Running / Jogging

Under Thirteen Weeks to the 2009 Canberra Marathon

2009-01-28T14:28:00.003+11:00

Here in Sydney we have just come through our first really hot week of the Summer with Friday's temperatures touching the mid-30s on the coast and then Saturday scorching us with temperatures passing the 40 degree mark. For the mild weather loving city folk, this was survival weather.

Running-wise I still ventured out on Friday for an 11km run over a fairly flat course through the Sydney CBD and over to the Ultimo area. Temps were hot and the pace was slow. Still, that's another 11km off the schedule.

Fortunately, Saturday was a scheduled rest day and only the most foolhardy would rigidly stick to their training plan and head out on a day like that. Sunday saw more reasonable temperatures return to Sydney and I took off for an hour and a half jaunt around my local suburbs. I'm beginning to feel more confident that my body is going to stand up to the rigors of another marathon campaign after struggling with a torn calf at the end of 2008. I just make sure I'm diligent in my stretching routine before running and then do a cool down stretch after. It's not like I have to get myself some specialized back stretching equipment to do the job correctly.

This week the training schedule is pretty straight forward with days of 10 and 11km mid-week leading up to a planned 25km run on Sunday over at Balmain. Things are looking as though they're on track and I can now start to think about booking a motel room in Canberra.

Canberra Marathon 2009

2009-01-20T00:15:00.003+11:00

I will be backing up to give the Canberra Marathon another go this year. I was very happy with how I went in the 2008 Canberra Marathon and it has inspired another effort. This time it looks as though there will be 6 of us from work all aiming for the 19 April starting line. The more the merrier and the better the motivation.

So it will be a case of ensuring the running shoes are in tip top condition - with 13 weeks to go, NOW is the time to decide to buy a new pair. Our GPS watches have to be primed and ready for action on our long runs each weekend, and the back has to be constantly stretched or else my hamstrings aren't going to withstand the rigors of training.

Last year I aimed for 3:15 and was almost dead on. This year I think I might be able to do a little bit better than that, so I'm going to set myself a goal of 3:10. It will all depend on how diligently I get out to do my long runs between now and the next 8 - 10 weeks.

Benefits of Cardio Training

2008-10-05T20:14:00.002+11:00

There's no doubt that the cardio benefit of running is something that should be mentioned. Although it's not the motivation behind why I run, it's certainly a factor that is very comforting to know. While I'm out enjoying the sunshine (or the rain, let's face it) I am getting a solid cardio workout that is important for my body in numerous ways.

Apart from keeping weight off, something that I am fortunate enough never to have had to worry about, running gives you energy even as it is taking it away. It's an interesting paradox because although you feel exhausted at the end of a run, your body is building itself up to be stronger next time so that it can cope. That's if you give your body the necessary rest to do so.

The result of regular cardio exercise is a healthier, fitter and more disease resistant body.

The Benefit of A Low Heart Rate

2008-09-16T08:38:00.001+10:00

Finally, I have a new response to the question that I’m always hit with from non-runners. You know the, “why do you run?” question, asked with the most incredulous looks on their faces. Apart from the obvious answer of “because I really, honestly and completely enjoy running – I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t enjoy it” which I always used to fall back on, I have recently read an article which puts great stock in the prospects of long life for those who have lower heart rates.

And how do you get a lower heart rate? Become an endurance athlete, keep fit…run.

By monitoring the heart rates of men who were recovering from heart disease it was noted that those patients whose heart rates were consistently higher ran an increased risk of having a further heart attack. From this study came a secondary possibility that if having a higher heart rate increased the chances of heart problems, then perhaps lowering the heart rate might reduce the risk.

No one is really sure whether the raised heart rate is a marker for disease or comes as a risk factor itself. What is known is that it is a signal that a person is unfit, overweight or under-exercised.

The argument is that if the heartbeat is reduced by only a few beats a minute, say 6, this would accumulate into a saving of more than 3 million beats in a year or 30 millions beats in a decade. Given that the heart is just as prone to wear out as any other working machine, surely the easier it is allowed to work, the longer its lifespan will become.

Heart rate is known to be reduced through weight loss and exercise. Although your heart rate goes up during exercise, as you get fitter your overall resting heart rate will drop and the prospects for longevity are increased. Endurance athletes have low resting heart rates.

So regardless of whether having a reduced resting heart rate will actively combat the chances of a heart attack or even prolong life, the unarguable truth is that it is a marker of a fit, healthy body. I’ve been a lifelong runner and have enjoyed a resting heart rate of around 52 beats per minute, well under the average for a middle aged man of 80. As far as I’m concerned, this is one average I’m glad to be below.

A Running Update

2008-09-09T09:20:00.003+10:00

I lost a bit of momentum posting to this blog over the last few weeks largely because my plans to enter and run the Melbourne Marathon fell through thanks to an injury to my training partner. We had planned to travel down to Melbourne and enter run the marathon together and the thought of doing it alone doesn’t really appeal to me. So I’ve canned my plans for a 2nd marathon in a year and look to next year.

That hasn’t meant that I stopped running. The body’s fit and I’m doing times that I haven’t been capable of since 2000. The Sutherland to Surf and the City to Surf have come and gone and my times were as good as when I was in my early to mid-30s.

To this end, there’s a lot to be said for healthy living and constant exercise since my school days to maintain a high quality of life. Even after the occasional niggling injury and a back injury that stopped me from running for 3 months at the end of 2006 I have been able to get back to full fitness very quickly.

The fact that I can get out and be active with my 3 children and keep up with their active lifestyles can be put down to all of the running and exercise that I have put in over the years. That, and some early years of pushing them in a succession of double jogging strollers for which they now owe me big time.

So the training continues as we come into the Spring months here in Australia. This is the time of the year where the weather can be a bit hit or miss with the strong southerly winds playing havoc on the runs. I’m not going to be running in any of the Sydney Marathon Festival runs due to a prior commitment on September 21, so I will simply be running for the enjoyment of getting out in the sunshine and plodding along the foreshores of Sydney Harbour.

Marathon Training Schedule Week 5

2008-07-08T14:50:00.000+10:00

Last week was week 4 of my 18 week Marathon Training Schedule and after 3 weeks of consistent mileage I stepped back with an easy week. This was down to two reasons. The first was that it is always a good idea to let your body recover after it has been put under stress through a higher than usual stress load. The second was because, for two full days, I have been busy applying stain to my brand new pool deck.

This second factor was probably the major reason for the easy week which actually only totalled 23km. Starting at 8am and working all day through to 5pm with a short break for lunch left me with no time for a run. This was during the week when I had to take a day off work to do the job.

I followed that up on Sunday – normally the day of my long run – to put in another full day staining the edges. I now have a wonderfully spiffy looking pool deck, very sore knees but otherwise refreshed and ready to continue on with my schedule.

This week I plan to step the weekly distance up another level. My training schedule for the week looks like this:

Monday : 10km – medium effort
Tuesday 0k : Rest day
Wednesday : 11km – easy effort
Thursday : 10km easy effort
Friday : 11km – hard effort
Saturday : 0km – rest day
Sunday : 16km – long run

This gives me a total mileage for the week of 58km and should be a good lead in to my first week that will incorporate some interval training. So far all of my training has involved easy or medium effort runs which is fine for running at the same pace all the time. I find that when I’ve incorporated speed sessions into my training my cardio-respiratory system improves dramatically, I can recover during runs a lot more quickly and my times begin to drop dramatically.

By the way, 3 weeks to go until the Sutherland to Surf.

Marathon Training Guide - Week 3

2008-06-23T10:03:00.000+10:00

The second week of my 18 week marathon training schedule is over and I’m still sticking to the plan. I’m not patting myself on the back just yet mind you, it’s still early days and none of the hard training weeks (or even days) are anywhere near the horizon. It’s still all steady distance stuff at the moment.

My aim was to run 5 days with an expected distance of 50 kilometres. I achieved the 5 day goal and actually covered a couple of extra kilometres, reaching 53k for the week. I’m not a stickler for measuring exact distances, preferring to worry about putting in time on my feet and I’m pleased to have another week stashed away. The reason for the slightly longer than planned week was due to a slight miscalculation when I went out for my long run and headed off around a loop course that turned out to be 2k longer than the expected 12k. So instead of running for an hour, I ran for just over 70 minutes.

Week 3 of the marathon training schedule looks very similar in terms of types of runs. However because of a family commitment on Monday I’ve been forced to move my rest day to the start of the week. This means I will be running the next 4 days in a row until the second rest day on Saturday.

The week’s schedule looks like this:

Monday – Rest
Tuesday – Easy 8k
Wednesday – Hard 6k (race)
Thursday – Easy 11k
Friday – Moderate 11k
Saturday – Rest
Sunday – Long Run 14k

Planned total distance for the week is back to 50k, mainly due to the short run on Wednesday. The length of the run will be made up for by the intensity of the run which is going to be pretty well full effort for the entire 6k.

Marathon Training - Week 1 Is Over

2008-06-15T20:33:00.000+10:00

Wee 1 of marathon training is over and I’ve put 50k into the running bank. The week of running was made up of 5 days of effort and 2 rest days. As one would hope, being the first week of an 18 week training schedule, it was a fairly comfortable week for me with nothing too terribly taxing. Apart from the 6k race on Wednesday all of the runs were done at an easy pace and the terrain was the usual variation from flat to hilly just to keep me from getting bored.

The only downside for me for the week was that I had to do every run on my own because my usual running partner is injured. I’m going to find it hard to stay motivated if his injury is to be long-term, but I’ll deal with that should it happen down the track.

The toughest run of the week came today, my long run day, because it was my first weekend run since the half marathon in May. I’m out of the routine of making time to fit the run in to my weekend schedule and so, by lunch-time I decided it was now or never, threw on my running gear and slipped out for the hour long run.

Sydney put on a particularly blowy day today and the weather was constantly threatening with rain for the entire run. Normally I don’t care if it rains while I’m running, in fact sometimes I welcome it, but I like to do my long runs while listening to music so I had my iPod with me. I’m not sure how the iPod will stand up to a complete drenching and I’m not particularly keen to find out so I had one eye on the sky the whole way. Fortunately I managed to beat any real rain and finished the 12k run in just under 60 minutes with a dry iPod.

I’ll post the second week of my schedule tomorrow and then will try to put together the other 16 weeks later in the week.

Marathon Training Guide - Week 1

2008-06-09T08:44:00.001+10:00

I’m about to start training for my 8th marathon with the Melbourne Marathon now 18 weeks away on the 12 October, 2008. I will be trotting out my entire marathon training schedule for you to pick apart over the next few weeks but for the time being I will start with my week 1 schedule. To give you an idea of where I stand in the pack, and to also give you an inkling of whether this marathon training schedule might suit you, I’m an over-40 runner with recent times of around 3 hours 15 minutes for the Canberra Marathon and a smidge under 90 minutes for the SMH Half Marathon.

My goal for the Melbourne Marathon is to run around 3 hours 10 minutes, but it will all depend on how my body survives the training regime. I’ve found over the last few years that I need to be much more aware of niggles with my aging body not responding as quickly to seemingly small injuries.

So for that reason this marathon training schedule will tend towards the more moderate effort rather than going for massive weekly distances. To start with the training is pretty low key as I am working on building up a base.

Week 1 – Monday 9 June to Sunday 15 June 2008

Monday – Rest
Tuesday – Easy 10k
Wednesday – Hard 6k
Thursday – Easy 11k
Friday – Moderate 11k
Saturday – Rest
Sunday – Long Run 12k

This gives me a first week planned distance of 50km. The so-called long run on Sunday is not particularly long at this stage but it will step up regularly as I get deeper into training. I should also add that I don’t measure the distance of my long runs but simply assume that I will be running them somewhere between 4:45 – 5 minutes per kilometer. Therefore, my long run this week won’t exceed 60 minutes.

Running Balance Between Training and Resting

2008-06-07T09:32:00.000+10:00

I’m currently negotiating my way through the down time between marathons that involves a strange paradox between being aware that your body is just about as fit as it can get yet you have to hold yourself back to ensure it doesn’t break down. The experts say that the most likely time to suffer a serious injury is in the weeks immediately following a marathon. This is due not only to the rigors of the race itself which takes a toll on the body, but also the cumulative effect of all that training you’ve put yourself through to get to the marathon start line.

I was a little apprehensive this year because I was following up my marathon effort with a half-marathon that was scheduled only a few weeks later. The worry was in trying to get my body back up in time to put in a reasonable half-marathon without breaking down. It’s now a few weeks down the track and it looks as though I have managed my body well because, apart from a small cold last week, it looks as though I’ve come through injury free.

This is just as well because the 18 week training schedule to prepare for the Melbourne Marathon in October is due to start next Monday. In the early stages this doesn’t really mean a great deal in terms of a change in intensity of my runs. But it will mean the number of runs that I do per week will increase. While in recovery mode I was only running 3 times a week, giving my body as much chance to recover from the strains as I possibly could. The training schedule will step that up to 5 running days per week and 2 recovery days.

The whole aim of the first few weeks of the training regime is to build up a solid base that will prepare the body for the more intensive training sessions that are to come. Over the coming days I will try to detail a little more specifically what my training schedule will involve.

Sutherland and City to Surf Entries are Open

2008-06-06T14:06:00.000+10:00

A couple of emails arrived in quick succession over the last few days – and I suppose it’s one of the indicators that winter is about to begin – advertising two of the biggest and most popular Fun Runs in Sydney. I’m talking about the Sutherland To Surf and The City To Surf, both of which I have faithfully entered almost every year since 1988. I’m planning to enter both races again this year which will make it my 14th Sutherland To Surf and 20th City To Surf. Links to the sites where the entry forms can be downloaded are supplied below.

Sutherland to Surf

This year’s Sutherland to Surf is on Sunday 27 July. It’s a fast, largely downhill, 11k course from Sutherland to Wanda Beach and is recognised as the premier lead in event for the City to Surf. Last year I regained a little of the form from my younger days and went under 4 minutes / km for the first time since 2001. I reckon I’m even fitter than I was at the same time last year so I’m hoping for a sub-43 minute result.

There’s just over 7 weeks to go until the Sutherland to Surf, my training schedule for the Melbourne Marathon officially begins next week (which means there’s just over 18 weeks until the Melbourne Marathon!) and I’ve had a fairly easy last 2 weeks. If I train smart and consistently, I should be capable of doing it.

Sutherland to Surf entry forms

City to Surf

Two weeks after the Sutherland to Surf is the 2008 City to Surf which will be held on Sunday 10 August. I’m going to have to aim for an improvement on last year’s time again for this race. Last year was my first sub-60 minute C2S since 2002 so I’m going to have to try to keep the good times rolling.

The biggest issue with this event has always been the start with organisers tinkering with different options to try to get everyone away quickly and fairly. Last year was an improvement on previous years but I believe they’ve still got some work to do. I know a lot of runners skip the City to Surf because of the start and I thought there were going to be big problems for me last year when I got caught halfway down the road with no way to make my way nearer the front. But once the gun went the mob got moving fairly quickly because the first wave had been divided into 2 separate groups – sub-100 minutes and over 100 minutes.

That being said, I think the organisers could do a lot more to cater for the runners who fall just outside of the preferred start qualification. The preferred start time tends to change from year to year but it’s around 54 minutes for men (significantly slower for women but that’s a gripe for another time). Those of us who barely miss the preferred start section are lumped in with runners who finished the previous year in any time up to 100 minutes. So there are thousands of runners who run the 14k up to 40 minutes slower than me…and they all seem to think that they should start at the front of the pack.

Splitting the first wave into 2 groups is a good start but I believe the corrals should go further and break the times down into even smaller groups such as sub-60 minutes, sub-75 minutes, sub-90 minutes etc. At least that way you’ll get runners of a comparable speed starting together and moving along at roughly the same speed. This means there’s less chance of running into each other, the start clears more quickly and, most importantly, you get a lot fewer pissed off runners.

City to Surf entry forms

Running Notes - Tired Muscles

2008-06-04T09:41:00.000+10:00

Now that I am in the middle of a mini recovery period my running schedule has been interrupted with a lot more rest days that have been incorporated into my training. Both the need for my body to recover and the lack of an upcoming race has joined forces to mute the motivation a touch.

So, over the weekend, I gave myself a 3 day break from running before stepping out for my run today. It was only going to be an easy 10k trot over a flat course, the kind of run that you tend to just coast along and give the body the chance to work the kinks out. But as I set off I noticed that the run wasn’t going to be as easy as I first anticipated. It felt as though someone had replaced my legs with blocks of wood.

Rather than smoothly hitting the ground, which is the way I’m accustomed to covering the course, I felt as though I was jolting along with every step. I suspect this was a result of my body trying to adjust to a change in my routine. At least, I hope that’s the case and it isn’t an early sign that there are greater problems in store. It was almost as if my body is trying to tell me that it appreciated the extra day’s break from running so much that it would like another day off.

One thing I noticed was some rather sharp pains through the arch of my left foot as it was trying to cope with the weird cadence I was setting. You realise how finely balanced the body is when parts start to complain from out of the blue just because you’re off your game a little and aren’t hitting the ground with the usual precision.

Anyway, after around 6k or so I had sorted myself out a fraction and could feel my leg muscles coming to the party and warming up. The pain in my foot disappeared and I was able to finish the run in a comfortable time of 43:48. Apart from a few spits of rain at the start of the run, the weather behaved itself and stayed dry for the most part.

Running Through A May Cold

2008-05-27T16:12:00.000+10:00

I had a running free weekend for the first time in quite a while after ending the working week with three runs in a row. As far as I’m concerned, having the weekend off constitutes a rest period for me as I go through a short recovery period. As it happens I’ve picked up a cold and I’m struggling to shake it off. Some might say that picking up a cold a week after a race is simply the ideal time to get one and I agree wholeheartedly. But jeez I seem to pick up a lot of colds – this is my second one this year.

Anyway, a little head cold wasn’t going to stop me from getting out and going for an easy 7k run around Sydney Botanical Gardens at lunch time yesterday. Perfect May weather meant that everyone else seemed to have a similar idea. We had to play dodge ‘ems at certain stages on the course, particularly around the Opera House where a huge marquee had been erected on the forecourt for some big function. A time of 30:22 for the run was testament to the fact that the pace was definitely not on. With any luck the run might help sweat out some of the bad germs. (Is that even possible?)

Easy Run for Some = Hard Run for Others

2008-05-22T16:27:00.000+10:00

Went for a reasonably easy 10k run around the foreshores of Sydney Harbour today. I’ve recovered well enough from yesterday’s hard “recovery” run and the course we followed is a nice flat one so it wasn’t terribly hard on the legs. This was a very scenic running track today that took us over the Cahill Expressway, under the Harbour Bridge, around the Sydney Opera House and through the Sydney Botanical Gardens.

Joining me on the run today were a couple of friends who were backing up after last weekend’s race. Both of them are slower runners than me and one brought along another guy whose longest run before today was around 6k or so.

So as it turned out, what felt like a very comfortable 10k run for me was a difficult and rather traumatic run for the new guy running with us. We just had to be mindful of how he was coping so that he doesn’t decide that running hurts too much and he doesn’t ever want to do it again.

I worked out yesterday that there are 20 and a half weeks to go until the Melbourne Marathon on 12 October. Given that the recommended marathon training schedule is usually a 12 week affair, I’ve got another 2 weeks or so until I have officially begun my new training schedule.

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll work out a proper marathon training schedule that I will post and try to follow. It will include some key race goals at the Sutherland to Surf and the City to Surf.

Recovery Run Madness

2008-05-21T15:55:00.000+10:00

My plan was to have a couple of days rest as a reward to the body after a job well done on Sunday and then ease back into running again with a light 6 or 7k run just in case the legs were hiding any little niggles that I may have picked up. Monday and Tuesday were spent as expected…resting. The easy Wednesday run just went out the window. It all came about when one of my running partners emailed asking if I was up for a run out to Redleaf.

Being full of bravado and not many brains I shot back a response saying I was keen…bring it on. My legs are quite sore now.

Redleaf happens to be a tough, exceptionally hilly course that takes you from Sydney’s Domain, out through Woolloomooloo, Kings Cross, Rushcutters Bay and Double bay before you turn around and come back. It’s an 11k course and it’s great as a tough training course that will get you fit quickly. It’s not a recovery run course.

After feeling find and dandy following the half my legs, particularly my calves, are feeling very sore. It’s obviously my body telling me I’m a Bloody Idiot.

You know what I need? I need to do a recovery run tomorrow…

SMH Half Marathon Photos

The company that was out on course taking photos of all the competitors have already posted the snaps on their website. May I just say, what a crappy bunch of photos they are too. Fortunately I know what I look like so I could figure out which person in the photo was me – it would be difficult for anyone else to figure it out.

A few of the photos were taken down under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the perfect place for some great photos you’d think. A picture of you running with the Harbour Bridge as the backdrop, pretty spectacular stuff. Not only that, in my case it so happened that everyone else around me decided to cut the course short and run on the footpath at that point. I stayed on the road so I was basically running on my own when I passed the photographers. I was guaranteed a photo that would only have me in shot.

The result? I am tiny, I’m like a speck in the distance. I would have passed within 5 feet from the cameras and I can barely make myself out in the 4 photos they managed to take of me. You should have seen the size of the camera lenses they were using too. It takes a special talent to take a photo of someone only 5 feet away and make it look like they’re 500 metres away.

There’s no way they’re getting $30 per photo out of me for that rubbish.

2008 SMH Half Marathon Reflections

2008-05-19T16:00:00.000+10:00

The 2008 Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon is over and I have achieved my goal of breaking 90 minutes which has left me feeling very satisfied with myself. As a reward I will give my body a rest today and tomorrow and then go for light runs on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

I’ve done this race 15 times now and the course has been altered at least 7 or 8 times as the organisers have toyed with getting a best fit for minimising traffic disruptions and accommodating runners. It’s obvious that they’re prepared to change things if they think they can be improved so it’s worthwhile going over what I thought was done well and what could be improved.

What Could Have Been Better

The process for removing the timing chips from shoelaces at the end must be improved. Fortunately for me, I came through before the bulk of the field and was able to clear the area reasonably quickly, but the chips were being removed only a few metres after the finish line and when the finishers started coming in thick and fast the crowding was pretty horrendous. There has to be a larger area set aside for chip removal.

A few signs directing runners where to go to find water and fruit at the end would have been helpful. We searched and searched for the water / Gatorade table after crossing the finish line before finally finding it way across the other side of the park.

The course cannot handle any more competitors – simple as that. The field limit has increased from 4,000 to 6,000 but Art Gallery Road is simply too narrow to contain any more runners. As it is, the middle of the pack are jammed into the single lane in to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair and out again.

The drinks stops were too few and far between. The organisers have been lucky that the weather was quite cool, but only 3 drinks stations around the 2-loop course is at least 1 short. A warm weather day is going to cause some serious problems for runners.

While on the subject of drinks, I experienced a brand new innovation when it comes to supplying water to runners during the Canberra marathon. The water came in sealed sachets that have huge advantages over the plastic cups used in the half marathon. They’re easier for the volunteers to hand out, they’re easy for the runners to carry and they’re easier to drink without spilling or slowing down or suffering from side cramps because you’ve taken in gulps of air as well as water. The SMH Half Marathon organisers, indeed all race organisers, should seriously consider replacing the old plastic cups with these water sachets.

What Was Done Well

The new starting / finishing point gets the thumbs up from me. Hyde Park is a much more central location to get to, there’s plenty of room for all of the tents, marquees and baggage storage.

The timing chips continue to work well, in my opinion. The fact that you’re wearing a ship alleviates the need to get to the starting line hours before the actual start. You also have the advantage of seeing your results published soon after the race.

There was a large St John’s Ambulance presence around the course. Fortunately I didn’t need their services this year, but it was somewhat of a comfort to know that they were situated all over the course brandishing tubs of Vaseline or sun-cream and would be ready to assist with any more serious problem.

SMH Half Marathon Race Report

2008-05-18T21:14:00.001+10:00

SMH Half Marathon dawned nice and early for me today when my alarm went off at 5a.m. So my usual pre-race routine was put into action with the old stumbling around in the dark trying to be as quiet as possible but in actual fact making enough noise to wake the whole household.

I was quickly dressed and breakfasted and by 5:30 I was out the door and heading for the car. My plan was to catch the train into the city for the race today. The new race start at Hyde Park made it convenient to any number of stations – Martin Place, St James or Museum, take your pick. I had arranged to meet friends at the Archibald Fountain at 6:50 so that meant getting the 5:40 train which turned out to be on time (good one City Rail). It seemed that the only other people crazy enough to be out catching trains at this time of a Sunday morning were fellow runners.

I got to Martin Place at around 6:25 which meant I had a nice relaxed stroll to Hyde Park. It sure beats the mad scramble to get to the start of the past few years when it was way down to buggery on Hickson Rd. Everyone else I was meeting showed up within a few minutes of each other and we had a nice strong contingent chatting, joking and kidding each other trying to keep warm and dispel some nervous energy. At around 7:10 we decided it would be a good idea to put our bags into the holding area, have a quick stretch and get to the starting line with the 7 and a half thousand other runners.

The weather, by the way, after all the predictions of doom, gloom and rain, was absolutely perfect for running. There was barely a cloud in the sky, the temperature was cool without being cold and the breeze was only very slight.

The gun went off right on 7:30 and we were away down College St and on to Macquarie St, getting into stride fairly quickly. With the timing chip system, it’s not quite as imperative to line up early to ensure a quick start. The streets are all wide enough to cope with the traffic and I checked my watch at the 1km mark and found that we had covered the distance in 4:15. But in the first kilometre is the steep hill down Hunter St, we’d be climbing back up the hill in around 5km time.

There were a couple of bottlenecks in the early stages, the first came when we turned onto George St down at The Rocks, for some reason there was a wall of people stacking up on each other. The next came soon after as we turned from George St on to Argyle St where some road works blocked off half the road and I had to walk a few steps as things sorted themselves out. This proved to be the last point in which crowds were a problem.

For the first 7km I ran with my usual running partner from work, but he has been running injured for the last few months and wasn’t confident that he would be able to maintain the pace. Sure enough at around the 7km mark I suddenly noticed that he was no longer on my left shoulder. From this point on I ran alone.

The first time I checked my watch was at the 11km mark and found that I went through in 47:00, possibly a little slower than what I was hoping but still on track to break 90 minutes. A concerted effort over the next 2 or 3 kilometres had me doing close to 4 minute kilometres which left me pretty confident that I would be able to hold it together for the last 6 or 7 kilometres.

In fact, I felt the best I ever have during a half marathon, obviously benefiting from a very solid base thanks to the marathon training I had been doing. The pace dropped off a little over the last few kilometres but I still had enough left in the tank to push home hard over the last kilometre to finish the race in 89:20.

I was extremely pleased with the time. It’s always a good feeling to set yourself a target time to beat and then achieving the goal. The post mortems came thick and fast as my friends all came in, some doing better than they hoped, others a little disappointed. Everyone had a story or two to tell from their run. The consensus was that the new course gets the thumbs up from everyone. Hyde Park is the perfect place to start and finish the race, the finishing chute with everyone hanging over the railings to cheer us home was inspiring.

Usually after a half marathon I find that my calves begin to tighten up and hurt for the rest of the day but this didn’t happen at all today. All in all a great experience which continues to inspire me to keep on training.

Give Me Novocaine

2008-05-16T22:25:00.000+10:00

I had an easy 7k run around Farm Cove and the Botanical Gardens by myself today. Took almost bang on 30 minutes for the run and couldn’t have felt fitter for the run. That was my final run before Sunday’s Half Marathon and I figure I’ve pretty much timed my preparation to perfection after last month’s marathon effort.

Now I’ll just have to make sure I get a bit of rest tomorrow and then to bed at a sensible hour. One little cloud on the horizon is the long range weather forecast with the expected top temperature only going to be 16 degrees. Rain’s forecast too – chafing expected.

I always get a bit of a chuckle of amusement when I’m running and Green Day’s “Give Me Novocaine” comes on. It always seems to play during the last kilometre of whatever run I’m doing, right when a little bit of pain relief would go down really well.

Three Days Until 2008 Sydney Marathon

2008-05-15T13:53:00.000+10:00

It’s Thursday, it’s 3 days before the SMH Half Marathon and it’s another crystal clear sunny autumn day. Ideal conditions for an 11k run around the city of Sydney, so that’s exactly what I did.

Starting in Hyde Park the run heads south as you make your way to Chinatown and past the Entertainment Centre. Once you hit Harris St in Ultimo at the Powerhouse Museum it’s a straight run all the way down to the harbour and around past Sydney Casino before heading back into the city. This is a nice flat run that’s easy on the legs and you’re only hampered by the traffic for the first few kilometres.

It’s just as well the course was relatively easy, too, because my running partner has been struggling with a nagging hamstring injury lately that comes and goes and today it was making its presence felt again. The pace was probably a little slower than I’m used to but then given how close we are to the half marathon, that’s probably not a bad thing.

The time was 51:32.

One little point of interest during the run. While we were running up Macquarie St we ran past none other than Russell Crowe who was casually walking down the street talking to a friend. He was wearing sunglasses and a cap (but then again, so was I) but other than the bloke he was chatting too, he was absolutely alone. That probably sums up both Russell Crowe and the city of Sydney. It’s nice to see that a guy with a profile as high as Crowe’s can still quietly go about his business without having to worry about being recognised and taking all sorts of measures to ensure that he’s not.

Rest Days and Short Runs

2008-05-14T22:23:00.001+10:00

I enjoyed yesterday's day off running. You sort of get a feel for when you're in danger of over-training and one of those feelings seems to be a deeper appreciation of the days you don't run. I know the opposite is true when my fitness is absolutely soaring and all I can think about is getting out there and training. So a quiet day yesterday has freshened me up for today's run which was only a short one (6km) around Sydney's Farm Cove and Botanical Gardens.

A short one it may be, but it was part of the Corporate Cup and that means the pace is on the whole way as I’m running against the clock to score points for my team. As it turns out, because I wasn’t running quite as well last series, my handicap time was quite generous and so I managed to score quite well. I was also pretty pleased with my time: 24:45, and I felt I could have run quicker if I wanted to (we always say that later, don’t we).

Conditions again were sparklingly perfect – Sydney Harbour doesn’t look better than it does on days like today.

So everything’s still on track for a good SMH Half marathon on Sunday.

Mini Disaster Overcome

2008-05-12T15:42:00.000+10:00

I just wanted to run a fairly steady 10k run today after yesterday’s slightly longer run and so I decided that I would do the run we have christened the Waterfront Run. It’s pretty flat and ideal as a recovery run course.

Essentially the course follow the foreshores of Sydney Harbour for about 7k (hence our imaginative name). But to get to the waterfront you start in The Domain, cut back through the Sydney Royal Botanical Gardens and head up the Cahill Expressway to The Rocks. A few ups and downs in the early stages, but once you hit the water’s edge you’re on flat ground the rest of the way.

Mini disaster today! I was running alone because my usual running partner had the day off work, so that meant I was running with iPod assistance. At around the 6k mark my iPod abruptly cut out. I had forgotten to recharge it this morning. Damn! That meant I had to run the last 4k alone…with ear-buds shoved in my ears.

Sad isn’t it. Only a few years ago I never would have considered listening to music while I ran. Now it’s a minor tragedy when I can’t.

Still, I overcame this crushing adversity to complete the 10k course in a very respectable time of 42:33.

On a slightly more serious note, I have become aware of a slight antagonistic tightness in my left hamstring. I’ve had hamstring problems in the past but daily stretching has ensured that I have overcome them. I’ll have to do a little bit of extra work on ensuring that the muscles are nice and loose before each run.

A Last Longish Run Before SMH Half marathon

2008-05-11T20:10:00.002+10:00

With only a week to go until the SMH Half Marathon today was my last chance to go for a reasonably long training run. Being so soon after the Canberra Marathon there’s no real concern about fitness, but my longest training run since April 13 has only been 11km, so I wanted to get something a bit longer under my belt.

I decided a run of around 60 minutes might see me about right and settled on running over the Como Bridge to Oatley Park and back again. In the end, it turned out to be a run of over 70 minutes, but that was fine with me.

Today was Mother’s Day and it seemed that quite a few families were either celebrating by going to one of the two craft markets I passed along the course, or walking across the Como Bridge or picnicking at Oatley Park. Fair to say I had to use some fancy footwork at time to make sure I didn’t clean up an inattentive walker.

As usual, I had my iPod on my arm and Green Day was on shuffle. I’m telling you, there is nothing better than running to the sounds of Green Day to get you moving. And when Jesus of Suburbia starts up, as it did today, I wind the dial as loud as it will go and let it blast me along for the 9-plus minutes of the song. Brilliant stuff.

Today’s run was a confidence builder, going for 70 minutes and feeling great the entire time. My plan for the week ahead is to do a 10k run on Monday, have a rest on Tuesday, 6k on Wednesday, 10k on Thursday and 11k on Friday, finishing with a rest day on Saturday. I wouldn’t normally do so much running the week before a half marathon but I feel as though I’m on the way up again in terms of durability and I need a hard week to lead me into Sunday’s race.

Today’s run has made me hopeful I can break 90 minutes for the half on Sunday.

A Week Out From the SMH Half Marathon

2008-05-11T00:16:00.003+10:00

It has only been 4 weeks since I competed in the 2008 Canberra Marathon and I reckon I have recovered pretty well from it thanks to a couple of weeks of very light running. Now we are only a week away from the 2008 SMH Half Marathon and I feel as though I could have done with an extra week (but then again, I feel like that every year).

The course has changed a little again. It seems that this event will forever be in "tweak" mode with the course regularly being changed every couple of years. I've done around 12 SMH Half Marathons and have seen all sorts of changes from clockwise around the city to anti-clockwise and back again. Starting and finishing down on Hickson Rd, starting up near the Sydney Harbour Bridge. You name it, we've gone there.

Now we're starting and finishing at Hyde Park. It will be interesting to see how the streets cope with the crowd over the first few kilometres. Apart from the starting point, the course looks pretty much the same as in recent years, although the hills are all going to come at dramatically different kilometre marks which will have a major impact over the final few kilometres. I'll reserve judgement.

Took a day off today, seeing as it's Saturday. That means I'm planning a run for tomorrow. Seeing as how the race is only a week away I won't be doing too long a run. Maybe 12 - 14km should do it. I think my marathon fitness should ensure that I'll get the 21km without too much trouble.

We shall see.

Welcome to Runner / Jogger

2008-05-10T00:05:00.002+10:00

Hi there.

I'm an over 40 year old runner who has been running since my school days. I'm no world beater - never have been, never will be - but I regularly finish in the top 10% of most races I enter.

This blog is a kind of journal about where I run, what I see, how I feel and what I'm thinking. I will also be posting my race experiences. You may find the stories I tell inspiring or a complete bore. Whichever way I go, welcome to my site and keep on running.