ran 10km and failed on every other day

Last week I ran a slow 10km on a hilly tricky course in about 64min HR 153..., that was on Wednesday 20th May 2009. Not very motivated and just exploring.
Hurt my back after, and the soreness in my worst knee seems to be hanging around a lot lately...
Had a resting HR of 48 one day which was very encouraging as thats slightly better than Ive had for many weeks.

Friday night I thought about braving the wind and rain, actually sat in the car thinking about doing it, but decided it wasn't worth it, and went home for dinner and off to my night job instead...
Really need to get some long runs (or rides) done for the sake of my general health and sanity at least, and certainly if Perth marathon VI is to still be worth doing this year.
Have a lot on my mind re jobs, houses, family, bills etc...hoping for some sort of big breakthroughs in the next few weeks.

Got the latest Grave Forsaken album (their third) this week, so that was a big positive, its called This Day Forth, see blog link on my left sidebar...

not much else to write home about really...frustrated, disappointed in myself (although I did work 6 days this week and did both Friday and Saturday 1800-0200 shifts this week in my night job (need more money!),), have some fullon shifts this week too, but no metering now until July probably so hopefully more freetime, although paying bills ios going to be a challenge.
but ain't throwin in the towel...

wk 3 of 10 double session tuesday was good

Tuesday was good, but then I lost the plot trying to cope with lack of sleep and work/family demands.

Then our almost 2 year old Jacob got very sick Saturday night with Gastro, which culminated in a middle of the night visit to Princess Margaret hospital, ( we got to sleep at 4.15am and that was on the back of 4 nights in a row of me sleeping about 4 hrs a night, so absolutely worn out today (sunday)) So Sunday spent recovering from severe lack of sleep helping my darling wife clean up the mess from the little one throwing up and diahorreing lots over a 7-10 hour period the previous day, and ensuring the little one kept his fluids up and hopefully will be back onto food tonight. So all thoughts of a longish run this weekend went out the window. Maybe next week...
Some good news though with the First home owners grant being extended until September, daylight savings debate NO vote looks like being carried YAY!, no more dark mornings trying to train or get started at work in February/March...
Also my wife Kathryns longstanding (over several years) knee injury, got diagnosed (we had the spare cash to go in and do it for once, and got back half of it on medicare), although it looks like she will need an operation if she is to run pain-free and my dreams of her becoming a decent training partner for me are to be realised to any significant extent in the coming months,years...

Last week of metering this week until July, so the stage is set for my time to free up in just over a weeks time, and hopefully get some much needed rest, get a home loan on the board, and crank up the training just in time for Perth Marathon in July if things go well...
Very worred about car bills (rego and repairs), and paying rent off just my night job during June, but we shall find a way through it somehow, God willing, and hopefully can hit July, refreshed, trained, and ready to get on with the rest of this year on a much better setup...

Tuesday 12th May 2009;
AM; Ran about 6km (hilly) in 34min 15 HR 159.
downhillish leg 15.17?...to roundabout near railway line and back home.
Hurt dodgy ankle early on and walked for a minute or so to sort that out as a precaution, some lingering soreness over the next few days, but seems to be ok, just have to be careful with my footing on uneven ground, as clearly my injury from October 2008, is still easily aggravated if not careful, but it seems under control at this stage.

PM; Ran about 4km in 16min 51 (4min 12 per km!) HR 183!
Worked hard on all 5 laps of the local oval to hold a fast pace.
Approx. 800m splits;
3.06/3.20/3.30/3.40/3.15...
First lap about 3.52 per k pace...

Very pleasing effort which is a PB for this course by 8 seconds.
Felt good, and confident that if I was to train like this every second day or every day, I would build some great momentum...

Some knee soreness the next day and in the evening but cleared up ok...

Towards perth VI week 2 of 10

the 8km run was good, step forward, but other than again failed to do what I had planned...need to hit my straps soon, if I am going to threaten my marathon PB in Perth VI...have to find opportunities to hit key sessions even though I am pre-occupied mentally re wanting to land a home loan soon...injury front looks good at the moment, just need to get out there!

Sunday 10th May Ran about 4.5km in 24.58 HR 156...Short on time again as had mothers day brekkie to goto, and got sidetracked early on househunting and looking after Jacob, otherwise would have gone much longer. Also slept in saturday too, got tied up with family stuff watching the Dockers beat carlton etc...Ok run on hilly course but relaxed, enjoyed it, did some recon on a block of land I found thinking of buying but have since decided it is too expensive...

Wednesday 6th May Ran approx. 8km in 36min 17 HR 177. 4min 32 per km.
10 laps of oval...4k splits 17.44/18.33...
Excellent solid fastish run after work. felt good, very pleased with this step forward of a run, not enough time to go longer due to night job to goto soon after...left knee a bit sore next day, and soon after but otherwise everything good, so no major injury problems

Towards Perth VI week 1 of 10

Monday 27th April 2009 AD;
Ran about 15km (hilly) in 1hr 35minutes 24 seconds. (6min 21 per km) HR 162 at end (after steep climb to my house).

Ran in middle of day at about 30% humidity, 27 degrees, so a bit on the warm side, and the powerade I took with me was pretty important. Course was pretty hilly and bitumen all the way mostly, so was a challenging course in less than ideal conditions. Took it easy on the hills as I was testing out the hammy, and didnt want any flare-ups. Seemed to come through ok, but its still suspect on hills for now for sure. Pushed the pace a bit on some of the flatter sections.
Went from home out past the railway line overpass, and then followed the road all the way back to the main shopping centre, before returning back home. Lots of hills.

A good run that gave me some confidence for coming weeks. Hard to guage where I am at, because the course is a challenging one, and the conditions were hard, and the distance is a bit approximate. Beautiful scenic views to the ocean and lighthouse in the distance early on.

The rest of the week too busy driving 150km a day between jobs, and trying to cope with a difficult sleep/work balance, plus the excessive driving. Worked Waikiki one day, and Secret Harbour 3 days, including a monster day on thursday where I cleared 472 readings in 6 hours, under pressure from work to avoid this round being late, and partly due to me being very lack-lustre on Wednesday, and just not getting enough done that day. Body clock has gone a bit off, with me getting used to a 2am-4am bedtime due to the late-night shifts 5 nights a week...

Just struggling a bit in the last few weeks to cope with not enough sleep or free time, and the pressures of family needs, the neverending bills, plus minor concerns about the state of our cars, and trying to find a way to crack open this housing market, and find a way to land that elusive home loan (God willing...maybe we should just keep renting) at a price that is affordable, in a location that is going to set us up for the the next 3-10 years, and a house that is going to be good for our needs in the next 3-10 years. Keen to try and make a wise decision, and to land the right deal for our needs and wants. So a lot of soul searching, and net research lately (a lot of my spare time) going into trying to work this one out. Its looking to be a tough challenge, and after talking to Keystart this week, I think we are a chance, but its a steep learning curve, and I am very conscious of the balancing act between getting the right price, but getting value for money too and not buying a dud...Probably one of the toughest challenges I have ever considered taking on, and we are only at an early stage of this thing. However the alternative seems unacceptable (continue in an overpriced increasingly unpredictable, unstable rental market, with the likelyhood that we will have to move house again next year anyway), so I think we have to try and get on the front foot here, be pro-active, and try and buy some stability and security for my little family's future.
However if we can't land the big fish, we may just have to try and play the rental game for longer, and I have to say our current location is something special, which I am still ecstatic about several months later, so thanks God for that.

But I digress, back to running, well basically this weekend, I had good intentions of putting in at least 2 key sessions towards my Perth Marathon plans ( 9 weeks away now!) but have ended up not doing either of them, and just trying to recover from a tough week. Feels like the weekend is over before it started. Really enjoyed the derby win though. Awesome to see Fremantle keep the eagles on the back foot and maintain our intimidating derby record in recent years, with some scintillating play and goals from rookies Stephen Hill and first gamer Matt Deboer (suspect he may be related to my old UWA teammate, and national level runner Chris Deboer ???), to ensure Pavlich enjoyed a good day on his 200th...

While I am not happy with a fizzer of a week trainingwise, I still think I am well placed to attack well, but I need to get on with it soon, and also need to lose some spare-tyre (almost 10kg heavier than last year at the moment), like the incredible Sarge Bob (and daughter-in-law Tiffany) from Lake Clifton, WA, did in winning the biggest Loser TV show recently...love the photo of the commando pointing the way on Wombats blog..., be interesting to see what Wombat (a 2.13 marathoner and total all-time legend in the WA running scene) did for the Half marathon in the Busselton Half Ironman triathlon today, and I see six-inch and Ironman legend Suzy did 1hr 51 for her Half, with a total half IM time of 5hrs 23 minute. Congrats to her!

My hammy seems to have turned the corner, and although proceeding with caution still, I think maybe I have finally obliterated that injury concern, and hopefully it wont return beyond minor niggle status again this year...

So maybe week 2 of 10 towards my dreams of a sixth consecutive Perth Marathon, (and hopefully maybe finally that elusive PB, still 3.55.02 from 2004) will be better...