48.16 in John Gilmour 10k track as ankle passes first test

Ran 10,000m state championship race in 48minutes 16 seconds HR 189 at end.
Official results are HERE
5,000m splits 23.27/24.49.

1st 400m 1.25 !st 800m 3.01 First 1km 4.02.
First 2km 8.49
8,000m split 38min 25. so last 2km 9.51.
My Dad lap scored for me so I got all 25 of my 400m splits which were;
1.25,1.36,1.58,1.48,2.02 =8.49 2km
1.57,1.56,1.52,1.56,1.55 =9.36 2km split.
2.01,1.55,2.05,2.05,1.53 =9.59 2km split
2.02,2.14,1.53,1.53,1.59 =10.00 2km split.
2.02,2.10,1.58,1.59,1.42 =9.51 2km split.

Shaphan Cox (running in the legendary Canning Districts top) did the colours proud and won an epic battle with National 800m finalist Steven Stingemore, making a decisive move (or as John Gilmour the legend himself said; "thats a big move") at 8km to pull away, (which was a good thing cos Stingys rocket boosters would probably have won it for him if it came to a sprint finish) with a previous winner in Paul Mitchell 3rd.

The big three early on...Thanks to Kathy for photo

Winning time about mid 31minutes... Rochelle Thorpe ran well, as did Rebecca Defiddes. One of them got state records.

I had an exciting time running in the A race (sub 40minutes) the state championship race and a ringside seat to the battle between Stingemore and Shaphan Cox as they kept lapping me of course.

Was planning to run the B race (over 40 minutes), but accident on Roe HWY made me too late and I heard the gun fire for the B race as I arrived at Coker Park. So rather than not run I entered the A-race under no illusions knowing that I would struggle, but determined to use it to my advantage and try and see if the ankle could go the distance, and try to beat last years 48min 55 in this race, which I did so main "mission accomplished" for me tonight. Pretty happy!


Me sitting on the back of the bunch as best as I can in the first lap or so...I am far left almost out of picture. Thanks to Kathy for photo.


Felt a bit like Strauchanie (i.e. way out of my league at the moment) lining up for the A-race, but used my Nationals racewalking experience as a Junior (1989-1993) to help me use the way! faster than my current pace running to my advantage. My 10k PB is 41min and most of these people are 31-38min type runners,A-graders, I guess it was nice to get a closer look at where I would like to get to if I ever manage to get my training to the level I want to, probably have another 10 years to try and get there...


Me (with Rochelle in background) getting very psyched wondering how many times I'll get lapped...Thanks to Kathy for a great pic


The "honeymoon was over" a bit in the last 2km when it was getting dark (we started at 7.15pm (although daylight saving is on now)), and I was the only one there, but I got a lot of support, and being in the A-race psyched me up a lot at the start reminded me of being at Nationals again, similiar feeling at Melbourne Marathon, so the adrenaline was flowing! I ran wide a lot into lane 2 to let people like Shaphan and Stingy get past so I wasn't blocking everyone, so that probably cost me a few seconds.

Very happy to see Shaphan win, and congratulated him afterwards. Commiserations to Stingemore who was a very worthy challenger and really made Shaphan earn the win. Evan Kolbe did an excellent job on the mike, giving the race some atmosphere...

Mark Cutts from Radars frontrunner squad won the B race in 39min I think, and Robin King was the best woman I think in 42minutes.

What a special night!
Perfect way to erase some of the disappointment from Melbourne this year, and to get rid of any nagging doubts about my ability to get running again hopefully...

Ankle will probably be a bit sore tomorrow, cos it got a pretty savage workout, but wasn't too bad. A bit sore at about 1km , so I backed off a bit there, but mostly it didn't trouble me out there.

Also had chats or siad hello to many interesting people including at Loubee,Kathy,Radar,Joel,Bruce,Shaphan, and various others.
HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hopefully can build on this my first run for almost 2 weeks, slowly but surely in the coming weeks, God willing.

week 1 the ankle injury report

Update Sunday night;
definite improvement in the ankle the last few days...had the strapping redone to protect it for meter reading work again this week...If It goes ok on a test run Thursday, I may consider JG 10k track, but fairly slight chance at this stage maybe better to leave out any racing for a few more weeks...see how it goes...

UPDATE Tuesday night;
-well today the medial soreness seems to have disappeared, so maybe the icepack last night did the job once and for all.
-lateral soreness still there but greatly improved.
-moving much more freely and having much longer painfree moments at work...as a result was able to knock off a round today in under 5 hours and walk fast all the way...
So still some problems but major improvement today. praise God.

20th October Monday morning;
-more than a week after Melbourne Marathon 2008 (in which I splitted 10k (48.58--08 50.00--07) more than a minute faster than in 2007, and splitted 20km more than 5 minutes faster(1.46--2008, 1.51--2007) than in 2007 despite walking most of 11k-12k and only starting to run at decent pace from 18k-20k...) my ankle has settled a lot, the swelling has gone a lot, and I am walking around with mostly no pain, and almost normal walking movement back.
-my Dad strapped and bandaged it up firmly on Friday night, so that I can reduce how often I re-bruise it especially during meter reading work. Seems to be working well, and am only getting stabs of pain when I position it wrongly or stand on very uneven ground, walk for too long without a rest. So starting to make significant progress on the healing process I think.
-ideally I should stay in bed, and get around the house on crutches, but I have bills to pay, family to care for, and meter reading work to do, so can't take that route for at least a few weeks, by which time I hope it will have healed up anyway, just have to be patient for now.

Paid a visit to RWCWA trophy day yesterday, caught up with a few of the Racewalking people. It was good. My wife Kathryn and son Jacob also came and Jacob especially had a lot of fun there.

So for now I am concentrating on getting meter reading work done, trying to get ankle right and stabilise/re-invigorate ailing finance recovery in our household after the recession brought on via the "credit crisis" of Melbourne marathon (especially way more taxi fares than I anticipated, and Dunsborough mini-holiday as well, = not working = a week without pay, which I did anticipate)...

As our local "Phillips economy and flagging shares" start to pick up, kickstart, hope to start some swimming,cycling and hiking to get the brain ticking over, although the main focus is getting the ankle right now. Once the ankle comes good (assuming no bone damage, or other serious long term issues), I will be easing back into some light running, and lining up some races to attack hopefully, although thats starting to look like late October at earliest (John Gilmour 10k track the obvious candidate), or more likely December or January. My chances of running 6 inch 45km in December are not looking good, although won't rule it out totally yet, depends how well we recover and how soon I am able to get some long runs going again...

So hopefully some better blogging news to report next weekend...

23km DNF Disaster due to ankle ruins 'bourne 2008

Ran and walked 23km in about 2hrs 23min.
Splits;
5km 23.50
10km 48.58
20km 1.46
21.1km 1.56.15.

more splits;
1k-4.57 (severely twist ankle)
3k-13.40 (4.21's on average)
4k-18.48? (5.08)
5k 23.50 (5.08)

7k 33.40 (4.55's)
8k 38.48? (5.08)
9k 43.41 (4.53)
10k 48.58 (5.16)

severe ankle pain flare up
walking, 30sec toilet break
12k 63.45 (7.23's)

15k 79.40? (5.58's)
16k 1.25.19? (5.39)
18k 1.37.20 (5.59's)
19k 1.41.41? (4.21)
20k 1.46.52 (5.11)

ankle pain back again...
21.1k 1.56.15 (9min 23secs for 1.1km)
23.5km about 2.23 (about 10-12min per km walking slower and slower)

Rolled/sprained an ankle (assuming no broken bones or torn ligaments at this stage, but may have to get a scan to confirm that) very severely in the first few 100m crossing a median strip hot on the tail of the 3.15 pacers...

I stepped from bitumen up over high curb at pace in a crowd and left foot (my ddodgy leg with the bad knee and the one giving me thigh problems recently) planted onto loose gravelly type pebbles/sand and slid/skidded, and I felt severe pain as I rolled the ankle laterally (left) and medially (right), in my attempts to stay upright and keep running fast.

I have twisted an ankle many times before, and been able to run out the pain so that was my immediate thought, although my other immediate thought was that was "severe pain" I need to stop now!!! and walk this out, and at the same time I heard someone behind me yell "you ok Trailblazer?", I knew that if I stopped I would lose the 3.15 guys straightaway and my race plan of getting a fast clear run early and seeing if I could hold onto the 3.15 or 3.30 groups, would be out the window for the day in the space of about 1-2 minutes... Given what I have been through to get there and how important this race was to me this year (certainly after missing the PB at Perth by 8 seconds), I figured I would ignore the severe pain and try and run it out so I gritted my teeth didn't answer the yell from behind, and resolved to stay with the 3.15 pacers like Steve as per plan A...This worked ok for a few km and the pain gradually subsided, and I started to feel like maybe I had gotten away with it. However I soon decided the pace was not going to be sustainable, and let the 3.15 people go...
I saw two PCRG (pat carroll running group?) guys go past around this time...
Splitted 5km in 23.50 and was feeling good...Eventually the first of the 3.30 pacers in Luis came past, tried to stay with him and did for a bit but again it felt just a touch too fast. The thigh was not causing any problems and the ankle seemed to have settled. Looking good, when the other 3.30 pacer came up going at about 4.50 per km pace, which seemed about right so I latched onto the back of his group and figured thats where I want to try and stay for as long as possible, and hopefully run ahead of in the last 10km. That seemed to be working ok, enjoying the race, and we started to see the beach looming up ahead. I was feeling good, and starting to think yes this is my day and a 3.24-3.54 is possible...Struggled a little between 9km and 10km, digesting my first powerbar Gel, but still managed to split 10km in 48min 58, which although a little slower than I had hoped, was still well and truly in the PB target zone! at about 4min 54 per km pace... Then suddenly with little warning at all I had a stab of pain in the ankle again about 11km mark...it was so severe I immediately switched to a walk, and started to reassess things...walked for a few hundred meteres took a quick 30 second toilet break, and then decided that if I wanted the PB today I needed to get going now before the 4hr pacers caught me.

So started off jogging and then gradually increased the pace. My ankle was still a little sore, but seemed to have settled a bit. Soon I saw a pace flag catching me, and I thought oh here is that darn 4hr group and decided to try and run off them, but they soon caught me and I realised it was the 3.45 group. So I'm thinking ok stay with these guys and the 3.55 PB is still a chance, lost them at a drinks station, but tried to keep bloke in a superman suit in sight, figured I should be able to get ahead of him eventually...Then I saw Digger Bruce around about there with his 3.45 flag, and I knew this was it, if I lost contact with him, I could probably kiss the PB goodbye for today. Saw lots of cool runners throughout.

Saw two cool runners ahead and worked up to them ahead of the superman dude, and saw "Maryclaire" (edit; looks like she did 3.44) written on the back of one those two singlets. They were hitting a good pace and I figured that was one I probably should try and go with...
Did a 1km split of about 4.21, then backed off a bit as I figured this was a bit fast, and wanted to settle back to around 4.50-5.10 area...Splitted 20km in 1.46, and I figured around 3.49-3.54 was still there for the taking, if I could maintain this allo the way to the finish...a bit of a big ask but very possible I thought...
Then about 20.5km severe pain hit my ankle again, this time I was reduced to walking again, and I strolled through the halfway mark of 21.1km in 1hr 56min 15 after a 1k split of about 9-11minutes!!!, so should have hit the halfway mark in about 1.49-1.53, still on at least 3.38-3.46 pace and even allowing for a slower second half on track to give the 3.55 a serious shake...However due to the fact that I was in too much pain to run, I figured I had about 1-2km to get going again before it was all over for the day...about 10-11minutes later as i finally reached the 22km mark, I knew the PB chance was gone, and then I started having mad notions of walking to the finish, even if it took me 6 hours or whatever...however by about 22.5km every step even walking very slow, was painful, and I knew I needed to find medical assistance ASAP...a few cool runners gave me encouragement about this time which was very nice of them, but inside I was numb/crying big time, as I knew my PB dreams for this year were shattered. Saw "slowdave" and I think the legendary Shirley go past...(later saw her and a bloke running with her at the medical room)...

Finally about 23.5km and 10.25am I see a medical team, and stop there, and Megan and Caitlin the medical people there put cold bandages on the "duck egg" bruise on the lateral side of my left ankle, to try and reduce the swelling a bit, and bandage it tightly to provide some compression which also stops the swelling a bit. I think my shoe must have stopped it from swelling for a long time...I wait a few minutes for the sag wagon to pick me and a few other injured runners up and we get in the van as they battle heavy traffic, and try all sorts of detours to try and get back to the MCG...
One of the guys in our sag wagon is throwing up powerade at about 5 minute intervals and is clearly the most urgent case in our van. We see a lady unconscious on the side of St Kilda Rd being attended to by paramedics, and I see the guy in the superman suit running along St Kilda Rd and I feel a bit jealous that I am not out there too. Then start to wonder how my wife and 1 year old have gone in the 5.5km walk...

The dude in our van throwing up starts throwing up blood, and as soon as we finally get to the MCG he is straight onto the stretcher while the rest of us are left to try and find the medical room in the bowels of the MCG...I decide to go and hand over my chip, and get my clothes bag so hobble around until I get that, then hobble around heaps more until I eventually find the medical room. They are all on stretchers in there except for a fe wof us sitting on chairs...eventually I get sick of waiting to be seen, and I already have 3 messages on my phone from my wife asking where I am, so I aggressively hobble in and demand to know where the icepacks are, and get one of those off the medical staff, and finally start icing my ankle at about 1230pm...2 hours after I was picked up by sag wagon! I wait another 20 minutes or so, and a few staff ask me how I am, but they always get called away for people on stretchers, so I figure I cant leave my wife at our apartment stuck with 1 year old and luggage any longer as we have to check out...so I hobble out of there with my icepack and bag, had a nice chat with coolrunner RunningM, and then see a big Maori bloke called Nate (looks like he could play for the AllBlacks) with a Perth City to Surf shirt on, get talking to him a bit, and then he says do I want a lift to my apartment, so I gladly accept this Godsend, and head back to meet my tired wife and son, and we order a taxi to take us to out next hotel, where I hobble some more and spend the evening icing the ankle with frozen peas...All plans of visiting the Transport out of the question...

Before the race I had a quick chat with Hills group legend Jane who surprisingly turned up for Melbourne marathon, and she gives me the name of a good sports massage bloke in Perth, who might be the answer to my thigh problems..., also saw Tigerboy again out there, and located the 3.15 pace group.

Monday night back in Perth the ankle is starting to finally feel slightly better, hopefully its just severe bruising and will clear up in time for me to go back to work on Friday, if not I might have to get an X-ray or MRI, or another bone scan...

Feel a bit like Tourniquet lyrics;"I was already down, and you kicked me... but I'll get up, just watch me get up" (broken chromosomes I think was the song from Psycho Surgery album), but then again I have been here before, and if its just bruising I could be running again in a few days time...although the huge financial investment will seem like a bit of a waste, there is always positives if one looks for them;
1- at least both Kathryn, Jacob AND I all got to experience 'Bourne Marathon 2008...
2-I had a red-hot go (didn't "die wondering", "put it all out there on the line") and if it were not for the ankle, I may have nailed it in 2008, but it was not my day. Hope to get another go at it.
3-I did a leisurely lap of The TAN...
4-I learned to be careful crossing median strips at high speed in a crowd in the future.
5-I got to see the race from another perspective i.e. the medical van/room, and sag wagon perspective, and some of the incredible difficult work there that volunteers do.
6- I was able to view surreal memorable magical!!! mcg setting that I would have run into before the race, just as they were firing up the hot air balloon. That memory alone will stick in my mind forever, and whets my appetite to hopefully come back again for another go aother year, God willing.
7- some of the people I was able to catch up with/meet briefly, and in some cases meeet for the first time; eg tigerboy,RunningM,Jane E., Nate, the dozens of coolrunners I saw out there...
8- just the fact that I was able to get valuable racing experience/course familiarisation (on tope of last years 4.10) in the first 20km on this course, and execute my raceplan pretty much as planned for the first 20km, and get more than halfway there to what looked like a 3.41-4.01...
9-the melbourne marathon shirts Kathryn and I bought...
10-useful knowledge gained about a much better accomodation option, and getting around melbourne better...which could be very handy if I go back again.
11-a reminder that God rules (as well as cares), and I can't take anything for granted.
12-very special times, for Kathryn,Jacob and I together! on an excellent! mental change/break/holiday from the usual mundane boringness at home.

UPDATE; 14th October Tuesday night;
-more than 48 hours later, and ankle is still swelled up and still pretty sore on both Lateral AND Medial sides (more so on lateral side as youd expect).
-However in the last 24 hours the swelling has gone significantly and I am now walking almost normally instead of shuffle,shuffle put all weight on right leg. Its still very tender if I put it in the wrong position or bump it, but it has improved significantly today.
-My main priority right now is my ability to do my meter reading again by Thursday or Friday, everything else is a lower priority to that at the moment.

Now lets get serious about this

Saturday 11th October;
Ran the Tan (3.8km) in 23min 24. Pushed the last 1km through in 4min 45 after taking it nice and easy through the rest of it,...Great to run on this famous track...

Wednesday 8th October AM;
Ran 9km in 49min 15 HR 171

Did 3 laps of Hull Park course plus 3km loop on Reid Hwy track.

2km splits; 9.09/10.05(+2.30 break to get prickles out of sock)
and/9.37.
3km included a hill, and a sandhill section which I walked or went very slowly on.
Tried to be very gradual and relaxed, short stride, and not stress out the left thigh/gluteal area at all, but still run at the sort of pace I want to on Sunday.
Aim was to hit around 4.30-5.00min per km for the 2km laps, which I pretty much did;
4.34's, 5.02's and 4.48's.
While meter reading today I was thinking about what marathon pace each 1km speed is for example; 4min 15 secs per km is 2.59. 4.30 is 3.09, 4.45 is 3.20, 5min per k is 3.31 pace,5.15 is 3.41 5.30 is 3.52, 5.45 is 4.02, 6min per k is 4.13.
So my conclusion is I need to try to avoid going slower than 5.15-5.30 for most of the race, to get that PB. So I must not let that 3.45 pace bus go ahead of me, I think is the key.

Happy with a solid,successful session, although the prickles in sock was a pain...
Great run, which boosts my morale/confidence etc with a few days to go.
I think I have worked out how to manage this injury issue...whatever it may be...hopefully.......

Gentlemen start your engines!

Sunday 5th October 2008 AD;
Ran 15.5km in 91min 01secs. HR 132.
(5min 52 per km)

Splits; 6.75km; 36min.00/40min 12 (5min 20 & 5min57 per km)
last 2km 14min 49 (gluteal soreness and getting dark,cold, feeling unmotivated, so taking it very easy)...
Took it very easy with a very short stride, as keen to just help my prep for Melbourne after 2 weeks of NOT running without flaring up my still mysterious soreness/injury etc...Was fine until about 40min into it, when I started to get a slight twinge in the gluteal area, but not the thigh this time...which is good, maybe the rest from running, and/or shorter stride, natural healing of injury, or changing the way I stand and trsnfer weight, squat etc during meter reading this week, has made a difference to my biomechanical setup...

So a slow run, but should assist me to maintain my considerable endurance for next week. Hopefully some shorter runs maybe even speedwork in the final few days, but I will be proceeding with caution because I am still going to be aiming at beating that 3.55 PB on the day whether that is 3.25 or 3.45 its hard to say...I will have to see how I feel, and how things go on the day, think it over in the next few days.
I will be disappointed with anything slower than 3.54 though.

I think after Melbourne maybe I'll go see some Physios,Masseurs,Biomechanical,Dietician people if I am still having problems, as something still doesnt feel right. Could be something to do with my meter reading work is causing a problem, could even be my work shoes that need replacing, or maybe it will sort itself out with a few weeks rest...which I am due for anyway, cos assuming I get through Melbourne that will be 4 marathons, 46k in 40 miler, and stacks of training runs, half marathons, and over 2 years of meter reading, all with minor scoliosis and torn acl plus torn cartilage, so could be my time off from meter reading for all of December, plus all of my melbourne holiday week (the first major holiday from meter reading I have had for more than 2 years) and a break from running for a few weeks is what I need to get the body to recover and heal. Maybe a bit like footballers who get "general soreness"...Could be its time to consider giving running away for a short time, or a long time, or to get my knee operated on or whatever so some thinking to do in the next few months.

MELBOURNE 42k (12/10/08) ASSAULT;
WEEK 11 of 12 (29/09/08-05/10/08);

Volume; 91min + 18hrs MR work Sessions;1
Best RHR; 47!bpm Sleep; 42hrs (6.00hrs per night) *31

OD/LSD; 15.5KM 91min RUN OD style although LFDish almost for first 7k or so..., and very short by my long run standards.
Races/Time trials/LFD; Banned myself from running most of the week, too busy on weekend.
Reps; Banned myself from running most of the week, too busy on weekend.

5-point strategy measures;
1-long run/ride etc done?-Yes sorta 15.5km 91min slow OD style run.
2-2x reps/race/timetrial sessions done?-NO
3-Abs done- NO
4-cycling done-NO
5-swim done?-NO
Comments; My feeling is that I am still on track for about a 3.44 (5.20 per Km), with the original 3.24 target an outside chance perhaps, assuming all goes relatively well on race day, no more injuries or illness or other hassles stop us, and the gluteal/thigh area behaves itself throughout the entire race enough, for me to hit and maintain a good pace. I think I am going to have to focus on running efficiently, (and running with a pace group might help with that.), and avoiding savage acceleration or deacceleration. That may actually help me to a better time, as I am notorious for tending to waste energy going out hard at the start, and surging too much during races. Then again on the day everything might be feeling fine, and I'll just do what I normally do. Either way I will be treading cautiously, but I am cautiously optimistic that the big breakthrough PB run is still very much there for the taking. I'm probably more scared of breaking down and doing a DNF (which I havent done in any of my 7 marathons yet, a DNF that is) or blowing out the time very badly than ever before, but sometimes on those days you pull a blinder, and have your best run ever when you have serious doubts as to whether you really should be there. Whatever happens I will be happy just to be in the race and enjoy the experience, plus share the special times with my wife afterwards, plus catch up with a few Cool Runners. Those things, plus the chance to have a decent family holiday for once are in themselves worth the trip for sure. However I am seriously going into this race gunning for a PB, 3.39-3.49 is probably the most likely zone I hope, but I am tempted to keep the 3.24 or faster on the radar, if things feel good early on. Hopefully I dont blow up and do well over 4 hours. The last 3 weeks have been very topsy turvy and emotionally draining, and training has been as chaotic as usual, but I feel I am going into this one significantly better prepared than I was in July when I did 3.55 on a course I think is not as good as Melbourne for me.
I think weeks 8 (36k run) and 9 (Freo Half and 10k reps) turned some solid prep (e.g. City to Surf Half and Brooking Rd 27k) into something special by my mediocre standards in recent years. So despite week 10 being a total wipeout and week 11 being almost a total wipeout, and many other weeks being useless apart from my meter reading, I think I am still very much ready to go. Week 12 may still offer a few last minute opportunities to sharpen up a little more too, although a low priority now. My best resting heart rates in the last three weeks of 46,45 and 47 (this week), indicates to me that as long as I hold onto that I should be fit enough to run 10k in well under 50minutes (sub 5min per k or 3.30 pace), and I think my strength, ability to hold onto something close to that pace for the other 32k, should be pretty well prepared. Thats why anything less than a PB will be a failed mission for me, although not a wasted trip due to the other reasons for being there in particular the need for a good family holiday and the chance to share the incredible "Melbourne Marathon experience" especially with my wife, plus the added bonus of catching up with some Cool Running people...some of whom have shared in my running journey in very helpful and significant ways this year which I thank them for, and I hope they have gained as much enjoyment as I have...So yes I am nervous for lots of reasons, yes I will try to be focused and organized, and "get it right on the day" and hopefully God willing, it will be a great days running, with a PB, I can't see why not at the moment. Onward!

Friday 3rd October 2008;
Well I went to to Doc today and the bone scans came up ***NEGATIVE*** (apart from my L5 slight scoliosis, which has been with me since at least 1996, and I've managed successfully for many years now)...So no stress fracture, and no hamstring tear! YAY! Hip Hip HURRAY!!!!!!! PRAISE GOD!!!

So very good news...This means I am good to go for Melbourne Marathon barring any other major illness,injury etc in the next week or so...YAY!

My wife Kathryn will also be walking the 5.5km, so we both get to finish on the MCG about the same time I suspect. So looking forward to sharing this special moment with her this year!

My Cool Running hat came in the mail this week so I will wear that (probably backwards "Leighton Hewitt style") and the same black Nike top I wore in Perth Marathon 2008 this year, race number 1583, so come and say hello if you spot me out there. Just makes it all the more fun and memorable to catch up with a few people, especially away from home in Melbourne.

So now I can get back to psyching up for the race to awesome tunes like "vengeance is mine" from Final Axe., "One last time" from Royal Anguish, "I'm Back from Mars" by Jupiter VI, "Lead us" by Fearful Symmetry, or "Distorted" by Living Sacrifice & Scott Albert Project,(all tracks off my Retroactive records "lightning strikes twice again" CD), and the awesome guitar work of Mike PHILLIPS in "The Call" from the Deliverance Intense Live album.

Maybe even a bit of "moving like Christopher" is called for to celebrate when I get to Melbourne, see vid clip from Ewens blog HERE

Saw a cool map which shows where visitors to your blog,website etc are from at
MAPLOCO on the Royal Anguish website (maybe I'll have to get that Mysterion album), its done by funkyllama productions hahaha *LOL*...

However the mystery of the thigh pain is still unresolved, for now my best guess is maybe severe ***cramping*** of hamstring muscle.

Doc thinks I should get a regular programme of sport massage, and if that fails see a dietician. Ive never had massage of the legs before, although I have heard of many elite and some sub elite athletes using it, and there was some after the Perth Marathon, so is a bit of an unknown area for me, but I guess particularly with my meter reading work and me getting older (35 next year), perhaps I need to investigate that option even though its another cost. I think I will be ok in Melbourne as I won't be reading meters on the Friday or Saturday before the race, so legs should be freshened up enough. Powerade and Gu's etc should take care of the rest. So hoping I won't have any major issues on the day, and am going to try and ease into some running in the next few days, though no big long runs, as it is well and truly taper time now...Going to have to be careful with speedwork as I don't want it to flare up. If it does I might consider trying to get some massage, and will have to look into that option after Melbourne. Hopefully that will be enough to knock this monster on the head.

Melbourne Marathon Cool Running threads section @ HERE
confirmed entrants; here
Cool running;
MM08 entrants, melbourne runguide...
link from CR to this price comparison site;
adioso
although i booked my flights months ago as soon as i got my tax money...
might be handy in days to come, the late hotel room sites in the style of need it now, hotelclub etc are always very handy plus give a better deal than most travel agents.

Hope to ease back into some light running in the next few days as the finalw eek before the race begins...

So as far as the melbourne Marathon goes for me in 2008, as they say in the american INDY500, one of the greatest motor races in the world, its a case of; (Ladies &) Gentlemen staaaart youuur ENGINES!!!