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Jonathon's Racing Attacks and Adventure Packs!

Amazing racing and training adventures on roads and mountainous/hilly TRAILS, freewaybikehike and triathlons. Dreams of a SIX FOOT 45km finish,(DONE 2011,2013,2014,2015!),then ULTRA-TRAIL AUSTRALIA (50km DONE 2016! 100km DONE 2018!!!), memorable Melbourne Marathon and Gold Coast racing. Over a decade dreaming of a SUB 3HR MARATHON, sub 18min 5k, sub 38min 10k, sub 90min Half marathon etc...(shattered? or still realistic?)

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Location: Perth, Western Australia, Australia


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42.2km SB; 2004; 3.55 2005; 4.02 2006; 4.18, 2007; 4.10 2008; 3.55
2009; 4.11 2010; 4.05 2011; 4.02 2012;3.49 2013; 4.12 ... 2014; ; 4.08 ...2015; 4.00
2016; 4.11 2018; 4.15 2019; 4.25 2020; 5.38 ... 2021; 5.44 ... 2022 DNF at 37km
More ongoing GOALS;
***PB's pursuit; 5k 21.49, 10k 41.01 21.1k 1.41, ...42.2k 3.49

MM and the G!...

In recent years I have been enjoying races like;
December; 6-INCH(46km offroad)2005;--6 hrs 25 min...
2006; 7hrs 04 min 2008; 7hrs 00min...2009; 6hrs 16min
...2010:--5hrs 49min..2011:---5hrs 30min..2013---7 hrs 24min... 2014--- 7 hrs 06min 2015--6hours 43min ...2016---6hours 41min... 2017--7hrs 3min?... 2018-7hrs ... 2020 8hrs 19 ... 2021 8hrs 51
October; Melbourne Marathon 2007; 4hr 10 . 2008 DNF at 23km..
2009 4hrs 11. 2010 4hrs 05min...2011;4hrs 02min...photos
2012; 3hrs 49min 52secs PB!... ..2013; 4.12 2014; 4.08 2015; 4.05... 2016; 4.53
Rottnest Marathon 2004; 4hr 32min ... 2013; 4hr 16min... 2019; 4hr 41min 59secs
August; City to Surf most years since 1997 see HERE for details,photos.
PERTH C2S PB's; 4K;17min 25 (2002) 12K;52min 52 (1997)
21.1K;1.54.20 (2007) 42.2K; 4.00.20 (2015) (2010 video..45secs into it)
Perth City to Surf Marathon finisher 2009,2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019.
June/July;
GOLD COAST; 2012 HALF; 1.44 2013 HALF; 1.47 2014 HALF 1.49
2015 4.11 ..., 2016 4.11..., 2019 4.25
PERTH Marathon(42.2km)
2004; 3hrs55min
2005;--4 hrs 02 min. 2006; 4hrs 18min 2007;4hrs 33
2008; 3hrs 55 2009; 4hrs 41min 2010; 4hrs 30min
2011; 4hrs 12min 2012; 4hrs 6min 2013; 4hrs 19min 2014 4hrs 48min 2018 4hrs 15min
2019; 4hrs 28min
2021 5hrs 44min
May; Ultra TRAIL AUSTRALIA;
2016 50km 9 hours 50min 956th
2017 100km DNF CP4 57km
2018 100km 24hrs 33min 15 913th
2019 100km DNF CP3 46km 2021 CP2 DNF (severe back injury)
April;TWO DECADES of Bridges racing; 1997; 43min 43 1998; 41min 01
1999; 47min 29 2000; 46min 47 2001; (5km) 30min 01 2002; (5km) 22min 48
2003; 42min 40 2004; 48min 50 2005; 44min 40 2006; 48min 07 2007; 49min 16
2008; 50min 42 2009; 49min 54 2010; 48min 39 2011; 52min 55 2012; 47min 02 2013; 54min 45 2014; 48min 47 2015; 49min 53 2016 52min 20
March;6 Foot Track 45km;
2011; 6.53 2013; 6.54 2014; 6.47
2015; 6.14!!! 2016 DNF


As of October 2022; 37 road marathons finished (Perth x14, Melbourne x9,Perth City to Surf x7 Gold Coast x3 Rottnest x3 SunsetCoast x1)
Have also finished 20+ ultra races; 6 inch 47km ultra finished 12 times, six foot 45km ultra 4 times, Ultra Trail Australia ultras 2 times, Truth 50km ultra once within cutoff (and once outside cutoff), Lark Hill 50km ultra, 6hour track race, 24hr track race.
Also completed the Bloated Goat 31km (1500m Vertical gain) 2 times which is similiar effort to a 46km ultra.
DNFs in UTA100km, WTF50miler, WAMC40miler race, Truth 50km, Six foot and 6 inch.
The first 3 DNFs were after covering more than 42km, and with Truth one was a 25km DNF and the first one I finished the full 50km but was 19minutes outside cutoff battling an ankle injury for 36km.
In road marathons 3 DNFs one at 23km in the 2008 Melbourne Marathon due to severe ankle injury in the first 1km, and PC2S @ 30km, also 2022 Perth Marathon at 37km too fat and slow

Most races October 2009-October2020; >
30/10/2020 50th John Gilmour 10,000m track race 58min
20/09/2020 XTR Sunset Coast Marathon (#36) 5.38
30/08/2020 Fat Lamb PTS 20km
02/08/2020 Perth Half Mara 2.04
11/07/2020 Jumbuck PTS 3.39
08/03/2020 Darlington Half Marathon 2.07
01/11/2019 John Gilmour 10,000m Track race 51min
06/10/2019 Perth Marathon 4hrs 28min. #13 see here
01/09/2019 Rotto Biddi 3hrs.09.44
25/08/2019 City 2 Surf Marathon 4hrs 48min
17/08/2019 TW Parkrun 5km 24.29 (5th)
3/08/2019 Truth 50km DNF (at 25km in 4hrs 26min)
28/07/2019 RunMelbourne Halfmarathon 2hr 03min
21/07/2019 Champion Lakes R2R Halfmarathon 1hr 55min (32nd)
7/07/2019 Gold Coast Marathon 4hrs 25min
16/06/2019 Rottnest Marathon 4hrs 42min
18/05/2019 Ultra Trail Australia 100km DNF at 46km (CP3) 8hrs 58min
17/03/2019 Fat Lamb 20km 3hr 29min 49th of 70
02/03/2019 Lark Hill 25km 3hr 54 (Night race forgot headlamp)
24/02/2019 Swissmurdie 2hr 35
09/02/2019 Busselton Half marathon 2.13 (Late start actually 2.05)
20/01/2019 Chi Gong 1hr 58 134th of 158 finishers
16/12/2018 6 inch 47km 7hrs (12th finish)
21/10/2018 Rottnest Half 2hr 03 min
16/09/2018 Fremantle Half 1hr 58min
04/07/2018 Truth 25km 3hrs 11min 55 (PTS)
24/06/2018 Eagle 22km 2hrxx(59min officially, but 43min on my watch as started late)
17/06/2018 Perth Marathon 4hrs 15min
19/05/2018 Ultra-Trail Australia 100km 24hrs 33min 15secs 913th of 964 finishers
218 withdrawals
03/03/2018 Lark Hill 50km
17/12/2017 6 inch 48km 7hrs
06/08/2017 Truth 50km 8hrs 22min 59
16/07/2017 Jolly Jumbuck 21km 2hr 54min (94th of 129)
02/07/2017 King of the Mountain 16km 1hr 41min
20/05/2017 Ultra-Trail AUSTRALIA 100km DNF (at 58km and 10hours 38min)
26/03/2017 Bloated Goat 30km 5hr 18min
18/12/2016 6 inch 48km 6hrs 41min
16/10/2016 Melbourne Marathon 4hours 53min
25/09/2016 WTF 50 miler DNF at 55km
14/08/2016 Truth 50km DNF at 25km
3/07/2016 Gold Coast Marathon 4.11
14/05/2016 Ultra Trail Australia 50km 9 hours 50min
3/4/2016 My 20th consecutive Bridges fun run 10km 52.20 (hammy strain)
12/3/2016 Six Foot Track DNF at 30km 5 hours.
---------------------- 20/12/2015 6 inch 47km 6 hours 43min
15/11/15 Bloated Goat 30km Trails race (1600m Vert) 5hrs 43min
18/10/15 Melbourne Marathon 4.05
13/09/15 Fremantle 10km 47min 22
30/08/15 Perth City to Surf Marathon 4 hours 00min 20 secs.
05/07/15 GCM 4.11
24/05/15 R4R Half Marathon 1hr 46min 13secs
12/04/15 Bridges 10km 49min 53secs.
04/04/15 Perth Trail Series Truth & Consequences 50km ULTRA 8hours 49min
14/03/15 Six Foot Track 45km 6hrs 14min 11secs Smashing PB!!! (32min)
21/12/14 6 inch Trail 47km 7hrs 06min 30secs
12/10/14 Melbourne Marathon 4hrs 8min (8th fastest marathon in 25 finished)
14/09/14 Fremantle 10km 49min 26 (first K 3.47 5k split 23.02)
31/08/14 Perth City to Surf 42.2k 4hrs 34min
06/07/14 Gold Coast Half Marathon 1.49
15/06/14 Perth Marathon 4.48
01/06/14 Elleker Half Marathon 1.59.
21/04/14 40 miler DNF (28miles)
06/04/14 18th Bridges 10km 48min 47secs...since 1997
08/03/14 6 Foot Track 45km 6hrs 47min 02. (824th) A PB!!! :-)
09/02/14 Snakes and Ladders 15km 2.05
15/12/13 6 inch Trail Ultra 7.24
27/10/13 Rottnest Marathon 4.16.41
13/10/13 Melbourne Marathon 4.12.55
25/08/13 Perth City to Surf Marathon 4.13.28
11/08/13 Perth Half Marathon 1.54.05
28/07/13 Fremantle 10km 50.06 (very sick but first 1k in 3.55)
07/07/13 Gold Coast Half Marathon 1.47.29

16/06/13 Perth Marathon 4hrs 19min 55secs
My 10th consecutive Perth Marathon...Click to see -> how I became a SPARTAN...

19/05/13 Joondalup Half Marathon 1hr 58min 26secs 310th of 495.
07/04/13 Bridges 10km 54min 45seconds.
09/03/13 6 Foot Track 45km 6 hours 54 minutes 20 seconds. 740th of 804...blog post or ...photos! page.

24/02/13 Perth Trail Series Qi Gong 14km 1hr 37min 04 Placed 79th of 117 finishers.
09/02/13 Busselton Half Marathon 1hr 51min 58 secs 219th. full Busso results here
02/11/12 John Gilmour 10k track 47.17 ..see here
14/10/12 Melbourne Marathon 3hrs 49min 52secs ..(777.)
16/09/12 Fremantle 10km 47min 16
26/08/12 City to Surf Marathon 4hrs 42min 41 secs
15/07/12 Lake Joondalup 10km 47min 30.
01/07/12 Gold Coast Half Marathon 1hr 44min 49 secs. 1668th of 9035 finishers

17/06/12 Perth Marathon 4hrs 6min .. (post and photos here)
20/05/12 Joondalup Half Marathon 1hr 47min 01secs. (151st of 313 finishers)
15/05/12 Masters 5000m 21min 58secs
13/05/12 Bunbury Half Marathon 1hr 46min 45 secs. (76th of 240 finishers)
22/04/12 PTS Ellis Brook 21.8km trails race 3hrs 12min 28secs. 39th.
01/04/12 Bridges 10km 47min 02
25/03/12 17.3km (690m ascent) Swissmurdie trails race 2hrs 19min 17secs 54th of 60.
20/03/12 MastersWA 1500m in 5.56, 100m in 14.3, 400m in 76.4, 5000m in 23.33.
26/02/12 WAMC Swan Twilight 5km 24.32
26/02/12 Perth Trail Series Qi Gong 14km 1hr 44min 08 secs 70th of 102.
04/02/12 Busselton Half Marathon in 1hr 49min 31 secs.
18/12/11 6 inch 46km 5hrs 30min PB!
09/10/11 Melbourne Marathon in 4hours 02minutes 49secs...photos...

12/09/11 Fremantle 10km in 45minutes 50 secs.
7/8/11 Perth Half Marathon in 1hr 47min 46 secs.
17/7/11 Lake Joondalup 10km in 46min 33secs.
19/6/11 Perth Marathon in 4 hours 12min 54secs (351st of 547.)
12/6/11 Lake Monger 10km in 48min 09secs
22/5/11 Bunbury Half Marathon 1hr 51min 44secs 109th of 261 finishers
10/4/11 Bridges 10km 52min 55
12/3/11 6 foot 45km in 6hrs 53min 07 secs...819th...of 877...33 DNF's...4 outside 7hr cutoffRace Report and race photosPre & post race photos,initial ELATION
Note; Completing 6 foot is a major goal achieved which I have had in mind since 2005!!!!!!!

4/3/11 3000m in 12min 40 (19th of 19 finishers)Momentum building a little,sub 13 done! :-)
18/2/11 5000m in 23min 31 (20th of 20 finishers...4 DNF's)..results
5/2/2011 21.1km Busselton Half in 1hr 51min 41 secs for 124th of 218 finishers.
19/12/10 46km 6 inch trails race in 5hr 49min (63rd of 79 finishers)
10/12/10 5000m in 22.43 18th of 18!
5/11/10 John Gilmour 10,000m in 47min 36. (23rd of 31)
10/10/10 Melbourne Marathon 4hrs 5min...2895th of 5027 finishers...
12/9/10 Fremantle 10km in 46min 53...a big SB and my best time since 2005!
29/8/10; 42.2km in 4hrs 15min for 537th of 830 finishers...my 6th best of 12 M. finishes.
19/8/10; 5000m in 22min 06.0 secs (SB by 0.6 of a second, & Stan did a SB also that night)
22/7/10; 5000m in 22min 06.6 secs. (SB and 17secs off my track PB)
20/6/10 Perth Marathon in 4.30.
13/5/10; Masters 2000m 7.55 (first sub 8min run since 2005) & 5,000m 22.42
22/4/10; Masters 800m 2.46 & 5,000m 22.29!~(2nd best ever track 5,000m, track PB is 21.49,)
3/4/10; Australian Masters 35-39yrs; 4th in 1500m 5min 34secs. see here...
28/3/10; Bridges 10km in 48min 39secs. 388th of 1646
25/3/10; 300m in 47.6, 600m in 1.57.0 100m in 14.6
18/3/10; Masters 1500m in 6.03 & 10,000m in 49min 35
28/2/10; 4th place in 6 hour Track Race at Coker Park; 45.003km
6/2/10; Busselton 21.1km in 1hr 52min 50 secs
20/12/09;6 inch 46km 6hrs 16min
15/11/09; Peninsula 5km 22min 5225th of 73.
6/11/09; John Gilmour 10km 48min 39
11/10/09; Melbourne Marathon 4hrs 11 min 33 secs
4/10/09; Freo funrun 5km in 22min 53 secs
... ...
2011; 5hrs 30min 6 inchPB!! 2012; 3hrs 49min PB(Melbourne Marathon)!!2014; 6hrs 47min PB! @ 6 foot!

The next big things racing wise maybe;


6 inch 47km
on 20th December @ 0430hrs, countdown (activated a few days before?) is;


Kathryn and I welcomed our daughter K into the world May 2015 A.D.!

Kathryn and I welcomed our daughter J into the world June 2010 A.D.!
Kathryn and I welcomed our son J into the world in late July 2007 A.D.!
Our challenge is to be good parents with the Creator Gods help!



... 2004 ...2005 ...2006 ...2007... >...2008...2009...2010 ...2011... 2012.

but for the most important thing in life;
there is only 2 ways to live!...Bible Gateway...

Friday, November 30, 2007

48min 55 in John Gilmour 10k Track

Friday 30th November 2007; Ran 10km on Track (Coker Park) in 48min 55 (HR 189 end).
(5km splits; 22min 54/26min 01)

Spur of the moment decision to go and have a run for fun. Only decided to leave work (Guildford) and go at 5.30pm. Race was in Cannington at 6pm. I did the B-race (the slow 40min+ race)...

The A race (sub 40min expectations) was won by english bloke over in Perth for a year called Angus in a sizzling 29 minutes I think! Not sure but it looked liked legendary running identity Todd Ingraham was 3rd, and Paul Mitchell the other Melville legend faded to 4th after looking a chance to be in the top 2 early on. The fastest woman was also pretty quick in about 36 minutes I think, she looked a bit like Kelly Exeter to me (3.15 in New York Marathon earlier this year and apparently there was a lot of triathletes in this state 10km championship, but I think it must have been someone else cos I think Kelly normally runs about 39-40minutes...

I went out strongly with the leading bloke (a triathlete coach so I heard afterwards) to split the first 400m in 1.16 sitting on his shoulder felt just like the good old days, but I knew given my lack of training/poor fitnes there was no way I could sustain that, although my legs were handling it easily at that stage (breathing wasn't though). So after my first moment of fun I decided to settle back into something more sustainable (I constructed a loose race plan in my mind during the day...---when I was still tossing up mentally whether or not to run, and about 2pm I decided not to do it, but changed my mind at 5.30pm---...of trying to hit 1.45-1.50's and to stay sub 2min per 400m, cos I knew that would deliver about 46min-50min for me, pretty unsure where I would be as my trackwork has been very occasional in recent months although not quite entirely non-existent, but I figured on the basis of my 48 and 49 in Challenge and Bridges earlier this year, and my Melbourne Marathon training I should be able to stay under the 50, despite no specific training targeting this event, only considered doing it, when I saw it in my diary this week) .....
So back to the race; 400m split for first 1200m were 1.16/1.40/1.47, and from then on I tried to hold onto the 1.50's but ended up blowing out to 2min for a few laps.
2km was 8.27 (4.13's per Km average), 3km 13.21 (so 1k split there was 4.54), 5k was 22.54, so hitting around 4.46 per km for that section. Then I took a bit of a break to drink 600ml of gatorade which I had left at the drinks table in the back straight. A bit mad in a 10k race, but I hadn't drunk much since I rushed from work in guildford, and despite the fresh north westerly winds, I was feeling the heat a bit. I got passed by Ian Roberts, Alan Deans, and Don Pattinson somewhere before or after 5k.
So I needed the gatorade, but then spent a few laps trying to avoid spewing it up, it was a bit much to try and hold onto that in the stomach and try and run sub 2 min 400m laps. So my 6k split of 28.54 shows a 1k split of 6min not too bad since I spent at least 30 seconds of that sculling the 600ml of gatorade. At some point in the race, when I was lapped by the leader, I latched on and ran with him for 200m which got me a 1.45 for that lap. But then it was back to the 2min 400's. Starting to feel the effects of not enough faster running in recent times by then. The surface of the track was very nice, reminds me of the stuff they had for the Sydney Olympics track at Stadium Australia when I did the 20km walk trials there. Wonderful place to run a 10km on track, reminded me of the good old days in the 80's and 90's when I raced and trained at Coker Park with Canning Districts and Riverton/Southern Districts... Went through 7km in 34.18 and then 9km in 44min 18, so 5.24 for 6k to 7k and smack on 5min flat for the 7-9k 1k splits... Brought it home a bit in the last 1km with a 4min 37, and a 1.45 last lap, and the usual dash for the line in the last 150m getting the heart rate right up there to 189.

Spent a bit of time after that chatting with Burnsy, and others, plus watching the exciting A-race unfold!!! Was like I had stepped back in time and was running with Canning Districts again (except that my time sucks bigtime compared to those days, and in those times I mostly was a racewalker only...)...

They asked me afterwards if wanted to coach their racewalkers...very tempting...dunno.... I'd like to, and I am confident I would do well, after all I have more experience than arguably anyone else in this state, noone else in WA has done the National 50km walk, although there have been a few who have done better at Nationals than me, and of course Michael McCagh went to the AIS briefly, and Sara raced extensively overseas in Commonwealth Games,European championships etc, so I she has much better top-level racing experience than me, me not really having raced internationally, although the Sydney Olympic 20km walk trial I did in February 2000 (my last competitive walk), had an international flavour with Italians, Mexicans, Malaysians and others in it,a s well as being an OLympic test event on the OLympic course that Jane Savillle was disqualified on later that year.

So a fun race, the time was pretty poor as usual but ok, enjoyed the night a lot, and then headed back to my poor wife and baby, who of course were wondering where on earth I had disappeared to...

A good sharpener upperer run....blows away a few cobwebs, that had been starting to set in mentally after my Melbourne Marathon last month. Pretty happy with the way the legs are moving, although as per usual the lack of reps is substandard/poor/a long way from where I could be. Six Inch 45km trails race in just a couple of weeks, hopefully I will be up for a sub 6 hour effort.

Wonderful blessing! we found the car!

Tonight Kathryn and I went to Galleria, and I decided I would have a look around the carpark while she shopped, cos (a) I hate shopping and Kathryn loves it...and (b) I figured if someone stole her car they might come back to Galleria again, or they might have ditched the car nearby, so I figured I'd do a drive around the parking areas and nearby roads and keep a lookout for it. Sure enough about 2 minutes into my search I spotted a silver Lantra, checked the numberplate and WUHOO!!!! Praise God! it was the missing car with about a weeks worth of wattle flowers piled up on the bonnet. so alls well ends well! Now to get some insurance in place... Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

21km Night Rider Momentum 1 (NRM1)

Wednesday 28th November 2007; AM; Did 200 Ab Crunches.
Trying to hold onto/re-establish the training momentum that I started with the 25km recon run a few weeks back, but was interrupted by cold and work, my wifes car being stolen, didn't get it insured in time, so $9000-$10000 down the drain at this stage, which makes one really angry/hurt. Hoping to turn some of the angst into some positive training sessions....We shall see if that intention can be transferred into something worthwhile.

PM; Cycled 21km (approximately) in 1hour 26min 09 (approximate splits 49min/37min) Heart rate of 141 at the end.

Night ride on my tired old Mamba mountainbike, with my trusty cateye light and cycle computer. started at 2115 hours (9.15pm), course was an out-and-back route from Beechboro to MIrrabooka and back. The Red Baron unvailable due to flat back tyre, plus I'd rather not risk the Red Baron on a dodgy course like this one. Turned around at corner of Sattleberg and Witchcliffe streets, and forgot to check map beforehand, so in the darkness couldn't figure out where the secret park with a glorious view of the Darling Scarp hills was, which I saw while meter reading there for work a few months back, and promised myself I'd ride back and visit someday.
Well I kept that promise tonight, and enjoyed the ride immensely.

Took the opportunity after some encouragement from my wife Kathryn to get out there while young Jacob was doing his usual sleep from 9pm onwards...Took no drinks and thought about turning around at Noranda, but decided to try and get to Mirrabooka.
So very much a make it up as I go sort of ride on the way out although I had a vague idea of the main roads I would use in my mind. I know most of the significant roads in Perth now due to the copious amounts of driving around the suburbs I have done in the last 15 years or so, especially in the last year or so with my meter reading work. Southerly wind, some nice flat roads, and some nice downhills on return, which allowed me to get to a maximum velocity of 35.7 km/h. Had one of the trip hop/trip house tunes called "momentum" from my recently bought Paradigm Shift CD in my
head, been playing that one a lot in the last week or so. Odometer on my new cycle computer has now reached 850km. Which added to the old cycle computer means I have done almost 15,000km on this Mamba mountainbike, since I bought it I think in 2002, so in 5 years, I have averaged almost 3,000km of cycling per year although I have done a lot less in recent years...some training trivia....

Have to go again in the daytime so I can ride the extra 200m to the secret park, and enjoy the glorious panorama of views, hopefully one day I can take my wife Kathryn and young baby Jacob up there for a picnic.

All in all nice to get a solid ride in, something that will assist my Six Inch plans to come to fruition somewhat, and if I do want to do any Triathlons in 2008, its time I started factoring in some rides. Right knee aching a little in the last 5 minutes. A good ride, although due to my mountainbike being in very poor condition, I took awhile to work out which way to go, and how to handle the low gears available on the bike and still ride at good speeds, hence why my return split was 12 minutes! faster. So a good relaxed cruisy session I am happy to put on the board. Feel a whole lot less Pauline Hansonish emotionally (the whole world stinks and I don't like it...please explain...everything sucks), and more like a line in a Yothu Yindi song; "its like the world is turning right"......(Track 7 from Freedom album.)

Sunday, November 25, 2007

short 30min run

Sunday 25th November 2007; Ran for just under 30min, just under 5km, approximate time and distance as I was mainly going to the shop to get some urgently needed cat tins for our cats. Felt keen for a run, so combined the two needs, did the first 2km in about 10.41 so around 5.20 per km (probably ran the first 1km sub 5min per K). Approximate distances and time. HR at end was 150 and I had a bit of a sweat up. The last 2 weeks have been a bit of a wipeout trainingwise for me due to having a bad cold last week, and being snowed under working hard this week, including some tough grinding stuff in the heat on Friday. I think I have shaken the cold off pretty much now, but I worked on the federal election yesterday from 7.30am until 9pmish so no time to train really that day. Also dealing with some major dramas like my wife getting her car stolen, which was very upsetting,devastating,unfair,kick in the guts, has a huge impact on our family, as it was not insured, and we lost things we saved up for a total of about 6 months to get in our digital camera and the baby seat etc etc...Plus of course we just scraped together enough to pay rego and stamp duty on the car, which we had bought with Kathryns baby bonus money and the money from the sale of her old ute, so really heartbreaking to see it all go down the drain in one foul swoop.
I guess the lesson (which is very hard to swallow) is as is detailed in Matthew 6:19-20 , and a Tourniquet album/song; where moth and rust (and in this case thief) destroy...so satanic attack strikes again...but as in another Tourniquet song from the Psycho Surgery album called Broken Chromosomes; "I was already down, and you kicked me, but I'll get up...watch me get up....."....

I took a long break from my election work to get her home from the shops with the shopping, as I didn't like her to be stuck there in the heat with Jacob in a very upset state of mind....Its been a very dramatic and terrible weekend for various reasons, probably one of the only highlights was Kathryn and I playing some golf this afternoon. Hope to get training again in the next 2 weeks, otherwise I will not be running 6 inch this year...

Saturday, November 10, 2007

6Inch RECON #1 25km+bathroom= 3hrs 18.

Saturday 10th November Ran 25km in 3hrs 18 (including 30min no 2's toilet stop* and some walking) Splits 1hr.23/1hr.55(about 1hr.37).

Warning R-rated material, dont read this paragraph if a little sensitive to excretion management strategies being described in some detail. *no 2's toilet stop, I had to use gum leaves to wipe the backside. Last time I had to do that was 1991 I think. Eventually I found some "long-drop" toilets at Marrinup campsite that had some REAL! toilet paper yay! so was able to clean things up a little more completely. I write this as a warning to any runners who go trail running away from toilets, and are tempted to skip toilet stop before run, without putting toiletpaper in hydration pack.

Apart from the toilet stop about 1hr 50min in, a very enjoyable run, no significant injury issues, kangaroos,emus, echidna,kookaburras etc etc. Just beautiful scenic views that is 6 Inch. Ran with Mark,Craig,and Colin. Lovely to be back in 6Inch land! We had to do an out and back (Dwellingup to Scarp Rd and back) due to prescribed burning off making access unavailable to some of the Munda Biddi between Del Park Rd and Oakley Dam area. I icepacked my heel beforehand as a precaution, and like Melbourne Marathon that seemed to do the trick, so as long as I remember to icepack it before long runs and long races, maybe I can avoid any medical intervention.

All in all a pretty good long run sitting around just over 6 min a km for the first 15km or so...Turned into a bit of a plod for me in the last 7km or so, the bathroom issues had a lot to do with it, but the legs were also a little tired in the last 5-10km also. Great first long run back after Melbourne Marathon. Good blokes to run with too. Intelligent, interesting conversation, and they pushed me to a faster pace than what I often run, but until the bathroom issues started to become too hard for me to deal with, I was able to stay with 'em. Ideal pace for me. I was coming in off about 4 hours sleep per night this week, and was a bit underprepared, didn't goto toilet enough beforehand, and forgot to put body glide on, but managed to still get a good long run on the board. Saw a train coming along the rail line in Dwellingup when I finished. Magic run!

So a good starting point for my hopes of doing 6 inch again this year, and maybe even 6-foot in 2008 or 2009, we shall see....

Monday, November 05, 2007

5x300m Take I @ Noranda

Monday 5th November 2007 PM; Ran 5x300m reps @ Noranda Track, with 3min rests.
54.91-Heart rate 165/58.06 HR-180/61.65 HR-183/61.03 HR-186/63.68 HR-189
Total time for 1500m;4min.59.33.
1km pace~3.19.55 400m pace~1.19.82 100m pace~19.96.

Again long rest times to facilitate my poor recovery. I was reasonably happy with this session as I hit my main target of averaging under 1minute for each 300m rep.
My first rep was uner my next target which is under 55 seconds per 300m, which is what I'd like to work towards in the future. So all in all a good solid satisfying reps session. Another small positive step in the direction of working on my speed and cardio respiratory fitness.

I have the aim of really attacking my 5k,10k and Half marathon times hard in 2008, so I can have another go at trying to get my performance up to A-grade level, before I get too old, or my injuries other responsibilities make it too difficult (if that hasn't already happened). If I am able to do that then a serious charge towards a sub 3 hour marathon mid to late 2008 will be a real possibility. After almost two years of adjusting to getting engaged (December 2005), married life (since October 2006), and life with a baby (since July 2007), its time to have a serious go at going after some of my ultimate, more ambitious, more challenging goals again, if I can do so without having too much negative effects on my other far more important higher priority commitments. My numero uno priority is of course my relationship with the Creator Triune, closely followed by that with my wife Kathryn. Things like running, work, family friends, church are important but pale into insignificance by comparison with my numero uno and number two priorities. I'll have to learn the latin word for "two"...*LOL* :-)

Racing goals are;
SUB; 18min 5K, 38min 10K, 90min 21.1K & a SUB 3HR MARATHON, successful completion SIX FOOT 45km, a Half Ironman Triathlon, hike the entire Bibbulmun, mountainbike the MundaBiddi, Adventure racing, maybe a 24 hour race, climb higher mountains, entire Stirling Ridgetop hike (did half the Ridgetop walk for my Bucks weekend with Dave and Nathan in October 2006.),Hike the Appalachian Trail through Tennessee USA, and climb mountains in that area, and competing as a runner or racewalker in World cup, Commonwealth Games, Olympics, or some other international meet held overseas.
Its been my dream since I was a kid doing little aths at Kingsway, at Coker park for Riverton/Southern Districts (got my first of many state champs medals that year), or Dale(like many snotty nosed little athletes), to one day enjoy the thrill of "racing for Australia" or some other country.

I don't think I have the same passion for it that I had when I was younger, and my opportunities are fading for various reasons, but the fire to "have a go at it" still burns inside for me mentally, and I think there is still a small chance if I am good enough (many would say I'm not, but I am not convinced yet, Offspring lyrics from "Pretty Fly for a white guy"... comes to mind, especially the "everything he lacks, he makes up for in denial", which I remember yelling at my brother Tim, every time I tried to shoot a 3pointer over him (i'd miss about 80% of 'em and he'd make about 80% of 'em...) on our evening battles on the basketball pad at our house in Armadale almost 2 decades ago...good memories...), that I may have one last shot at it one day.....There Ive said it, crazy as it is...especially now. Good to say it in writing again even if nothing ever eventuates like that...
So a good start to the week, and a new session to add to my training arsenal.
Short sharp and sweet. On to the next one.

Was inspirational checking Kelly Exeter's splits in the New York Marathon from yesterday, and also watching dave and Nathan guts it out for many hours at the relay for life on Saturday night.
Kellys race week diary and raceday report HERE.

Hopefully these two reps sessions signal a return for me to some of the good things I have been neglecting in my life too much in recent weeks, maybe a significant paradigm shift in my lifestyle. I hope it sticks this time, Ive tried so many times to try and head in this direction in the last 12 months and before, not going to be too upset if it doesn't work, but it would be really nice to do better.
been playing one of my "new" CD's from NSOUL records in California today its
Rhythm Saints:Deep sustained booming sounds...Put me in the right mood mentally to go after this session.

I think if I really get the reps cranked up this summer, I might try and get down
the Track again for some "pre-season training". Just like I did in 02/03 and 03/04. Maybe some easy triathlons too. Plus I'd like to start going bush hiking again with Kathryn my wife and our young baby Jacob when they are ready. Kathryn has been taking Jacob for 20-30min walks in the McLaren! pram several times a a week for awhile now, which should be helping her fitness, which in turn should also result in a healthier Jacob, who in my mind is actually quite advanced developmentally I think, and is now sharing a lot of wonderful sounds,smiles,giggles, gesturing and an occasional dirty nappy or milky spew, which reminds one that life is never going to be a bed of roses in this fallen world... In the evening I try to go with Kathryn and Jacob for their walk, and we have a good chat and put a few K's of brisk walking on the board while Jacob enjoys the sights and sounds of the great outdoors! Hopefully a window to the future, hope for us all. There is my Paradigm Shift CD lyrics sneaking into my written expression....e.g. "hope for us all", "look to the future", "we are called to love"....

So its given me a few things to try and work on in the next few months other than just keep my long runs going for likely 07 6-inch run....

Friday, November 02, 2007

the wheels of a 3K ladder progress start to turn

Saturday 3rd November 2007;PM; Ran for 1 hour doing laps of 300m track at Rushton Park in Mandurah with Dave,Nathan, and other relay for life people.

Good to catch up with them. Hitting 5 minutes per km initially then slipped out to 6 min. per km. Not the best environment to be running in, don't think I'd be keen to run in that environment again, although it was nice to be running on soft grass surface for the entire 60 minutes. Some of the music there was pretty cool, but a lot of slow walkers to get past, you had to lap score yourself, and I left with a headache from the wax in my head thanks to the dum candles around the whole track. Some of the music (Tommy Emmanuel style) was pretty good though, and great to be running with that to spur you on. My heel again needed to be warmed up but wasn;t to bad. Good to get an hour of running under my belt. Would like to have gone on for longer, but between the wax in my head giving me a headache and Kathryn and Jacob wanting to start the long drive home, couldn't see any point in staying any longer. Still goo to get a little running done....

Friday 2nd November 2007;PM; Ran 3km Ladder @ Noranda

in 11min 54secs.81.
500m/1km/1km/500m the distances.

Average time per km is 3min 58.27.

Rep. 1. 500m-1min 45.75 Heart rate 171 at end.

Rep. 2. 1km-4min 07.12 HR-183.

Rep. 3. 1km-4min 10.22 HR-198.

Rep. 4. 500m-1min 51.72 HR-192.


Used 5 minute rests, which is maybe a bit long but my pathetic cardio-respiratory system needs the recovery time, especially as I have not done many of these high intensity sort of sessions this year.

Went to the track @ Noranda straight after I got home from work, before I could get distracted by anything else. I knew it would be tough and it was. Struggled to breathe just as I hit 300m in the first rep, probably cos I scorched along the first 100m in 15 secs, and managed to hold on a bit to split the first 300m in 58secs. In response to the need to breathe I slacked off a bit/lost the plot to go through 400m in 1.24 and then got back on track with a 21 second last 100m to cross in 1.45, which is around 3.31 per km pace, and 3 SECONDS QUICKER than what I did for my first rep of this same session back on June 12th earlier this year. From then on given the way I was feeling, and after a good start like that I knew I was a chance to beat my overall time for the 3km ladder I did on June 12th 2007.
See HERE for link to my blog post on that one.

My PB for this session dates back to my pre-blogging days when I used mostly off-line/manual/pen & paper training books (which I still do as well as my blogging...), and was done around Lake Monger which is a great place to do 500m and 1km reps. Although its a bit far from me these days.
That was a 10.26.54 (3.28 per km) on 16th January 2003. So I am about 90 seconds adrift of where I was almost 5 years ago. However I am confident I could still get back to that level if I did the right things and worked hard enough several times a week for a few months....although I am losing my ability to run really fast as my power starts to deterioate every year a little, the further I go into my 30's it shouldn't effect things too much for another 10 years or so. That is what I need to do if I want to threaten my 10km and 5km PB's, which in turn I need to do if I am ever to have a serious go at going sub 3 hours for the Marathon. I came to the realisation tonight that I may never get there, but if I don't I will concentrate on staying relatively fit and doing a few "FUN" races, just for the experience a bit like doing Melbourne Marathon was this year in the end. Then go bush, hiking, mountainbiking etc and cut down my racing commitments, similiar to what I have done in 2005/2006. But for now I still hold out hope that I can make a serious charge after my stated time goals i.e. the sub 3 hour marathon I really would like to get....

Anyway enough digression and idle philosophy back to this session...

Heart rate was only 171 after first rep, and as usual the legs were fine and it was my breathing that was the problem. My right heel which had been sore in warm-up, had warmed up and was fine now. In the warm-up it was pretty sore and I was wondering if I would be able to do reps at all. Anyway kept a close eye on some dogs that some people as usual kept letting off the lead...gee I hate that...
So then it was onto the less intense but more searching 1km rep. Again I started well with a 42 second 200m and held on ok to go through 400m in 1.31. Lost a few seconds in the next 200m (I was trying to hit 24 second 100m's which is 4min per km pace), to split 600m in 2.27, my 700m split of 2.55 kinda sucked but wasn't too bad, 800m split of 3.21 was slightly better, but still just trying to hold it together, then I fired up the "afterburners" a bit to rocket through the last 200m in 46 seconds to finish in 4.07, only 4 seconds adrift of the 4.03 I did in June.
Heart rate of 183 was about what I expected, maybe a touch on the low side.

This meant I had to make up 1 second in the second half of the session to beat my June effort. I knew it was unlikely I'd improve much on the last 500m, so if I was going to do it, it had to be on the next 1km rep...Started to get a hint of that "I am going to throw up" sort of sensation, so I knew I was working hard enough, plus the difficulties in recovering getting my breath back. Figured I'd have to do under 4.14 for this rep. to make up the necessary ground, and that to do it I'd have to start conservatively, keep things a bit more even early, but come home strongly.
My first 200m was 46 seconds so right on target, 400m in 1.40 was a bit slower than I hoped, finding it a bit tougher this time, and "cruising/floating" a bit...
I knew then that to beat my June effort I'd have to get a wriggle on just like my baby Jacob does sometimes...My 600m split of 2.32 was a bit better as I started to wind up for the last 400m. However I just couldnt find much and hit 800m in 3.26, which pretty much maintained the status quo, still 5 seconds adrift of my splits on the previous rep, just as I was at the 600m mark, so still close enough if good enough to get well under 4.14, but needed to make sure the last 200m was well under 50 seconds. Dug pretty deep for this one and worked hard to the line to come through strongly with a 44second last 200m and a 4min 10 1km time. Gasping for breath heart rate was very high at 198.

Took about an extra 30 seconds recovery after that one, got myself together mentally and physically, happy in the knowledge that all I had to do was hold it together on the last rep a much easier mentally (although faster intensity) 500m. Figured I'd have to do about a sub 1.55 to beat my June effort. That meant I needed to hit around 20 seconds per 100m again or at least 23 seconds for most of the way.
I had started the session at 8pm, so by now even with daylight saving and a well lit oval I was needing to use the light on my watch to get a good view of my splits.The track has recently been remarked and was in much! better condition than it was a month ago when I did a 10k reps session here.

Solid start in 19 seconds for first 100m, then went through 300m in 67 seconds, which with a 200m split of 48 seconds I knew I'd have to dig deep and make sure the last 200m was a little quicker if i was to beat my June time. Went through 400m in 91 seconds which once again maintained the status quo with a 24 second 100m split, but I knew my last 100m had to be quicker. Again dug deep, and pushed hard for the finishing line and managed to find a 20 second last 100m, to do 1min 51 for the 500m! Gasping for breath again, heart rate of 192 confirmed I had again put the "pedal to the metal" a bit. Warmed down, happy and confident I had shaved a few seconds off my June effort.

Now as I get out the calculator, it is clear I beat the June 12th 2007 effort for the same session by almost 4 seconds, so great to get a small improvement, and ensure I have consolidated/held onto the small amount of fitness for these high intensity type sessions that I have brought to my training table this year. I pretty much did no reps in the second half of 2006, and didn't really do anything under 4min 20 per km after March 2006, so 2007 has been a bit better for these higher intensity type sessions, just need to stringa few together and I will see some major improvement.

However I'd like to improve a heap more, so maybe, just maybe, in this summer I can start to break some new ground and get back towards the sort of stuff I was doing in 2003 when I was close to PB form for 5k and 10k....and did the Bridges 10km in 42min 40 that year (my fourth fastest 10km run ever) . We shall see. Either way its not the main priority just now, the main priority for the next 2 months is to get ready for 6-inch 45km, but this won't hurt. Heel injury is becoming a concern, but otherwise no other major problems today really.

I feel very positive after that session, but a long way to go, if we are to get anywhere significant...Its another start...