Helena on Mass.....

This Sunday, as I said earlier, I had to get a very early start and was running along the pipeline well before the usual start. Over the last few weeks there has been a small group of 3 or 4 and we would pass a couple of others a long the way.

During my solo run out along the lower pipe and to the base of Kelly's climb and a return along the upper pipe there are many opportunities to see the lower pipe trail. On this occasion I could hear what appeared to be a large group progressing along the lower pipe. As the group came into view I was amazed to see a solid group of at least 15 runners. The pack was moving well and there were some distinct voices amongst the group.

What impressed me is that I have not seen a group of this size running through the trails for many years. In actual fact I would say not since the late 90s when Sullivan, Hambleton, Clews, Delbridge, Eltringham and the likes used this area as their training ground. Many of the groups tend to run along the flats and inner city regions maybe due to their reluctance to travel but possibly also justifying that they were doing the same work as they would be doing along the flats. In a pack like this if you are feeling ordinary you can just sit in the group and get pulled along. There will always be someone who is willing to lead and lead at different stages.

A few weeks ago a runner joined us for the first time along the pipeline and made the comment that no wonder your guys are strong. While he made the distance we have not seem him since. A similar comment was made at a training seminar last year when I guy I used to race against made the comment that he did not realise how hard we worked. This surprised me as I assumed most runners got up to the hills for obvious reasons.

Maybe in hind sight it was not that we were doing anything differently its just where we were doing it. To me a run along the pipeline at Helena valley is going to make me a lot stronger than a similar run along the river.

A long run over undulating terrain has the benefits of teaching you to sustain a pace over a long period of time over undulating terrain. After a while you don't even think about it, you hit a hill and work harder to maintain the rating. you run the flat sections and maintain a steady state.

As a young wombat Helena was not my original haunt. It was actually Jacoby Park. On most Sunday mornings I would make the trip from Morley up to Mundaring Weir and run an extremely testing (I thought so at the time) 9 mile loop. Brad Delbridge and myself latter added a few turns onto this and brought it up to 10 then 12 miles before getting to the point of running two 9 mile loops. Runners like Sullivan, Hambleton, Hicks, Shatford, Thurlow,Asmussen, Clews and DeCastella (when he came over) often opted for the out and back run.The girls also got up there to0. Freestone/Sullivan, clews and Hoskins (out for 9 back for 9)This run had two significant climbs. One out the back of the weir and the other as you got close to home which ran up past the bush airstrip. On the 9 mile loop while there were smaller climbs along the route we still took i the climb up past the airstrip. These long steady climbs taught us how to maintain rhythm on a climb , something we could not find in Perth otherwise. It was also bloody cold up there in winter. We eventually shifted from Jacoby when the began to clear the pines and it got a bit barren in sections. Felt a bit like running on a moonscape.

Anyway my point was /is its great to see runners up in the hills again building strength and sharing jokes on a long run regardless of club and alliances. This is what makes falls creek such a great training venue, everyone comes together for 2-5 weeks of intense training.

As an aside this is not a special club , its just a group of runners. If you feel the urge to run meet at the bottom of the road that runs past the Helena Valley PS. At the end of the bitumen it goes to gravel . The majority of the group kick off from here. Some start from the primary school and run down and some kick off from the Helana valley IGA. The course is run along an out and back for anyone who does not want to go up Kelly's climb ( about and hour 30 loop from the bottom car park if you do go up the hill) and can be as long as you want it. you can run to the weir if you have the urge. From the school this takes about 80 minutes so a round trip would be 2hr 40min.

Up too you...

The wombat has actually been parking at Victor rd gate and running around to the car park to meet up with Courts, Tamblin and See.....

Barrel on wombats...

The Nocturnal Wombat....

Some weeks seem to be tougher than others and this week was one of those. If it was not for the full moon or should I say bright moon, visibility would have been a huge problem. Work and a few other factors have meant that the wombat has had to go nocturnal. Not a huge drama considering that to run at 5pm would have meant melting....... But running at 1030 and 11pm has knobs on it...

Why run then I hear you say ...... BECAUSE I can.... and I don't want me to see myself as being weak.... AS a young wombat things were easy. you ate, parents paid the bills and you ran . Basically I was the selfish runner that I needed to be to achieve certain goals. Getting a job, getting married and having young wombats changes all that. If I miss the window between work and getting home to train then I have to do the night stalk.

Don't get me wrong running late at night when the day time temperatures are in the 40s is fantastic. Apart from the odd Kangaroo that scares the shit out of me (I knew I should not have gone and seen Wolfman) things are good. The problem is that it takes me a good hour settle after a run so I am not getting to bed until midnight 1 am. not good if you need to work the next day....

Hopefully a little less stressful at work this week coming and I can establish a good routine again.
Went down to the track last night to watch the 1500m, nearly stepped on the track myself but gave myself a reason not to.... ( looked hard) Great to see a group of young runners getting around in some solid times. Mark See again ducked under 3.50 for a good win and Carter took 3 seconds of his Pb to clock a solid 3.51.47 unofficial. (Courst old man Wombat still has 0.17 up on you)I am looking forward to seeing these boys give the 8.12.6 for the 3km a bit of a shake up in the near future.

Went for a steady run with Tamblin, See and Carter through Perry lakes after the race (another dark run). Tonight was a dark run again with a trip up to Beverly to see the wombat in laws....Tomorrow will be early as its a family day so I need to be out and back before 8.30am...

Always makes for a fun morning when I need to be up before the sun...Might see some of you out there.....Watch for the wombay Mr Nuttan.......

Barrel on Wombats......

He aint heavy he's a wombat......

Thought I might put a picture of one tough son of a wombat " Mona" on my blog today. This is a photo of the old man himself making the home run from Spion Kjope one of the very testing and tough runs at Falls Creek this year.... Having run this 14 mile course myself I know how bloody hard it can be. There have been times when the weather comes in and visibility is almost zero but I guess its these things that make you a runner and Mona was certainly that.

Its fantastic that he is coming to Perth in a few weeks to run a camp at Nanga. This is going to provide those who get along to it a great opportunity to not only run with this wombat of all wombats but a chance to talk with him. Having trained with him for long periods on some of the Australian teams I managed to scrap into I know that he will have some stories to share.

Falls Creek is certainly one thing I miss about being really fit. It was always great to get into the mountains and just train eat and sleep for 3 -5 weeks. In that time you did some fantastic session but you also got to do with some of the best runner in Australia with the occasional import thrown in.

This week is looking to be a bloody grind. Sunday was just hard from the word go. I went to a 40th and did not drink so that I would not be hung over for the Sunday long run. Drinking coke and water but still woke up feeling like I had been on the turps all night. parked at Victor Road gate and run across the river bed to meet with Courts, Tamblin and See. From here we went out along the lower pipeline to Kelly's climb picking up Nuttan along the way. Nuttan turned slightly before the hill. while Courts, See and Tamblin went on and up I turned at the hill base and came back along the upper pipe. Felling like absolute shit I decided to try and lift myself by chasing Nuttan hoping that at every turn I would see the man who defies anatomical reasoning by running without the use of knees. (He's got them , just does not use them).

At the point where I had decided I would run fast until I caught him even if it meant going further than I had intended Stew Denton, who was on his way out, informed me he was only a 100 or so meters ahead.. Needless to say I managed to catch him coming up past the water treatment plant. A small victory on an otherwise tough grinding outing.

Tonight was the same, while the young wombats were doing tennis I ran up the the old railway track to Coppin Road from Glen Forest. Again it was a mind game the whole way. While the subconscious was shouting to stop I was consciously saying to myself at the nest tee I will turn and the next tree I will turn but each time running on until eventually I got to the road. Angry with myself for being a weak bastard I pushed down the incline to get home a solid 2 minutes quicker than my effort going out.... Just a grind but still got it done.......

Why is it that sometimes the things we enjoy the most can also be the hardest. I know that I am getting fitter and putting the shoes on each day is a pleasure but boy oh boy if I miss that window when I feel like doing it , it just becomes an internal battle.....

I hope you won battle today......

Barrel on wombats.....

Because we can....

Went to bed rooted and woke up tired.....man you gotta love that feeling, and they say that rest aids recovery. I am not really doing much else besides run and I am still tired. (I mean I go to work each day)

At the moment I am trying to cheat the fitness so I am not running over flat ground.. When I leave work I stop at Helena Valley and run the Pipeline loop. hard to say if I am getting stronger because the heat is killing me. Tonight while the young wombats were doing their sport training I ran up the heritage trail into Mundaring..At least it was down hill coming home although that did not seem to make much difference to my legs and general weariness.

I feel sure that over time everything will pay off and add to the work that I did last year but I guess only time will tell....and remember "Chase the dreams while you can" because there may come a time when you can't run.....

Barrel on Wombats.....

We do because we can.....

Another few weeks of running and the feeling in the legs is telling me that I'm slowly, ever so slowly getting stronger.

On my recent longer runs I have been asking myself why I run and each and every time I find I come up with the same answer.... " Because I can"

I am finding that as I get older the things that I often took for granted as a younger runner and even as a younger person I am now cherishing more. The ability to actually get up should be celebrated and the ability to run more so...

I think I mentioned many blogs ago that t was not until I stopped running that I realised how much I missed it and now with all my might I am trying to regain what purposely gave up.... the ability to run and run fast...

If I could say one thing to young wombats it would be do it while you can and do it to the highest level that you can while you can... Each of us has an ability and we should try and make the most of that ability until we are no longer able to do it...

Doing the longer runs through Helena Valley with the younger runners reminds me of when I was younger too and used to tag along with the older guys hoping to one day beat them... Now I am the older guy hoping that I can just keep up with them....

It is great to be up in the hills again with Courtney Carter and Mark See and even the return on Nathan Doig brings a smile to my dial. Each of these guys has the arrogance of youth and the enthusiasm to match.... In time I am sure they will ultimately produce some fantastic times on both the track and the road, in the mean time they train.

I am again having more good runs than poor runs and each Sunday the long run seems to get a little easier but at the same time a little longer. I am hoping that the strength will soon enable me to punch out some solid sessions just so that I can get used to a higher cadence of running. This in turn will assist me with my racing.

Looking forward to the national Masters in Perth in April but more so looking forward to catching up with Mona when he holds a distance running camp at Nanaga this March. ts not often that we get to run with such a calibre of runner and the fact that he will be in Perth to do this makes it all the better. I hope a lot of the younger guys get out there too. This will enable everyone to have a really good weekend of running.

Anyway peoples hope to see you out there...
Barrel on wombats....