May 2011
2 posts
The first winter run
I had to force myself to do this.
I promised myself a long run, then a run - it rained it was blowing a sou-westerer and it was about 11c at dusk. I check the radar again, waited for watch to charge - anything to delay the run. I looked at one number and knew I had to go - zero - the first time in 12 weeks I would not have clocked some k’s.
It was fresh, my heels were tight, my fraying...
Where I am at
I know two things:
I needs to run more and and I need to write more.
I churn out bugger-all k’s these days. Each day just flows and ebbs with flotsom and jetsom, never ceasing to rest or pool. Kid, job, pregnant wife - repeat -and the day is done.
Actually I know other things.
I know what will happen if I don’t run, I know I’m tired and I know there aren’t enough hours...
June 2010
1 post
Bleah
Running is shit at the moment.
Everything has gone to shit.
I’m about this close to saying, ‘fuck it, I’m just gonna chuck it in and be a fat prick’
Why?
My foot is sore. Tendon damage they say, though the doc hasn’t called me back.
I train for 20 weeks to break 100mins for a half marathon and then my foot goes and I run 1:42 in pain. Everything is going to shit...
March 2010
3 posts
when is a lot not much?
For some reason I feel like I am going nowhere.
I have run the 400kms to the end of march, 33 more than any other year, yet despite that considerable improvement I feel as if I have nothing to show for it.
I guess it is no PB’s and only a marginal weight loss. These are the goals I’m after and although some of the means are there I just don’t have the confidence (I should?)....
One is the loneliest number
Running is a solo sport, and it can be a selfish sport.
At the end of the day it is you who follows your plan, does the array of sessions and logs the kilometres.
And logs the time.
Hours are spent training. Hours during weekends, after work and time when you are usually with your family, or should be doing something significantly more productive. The guilt that comes with this can be...
An ode to new shoes
Possibly one of the best things in a runner’s life is new shoes.
You build the anticipation as your old shoes clock up the k’s and you notice those little signs of replacement - the hardness, the faded upper, the worn soles. The excitement builds. You have justified a new pair. The financial outlay has been earned by months of training, with a tired, dilapidated pair of sneakers to...
hard to stomach
I like food.
Not necessarily crap food all the time, but lots of good food. I like taste, and where there is a nice cheese or sumptuous cake or a well-crafted beer present, I’ll consume it without thought to caloric implications or thoughts of moderation.
Herein lies the problem.
At about 100kg, I’m a large unit. It looks okay spread over a 193cm frame, but it is still alot of flesh...
February 2010
2 posts
intimidation
Time trials scare me.
I find running 1km mentally tougher than 21.1km. I have a 3km time trial to do and am dreading it. I don’t know why, I’ve done some good work, but I still fear it.
It loiters about on my training schedule like a bully in a school corridor. You don’t make contact, but the fear of pain, loss and associated failure as a person is palpable. Maybe beating one...
going nowhere slowly.
I just ran 4.7 km - in 27min.
For those who came in late, this is phenomenally slow for me.
Last week almost killed me. Three runs in over 35deg heat. A speed session, a hilly run home, and one back to work the next morning in steamy conditions. Sunday’s long run was reduced to 12km of waddling pain. I picked up from that point tonight.
I’ve been at this program for 4 weeks.
...
January 2010
5 posts
dizzy
I hate speedwork.
Running laps of a short track, or oval in my case, is pretty boring. Laps of the tan or princes park - are nice, but they are both 3 and-a-bit kms and very scenic as opposed to the barren ovals and tracks I frequent. Short speedwork stuff, as necessary as it is, is not my cup of tea.
I don’t race the short, quick races like 1000m, 3000m or even 5000m. I can’t see...
for the sake of it
It is good to do things just because you do it.
The sheer sense of enjoyment and fun you get from something nowhere near perfect is one of lifes little pleasures. This week I had 3 of these.
The first was going for a run down the beach through the caravan parks to 13th beach lookout. I didn’t have pace goals or anything like that. It was about just running and taking in the scenery....
smiling when it hurts
I went to the gym yesterday and ran 21.3km today.
My core muscles hurt when I walk, my glutes and hammys hurt all the time. But I am happy because I know I hae achieved something and am back where I need to be.
I haen’t run that far since the marathon, and doing it after a tough gym session is all the better. In fact my first 7km my abs hurt with each footstep. My ribs hurt. It was good...
Every little bit counts ...
I belong to a running forum. (Those who think this is dorky, feel free to go watch a youtube clip of a band no-one has heard of or cats doing something stupid, then tweet about how I am so lame and/or some quirky observation about the world)
Where was I? Oh yeah - the running forum - it is populated by decent folk who share similar problems, experiences and occasionally wisdom (no offence).
A...
You know where you're at.
I run.
Simple as that - it is what I do to keep sane and fit. As a male I make it competitive. As a former accountant I get pedantic and record times, splits and have more software, spreadsheets and data than NASA and the ATO combined.
Unfortunately this doesn’t always translate into making you actually run faster.
Yesterday morning I had a 10km race at Princes Park. Glorious morning, no...