A rollercoaster life....

Sat- 120 mins - 22k's
Sun - 25 mins, 5 k's @ 5:00 mins/km
Tues - 3KTT - 10:20 - 3:26, 3:30, 3:24


Wow - what a coupla days it has been!

Friday, I still felt like I was coming down with a cold so decided to delay my recovery run till Sunday arvo, especially with a Mt Cootha run coming up on Saturday morning.

Saturday morning dawned with a beautifully drizzy day and a fog hanging over Mt Cootha. I still didn't feel 100% and struggled to maintain 5:00 pace for the first 30 minutes. Thankfully, Langy was patient and understanding. I kept in touch with Langy going up the mountain and felt much better after we stopped for a break up the top. Had to be careful of the quads going down the mountain on the slippery road and I speculated to Langy that Brisbane could do with a cable car running from the Regatta to the top of Mt Cootha - what a great tourist attraction!! And runners would be entitled to free trips down the cable car. That would enable us to run up the mountain three times on a Sunday long run but not have to worry about running down it!! Don't you think its a great idea? Anyway, I really started to feel much better once we got back to Coro Drive and Langy and I really lifted the temp for the last 35 minutes finishing off the two hours at around 4:20 pace. I then did half a shift at work and attended a wedding for a good mate that night and managed to restrict the damage to about 15 beers.

Sunday saw me doing another half shift in the office before getting my place ready for a BBQ that I was hosting on behalf of my good mate Lacho who was in town for a week's holiday before returning to the UK. Still, I managed to slip out for a 25 minute recovery run as the guests started to arrive. Ducked into Langy's backyard for a quick drink of water from the tap and was disgusted to see brown water running out. The maintenance needs a bit of work at your place, Langy!! A great afternoon and evening with good non-running friends followed and this time the damage was about 10 drinks. MJ was late to joining in the festivites thanks to Chelle who plied her with tequila at Chelle's Mexican themed birthday party the previous night.

Monday saw my long awaited appointment with allegist-immunologist Dr David Hayworth-Smith at Greenslopes Private Hospital. He suspects that I had a bad and unlucky six month run with my health and was pleased with the changes that I have made to my life to reduce the chances of contracting colds. He's pretty confident that I don't have a lactose intolerance and I had a blood test taken to test for allergies to wheat, house dust and many more. Took the day off work and went up to Kings's Beach for a swim with Lacho and RooBoy. Gees, I am a fish out of water and spent most of the hour in the surf snorting and wheezing.

I was a little tired arriving at the time trial this morning after four consecutive nights with less than eight hours sleep due to all the extra curricular activities but was confident that I could make my third consecutive imrovement in time as the legs had pulled up well from Saturday - the extra days break helped. Jonesy asked what I wanted to do and I responded 10:25 and he said 10:20 so I said I'd go with him and we would do 3:25, 3:30, 3:25. Jonesy and I worked together to 1k in 3:26. Jonesy then ensured that the pace did not slacken in the second k by giving me a push in the back because he couldn't pass me on the narrow path!! A 3:30 second k was the result. It was great to see Jonesy kick away down the hill next to the boatshed and charge home in 3:18 for a well deserved 10:15 PB. I concentrated on maintaining my stride and cadence and worked home in 3:24 for a 10:20. That was a nice honest hitout and I worked hard without shattering myself.

I put about $70 of bets on the Melbourne Cup working around my top five selections 1. Tawqeet 2. Pop Rock 3. Maybe Better 4. Geordieland and 5. Delta Blues. It was a real rush when the two Japanese horses kicked to the line together with Maybe Better hanging on for third!! Despite being a keen punter for well over a decade now, I'm primarily a win bet only punter and today I had managed to win my first trifecta and do it in the Cup! I had boxed the above 5 horses for 50 cents at a cost of $30 and I was optimistic that I had half of a probable trifecta dividend of about $3k to $4k given that the winner was 18-1! However, I was deflated big time when a dividend of $1227 was declared - the weight of professional money must have crunched the odds of that particular trifecta combination. Still, its hard to whinge about a $613 collect and $543 profit for the day.

The rollercoaster had its final dip shortly after the cup when I rushed out of the office early to assist MJ who's back had gone again. Hopefully she'll have a speedy recovery.