Not your ordinary week....

Tues - 8 x 1 min, 30 SR, 3k WU, 3k WD
Wed - 40 mins, 8k's @ 5:00mins/km
Thurs - 2 x 1k @ 3:30, 3:27, 4k WU, 4k WD

Getting a little slack with the blog at the moment as the demands of life catch up, so here we go:

Tuesday speedwork went well indicating I was almost fully recovered from last week's virus. This is not my best session at present with some team mates taking advantage of the short reps to outsprint me whilst I concentrate on keeping my pace around the 3:30 mark. I had a controlled session running at the back of the A-Team and afterward ran strongly up Gold Coast Hill twice.

Wednesday saw an easy run on the tready at Fitness First before work - thank God my membership expires in November. I can't wait to be rid of the place!

Yesterday, I did a solo speedwork session along the Kedron Brook. It didn't feel like I was going very fast and I was dehydrated, but I still managed to clock 3:30 and 3:27 for my reps. A satisfying session! Then I had to get ready for a round of golf after being invited at short notice by Clairie yesterday. The event was an IBM Charity Golf Day and North Lakes to raise money for cerebral palsy and I was fully paid for! Thanks Clairie! Some of you might know that at one time, I had ambitions of becoming a single figure handicapper and sub 3hr Marathoner at the same time, but eventually gave up as there are not enough hours in the day to do both. As such, I arrived at North Lakes looking forward to my first round in almost a year. With the event being a 4 ball ambrose (everyone hits from where the best shot went), I envisaged a relaxing day driving around on the carts and working the rust out of my game. However, after seeing my enthusiastic but untalented team mates(Clairie had only ever played three times!) on the driving range, it was soon apparent that I would have to play some good golf otherwise, the team would have a very long day out on the course!!

Fortunately, I soon found that my swing had remained largely intact and I was able to give us some length off the tee and set up the holes in the process. We had a lot of fun along the way, if you don't count Clairies golf cart driving. I'm telling you, Clairie thought we were at Bathurst sometimes driving like a maniac and on one occasion when trying to catch up with the cart in front of us, shooting over the crest of a steep slope and putting two wheels into the top of a steep bunker and for a heart stopping split second, we came perilously close to overturning the cart!!! And Clairie loved every minute of it!! Our group ended up with a reasonably respectable 83 off the stick for 11 over par.

The fun didn't end on the course as we then relaxed with a few beers and a delicious dinner at the Clubhouse washed down with a glass of red. I can report that Clairie was quite disciplined and stuck to her new diet for most of the part, if you don't count the part where she tried to steal some of my delicious carrot cake when I wasn't looking. As the evening drew to a close, it was a very relaxed Matty who was nestled comfortable in his seat finishing off his glass of red. Possibly, I was too relaxed - that might explain why when the opening bidder in the auction offered $3k for a 5 night Hong Kong holiday for two at a 4.5 star hotel, airfares inclusive, I calmly trumped him with $4k bid!!!!!!! Now, although the prize was allegedly worth $8k, I had done some mental calculations and valued the prize at around $3.5k to $4k and I thought that MJ and I could do with a holiday, so I thought that I would have a go and maybe get lucky with a value holiday if the demand wasn't there. Apparently the demand wasn't there at all and it was with surprise and some trepidation that I listened to the auctioneer announce 'going once!!' As I started to wonder how the hell I was going to pay for this holiday, a bloke trumped my bid with a $4.5k offer. I whispered to Clairie '$4.6k??' and she I could see the whites in her eyes as she hissed back at me 'No, no, no!!! Don't do it!!!!' Although I was tempted to raise the bidding to see Clairies reaction, I kept my hand down and brought the hammer down at $4.5k. I should add that Clairie was in no position to be rebuking me for making outrageous offers. In the silent auctionl, she successfully bid $100 for afternoon tea at the Stamford Plaza and unbelievably, $80 for a doll in a wedding dress!! I really don't know how she is going to explain the latter purchase to Al! Yep, it was great day!

Sunday - On the road again

Sunday - 70mins 14k's @ 4:50 mins/km

I didn't feel up to a recovery run on Saturday bringing my total of missed runs this week to three. I joined Langy, Slash and Bolty on Sunday morning for a run along the Kedron Brook. I was hoping to do 100 minutes but after 4k I was struggling and still a little weak from the virus. So after 35 mins I turned around whilst the fellas continued on to Nudgee Beach. I managed to hold the core strength and the running gait together for the remainder of the run without too much effort. Fortunately, the shins pulled up fine and I'm looking forward to a normal weeks training this week.

Slight setback

Have suffered from a mild virus since Wednesday with my body and particularly my legs significantly weakened and feverish. Fortunately, my head was unaffected and thus I was able to complete my Workplace Health and Safety Officers course without incident. In truth it was a relief to come down with this virus as it explains my shin soreness for the past week - my shins historically get sore when I contract a virus and I don't realise it till I get cold or flu symptoms.

All goint well I'll do a 10k recovery run tomorrow morning along with Sunday's long run. That will see me missing just two runs for the week.

Coming up for air!!!

Fri - 50 mins, 10k @ 5:00mins/km
Sun - 90 mins, 19k @ 4:45mins/km
Tues - 15 mins fartlek, 3k WU, 3k WD

This week, I'm doing a training course to be the OH&S Officer at work and this is my first chance to update the blog. I guess it shows how often I blog at work. I'm already having withdrawl symptons not being able to keep up with breaking news etc whilst at work.

Sunday's long run was not without its problems. Despite having only three beers at the Broncos game in order to be ready for the BRRC 25k Champs, I woke up dehydrated, hungry, tired and with my shins still sore from the bashing that Bruno gave me on Friday. So I elected for a mid afternoon run which I commenced at 2:40pm in steady rain. I cut the 120 min run to 90 mins and managed to get through it without any dramas. I thought I'd be doing 4:55's to 5:00's because of my problems but managed to do 4:45's without extending myself. Its pleasing that my comfortable long run pace is getting closer to marathon pace and augurs well for my first attempt at a sub 3hr marathon.

This morning was fartlek in the Botanic Gardens with the Pat Carrollers and unfortunately a little under a quarter of the course was grass and I didn't want to risk sprinting over it so I had to do recovery pace along this stretch and subsequently the A-Team pulled away from me half way through the session. Nevertheless, it was an honest effort. The right plantar fasciitis is almost healed and whilst that is great news, my shins are causing a little concern at the moment so I'll have to be vigilant.

Thanks
Matt


Km's this week - 10
Km's this month - 98
Km's this year - 1204

Mid week update

Tues - 3KTT - 10:29 with 3:22, 3:38, 3:28 splits
Wed - 40 mins, 8k @ 5:00mins/km
Thurs - 4k tempo in 16:30, 3k WU, 3k WD

Tues - I kicked of my week at the PCRG 3KTT with the intention of going at about 95% effort and running 10:30. It was probably just as well as I wasn't targetting a fast time as my legs were quite dead - probably from Sunday's long run in warm conditions. Nevertheless, my breathing and core strength were excellent and I managed to drag my legs to 10:29 with few problems.

Wed - The dreaded tready run at Fitness First out of the way and done with - enough said! Will increase this run to 10k next week.

Thurs - In blustery conditions, I left my cap in the car and ran along the Kedron Brook. After a 3k warm up and some strides(it always feels funny doing strides by yourself) I cruised along fairly comfortably at a touch faster than next years sub 3hr marathon pace. That was until I turned around at 2k and ran into possibly the strongest headwind I've ever trained in for the remaining two kilometres. With my eyes watering, I put my head down and buffeted my way through clocking 4:06 splits that felt as hard as 3:30's at times. Fair dinkum! An interesting morning. I've just logged on to read that Langy was similarly affected and there are gale force winds in Sydney, so at least I wasn't the only one.

Except for a few niggles and the slowly recovering plantar fasciitis, all is well and I'm looking forward to my Sunday long run at the BRRC 25k Champs.


Km's this week - 27
Km's this month - 59
Km's this year - 1165

Spring, Snakes, Sunshine and Shane

Fri 50 mins, 10k's @ 5:00 mins/km
Sun 105, 22k's @ 4:45 mins/km

A pretty routine couple of days in my running life. The only notable features occured on Sunday's run which was delayed to a 10:40am start due to voluntary duties with the Women's Classsic race and an appearance in the office. It was a beautifully warm Spring day with temperatures in the upper 20's and I made sure to cover up with 30+ so I shouldn't have been surprised that I had to stop for a half metre red bellied black snake which was sunning itself on the Kedron Brook path. I ended up losing 2kg during the run, which rarely happens to me during a Winter run. Then it was off to Suncorp Stadium to watch the legendary Shane Webcke and the mighty Broncos bash the Warriors. Yeah! Life's good!

Km's this week - 60
Km's this month - 274
Km's this year - 1138

All is quiet on the Western front.

Wed - Midweek long run - 40mins, 8k's @ 5:00 mins/km
Thurs - 2 x 1k with 90 SR - 3:30, 3:25, 4k WU, 4k WD

After a seriously boring run on the tready yesterday it was a relief to get out to Kedron Brook for some solo 1k efforts this morning. The first effort was spot on 3:30 as I concentrated on an even stride and cadence throughout. Although I went a touch too fast in the second rep with a 3:25, it was a pleasing workout completed just before the heavens opened. I then enjoyed a very pleasant 4k warm down run through torrential rain back to my car and I was quickly soaked to the skin. Gees, I love a good run in the rain! Upon arriving back at the car, it was less than pleasant to discover that all three towels I keep in the back had been removed for a long overdue washing......

For most of the part, my body is in reasonable shape at the moment. My right PF still needs a lot of work and my left PF still has a 1cm spot where scar tissue seems to be forming and I have to keep massaging it. The shins have a mild ache once or twice a week but nothing dramatic. All is on track for another threshold effort race in the BRR 10k in a few weeks when Langy and I will pace Gerard to sub 40. Then perhaps a full comeback to racing in the BRR 5k Champs in October. So you could say all is quiet on the Western front at the moment.

Km's this week - 28
Km's this month - 242
Km's this year - 1106

Noosa Half photos

Ok, here we have photos of me just after the start of the Noosa Half and again at halfway after having just gone around the hairpin turn.

500's at speedwork

8 x 500 avg 1:41:5 with avg 33 secs SR, 3k WU, 3k WD

Woke up to the beautiful sight of a rainy morning - unfortunately not drought busting rain. It seems however that many of my team mates didn't agree with me with that it was a beautiful day and about a third of the Group were missing! Those absentees missed a great session with the rain abating by the time the warm up started.

Yours truly had a shocking start with my energy tank running on empty early in the reps. Despite a large bowl of porridge for breakfast, I was starving and in need of a good feed. Whilst I had a large and nutritious stir fry for dinner last night washed down with a quarter piece of Sara Lee Bavarian cheesecake, that feed only served to make up for my small lunch rather than stock up my energy stores for training. I've put a reminder in my mobile to eat a decent lunch and dinner every Monday from now on. Fortunately, I got a second wind halfway through the session and was able to finish it off nicely. We did 500's under the Story Bridge in a session that was dominated by Glenda and Slash followed by Pete and Aza with a small gap to yours truly and Jamie. Pat had said that we could choose our own recovery times and Glenda and Slash decided about 40 seconds was appropriate and naturally the rest of the A-Team took off every time they. As a result, I averaged just a 33 second standing recovery with a low of 29 seconds before the last rep. With the exception of a 1:46 effort on the seventh rep, my efforts were nice and consistent in the low 1:40's and there was a bit in the tank as I was taking care not to run too much faster than 3:30 pace. Slash finished off the session with a barnstorming last rep in the low to mid 80's, narrowly ahead of Jamie.

Naturally, Gold Coast Hill was next and Glenda and I lead the recovery back to the Hill and then gunned it all the way to the top, well ahead of most others. At the top, I asked Glenda 'do we have to do one or two?' and her wordless response was to start jogging back to the bottom of the hill and the two of us were the only ones to tackle that insansely steep hill behind All Hallows for a second time. After that, I was sucking in the big ones but managed to croak out to Glenda '4:10's back to the Ship Inn?' and the two of us then pulled away from the rest of the Group with a Marathon pace warm down back to the Ship Inn to complete a very satisfying session, particularly given my poor start. Observing my team mates, it was clear that Ally had a great session averaging around 1:54's in a PB for this session - well done Mate! Melbourne is looking good for you! Elsewhere, Tesso convincingly toweled Clairie and it was nice to see after Clairie has spend much of the year in front of Tess! Perhaps now that Clairie is a year older its a case of 'The Empire Strikes Back' and Tesso will give Clairie something to chase for a while - he he he he. No doubt Clairie will take offence to this post and we'll see some spirited duels between the dynamic duo in coming weeks!

It was lucky we didn't have a full group in one respect this morning because a construction worker stole four Up and Go's from our table at the Ship Inn when Sue had her back turned for a moment. I'm really upset I didn't get to see this! As I was telling Ally, Its always been a fantasy of mine to catch a thief trying to outrun me, make a classic tackle on him, 'accidentally' bash his head on the ground when restraining him and then make a citizen's arrest! Oh well, maybe next time.

Km's this week - 10
Km's this month - 224
Km's this year - 1088

Sunday - The new Matty

Fri 10k's @ 5:00 mins/km
Sun 14k's @ 5:00 mins/km

Things have been chaotic at work lately so I was in the office on my day off on Friday. Instead of a whole day in which to do some writing, I was up to 11.30pm on Friday night desperately putting together my R4YL Noosa Half race report before the Sat AM deadline. So if the report is not up to my usual standards, you'll know why!!

After five hours sleep, I was back in the office on Saturday morning and by Saturday evening I felt like I had the symptoms of a mild cold but I was so groggy from tiredness, I couldn't really tell. MJ and I went to Hannah B's party and whilst the old Matty would have unwinded with 7-8 beers, the new Matty doesn't drink whenever there is even a hint of a cold/flu on the horizon. Instead he made several trips to the kitchen to drink water out of a plastic wine glass!

After seven hours sleep, I woke up still exhausted on Sunday morning and with deep regret(yes, really Clairie!) decided to go back to sleep for three hours instead of going to the Brisbane Roadrunners 14k Champs and Clairies Birthday Breakfast. When I woke after 10hrs sleep, I still wasn't feeling 100%. Fortunately, its a recovery week on my program and only 18k was scheduled but I cut that back to 14k which I managed ok.

Went to RooBoy's place in the arvo to watch the Broncos pack give Parra a nice touch up and again did not drink considering I still felt like a cold was coming on. Yes, that's the new Matty for you!


Km's this week - 50
Km's this month - 214
Km's this year - 1078

Recovery mode

Tues - 10k Recovery Run at 5:00's
Wed - 6k Midweek Long Run at 5:00's
Thurs - 4min, 2min, 4min, 2min, 4min with JR and SR, 3k WU, 3k WD

Monday saw me walking gingerly with significant DOMS in the quads and glutes. On Tuesday morning, I didn't go to speedwork as the session was on the grass at the Botanic Gardens and I still avoid grass at the moment. It was just as well as I was incapable of running at speed and instead did my impersonation of the Cliffy Young shuffle with a 10k recovery run along Kedron Brook. Yesterday, I was as Fitness First doing a comfortable 6k's on the tready as I continue the process of building my Wednesday midweek long run up to 18k's at the rate of 2k's per week.

This morning with the legs almost back to their normal selves, we did a session of longer reps through the Gardens alternating jogging and standing recoveries. I settled into a nice pace in the vincity of 3:30's at the back of the A-Team with Andy, Glenda, Aza, Langy and Jamie motoring along in front of me.

The shins have pulled up about as well as I expected them to this week. There is no discomfort whatsoever when running or following a run. Occasionally there may be a 'pang' of discomfort that flickers through the bone for a second or two late in the day but these a few and far between.

I'll continue the recovery theme this week with an easy 10k tomorrow and a reduced Sunday long run of 18k at the Brisbane Road Runners 14k Champs.

After 87 days without a drink, three days longer than my plan of 12 weeks on the wagon, I'll finally enjoy a quiet drink tonight!!!!

Km's this week - 26
Km's this month - 190
Km's this year - 1054
Consecutive alcohol free days - 87

Sunday - Noosa Half Marathon

Half Marathon - 86:49 - PB, 59th out of 966, 1k WU, 1k WD

Well, what a fabulous weekend it was! My good fortune started on Friday night when the Broncos smashed the Doggies 30-0. Just as importantly, the Broncos win assured me of winning a 'Double up' footy tipping comp that I'm in. My two closest rivals attempted to double up their current points tally by tipping the Doggies and went back to 0 points on the ladder after the Doggies bit the dust leaving yours truly in an unassailable position to claim the $500 winner take all prize!! You beauty!

MJ and I drove up Noosa at 5:30am on Saturday morning so I could cover the Viridian Vertical race for R4YL. Had a good chat with Steve Moneghetti whilst we were waiting for the runners to finish. MJ and I then went to the Eumundi markets for a while before spending the rest of the day taking it easy at the Glen Eden Resort, Peregian Beach. My luck continued when I won $175 on the horses so I had a grin from ear to ear! MJ and I rounded out the day with a quiet meal together at the Peregian Beach SLSC.

Race day dawned fine and cool and I got to the starting line in good order, albeit with my stomach churning a little with a large bowl of porridge and a litre of Enervit. After an easy 1k warmup, I did some strides with Langy and exhanged greetings with just about everyone on the starting line - who I knew. The plan was to run at threshold pace, about 95% effort, between 4:05's and 4:08's and Jonesy would be running with me offering us the opportunity to run as a team.

The race started perfectly, with Jonesy and I keeping the brakes on as we went through the first two k a little over goal pace whilst countless overenthusiastic rabbits overtook us. Jonesy and I then quickly found a rhythm running the next 7k's between 4:03 and 4:08. We were taking it in turns to draft each other each other whereupon one of us would go to the front every kilometre or two and the other would take a sit slightly behind and usually to one side to escape the light cross winds from the Noosa River. I had expected to keep quiet and conserve my energies for the duration of the race but I was cruising along comfortably and feeling a million dollars! As such I couldn't resist keeping up a steady stream of chatter with Jonesy whilst also firing up my team mates on the other side of the road when we passed by each other. I could feel myself losing a little bit of energy at the 8-9k so took the precaution of consuming a GU that I had in my pocket shortly before we reached the halfway mark and ran strongly through the cheers of the crowd and MJ.

By now, Jonesy and I had built up an unspoken trust that the man in front could reel off the required splits and the man drafting could relax and not worry about his pace for the duration of his stint behind. I even got used to the sweat from Jonesy's long hair bouncing off his shoulders into my path!! The momentum carried us to 13k where we had a slight hiccup posting a 4:14 split(possibly a 'long' k'). Here, I had my first bad patch of an otherwise trouble free run - I felt fatigues and momentarily doubted that I could keep up with Jonesy. However, I told myself to tough it out and I would come good soon enough and 500m later, I was back to my usual self and Jonesy and I remedied the damage with 4:01 and 4:03 splits. The 17th k saw another 4:15 fadeout before we powered home steadily with 4:01, 4:02, 4:02 and 4:02. By this stage, my chatter had replaced by slightly heavier breathing and I concentrated on maintaining good form in the run to the line. Jonesy seemed to grow another leg as we went past the 20k mark and pulled nearly 10m away from me. Reminding myself of my pre race plan not too flog myself unneccesarily with a 3:30 pace finishing kick, I let Jonesy go but soon caught up as I powered strongly up the incline to the final bridge. I got my voice back and told Jonesy "Lets go through the line together, but no holding hands - not that there's anything wrong with that!" And so we stopped the clock together in 86:49, comfortably beating my old Half Marathon PB of 87:55 when I ran at goal Marathon pace in the 2004 Qld Half. I was very, very pleased with my run and will elaborate further in the coming days. Thanks for the experience Jonesy - you're a legend!

There is no rest for the wicked and two minutes after crossing the line, I was back out on the course, running towards the 1k marker with a notebook in hand and bottle of Enervit in the other so I could take the splits for the 10k race. Any excuse for a warm down run!! The rest of the morning was great as I spent time chatting with all the winners and in particular enjoyed a great five minute chat with Dual Commonwealth Marathon Gold Medallist Kerryn McCann. She was a lovely lady and great conversationist. I got all the material I needed for my R4YL article but in hindsight, I neglected my own recover a little so will have to be more selfish in future.

Finished off a great weekend with a shift at work and then arrived home utterly exhausted. The last thing I wanted to do was a 15 minutes recovery in the freezing cold pool, a self massage of both my plantar fasciitis and pull on my long Skins - but I did all bloody three of them!!!

Race Splits

1-5k 6-10k 11-15k 16-20k Final
4.11 - 4.07 - 4.05 - 4.03 - 4.02
4.10 - 4.08 - 4.06 - 4.15 - 0.24
4.07 - 4.08 - 4.07 - 4.01 - 86.49
4.07 - 4.08 - 4.14 - 4.02
4.03 - 4.03 - 4.01 - 4.02
20.39- 41.25 -62.02 - 82.27


Km's this week - 53
Km's this month - 164
Km's this year - 1028
Consecutive alcohol free days - 84

Tempo run with Langy

Wed - 20 minutes easy - 4k's @ about 5:00 mins/km
Thurs - 4k's at race pace - 3:55, 4:10, 4:08, 4:04 - 3k WU, 3k WD

The body has held up ok so far this week after the dramas earlier in the week. The right plantar fasciitis is looking more and more like the tear that afflicted my left PF. Thankfully, there is no sign of 'classic' PF.

Yesterday, I did an easy twenty minutes along the river at Newstead before work. I would have done 6k's as part of my plan to build the midweek run back up to 18k, but I want to freshen up for the Noosa Half.

This morning, Langy and I went out to the Nundah Criterium at 6:30am. After the warm up, we stretched and then did some strides before commencing our 4k Noosa Half pace tempo run. Langy's was targetting 3:55's and I was targetting 4:05-4:08's. I felt a little tired and stiff in the first k as Langy slowly pulled away from me, but I felt much better the last three k's and it was a timely reminder that if you can concentrate and battle through difficult patches of a race, you're a good chance of feeling better eventually. I went out a little too fast with a 3:55 but was pleased to come home in 4:10, 4:08 and 4:04 considering I haven't done that pace for a while. If anyone sees Langy in the next few days, don't ask him about his pacing because it was all over the shop and he's cranky :)

Km's this week - 25
Km's this month - 136
Km's this year - 1000
Consecutive alcohol free days - 81

A crock or what?

2 x 2k @ 6:53, 6:52 1k @ 3:35 3k WU, 3k WD

It was with a fair degree of trepidation that I arrived at training this morning. My right plantar fasciitis got worse yesterday and I suspect that it had a microscopic tear from running backwards at the Gold Coast Half, that finally tore open five weeks later. Like its almost recovered counterpart on my left foot, it was firmly taped. Add to the mix the fact that I was very lethargic and tired yesterday and my back was playing up like it does for a few days every six months. I was also hungry!

Nevertheless, I tucked myself in behind Langy and Luke on the first rep and watched Glenda accelerate into the distance ahead of us. She was going so far I had to yell 'Hey Glenda, we're not doing 500's!' I was pleasantly surprised that my body held together as I completed the first rep holding my position behind the leaders with only Slash showing off his turn of foot by swooping past me late as I clocked 6:53 on a course Langy reckons is three seconds per k short. The second rep began similarly until I pulled level with Langy and Glenda at the 400 and motored past them whilst maintaining a steady cadence. Going down the incline after the turnaround, Glenda hung around for a while before dropping off. Going into the second k of the rep I was reminding myself not to go faster than 3:30 pace and to maintain a controlled stride. By this stage, i had cleared out to a lead of almost 10 metres and I was wondering when Langy and Glenda were going to stop playing games and catch up to me, but it never happened as I finished with a controlled rep of 6:52 only being pipped at the post by Luke putting in a gut busting finishing kick. I try not to race it training now and was pleased I resisted the temptation to match Luke's kick. The A-Team was always going to be well ahead of me in the last rep over the shorter 1k which I did in 3:35 as the fatigue started to kick in.

All in all, I was very pleased with the session considering the problems I brought to it. In the leadup to last years Noosa 5k when I was fitter and running at closer at sub 3:20 pace, I busted a gut to average 6:57 for three reps of 2k. Fast forward a year and my more economical and efficient running gait enabled me to record similar times despite not being as fit and not extended myself as much as I could have. Nice!


Km's this week - 11
Km's this month - 122
Km's this year - 986
Consecutive alcohol free days - 79

Sunday - Brisbane Road Runners 10 Mile

115 mins, 24k's @ 4:44 mins/km

I woke up at 5:20am and spent thirteen minutes still in bed contemplating whether I should stick with my original plan and do my Sunday long run at West End in the Brisbane Road Road Runners 10 Mile race or get an extra hour of sleep and do my normal Sunday long run. In the end, getting an earlier start to the day won out.

However, the delay ensured that I missed the start of the race by two minutes - not that I was concerned about missing it! Wearing my new Brooks Glycerin 4's for the second time, I rolled along comfortably until around 14k's when my right plantar fasciitis (the good one that I did not tear at the GC Half) started to ache and cause considerable discomfort. I pulled over at the Pauls Milk Factory where Rent Bouy and Eddie were marshalling, took of my shoes and spent about two minutes self massaging it. That did the trick. I then finished the race and immediately did another 8k's. With just one k left the right PF started to ache uncomfortably again. I'm not sure what is wrong with it nor what caused the problem(surely not the new shoes albeit half a size smaller?). Nonehteless, I'm confident that I can keep the situation under control. I taped up the right foot last night and that should ensure that I can walk and run without discomfort until I fix the problem. Buys shares in sports tape companies - thanks to me, they'll report record profits this year.

Am looking forward to the Noosa Half on Sunday when Jonesy and I plan to run a good solid 86 minute tempo run.

Km's this week - 58
Km's this month - 111
Km's this year - 976
Consecutive alcohol free days - 77

New shoes!

Thurs - 4 x 500 @ 1:45's 4k WU, 4k WD
Fri - 50mins, 10k's @ 5:00 mins/km

Went out to Intraining on Wednesday night with a mission to buy a pair of neutral runners from Langy. With two pairs of Brook's Glycerins recently retired and 520k's on the other one, it was high time to add another pair to the rotation. I went through the entire range of neutrals that Langy brought out for me and whilst the Mizuno's were impressive and felt highly promising, I took the conservative option and went with the latest model Brook's Glycerin 4's. I love the Brooks - they seem made for my feet! I also decided to try dropping down a size from US 11.5 to US 11. To cut a long story short, several shop assistants have told me that the 11.5's fit me ok and the memories of my feet swelling up and pushing against the toebox in the last 7k's of my 2004 Gold Coast Marathon are still fresh which is while I have been reluctant to try the size 11 for quite some time. It seems to me that my feet are borderline too small for the 11.5's and perhaps borderline too big for the 11's. However, now is a good time to see how it goes.

My first run in the new Brooks went very well during a tready speedwork session yesterday - it'll be interesting to see how they go during Sunday's long run which I will do at BRR during and after the 10 Miler. I followed up yesterday's run with an easy and uneventful 50 minutes this morning.

The Plantar Fasciitis continue to recover well - the tear has healed all the way down to the heel with only a 1-2cm stretch still providing discomfort, but only when I give it its daily four minute self massage.

Km's this week - 34
Km's this month - 87
Km's this year - 952
Consecutive alcohol free days - 75

Wednesday midweek long run resumes

20 mins, 4k's @ approx 5:00's

Did an easy 20 mins this morning from my place through the back streets to the Kedron Wavell RSL and back again. This was my first Wed midweek long run since March 2005, although its obviously not a long run yet! I plan to bump up the distance of this run by 2k's per week until I'm up to 18k's.

In March 2005 my comeback from my shin splints was at one of its lowest points and I made the decision at that time to reduce my runs from five to four times per week. Prior to breaking down for the first time in late November 2004, I was doing two 18k midweek long runs in each four week block of my program along with 14 or 16k's another week and 10-12k's in the recovery week. Looking forward to getting back into it again!

This is my 200th blog post - how time flies!

Km's this week - 14
Km's this month - 67
Km's this year - 932
Consecutive alcohol free days - 73

An unusual preparation

12 min Fartlek, 2 x Gold Coast Hill, 3k WU, 3k WD.

An unusual preparation for speedwork last night saw me attend a soup cooking class with MJ! We went to the Black Pearl Epicure in the Valley where Michelen starred chef Bruno Loubet. Gees, some of those dames were positively salivating in the great man's presence! Didn't they know there was a real fast runner amongst them :) Anyway, the evening was enjoyable enough for some one who has never even seen a cooking show on tv so there were a few eye openers and tips picked up. This confession should not be taken to read that yours truly can't cook! I can cook damn well, thank you. Just ask MJ!

Fartlek was on the menu at speedwork this morning - 1min fast, 30 jog, 30 fast, 30 jog, 15 fast. In great conditions Andy and Glenda led the way for most of the session with yours truly trying to stay a distance behind them that would have me going at around my desired 3:30 pace. I felt I did that pretty well and didn't go too fast. However, for the second Tuesday in a row, my legs fatigued pretty quickly. They are taking some time to adjust to the backup from my Sunday Long Runs as I've only done about 5-6 20k+ Sunday Long Runs so far this year and all of them have been in the last 5-6 weeks. Nevertheless, I concentrated on maintaining good form and saw out the 12 minute session strongly enough. No time for a breather as Pat then sent us up Gold Coast Hill which I did twice, pushing myself very hard in the process. My team mates then had the a rare glimpse of me bent over, hands on knees, sucking in the big ones. Its something they'll get used to over the next few months as I continue to work hard. Only Luke overtook me on GC Hill and I resisted the temptation to go with him. Wrapped up the session by going for a steady warm down at 4:10-4:20 pace with Mike R back to the Ship Inn. Legs have pulled up well so far!

Km's this week - 10
Km's this month - 63
Km's this year - 928
Consecutive alcohol free days - 72

Bridge to Brisbane

Fri - 2 x 1k @ 3:31 and 3:21, 4k WU, 4k WD.
Sun - 125 mins, 24k's @ 4:40-5:20 pace

Friday saw me give Fitness First the flick again and head out to Kedron Brook late that afternoon after a day of rare procrastination. After an easy warm up, I clocked a steady 3:31 before getting carried away and clocking 3:21 for my second and last rep. Gees, my running stride felt a lot smoother and more economical when I last hit that speed and there is plenty more where it came from!!

Today saw me contest my 3rd consecutive annual Bridge to Brisbane. This race is a good fun day out but is unlikely to reach the iconic status of the City to Surf for a while yet. An early 4:30am start was required to ensure that I could eat two large bowls of porridge, drive to New Farm, park, catch the Intraining bus to the Gateway Bridge and collect my Official Pacers singlet and pink balloons from Coach Pat - before a 7am gun. There was some concern that being a 65 min pacer for 12k and averaging 5:20's would be a little too slow for me and lead to injury. However, a very slow first k with some walking up the Bridge in all the traffic ensured that I was able to roll along at a more respectable 5:10 pace for most of the way with team mate Steve G and I going through in 64:55 after stopping 500m out with 2 minutes in the bank. As always, pacing was good fun, but I got the impression that the once a year runners didn't appreciate or understand the service like Gold Coast, Brisbane or Noosa participants do.

Following the race, I took over 90 minutes to run my remaining 60 minutes for the day. In between, I did a warm down run with recent Qld X Country Champ and GC 10 winner, Michael Shelley all the whilst interviewing him for R4YL.He moves along nicely and was warming down at around 4:20 pace. I also chatted with Peter Nowill and the 4.5 k winner and was able to get a good feel for how the races unfolded and that will complement my race report which will be mostly based on what I see when watching the Ch9 coverage of the event next weekend. I pulled up nicely after all that. Bring on next week!

Km's this week - 53
Km's this month - 53
Km's this year - 918
Consecutive alcohol free days - 70

Easy Thursday run

50 mins, 10k's @ 5:00 mins/km

There was the occasional 'pang' in the shins on Tuesday arvo and yesterday, no doubt a legacy of the long run followed by a fairly hard effort in the time trial. Coupled with not eating enough yesterday during a busy day at work, I did an easy 10k's this morning on the tready. Will do speedwork on the tready tomorrow.

Am spending the day sprucing up my house prior to a visit by a International Student Homestay company tomorrow morning. They'll assess the suitabiility of my house and yours truly for hosting international students. Have already told the company to find me some runners if my application is successful!!

Km's this week - 19
Km's this month - 19
Km's this year - 884
Consecutive alcohol free days - 67

PCRG 3K TT

3KTT 10:46 (3:29, 3:43, 3:33)

The legs felt a touch fatigued this morning after my most demanding Sunday long run in quite some time and the warm up didn't loosen them as much as I would have liked. I said to Gerard prior to the start that whilst I would not be busting a gut and running faster than 3:30's, I would try and drag him along to sub 10:45 if I felt good in the last k. The big field set off with the usual excitement at the start and I settled in pretty well, but it was clear early on that whilst the legs were serviceable, they were lacking a little zip. Some drama at the 1.5k turnaround with the marker getting lost and several people turning too late or in some cases, too early. At this time I had settled in five metres behind Gerard and Jonesy was right behind me and the three of us probably lost around five seconds going too far. Heading back up the short incline opposite the booat sheds, I powered strongly up and started to feel really good so I 'flicked the switch' an accelerated the five metres to Gerard. I then ran the last 900m very strongly and still had the breath to do a fair bit of yelling whilst running 3:33 for the last k and only just running out of time to help drag Gerard home under his sub 10:45 goal.

I felt very satisfied afterward, particularly given that I only ran at around 85% effort on tired legs whilst doing a lot of yelling on last k and yet I was still able to run 10:46. The magical Sub 10 min barrier is not very far away at all!!!!

Km's this week - 9
Km's this month - 9
Km's this year - 874
Consecutive alcohol free days - 65

Sunday long run

Fri - 50 mins, 10k's @ 5:00mins/km
Sun 120mins, 25k's @ 4:47mins/km

After driving out to Ippy in the morning to cover the Park to Park for R4YL, it wasn't until 10:45am that I was able to start my long run in glorious sun at Kedron Brook. After the first two k's. I realised that I was a touch dehydrated and should have drunk more water whilst at Ippy. Nevertheless, a good drink of water at the 7k and a GU and 400ml of Enervit at the 15k ensure that I had the energy to cruise comfortably throughout the session. I felt really comfortable at the pace and 4:51 was my slowest kilometre split - am really looking forward to getting a handful of these long runs under my belt. I've been conservative in doing most of my long runs at 5:00's recently, but 4:40's is closer to my natural pace at present. I finished the run just before 1pm under warm sun and with a film of salt crystals covering my upper body.

Have pulled up exceptionally well except for my sunburnt ears - its been a while since I had to apply sunscreen and it was always going to be a question of which part of my body would I forget to put sunscreen.

Am fully recovered from the cold of last week and am raring to go this week. The plantar fasciitis continues to heal slowly and there is no longer any discomfort when self massaging for about two inches from the ball of the foot running towards the heel. However there is still an inch long piece where the PF reaches the heel that causes me to grit my teeth when I get stuck into it with my knuckles.

Km's this week - 54
Km's this month - 192
Km's this year - 865
Consecutive alcohol free days - 63

Misty morning

5 x 950m(approx)with 50-60 sec SR, 3k WU, 3k WD

This morning featured the mistiest morning I can recall in Brisbane in my time training with the PCRG. We could hadly see the other side of the River and even part of the Story Bridge and its lights were obscured from just a few hundred metres away. For safety reasons, Pat moved the session from Riverside Drive to under the Story Bridge and so off we headed, passing the Dutch replica ship, the Duyfken moored at Customs House along the way.

It fair effort for me this morning given I'm around 90% recovered from the cold. I wasn't far behind A-Team in the first 950m rep covered in 3:25, but that took a fair bit out of me. I could have easily flogged myself and kept doing those splits but
eased off and ran to how I felt. I ran 3.25, 3.31, 3.39, 3.41 and then 4:13 tempo
for a fifth one k rep instead of 2 x 500's. A lot of people put in a hard effort this morning and as a result, nobody accompanied me as I cruised back to the Ship Inn at 4:20-4:30 pace.

Shins were a little achey mid morning - not surprising given the cold and I
took the opportunity to lie down, relax and watch a few West Wing DVD's.

Clairie's constant nagging, insisting I quit Fitness First for the good of my health is starting to get through somewhat. I've decided to reduce my treadmill sessions from six per fortnight to four. I think most of the muscle memory benefits for my running gait that have been brought about by treadmill running have been realised but I will do another three months just to be sure. In November, I will bid farewell to that abominable germ ridden cesspit and try and find an open air gym for weekly or fortnightly Wednesday mid week long runs on a tready.

Km's this week - 19
Km's this month - 157
Km's this year - 830
Consecutive alcohol free days - 60

Back in action

8k recovery run @ 5:15 mins/km

Stated my day by going to QSMC at the Gabab for my second preventative physio session with Shane Lemcke. Shane was happy with how I had managed to free up my hips over the past month with golf ball self massaging exercises. He proclaimed me in fairly good working order and I will go back and see him in six weeks. In the meantime, I'll continue to spend 5-10 minutes with the golf ball five or six times a week. I'll use the golf ball on my rig ht tensor fascia lata under the right hips and also on the top of my left glute.

Dropped into Fitness First on the way home for 8k's on the tready. The body was a little weak intially and I worked up a bigger sweat than normal but felt great afterward. Fitness First remains a prime suspect for causing all my ill health this year, but fortunately, I've only got three months left of regular treadmill running. Believe me when I say I'm paranoid about disinfecting the tready prior to use and taking great care not to bring my hands anywear near my nose and mouth after I have entered the building!

Km's this week - 8
Km's this month - 146
Km's this year - 819
Consecutive alcohol free days - 59

Wipeout

I've been floored by this cold/sore throat for almost a week now. On the weekend it mutated into a runny nose and watery eyes. My body and legs have been weak and achey so since my last run on Tuesday, running has been out of question. Even Clairie would not have been able to run under these circumstances.

I've ruled out speedwork with the PCRG for Tuesday and will go on Thursday instead. Am still hoping to be sufficiently recovered for a easy 10k recovery run sometime late tomorrow.

An ill timed sore throat

I awoke yesterday keen to enjoy an annual leave day only to find that I had come down with a mild sore throat, if any sore throat can be called that. This is my first cold or flu since late May and hopefully I'll shake it quickly. The body was somewhat lethargic and the shins were a little achey as is usually the case when I come down with something. I'm not feeling a great deal better today and will be delaying my Thursday speedwork session till Friday.

All going well, I should still get through the week without missing any training or reducing mileage.

PCRG resumes speedwork

8x 1 min with 45 sec SR, 3k WU, 3k WD

A large contingent fronted at the Ship Inn this morning eager for some hard running after two weeks of easy runs following the Gold Coast events. I was feeling fantastic upon arrival, but nevertheless, by the time we reached the Story Bridge, I was feeling a little weak with hunger. This had its roots in the events of Sunday night when i cooked a delicious beef stir fry with plenty of rice - half for dinner and half for lunch on Monday. The first thing that came to mind upon awakening on Monday morning was "f%#^ - did I remember to put the stir fry in the fridge?" Sadly, I hadn't and was certainly not going to risk eating a possibly bacteria infested meal. In hindsight, having salad for lunch yesterday didn't provide me with enough energy and even the pizza for dinner last night and the large bowl of porridge before training weren't enough to top up my energy reserves. Fortuantely, I had enough left in the tank to spend the session running with Gerard who normally does his efforts in the vincity of the 3:35 min/km pace I wanted to do today. I ran with control and managed to resist that little voice in my head saying 'Go on - floor it and beat everyone else this rep!" I wrapped up a pleasantly satisfying session with a brisk tempo run back to the Ship Inn with Langy and Wayne.

Now, I just have to try and eat a little more on Monday's and Wednesday's in particular to ensure I'm fueled for all speedwork sessios.

Km's this week - 9
Km's this month - 138
Km's this year - 800
Consecutive alcohol free days - 51

Sunday - Longest run of the year!

Fri - 10k's @ 5:00 mins/km
Sun - 24k's @ 4:55 mins/km

The plantar fasciitis continued to slowly recover over the weekend and I was able to get through my longest run of the year to date without any issues. I treated myself to a Sunday long run along the Kedron Brook path and just motored along throughout with a narrow range of kilometre splits between 4:51 and 4:59. Just as pleasing as the run was my rapid recovery with little soreness or tiredness in the legs as the day wore on. Bring on the Noosa Half.

The PCRG had their annual dinner on Saturday night and whilst there was little doubt that most people had a fabulous time, the sober Matty found it a little harder to get into the groove! The evening really rammed home how much alcohol assists a good time, either as a social lubricant or relaxant. That's not to say I sat quietly in a corner all night, because I made every effort to throw myself into the thick of the festivities, taking the mike after dinner to take the piss out of a few team mates with some gags and outstaying MJ and Langy who both departed before me.


Km's this week - 55
Km's this month - 129
Km's this year - 791
Consecutive alcohol free days - 49

PF recovery continues...

4 x 500 @ 1:50's. 90sec SR, 4kWU, 5k WD

The PF continues to recover well and I can still walk and run without discomfort. Even when I bend back my toes and use my thumb knuckles for a torturous self massage session, I only endure just pain instead of excruciating agony!! I've heard enough stories from those who have battled PF for months of years but my progress so far gives me cause for quiet optimism.

A nice session on the tready this morning - buildup to the Noosa Half continues nicely.

Km's this week - 21
Km's this month - 95
Km's this year - 757
Consecutive alcohol free days - 46

Two careless mistakes.....

2 x 1k @ 3:38, 3:27 with 90 SR, 4k WU, 4k WD.

Yesterday saw the inch long area of discomfort in my plantar fasciitis lengthen all the way from the ball to the heel. Fortunately, I was still able to walk with very little discomfort. Nevertheless, I made an emergency appointment to see my regular podiatrist, Ashley Mahoney at UQ this afternoon. After I fessed up to some of the stupid things I've done recently, Ash pinpointed the following as most probably causing my PF problem

1 - Running about 200m of the Gold Coast Half Marathon backwards. It seemed like a good idea at the time to turn around and offer some encouragement to the pack I was pacing, but I'm paying the price for it now. Ash says that instead of the normal process of PF inflexion when running, it did the opposite, probably causing a small tear that has slowly lengthened over the past week whilst also creating tightness in the area.

2 - Letting the mileage of one pair of my Brooks Glycerin 4's blow out to 826k's - at least 100k's past their retirement date. This, to a much lesser extent was another problem. I normally check my shoe mileage before every pod appt, but rescheduled my last two appts, leading to this debacle. It didn't help that my orthotics masked the breakdown of the shoe's midsection to some degree. Nevertheless, this is an amateur mistake and I'm quite cranky with myself for it!

On the bright side, I've been doing most things right in my treatment of the PF so far. Ash now has me taping it up with strapping tape and says I get to keep using Ally's Strasburg sock. Ash also suggested telling Bruno to 'go medium' at my next rub on Friday. However, i'm not sure Bruno understands the concept of medium... :) Oh yeah, did I mention I can keep running?

Driving home from the appointment with Ash, I couldn't bear the thought of going to the gym so did my session at Kedron Brook at dusk. With a full moon reflecting of the Kedron Brook channel leading to the bay, I did my first k along the smooth bitumen path next to the channel into a reasonable headwind. Targetting 3:40's for the session, I opened with a nice 3:38. I told myself to take it easy for the second k with the tailwind sure to be worth five seconds and was surprised to record 3:27, with plenty left in the tank. Its nice to be running that fast again :)

Km's this week - 10
Km's this month - 84
Km's this year - 746
Consecutive alcohol free days - 44

Brisbane Road Runners 14k

Fri - 10k's @ 5:00 mins/km
Sun - 23k's @ about 4:50 mins/km

After an easy and discomfort free recovery run on Friday, I continued my efforts to shake off my nagging PF problem in the left foot. Fortunately, Bruno is only a few hundred metres from my place so I ducked into see him between appt's and he assessed my problem as a tight tendon and recommended four minutes of self massage or icing twice per day to go with some stretching. I've also had a good chat with Ally and borrowed her Strassburg sock to sleep in. http://www.thesock.com/

With no speedwork at Pat's this week, I was free to do a Sunday Long Run for my weekly non treadmill run this morning! Gees - only someone who has spent several months running on a treadmill can appreciate how much better it is to run in the great outdoors. Anyway, I went to West End and with my running mate for the morning, Langy nowhere to be seen, I renewed my BRRC membership and entered the 14k race. Still no sign of Langy when Race Director Robbie Lofthouse sent the field on its way. Normally, I would use an event like this to practice my pacing, but my brain was in neutral and I was busy thinking of a practical joke I could play on Langy for standing me up this morning. So I rolled along clocking a range of splits between 4:33 and 5:05 in very cool, but beautiful conditions. Its always a bit funny doing an easy run whilst others around you race the event. Its very easy to get carried away and find yourself trying to reel in the person in front of you! The PF behaved itself and I finished the 14k and then after a quick chat with the ladies winner, Tesso(you indestructible thing!) I did another 7k loop followed by a 2k out and back to wrap up the proceedings for the morning.

Hit the pool for 20 minutes cold water recovery upon arrival at home(I try to do approximately 1 min in pool per k run). This morning, I did this standing on the third step down with the water freezing my legs and sun heating my back whilst I ate porridge and read the Sunday Mail - aaah the simple pleasures! Went back to bed and put the Skins on and read some more of the paper before I treated myself to half a custard tart from Carby's Bakehouse for morning tea. Not a small custard tart mind you - a family sized one! I earned it!


Km's this week - 53
Km's this month - 74
Km's this year - 736
Consecutive alcohol free days - 42

QUEENSLANDER!!!!!! Plus upcoming goals

4 x 500 @ 1:52's with 90 sec SR. 4k WU, 4k WD.

Well, didn't we get to see a helluva game last night? I drove out to D-Bay to watch the game at RooBoy's place and we were quietly confident of a good showing. Despite appalling reffing and a 16 point turnaround for NSW early in the second half, the old Qld spirit came to the fore yet again!! What a magical finish. I felt like running a Marathon right after the game - sub 3 would have never been in doubt!!! And no, Clairie, I did not have a drink and am now onto my 39th consecutive alcohol free day!

Today, the left PF continued to give me a few niggles but I got through a solid session nicely enough. Have read the chapter on PF in a book called Fixing Your Feet by John Vanhoff that MJ gave me to read some time ago and I will start doing some of the stretching exercises recommended. I'm currently wearing and old pair of runners and my orthotics around the house instead of going barefoot and am utilising the frozen water bottle twice daily. I have also emailed our resident PF expert, Ally for some advice. I'm pretty confident that I can nip this in the bud before it becomes a cause for concern.

Right now, I'm feeling pretty healthy and have done well since the detox, but am hedging my bets by not consuming milk or bread until I can rule out an allergy to either dairy or wheat. Unfortunately, the first allergist I tried to book with can't see me till the middle of October so I'm trying some more. Nevertheless, I'm training well at the moment and am feeling fit and strong. I won't be reaching full training mileage till September but will enter the Noosa Half in late August and I think I'm a reasonable chance of breaking 85 mins. That'll set me up nicely for a sub 80 min run at my following Half.

Km's this week - 20
Km's this month - 41
Km's this year - 703
Consecutive alcohol free days - 39

Tuesday - solo speedwork

2 x 1k @ 3:45 mins/km, 4k WU, 4k WD

My left Plantar Fasciitis gave me a little grief on Monday afternoon and evening so I spent some time rolling it on a frozen water bottle. I did likewise throughout Tuesday arvo at work. Causes? Possibly the PF adjusting to the increasing mileage or possibly it was the 200 or so metres of the Half Marathon I ran backwards when talking to and urging on my pace group.

Pat is only holding 50 min easy runs for the next fortnight with most of the squad and Pat himself in recovery mode after the Gold Coast so I did a session at Fitness First on my way home from work instead. The PF was just a touch uncomfortable but certainly not painful and I carefully eased my way through the session without any difficulty. The 3:45's were the fastest I have run in over six months and I did so fairly comfortably so the fitness is coming along nicely.

Am not too concerned about the PF - I think its just a little niggle but to be on the safe side, I'll consult our resident PF expert, Ally to see what she has to say.

Km's this week - 10
Km's this month - 31
Km's this year - 693
Consecutive alcohol free days - 37

Gold Coast Half Marathon

Fri - 6k's @ 5:00 mins/km
Sun - GC Half - 1:44:30

What a great weekend down the Coast! MJ and I drove down late Saturday morning and checked into the same unit we stayed at last year - a convenient 500m stroll from the start/finish area. I headed down to the Race Expo shortly afterwards and spent most of the arvo helping out R4YL publisher Dan Green at the R4YL booth, handing out freebie copies. Standing up for a few hours certainly took its toll on the legs and its certainly not something that I would I would do if I had a serious race the next day. A drive down to Coolangatta for dinner at the Aztec mexican resaurant with MJ and her mate, Megan followed. That would be another no-no for the night prior to a serious race! Then I had to get my race kit and home made 'Sub 1:45' sign ready before bed.

Awoke at 4:40 am to receive a textie from my brother Benno in the UK taking great delight in yet another Pommie choke at the World Cup and watching a nation in mourning! Before I knew it I was at the start with my pace group members gathered around me and several runners coming up and asking if they could tag along. A record Half Marathon field and the usual wannabes clogging up the front of the field ensured a slow opening k of 5:37. Fortunately, I had warned everyone that a slow start may happen. With the field opening up, I was embarrassed to over-correct with a 4:37 second k before I settled down into steady splits in the high 4:40's or low 4:50's. With a 'Sub 1:45 pacer' sign saftery pinned to the back of my singlet, I was picking up heaps of runners along the way who wanted to join in. Some humour for my pace group came when I ducked into the bushes at 6k for a brief toilet stop and then sprinted 400 metres to catch up with the pack. Shortly afterwards, I really got into the zone and reeled off seven consecutive k's of either 4:55 or 4:56. By 15k's some of my pack were feeling good and moving ahead but I kept everyone else in the mid 4:50's, telling them to stick with me for a low or sub 1:44. With three k's to go, I urged anyone who was up to it to go on ahead and was very proud when most of them did. The spectators were lined up everywhere in the last few k's and it was a great atmosphere. I stopped about 300 metres from the finish with my watch reading 1:43 and spent a minute urging everyone to dig in and break sub 1:45. Then i sprinted for the line myself, stopping my watch at 1:44:30.

I then made my way quickly through the recovery area and back to the PCRG tent to change, grabbed my notebook and media pass and headed out to watch the Sub 3hr pack run by in the Marathon. I then saw Troopy's win and was part of the media scrum getting quotable quotes from him afterward. Following that, I dashed down to the 1k mark for the 10k race to record some splits and then scooted back to the finish line to catch the sub 3hr Marathoners cross the line. It was very poignant watch numerous sub 3hr runners achieve exactly what I want to achieve next year. I was going off like a nut when Glenda crossed the line in 2:55:XX - it was a fantastic moment for Glenda who has tried so long and so hard to get that sub 3 - viewing it was one of the highlights of my day! I then caught the finish of the 10k race and hung out with team mates at the PCRG tent.

Normally, I'd have stayed down the Gold Coast and partied on but with my alcohol ban, I just didn't feel like celebrating whilst clutching a bottle of water and had to go to work anyway so it was back up the highway to Brissy for me. I did manage to head out to Suncorp Stadium to catch a gutsy Baby Broncos win over the Sharkies before heading into work. With R4YL going to print on Wednesday, I put together an intro and 10k race report to go with the rest of the article that Greeny will pull together before putting in a few hours work.

Gees - it was a long day, but I was very satisfied to get the most out of it!

NB - The above picture kindly provided by PCRG's Mike J shows me cruising down the finish chute about 500m from the line.


Km's this week - 45
Km's this month - 21
Km's this year - 683
Consecutive alchol free days - 35

Tagged

I have been tagged by Ally

4 jobs I have had:
- Paper Boy - loved to throw the paper 20m across the yard dead accurate onto front door mat!
- Assistant cabinetmaker - one day only!
- Assistant librarian
- Reader Analyst(reading newspapers)

4 movies I could watch over and over:
- Indiana Jones
- James Bond
- Die Hard
- Without Limits - Steve Prefontaine

4 places I have lived:
- Caboolture
- Bribie Island
- Scarborough
- Wavell Heights

4 TV shows I love to watch:
- West Wing
- Seinfeld
- The Sopranos
- Without a Trace

4 places I have been on vacation:
- Melbourne for the Cox Plate
- Sydney for Sydney 2000
- Mooloolaba for the Mooloolaba Tri
- Gold Coast for the Gold Coast Marathon


4 websites I visit each day:
- hotmail.com
- foxsports.com.au
- blogger.com
- tradingroom.com.au

4 favorite foods:
- my home made pizza
- steak on the barbie
- cheesecake
- mango

4 places I would rather be right now:
- at start line of the Beijing Olympic Marathon wearing an Australian singlet
- in a basement in a small German town using medieval torture devices on the ref who gifted the Italian Diving Team a penalty kick on Monday night.
- preparing for the Ashes this summer with the Australian cricket team
- in a pub

4 favorite bands/singers:
- music is a waste of my time

4 Bloggers I am tagging:
- Robert Song, Superflake, Vat_Man, Langy/Rith

Recovery week

Tues - 3k's in 11:26, 4k WU, 3k WD
Thurs - 4 x 500's @ 1:55's, 3k WU, 3K WD

After increasing the mileage steadily over the past month, its time for a recovery week! Freshening up a little for my sub 1:45 pacing duties at the Goldie this weekend doesn't hurt either. I currently have six runners in the Group and will probably pick up some more between now and then so it should be a fun day.

Saw Shane Lemcke on Monday for preventative physio, which I will now do every 4-6 weeks. Shane reckons I'm in fair order but the right hip is protruding forward a fraction, so he's given me some exercise to help free things up around the hips. So out comes the golf ball which to place at trigger points and then lie on.

Tuesday saw the Group doing 3-4k's at GC race pace, but there was no need for me to do that and instead I increased my speed by another five seconds down to 3:50's. It was nice to be up front ahead of most of the Group bar Jodie as I rolled along comfortably to record 11:26 for three k's. I felt comfortable enough to think that I could do 10:30 at next months 3K TT without trouble, but that's probably a sign that its been too long since I was running at that speed and have forgotten how hard it is!!

Some DOMS in the quads this morning - but got through a short speedwork session on the tready with no problems. Shins are feeling the best they have in a long time at present!

Life's good!!

Km's this week - 18
Km's this month - 197
Km's this year - 657
Consecutive alchol free days - 32

Detox concludes

Friday - 10k's @ 5:00 mins/km
Sunday - 21k's @ 5:00 mins/km

I've done it!! Not that there was any doubt that I was going to see out the detox to the very bitter end, but gees its great to eat some real food again. Ok, the Maccas Quarter Pounder meal I had for lunch today is not real food, but being only my third visit to Maccas this year, I'm sure you'll forgive me. To celebrate, I took MJ out to dinner at Chillies Mexican restaurant on Sandgate Rd at Clayfield where we enjoyed a nice meal - I had the Chilli Con Carne. MJ, being the Mexican food connissuer, rates Montezeuma's on Gympie Rd at Kedron as a better Mexican joint. Apart from lunch and dinner, I eased carefully out of detox mode, avoiding milk and bread among other things. I will slowly phase them back in over the next few days. I can't say that the detox has drastically improved my health, but I can certainly say that I feel at least 10-20% better than I did a few weeks ago and eagerly await any possible long term benefits. One interesting thing I've noted is that I've hardly had to blow my nose in the last fortnight whereas I normally do so several times a day(I've had a runny nose most of my life). There is a good chance that I have a mild allergy to dairy or wheat and an upcoming appointment with an allergist will tell me more.

After a long day at work today, I ran out of time to make it to Fitness First for my tready run so for my longest run of the year to date, starting at 5pm, I cruised from the Breaky Creek Hotel to the Ship Inn and back for 106 mins of running. Did it easily too. Nevertheless, my legs did remind me that its been a while since I did this kind of mileage - particularly my knees. My nipples, which are normally chafe free up to 25k also protested a little but otherwise I pulled up fantastic.

Gold Coast Half this weekend. I will be taking an unofficial Cool Running Sub 1:45 pace group so if you know anyone who wants to come along for the ride, drop me a line here.



Km's this week - 51
Km's this month - 179
Km's this year - 639
Consecutive alchol free days - 28

Thursday - Close call

10k's @ 5:00-5:15 mins/km

Hit the tready at around 9am this morning for a planned 6 x 500m speedwork session. Fifteen minutes into a 20 minute warmup, I weakened dramatically and by 17 minutes, I had to stop because I was feeling faint. In fact I haven't been closer to passing out since I had some kind of reaction about an hour after getting a TB vaccine injection at De La Salle College in 89 or 90.

The cause? I forgot to defrost the chicken before leaving for work on Wednesday and with 4kg of frozen chicken jammed in the freezer, enough was enough! I wasn't buying any more! So I settled for a dinner of mashed potato and pumpkin with brocolli followed by porridge for desert. More porridge followed for breakfast, but clearly I didn't get enough energy. After a 20 min rest, a gluten/dairy free energy bar and lots of water, I ditched the 6 x 500 carefully eased through 33 mins at 5:15 to complete the session.

Am thoroughly sick to death of the detox. Would kill for my home made pizza, a Coke and chocolate RIGHT NOW! Nevertheless, I will persevere till Monday. I may even set the alarm for midnight before going to bed on Sunday and raid the fridge for a midnight junkfood snack!


Km's this week - 20
Km's this month - 148
Km's this year - 608
Consecutive alchol free days - 25

Tuesday - PCRG - 3KTT

3KTT - 11:45, 3.5k WU, 3.5k WD

Bounced out of bed straight away when the alarm went at 4:40am in the knowledge that a big day lay ahead. Deducting five seconds from last week's speedwork pace of 4:00 mins left me with 3:55's and a target of 11:45 for the 3KTT. It felt good to roll along at that pace for 3k's. I acheived it comfortably and then immediately cruised back the way I had come to drag a few team mates home. Lots of PBs out there with everyone fired up for the Gold Coast in less then two weeks! Special mention to Langy and Jodie who went 9:56 and 10:05 respectively. You better beat my Nov 2004 9:55 PB before I get back to full speed, Langy because I don't intend for it to be there long!! C'mon Jodie - lets chase Krishna's 9:38 Group record now! Too many other outstanding runs to mention!!

A huge day followed. I was busy battling squillions of other desperate cricket fans trying to by tickets for this summer! After buying the maximum allocation of four for the Gabba one-dayer against the Poms, I set up new accounts in my brother's names and quickly rang around for other people's credit card details so I could use them instead of mine. When the dust had settled, I had 12 seats, in three blocks of four in the first three rows not far from each other. You beauty! Amidst this chaos, Queensland Cotton's share price dipped to an acceptable level for buying so I dived into the Stockmarket and took a small stake. Then I dashed out for a dentist appointment and she had the temerity to suggest I needed to see an oral hygienist!! Don't they know I haven't had sugar......uuhhmm for nine days?? Managed to get a bit of work done too!

Had to turn down an invitation to join MJ for dinner at the Sofitel with her company's directors from Melbourne because R4YL deadlines are pending and I had to go home and edit two reports. And besides, I don't think MJ's dining companions would have taken to a starving athlete picking at salad and drinking water by the gallon.

Gees..... the life of a runner....and LOVING IT!!!

Km's this week - 10
Km's this month - 138
Km's this year - 598

Detox half way mark

Fri - 11k's @ 5:00 mins/km
Sun - 19k's @ 5:00 mins/km

The detox appears to be progressing well. I'm feeling healthy and alert for most of the part. A days eating usually goes like this

Breakfast - porridge with honey and or wheat free museli with rice milk, fruit
Morning/Afternoon Tea - fruit and/or sultanas, Rye Cruskits, rice cakes
Lunch/Dinner - BBQ Grilled Chicken Breast, marinated in extra virgin olive oil with chicken seasoning(yum!)with mashed potato/pumpkin and brocolli. OR Chicken casserole with onion, tin of unsalted, preservative free crushed tomatoes and unsalted, preservative free tomato paste.

The same thing all week is getting a little tiresome and if I find some time this week, I may try some recipes from a detox mag Karen M kindly lent me.

A solid run on Friday was followed by my longest run of the year this arvo. Got through both with a minimum of fuss. Things are shaping up rather nicely...

Hardest thing to do in the last coupla days was going to a great 30th B'day party for two mates, twins, Dan and Jimm. Whilst everyone else enjoyed a right royal pissup, yours truly clutched his water bottle all night and looked on wistfully.
Km's this week - 61(including 10k on Monday, for missed session last week)
Km's this month - 128
Km's this year - 588

Sensational Session

2 x 5 min surges followed by hills

I skipped my usual Tuesday session with the PCRG in preference for today's session. One of my favourite sessions - surges and hills was a primary reason, but allowing extra recovery on Tuesday after 'cheating' with an extra session on Monday and of course allowing some sleep in time after the Socceroos glorious efforts on Monday night!

I don't know whether it was the distant cries of 'Queenslander' still ringing in my ears after last nights awesome effort by the Maroons, being four days into a detox or the cumulative effect of 18 days off the booze, but i felt SENSATIONAL this morning. After an adequate warm up, I was straining at the leash in the surges aroudn the Botanic Gardens, having to restrict myself to around 4:00 min/kms as part of my plan to gradually build up the speed up again. 3:30 pace only seemed a smooth gear change away. Made things a little harder on myself by doing a lot of yelling when I was out there.

Moving to the QUT Ampitheatre hill, I was cautious of my footing on the grass but the ankles were well strapped this morning and I had no probs. Made a cameo appearance with the A-Team motoring pass Glenda and Langy on the first hill rep before easing off and keeping the pace steady.

As I said, a sensational session! 3:30 pace at speedwork is only six weeks away!



Km's this week - 31
Km's this month - 98
Km's this year - 558

Tuesday: Personal Worst.....

3 x 1k @ 4:00 mins/km, 3k WU, 3k WD

Did my grocery shopping tonight and had to read every label on the products I looked at to avoid the detox banned ingredients - dairy, wheat, sugar, caffeine and salt. I recorded a PW of 40 minutes for my efforts!! Normally, I do a shop run in 20-25 mins and have a PB of around 16 minutes for a full trolley. Never mind, I'll try harder next time :-)

Fortunately things were better on the treadmill earlier in the evening. I put in an honest session and the shins behaved themselves. I was running on empty again towards the session from the lack of sugar and other energy foods in my system, but hopefully the purchases from the shop run will rectify that situation from now on.

Km's this week - 21
Km's this month - 88
Km's this year - 548

Monday: Cheating....

11k's @ 5:00 mins/km

Am writing this at half time of the Socceroos WC opener after earlier sleeping like a baby from 7:30-10:30. Unusual for me to be able to go to sleep that early - the detox perhaps?

Those who know me will know that I am a stickler for not breaking many of the conventionally accepted 'rules' of running. Well, it was nice to be rebellious today and cheat the 'do not try to make up for a missed session' rule! On my normal Monday rest day, I hit the tready for an easy 11k, making up for the session I missed last week. Therefore, this week will see me run five times for 61k's but the current fortnight will still see me run eight times and won't exceed the planned mileage so I'm not that much of a bad boy!

Today's run went well and I had no probs backing up from yesterday's 16k. In fact the legs have that pleasant sensation of mild weariness that comes from high mileage - been a while since I felt that so its a case of 'Hello, old friend!'

The detox has gone to plan for the first 48 hours and tomorrow, I add red meat to the list of banned foodstuffs to round out the program after initially easing into it. Twelve days to go!! It could be my imagination, but already, the body feels a little different.

Km's this week - 11
Km's this month - 78
Km's this year - 538

Long Day...Longest run

16k's @ approx 5:00 mins/km

Started a long day, getting up at 5am and setting up the Running for Research course at West End and then was lead bike for the race. Then I headed straight to Fitness First eager to tackle my longest run of the year, but was confronted with a wailing fire alarm and 30 people milling around outside the entrance waiting to get in. Staff informed me that they were waiting for an all clear from the Fire Brigade. I couldn't wait for an all clear because I had to take MJ out to lunch for our first anniversary! So I headed for the Nundah Criterium for a run at my old stomping grounds in cool, windy conditions with a light drizzle! Just great! Anything beats running indoors!! Got through the 16k with few problems despite the energy tank hitting empty half way through. Started my detox this morning, eliminating wheat and dairy from my diet as of today and red meat as of tomorrow. So was fuelled with five apples, two mandarins and a carrot - definitely not enough carbs there!! Will fix that in future when I get stuck into porridge before my runs. Anyway, the run was just great, and energy issues aside I felt fairly strong throughout with the help of four one minute walking recoveries. Longest run of 2006 is now safely in the bank.

Made it to MJ's place on time and took her to the Summit Restaurant at Mt Cootha before heading to work for a short shift. Feeling positive about the running at the moment and am very committed to the detox.

Km's this week - 34
Km's this month - 67
Km's this year - 527

Illness # 10

9k's @ 5:15 mins/km

Picked up yet another cold which I endured from Wednesday morning. Fortunately, it was only a very low grade cold with weakness, lethargy and aching shins being the main probs and I didn't take the day off work. I delayed doing my Thursday speedwork session as I was still in the grip of the cold. Instead I ventured to Fitness First this morning and gingerly eased my lethargic body through a session at a conservative 5:15 mins/km pace - the slowest speed I can run without injuring myself. Fortunately, as I warmed up, the running got easier. I was on a high after the run as the endorphins took hold and I was thinking, 'hey, no more cold!' Unfortunately, I crashed back to earth around lunchtime and ended up having a two hour nap this afternoon.

The next two days will be interesting as I have to squeeze in 11k's tomorrow and 16k's on Sunday otherwise, I'll have to go back to scratch and start my 12 week booze ban all over again!!!

Km's this week - 18
Km's this month - 51
Km's this year - 511

A detox looms.........

8 x 1 min, 45 sec SR, 3k WU, 3K WD

Up at 4:40 am this morning and off to speedwork in cool but not ridiculously cold conditions. This week I bump up the speed another notch to 4:05's. Its tough to tell how fast you are going at this session especially in the middle of a big crowd like we had today. However, I spoke to Andy S before the session and he normally does 4:00's at 1k reps so i made it my plan to keep around five seconds behind him. The session went well and I felt good throughout, especially on the brisk warm down run back to the Ship Inn. Nine days without a drink now and surprisingly enough, the only time I had a craving was when a XXXX Gold add came on the telly.

I'm feeling quite healthy at the moment but am not resting on my laurels. After exchanging a few emails with Karen M from the PCRG today, I've decided to undertake at least a two week detox after I've read the book Karen is kindly lending me. As Karen said, I've got nothing to lose but some little indulgences. I've already given up a big indulgence in alcohol, so what's a few little ones?


Km's this week - 9
Km's this month - 42
Km's this year - 502

Inspiration galore at Qld Half and Doomben 10,000

14k's @ 5:00 mins/km

Started the day with R4YL duties at Doomben in perfect running conditions that had me aching to pound the bitumen at full speed. As you can tell from the pic, I was nicely rugged up though! With three races starting within 20 minutes of each other it was impossible to catch them all at once but I managed to keep and eye on the key sections of the Half and 10k. As always it was inspirational to jump on my bike and ride with the lead bikes ahead of some elite runners, today it was Brian Livingston, comfortably pulling clear of his rivals in the Half.

Moving on to the PCRG, there was inspiration galore out there today with plenty of team mates cashing in on their hard training for sensational PB's. My good mate Langy comes to mind with a well deserved 36:59 or 37:00 in the 10k - well done mate. Jodie(2nd in F 10k),Jess, Daniel, Andy C, Chelle, Jan, Nic, the Stevo's - the list goes on. There was an abundance of wide grins out there this morning!! But for mine, the most inspirational run of the day goes to Glenda! Not only did Glenda run a mighty race for victory in the 10k and dip under 36 mins, but she made me cast my mind back to the October of 2004. At that time, I had three months of speedwork with Pat under my belt and ran a 38:22PB in the Nike 10k with what we now know to be a bad running stride. I was also wearing heavy shoes and had only moderate mileage under my belt. Glenda loomed up alongside me around the 8k mark and we ran togehter for some time before I pulled away in the last k. Twenty months of consistent training later, Glenda has improved two and a half minutes whilst I have battled shins splints and ill health. But Glenda has really shown me what consistent training and application can do and I know that if I can emulate that, then sub 35 beckons for me. Bring on the hard training!

14k's on the tready this arvo trying not to be too conspicious with my fist pumps as the Broncos got on top of the Warriors in the last 10 minutes. I felt the fittest and strongest I have for almost a month and only some brief Plantar Fascitis discomfort interrrupted my momentum. A quick self massage rectified that rare problem. I was talking to our resident former PF sufferer Ally for a while after the races this morning and we actually touched on the subject of her PF - I hope her PF is not contagious :-)

Km's this week - 41
Km's this month - 33
Km's this year - 491

Friday Recovery Run

10k's @ 5:10 mins/km

Felt tired, lethargic and weak but got the job done, albeit at a slightly reduced pace on the tready. Perhaps its witdrawl symptons after more than 100 hours without a drink?

Km's this week - 27
Km's this month - 19
Km's this year - 479

Tready speedwork

3k WU, 2 x 1k @ 4:10 mins/km, 4k WD
Continued to ease back into the quicker stuff and got through this tready session with no dramas. I didn't even think about the shins which is a good sign.

A footnote to my alchol ban. On Tuesday, barely 24 hours after I had commenced the period of sobriety, two large packages that I had completely forgotten about were waiting for me when I got home from work........... A dozen bottles of red with a free carton of Crown Lagers that I had ordered from Cellarmaster - a mere $99 the lot. Ouch!

Km's this week - 17
Km's this month - 9
Km's this year - 469

INDEFINITE alcohol ban!!

So it has come to this....with five months of ill health behind me, its now time for desperate measures! Pills, drastic hygiene improvements and sensible eating have not delivered results and its time to confront some stark realities and see how much I am really committed to my running career. Starting Monday(two days ago), I will not consume alcohol until I have successfully strung together 12 weeks of training without getting ill and without missing sessions. This means that if I get sick 10 weeks from now and miss some sessions, then I start all over again, perish the thought!

Why this option? CR's Vat Man has to take most of the credit - He suffered similar probs last year and put aside his love of a drink to hop on the wagon, where he has remained for four months. His payday came two weeks ago with a low 79 in the SMH Half and right now, I'd kill for that time! Thanks for the recent advice and encouragement, Vat. I owe you a mineral water :)

Obviously, there is no guarantee that this period of sobriety will deliver results, but regardless its a sensible thing to do and at the very least, I'll get some interesting feedback on how my body reacts that I will enter into my trusty logbook.

I have taken a month off drinking annually for the past five years, so I've proven to myself that I can do this and there is no question that I will succeed. Besides, I've always had it in my mind to drastically reduce or eliminate my drinking when I got closer to elite status. I guess you could say that fate has intervened and fast tracked my committment to sacrificing the good life for my running.

Well, here we go!! Another journey begins......

PCRG 3KTT

3KTT - 12:30, 3k WU, 2k WD

In cold early morning conditions that quickly became superb running conditions once we warmed up, a host of Pat Carrollers smashed their PB's this morning. Gees, there was some quick running out there. I stuck to my plan of building my speed up slowly over the next 8 weeks and just cruised along at 4:10 pace and did it pretty comfortably, despite some remnants of my cough still present. I spend a good deal of time yelling at team mates and stopped 300m from home to help Chelle home to a PB. Gees, watching Chelle hurting and giving it everything she had, whilst trying to hold herself together was like being a kid who is grounded and not allowed to eat ice cream, watching someone else do just that. I miss the HURT!!!!

Still, there was some consolation back at the Group recovery session. I must have yelled a bit this morning cos' I was voted the recipient of the Group Award and selected a double Gold Pass to BCC Cinema's. Thanks to those who voted for me!!!

The boys trip and the day off I had on Monday allowed me to do some deep thinking about my running and the direction I will take - stay tuned for a major announcement tomorrow.



Km's this week - 8
Km's this month - 116
Km's this year - 460

Boys trip!

Last Wednesday saw me turn 31(shit!) and also marked the first day of the long awaited trip away with the boys. There was myself, Lacho(back home for two weeks from writing a novel and working in the UK), RooBoy and Big Fella, all of whom I met on the first day of Grade 8 at De La Salle College in 1988.The Big Fella drove to 1770 on Wednesday and fortunately only stalled the RV five times. We arrived exactly 236 years to the day Captain Cook landed there.
Wednesday night saw us watch the State of Origin(F$%@%!) at nearby Agnes Water Tavern, then on Thursday morning, after we ditched a vague plan of driving to Airlie Beach, RooBoy drove us to Yeppoon and after lunch at the we pooled our funds to charter a 35 foot cruiser, the Prince Regal.
Friday morning saw a chilly dawn but the day quickly turned into a mild one. We let out some line upon exiting the Marina and trolled unsuccessfully on the 7.3 nautical mile, 90min journey to the truely beautiful Great Keppel Island where we anchored off a reef. It wasn't long before we dropped our lines over the side of the boat with beers nestled in our hands as the sun bathed us with its warmth. I was by far the most inexperienced fisherman on board (only second time fishing) and was only using a 5-6kg rod with prawns for bait whereas the other boys where using bigger rods with anchovies and squid for bait. The fishing started well when I quickly reeled in two foot long Moses Perch followed by a Happy Moment(very poisonous and your hands will be in agony for hours if you touch them - hence the ironic name!) and some small spotted codfish which were thrown back. Problems arose later when we decided to move another position on the other side of the Island. The anchor was stubbornly resisting our attempts to raise it and the process of manouevering the cruiser in all directions led to the rope securing a tinnie to the cruiser unravelling a couple of metres from where we had tied it and then getting caught in the propeller. Having been cut adrift, the tinnie quickly drifted away and Lacho had to quickly dive in and then swim after it!! We then had to double check that the anchor was secure before before we drifted onto the reef, fifty metres to port. RooBoy sardonically commented that he could almost hear the newsreader say 'In other news today, four drunken sailors were rescued by the Coast Guard after running aground on a reef off Great Keppel Island"!!!! The other three boys then spent 30 mins diving under the boat to cut the rope loose from the propeller whilst yours truly, a poor swimmer and without his contact lenses remained aboard. The rope successfully removed, we then found a hot spot anchoring above a school of Whiptail and I easily reeled in around 15 in about an hour, throwing them all back in. All up, we caught around 40 fish and I contributed half of that but only the two Moses Perch were good for eating. It was a most fabulous day out on the water and the drama should ensure that we have plenty of talking points for years to come! I can also now brag like a veteran fisherman! Saturday morning, we perused some travel brochures and decided to drive to Lake Monduran near Gin Gin - (about 40k west of Bundaberg where we trolled and fished unsuccessfully that afternoon and the next morning before I drove the RV home on Sunday. After nine days without running and with my cough slowly fading away, I strapped on the Brooks Glycerin 4's on Sunday morning and went for an easy 10k run around the quiet country roads and beautiful countryside where Qld's most famous Bushranger, the Wild Scotchman was caught in 1866. The lake and the dam where frequently visible throughout my run and provided a magnificent backdrop to the scenery. With the early morning mist, hanging above the lake and surrounds, it was pretty similar to the Warwick Half Marathon, only hillier. So, a great trip was had with my oldest mates and lots of stories were told and retold, card games were played and laughs were had over beers of which we enjoyed quite a few. You know, even after being mates with someone for 18 years, its possible to discover new things about them on a trip away like this - I'm still in shock at the discovery that the Big Fella, a real man's man uses moisturiser twice a day!!


Km's this week - 10
Km's this month - 108
Km's this year - 452

A new low

What would have been an otherwise enjoyable weekend in Warwick for the Pentath Run on the Weekend was spoilt somewhat by yet another cold that I picked up. Unlike others this year, his one featured a bad cough, a heavily blocked and runny nose whilst my body was devoid of any energy. There was lots of sleeping over the weekend in between reporting on the five races for R4YL. As I write on Tuesday night, the cold is only just going away. I made a highly ambitious attempt to go for a run at midday today but threw in the towel after 200m as the body was simply not ready for it yet - a brisk 30 minute walk in glorious sunshine was no consolation.

A glance through my logbook when I got home told the depressing story - this was my ninth(9th) seperate cold/virus/illness that I have contracted in the five months to date this year, leading to a total of 23 days of missed training.....Right now, I don't know where to go next - if I get sick again in the next month or two, desperate measures will be called for such as a detox or naturopath visit.

In the meantime, I'm about to leave for a long awaited RV road trip with three of my oldest mates, Lacho, RooBoy and Big Fella who I've known since we were placed in the first day of grade 8 together at De La Salle College in 1988. Its been organised for Lacho's return to the country after some time in the UK and should be special. We leave at 8 on Wednesday morning and drive non stop to Seventeen Seventy(1770) where we will watch the State of Origin at a pub(Go Maroons!!!!) The rest of the trip will be spontaneous and we could end up doing things like deep sea fishing charters or partying at Airlie Beach!!!

Orginally, I was going to fit in the trip activities around all my training, but now I'm doing the opposite. I'm gonna get smashed. Will let the pressure valve of training blow off and get stuck back into it with a vengeance from next Tuesday.

May blog briefly from an internet cafe in Paradise! Have a good week everyone - I will!!!

PS - Don't read the Mooloolaba 5k Race Report in the latest R4YL. The editor got a little careless and their a quite a few mistakes in there! Not my fault!!

Race against time

Surprise, surprise!

The distant shin discomfort I felt yesterday has again proven itself an early warning sign of an impending cold - this time involving a sore throat and a heavily running nose. The cold struck with a vengeance late last night and the left shin is giving me plenty of grief at the moment. This cold takes my tally to about 8-9 such ailments I have incurred so far this year. Bloody ridiculous and with no answer in sight.

I'm off to Warwick in an hour and will be spending the day drinking water, eating oranges and apples and popping pills. With a blast of icy cold fresh country air and some luck, I might just be recovered by tomorrow morning.

Pill popper

3k WU, 2x 1k @ 4:10 mins/km, 4k WD

Got through my sternest speedwork test on the treadmill since late last year with only a few seconds of faint shin discomfort here and there. The HR peaked at 169 and the breathing felt good.

Feeling a ad fluey so have wolfed down a few vitamin c's and am drinking plenty of water. As per CoolRunner 'Vat-Man's' advice a few days ago, I've added Echinacea to the list of supplements I consume daily - it now reads like this:

After breakfast
- 1 x Blackmores sustained 8hr release multivitamin
- 1 x Blackmores Bio-Ace antioxidant
- 1 x Blackmores Echinacea

After dinner
- 1 x Blackmores Echinacea
- 3 x Blackmores Fish Oil 1000

* Blackmores Vitamin C whenever I feel fluey.

Cathy Freeman reportedly spent $4000 on vitamins in the three months prior to Sydney 2000. At this rate, it won't be long before I catch her.


Km's this week - 60
Km's this month -98
Km's this year - 442

Tuesday speedwork

15 mins Fartlek with 3k WU & WD

As planned, I upped the tempo a little at speedwork running in the vincity of 4:10 pace today. Its tough to pace yourself at this particular session in the Gardens with no k markers to guide you so I just concentrated on staying 20-50 metres adrift of Robbie L with Robbie pulling away from me on the faster efforts and I making up ground on the recovery efforts. I felt strong and controlled out there and Langy noticed afterwards that I looked upright and strong so that was pleasing.

Starting this week, my Thursday session will see me doing some quicker work on the treadmill, starting with two 1k's at 4:10 and then building my Thursday session back up to the normal 4-5k's of quicker work over the next few weeks.

All is going fairly well at the moment.


Km's this week - 51
Km's this month - 89
Km's this year - 433

Longest run in 2006

90 mins, 18k @ 5:00 mins/km

You beauty!! Today, I cruised through a troublefree 18k on the tready just after lunch. The longest run to date this year saw the shins behave themselves and my only complaint was that my neck got a little stiff in the last 10 minutes. Possibly it was unaccustomed to the length of time I spent running upright or perhaps I was running just a touch too stiffly as I concentrated hard on good form.

A very pleased Matty then did the usual 20 minutes in a garbage bin of icy cold water and the legs have since pulled up fantastic. Really looking forward to covering the Half Marathon distance at Warwick on Saturday and also picking up the pace at speedwork. Starting Tuesday, I will be doing 4:10 pace at speedwork and then increasing the speed 5 seconds per week. All going well, in eight weeks, I'll be running around 3:30 pace at speedwork and that might just set me up for a possible comeback race at the Noosa Half.


Km's this week - 41
Km's this month - 79
Km's this year -423

97% recovered(not 97% fat free!!)

7k's @ 5:00 mins/km

Feeling about 97% recovered now. Nice recovery run - although the tready at Fitness First is starting to get seriously boring!

My next one percenter is to add Blackmores Omega-3 Fish Oil tablets to my daily diet, to overcome my aversion to seafood. It'll be interesting to see if a regular intake reduces the number of flu's and colds I've been getting.

Km's this week - 23
Km's this month - 61
Km's this year - 405

I keep persisting..

10k's @ 5:00 mins/km

In a rare moment for me, hit the tready this morning, totally lacking motivation and distracted by other issues. A normal run sees me fantasising about all sorts of great running moments(and hopefully glorious victories!) that await me, but that didn't happen today. Nevertheless, there was never any question that I would front up at Fitness First and get the required k's done and I duly did just that. I'm still only 95% following the bout of ill health late last week but fortunately, the shins got through unscathed with the help of the now standard 20 minutes in a garbage bin of icy water back home after the run.

Tomorrow is another day...


Km's this week - 16
Km's this month - 54
Km's this year - 398

Post sickness run

6k's @ 5:15 mins/km

Felt about 95% this morning so dropped into Fitness First for an easy 30 minutes on my way to work. The body felt a tad weak at times and I concentrated hard on maintaining good form to reduce the chances of shin problems. Fortunately, I got through the session with a bare minimum of shin discomfort which I had anticipated anyway and went to work a relieved man. Am still on track to do 42k's this week and continue my mileage buildup despite the hiccup on Sunday.

Km's this week - 6
Km's this month - 44
Km's this year - 388

Incident packed weekend

Sat - 6k's @ 5:o0 mins per km
Sun - 15k's @ 5:00 mins per km

Well, it was a incident packed weekend to say the least. Thursday night and Friday, I was struggling with a low grade cold and didn't accomplish anything of note, but came good by Friday night when I went out to Suncorp Stadium to watch the mighty Kangaroos put the Kiwis in their rightful place. I was tempted to do my Friday recovery run just before the game but decided to wait until Saturday morning instead. One of the good things about only running four times a week is that you can more easily make up a missed run than would be the case if you were running five or six times a week and not having to worry about violating the cardinal rule 'Tho shalt not try and make up for a missed run.' The tready run on Saturday was a breeze as was Sunday's 15k tready effort, my longest run this year - you beauty!! There was no shin discomfort whatsoever and I'm optimistic that the tide has turned. I have weekly mileage of 42 and 47k's planned the next fortnight including 18 and 21k long runs so that will tell me a lot about where I'm at.

However, things turned a little pear shaped around 7:30pm last night when I clutched my sides, staggered into the bathroom and severely dented the Doulton as I unceremoniously regurgitated my dinner and post run recovery food. Gees, I was a crook little boy for a while and am taking today off work to recover after sleeping 12 hours last night and having another three hour nap today. Not sure what caused the food poisoning(?) but possibly it was the milk in my post run cereal that had gone off after accidentally being left in one of my fridges that is only running at half power. I'm hopeful that my body will recover from the 15k's ok considering it hardly had any time to digest the recovery food. Its moments like these when your tempted to go to the hospital and say 'I'm a runner, would you mind feeding me intravenously so I can get the recovery nutrients I need.'

Four illnesses in the last four weeks........gees, this has gotta stop soon!!!!

Km's this week - 38
Km's this month - 38
Km's this year - 382

Slept like a baby, had the brain of a baby...

8k's @ 5:00 mins/km

The ingredients:

- A long and busy week at work
- R4YL unexpectedly asking on Tuesday arvo if I could write up a Brisbane Marathon Festival report over night (850 words in 5 hours!)
- Frantic but successful negotiations to adjust my home loan to a split loan with half fixed/half variable just before the interest rate increase announcement

The result:

Matty slept like a baby for 9.5 hours last night. Started the day well with a trouble free 8k run but the week had obviously taken its toll and I was pretty lethargic all day and just being lazy around the house. It was probably ironic then that I ended my day by driving all the way out to UQ to cover the UQ Milers Classic for R4YL. The only problem was that the meet isn't on till tomorrow night :-(

Km's this week - 17
Km's this month - 17
Km's this year - 361

Starting to feel like a runner again...

Friday - 6k's @ 5:00 mins/km
Sunday - 13k's @ 5:00 mins/km
Tuesday - 9k's including 15 mins of fartlek

The running has come along exceptionally well the last few days with hardly any discomfort in the shins for my last three runs. More importantly, my health has been exceptional. Sunday's run came after a great morning in town for the Brisbane Marathon. A big event like this always inspires me and makes me want to get back out there, especially when my fellow shin splints suffer Jodie wins her second race in a row! Nine months after my last race and last PB in the Noosa 5k, the fire still burns strong. I can't wait to get back and feel the hurt from a hard race.

Took another step forward when attending speedwork this morning. I will now be doing speedwork with the PCRG every Tuesday as opposed to every fortnight as has been the case so far this year.

I know I shouldn't be looking too far ahad and should be concentrating simply on stringing together consistent mileage of more than 50k's a week but nevertheless I need something bigger to aspire to and am putting together a plan to go sub 3 in the Melbourne Marathon. Will reveal all shortly!!

Km's this week - 9
Km's this month - 9
Km's this year - 353