22min 35 is seasons best 5km for 2008

Another Update;

Sunday 30th November;
Cricket/footy with family at Kings park for about an hour.
Ankle was not too bad.

Saturday 29th November; Tennis at South Perth with family. Ankle a bit sore, but not too bad mostly, some moments of significant pain though, worst one was when I got up too quickly from doing the "I formation" while playing doubles...
2hours of relaxed cross training Saturday night playing tennis with Tim, and his wife Jennifer, Seth,Dad, my wife Kathryn,Sharon and others ...cruisy fun and good...

Update; I slept in and therefore didn't goto 6 inch recon #2 run. Very understandable given what I have done at work this week. Its been a very heavy week. Maybe God didn't want me to go this time.
Also did another short ankle-testing run last night for about 5minutes to catch up with my wife Kathryn as we went on one of our evening walks with Jacob. Ankle was sore on lateral side while running on bitumen, but wasn't on grass, (or on track the other night when I icepacked it prior, or on the trails of 6-inch recon run #1 for more than an hour.) My thoughts are then that maybe if I avoid any road running, and be very careful about uneven ground, I may be able to return to full training and racing, but have to do only track racing until I can raise the money to get it medically assessed properly. The 5km suggests I am good to go fitness wise. Very pleasing result that one. Should I risk 6-inch....????? Maybe...but I think I need 2 good long runs on trails first...Perhaps a 27k and/or 33k would be enough...Have two more opportunities to test ankle at Hills Group on December 6th and 13th...otherwise I am not a starter in 6-inch this year. But fitness side is looking good. I'm thinking maybe I could do the 6-inch and do it well, hopefully I am being realistic there.

Thursday 27th November 2008 AD;
Ran 5,000m at Coker Park in 22min 35secs (HR 195 at end).
2.5k splits 10.59/11.36. Average speed 4min 31 per Km.
Masters Athletics 5,000m at Coker park. (At 34 I was the youngest person in the race!)

Was tossing up all day whether or not to risk the ankle with this 5,000m track run today, but figured I'd probably regret it more if I didn't go than if I tried and failed to finish. Plus going to the Masters was a chance to catch up with my coach from my racewalking days because he is still racewalking there even past his 80th Birthday, and also to show Tim and my Dad the Masters athletics setup, have some good family time. So as I walked out the door at 0530 I had stashed my runnig gear in the car on the way to my l;ast day of callcentre training from 0730, plus some meter reading. Ankle was getting a little sore at meter reading so I knocked off a little early, got changed grabbed some frozen corn from the shops and headed for Coker Park. Put the frozen corn on my ankle which numbed it enough so I could run pain-free.
Had a wonderful night, and did pretty much everything I had hoped to do, plus Tim, my Dad, Jennifer and Grier all came which was awesome!! Very Inspiring to have them there, and of course to see Stan there belting out another walk in his eight decade still going strong! Very special night for me.


Went out strongly as per usual with splits including;
200m 40 secs, 400m 1min 28 800m 3min 03 2k 8 min 30secs.

Then backed off a bit, settled, hung in there, and finished very strongly trying to reel in someone which I did. Had a good battle with Liz Neville towards the end, and eventually had the better of her today in the last 400m, (maybe she was injured or something) which I felt pretty good about beating her as she is probably a better runner than me in recent years (for example her incredible marathon and 40 miler efforts this year.)

Extremely happy with a great run, as it is a seasons best over 5km this year, and only 48 seconds adrift of my November 2004 5,000m track PB of 21.47.

Dilemma now is should I risk trying to go after 6-inch or maybe just stick to track racing, join the Masters since that is a lot safer for my ankle.......or what..very happy with that though..


Wednesday 26th November 2008 AD;
Ran 2km in 9min 37 = 4.48 per k, (HR 159) on hull park course with tracksuit pants on.
posterior part of ankle was a little sore but I think the bandage positioning my Dad did this weekend was a bit better, so maybe that helped this week, felt better than last week, but it still doesnt feel right.

Have 2 more days of meter reading to go for this year, so maybe can finally stop strapping ankle every day like I have since October 12th, and I am getting way sick of! Is it good enough to run on this weekend? I don't know. At best I think its risky, at worst its downright foolish, so I am in one big mental dilemma whether to attempt the 6 inch recon this weekend, heart wants to but brain is telling me I;d probably be a fool to...so what do I do, play it safe or take a risk just wish I had some good medical advice but can't afford to get any...Plus way too busy anyway...

Im thinking about maybe a 5k race on Thursday night, and perhaps the 2nd Six Inch recon run this saturday morning, or maybe I should just can any thoughts of running for the next month or two until I get this ankle right once and for all. Its so frustrating!!!!!!! Tim goes back to USA in 9 days so got to make the most of any opportunities to catch up there, plus try and maximise work opportunities, and hopefully have some much needed rnr during december before meter reading starts again in January. Hopman cup tennis in January too...

In no mans land but hope in sight

Currently I am in training "no mans land"...

Due to a frustratingly persistent ankle injury, combined with very low finances, and the resulting lack of proper treatment/ lack of funds and time to organise suitable cross-training regime, I have done very little this week.
Despite that I have hit some good resting heart rates with a 44! (same as what I had on the morning of Melbourne Marathon when I was arguably at peak fitness for this year, and also for many years), and a 45 this week, so I feel like if the ankle saga finally gives up the ghost, I will be ready to go hard.

I think my meter reading work combined with the few half-hearted sessions I have been able to put on the board since the ankle injury, (John Gilmour 10k track, and 23km on the 6inch trail, plus 1km rep at Perry Lakes) I have been able to hold on. The meter reading work is a double edged sword in that it is helping me maintain aerobic fitness, but is also delaying my ankle injury recovery.

However this coming week (starting on "Mo"-vember 24th is my last week of metering this year until the new cycle starts in January (yes I finally have holidays now in December and June...its been a long 2-3 years!) since I changed metering jobs to a far better company at the beginning of August)my ankle will finally get the rest it needs, and so there is a big challenge in December to (a) raise enough finances for our family, and (b) would like to try and make progress towards a home loan one day, i.e. need ***permanent*** part-time or fulltime work.

My brother Tim and his American wife and son are flying in tonight for two weeks so major priority will be to spend some time with them in the next 2 weeks!

Getting the ankle right, doing some trackwork and doing a few long runs, if I am holding onto my slim hopes of a 6-inch 45km (trails race) start this year on December 21st are the big training priorities for December. Hopefully the break from metering and the finances picking up will be the twin keys to sorting out my ankle.

As I said the other night while out on a long walk with my wife Kathryn (she has been doing a few of those in the last week or so and talking about doing some running again)...its frustrating with all these cool long runs that people on the WAMC messageboard (or with the Saturday HILLS GROUP!) are going on, and me wanting to go, but knowing Its probably far wiser I don't...Its a tricky decision to know whether to risk it or not each day...

This week I tried a test run on Wednesday 19th November;
2km-11.00 (HR 141) Ankle pretty dodgy.
Tried again the next morning but gave it away after about 1-2minutes, as ankle feeling very proppy...
Saturday 22nd November; 30min on exercise bike.

Saw an interesting interview on Cool Running with Raf Baugh world class Dualathlete, and one of the guys I used to run with at school a few times at Willetton SHS back in the early 1990's.
Interview is HERE...

Trying to spend less time on my new Facebook obsession, (e.g. my Six Inch Trails Run group)and looking forward to seeing my brother Tim and Jennifer plus son Grier who are flying in from USA tonight!...

fun on the 6 Inch recon run one

Saturday 8th November AD;
Ran, walked for 3 hours 40min 56 secs. HR 121 at end.
Distance was about 23km for me, which included me walking (with a few short jogs) the last 6-7km on Scarp Rd. Pretty hilly and difficult terrain of course as it is our attempt to simulate 6 foot in WA. I w as taking a huge risk with my ankle which was fine for about 11-17k then I paid for it bigtime after that...

Photos thanks to Bernadette are HERE
Here is two of the best ones;





The usual rush to get ready, followed by the 80minutes drive (each way) to get there. Slight detour to find my way to North Spur RD direct from South West Hwy, but only a few minutes late. Set off running with Dave,Nathan,Craig,Bernadette,Rob D. and Roy.
Had a few good chats and felt fairly good early, no ankle issues. Was on the alert to avoid tripping on boulders etc and took it easy on the uphills and especially the long steep downhill which I walked all of as planned, so as to look after ankle. Kept strapping and bandage on to protect ankle. Enjoyed the beautiful scenery, the awesome feeling of running on trails in the bush, saw lots of kangaroos and an emu.

Running ok, although I could feel the loss of fitness in recent weeks every time we hit an uphill, just not much strength in the legs to draw on. To be expected. My initial plan had been to run 22km, as with my lack of long runs in the last 2 months I figured that would be a good starting point especially with the added difficulty of tough terrain and hills... However in the last few days the group decided they would do 30km, which in hindsight I maybe should have pulled out or turned back earlier. However I figured I would try and make it to Marrinup and then struggle back as best as I could. About 65minutes in running with Bernadette after the big hill, I felt a sharp pain in my ankle, as I encountered some uneven ground unexpectedly, guess I wasn't alert enough, too busy chatting. It wasn't too bad and I seemed to run it out. (deja vu Melbourne?) After that we started another long but fairly shallow climb. This took a lot out of me and while chatting with Craig, I realised my legs were running out of energy. Poor planning on my part (partly the rush at the beginning) mean't I had forgotten to bring my carboshotz, and only had one Gatorade, and no water in hydration pack (lighter to run with I figured)...DUH. Just when I needed a boost I had very little to draw on. Really struggled after that, and just couldnt find the strength in the legs as Rob and Roy went past...

My pace dropped right off as I went down the section near the powerlines, and was grateful for the group for waiting for me at Marrinup. Up until now the group had been really good at waiting for other runners, which I know wasn't much fun for Dave,Nathan and Craig especially, but its the right thing to do to keep the group together. Along the way we identified a few areas which need an arrow to reduce chance of navigation errors during the race. Was really enjoying being out there, so good to be running trails again. I got to Marrinup (14km according to Robs GPS, pretty similiar on Craigs) in about 95minutes including stops along the way for Rob and Roy and me and Bernadette to a lesser extent to catch up a few times.

On the way back I tried to keep Dave and Bernadette in sight, and managed to do so for a couple of km, before the legs just totally ran out of energy and I just couldn't get them to go. Rob and Roy got past me with my watch saying about 113minutes, and still a long way to go til that big hill at that stage. About the 2 hour mark I started walk/run mode a lot! with a lot of walking, and then trying to run again. Ankle started to ache a bit, not severe pain but it was making it hasrd to run when I could summon up the energy to try and jog. Took so long to get through this section and by the time I got to Scarp Rd my ankloe pain was persistent, running seemed very hard due to (a) no energy and (b) slight ankle pain. My watch said about 2 hrs 55minutes and I knew that it was going to be a long slog to get back to my car. Expected that by the time I got there the others would have gone home. Figured the best thing to do was short cut it on Scarp Rd all the way back and hope noone came out looking for me on the MundaBiddi. So off I set on Scarp Rd. mostly walking now but trying to put in some 1-5minute runs every now and then, which were getting harder and harder to do, mostly cos my ankle was getting sorer. Saw emu about this time, and heard a trailbike. After ages I passed a small pine plantation and then yay the Oakley Dam turnoff. Followed by conveyer belt, awesome sights and sounds! Imagine my surprise when I get in view of my car and see Craig and Bernadette there and two cars other than mine, and even stranger Daves car gone, plus no sign of Dave, Nathan Rob or Roy. I had expected to see everyone or noone at all...

At this stage I thought Dave must have gone out looking for me and/or Rob and Roy. For awhile as I chatted and Craig went off looking for Rob and Roy I thought that was what was happening then Craig comes back and I find out that AGAIN Dave and Nathan have shot through with what feels like to me LITTLE regard for the rest of us,
which Dave later apologized about as nathan had some gathering to get too.

So Craig,Bernadette(who is locked out of their car) and I are left to pick up the pieces, and organise the potential "search and rescue" of Rob and Roy. I have a school reunion to goto, which I end up being late for, but I know I ain't going anywhere until everyone is accounted for.

[I felt very emotional for the next few days, due to (a) my ankle, (b) the "situation" that threatened to develop, and (c) my feeling (rightly or wrongly,fair or unfair) that nathan and Dave dont take seriously enough the need to care for others on a group run, and they need to prepare better, minimise risks more especially with group runs. Maybe once again I have gone over the top emotionally but its frustrating when there are things that can be done, and should be done, to prepare for risks and they get ignored and laughed at because of peoples need to have a "gung ho" attitude, prove how tough they are or something.]

So we hope that they will find there way back via their GPS, and Craig and Bernedette head out to look for them again, while I stay with the cars. However we are blessed in that Rob and Roy turn up, after losing their way at the bottom of the big hill apparently. Thank God for that!

Anyway later tonight my ankle is very sore, and after that strugglefest of walking and ankle soreness, and the lack of emergency support in place, I have to reassess any plans of running 6 inch this year. Might have to reverse my plans of going on like Shane Crawford did at Hawthorn.
So am I running 6 inch in 2009? The answer is maybe? but more likely maybe NOT.
I need to get the ankle right AND do a stack of long runs in just 5-6 weeks. Its not too late yet but its a huge ask, one that I think may be beyond me this year, but won't rule it out just yet. I see no point in developing a recurring ankle injury by repeated running on difficult parts of the Munda Biddi. have to try and get it right, and the way the ankle is now I would not finish 45km on those trails...

So probably get a lot of leg strength out that run, I had a lot of fun enjoyed a lot of the day, and it was great to be there, apart from the debacle on the way back Where to from here. Not sure just have to take it day by day, week by week.

Thursday 6th November 2008 AD;
Ran a 1km time trial in 3min 58.38 on Perry Lakes Track HR 171.

Was working in the area so decided to duck over to the track after work and have a run on this track before they rip it up. A lot of past memories coming to mind. Strong southerly winds to work into on the fromt straight.
First 200m was 41secs, then 48,50,51,and 48 to finish.
Nice solid 1km, nothing incredible, but nice to dip under the 4minutes. Just testing out where I am at. Had a bit of ankle soreness at one point which probably slowed me up a bit, figured that it was minor.