About Me

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The older I get the better I was... but after many years of idle burrowing the candle of desire is still burning and I have come to realise that running is as much a part of me as my heart and lungs... In Christmas 2008 I was 82kg and was not running a step..This is my journey , the journey of the wombat...Dogged...determined...persistent...and maybe a little grumpy.. but like the wombat my journey is territorial, its about running and I am going to work to protect it...Come along for the ride and see if I can become the wombat warrior. 2009 was a mixed bag for the wombat's journey.A top ten placing in both the Bridges and the City Surf brought a small sense of achievement but also a degree of frustration.... I think I can do better and better I will in 2010. A better run in the Busso Half iron man in support of TV in his swim and bike ride and that was about the extent of my racing. Lets see what happens in 2010 as "My journey Continues". Now in 2011 the wombat will continue his journey, but not alone the wombat has a youngling who knows how to dig. 2015 and its a new beginning , time goes on and the journey to the 2016 World Masters is under way.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Done and Dusted.....

Well I saw a bit of the wombat this Sunday. For me the journey was tough over the 12km.. The difference between the Bridges 10km and Sundays' 12km is that in the 10km race my legs gave out before I was completely smashed. On Sunday my legs felt strong and I sensed that it was an overall lack of strength that was letting me down.

Getting to the top of Selby street hill I had that wonderful dry reach feeling that feels like you backside it going to come up through your mouth...

The overall race was solid and I really enjoyed the competitive nature of the group I managed to get in with. Watching Raf disappear up the hill and the group of chasers following I was quick to settle into a rhythm and climbed through the mad minute group. Around me was the impressionable Doig, Lajos, Dymnicki and Bailie. Over the hill It was easy to see those who would pay the price later and at this point I was around 18th place and fairly comfortable. I lenghtened my stride and let the hill do the work going down the other side. Lajos tucked in behind along with a few others. For me this was not a problem, I felt good and was happy to work. I figured if I was strong enough I would beat this pack anyway.

As we moved through Hay street our group slowly picked up the stragglers. We told them to try and tack onto our group, some did some didn't. Going up Selby Street Hill, Lajos came through and called me on along with Dymnicki and Bailie.

The pace was solid and everyone seemed to be moving well as we crested the hill, at which point I dry reached a couple of times, (gotta love that feeling) gathered myself and chased.

Bailie pulled through the group and began to tussle with DeBoer leaving Dymnicki, Doigy , Lojas and myself to sort things out. High 5s to some of the kids on the sideline as well as giving away my sun visor to a small child got a few cheers. Turning into perry Lakes our group had a solid advantage over the boys we were chasing. On an open road you run the race line which we did, the others stayed well left. A course is measured along the race line...

We turned onto Oceanic Drv (the three sisters, a staged hill) Someone shouted "Go the wombat" at which point I moved past two more competitors as we climbed. Caught and passed Doigy and began to chase Lajos however to his credit he also kicked down..

Bailie was winding up and looked to have covered DeBoer while Dymnicki , with cracked ribs was running a blinder. Coming onto West Coast highway I chased Lajos but the little bugga held me off. Doigy also came past in the closing stages to get both of us... Gotta watch these AFL umpires.

A very happy wombat in terms of placing (10th) but a little disappointed with the time (41m4s) still lots of work to be done for 2010 and " Every Journey begins with a single step".

Congratulations to everyone who competed and a big thank you to all the volunteers on the day.

Barrel on wombats....

Thursday, August 27, 2009

when all is said and done well done is better than well said...

The 'Bradbury principle' has become an accepted Australianism and the wombat for one will be putting that to the test on Sunday....

Bradbury , and alot of people did not realise this, took a very long time to come to terms with his victory and the fact that he won a gold medal at the Olympic Games. He felt that he did not deserve the medal, that athletes better than him should have won... The bottom line is that he toes the line, he got himself firstly to the Olympic games and then finally to the start of the Olympic final... I remember watching the skating and thinking " Bloody hell... you legend" , each time he made it to the next round. He kept putting himself up there and just kept going forward... To me watching this was the living example of " you gotta be in it to win it" and win it he did.. While the other skaters went down in the final Bradbury , the reluctant hero, came through , on his feet, and won the gold...

Maybe what he did not think about at the time was the work that he had put in to get to the games in the first place. The sacrifices that he had made to get to the games. If I saw him today I would say " You deserved it, you did the work and you put yourself into a position to win, and win you did, you did not cheat, you did not take drugs .. you simply won"

To everyone who is running the marathon , the half and the 12km... well done you have covered the ground, you have done the work... Will you win? time will tell... But one thing for sure unless you get to the start line you don't have a hope in hell of finding out..

Like me you will be hoping to see if the Bradbury principle can work for you..... good luck

Barrel on wombats...

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Bugger........

" To be a great champion you have to believe you are ..... if you can't , pretend." At the moment I am pretending.....

The last few weeks have been tough, even for a wombat, with Grandmother wombat suffering a fall and then going into hospital before passing away I spent a great deal of time at her bedside for extended periods. obviously training took a severe hit as did my sleep... No excuses I got through it but the confidence has been dented at a time when I need to be strong both physically and mentally.....

This week I have begun to establish some sort of routine again and have got my head back into a good space....

Spewing about the City to Surf, entered on line but not early enough to get my pack sent out to me so I have to make a trip into the convention centre in the lead up to pick up my race numbers .. bugger... The wombat has managed to jag an A start.

I have concerns about the starting format as it appears to be very messy with us all assembling on the esplanade then moving up to the start line.... Time will tell I guess.

And the Kenyans are in Town , young Courtney Carter seems to be on fire and has been running with them for a number of his sessions which has shown he is in outstanding shape. Running 8x1000m off a 200m float and leading this group was something to behold....

Well followers and occasional readers I will let you know how the wombat fairs in the next few days in an effort to get back on track.... My focus for the next few weeks will be long sustained running again with more of a sustained endurance approach to enable me to maintain a steady and even pace throughout the 12km City to Surf journey.. I have set some personal goals for this event and I have stated publicly that I am not there to make up numbers but then that goes without saying.. I mean anyone who toes the line does so with the belief that they are in with a chance.... " To be a great champion you have to believe you are......" Well I will be pretending and that's all part of the journey.....

Barrel on Wombats..