Thursday controlled session......

Ouch tough night. A steady 3km warm up around Yokine then some light stretching.

Went into a solid session (for me anyway)

1500m (4m59s)then a 2 minute recovery

1000m (3m8s) then a 1 minute recovery

500m (1m24s) then a 3 minute recovery

1500m (4m55s) then 2 minute recovery

1000m (3m12s) then 1 minute recovery

500m (1m25s)

Easy 3km cool down.

Felt solid tonight...Breathing was a lot better but really notice a lack of fitness in the latter stages of the 1500 and 1000..... A lot more to do....

7 mile night

Don't under estimate the long run.....

I believe the long run is one of the meat and potato elements of a solid running program , especially for the distance runner. It is the staple of marathon runners and for anyone who followed Coe, Snell and the likes both these middle distance legends Incorporated the long run into their program.

For me I see it serving a number of purposes. The first, in the marathon runners case, is that it provides you with a chance to spend time on your feet. This in turn teaches your body to function efficiently over a sustained period of time as well as, in the latter stages of the long run, understand a little about running strong despite feeling weary. lastly it helps build endurance strength.

How long becomes the ultimate question and I guess ultimately this depends on what your standard run is and what you are preparing for in the first place. An ultra runner would run substantially longer that a marathon runner who in turn would expect to cover more ground that a 400m runner. The main aim though is time on your feet to build strength.

From the wombats experience when I was running at my best I was doing regular long runs and even at times when my training suffered it was mu long run that I kept as a constant and in doing so this allowed me to retain a significant degree of strength that I may have other wise lost.

I know this sounds logical however I have beaten runners who were faster than me but not as strong and in turn I have been beaten by runners who I was faster than but not as strong as. The strong runners are usually the guys who make the long run for home when the kickers are happy to wait and not waste strength on a long drawn out battle..

If you are not doing this in your program then it is something that you need to consider....

Barrel on wombats...

Peaks and troughs...

Sometimes I even annoy myself with the small ways in which I manage to avoid doing something mildly unpleasant...

Got home Thursday night after a smashing session (see previous rant) to find that the power was still out, this had been down since 11am, so showering was a very cold bucket over the head. (You see up here where the wombat lives we have tanks to store the rain water and without power we wombats can't get it out because the pumps don't work)....anyway the rain continued most of the night and Friday morning my alarm went off (I use the mobile phone for this) at 5.30am.. it is pouring down and guess what?...still no power.. OK old wombat I ain't gonna run this morning because I wont be able to shower before work and I don't wan to come in from the run freezing cold then not be able to warm up prior to going down the hill.... OK we will run after work and increase the distance a little....

So I go to work looking like a scruff...

Come home Friday afternoon and Mrs Wombat calls to say bring home pizza the power is still out and the family is at the neighbours because they have organised a generator and so are able to run a few lights and more importantly Mrs Wombat and the younglings can shower..shit..shit..shit... OK hold off on the run until after the pizza. This means running with a stitch... that's cool I can deal with that..

Dinner and a chat at the neighbours , still no power, we drive around the block to home put the young ones to bed and I suit up for a run... I step out the door and the heavens open up...bugga... OK token gesture and around the block we go.....

Dry off and into bed cold...

Woke this morning and yes you guessed it, still no power. Not bad for a so called developed country.. I know what you are saying, my choice I live in the hills...Maybe you wont be smiling if the sea levels rise in which case I will have coastal views... pack the car with all the equipment and head off to the local oval to set up for the Auskick program that I run at 9am.. oval under water..OK its 7.45am make a decision time do I start ringing parents and call it off of run with it...n on news, another cold front with showers allegedly coming through... start making calls to give parents the heads up...Sorry guys Auskick cancelled for today try again next weekend. happy to play in the rain but the oval is soaked and possibly another front coming up the hill...

Drive home and the sun comes out and it does not rain again until my evening run... Bugga , live with a shitty decision. Still it could have gone the other way .. comes with the turf.

Power came back on 11am .. ran for 3 miles and enjoyed the wind and the drizzle and the constant mind chatter of "GO Home, Turn around its cold"....

Looking forward to tomorrow and the start of a new week...Just over a month to get into gear for the half ... go baby go..

Barrel on Wombats....

Smashed...

Tough night.... Thursday 21st Easy warm up 3km around the reserve. The session tonight was 1000m 60 second recovery 500m 60 second recovery 500m 60 second recovery 1000m 2 minute recovery 500m 60 second recovery 500m 60 second recovery 1000m 60 second recovery 500m 60 second recovery 500m Then 3km cool down (12km total session)

Really tough tonight and found a few times that I was really at the limit by the end of the rep.
1000m (3.12) 500m ( 1.33) 500m (1.28) 1000m ( 3.17) 500m (1.33) 500m (1.31) 1000m (3.17) 500m (1.31) 500m (1.27).

Barrel on wombats...

Wombat shivers...

Out of the Burrow this morning and onto the track...Cold, wet miserable and windy and I LOVED IT!!!!!!!...

The rains have finally arrived and already the air smelt better this morning. Covered my usual 3 mile Kangaroo Rise Circuit this morning. Quads are a little sore but other than that moved well.

Barrel on Wombats.

Wombat works the week...

OK I am smashed... two runs in a day during the working week. Its been one day and I am already wondering how in the hell I did this all those years ago. I guess I did not have kids but I was still working like the majority of the planet... Its that feeling of waking up tired and going to bed knacked that I seem to have forgotten...

if I had my time again I would not have stopped running (training) in the first place.. The brain gets used to ignoring the body and the body gets used to just going out there and doing it. After a prolonged break the body obviously realises that there is another side to life............ Guess what I would not change it for the world..

This evening I covered another 3 miles at a steady state..

barrel on Wombats

The Wombat's Mornings have started....

AHHHHH!!! for the past two mornings I have woken up and sat in the dark in my burrow pondering about running and preparing to start running so that I can get 2 runs in a day... As a wombat I rally hate the morning , I mean its snug and warm and cosy under my sheets and outside its cold, lonely and bloody dark....

I want to do it but I ain't looking forward to it.... well this morning I did it and after the usual mental abuse that goes on in my head I was out the door and into the dark...My first 10seconds reaffirmed why I did not enjoy running at this time ..It was dark , it was cold, it was slightly windy which was making it colder and more importantly it felt hard because I was stiff... Still if you want to be a wombat you gotta nut it out and nut is out I did. Along the trails, over honky nuts , along fences over the hills and through a mob of kangaroos I trudged on.. the tempo lifted as I warmed up and suddenly the beanie I was running in was not such a good idea because I was getting hot...
Still I battled on, through the cold and the negative self talk and eventually I was 500m from my burrow I had just about completed 11.4km for a midweek morning run... I had beaten myself and gotten out the door and covered the distance.... yes 46min 16seconds of running 4m3s per km. nothing to set the world on fore but another step in the right direction...

AHHHHH could I do it again tomorrow that is the next challenge. (Wonder if Carter was running this morning?)

Barrel on Wombats

Wombat's next challenge...

Sibo in answer to your question after the Busso half the wombat's next challenge will be the Perth half marathon.

I feel like I have made a good recovery from my breathing issues, I covered the Busso half and achieved my goal off an interrupted last week and a half lead up so it is now time to up the anti and start to play in Carter's back yard... They say (not sure who they are) that we older wombats lose some of our speed however we tend to maintain an ability over distance in terms of endurance fitness. Well I think I need to try and step up to the plate again and be a fly in the ointment. This gives me a little over a month to toughen up and get some more tempo runs under my belt as well as get back into the hills (along with my puffer)......


I have managed to get back into the routine of getting out every day despite some of the outings only being 1 mile but at the end of the day I still got out there. I plan to get out twice on day on some occasions which will really test the old constitution.... lets see if the shoe fits you out there.

Keep the comments coming and remember the next time we race the feeling that someone is chasing you may just be the wombat getting ready to "Barrel On by" ..Look out Carter I'm chasing!!!!!!!
Barrel on Wombats

How important is self belief ?....

Sometimes even warrior get stuck with the house choirs and this little black duck is not immune. In an effort to keep Mrs Wombat happy and score some brownie points that will allow me to train after work I trudged through a mountain of ironing last night. The trade off for me was I put a DVD on... One of my favourite ones is "GATTACA" starring Jude law, Uma Thurman and Jude law.

What I like about this movie is that it highlights the importance of self belief but more importantly the the role that desire and passion plays in our every day lives. Any of my followers who have seen this film (released in 1997) will know what I am talking about. To anyone who hasn't then it could be worth a viewing ...and its not a running movie.

Without spoiling it for those who may yet want to see it essentially it explores the realms of genetic engineering and parents pre-ordering DNA to assure their children of success. Of course the main character played by Ethan Hawke is one of the last children born without such fortune and later he has a brother who is.

For me the film high lights my deep held belief that desire and passion more than talent are the essential ingredients to achieving success in anything that we choose to do. I have long said that those of us who may be slightly less talented have to work harder than those who are and because of the fact that you have to work for something you tend to appreciate it a lot more that someone who just gets to take something for granted. Now I don't profess to be talentless as an athlete however at the same time I am by no means the most talented athlete around. I will say that I am prepared to work hard to achieve success or more importantly achieve the goals that I set myself. (some may refer to this as a good work ethic). I have raced against and beaten athletes who I consider to be much more talented that I but when the going got tough they found it too hard. For me on the other hand , well I knew what it meant to push... again I am not saying that I was the guts and glory of the running world...nor the wombat world... but the majority of successful people , athletes , business people etc have all had to work hard to get there...

A person who relies purely on talent , as a general rule, tends to take things for granted , they may not necessarily work as hard as the less talented individual so they don't' face hardship in the day to day struggle of their chosen field and so have difficulty in meeting a challenge of blocker when it appears. .. The battler , the person with desire and passion, the one who has to work understands what it takes to get their,they know what hardship is, they understand struggle so to them when the going gets tough its business as usual...

We have all seen both types of people in our travels, this little wombat could share many stories that highlight this point...

What is hard as a wombat warrior is overcoming the prejudices that people demonstrate towards us when they feel you may be exceeding what they perceive as our limits. They feel the need to place their limitations of their expectations of you onto you despite the fact that you may not place the same limitations on yourself....

While one person sees failure as a reason to give up another sees it as a learning opportunity to improve himself... I mean if someone long ago did not have the courage to set sail in a boat despite the fact that many thought the world was flat where would we be today... It is that sort of courage that each of us must find within ourselves to ensure that we reach our full potential as human beings...

A wombat warrior learns not to listen to the restrictions that others may place on us, unless of course that means they are in a car with a siren and we happen to be speeding, because more often than not others try to restrict you because of their own fears of failure...

I have found that if you don't set goals then you never disappoint yourself and if you never disappoint yourself then maybe your just not working hard enough...

Life is not easy , and it is not made easier by the knockers, but sometimes all it takes is a little self belief , a little self confidence and the courage to step out of your comfort zone for you to achieve great things. .... why not give yourself an opportunity to show the world your wombat and set a goal today......

Amazing what you can think about while doing the ironing and watching a DVD isn't it...

barrel on wombats...

Solid Night for the wombat....

Yeah baby its good to be moving semi well again...

Easy warm up around Hyde park tonight, a lazy three laps of the two lakes followed by some light stretching. A small group for the session which was not a concern because they were all about quality. It was noted prior to the session that a small but rowdy group of drinkers had settled in the park and were preparing to cheer us on. Their words of encouragement , although slurred, were almost inspirational however despite their desire to fornicate with us, something that they expressed rather loudly at times, we all remained focused on the job at hand.

Tonight was about endurance. We were given 3 minutes to run the two lakes and cover as much ground as possible. The first lap was used as a bench mark. At the end of 3 minutes we had 90 seconds recovery. For some this involved a light jog to get back to the initial starting point. For the wombat , well I managed to make my way around the lakes in the time and spent 90seconds sucking air. The aim of the next 5 reps was to cover , at a minimum, the same distance that was covered on the first rep. Obviously as you get tired it becomes harder to maintain the pace and so you work harder to cover the distance and bugger me if the recoveries did not seem to get shorter. It was a tough night..Felt like I coughed up a lung at one stage but it wasn't , only my spleen.

Easy three laps cool down.... Top session of running and things are looking up again.

Barrel on wombats....

May's Wombat training diary...

Fri 1st 3 miles The Loop

Sat 2nd 13 miles (Busso half : Quads are smashed)

Sun 3rd 3 miles The Loop

Mon 4th 8 miles

Tues 5th 1 miles

Wed 6th 3 miles

Thur 7th 7 miles

Fri 8th 1 mile

Sat 9th 3 miles

Sun 10th 1 mile

Mon 11th 6 miles

Tues 12th 3 miles

Wed 13th 1 mile

Thur 14th 2 miles

Fri 15th 3 miles

Sat 16th 1 mile

Sun 17th 3 miles

Mon 18th 6 miles (6 x 1000m surges gradual build in tempo. 2 minute recovery after 3)

Tue 19th 3 miles

Wed 20th am 7 miles pm 3 miles

Thur 21st am 3 miles pm 6 miles (1000/500/500/1000/500/500/1000/500/500)

Fri 22nd 1 mile

Sat 23rd 3 miles

Month Total 94 miles

The Wombat Achieved the goal...1hr 20m 18sec

The goal was set prior to my health scare but a wombat is reluctant to back away and once the vet (GP) gave the all clear the feet hit the ground, albeit it gently and tentatively...

My mileage was considerably down in the days leading up to the event however I was covering 3 miles well enough to think that the additional 9 miles would only add a degree of discomfort to my legs rather than any other real problems... The bags were packed and the drive to Busselton began. (For my International followers this is the Southern region of WA and if you ever travel to the state strongly encourage you to explore all that the South has to offer.)

Traffic was a nightmare and I made a mental note to investigate having a small missile launcher attached to the front of my car to blow up those drivers who drive at 90 in a 110 zone then accelerate to 120 in the dual overtake lane so that you need to be doing 14o to get past them. If you can't get past them in the short time that the dual lane operates then you get stuck behind them and they slow to 90 again..... Such a relaxing drive..

Had a dinner of champions at the Placid Ark Road house, Steak burger , Chico roll and a coke...
Through Bunbury and into Busso to catch up with Carter and his mum. Not happy to discover that CALM has completed a controlled burn and smoke has engulfed the town...A quick suck on the puffer. (mental note , don't panic) Pre-race meal of Ham and pineapple pizza then drove out to Dunsborough where I was to stay with Carter's family. Way to go Mrs C , beat sleeping in the back of the car and I could make a coffee in the morning...

Race day arrived and the wombat was restless.. Would I make it? Would I break down? would my breathing play up? Could the Docker's win? So many questions to consider over my morning coffee...

Drove with Carter back to Busso and watched the swimmers come in... Waited for Trevor to finish his swim. He had phoned to tell me he had placed the race number and bag next to the medical tent. I soon discovered that someone had moved it... So much for that plan. Cruised around and organised new number and wrist tag for myself...

Now the waiting game, Trev was 38 minutes in the water and was expecting a 3 hour bike ride so there was no reason to rush my prep.. I decided not to warm up due to my daily runs being only 3 miles . It would mean that not only was I running 9 miles further than I had previously covered in the last 18 days by warming up this would add more mileage to the day and I needed every bit of energy that I had to get through the run. No warm up I would do that on the first lap and ease into the run over the course.. Drank a bottle of Gatorade then lined up for the toilets (too much fluid)...

Walked around the run /bike transition, the sun was up and so too was the temperature, wombats don't like the sun.... Trev came in 3hr 3m for the ride , almost spot on his prediction... Now it was my turn..My goal was to better the 1hr 27 minutes I took last year...

Out the shoot and the nerves were gone, found a rhythm and settled in, waited for breathing issues ....nothing happened, good that side of me should be OK... moving past the field easily, bearing in mind that most of them had already swum and ridden so make a mental note not to tease anyone because they are a lot more tired than you wombat......

Moving well and catching Colin who went out 5 minutes ahead of me... also, mental note keep and eye out for Greg and Jo , mind you Greg would be on his second lap by the time I catch him and Jo will be tough she left well ahead.) There's Colin.... annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd gotcha Colin, quick yarn, some verbal jousting and back to it.

Feels like I could be moving to fast , should know by the time I hit the mat...24m28s first 7km, (3m29s/km) shit too fast.. back off a touch...no bugger it just keep with the pace that you lock into.. Grab some water, damn more up my nose than in my mouth. (mental note, fold cup over next time to limit the pour area. funny used to just do that without thinking.) Heading back down to the far end of the course. past Kathy taking photos (mental note, wonder how long she will sit there for?)
Shit should not have looked up the breakwater does not seem to be getting any closer....bugga.. don't look up.. yeah and don't think of a red elephant.. good one plonka.. Ok back into steady state running...Quick body scan , feeling good, legs (check) arms (check) Quads (ouch) hang in their guys.. hey there is Greg, bugga he is on his last lap, try to catch him anyway, gotcha Greg quick banter then move on...

back up towards the jetty, man this is so tedious up, back up back,, pass a triathlete who looks to be in trouble , poor bastard that is doing it tough " hang in their champ no far"

OK across the mat again, 28m 55s, (4.07/km) shit too slow don't settle into a rut... lift, lift... Look good for the crowd, low five to the little dude with the hat... and back out to the other end again.. you can go under 1h27m... man is this stretch taking long, don't look up...ahhhhh you looked up..
Quads getting heavy, lift again..beauty back to it. Hey there is Jo, keep working and you can get her.

Past Elvis, round the turn and go go go... closing on Jo, keep chasing annnnd gotcha...Jo is stoked well on her way to a PB and less than 2km to go... Move past her and onto the finish. Quads are screaming and basically feeling rooted... maybe not as rooted as he looks but tired just the same.. past Trev down the chute and yes goal achieved 1hr 20 minutes 18 seconds ..(last 7 km in 26m35s 3.47/km) into the queue for food and a hat....

Very pleased with myself , quads are damn sore but calves are brilliant and my breathing caused me no grief..
Next challenge drive home without my legs cramping ... now where is that missile launcher?

Well done to all those who competed on the day some of you really showed the wombat within yourselves and lived to tel the tale.

Barrel on Wombats...