Its whats under the hood that counts......

Another pretty solid week but again a few disappointments along the way. I know that eventually over time the consistency will return and I need to be patient. Sometimes this is easier said than done. Maybe by looking at the old girl and considering what I have done with her could provide me with some easy lessons.

I bought this old girl back in 1988, back then she was sleek but simple. her lines were a bit rough but she really flew. Tend to do that when your light and drive by a 350 Chev. Over the years she took a few bumps and knocks a

nd eventually we gave her a break. With the young wombats coming on the scene it was time to dust off the cob webs and give her a bit of a birthday.

Like me she still had the basic structure and lines. The foundations we

re there to build on. The same can be said for this old battle hardened wombat. The basic bones are still there and I just need to do the work to get back into shape. With the old girl I took out the 350 and did some work before having the major sections stripped and refitted at Chev power. Then me and a few mates remounted the motor and finished up the insides. The end result was an old girl with a new lease of life. While her shell is still a little tattered and maybe some of the shine has gone from her gel coat its whats under the hood that counts. When I put my foot down after dropping in the dog clutch the prop bits the water and she lifts. While she may not be the fastest girl off the start once she winds up she chews up the distance slowly eating into the fastest boat.

After a couple of sessions now with groups I have noticed the same thing. I may not be the fastest individual off the start but slowly and surely I can close the gap between myself and the rear of the field. Like the old girl I may have gained a few founds and created a few more wrinkles over the time but at the end of the day I still have a motor that needs to be used. If I can clean the rust off and get all the valves firing there may still be some life in the old boy yet.

Thursday night I did some work with Raf's group at Yokine. Trying to keep the group honest while skipping between the various packs. Next Thursday will be a solid fartlek style session with the aim of working around speed adjustments during the run.

Friday this week was a lazy 5 miles and then I just crashed at home. I think the heat and the week of work and training has taken its toll. I know that I really had a coffee run on Monday around Guildford with the heat and humidity almost being debilitating.

Hoping that today and Sunday will be considerably better. Hope to see you out there.

Barrel on wombats...

Solid Week and a track viewing...

The heat has not helped the training but I have been pleased that I have continued to slug it out rather than regress eating snack foods and

drinking beer. This tends to negate the overall training effect and I end up putting weight on again. (Goal weight 65kg)

Ran on the Thursday with Raf's group at Yokine and just cruised around with Josh and Raf. Impressed by a little fella, Mikey, who chased Jas and Dale all night. Pretty warm night but got the laps done and they go into the diary.

I have been doing some smaller weight workouts in the shed along with some modified core work in an effort to strengthen the core and also the glute max. At the moment this just seems to make me sore, hopefully the extra work will pay off in the long. I know it will actually, just want it to happen now and not later.

Went down to the track on Friday ni

ght to give the boys a cheer in the 5km. Each and every time I go to the track I think how lucky these guys are. the track is magnificent

and the fact that the distance events can be run under lights, with very little wind is a far cry from the 1pm schedule with either it being 40 degrees in the shade or blowing a gale at the old site in my time. I guess prior to Perry Lakes the runner before wold have said the same thing when they used to run on Leederville.

The race was pretty solid. A very good pack formed early and they boys worked even laps of 70-71s for the first 8-9 laps. The group of Marc, Josh, Ethan, Thomas, Raf, Roberto all were in the mix until Marc put his foot down and stretched the group. Very impressed with Raf who got into a rut with 4

laps of running left. he could have easily settled into Roberto's rhythm but rather ran around him in the front straight and chased Thomas. This paid off and he soon caught Bruin and locked onto Eth

an's back. See ran hard and stretched a lead out on Ethan over the remaining 4 laps to take a comfortable win in a Pb. Unofficial around 14m36s. Raf also turned out a Pb for third place behind Ethan in around 14m47s unofficial.

Coddi, the White Knight, was also on the track and copped a fair bit of Sledging for his choice of running apparel. Many of us thought that this was the reason he spent 95% of the race running in no man's land.Later that night I enjoyed a solo run , in the dark around Perry Lakes and the surrounding streets.

This morning's Sunday run was also pretty warm and I made a start from the Approach Road Get heading out along the quarry before dropping down into Helena Valley and running out along the pipeline. Saw Barts heading out as I returned along the route but the boys had not started en mass from the car park by this stage so It was very much a solo run this morning for the wombat.

Looking forward to the next week and will keep you posted on the weeks progress.

Barrel on Wombats...

Well done Perth....

It's been a long time since I was up at 5am preparing for an event and the sound of the alarm was pretty harsh to wake to. The young wombats were taking part in the Weetbix Try-athlon down on the Perth Swan River Esplanade.

My oldest had to be registered between 7am and 7.30 so the youngest had to get ready at the same time to be leaving the burrow by 6.15am. The morning at home was calm as the boys had prepared the night before and a light breakfast saw us getting underway almost spot on time.

The Perth weather was fantastic clear Sky's and a cool breeze initially however it did warm up by mid morning. This mornings event was part of an Australian series of event for kids to encourage them to get active. No times are taken, no placings are given. The emphasis is on participation and completing the course. Having said that each kid had his or her own gaols set and the look of determination on their faces was wonderful to see.

The series is the biggest mass participation event for kids world wide and the Perth leg saw 2180 kids taking part raging in ages from 7 -15.

While there were a few minor hiccups the overall event was run bloody well and the organisers needed to give themselves a massive pat on the back. Kids were swimming , riding and running but above all they were really getting into it.

The swim leg varies in distance for the 7 -10 age group and the 11 - 15 age group and this year the Swan was high enough for the kids to actually swim. The ride leg takes place on a traffic free course along riverside drive and the final run is completed along the Esplanade. The kids are cheered and clapped by everyone and even us parents are well behaved and seem to understand that today is not about winning but giving our kids a positive experience with a competitive sport.

My two wombats had a ball and while it was the first time for my youngest this is the fourth time for my oldest. Well done Tri Australia you did yourself proud today. As for Perth well , the foreshore was being used for what it was intended for , families and kids having fun.

Barrel on Wombats.....

Gutted......

Work has finally got the better of me and I have managed to miss a training run, not the end of the world but really annoyed that I let time get away from me and I missed the session.

I think I need to heed the words of Biscuitman and really focus on running in the morning just so I can get the distance covered without the stress of work.

The week has been good , running daily over the standard 5 miles and can feel some strength starting to develop as well as my confidence in my own fitness. So all in all the week has been outstanding...

Caught up with Raf during the week and it looks as if the wombat will be getting back his old stomping ground down at Yokine reserve. Only this time it will be in the capacity of coaching . may try and train prior to the other arriving so I can focus on the group.

The weather has most definitely warmed up and there is tension building around parky with the conditions for fires being bloody dangerous at the moment. Last week end we got off lightly and already today there has been another fire down the road this morning.

Tomorrow is the young wombats day in the spot light with both the little guys taking part in the junior Sanitarium kids try-athlon. The focus is on competing and finishing and the Perth Esplanade is just awash with kids of all ages, shapes and sizes having fun doing physical activity with the Swan river as their backdrop.

Anyway followers its time for me to start thinking about hitting gravel track from Drucker's store and getting some easy mileage into the legs. so until next time...

Barrel on wombats...

The weekend can be a time to build....

For the same reason that Australian athletes of all shapes, sizes and ability levels travel to Falls Creek every year the weekend can work in the same way. As a very young wombat I read about Derek Clayton and it was during this time of the week that he did a phenomenal amount of work. In fact eh was almost animalistic in his approach to training and the weekend.

As a wombat who works full time, and always has even as during my hay days, the weekend was a time to do some solid work. This came about for two reasons, again similarly to Falls Creek, there are no interruptions from work and there is time to rest between sessions. (Well this held true until little wombats arrived on the scene.)

Ideally you could get a Friday run done, wake Saturday and smash a morning session, recover, put in s light gym workout, recover, do the evening run, sleep, wake for the Sunday long run, recover (sleep) and then hit out the Sunday afternoon run. It also was a time where you could do some big mileage. Again because there was plenty of time to recover.

The same is a bit harder to achieve during the working week when a busy day of decision making, dealing with people and trying to manage a work site can leave you feeling flat prior to a session or run.

The Sunday long run is also a bonus of the weekend for those who train in the morning during the week. During the week if you over sleep its often a case of cutting the am run short. On the Sunday run if you over sleep it just tended to mean that you just ran a little bit later and possibly meant that you were a bit late for the family reunion that you did not really want to attend anyway.

Think of the weekend as a session within itself and use the time to recover, build and strengthen those things that you can't work on during the weekday....

Barrel on wombats...

Another week added...

Pretty stoked, the old wombat has returned to work and through maybe good planning and a bit of luck I have managed to maintain the daily runs.

I am a little weak minded in that I just have not pulled my finger out and started running in the morning. Put simply its just me being weak and letting my sleepy brain over rule my " lets run" brain. As Mrs wombat keeps telling me.." If you get the run done in the morning the afternoon will become a bonus in terms of mileage." (I hate it that she's right)

Had to do a couple of runs which involved running around the block 5 times to get the 5 miler done because I had left it too late but at least its runs on the board. As the legs get stronger I feel that I can start asking more from them however I am very wary of too much too soon. Especially after blowing it last year in the lead up to the bridges and the masters games.....

Old and wiser but also fearful of stuffing up the hard work tends to hold you back a little , time will tell I guess....

One of my training partners turns 50 tomorrow so its off to Port Beach, will attempt to get the long run done prior to heading out. Again this will involve some battle in my head about getting up. I just don't enjoy running first thing in the morning on squeaky legs. Oddly enough when I occasionally wake up at 3am to go to the toilet the legs and ankles move better than they do when I actually wake up at 6am but I am not going to go for a run at 3am.... or maybe I should.

Anyway crew hope all is going well with your own trials and tribulations and the goals and targets are clear and the mind set is right...

Barrel on wombats...

Work begins and so too does the struggle...

I said earlier that the test for me would be once work starts again and so it has been. It has certainly slowed down the blogging but it has also tested my resolve to continue the uphill climb. While my job has a degree of flexibility that others may not have. My desire to do the best I can in the job does mean that I tend to work longer than some would. This impacts on my family and my training. It is important that I ensure I can establish and maintain the balance.

As it currently stands once week back I have not maintained the balance but I am certainly getting my run every day. This despite the fact that it is getting done in the dark and involves laps of the loop. I don't mind running in the dark, I don't like running laps.

I have scrapped in the 5 milers for the last week and even still got the long run done. The long run being considerably easier because it occurs on the weekend.

I am holding the 6m50s to 7 minute mile average for the runs which is pleasing and I seem to have had a few more runs which have felt comfortable. The tables are obviously turning so this is good.

A few times when I have spoken at seminars and indeed to athletes or runners I have made the important point that you need to plan your training for times when you know you can realistically get it done. During the holidays this was easy. While I am back in work mode this is made considerably harder. To put my money where my mouth is I am going to have to toughen my resolve and start getting then big run done in the morning before the family become active and before the schedule of the day clutters my diary.

I will let you know how that goes. What I can say though is I have a plan and if all goes to plan then things should work out well. If things don't go to plan then I will fall back on plan B. Running in the dark around the Loop.

Barrel on wombats...