RHR 44 And a 14.6secs 100m 14th Bridges in 48.35

Monaghetti the Marathon Master!



Somehow I managed to get at the front of the group next to Monas! in this photo.







I am 2nd from left in this one at the woodshed, where we were based for the weekend...unforgettable memories I'll always treasure...

Some promising signs this week, suggesting that things have moved up a gear, riding the wave of renewed motivated enthusiasm from the Monaghetti camp. Some more fantastic photos have surfaced from that on Biscuitmans strands.com profile. Many thanks to him for sharing those...Thankyou Monas!!! Raf, and everyone! I am still feeling really motivated as a result of that camp, a week later.

However its one thing to want to do better and another to actually do better, and as yet, I still am not really delivering the goods. I think I did a little better this week, and with the 40 miler only a week away, I am conscious of the need to avoid too many long runs, although I still failed to do the type of quality sessions i want to do. Once again way too preoccupied with work, and almost got psyched out of doing Bridges due to my injury niggles, but decided I was doing it even if I had to walk/hobble the whole thing, as I had to maintain my 14 year streak. I sat on an icepack on the drive into the city, and for once I got there 40 minutes early, didnt have toilet issues, found a good parking spot, and as I jogged across Langley Park, I had no problems running at a good pace, and I sensed that God was going to give me a good race today. Was not that nervous which is unusual for me before a major race. I guess the fact that I have not really put in any Bridges focused sessions at all this year, meant I didn't have any big expectations about this one.

Have not targeted the Bridges like in previous years, am more interested in building sustainable lasting forward momentum, getting a few solid races on the board, get past the birth of our second child (my wife is now up to 32 weeks pregnant as of tomorrow), enjoy the Australian Masters next weekend, maybe have another shot at the 40 miler on Easter Monday, keep my Perth Marathon streak going will be number 7 in a row if I get there this year, keep my Bridges funrun streak going did that with number 14 in a row today, and then get serious for the Melbourne Marathon, maybe use the City to Surf Marathon as training again. If training improves, maybe target the PB in the Perth marathon again, and I'd love to go do Gold Coast, but maybe another year would be better.

Had a resting heart rate of 44 on Wednesday, which is my best reading in 2010 by 2 beats, so I think I can thank the Mona camp for that small move up a gear.

Wednesday
Ran 3.5km tempo run in 16min 28secs HR 168.
5 laps of oval in 31 degree heat.
700m splits; 3.08/3.10/3.30/3.29/3.11
Very pleased with this run, which made me late for work by a few minutes, but confirmed to me that I have moved up a level just slightly. Faster by 45 seconds on last time, in warmer conditions, and with a slightly lower finishing heart rate.

Thursday @ Coker Park.
300m 47.6secs. Could have gone faster but held back a bit due to sore left gluteal...thought about dropping out but decided to try and hang in there...
then
600m 1min 57secs
200m splits; 32/41/44secs.
Sat right behind Sugar and VIS athlete Michael Mezzatesta? in the first 200m and felt like I could have challenged them, but figured I wouldnt be able to sustain it, so held back just a touch, which proved to be the right choice this time I think, as I was really struggling by the time I hit 400m in 73secs (my old coach told me off for looking at my watch at the 400m point as he reckons I cost myself about 1-2 seconds there in lost rhythm, I agree with him,and as a mark of respect I took my watch off altogether for the 100m, but reality is I wasn't even close to fit enough to challenge my 1.43 600m PB from 2004 this time...
then
100m 14.6secs.
Very happy with the 100m. First time I have raced 100m for many years, and I even did a crouch start. It felt good. Had a red-hot go at it. I'm about 2 seconds off what I did as a teenager, and 1 second off what I did as an 11 year old, but it was pleasing to dip under 15 seconds.

About 10min rest in between each race which I jogged some of and talked to my old coach a lot, so a bit like an easy reps session. Nice to see my old coach, Jane, Sugar, and Toni PHILLIPS (good name that) (who I don't really know, but I recognise her name from state teams and/or Perry Lakes track and field in the 1990's I think.) all doing well.

Meant to do the 2km run as well, but I forgot to bring my running shoes, and didnt want to do it in spikes, so by the time I got back from the car I had missed the start, so had to watch. So mucked up there.
Still a good nights speedwork, which should help my Australian Masters 1500m tilt next weekend.

Sunday;
AM;
Bridges 10km 48min 35 secs. HR 180 at end.
5km splits; 23.03/25.32
1km splits; 3.59/4.37/5.05/4.39/4.43/
4.42/5.31/5.30/5.06/4.37
2km splits; 8.36/9.44/9.25/11.07/9.43
Saw Sugar and Biscuitman beforehand warming up, had the usual motivational chat with Big Kev and Coops. Thanks guys, Big Kev your words helped me to hold it together in the last 2km and stay under 49 min for a 1minute better effort than last year.
Started strong for first 90 secs, was 20metres behind the leading bunch at one point, then tried to settle into a sustainable pace. So wasnt as PREish as usual time...Very happy with the 3.59 1km split as it felt very easy... the 2km split of 8.36 is also a fair bit faster than I usually get to 2k in. So good signs. Lost the plot a bit over the causeway (hate the concrete,and being jammed up with a crowd), after the really nice first 2km along Riverside drive with the new course for the first 2km. However 13.41 for 3km is still 29 secs quicker than my 3km split in the 10,000m race last week. I knew it was time to step up the pace a bit. Right on cue, CoolRunner Martin (aka 20thcenturyboy...blog is here) passed me and I knew this was a signal that it was game-on, and time to attack a bit, make him earn it. We see-sawed a bit and swapped leading each other with a good battle for about 3km, which got me past 5km in 23.03 (my quickest 5k this year I think, and only a few seconds off my quickest in 2009), and to 6km in 27.45, and was hitting about 4.37-4.40's per KM pretty consistently...The 6km split is about 46minute pace for a 10km so if I could have held on from there it would have been a major improvement. However I lost the plot badly after Martin got away near the ferry terminal in South Perth. Ended up just going through the motions with rubbishy 5.31 and 5.30 1km splits. Pulled it back a bit as we got over the Narrows bridge with a 5.06 K split, and then I wasn't sure where bthe finish line was with the new course, so didn't really finish very well, but it was nice to get some encouragement from Mighty Mick, and to hear the new WAMC President Evan (and a bloke I ran against in state schools crosscountry in 1991, he was 3rd, I was 16th, Todd Ingraham won it, and Raf was training with me at school a bit in those days) call out my name as I crossed the line with a 4.37KM split to finish off... So a solid run, heaps better than my 2009 effort of about 49min 54 secs.., my best Bridges time since 2006 see here for my 14 year history in this event... but the last 4km was a bit disappointing...

Good news is my bruised gluteal muscle??? is not affecting my running much at this tsage and the strained chest muscle? I had the last few days seemes to be healing as well...not sure how I got these injuries, maybe climbing fences or trees at work to get meter readings..., maybe I tweaked the gluteal in the 300m at the start on Thursday night, not too sure...

PM; Ran for 60min 52 secs to north east corner of Kogulup Lake and back, road and trails mix.
A junk miles easy run, but felt much better for it. HR 144 at end, but a bit elevated due to the steep ascent on the road to our house, probably more like 120's most of the way.

Weight still hovering around 79kg, so no better but no worse.
Did 50 hours at work this week. slept for 4 hours this afternoon. Lack of sleep a problem towards the end of this week, too many 4-5 hour nights.

So some good running, but nothing I can punch my fist in the air about and go whoa! about...
Feel like the momentum is building in the right direction just need to crank it up a lot!
A bit like the Freo Dockers right now, smashing the living dead of Adelaide (never live in Adelaide its a hole) tonight by 56 points...some promising signs, but when the real challenges come along the real questions of are we getting anywhere will be posed, in Freos case against better teams, in my case when I peak for some bigtime races......

Memorable Monaghetti camp and 1500m/10k races

The Monaghetti camp was awesome for many reasons, the catching up with people, the training, the location, the chance to meet a world class, but very humble, top bloke and total legend in Steve Monaghetti, and also the freakish legend in worldclass dualathlete and Physiotherapist Raf Baugh from the Running Centre being there also made for an incredible weekend. Then there was Justin Barich from Physiotherapy Solutions...So some incredible people gathering there...Getting 30 hours or so away from the 2 year old was probably good for my sanity too, even though I love the kid, and really enjoy being a part of his growing up.. nice to get away from work too, although paying the bills in the next week or so is going to be tight as a result.
Massive thanks to my wife, the good DR (you know who you are), Raf Baugh, MONA!!! everyone there, and everyone who helped make this weekend at Nanga so special.

Got a free STRANDS.com (a bit like facebook for athletes, I'm on it...) shirt from Biscuitman....just another of the cool things that happened on this camp... Biscuitman has a detailed description of the weekend from his perspective, and a few more photos @ HERE...still more photos to come...

Memorable happy times. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the photos, especially the one at the Fartlek session. There is also a photo at Sugars blog already! Thanks Sugar for getting that up on a Sunday! we got home. Monaghetti has a red shirt on in the middle, Ive got my gray 2004 Perth Marathon jumper on and my blue and gold Cool Running hat on...

Seriously I got back on track in the two days of runfest, that left me weary but very happy. The thursday night track racing at Masters looks like a winning formula. Ecstatic with the way this week finished, have a long way to go to get where I want to, but some promising signs. Just got to try and make sure the momentum is sustained next week, and Bridges should be reasonable, although not expecting a PB or anything.

Sunday AM;
2hrs 56min 56 secs trail run. HR 135 at end.
Ran with Bernadette,Rob D., and Rolf on the Bibbulumun trail into Dwellingup, and then alongside a railway track for another 20 minutes or so, and then headed back. Got to Dwellingup in about 60 minutes after some pretty technical trail running mostly, rocks, tree roots, overhead branches, palms that cut me several times, and logs to jump over. Constantly descending or ascending, very hilly, narrow single file trail through densely wooded bush mostly. No snakes seen, but heard some on return, surface mostly gravel or leaves covering dirt.

The last hill BBC really flew over, and that one took a lot of energy from me, and I struggled to stay in touch. Got back as we headed north of Dwellingup along Bibbulumun near railway line. saw old station platform and wine tree sign. Soon I had to throw in a walk break, and i lost sight of the other 3. Waited at the "station" until the others returned. Then tried hard to stay in touch. Rolf had injury problems and ended up walking home along Nanga Rd. I tried hard to keep BBC and Rob D. in sight, and succeeded until about 1hr 55minutes, when we had left Dwellingup and headed back towards Nanga RD. Just couldnt sustain, things and for the second time today took a big walk break. Had 1 or two more short ones, but was able to run at slow pace (7-8 minutes per K Im guessing), to finish about 22km (+ the 20minute wait at the "station") back at the Woodhouse. Saw Raf in car on the way back. As usual he was very encouraging.

My strands post about this run reads as follows;
Very unsure of distance, wild guess based on what BBC measured it to be on garmin. Munda Biddi bit at the start was uphill but nice gravel/compacted clay surface... From then on it was; Very tough terrain, pretty technical part of the Bibbulmun Track mostly. Narrow single file, large rocks, tree roots, logs, overhanging branches, got cut by palms dozens of times, hurdled a lot of logs, heaps of ascent and descent, pretty much a meandering hilly kangaroo track almost for much of the way. Got to Dwellingup in 60 minutes, but worked too hard trying to stay with BBC and Knoddie. Also spent about 20 minutes resting at old station and chatting with Rolf, while waiting for the trail legends to come back, as I was spent, and didnt have enough in the tank to chase them any longer. On the return I had to throw in some long walk breaks from about 1 hour 55 minutes onwards, (about three 2- 10 minute walk breaks) to get my energy back. Route was Woodshed at Nanga Bush camp off nanga Rd near Murray River, up namga Rd via trail alongside road (MundaBiddi), then left turn into Bibbuulumun all the way into Dwellingup on the Bibbulumun track, and then onto Bibbulumun a bit more via the Dwellingup Oval, heading north east of the town alongside railway line, to old station and then back the same way. Knoddie said pace was about 6.45 per km about 40-50 minutes into it...Pretty happy to get well over 2 hours on the board...accumulated fatigue from the 2 hours the day before, and my 10k race on Thursday night was always going to make it tough...so pretty happy to get this one done, dont really care about the pace...

Saturday
late PM;
Played 3 on 3 basketball against Raf, with Mona on my team for about 20 minutes, we got into it, and raised a pretty big sweat by the end.

PM;
58 minute trails run. HR 147 at end.
Saw 3 big black wild pigs, in pine forests along Murray River, very hilly hard compact clay, gravel and bitumen surfaces. Very weary from AM session, but gutsed it out.

Made a pretty rough attempt to map this 58minute run on MAPMYRUN (I'm on there as trailblazer777), its in the right general area, start point and turnaround point very approximate, tough to pick from an aerial view, with so much trees around...See
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/australia/-near-dwellingup,-western-australia/478126919001699338
or HERE for my attempt at mapping this course...not confident the turnaround point is accurate...think it may have been further...

AM; 60minute session
20minutes warm up , 20 minutes warm-down, partly on Munda Biddi Trail, the bit at the finish of the 6 inch race, and nearby. Fartlek was on gravel trail and the grass oval of Dwellingup oval. It was a MONA fartlek (speedplay) led by the man himself who invented the session the Olympian and past half-marathon world record holder Steve Monaghetti !!! It was similiar to the whistle intervals I did at the WAMC Tuesday night intervals session last year. Basically 90 seconds run hard, 90 seconds, float, repeat a few times, then 60 seconds, then 30 secs, then 15 secs. for a total of 20 minutes of interval running. In the first rep I was pretty much on heels of Mona and Raf Baugh for the first 30-60 seconds, and for the first 30 seconds it felt easy, felt like I could have challenged them, about 60 seconds into it, either they found another gear, or I ran out of puff, cos I had to back off from 60 secs to 90 secs. I struggled to float the rest times, and ended up walking or jogging most of them, but I tried to make sure I banged every rep to the max as much as possible. By the end my legs were very dead, and everyone had passed me, but my heart rate was only 177. Really struggled with the last 10 minutes of the warm down, even though it wasnt at a fast pace really.

Thursday @ Masters, Coker Park;

1500m 6.03 (4.02 per K) 47 seconds first 300m.
HR 186. Felt like I was going to die afterwards, didnt cope with that too well.
300m-47 secs. 400m 72 secs.
700m 2.34 (1.47 400m split)
1100m 4.22 (1.48 400m split, and still on 3.53 per K pace at this stage)
1500m 6.03 (1.41 400m split helped by my last 200m being 43 seconds)...
Overall time a bit slower than i was hoping, and my recovery afterwards was a bit disturbing, although I kind of expected that, as I knew I wasnt fit, and the totally PRE to the MAX start had to take its toll especially in my current state of unfitness.

Ecstatic! with the first 300m as its 4-8 seconds faster than I can remember running for many years. Saw Sugar or someone loom up on my inside in the first 20 m, so ran like a scared rabbit (trying to evade a shooter for the first 100m to get the lead, and could feel the legs shutting down with the lactic acid at about 250m, but dug deep and made sure I ran right through the line, to get a good 300m split. If I could hold that speed for 400m, I'd run a 63 second 400m, about on par with my best in little athletics in the 1980's.

Curious to see what I can do with spikes on for 100m, as it appears I havent lost as much as I thought, with spikes and a good track, good conditions, and psyched up enough all working for me. the 47 equates to at least 15 seconds for 100m, so I am guessing 13-14 seconds may still be possible. I remember doing 12 seconds as a teenager, and 13 seconds as an 11 year old in 1985.

then about an hour later;
10,000m 49min 35. (4min 57 per K) HR 183.

1k splits; 4.24/4.40/5.06/5.18/5.02/5.08/4.54/5.12/5.17/4.44

2k splits; 9.04/10.14/10.10/10.06/10.01

Decided to be a lot more conservative in this one as I couldnt face feeling like I did after the 1500m again, plus I just wanted a solid time around the 50minute mark on the board, not feeling ready to go after any big time improvements. Conditions perfect.
So took it out relaxed with a 1.40 to kick things off, sitting in 4th spot. Michael Mezzatesta dominated from the word go. Bjorn, Kim Thomas and one other bloke were just in front of me, but I knew they would pull away sooner rather than later. Concentrated on trying to settle into a fast but comfortable start. 1.48's (4.30 per K), seemed to feel about the right speed, so stuck with that for starters. By 2km was starting to find that a bit hard, so then set about trying to keep 2.00-2.10's ticking over with some faster laps thrown in when I felt up to it, or when a faster runner came by. That seemed to work well. Got passed and lapped by many people, but tried to stay focused on my task of getting to the finish around the 50minute mark. My lap scorer Neil was doing an excellent job, and the young girls on the drink station were doing a good job too, used that station a few times to keep my body skin temperature from overheating...Wound it up a bit towards the end, and did the last 400m in 1.45, to get well under the 50 minutes, so mission accomplished. Worked hard, but probably a had a little bit in reserve , especially in the first 2km where I took it a lot! easier than I normally do in a 10k.

So a reasonably successful racing hit out. Mission accomplished as far as getting a good hit-out on the board before the Australian Masters in a few weeks. Hope I can improve my 1500m time a lot, and hope to take a few minutes off the 10k time as well, although sub 50 is satisfactory. Just found the entry list for the Australian Masters, there is 13 entrants in the 1500m, at least two of which I ran against on Thursday (Kim Thomas (thrashed me in both races) and John Collier (just beat me in the 10,000m)), but the big news is I can expect to get totally annihilated by Ray Boyd and Paul Mitchell in the 10,000m, although some of the others might not be so good...My racewalking coach as a
junior (Stan) is racing so hope to catch up with him there...Some good motivation to try and sustain the momentum from this week...

The MONA Camp got me back on track in two days of runfest, that left me weary but very happy. The thursday night track racing at Masters looks like a winning formula. Ecstatic with the way this week finished, have a long way to go to get where I want to, but some promising signs. Just got to try and make sure the momentum is sustained next week, and Bridges should be reasonable, although not expecting a PB or anything.

Looking forward to the next few weekends

Hoping to get to the Masters athletics this thursday (18th March) night, to have a hitout before the Australian Masters in April, to get some base times for the 1500m and 10,000m, to try and work on. Not expecting much as my speedwork has been practically non-existent most weeks this year, but hope to turn that around in a big way in the next few weeks, and do some serious intervals. Bridges 10k I hope to lob in somewhere between 43-50minutes.

Have held onto resting heart rates of around 46-47 bpm on my good days so far this year, which is a much better start to the year than 2009. My weight is sitting around 79kg, which is not too bad, and I hit 78kg for the first time in a long time, last thursday on the back of significant dehydration after 8-9 hours of fast meter reading in humid 38 degree heat (was under pressure to clear 500 reads (one was at a Bikie clubhouse) by the due date that day, and made it with about 12 minutes to spare). I stupidly only took 2 litres of drinks, and forgot to take money or a debit card (i.e. do the Dean Karnazes thing and order a pizza, and extra drinks while out in the field) to buy more while out there as well, so had to survive on 2.5 litres of water at heart rates of about 100-150, a can of sprite lemonade I managed to convince the shopkeeper to give me for 70 cents, and good old fashioned determination. Another 2-3 litres would have been good, especially some gatorade, staminade or powerade. My no 1's was distinctly dark that night, so reckon I was in a pretty significant state of dehydration, although not as catastrophic as one training 23km+ racewalk I did in Armadale in the late 1980's/early 1990's when I was vomiting up water by the end...This level of dehydration probably was what got me to 78.4kg, that night, in a similiar way to Jockeys going into the sauna before races, or Danny Green losing too much weight to make Mundines boxing weight in their only fight to date. So I think my sustainable weight is still about 79.6kg, but want to head into the low 70's or even high 60's at some point in 2010.

Training and racing (was hoping to have a shot at the 1k at Masters at Coker park on thursday night but was too busy with the 8-9 hour meter reading day until about 1748hours...) didnt happen this week. Work took over again, and on the weekend I was sleeping 8hrs a night, and getting busy with family stuff. I think I needed a good week off anyway, so two weeks to recover from the 6 hour track race, is probably a good thing as long as I bounce back from here on. My plans for the next two weekends should ensure that occurs, as long as injury stays away. I still feel I am well positioned for the year ahead, although I have to step it up significantly training and racingwise in the coming months at some point.
Was nice to get in a lightning 5minute bodysurf at Secret Harbour on Sunday night (that was all the time the wife would allow me, and that was hard to get), felt very invigorated after that. I see Dave Kennedy did a 1.23 at Darlington, to back up well after his 12 hour race win of 118km 2 weeks ago, and stay ahead of Motor Matthews. Well done to Rob D. on backing up with a 1.47 after the 6 hour race too. Have put up some photos from my 6 hour race on my Blog command page here...

I decided against Darlington due to (a), hating the course, and (b) being too busy and worn out. Have to check andf see how others went, would be good Boston prep for Clown and Epi I would think, and also keen to see how Jane E. and John C., Ewen , others went at 6 foot track as well, when I get time to check the results later this weekend. Had some annoying pain in the last 24 hours in the medial upper thigh, it feels like a pinched nerve or a minor groin strain or something, maybe some groin stretches or a chiropracter visit in the next few days if it doesnt go away...2 weeks until the almighty Fremantle Dockers start thrashing everyone in the AFL...(although they might have trouble with St Kilda,Bulldogs and Geelong)...

In salute to Big Kev; Keep on running (even when you dont run at all for more tyhan a week due to the need to go into a Cerutty style hibernation for a few days, and meter reading and work stuff)...onward...

trying to hold on with a 121min long run

Sunday ran about 12.6km in 2hrs 1 min (121min) HR 129 at end.
Exploring cyclepaths, limestone trails, and roads from Kogolup Lake past Thomsons lake reserve and out to Hammond park and beyond at midday. Mostly a jog/walk fest/fartlek type run. Lots of stops and exploring trails along the way...

Been flat out with work this week. Did a 15-16 hour day Wednesday, wehere I walked out the door before 0600 to get an early start on the day job and came home from night job about 0100. Money very tight as I joined the Masters athletics club, bought a singlet, and entered two events at the Australian Masters games to be held on the new AK track here in perth April 2nd to 5th. I'm doing the 1500m and the 10,000m so hopefully that will get me motivated to train hard in the coming weeks. Took on extra shifts at the night job on Friday and Sunday, as money is just too tight, and my day job they are not giving out much work, so combined with the MOnday public holiday, and m y difficulty in recovering from (a) the 6 hour race last weekend and (b) the horror day at work on Wednesday (on 3 hours sleep i might add, plus sore quads from the 6 hour race for at least 3-4 days, and the need to let my blisters (also from the 6 hour race) recover, It was hard to do much. Friday I was going to do a track session, but gave up on it, in favour of driving from my day job in north secret Harbour to my night job just south of the CBD. Covered 128km on the road that day. Saturday I was just too tired from the night before, and felt the need to spend some time with wife and kid. Tomorrow night will be 4th night in a row at night job, (Friday/Saturday, Sunday and Monday), which has been very stressful due to new system, and the ACDC concerts.

Good news is blisters seemed to be settling/healing and by Friday my quads were ok again. Left knee soreness seems to have settled a bit too. So maybe next wqeek will be better. getting sick of saying that, and the Moneghetti camp and the Bridges are getting closer...

Im thinking its time to keep the long runs going, but more as a maintenance thing, 2-3 hours will do me, although I might try something more extended if the opportunity presents. The C-team run in the hills group this week sounded awesome, wish I could have got up for that. Didnt have the time, money, sleep or motivation to go do the 48km that some of the Kep people were doing on Sunday, but would have liked to have been there.

Susannah from Queensland who was 3rd in the 12 hour race last weekend is doing the BADWATER ultra race in USA (46 degrees Celsius, 135 miles!) I saw on Cool Running the other night, awesome!!!, hope she does Australia proud, which i am sure she will. Tough!!! race that one! what a challenge...She will be racing against well known people like Dean Karnazes. See the entry list HERE...

So my main priorities now are to work on my 10k and 1500m time, make the most of the MOneghetti camp, and then see what happens. i may do the 40 miler, but I am not heavily focused on it, and if I make it to 55km in the 40 miler, there is a small chance I will line up for the Kep 75km, but with my wife due to have the baby in May, and my messy finances, and suspect training, plus injuries, it will be a minor miracle if I line up for Kep this year. More likely to do it another year...Plus there is the Perth Marathon in june which i would like to keep my streak alive in, If I complete it this year that would be 7 Perth Marathons in a row (every year since 2004)...
So heaps to think about just now, the next few weeks will tell the story of my big failure, or my big success. Hope its the latter, but thats going to require something special from me, and help from God...see what happens...

45km 112 lap 6 hour race exploration in 35 degrees

Firstly I should bring to Clowns attention if he reads this, the glorious win by the almighty FREMANTLE DOCKERS! this weekend, which of course I did not see on TV, but Dockerland has provided their usual unbiased *cough cough* match report @

http://www.dockerland.com/index.php/Match-Report/nab-cup-2010-round-2.html
which saw a last gasp Ryan Murphy goal help us defeat North Melbourne at Eddies Hat stadium, and keep us alive in the NAB cup, which unfortunately the West Coast were not able to do after their 78 point thrashing by Port Adelaide. But of course as Worsfold reminded us when the Eagles were thrashed in the NAB cup in recent years (I made my west coast fanatic wife very unhappy by taking a photo of the scoreboard one year.), they dont really care about the NAB cup results...

Sunday; Ran 45km in 6 hour track race at Coker Park. 35 degrees for first 3 hours.

Due to the fact I arrived about 4 minutes before the race started, I was seriously not ready.
Ran out of time to put bodyglide on, had not taped my nipples, hadn't even organised all my drinks, and I had no lap scorers, (due partly to my Dad forgetting and then refusing to do it because he felt too tired, but I know he is busy, and frankly it was always going to be a huge mission to get a lap scorer) but Bernadette assured me they would have people who could do it, about 2 minutes before. Also made the mistake of running with hydration pack on.

Got rid of some nervous energy by running the first 2km in about 10 minutes and led for all or most of that time, as the eventual winner Mark was running at a much more sustainable pace of about 6minutes per km. I took a big break to get body glide on to stop chafing on thighs, got my nipples taped and organised my drinks and a cold pack, plus decided to not carry hydration pak. Also discussed my drinks plan with my first lap scorer Jon Pendse. So lost about 20 minutes at least here, but I figured, I wouldn't even go close to making it to 6 hours if I didn't do those things, plus it would save me a lot of pain later.

Also had a lot of toilet stops, partly due to drinking as much as I could to keep the body core temperature down as I know this is the best way to combat heat.

Ran first 3 hours in my meter reading Hard Yakka heavy long sleeve shirt and wide brimmed hat to keep out the UV radiation, and provide me with a motivational tool, since the 35 degree heat is similar to what I work in (except it gets to 42-46 sometimes)... So if I can do it at work for several hours I knew I could do it on the track too...

Ran wide into lanes 2 and 3 a lot to let the faster 3 hr runners through and to chat with other runners, this probably added a fair bit to my official distance, but very difficult to say how much.

Good battles with Hills group C-teamer Kate Somerville during the last 3 hours especially until she eventually got ahead for a 46km effort. I think the key moment, was a couple of laps where we were running together or passing each other , and I figured I must be either slightly in front or slightly behind her, but had no idea how many laps she had done. Anyway we hit the back straight and I just knew I couldnt stay with her on that lap, basically she broke me physically over the course of about 1-2km. Not sure why, maybe I needed more fluids, or maybe its just some kind of fitness advantage she has on me. I mknow she beat me by more than 1 minute in the John Gilmour 10km track last year, and she is a very experienced Hills group runner, and a sub 4 hour marathoner I think, so I knew she would be a tough one to beat where I am at now.

Anyway mentally I gave in, and since I could feel some uncomfortableness in my left shoe I decided, I cant stay with her right now much longer, If I am to get her it will have to be later on, I need to deal with this left foot. Was about 90 minutes to go I think at this stage, and with the cooler weather she was hitting better rhythm than me, after I built a significant lead on her in the heat of the first 3 hours.

So I stopped in the back straight got the grass/pebbles etc out of my shoe, (another mistake forgot to clean out my shoes after the trail long run the previous weekend) adjusted my sock, and resolved to get straight back into it. But then I felt pain in the right foot around the toes. Figured while adjusting my other shoe I must have upset the socks balance in the right shoe, so decided to stop and clean out right shoe, found some hard skin, and some other dead skin which felt like the beginning of a blister, and then Bernadette came over and convinced me to get it taped at the end of the lap. So reluctantly I agreed , and spent a few more minutes while Bernadette expertly taped my toe area. In hindsight I think Bernadette made the right call, as if I had of left it, I probably would have had terrible blisters, struggled to finish, done less distance, and have had even more hassle at work during the week. However it probably cost me about 1km. But of course the messing around at the start probably cost me about 2-5km, and a km or two running wide too much, and various other mistakes I made. Tough race, tough conditions, big learning curve for me, even with my 20 years of experience in racing which came to the fore to my advantage at times, but it is my first track ultra, so have learnt heaps from this one...

I was blessed with two outstanding runners, and extremely nice people as lap scorers.
I knew Jon from his cool running nick and figured he must be a low 3hr marathoner at least. Now I know he is a bit better than that, and is more around the 2.50 mark. as his 41.8 km in 3hrs in the final race of the night shows!!!
Fee I recognised from her unusual name and the photo on the Kep track website, as the 75km second place getter from last years Kep Track race. Any woman that can do a 75km race in 9 hours, is someone special, and so I felt really special myself, to have such wonderful people like Jon and Fee as lap scorers. I fear I may have been a bit harsh with them in my pedantic ways, with the intense mental focus that comes with most of my racing (force of habit over the last 20 years or so, racing at Nationals does that to, you so you bring your A-game to races, mentally...) and a couple of times, their ideas proved to be a better option than I initially thought.

Bernadette also helped me out a few times, in between super soakering people, taking photos, and all the other myriad of things she did thoughout the day.

Jon Pendse kept me up to date on my laps done extremely well, and Fee let me know when I asked her, plus she ran out to tell me when I hit 42.2km (5hrs 43min?), which was very nice of her.
I was mostly hitting about 3 minutes per lap with some 2 minute-2min 30 laps...
Caught up with many wonderful running legends there afterwards including Hunna, young Phil, Aaron, and others...
Memorable day for so many reasons! so glad I went...That night felt a bit sick in the stomach, and took a wrong turn driving home and ended up in Jandakot airport, so maybe the heat, lack of food was getting to me a bit by the end...Incredible day!

Some photos from Bernadette at the start of all 3 races are HERE...

Provisional Results from Nathan;
12hr
David Kennedy 118.491k
Nathan Fawkes 110.484k
Susannah Harvey-Jamieson (QLD) 103.866k
Daniel Kehoe 91.430k
Steven Hince 80.374k

6hr
Mark O'Keefe 59.784k
Robert Donkersloot 57.748k
Kate Sommerville 46.209k
Jonathon Phillips 45.003k
Brian Jackson 39.359k

3hr
Stephen Courtney 42.814k
Jon Pendse 41.988k
Jeff Gray 37.386k
Sean Cooper 34.168k
Team Adams 35.600k

It was 34-36 degrees at the Perth central weather station (probably the closest although its a tossup between Perth Airport, Bickley and Gosnells, even Jandakot too) from 1.30pm to 1830, so the 12 hr runners copped it for 5 hours in the heat, and us 6 hour runners dealt with it for the first 3 hours.
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDW60901/IDW60901.94608.shtml

Fantastic arvo/evening...memorable...
hope I dont have nightmares after 110 .5 laps of the Coker Park track...

UPDATE; I can summon up a colour mental image of a red track with white lines on it, and runners going around it in the twilight or the afternoon heat every time I think of it, in the last 24-48 hours, but yet to have nightmares, been way too tired to dream,k and of course I have shot to pieces quads...

Massive thanks to my wife for letting me do this, to Bernadette for getting me registered in and finding me lap scorers in 2 minutes flat, plus taping my hot spots threatening to be blisters in the last 2 hours etc etc. Big thanks to my lap scorers Jon and Fee. Awesome to see so many familiar legendary faces out there... Thanks to Aaron for the 29km last weekend, without which I would not have attempted this, and to Kate for the battles for much of the 6 hours, that helped keep me motivated and racing! Pathetic prep from me, both long term and short term, but a few of my strategies worked well...Thanks to Coops for the Rev ups towards the end, and to many others for their encouragement, and of course the Creator from whom all blessings come.

some stunning performances out there from some top notch athletes. In particular Dave, Nathan and Suzannah who came all the way from Queensland for this on the 3 figure efforts in the 12 hour, and of course Stephen Courtney in the 3hr race (who won the Perth Marathon in recent years and has very major Comrades experience), and Jon Pendse who led for much of the way I think in the 3hr race... 6inch legend Mark Okeefe on winning with an excellent 59km with Knoddie close behind in 57km, it was that running wide that cost you? ;-), and Kate for going all the way despite the heat in the 6 hour as the only female finisher other than Suzannah. Mick Francis and Bernadette did an awesome job of keeping things running smoothly...

other training this week;
Saturday swam 300m freestyle in 10min 09 secs at local pool.

A non-training week really, but my 45km in the 6 hour race, has saved the day, and probably turned what could have been a backwards week into a forward momentum week...!