Goodbye 2007 Hello 2008!

Sunday 30th December 2007 PM!; Did a quick 10minutes on the exercise bike experimenting with different levels of resistance along the way. Enough to raise a sweat (just), and to bump the heart rate up to 123 beats per minute afterwards.

*******WARNING Very long winded,verbose, philosophising/thinking things through post below*******

Well its time to start getting serious about what my target races are for early 2008. The first one I hope to attack in 2008 is the 5k at Burswood on Sunday 6th January.

2007 weekly average stats;
*44 Sleep; 43.2hrs Time training; 123.5min** Sessions;1.4 RHR;49.80

**If I add my meter reading work time training would be an average of 1802min per week, which is about 30 hours a week of exercise...This is as much if not more than some Ironman athletes, and has to have some contribution towards the superior endurance base I have had this year, but its also wearing me out a lot, although its generally a much lower intensity than most of my running I think it has to be significant. If I did this for the 2006 stats also I would average 673min per week for that year. So my thinking is that I need to do more high quality training in 2008, and less meter reading work, but I think what I have done in the last year and a half or so has given me a very good base in many respects to build from.

Comparisons to previous years;
Well my sleep is well down! 43 hours per week is just a tick over 6 hours a night, which is significantly less than any year in my life so far I think, and my stats going back as far as 2001 confirm this with 2001-2006 being in the 45-49 hours per week range. The "JDP factor" (newborn baby) especially, my meter reading work, family responsibilities,internet interests, are the main causes of this I think.

Resting heart rate of 49.8 is not as good as 2006 or 2005 (48 & 46 respectively), or 2002/2003 (both 47.92) but is marginally better than the 50.19 in 2004, and similiar to the 49.61 in 2001.

Time training and number of sessions is well done to around 2001/2002 levels which was a time when I concentrated on my shift work job in the public service and lost interest in training. But this time I have compensated for that with my meter reading work, and making sure that I nailed some high quality sessions on the few occasions when the opportunity arose. There is no way I could run 4.10 for the Melbourne Marathon like I did in 2007 on what I did in 2001/2002...

So overall without considering my racing performances too much, I'd have to say that the stats suggest that training and general healthwise (on the indicators I am using which are by no means all-encompassing or exhaustive), in 2007 I hung in there and didn't lose too much ground, but did it on a lot less sleep, and the most physically demanding work year of my life by a long way.

Its hard to evaluate 2007 in full, and difficult to compare to past years due to;
(a)my new work setup for all of 2007, meaning less training required to maintain my endurance, and of course
(b) the "JDP Factor", the new baby in our family.

However just thinking about my racing this year, I can say straightaway that its been a mediocre year timeswise, although it has been a memorable and interesting, enjoyable! year for me in all things running. Most of all I should thank God without whom nothing good is possible. Secondly I should thank my wife Kathryn many times over, as many of the good things I am blessed with are greatly due to our marraige and the wonderful woman she is. Young Jacob (our new son who is 5 months young now) has also been an inspiration in many ways.

I very much appreciated the free New Balance shoes from Craig (fellow runner and blogger who is going places! in the world of running, and more recently on Mt Everest!), which allowed me to go straight into the City to Surf Half Marathon, and get some important long runs done, which in turn gave me the opportunity to have a successful Melbourne Marathon, which was arguably my best race for the year, and certainly my most special and memorable! I am now getting to the stage that I am going through 1 or 2 pairs of training/racing shoes per year. Probably my biggest obvious and most essential ongoing expense as a runner, although there are plenty of others.

I am also very appreciative of the comments from other bloggers, they are wonderful little thought provokers, and a source of motivation too, I learn a lot from reading these little perspectives from others. Plus what they do in their running,sporting, and general everyday life journeys is a major source of inspiration and I guess to some degree interaction for me. The three messageboards I am a regular on, in WAMC,RWCWA and Cool Running are also a real blessing to me!

I should thank my Dad for helping me out with the Perth Marathon, and Old Miler for assisting me with a drink at the Melbourne Marathon. Daves regular phonecalls to keep me in the loop of his and Nathans running adventures, and his encouragement and wisdom are also something I always look forward to, although its better when I have been racing or training well. I feel a bit guilty otherwise. My brother Tim in USA also has had some useful advice and info to share when we occasionally get to chat, plus some nice christmas presents too, like the very nice Nike shirt this yeathe Puma watch, the Nike gym bag and so on in other years. On the subject of Christmas pressies etc, have had some nice Reebok and Adidas gear from Kathryns mum in the last year or so too.

I managed a small PB in the Freeway Bikehike in March,(thanks mostly to a better bike, "the Red Baron" from Edwin, and a couple of sessions beforehand) and despite some good marathon training (especially long runs before the Perth Marathon) was unable to get it right on the day and go well under 4 hours in the Marathon for either the Perth in July (JDP's birth was looming, and my shoes and blisters issues destroyed any chances), or the Melbourne in October (logistically wasn't well prepared enough on the day had to rush too much on the day before,too many pressures at home to get an ideal preparation done), although my 4hours 10 minutes in Melbourne was my 3rd best marathon time of 6 done so far, and was only 15 minutes outside my PB, so it was a case of "close but no cigar" on this occasion, although it was certainly a highlight of the year, and one of the most special memorable races I have done in my life so far, I think ranking in the top 5-10 most enjoyable experiences ever for me since my first state championships medal in the little athletics U/13 1500m walk in 1987.

Other running related memorable moments include the Sarah Jamieson Breakfast at The Saint, and following Kelly Exeters progress towards the New York Marathon. I also enjoyed helping out the WA Marathon club as a marshal in two events as I am required to to maintain my membership. Perhaps I should do that Traffic Controllers course in 2008, that they are encouraging members to do. Some regrets for 2007 was include not running with steve P. much, and not joining Dave and Nathan on their running expeditions often enough.

Running the City to Surf inaugural Half Marathon was a fun race too, and the Perth Marathon and Perth Half-Marathons were also enjoyable days, as was my first run in the John Gilmour 10k track. This year I also did my first Challenge fun run 10km, and kept my streak in the Bridges (its up to 11 years in a row now since 1997) alive, as is my Perth marathon streak now at 4 in a row, and the Freo Half Marathon is now 5 years in a row.
Didn't get any triathlons done unfortunately, but I did run the first half (20 miles or 32km) of the 40 miler course this year, which was a positive. Also did my longest ever training run this year which was a 42km Darlington to Mt Helena and back to Darlington with the Hills training group in under 5 hours. Slept in a few times, and as a result was often late to the Hills group or didn't show up for races for example 6-Inch, (pretty terrible prep anyway) and Lake Monger 10k probably the two I was most disappointed about.

So a much better year than 2006 racingwise (and memorable/special momentswise), but no breakthrough PB's and still didn't really get where I wanted to, but well positioned for a big 2008! So right now I am thinking I want to extend my Perth Marathon streak to 5 years in a row in 2008 (will leave Gold Coast marathon for another year), and hope to do Melbourne or Sydney as well. So probably my big three main goal races at the moment would be;
Perth Marathon, Melbourne/Sydney/Alice Springs or Rottnest Marathon (choose 1 of these 4), and finally the 6 Inch 45km in December, God willing.

I don't want to lose sight of what life is about (which is primarily not just running, its about living for God, for that is what lasts for eternity), but at the same time, one of the best ways I can live for God is to use my running interests for His glory abd purposes, not by stopping running and retreating into some sort of church ghetto. Although the time may come when running is not a major part of my life, that time has not yet come I don't think...and it may not come, especially if my body continues to function well enough to do it. That said I do envisage spending more time hiking,cycling, surfing, camping and spending time with the family more in the future, so maybe thats when my running will become a much lower priority. Have to wait and see, mentally I am a lot more relaxed about it now than I was in the past, partly due to the many things God has blessed me with in my running journey so far.

Other races will be building blocks towards these big three, with Busselton Half Ironman,6 Foot, and Canberra Marathon the most likely other possibilities, but more likely in 2009. This is due to variables like available finances (currently very! limited), logistics (depe nds how good I get at training with young Jacob in the house now, obviously a higher priority is my little (5 months old) baby son and my wife Kathryn, they come a strong second on the priority list behind numero uno priority which is relationship with the Creator Triune God), and organising myself, work commitments and our family around races like these is not easy, and also how well prepared I am with a my weekend warrior + meter reading work in the week training and racing setup.

Have some unfinished business with 6 Inch, in that I want to go sub 6 hours! Then there is the Busselton Half ironman in May I would love to have a go at, although some major steps forward in many ways would have to take place for it to happen in 2008.
I'd also like to try and run the entire 40 miler (64km), and maybe the Bunbury 6 hour race if the opportunity presents itself. Obviously some major PB's would be nice; currently 5k;21.04, 10k 41.01, Half Marathon 1.41 and Marathon 3.55...

Adventure racing (e.g. Anaconda), along with Triathlons, 6 Foot and the Gold Coast Marathon are more likely in 2009. This is of course assuming my knees and back continue to be ok...and no major new injuries develop. Some big challenges for our family in 2008 in many ways and that will affect my running assault adversely in some cases...

So there we have it a snapshot of my thinking going into 2008, but still some stats dand more specific goal setting to do in the fulness of time...

Cruisy 22km in Darlington done in 2hrs 23

Saturday 29th December; Ran 22km in 2hr 23min 41 HR-129

(6min 31 per km) Splits; 71min 34/72min 07.

Was keen to back up from last nights 3K ladder and run with the hills group today, but after falling asleep on the couch at 0100, I didn't wake up until 0545, but headed for Darlington anyway, and didn't get there until about 0645, by which time all the Hills group runners had already gone. Probably a good thing cos easing into an easy 22km at my own pace was just the thing for me this morning.
Saw Terry, Phil B., and others out there...

Leg weary early on but started to find some momentum, and when I got to Mundaring in 61min I knew it was going to be a good solid long run. Pretty much hassle free today, was a bit windy early on, and I tried out a Hi5 gel today (I think they use em at 6 Foot), didn't drink my powerade until after just drank copiously of H2O from my hydration pack most of the way. Then it was on to the bakery to eat a killer python, and chat with some of the runners from the group.

Really enjoyed the run on the way back, had to do a short pitstop (only number 1's), which cost me a minute or so and probably cost me a negative split. Legs getting heavy and weary again in the last couple of km...From about 9am it was starting to feel a bit warmish even on the shaded paths.
Beautiful views as usual where else would one want to be! I love running these trails! Had the Nitro Praise version of "I will call upon the Lord" playin in my head on the way back...

Only a few minutes slower than what I did for this course on 30th June 2007 see http://runmara2005blog.blogspot.com/2007/06/refreshing-22km-trails-run-in-hills.html

A successful morning running, and hopefully next time I can step up to 27Km or do Phils Hill 22k with the Hills group, depends what run they choose, and if I can maybe just for once get there on time. ... A good finish to the year.

11.56 3k Ladder to kickstart things again.

Friday 28/12/07, 2030hrs @ Noranda grass Track; Ran 3km ladder in 11min 56.33. Heart rates of 174, 192, 192,and 192. Times for 500m/1km/1km/500m were 1.43/4.02/4.16/1.53.
Average speed of 3.58.78 per km.

A little slower than my last effort on this session on 2nd November 07 (11.54), but slightly faster than the 11.58 I did in June this year. Not in the same ballpark as the 10.26 I did for this session on Lake Monger in January 2003. But hey if I ever manage to put several weeks of consistent reps together (i.e at least 3-4 times weekly), and improve lifestyle at the same time a little, then hey there is no reason why we couldn't get back to that and start threatening the PB's.

Kinda struggled into gusty South easterly headwinds. Tried to "float" with the tailwinds in the back straight, and push hard (concentrating on leg speed especially) into the wind in the front straight, but battling the headwinds was sapping me too much by the second 1k rep, as a result I had pretty high heart rates (192) for the last three reps, and really had to work hard to hold 'em together timewise. A bit frustrating especially as the times for my first 500 (1.43) and first 1k (4.02) were a bit faster than the last time I did this session, and for awhile I thought I had some sort of chance of beating last months effort. Being late at night probably made it a little more tricky as it gets a bit hard to see lane markings etc at times, and I have to use the light on my watch as the floodlights are not quite as good as daytime, although they are pretty good at Noranda.

Tood advantage of an easy day at work today, and felt ready mentally and physically to get out there tonight. Also my wife had Jacob looking like he was going to sleep, and having got home from work earlier than usual, it was a good opportunity, so cranked up my Prodigal Sons CD: Re-Ignite and headed for the track, finally!
A few weeks ago I saw an old exercise bike on the verge that someone was throwing out, and it still worked ok (apart from the speedo being dead), so I took it home, and tonight I did an extra 3 minutes cycling warm down on that, which will help my recovery from this session. Still did the usual jog and stretching afterwards as well. So maybe a great way to kickstart my plans for hopefully a much better 2008 running campaign, after the mediocore effort in 2007, and the pathetic effort in 2006, although admittedly getting married and having a kid do make it hard to do lots of training while you adjust to these things...so reasonably happy with this track session as a restart.

250 Ab Crunches AND some light cycling

Wednesday 26th December Did about 50? laps of a 8m? long pool (=400m?)using butterfly,freestyle,some underwater breastroke...had the annual competition with Jimmy to see how many laps we could swim underwater without coming up for a breath, and this year I improved one lap to 4 laps (which I think is approx 32m of underwater swimming?), although I was making full use of pushing off the wall, but on the flip side, every time you change direction you lose momentum too...
Was at Uncle-in-law and Aunt-in-laws place for Family Christmas gathering number 4...great to be in the pool as the mercury hit 44.5 degrees celsius today in our area...still feel tied to house,work,wife and kid, but suspect I will get some good training sessions on the board soon as the opportunity arises...Mentally I am feeling more motivated, and have a rough feel of where I want to go in 2008, plus I set up my 2008 Blog Command page while watching the Boxing Day cricket test...Saw Hayden get another Boxing day test century,and Indias Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan take a bundle of wickets, to stop the Australians running away with the match on the first day, after things were looking grim early for India with Australia about 0-135, the day finished with Australia at 9/337....

Sunday 23rd December Cycled about 7.5km on my mamba MTB in 26min 53 secs to shops and back getting Christmas gifts for the first of the family gatherings this morning. Heart rate around the 114-144 range. Pushing into easterly winds up the Sacremento ave hill bumped it up to about 140's...Can't go very fast on this bike cos the big cog keeps skipping so I stick to the middle cog, but still managed to hit 33km/h which is not too slow. Felt good to finally get on the bike even if it was only for a very short time at low intensity. Hopefully more soon...anyhow have to get on with the "silly season", and try and celebrate the birth of the Christ so long ago, and make the most of the time with family...Plus try to get some training going in the midst of this and Jacob commitments...See how we go...

Saturday 22nd December Did 250 Ab crunches this morning here at Baby Central Christmas season edition. Pretty flat out with work,wife,kid,Christmas and money worries to keep me occupied. I am typing this one fingered (normally two fingered typist) while feeding the fantastic adorable very verbally expressive little one breastmilk straight from (via Mummy) the bottle with my other hand...Christmas tree is up. Presents are appearing there. The annual Hopman cup pilgrammage tix are booked. Christmas portrait photo today, I think its 4 family get-togethers to enjoy/navigate through in the next few days...Hope to get on the bike,run, or hit the beach soon, maybe tonight... Til then this is AND (Agent Novice Dad) signing off...

6 inch record numbers but no show for me

6-Inch "45km"** 16th December 2007;
1st Colin 3.46
2nd David 3.56
3rd Victor 4 hours 11 minutes
4th Craig 4 hours 33 minutes
5th Nathan 5 hours 36min
6th Mark 5 hours 36min
Equal 7th Tom and Rebecca 5 hours 53 minutes*
DNF's (Did Not Finish entire distance);
Rod 42km in 4 hours 01 min
Trent ran first 21km...

DNS (Did Not Start, but was entered as an intending runner)
Jonathon (I.E. me)

*Rebecca is the winning Woman and also now holds the ladies course record!

**Daves bonus K's rule applies...
Dave plans to email a race report to Kevin from Ultramag in the next day or so.
Photos are here
So 10 starters in 2007 3 more than the last 2 years. If I had been there it would have been 11... Excellent times there from the first 4 (Colin,Dave,Victor and Craig), If Rod had found the start line he probably would have challenged Craig for 4th spot....Daves record of 3.42 from last year just survives for another year. Apparently it didnt rain much and the conditions were perfect, at least that is what Dave says, but I dont know whether to trust that when he believes in things like bonus K's (in crowd joke)...Apparently Mark and nathan had some big troubles as did a few others with a Carpet Python blocking their way on the steep/rough section near Oakley Dam...Details in R4YL and Ultramag magazines soon which should encourage this race (now in its 3rd year) to get more well-known around Australia...

So good improvement on last year in numbers and quality of runners, but I still think we have not yet really had the breakthrough yet where numbers balloon out to 20-50 runners...Maybe in 2008, where I hopefully will be there that time....

So what happened to me, why did I pull a no show, why did operation sub 6 6Inch fail to even leave "the runway"...just chronic tiredness/fatigue really, and not using a good enough alarm on the day...

Well its been another tough week of 5 hours sleep or less per night this week for me. which combined with my physically demanding job has seen me falling asleep at work during the middle of the day a lot this week, and after an all day car trip to bunbury and back yesterday I knew it was going to be a struggle to wake up for 6-inch today, plus my lead into it has been rather discouraging with a lot of doubts in my mind as to how I would go, but I set my alarm for 3am last night anyway.

Unfortunately this morning I slept through the alarm, and woke after 7am, which of course was too late to go, which mean't I was a no show..Very disappointing but maybe its for the best, at least I got more than 7 hours sleep last night for the first time this week. Plus I have the wonderful blessing of being with Kathryn and our son Jacob, and we made it to church this morning instead.

So where to from here...to be honest I really dunno what I am going to do runningwise now, for sure I intend trying to do my 12th consecutive Bridges Fun Run in late March/early April, and I might try to get down to the track and/or do some triathlons in the next few months to keep me motivated...Maybe the Canberra marathon? in April...probably not...I think this pretty much confirms I will NOT be at 6-foot 2008 although I believe Dave plans to be there. Maybe 2009, as I need to have (a) a solid 6-inch run behind me before I attempt 6-foot, and (b) enough finances and logistical resources to take on the challenge, and to work out how this fits with Kathryn,Jacob and I, plus of course what God wants me to do with my life here and now...

On the horizon maybe my 6th consecutive Freo Half Marathon in June, perhaps my 5th consecutive Perth Marathon in July 2007 (although I think maybe it would be interesting to try the GC marathon for something different, but maybe not in 2008), maybe go back to the Melbourne Marathon again, would like to try the Sydney Marathon, perhaps the Alice Springs Marathon, so all variables considered, hoping of course my knees hold up...

So see where it all goes from here....

Operation sub 6 hour 6-inch numero III

***Update Wednesday 12/12/07;*** Still no training but did a tough route on Greenmount Hill today for work, which I am pretty sure gave the calves some "hill-training", plus some time on Everest street in Alexander Heights on that 10 hour day I did last week, so hoping my work as a meter reader will help my 6-inch time to dip under 6 hours...(along with the 26k recon run 6 weeks ago, and the JG 10k track + 22k 2 weeks back, (and of course Melbourne Marathon 10 weeks ago)will be enough running for me to last the majority of the 45k at a decent pace... Ominous weather forecast today of 23 degrees and thundery showers for this sunday, although won't be surprised if that changes in the next few days, has already changed this week...***update ends here***

Well its been a hard weekend with working overtime again on Saturday and then getting a tooth extraction saturday night, followed by the usual collection of painkillers,antibiotics, my body rejecting the antibiotics as usual,(diahorrea this time, after hives last time, so thats two sets of antibiotics I don't like now) followed by panadol and copious rinses with salt-water, brushing, waiting for blood clot on gum to form, young Jacob being a handful, struggling to start eating again on one side of the mouth, and getting through a tough day at work in warm 32 degree heat, and thunderstorms hovering, making for tropical weather, its like Singapore weather almost...Last night after I had a shower/half a shave sorted out my mouth(saltwater rinses), and my lovely wife Kathryn made some pasta with silver beet cuts (I love silver beet!, high in iron too which is good cos I am vegetarian.), plus been drinking lots of sustagen (I bought a tin of Sustagen Mocha recently to go with the Sustagen sport I have, although I think Sustagen vanilla is my favourite these days, the best ever was when they used to make the honey/nut Sustagen back in the 90's, although that was only in tetra-pak), but I digress after all that I was asleep by 11pm which is a bit on the early side for me, and as a result I woke up a tad early this morning at 0430 (good practice for the very early start for 6-inch this weekend), even beating young Jacobs early morning wake-up for feed...As for training at the moment I am in "Whats training? mode", i.e. haven't had a chance to do any...

plus the mental dilemma of Am I going to run 6-inch?...every couple of hours I change my mind as to whether I am going to run it this year, but I think my mental consensus is that I am going to run it, I still feel like I may have a sub 6 hour effort in me this year, and I'd like to knock off Operation sub 6 hour 6-inch so I can get that mental monkey off my back, and steam towards a possible 6-foot attempt in the next few years. Every time I hear that Shannon Noll song: Lift (some good memories attached there for Kathryn and I)or something else inspiring like Demon Hunter: Coffin Builder for example, I think yeah I want this, and just like Melbourne Marathon this year which was a bit of a mad scramble to get to the start line intact, its the same again for 6-inch 2007 for me. It would be easy to say hey tooth extraction, lack of money,car wearing out, wife and 5 month old baby to care for, plus work the next day, time to take a break from weekend warrior heroics after running two marathons this year already,and what Kathryn and Jacob are going to do on the day, cancelling a photo-shoot, postponing our dedication of Jacob at church cos they clashed with 6-inch...so plenty of reasons not to run it this year...and a few more I can think of too...

Buttttt, I know I want to take on 6-inch again this year, and I will be disappointed in myself if I don't show up, plus the lure of the beautiful scenery to run in the challenge of taking on the tough terrain again this year, the curiousity of seeing how much the bushfires have affected the course, the adventure of cranking it out up Goldmine Hill with a few other "hard nuts"/crazy obsessive compulsive marathoners like me, and just catching up with various people, the social aspect, plus the intrigue of seeing how others go, and who else has the guts to show up. Also if any other hardy souls make the trek to watch us runners in the beautiful bush forest, Ive heard a whisper that 1 or 2 RWCWA people might show up as cheerleaders, and give us all a cheer, now that would be worth a photo... Its the 6-inch experience! Its unique in Western Australian running and I want to be a part of it again in 2007, after promoting it all year long...See
WAMC messageboard 6-inch thread AND Jons 6-inch FAQ page, and 6 inch thread on Cool Running...

....so now that I have psyched myself up a bit, despite my "who knows where I am at physically" status,...and me oscillating mentally from 5% chance of running to 50/50, I am pretty sure I will I be there, I hope so, I will be very annoyed and disappointed if not, Its one of those thingsa runner has to do, you'd only understand if you are a runner, which most of the people who read this are, so I am preaching to the converted.....so to borrow a stevenP-ism; Bring it on...just bring it on 6-inch!

250 Crunches

Sunday December 2nd; Did 250 Abdominal (Abs) Crunches, after Kathryn,Jacob and I got back from morning church.

struggle through 22km Darlington long run

Saturday 1st December 2007; Ran 22km in 2hrs 58min 43 HR 129 at end
Splits; 1.14/1,44. Darlington to Great Eastern Hwy turnaround just past Mundaring and back. Railway Heritage trail with hills group runners ahead.

Got there late, just in time to see Hills group runners leaving. Managed to catch the injured runners walking including Gary, but was really struggling from the word go. Legs weary from last nights 10k on track, and just generally tired from not enough sleep, poor recovery change-over, general fatigue from another tough and frustrating at times week. Weary mentally and physically. Saw Terry running back (probably he went on the 17km hilly Llama loop run). Made heavy weather of it running uphill, and wanted to walk, but managed to go through Mundaring in 64 minutes only a few minutes adrift of what I normally do for there. Had one powerade which I drank a lot of about this time, and the conditions were very nice, with a little bit of drizzle, but not too much, so beautiful conditions in the beautiful hills!
Thought about turning at Mundaring but figured no I should try to get to Great Eastern Hwy. Tough going all the way, and the thought crossed my mind that maybe I should just go home. Fought this by reminding myself that 6-inch is only 2 weeks away, and it would be downhill on the way back. Made it to 11km mark atGreat Eastern Highway in 1.14, again not too bad, especially the way I was feeling. On the way back I ended up really struggling and walking a few times, plus stopping a few times to get gravel stones out of my shoes and socks. Found another reason to stop by reading all the signs about the railway history along the way. Learnt a bit more about the history of the place dating back to the 1800's when Mundaring Weir dam was built, and the Goldfields water supply started, and blokes looking for work in the goldfields used to camp at Mundaring. If only governments today had the same courage to build a Kimberley pipeline/canal etc...I reckon there would be plenty of people up north, forexample the Aboriginals in the communities up there the government keeps throwing money at, and cracking down on alcohol abuse and other problems, I am pretty sure a lot of them could do a good job of building a pipeline/canal to Perth, if given the opportunity to train on the job. Maybe I am just talking through my hat...who knows...God knows everything thats for sure.

Found a big sign about Mahogany Creek which mentioned a bloke called William Phillips who mined gravel from a quarry called Flat Rock near Mahogany Creek. Could be a distant relative of mine, and pretty sure that the Phillips Rd there is named after him. Mahogany Inn has a function room called the Prince of Wales.
Mahogany is so called cos they got timber from a Jarrah forest nearby which initially they thought was the English wood Mahogany because of its rich red colour and quality.

Counted off each 1.5km section and finally got to the finish after consuming my last mouthful of powerade and a Tri-Berry GU at MUndaring on the way back. I only had one 600ml Powerade, but the occasional drizzle and cool temperatures meant that heat was not a factor in the beautiful forest...Felt discouraged but kept myself motivated with Paradigm Shift song Burning Love in my head. Hoping Kathryn and Jacob were ok.

Overall a tough slow OD (Overdistance) style run, with legs very! weary, low intensity, low heart rates, and my heart not in it really today mentally.
Out there a few minutes shy of 3 hours so a good amount of time, makes this a solid overdistance session and coming on the back of last nights 10k its almost like running for 4 hours, so might be enough to keep me a chance of going sub 6 hours at 6 inch in 2 weeks time.

Not the most enjoyable run physically, but mentally a good one to have under the belt, and probably very worthwhile physiologically. The hard ones are often the ones where you make big gains, we shall see....