All bad things come in threes or fours or whatever

Last week was a complete write-off, as I could not get out for a run until today because of this bug I picked up.
By this morning I thought I would be ok and set off for 25k to the river and the beach at 5am.
So the lack of training was problem no.1.
Problem no. 2 was the fact that the Polar's battery gave up and therefore I had to make it ready to send it away to replace the battery. What a cumbersome system to have to send it to SA to have a battery changed. Not very consumerfriendly!
The third problem came with the top of the right foot starting to hurt like hell within 15 minutes of setting off. 
Numerous breaks to change the lacing did not make much of a difference.
The whole run was very painful and in any event after 20k I was pretty much shot. Haven't felt like that for a long time, excluding the marathon.
Oh yes, the fourth thing: tinea cruris, or jock itch. How painful is that and certainly not a good idea when running distances.
After trundling home for breakfast (after nearly three hours!), I had a short sleep and then Anna wanted to run around Lake Monger with Flo doing the support on his bike. 
Despite the pain in the right foot, I donned the new Frees and went along with them. Quite slowly, but relaxing and in the end I felt there was still some running in me left.
A rest day tomorrow and then intervals on Tuesday.

Run for Gold

The plan with taking some time off did not work out at all. I had to front up and do odd little bits here and there breaking up my week. I then wanted to take tomorrow off as well, but hey, something else came up.

I really need to go out of the country to get away from it all...

On the bright side, I did the 10k Run for Gold and Anna came along and did her first race, the 5k. She got through in just over 35 mins which is excellent.

I managed 45 mins and I am quite happy with it, especially since I had not trained for it at all and looked at it as a tempo run more than anything else.

Had a slow start and latched on to this old guy in the green T-shirt. By the Claisebrook bridge he folded and I went off on my own, keeping a steady pace.

I managed to get a copy of SERIOUS training for the endurance athlete earlier in the week and have been putting a more scientific touch on my training plan.

The swimming has already improved and helped my core stability. Right now it's all coming together nicely.

Good, good, as Simon would say.

Another Week, another Gadget

I have been thinking of getting a Forerunner 305 to replace my trusty 101 and the Polar F11 HRM, but now as Garmin are sooo slow with getting their Mac software out, I will hold back.
Instead I am getting a new MacBook tomorrow and have invested in this new software to keep myself better organised. 

I can even post a blog straight out of it.

So here we go.

This week, I'll spend only a few hours working and otherwise, I'll relax, read, spend time with the kids, run and swim.

More later.....

Easy does it

Knowing a few other runners is making a difference, if only because of the encouragement I'm getting. So thanks TB & Epi for your comments.
Last week I laid off entirely, but by Saturday I couldn't sit still. So I went out for an easy 15ks on Saturday only to come back with an unknown pulling pain on the outside of my right hip. That stayed until late Sunday and started to worry me.
Nevertheless, I started drawing up a plan to prepare for Rottnest along the FIRST program, bearing in mind that at my age (come on guys, I was the oldest at the table!) injuries come by much quicker. The only thing that's not quick is me.
Anyway, I've got only three fixed running days, one for intervals, one tempo and one long run and the others I'll use for rest or cross-training (although I suspect I might pop in the odd run).
Tuesday's interval was good, with just a bit of pulling in the hip. I was of course mindful not to overdo it and the times were not flash.
I also assume that running a marathon does turn your muscles into mush as they still do not feel as strong and responsive as they did before the marathon.
Yesterday, I went to Bold Park at 6am (freezing) and did an easy 1.5ks. I still marvel how fast these other guys can go.
And today was the tempo run through Kings Park, which I made a bit more interesting by including five runs up Mount Street to have some hill training included.
The hip is fine.
So tomorrow I plan to hit the water again for 1.6ks and I want to build that up over the next couple of weeks to 2 - 2.5ks.
Next week, I'll take a few days off and will have a bit more time to enjoy the running, rather than to have to rush it in the morning as I do now.
Being school holidays no-one in my household gets up before 7 anyway, so I'm the lone ranger anyway - well, apart from the dog and the cat, but they're no use as far as running goes.

One down and hopefully many to go

My legs are still terribly sore, but my spirits are up after finishing my first marathon yesterday - Perth 2006.
I set myself the priorities of starting, finishing, 4 hours, 3:45 and 3:30 (given my performance at the Freo Half three weeks ago).
Coming in at 3:58 I managed three out of five, which is not all too bad.
I set my trusty Fred to 3:30 always intending to fall behind in the first ks to make sure I did not go out too fast.
In the end I probably did anyway as by 32k my thighs just seized up. So the last ks were slow and hard going and many people passed me (not just those fresh guys running the relay!).
Up until then, I was going really well at 5m/k and just on target, but then it fell apart. I thought I had taken enough glucose, but obviously not so.
Epi's graph on his blog looked like mine, just a bit faster, but then he also had a very tough lead up to the race. Here's my comment to his blog.

"Epi -

I didn't realise until today what sort of a horrible lead-up you've had. That makes your effort even greater. Well done!
Pity you couldn't hang on to the cracking pace you set at the beginning.
I think our stories are pretty similar, certainly the graphs look alike with the only difference that my pace was always between 30 & 45 secs slower.
Since yesterday I have been trying to figure out what happened and it may just have been a case of hypoglycaemia. In hindsight I probably did take too little glucose on the way, respectively when it was already too late.
My reading of Noakes last night certainly seems to support that.
Although I certainly wasn't thinking this way after 32k, the experience has made me more determined to prepare better for the Rotto Marathon. Lots of hill work, too!
All the best, Henry"

I'm just waiting for the soreness to go away and then I'll be off and running again.

Rottnest, here I come.