.O.M again (sorry boys) and for most of the day I struggled with pretty bad cramps in my back (no nurofen because it makes me sleepy, bit tricky when at work), yet somehow I always manage to keep the idea of doing my run in my mind, even though the couch and a hottie (water bottle) seems like a far more enticing option.

By the time 4pm rolled around I was feeling OKish and just decided to head out, see how I felt at the magic 3km mark and decide on the plan from there. Well, as you will see from the first line things were looking good at 3km. At this point I seemed convinced that it wasn't going to rain, even though it was only about 11 degrees and windy, despite this I was feeling good so I continued on my loop up the Yarra, over Mac Robertson's bridge then back along the Yarra and up to the office.

It was pretty satisfying to get a good run done today, especially after yesterday's cold miserable 8km slog. It also helped lift the general malaise, I know that if I had have come straight home I would have been sorry.

Rambling
Today I read a review of "Born on a Blue Day", the book written by the guy with Asberger's. The reviewer described the style as "Infantile and Alienating" which frankly is ignorant and uninformed. Daniel could certainly have taken the option of having his book ghostwritten, however he took the honest and brave approach of writing it himself. To someone who is not sympathetic to Asbergers the style may seem very unemotional and lacking in depth, I'll concede that. But to me it was very indicative of someone with Asbergers and I could feel myself relating very easily to his experiences and it helped me understand my brother a little better. The reviewers comments are just a perfect example of why people who do not fit the mould in our society end up feeling marginalised.

I had a bit of a comfort food freak out today, after my Weet-Bix I had some fat slices of raisin toast with butter, and I also had a Kit Kat for afternoon tea, but dinner was just a couple of pieces of corn from Nando's because I wasn't feeling hungry tonight. I am not admonishing myself though, especially considering what I call a "freak out" is probably a normal day for most people. And guess what, I really enjoyed that Kit Kat :-)

FAAAAARKING COLD

Running
Shivered though 8.3Km in 43:07, average pace 5:10.

It was touch and go as I stared out the window all day today hoping for a break in the rain so I could get my run in. A big squally rain storm rolled in at about 3pm and by about 3:45 it was clear again, however as my desk faces the bay I could see the next round approaching. Anyway I bunked of at about 4pm, changed quickly, into the winter gear for the first time in ages and got into it. I was planning on 14Km but quickly modified this to a quick lap of the tan as I really didn't want to get caught out half way in if it started to rain knowing I still had to get back. As it was my last 2kms today were very cold, windy and wet. For those who don't live in Melbourne we have been hit by an unseasonable cold snap today, it even snowed in the Dandenongs near my mum's house

Scandinavia, pocket knives and junk mail
For some reason I have a burning desire to visit the Scandinavian Countries, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, have I missed any? I don't even know that much about the region other than, Denmark has "our Mary", managed to piss of the Muslims big time and make a mean Feta, Norway gave us A-Ha (whom I loved) and the Nazi's built a heavy water plant there during WW2 so they could build Nuclear Weapons but it was blown up by a courageous group of Norwegians who then spent months on the run from the Nazis in winter living in incredibly difficult conditions, I believe they all survived, it is one of those great adventure stories, Sweden bought IKEA, the Swedish Chef and gravlax to the world (And ABBA of course), Iceland is responsible for the amazing Bjork and they have a 100% literacy rate and last but not least Finland, well I don't know much about Finland other than the capital is Helsinki and there is a cool Aussie band called for some reason, architecture in Helsinki and that they have been trodden on over the years by the Russians and the Germans and that a blogger mate's parents are from there (hiya Rice). And of course there is Greenland as well which despite its name is probably white alot of the time, ha ha . Also I definitely want to see the Northern Lights at least once before I die. I obviously have alot of planning to do and it is an expensive part of the world to visit, I'll have to save my pennies and hopefully head over there before I turn 40.



It's been a week since my stupid accident, the thumb is still bound up and is smarting after getting a knock this afternoon and well, stands out like a sore thumb. This is the offending article, it's OK I cleaned the blood off LOL.........



Now to a bit of a rant. I am one of those people with a no junk mail sign on my letter box, I hate the stuff. So why is it that 99% of the time my desire not to have pointless advertising crammed in my letter box is respected, but when election time comes around, forget about it. I have been inundated by all the parties flyers, if they are so stupid that they can't read what makes them think I am going to vote for them. I can't stand the bitching back biting adds and sound bites on the news, I certainly don't want to read about it. The day either party comes up with a policy or argument that is not simply "why the other lot are crap" will be when I start paying attention. Alright rant over. PS - a friend just pointed out to me that these leaflets are exempt from the No Junk Mail directive, so my sincere apologies to the leaflet droppers, didn't mean to call you stupid but if the mail is not adressed to me I don't want it in my letter box.

Round and Round we go

Running
Tonights session was 4 by 800 mtres, which as one of the girls pointed out beats 8 by 400 mtres! Initially a less enjoyable session for me, but not so now that I use them as an opportunity to work on form and pacing. As usual I was making a bit of noise out there with my feet, particularly as I was thinking about pacing and forgot about form (and us chicks are supposed to be able to multi task). I used my last rep to try and pull it all together and get my feet up off the ground. I think I pulled it off, the girl who was running behind me said I looked better and the girl in front couldn't hear me. Best thing was although it was the last rep it was the fastest, here are the splits
1 - 3:31
2 - 3:34 (head wind)
3 - 3:31
4 - 3:26 (Yes!!)

Anyway, I know I keep banging on about trying to improve my form and run lighter on my feet but I'll get there, just have to keep persisting, *sigh*.

Mad, Bad and Tattooed
Yep, that is a tattoo on my arm, a little celtic knotwork triangle. Mum told me I would regret it, but it's been 11 years and I haven't yet. For those who don't have one, to answer your question, it hurts a little bit but not too much. The noise of the needle is far and away worse than how it feels, bit like the sound of the dentists drill. Lately I have been thinking about getting one on my shoulder, another celtic design but in blue, like Woad, providing they can get the colour right. Celtic wariors would often go into battle naked, hair spiked with lime and covered in Woad, those dudes were hardcore, could you imagine the sight!!

The best picture I can post to represent this is The Dying Gaul, I love it because it represents the beauty and strength of a Celtic Warrior, I hate it because it was commisioned to represent a victory over the Gauls who invaded Asia Minor in 239BC.

Wet and Wild

Running
10km in 53:39, average pace 5:21

Pretty vile afternoon, about 12 degrees and during the course of my run I has gusty wind, rain, sunshine, clouds and yet more wind. I was having such a strong run up Anderson Street today then my reward about 20 metres from the end was a full on headwind that nearly blew me backwards. Needless to say was pretty glad when it was all over but proud of myself for still getting out there.

I entered the 4km Spring into Shape race today, to be run on the last Sunday this month. My goals? To start out at 4:30 pace and see how I feel at the 2km mark, if I feel strong I'll pick it up and have a go at coming in at under 18 minutes.

Dodgy Thumb, Nasi Goreng and Oaks Day
I had to change the outer dressing on my thumb today, not nearly as yuck as I thought it would be. For all the pain, blood and general grossness it really didn't look that bad at all and that special sticky tape they used is holding it all together nicely, definitely needs the dressing still though as it hurts if I bump it. And yes Mosey, I can feel it when I run, no need for a HRM at the moment, I can feel my pulse in my thumb :-)

A wee bit sick of takeaway and tinned soup so I managed to throw together my no fat Nasi Goreng tonight (great comfort food), took twice as long to cook but still worked out fine. Anyone interested in making it, it is a total no brainer, just buy the Nasi Goreng spice pasted from the Asian Food section at the supermarket (brand name Indofood, comes in a little packet for about $1.20), this makes enough for 2 people, I cook it in 2 batches because the BF likes oil and I don't. You need to cook the rice the day before and leave it in the fridge, if you use fresh cooked rice it will be gluggy. If you a super lazy like me I buy the pre cut stir fry vegetables from the supermarket, but I also add frozen corn and fresh mushrooms. Cook the Veg first in a wok, if it is well seasoned it should be pretty non-stick so no oil is needed. When the veg is cooked add a cup of rice (this is for one) and half the spice paste and stir fry for another couple of minutes. Push the rice and veg aside and then add a beaten egg and swirl until it is half set then mix in with rice and veg for another minute. Add some chopped fresh tomato and dinner is ready. This is all pretty imprecise but a half decent cook can figure it out as they go along, my BF can cook it so that means anyone can really.

Here is a piccie of me on Oaks Day last week, owing to the dodgy thumb I couldn't do my hair or makeup so I refused to take my sunnies off. Also I am not a fan of having my photo taken, one of these days I'll get my crooked front tooth fixed so I can start smiling in photo's again, I am the one in black for those who don't know me. I am on my first of many glasses of Champers.

Running
18 Km in 1:40:00, average pace 5:33 (a better long run pace than last weeks 5:16). Great to catch up with the ESRG for a long run again. Thank goodness Michelle was there to keep me company because I didn't want to keep up with the boys today. I think my poor body is still trying to repair itself as a result of my recent stupidity (did I mention too much Champagne on Thursday aswell, I don't think I did) so the hoped for 19km ended up as 18km. As last week I only ran to time with the understanding that I would accept what the distance was when I stopped. There was a temptation to push on to 20km but it was a wet morning and the combination of a wet top against sunburned skin was not comfortable. Besides that it was a great morning for a run, sure it was wet and windy in parts but it was so warm. Next week I will push it out to 1:50:00.

I managed to clock up 62km this week, as I only ran 5 days. Barring and unforeseen circumstances or stupid accidents I should be back to 6 days again next week, then a 4km race the following Sunday.

Grinderman
Nick Cave is back doing his thing, now he has hooked up with 3 others and they are calling themselves Grinderman . They are Cave, Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey and Jim Sclavunos, just one song so far and in my totally biased opinion brilliant! Heaps rawer than Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds of the last couple of years, but I won't draw comparisons to The Birthday Party because not the same level of insane chaos. I am not one of those music freaks who can write with total authority, I just know what I love. You'll see from the My Space page (if you are interested) that they describe themselves as "Foul-mouthed, noisy, hairy, and damn well old enough to know better", LOL, going by the one song that is out Yep. Anyway, check it out if you are a Nick Cave fan, the whole song can be played on the site.

Here is a pic, Cave has been sporting this Mo for a while now, I reckon only he could truly get away with it ;-)

Remberence Day

For The Fallen

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children
England mourns for her dead across the sea,
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow,
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again,
They sit no more at familiar tables of home,
They have no lot in our labour of the daytime,
They sleep beyond England’s foam.

But where our desires and hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the night.

As the stars shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are stary in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

Laurence Binyon

Written and published during the early days of WW1, supposedly The Great War, why haven't we stopped?

Still an Idiot

Running
11 km in 58:14, average pace 5:18.

No running yesterday owing to the fact that I went to Oaks day, didn't get home until after 8 and after a day in high heels, running, I think not!

I was going to do 12 Km with some Fartlek today, Yes, there is a but coming. BUT, frankly my poor body is putting a bit of energy into healing itself at the moment, I have a wrecked thumb causing a bit of pain, a tender right arm caused by the tetanus injection and sunburn from yesterday. Yep, that's right, I am just a litany of self inflicted injury at the moment, with no one to blame but myself. The upshot being the 11Km I eked out today was enough without adding tempo work to the mix. You try pulling a tighter than tight crop top on over bad sunburn while trying to protect your right thumb and not shed a tear. I was close to not bothering but I wasn't skipping a run because of my own stupidity (I won't repeat what I said before when I took the crop top off again, not very ladylike).

Life
Obviously feeling a bit sorry for myself right now. Got a bit wobbly today, I have never fainted in my life but today I was not too steady. Perhaps just a case of delayed shock from Wednesday night, everytime I think back on it I feel a bit sick.

Ughh, enough moaning I am starting to bore myself.

I got my Trance 5's in the mail today from the States, I only ordered them on Saturday, pretty impressive. The company was www.sierratradingpost.com not a specialist running supplier, more of a skiing and hiking gear supplier. I was just lucky that they had a very small range of running shoes that happened to include the Brooks.

There are some things that have happened lately that I really want to comment on but I can't type very well at the moment so I'll save them up for a less self pitying post in a couple of days.

IDIOT, IDIOT, IDIOT

Running
13 Km in 1:08:03, average pace 5:13. Was aiming for 5:25 pace but ended up a tad faster.

My trip to the Emergency Room
Well the good news is some of my parcels arrived today, one pair of Brooks Trance 5 from Joggers World in SA and my massage stick. Also received confirmation e-mail that my other pair of Trace 5's have been shipped from the US. Now, in my stupid not thinking enthusiasm to open one of my parcels, The Stick, which was in a tube and the ends were held on with big staples I ended up cutting open the top of my thumb.

HOW, well, rather than using the nice blunt screw driver instrument on my Swiss Army Knife I instead choose the big fuck off knife bit, what else would you use to prise out a staple I ask you? So of course (and this all happened in slow motion) I am chatting away not watching what I am doing, BF is saying "ahh, I don't think that is a good idea" and yep, knife snaps shut, stopped only by the top of my thumb.

Well an idiot I may be, but at least I have grace under pressure. Run to the bathroom, dress the gash with a wound pad and bandage up tightly, then off to Emergency. Fortunately not too busy when I get there, just some nuff nuffs who had been in a fight and had swollen knuckles (BF just laughing and saying only people who don't know how to throw a punch break their knuckles, yes dear). The triage nurse put me ahead of the young brawlers, which pissed their mother off, but hey, I was bleeding, ALOT.

It was still a 2 hour wait as there were some ambulance arrivals in the meantime. Anyway, long story short, a nasty mess of my thumb because I cut clean through the nail on an angle, but no stitches, just patched up with surgical sticky tape and sent home with more to redress in a week (Ughhh, I am not going to enjoy that, maybe I will go visit the GP). I was given the choice of having the nail totally removed and then getting all stiched up, but gross, no thanks. I am used to wrecked toenails, I can handle a wrecked thumb nail, apparently it will grow back reasonably well. And I had to have a tetanus injection, I hate them, my arm always aches for days afterwards. There was a little girl who went in after me who had put her tooth through her bottom lip, poor munchkin, I did the same thing at about her age, I still have the scar.

Biggest bummer really is that it is Oaks Day tomorrow and it is my right thumb, how the hell am I going to wash, dry and straighten my hair???????

The Proof

Stuff on my mind

Running
The usual Tuesday evening session was swapped to the AM today as it is a Public Holiday on Melb Metro due to the Melbourne Cup. The agenda for today was as follows:
500 mtre 800 mtre 1K 1K 800 mtre 500 mtre. I have said it before, I find these sessions the most challenging but also the most enjoyable, perhaps I am a masochist.

Because the govt in their infinite wisdom have decided that the Melbourne Park area needs yet another sporting venue (because The Tennis Centre, Vodafone Arena, the MCG and Olympic Park are not enough) our 2 lane track has been torn up to make way for a soccer pitch or rugby ground or some such. By the way I have no issues with the aforementioned venues, they are what make Melbourne the sporting capital of Australia, but really with the exception of Olympic Park (which also gets used for Rugby) they are all about the ball sports. A meager 2 lane track for public use should not be too big an ask should it??

OK, didn't mean to get side tracked with a rant. But due to the loss of our track we were on the grass in Fawkner Park this morning. I didn't take my splits myself because the conditions were not ideal, cold, windy, on grass etc. However I do remember the splits that were called out and I managed to run both 800s and 1000s within about a second of each other, and my last 500 was 5 seconds quicker than the first. It was a tough session but I was helped immensely by the presence of the indefatigable Eddie on my shoulder keeping me honest, this is probably why I ran such nice even splits.

Checking the race calendars looks like my next will be the 4Km Spring into Shape at the end of the month and I have decided on the Sri Chinmoy in Williamstown on the 10th of Dec for a crack at a 5Km PB. This is currently 22:56, I'd like to get this down to around 22:30.

Rambling
I lost 900grms last week, and yes it was a deliberate effort, very pleased with myself. In a fit of post half marathon indulgence I managed to gain about 1kg, I blame it on Rocky Road, butter on my bread, red wine, cheesels, apricot danish, Guiness and Spanikopita (not all at once mind you), basically getting stuck into the things that I love but generally avoid.

Now I changed my mindset drastically last week and this made all the difference as I wasn't "on a diet" as such. We are extremely lucky in the West in that we have an embarrassing abundance of food available to us. Therefore we have the rare luxury of being able to eat for pleasure, not just for fuel. Couple that with all our cars and desk jobs and there is a pretty simple explanation for the woeful levels of obesity and lifestyle diseases that dog us.

So where am I going with this?? Last week, instead of thinking "I am on a diet" which automatically dooms me to failure I decided that I was going to re-connect with what it was like to feel hungry. No I was not on some mad starvation plan, rather instead of just eating because I felt I had to, I waited until I was truly hungry. That is, that tummy rumbling really gotta eat now feeling AND stopping when I am full. Worked a treat really, also I kept a food diary and looking back on it I found that I was snacking heaps less last week, also I was eating much less in the evenings too. So that is my simple interpretation of the problems we have here in the West, we have forgotten what it is like to be hungry.

A hill shared is a hill halved

Running
Just a quick one tonight, just got back from dinner with my little brother who is in town for a couple of days, I am stuffed. Bless him and his no bullshit attitude, the first thing he said was "you look like a f#$king stick". Incidently he has gotten into the spirit of Movember as well was sporting a rather fetching Muskateer style.

Today's run was a recovery run, 10Km in 55:45, average pace 5:34. Really easy, I wore my HRM to keep me honest.

Saw Steve (to lazy to add the hyperlink tonite) at the bottom of Anderson Street, turns out that when you are having a good chat that it aint so bad afterall, I got up that damn hill much more easily than usual because I just wasn't giving it a second thought. And I noticed that my heart rate settled back down really quickly as well.

Running
17.2 Km in 1:30:00 average pace 5:14

As I posted a week or so ago I have decided to ease back into the long runs. So today I planned to run for 90 minutes, and although I laced in the footpod I set my watch so I could only see my pace and stopwatch, not distance covered. This would save me from any obsessive "just do an extra 700 metres to round up the distance" behavior. I was going to head to my favorite spot along the Yarra from Templestowe, however I was on my own and it is a bit isolated so I ended up closer to home along the Koonung Creek Trail instead.

I wore my new Nike Air Equalon's even though I was starting to suspect them to be the much feared amongst runners, Evil Pair of Sneakers. When I ran in them on Wednesday the pain I had in my left foot about a month ago recurred with avengence, so bad that even when I walked the last Km back to the office it nearly had me in tears. Determined to persevere (they cost $220 afterall) I relaced them as shown by the coach last time I complained about the pain. This seemed to make the world of difference because today's run was totally pain free, this lacing method still keeps the shoes snug but relieves the pressure over the top of my foot as I have high arches. As an aside, can you believe there is a whole website dedicated to lacing shoes, that dude has alot of time on his hands :-)

I've decided that my preferred training shoes are the Brooks Trance 5's (6's no good remember, real shame) so have been hunting high and low for a pair. I haven't been able to track the 5's down in Australia in my size (US 9.5 very popular) and after some time on the net yesterday managed to find a pair AND in my size from the states. Better yet, with postage it comes to about $140 because they are a superseded model and the AUD is pretty strong against the USD at the moment. In hindsight I should have ordered 2 pairs. Now the caveat is I am not getting too excited yet. An e-mail to another supplier delivered me the news that he can not ship Brooks or Asics to Oz because these companies won't let him, so I am half expecting an e-mail on Monday canceling my order, fingers crossed they don't. That kinds pisses me off too, they gouge us on the price here and take away our right to get them shipped more cheaply from the US. And in this case it is not a case of bargain hunting specifically, I wanted a superseded model because the nuff nuffs in their infinite wisdom upgraded the model but changed the stability, talk about alienating your customer base.

The Week That Was
Mon - 10Km Recovery (56:20)
Tues - Speed Work (1x800, 5x400) 10Km all up with warm up and cool down
Wed - 13 km Rec (1:09:40)
Thurs - Unscheduled Rest, left half my gear at home
Fri - 10Km tempo session, 6 Km at 10Km race pace (49:37)
Sat - Scheduled Rest
Sun - Long Run, 90 minutes and set the watch so I couldn't see distance covered, came in at 17.2 Km

Total - 60Km
Obviously slightly peeved at missing Thursday but in hindsight I did say I was going to drop to 5 days a week for a couple of weeks. Very pleased otherwise, it was a strong week and apart from today's long race pace being about 15 seconds per Km to fast I trained to plan. I think I'll be back on 6 days a week next week and it will probably look something like this

Mon - 10Km Rec pace
Tues - Speed Work
Wed - Mini Long Run 14Km
Thurs - 10Km Tempo session, 6 Km at 10Km race pace
Fri - 8 to 12 Km Rec (go by feel)
Sat - Rest
Sun - Run 100 minutes, distance ?? Km
Total 70 to 75Km

Other Stuff
This is unashameably a running post today and it has gone on looooooong enough really :-)

Confidence is back!

Running

10Km in 49:37, average pace 4:58

And what a brilliant morning for a run, I drove to work, parked at Fed Square and was running by 6:30 (well, 6:28 to be precise). I could not have asked for more perfect conditions for running, 16 degrees (Nylex clock), not a breath of wind, plenty of sunshine and just a couple of lads staggering around after a night on the turps.

Now to the run, the plan was for 2Km warm up, 6Km at 10Km race pace and 2Km cool down. Started off perfectly with 5:23 and 5:24, then moved into 8Km of sub 5min Kms varying from 5 to 10Km race pace. I got carried away because I was just thrilled to be feeling good at that pace again. The fact is as well that my 10Km race pace has probably improved since I last raced that distance in May this year.

So here's the thing, I was experiencing a bit of a confidence crisis about racing after the HM because I was feeling so up and down. But this week has been the turn around and today's run was just magic, it left me feeling great all day. Obviously it was not easy, but I was comfortable with the pace and more important was just the pure enjoyment of the run. So I am ready to get back into some events again and have a few to choose from between now and Xmas. I am going to keep it pretty low key though, just train well, race well and hopefully get another 5Km PB.

Rambling
Did you see the greenies on the news who hijacked the logging truck this morning? I saw some of the action on my drive in this morning as I turn up Punt Rd from Swan St to get to the Fed Sq carpark. Obviously something that is going to cause a fair bit of emotional reaction from both right and left. My stand, well no one was hurt and it got people to take notice. You know, we live in a country that affords us freedom of expression and the right to protest, a rare and precious gift that must be protected. To turn around and accuse them of being terrorists (that's what the logging company was saying) disgusts me. To draw comparisons between terrorists and protesters is reactionary and a contradiction. Logging of old growth forests is criminal and I will never be persuaded otherwise, especially as most of it ends up pulped. Come on, just think about it, a precious irreplaceable piece of our unique natural history GONE, just like that, water catchments devastated, species wiped out, all so people can have ultra soft 3 ply loo roll to wipe their precious behinds (yes, I buy recycled loo paper). I was in SE Tasmania a few years ago and driving around the Huon Valley watching endless logging trucks trundle out of the forest was to depressing for words. Some of the recently logged areas resembled scared wastelands with all these stumps of what were once massive, centuries old trees jutting out all over the place, it made me sick. Alright, enough of my rant I am not making much sense now. I am sure plenty of people will disagree with me but again, I don't have to agree with your opinion but I'll bloody well defend your right to have it and anyway this is my blog so there.

Premature senility

Running
A classic case of I would forget my head if it wasn't screwed on today! I spent most of today really looking forward to my run this afternoon, finally that old feeling of anticipation was back. Then I get to the change room at work and realise that I forgot to pack my contact lenses and sports bra. Now the contacts I could have got by without, you don't need 20/20 to run and I am not THAT blind. But the sports bra is kind of necessary and the normal one I was wearing would be no good for running in. So a few unladylike utterances, back on with the street clothes and off to catch the train home.

I wanted 10Kms today with about 25 minutes at 10Km race pace and that just isn't possible near home, I can't face trekking around the streets around here just too tedious, so an unscheduled rest day it is then. I will still probably finish the week with about 60Km which is fine after last weeks 38K and the new me does not stress out about what can't be helped. Chances are I may need to head back to Melb Uni tomorrow arvo for my last round of testing so I'll get my run in tomorrow morning. This is for the study for the Physio Dept, it has been interesting but I am looking forward to not having to pee in a cup 6 days out of the month to conduct the ovulation test. A word of warning, if you are ever at my place and I make you a cup of tea in a Tim Tam mug............don't worry, I fully intend to chuck the mug out.

Rambling
I ordered one of these nifty devices today



What is it? I hear you cry, a walking stick, a light saber, some sort of exotic sex toy, a mutant abacus? None of the above folks, it is The Stick, I searched high and low and finally found and Aussie distributor on the aptly named www.seemerun.com.au it is used to provide deep tissue massage to poor tortured runners muscles and I am hoping it will help keep the niggles at bay between my massages once every 3 weeks, I'll keep you posted.

Now a big apology to JH for being so terribly anal and pulling him up on a misquote, I can be such a pain in the arse sometimes, still, he took it well ;-)

I was shitty when I started posting and was going to let fly, but have thought better of it, I am a loyal soul and this is not a forum for my bitching and moaning about home life. Needless to say there was something I wanted to do tonight, domestic unbalance ensued and I ended up staying home. Shame because I was looking forward to watching some quality middle distance running, next time for sure, an agreement was reached and a state of detente prevails.

Feeling charitable, well this month is Movember, a great cause to raise money for men's health charities, which frankly probably don't get the attention they deserve. So if you haven't visited him already get over to Spark Drivers Blog and check it out, you can also find a link to make a donation of you want to. Come on, you never know, science may only need an extra $2 to come up with a test for prostate cancer than does not involve, rubber glove, squirt squirt, try to imagine a happy place.......

Running
13 Km in 1:09:04, average pace 5:18. Beautiful sunny afternoon today, perfect running weather

For a recovery run about 15 seconds per Km faster than I would have liked, but still more disciplined than usual. After yesterday's session I was definitely in need of a recovery session today, I slept like a corpse last night, out like a light the second my head hit the pillow. This is my plan for the remainder of the week
Thur - 10 Km including 25 minutes at 10Km race pace (tempo session)
Fri - 12 Km recovery pace
Sat - Rest
Sun - Long run 90 minutes (probably about 17Km)
This will give a weekly total of about 70Km

Now here is the thing I noticed today as I was trying to keep the pace to 5:30. It is really quite difficult for me to run at that pace on my own. If I do my long runs with company I have no problem keeping the pace down, but when I am on my own it feels unco and weird. Please don't mistake this as "oh I can't run slow" arrogance, that isn't the case. People who know how I run know that I am not the lightest thing on 2 feet, I am a heel striker and therefore a bit of a clunker. Slowing the pace right down has a tendency to emphasise my clunkiness and make me feel awkward.

Rambling
As I was running along the Yarra this afternoon someone honked their horn and gave me a wave, I have no idea who it was!

I have myself all set for Oaks Day, a week out for a change instead of running around the day before in a mad panic. Dress, shoes, handbag, headwear all sorted, now just have to pray for a nice sunny day because my dress is sleeveless and I don't want to be trying to find a jacket to go with it. Now if only I could put make up on without ending up looking like a drag queen, just have to make do with mascara and lip gloss, that is as glam as it gets for me.

I noticed yesterday that I have now done over 2500Km so far this year, I wonder if I will make 3000Km for the year?? Or will NYE see me running around the streets while fireworks go off trying to get an extra 5km in before the clock strikes midnight?