Long run at Moneghetti camp saves the week

It was a big slice of runners paradise on the Moneghetti camp, with scintillating memories of the marathon master Moneghetti, Radar and all the legends, the cafe, the Physio, basketball, the river, pine forests and native bush and some more hilly 6 foot training during my long run on the Sunday.

On the Sunday I was able to log 2hrs 56min over about 23km of trails, (HR 135 at end) including some very good hills towards the end, as we found our way back to the road after our little divert to the south east adventure. Even stopped to try and pick some blackberries.

On the Saturday to fire up my weekend warrior effort for this week, in the AM I struggled to cope with the Fartlek and warmdown run, and in the PM did about 37min of trails.

2 weeks to go. The very invigorating times and insights at the camp could be of great value.
Hopefully I have enough in the bank for a successful 6 foot 45km trails race in Sydneys Blue Mountains. I think I do have what it takes, but it won't be until several hours into the race that I know for sure.
Im nervous, just want to get to the start line healthy, and ready to give it a good shot. Its been a goal for about 6 years since I did the first 6 inch 46km in 2005, with my (photos)26 minute PB at 6 inch in December 2010 (and a 9 minute PB at 6 inch 2009), I am hopefully as ready as I have ever been. Just a little worried that I have slacked off a bit since 6 inch in December, but the residual strength should still be there especially as I have maintained with zigzag run with C team, 35km Australia Day 4 hour slog in the heat, nearly 3 hours at the Mona camp, hill reps on my local roads, and the lesmurdie 2hour run with Aaaron and BBC covering 400m+ of elevation...These runs give me confidence that I can survive 6 foot and successfully finish in my first go at it. I'd like to have done a whole lot more training, and my mileage although improved has still not really hit the level I want, not even close, but although my training momentum and progression is slow, it is heading in the right direction... So hopefully I can get to the finish in under 7 hours. If things go well I will try for various time goals.

blazing away with a 29 second 200m in a 5000m race

With 6 foot only 3 weeks away, I need to get onto some hill reps soon, and have about 14-18 days to get some more runs in, but don't want to do anything too extreme. Main thing is to get to start line with minimal injury issues, and enjoy the race, avoiding the sweepers, and maybe I can go sub 6 hours on the day....
was hoping to get up to Darlington for a run with the C-team, but didn't get there, lack of petrol money was one of the reasons.
Finishing the 6 foot track... 45km in the blue mountains in under 7 hours, has been a major goal of mine for about 6 years, hoping I can make it in 21 days time.

Sunday 20th December 0800;
Ran 5x1km hill reps HR's 150-171, with 1km recovery run in between each rep.
54m of ascent and 16m of descent on each hill rep. Total elevation for session 270m.
Times; 5.11 (HR-??), 5.08 (HR-165), 4.50 (HR-171), 5.50 (HR 150), 5.22 (HR-162).

Found this really easy compared to when I did 3x1km hill reps in early January.
Worked hard on the 3rd rep to be only 8 seconds off my best time for this course.
Took it easy on the 4th and 5th reps, and I could feel the work on my calf muscles on the 4th rep especially.
Overall thats good news that I am getting stronger hill strength wise, but its obvious I need tougher steeper hills than this. The Lesmurdie run 2 weeks back with over 400m of elevation must have paid dividends. So Ive got 2 more weeks to try and find some steep hills again. Stirling Ranges would be ideal, but I dont think I have the time or money for that. The hills near Nanga will help a bit on the Moneghetti camp next weekend, but I still need more...
So a good session this one, but I think I need something a lot tougher...Have to head for the Darling Range as soon as I can...

Friday 18th December 2011 2000hrs;
Ran 5000m track race in 23min 31 secs HR 174 at end. 1k splits 4.05 /4.52/ 5.03 /4.55 /4.36
Hit the lead just before 200m mark, and was surprised to take only 29 seconds for the 200m this time, compared to 32 seconds on 10th December 2010 (the last time I raced a 5000m at WA Athletics Stadium). Managed to stay in the lead until about 250m or so maybe close to 300m, so my wife and 2 young kids got to see me in front, cos they all came to watch. I know it was a very exciting night especially for 3 year old Jacob to be there. It was a tough mission to get all 4 of us there, but overall I think our whole family enjoyed the experience, and are better for having been there.

Top 5 all in the 14 minute realm, and Raf Baugh was a close 3rd.
1 See, Marc SSN 14:38.6h 2 Heywood, Ethan SSN 14:44.4h 3 Baugh, Rafael AWA 14:46.7h 4 Bruins, Thomas UWA 14:54.6h 5 Busi, Roberto AWA 14:59.9h
See HERE for full results...Cody and Gerry had to settle for 6th and 7th in 15.25 and 15.51. Paul Mitchell there for 8th in 16.09. Four DNF's. The lead pack was large and aggressive, partly due to my pacemaking efforts maybe??? Possibly some photos coming on Codys blog maybe...

In an 800m race just before ours; Chris Deboer (I remember when he first started making state teams many, many years ago, when I was competing for the UWA club) got beaten by a Canning Districts runner Jace Collingridge in the 800m in 1.49!…

Anyhow back to my race. First 400m was 75secs (200m splits 29/46), and by 400m most of the field had passed me. I think I can run 200m in 27 or quicker on that fast track, maybe quicker, as I had some troubles getting my watch to start early on and lost a second or so sorting that out in the first 100m plus just feel I could find a bit more…However I think we had about a 2.6m tailwind in the front straight so that might have a bit to do with it. Still amazing at almost 37 years of age with an awful technique I am getting close to the 26.9 200m I did at interschool sports in 1985 as an 11 year old. So basically a great first 200m, hung in there ok for the first 1k, then struggled to hold together just under 5min per K, and couldn’t hit the 1.45-1.50 400m splits I needed to threaten my 21.49 5000m track PB. Solid kick for the finish with a 4.36 last 1k (last 400m 98 seconds), without really going for broke.
No full blooded kick to the finish = low finishing heart rate of only 174. Partly due to trying to avoid a stitch.

Overall its a mediocre run, but all I can expect with only the 2 slowish 500’s sessions in recent weeks. If I want the time I have to get some track sessions done. Nice to dip under 4.45 per K anyhow despite not really being ready to race. Just sick of spending the whole year not showing up to race cos I don’t feel ready physically and/or not well trained enough.

Listened to a lot of aggressive speed metal on a Deliverance compilation album(A decade of DELIVERANCE which features the previously unreleased track Rescue) a very hard to find but legendary song! which didn't make the cut for the WOOW album, and some aggressive industrial music (Fearful symmetry)(Black (in the alone), especially reminds me of the classic Deliverance speed metal pedal to the metal attack), while cranking out one of my best days at work so far in the new job (since November) today, so I was in an extremely aggressive racing mindset, and so very mentally ready to race. Managed to delude myself into thinking maybe I could run in the 21’s but reality set in at about 700m-2k, when I realised the spirit was willing but the weak body was not ready as usual. Plus was keen to see how Raf went.

Still glad I showed up, and very beneficial I think for our whole family to be there…hopefully next time I will have a stack of good track sessions under my belt. Nil injury issues also a good sign. just over 3 weeks until 6 foot, Moneghetti camp fast approaching, and maybe in late March or later I can finally post some good times/challenge the PB’s. But for now good just to get a solid race done…

Monday 14th February Ran 8km in 39min 57 HR 180 at end.
4km splits; 19.56/20.01
Nice to smash the 40min barrier for 3rd time on this hilly street circuit.
More than a minute off the course PB I did in December of 38.40…but one of my best runs this year for sure…
heart rate pretty high at the end, after kicking strongly for home in the last uphill km in an attempt to sneak under the 40 minutes. Mission accomplished by 3 seconds.
Started with 4.30 in the first downhill K, and lugging my 82kg spare tyre along seemed hard…The 60-70% humidity resulted in more than 1kg of fluid loss (mostly sweat) during this run.
Managed to find a 4.10 K with a tailwind on the nice flat section, followed by a 4.35 into headwind on the flat section, which gave me a 5k split of 24.35 battling headwinds in the second half of this run, but managed to get under 35.30 for 7k which was my hastily devised target time with a 35.24, so I knew I was half a chance to get under the 40, and kicked hard for home with an uphill 4.33 last K… Pleasing run…

Celebrating my promotion from waitlist to confirmed entrant in 6 foot with some better runs this week…...

4 weeks until 6 foot!!!!!!!

Well its 4 weeks until 6 foot now, so getting close and as of today I am finally off the waitlist and a confirmed entrant. I was quietly confident this would happen for a long time, but its taken longer than I thought it would, and its just a relief to finally be over that significant hurdle. Ive tried not to be anxious about it, but its been a 2 month wait, that has been hard to ignore. Trainingwise this week was a bit of a wipeout, although I did do;
1. 20.5km long run saturday 2hrs 33min trails HR 120,
2. 7km on Tuesday @ 5.17 per Km...HR only 153...and
3. slow 9.5k on Friday (52min 18).
In general, between niggles and trying to step up at work, deal with 6 foot entry this week, (I had to juggle borrowing money for entry fee with work commitments) and other hassles its been a bit of a dud week, although the 37km done will ensure I dont lose too much ground.

In the 6 foot 100 day mileage challenge as of Saturday I had clocked up 84km for my February total and was on track for about 200km for the month, which gives me a chance of beating my January total of 201km, but I want to do more than that...I have 15 days to turn it around...and try and at least make it to 250km or maybe 300km...

I figure Ive got 1-2 more weeks to try and put in some good long runs, and about 3 more weeks to try and work on my hills stuff, and general fitness, speedwork etc. After that its race day and hopefully the Zig Zag run, the 35k on Australia day, the 13k with almost 500m elevation at Lesmurdie, my 6 inch PB of 5.49 in December, and the Black Swan hillreps I have done will help me finish 6 foot well...

R has constructed this awesome little vid based on his and BBC's real life experiences...see
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/11084665/

My track racing plans have fallen by the wayside unfortunately. Its not too late to resurrect them, but my motivation and opportunities are dwindling each week that I fail to get on track for that. So not giving up on a return to track racing, but not sure when it will be, (could be this Friday if all goes well, or it could be in a few weeks, after 6 foot, or April, maybe wait until October or whatever)...Anyhow I have more important priorities unfortunately just now, and until they are dealt with track racing continues to be pushed into the low priority basket....

So not a good week, not a useless week, but more a hanging in there maintenance week than anything else. But at least I can plan for 6 foot now in the knowledge that my entry is taken care of...so Thanks God for that.

Thanks to everyone who has encouraged and helped me, I hope to put some good results on the board soon, and build on the 2 years of 6 inch PB's and the 4.05 Melbourne Marathon last year, the 46min Freo 10k and the 22min 5k races plus the 7.55 2k last year, and hopefully see some good results... Moneghetti camp coming soon, so that should help renew some optimism. If I had the money and time I'd be at a Physio or Chiro for both me and my wife, as we both need it for several niggles that are frustrating both of us.

lesmurdie busso half and 500s

Photos from an epic, tough, steep, glorious Lesmurdie run. Massive thanks and respect to A and BBC for this one. Me very happy, although the freaky fall was a painful one...
In brief;
our internet is down again my calf is very sore (and with icepack on right now) after busselton half (BUSSELTON RESULT HEREmy wounds from my scary fall on 13k lesmurdie 460m elevation trail run are healing our bills r stacking up and i am blogging with my mobile phone which is very! Slow and laborious. Monday 5.6k run 34min
tuesday-small 16second improvement to 11.35 for 6x500m 1.49 my best one
wednesday 13k 1hr45min 460m elevation steep!scarp hills! Glorious views
Photos above...

saturday 1min better than last year 1hr 51min 41secs (Busselton Half) so
first 1k 4.11 5k 23.53
sunday 8.4km 46min hr 153 strong winds icepacked calf 3 times today first 500m sore every step then pain gone sore again after the run but then calf felt better during 90min walk with some jogging with my wife and two young kids
so some high intensity this week but no big long run but if the calf heals quick im making progress the bills getting veryery! Hard to deal with desperate times again but high hopes we can get past it all god willing thats 3 weeks of solid ttraining banked but no big result in my first race of the year need to be patient and try to persist.

In Detail;
Internet connection back so have added photos and no longer have to try and type using tiny phone keypad...


feeling a whole lot more positive now that I have moved up the waitlist for 6 foot again AND my entry for BBC's summer training comp has been accepted. wuhoo!


Sunday 6th feb;
Ran 8.4km in 46min 26 (5.31 per K) HR 153…
Last of 12 laps was my quickest. Basically a test run to see if my sore calf could survive a few laps. i icepacked it 3 times during the day, and wasn’t very confident to start with…It weas sore with every step for the first 500m and at that stage I figured maybe a km or so and then I would call it a night and take a few days off…Then the pain disappeared which suggests to me that once the muscles warmed up the injury was no longer sore…no major problems for the next 7-8k…, although I took it a little easy…strong easterly wind to push into…found some good rhythm and I am pleased to get a solid run on the board that gets me over 50km and 300min for the week, and takes me to 47km for my February total in the 100 day challenge…
After the run the calf got sore again as my muscles cooled down…a 90 minute walk with my wife and kids plus some jogging with my 3 year old (he is getting quite quick now…) and it started to feel good again so hopefully just a painful niggle that will heal itself in the next few days…


Saturday 5th February
Ran Busselton Half Marathon in 1hr 51min 41 secs. HR 171 at end.
10.55km splits 54min 18secs / 57 min 23 secs
-Its a minor miracle I made it to the start line for this one, a 3hr solo drive starting at 0330 to get there an average of 2hrs sleep the last 2 nights, a massive struggle to get the petrol money to go there.
-Its also a minor miracle I managed to beat last years time by 69 seconds (therefore a small course record for me), after battling sore left calf for most of the race, strong winds, weariness from the wednesday trail run, no targeted training, and an unscheduled toilet stop in the first 10k…Finished strongly and my drinks strategy seemed to work well. Was blessed with some people to battle with in the last few km. Disappointing not to get closer to the 1.41 Half PB, but that can wait for another day, although it will be a long wait as Darlington clashes with 6 foot, and Freo Half is probably too close to Melbourne, my main race since 2007. I think Perth needs a few more Half races., I guess there is Bunbury, Albany and City to Surf.
Nice to finally get a race on the board for 2011. Really like this course. A good solid hitout. Will be very beneficial and hopefully I can do a few more like this in training.


Wednesday 2nd February
Ran 13km in 1hr 45min 27 secs Elevation gain about 460m maybe.
Followed BBC and A up some tough terrain trails, with some long very steep uphills and downhills.
At times I struggled to keep them in sight, and at other times I ran ahead of them, but mostly I was struggling more than them I think. Took one gatorade and one 750ml water. Just enough. A lot of bullants, one crawled up my leg.
Towards the end my shoelace caught on a treestump as it was getting dark, which shredded my shoelace, and cause me to fall resulting in big cuts to the arms, and a cramping right calf muscle. Minor cut to left knee. Hopefully no major injury issues, and just a war wound from the run. Fantastic run prep for 6 foot I think. Scintillating views of the city,coastal plain, waterfall, perth airport. One of the toughest, and most enjoyable runs I have done in a long time. Really happy to get the opportunity to do this one. One tough hill in the second half the run was just so steep and went on and on for ages…Towards the end me and A had a bit of a sprint off in the dark…what a fun night of trail running…!!!

Tuesday 1st February 2011;
Ran 3km of Intervals on grass track in 11min 35secs. 3.5min rests Heart rates 168-186, but mostly around the 174 mark… 16 second improvement on total time for identical session in first week of January, although in perfect conditions this time (other than the strong southwesterly wind which made it hard work up the front straight, but a nice tail wind in the backstraight.), and also this time the track was well marked so I could concentrate on the session a bit more instead of searching for the track all the time, or trying to cope with excessive heat/humidity mixes… Very pleasing to improve significantly. I think if I can ramp up the fitness enough, eventually 3.40 per K should be possible for this session. Will probably have to do some speed drills and improve my running technigue If I am to go much into the 3-3.30 per Km realm…First 100m was 18 seconds, and with the tailwind I was hitting 20 seconds for first 100m and last 200m, but my 300m-400m sections were very slow about 27 seconds for the 100m, and I think my front straights (200m-300m) were slow also due to the headwind…
Overall lots to work on but a good session this one.


Monday 31st; Ran 5.6km in 34min 6secs HR 129 at end…Pathetic….mostly ran to get my January total above 200km, and to try and get my day off to a better start…oval was a mess of temporary fencing and portaloos leftover from the concert that got cancellled due to the TC that didnt show up…what a shambles…a bit like my training at the moment…although my mileage the last 2 weeks has been very solid…

Solinsky Lagat Mottram 5000m showdown March 3rd

March 3rd,2011 Melbourne, D-day!...looking forwrad to hearing how this one goes, hope to either be there or get some youtube footage of it, maybe on TV...what a showdown of a race...some big guns in this one...
Tegankamp another sub 13minuter, Birmingham and St Lawrence also there too...