Gold Coast July 6th 2014

Great course, great event and now is the time to start preparing for this event as it provides a solid 6 month lead in. 

Yes I know it hot here in Perth however, the mornings are still relatively cool as are the evenings. I'm not talking about covering a million miles at the stage, more about simply beginning to build. No focussed sessions, just simply run.

Start slowly and build. For a novice, never run before start with 2 miles (3km) every second day of run walking depending on your fitness. Essentially its not rocket science, rather its about playing with lego. Each block you build allows you to add another.

Establish how many days you can train a week, what commitments do I have to family and work? When can I realistically commit to going for a run? Am I a morning person or an afternoon person? can I run twice a day? These are all important questions in establishing your plan of attack. Can I train by myself or do I prefer to run with people?    Do I need to find a club or an established group to do the occasional session with? Again, all important questions. Get these sorted , get these right and your journey will have begun. 

The first thing you really need to do is step out side :))

Barrel on wombats...

Perth's main marathon season in now past given that the hot weather has finally hit Perth. This signals, for most, a break from winter programs and a move into shorter faster sessions. Remember however, that while the sessions are generally shorter and sharper , the tempo run and long Sunday run ( traditional for most) are still important elements in your overall program.

Sarah Jamison's group, Front Runner groups along with most of the running fraternity can be and will be found around the various tracks Perth as they work on the summer aspects of their training programs. These groups still have their runners covering a longer distance at some stage of the week.

If your new to track work outs think about what it is that you are trying to achieve before your start your attack on the sharper work. Be aware of the change from racing flats to spikes as well. This can bring some calf soreness for the uninitiated. The main thing is enjoy your work outs. If like me you prefer to be alone and push yourself along, that's fantastic, if however you are like the vast majority and prefer to run with a group then work to latch onto a group.

Initially work into your summer season. Possibly trying some longer kms with longer breaks before you really shorten up the distance and get up your toes in your wafer thin spikes. The main thing is establish a plan and work out what it is that you are trying to achieve.  A fast 10km, 5km 3km or 1500m , this decision will determine where you go to next in the training evolution.
@wombatwarrior

Barrel on Wombats...

Time , patience and bloody hard work... When will your journey begin?

To the casual observer this was just another marathoner celebrating  finishing  the Perth City to Surf for 2013. He was indeed a finisher and he did compete as part of the 'Team Archer' group. To those who knew him however, he was celebrating something that took him 10 years to achieve , the goal of running a Sub 4 hour marathon.

What is your dream?

Time to start planning.

Barrel on Wombats...

Quarters digs deep and shows the world he is a deserving Wombat Warrior....

42km Marathon Man

Today was a special day for the Wombat Warrior, today was a day when he met another person prepared to show the world that the wombat lives deep in all of us.

Quarters completed the 2012 Chevron City to Surf Marathon with a feeling of better sweet. He had completed the journey from start to finish, this being the goal for anyone who embarks on such a challenge however, once again, the elusive 4 hour mark had alluded him. Not to be denied, he allowed the feeling of exhaustion and despondence to wash over him and once that feeling had passed, he began a new journey. On April the 27th 2013 he started to prepare again. 

He called me, we hatched a plan, a simple plan, train strategically, structure a program around your family life and work commitments, learn how to do a tempo  run and build and build and build and he did. Day after day, week after week, Quarters soldiered on. To say it was all smooth sailing would be a lie, but then preparing for a marathon never is, in fact running the marathon is the easy part, getting through the training is the hardest part. While Quarters did not know it, he was already displaying the wombat that lives inside all of us, he was displaying a level of persistence that is necessary to keep on keeping on.

A cold, a calf niggle and a sore throat were a few of the things that challenged him, on top of this , work deadlines kept him on his toes. Come race day he had done the work, he had made it to the line and he was ready to put it on the line. This gnarly old bugga did everything he had trained for. He ran to a plan, he believed in himself because he had done the work and he ran. His tempo work had established a new default pace, a pace of 5.30/km the pace that just seemed to stick with him and serve him well for the duration of the race. He found he could run faster but even when he felt tired his default did not let him down.

Quarters ran and worked, he saw the race leaders, something he had not done before during the switch back of the marathon and on coming out of Kings Park he was still on track. At 30km the real work began, this was the time to show the wombat, wombats like to dig and dig Quarters did. He was chasing his dream, five years of hoping , of working , of racing , this was his time , this was his moment. Quarters knew it was going to be close but like Roger Bannister in chasing the magical sub 4 minute mile, Quarters only needed to hear one number. As Bannister did back in 1954 , a day that coincidentally was also a little wet and windy, a day when the conditions also mysteriously calmed for the assault on a long standing barrier. Quarters made his drive for home, he lifted, he drew on all his wombat and he ran. Bannister, in his final drive for home ran solo, his legs screaming and like the young trainee doctor Quarters also felt his legs scream. Quarters glanced at the clock , he had crossed in 3hrs.... the rest is drowned out by the cheering in his head, the explosion of relief, the knowledge that he had achieved what he had set out to do those many months ago... to break the elusive 4 hour mark . Tonight, I am sure that the old wombat is celebrating somewhere in Perth , in his own burrow, thinking about the day he earned his wombat warrior badge. 

Well done mate, never doubted you....

Barrel on Wombats...

Footnote: The following announcement was made on that magical day back in 1954 by Norris McWhirter "Ladies and gentlemen, here is the result of event 9, the one mile: 1st, No. 41, R.G. Bannister, Amateur Athletic Association and formerly of Exeter and Merton Colleges, Oxford, with a time which is a new meeting and track record, and which—subject to ratification—will be a new English Native, British National, All-Comers, European, British Empire and World Record. The time was 3..." 

Stanley Lambchop heads out with the Wombat Warrior for the Perth City to Surf...

Stanley heads into Perth

Aside from commentating what turned out to be a fantastic day of racing at this year's Perth Chevron City to Surf, the Wombat Warrior was charged with ensuring that Flat Stanley was kept safe while taking on the field in the multiple events throughout the day. This task was set by the year 1 and 2 students in room 2, at West Beechboro Primary School.

Stanley's day began at 4am when he drove down from the Wombat's burrow and headed into Perth to meet with fellow commentator, Jon Kappler. The drive was an easy one with very little traffic of the roads at this hour and this provided time for Stanley with an opportunity to ask any questions that he had on his mind about the busy day ahead.

Stanley rides briefly with the Race
Director Chris Letts.

Stanley assigned his media
pass access all areas

Once in Perth Stanley parked the vehicle in the Esplanade Car Park and started walking to the Terrace, where he met with Race Director Chris Letts for final instructions and was also assigned with his media pass for the day. This would allow him to move freely around with the athletes and get into and out of restricted areas without any concerns.

Light rain began to fall just prior to the start of the marathon event which delayed the planned 6am start by about 5 minutes. This gave Stanley an opportunity to meet with and talk to an Australian icon in distance running , Craig Mottram. Mottram competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympic games over the 5000m, was a bronze medalist in the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki and a silver medalist in the 2006 Commonwealth Games over 5000m.

Stanley chats with Craig
Mottram prior to the marathon
start.

Marathon.

Shortly after this chat Stanley took up commentating duties in the lead vehicleas the marathon got under way. The event was a cracker with John Ryui   of Kenya pushing hard from the front early in the race and making a small break at the 3km mark. By 14km this gap had closed and Ryui was joined by eventual race winner Luka Chelimo, Lilan Kennedy and Fredderick Kipchumba. Through the picturesque Kings Park this group worked however, once out of the park Chelimo put on the accelerator and really pulled away for a convincing win. Stanley had little time for rest as he quickly headed back to the start to join the half marathon field in the Terrace again. 

Stanley leads the 12km event

Stanley got a little carried away at this point and on hearing ACDC pump through the speakers joined the field to head up Malcom Street for the 21km journey.  The Wombat Warrior soon caught up with the exuberant Stanley and reminded him that we needed to call the 12km event. Stanley quickly joined us in time to see Harry Summers pulling away from Brandon Hargreaves and Neil Berry to take a convincing victory on the 12km blue ribbon event. Once at the finish line for the second time in three hours Stanley mixed with the crowd, pumped out some tunes through the PA and meet with the Chevron cheerleader squad.

To the class of room 2 I hope that Stanley had a fantastic day at the 2013 Perth Chevron City to Surf.

Stanley gets the medal

Stanley and the Chevron Cheer Squad

Stanley pumps the crowd

Stanley meets the captain (L) Jackson Passeri 

and vice captain (R) Nathan Wytkin from Guidlford 

Grammar , two of the competitors in this year's 

12km event

IT’S NOT SO MUCH THE JOURNEY, BUT RATHER THE PEOPLE THAT YOU MEET ALONG THE WAY......

The last run of the GGS XC 2013 season was  tonight. The squad ran easy from the gym out along the Govo River Run course that heads out to the brick works.

Tonight's pass easy and I actually managed to run with the boys tonight and actually passed a few, this however is a small consolation as they really were just going through the motions for our last run of the season.

Tonight's presentations were bitter sweet as the close of this season draws a close to the end of an era. Long time distance coach and a man who is responsible for building the culture of the team to what it is today, Darryl White, has decided to hang up the shoes and step inside from his coaching role with the team.

Darryl has been a mainstay of the Guildford Team for many years, building the team from only 8 runners in the early years (9 seasons ago) to a squad of 45 runners. In that time, he has earnt the respect of the boys through his hard work and honesty, but, more importantly, through his passion for the sport.

Darryl and his trusty offsider (His wife Wendy) have marked the course for every home fixture, opened their home to the boys for training at Helena Valley and played a significant part in developing and shaping many a boy’s character over the years. His catch phrase of ‘Just One More’ has become a part of the culture of the team and the boys past and present wish to thank him for his dedication and endeavours through the years in building the team to what it is today. He was pivotal in the development of ‘Project Garmin’ which saw the school purchase 20 Garmin watches for the team and, in doing so, added another level to the training program for the boys and further developed that sense of belonging across the the team. The squad hopes to one day, invite Darryl back to celebrate the team winning the PSA Moyes Cup.

Thank you Darryl for your contributions to, not only the school, but to the building of runners who have the courage and persistence to set goals and work to achieve them.

Guildford PSA Cross Country Award Winners

Most Improved

• James Holmes
• Shannon Lislois
• Guy Taylor

Encouragement Award

• Isaac Ward
• Robert Watson
• Blake Hillier
• Aiden Sivic

Most Courageous

• Kristian Montgomery

Top Ten 

1. Jackson Passeri
2. Benjamin Armstrong
3. Angus Line
4. NAthan Wytkin
5. Marcel Niutta
6. Declan White
7. Thurston Hewitt
8. Robert Watson
9. Peter Siedentopf
10. John Spadaccini

Most Outstanding Performance

• Jackson Passeri - Senior recipient
• Angus Line - Junior recipient

Champion Boy ( Challenge Cup Trophy)

• Jackson Passeri

Congratulations to the GGS XC 1st Squad for a fantastic season of improvement. 

A week and a bit to go...

The following is an article that I wrote for the Sunday Times last weekend in relation to next week's Perth City to Surf.

You can feel it, your nerves have started and that sense of anticipation becomes almost all consuming as your final week of training, leading up to the start of Perth’s biggest participation 12km  event begins. Regardless of ability level, from social runner to elite, there are some basics that never change and are relevant to everyone during this lead-up. During talks, one of which I did tonight at the Running Centre in West Perth, I often say to the running audience there is very little that you can do to get any fitter during this week but there is a lot you can do that will sabotage your race preparations. 

This is not the week to start cramming, it’s not an exam, an extra few kilometres now will not help you drop a few more seconds. This is the week where you essentially go through the motions and enjoy the fact that you are reducing your mileage and allowing your body to recharge and regenerate for its assault on the course. For the social runner, most of you will have your last hit out on Wednesday when you may include a short sharp tempo session to shake out the cob webs. The elite will more likely carry this session through to Thursday. Friday and Saturday are the roll along runs where you go through the motions just to help you sleep and not drive your partner up the wall with your new found energy. Remember, at this point more is not better.

Try and get good sleep and rest a few days out, as the night before tends to be restless for most people as their excitement levels rise. Have your racing gear prepared the night before so the morning is not a mad rush. The race is not the time to be trying new running gear; this is the time for the old trusty’s. Finally your night before meal , like your racing gear, is not a time to experiment with food, eat what you know sits well. For me it was ham and pineapple pizza, garlic bread and a coke. Finally remember its 12km not 1km so ease into your running rhythm. 

GGS XC second last hard session.

A tough session for the old wombat tonight, easy warm up with the GGS team from the gym out to the Bridge then back to the lower playing fields. This was a very easy 2.6km at a very sedate 4.47km pace.

The leadership team were a little more fleet of foot and were waiting for the main group down on the lower rugby fields for the set session. The session varied for the group depending , essentially, on their racing pace. The faster group were targetting 1km repeats at a constant 3.45 pace. In total they were running four (4) repeats with roughly a 1-2 minute static recovery. Other groups were running between 4m15s / km and 6 min 30s / km. 

The group worked really well through the first effort, I joined a group for the second and third efforts and clipped along at 3.56 for the first and 3.48 for the second. Chasing the leader only to have them pull away over the last 100m for fear of being beaten by a wombat. While I sucked in air through every hole in my body the group finished their last per , or so they thought.

At the end of the final rep and when all the group looked like they had recovered they were hit with "Just One More" , a phrase that has almost become a mantra for the team due to the wombat mentality of the second team coach who also comes from an old school hard work background ( what hope do the boys have with two wombats riding them). On the 5th effort they were to run as hard and evenly as they could over the 1km circuit. As is always the case the boys rose to the challenge. The captain punched out a very solid 3.12, Loisis  was close to his tail and young Lines was not far behind  along with the two vice captains in hot pursuit. The boys were spent. An easy cool down back to the Gym via Paxton and the group had covered a solid 9km. I was happy too, I had not blown out my calf and did not need to be carried from the field. 

Barrel on wombats...

Don't Quit...

There are times when every runner, every runner, has the thoughts of throwing in the towel. At this stage of my life its actually a daily thought pattern. This is due largely to the fact that I am yet to re-establish a routine or real structure to my training. I do know that at some point I will establish a routine but I also know that once this routine has been established I will still get the little voice that shouts STOP! ENOUGH!

The trouble with being a wombat is that I know, that I will possibly never stop, yes I might miss a day, week, or month of running but in time I will get back out there. In a race I also know, that no matter how loud that voice gets I'll never stop. I know this because its something I have always told myself. If I start the race I finish the race and believe me there have been times , particularly in the marathon, where I have thought " Na, I've had enough" But there is also another voice that tells me, if you do it once, it gets easier the next time and then it gets to the stage that you stop running and step off the course simply because your shoelace is undone. 

You see that's the thing about running , if you quit , you never give yourself the chance to learn from what goes wrong, you never experience the full range of struggles that comes with training and pushing on in a race when you really feel like there is nothing left, you miss that sense of accomplishment that comes with crossing the line after your head telling you for the last 10km that your body can't go any further.

Remember that what ever happens  JUST DON'T QUIT!!!

Barrel on Wombats...

PSA Scotch 3 man 5km relays

This morning the old wombat headed on down to the PSA AllSchools Cross Country relays. These fixtures have run all winter with the seven PSA schools initially involved in a home and away round robin before combining for 4 races involving all runners from the 7 competing schools.

The weather was actually pretty kind given the week that we have had in Perth and despite a few intermittent showers the morning was relatively clear. Today was the 3 man x 5km relay on Scotch's playing fields and it really was great to see so many runners from the schools, along with parents and spectators on the course.

The run got underway with Guildford's number one  taking an early lead  from the field and showing a very clean pair of heals. This set up his younger team mate with a clear run throughout most of the leg before being overhauled by Christchurch in the closing stages of the second stage. Christchurch led out from Guildford with Scotch , Aquinas and Trinity in hot pursuit however, by the time the last leg crossed the line it was evident that Aquinas would once again dominate to be clear point winners for the day. This was again a well deserved win by this well oiled team and a credit to the team's culture that has obviously become  a factor in their performance.

The Guildford boys were  strong and upbeat throughout and despite a hard fought battle they finished clear of Wesley and only 4 points behind Hale, with Scotch, Aquinas, Trinity and Christchurch filing the top four places. There were some wombat performances out on the course today for the Guildford boys. Aaron Coates despite being named in the 5th team ended up changing with the 2nd team after a stellar first leg. Captain Jackson Passeri was well clear on the first leg and has set himself up for a great final race in the 8km next Saturday in Kings Park. Paul Harcus, starting well behind two team mates manager to close this early gap and over haul them in the closing stages of his leg and finally Shannon Lislois has continued his climb through the ranks in his final year to become a competitive force in the team.

GUILDFORD INDIVIDUAL TIMES
RANK	RUNNER	NUMBER	SPLIT	LAP	PACE
1	Jackson Passeri	324	Leg 1	15:44	3:31
2	Angus Line	333	Leg 2	16:50	3:45
3	Nathan Wytkin	323	Leg 2	17:41	3:57
4	Thurston Hewitt	325	Leg 3	17:54	3:60
5	Benjamin Armstrong	312	Leg	18:13	4:04
6	Aaron Coates	342	Leg 1	18:21	4:06
7	Declan White	340	Leg 1	18:29	4:08
8	Zachary Johnson	330	Leg 2	18:30	4:08
9	Peter Siedentopf	305	Leg 3	18:36	4:09
10	Robert Watson	321	Lap 1	18:39	4:10
11	Fraser Sewell	311	Leg 1	18:41	4:10
12	Cameron Adams	313	Leg 1	18:43	4:11
13	Nicholas Rollo	334	Leg 1	18:52	4:13
14	Tristan Dale	322	Leg 3	18:58	4:14
15	Paul Harcus	301	Leg 3	19:15	4:18
16	Shannon Lislois	317	Leg 2	19:20	4:19
17	Toby Digney	335	Leg 1	19:28	4:21
18	Marcel Niutta	341	Leg 2	19:28	4:21
19	Bailey Bartholomeusz	308	Leg 3	19:43	4:24
20	Blake Hillier	304	Leg 2	19:52	4:26
21	Mitchell Wooding	343	Leg 1	20:07	4:29
22	Alex Regnaud	300	Leg 1	20:17	4:32
23	James Miolin	332	Leg 1	20:28	4:34
24	Harry Lagdon	302	Leg 1	20:42	4:37
25	Aaron Quiskamp	328	Leg 1	21:13	4:44
26	Isaac Ward	314	Leg 1	21:14	4:44
27	Alexander Morrison	318	Leg 1	21:36	4:49
28	Henry Van Den Wall Bake	345	Leg 1	21:49	4:52
29	William Yagmich	316	Leg 1	24:13	5:24
30	James Wilkinson	307	Leg 1	24:26	5:27
31	Sebastian Boyd	329	Leg 1	24:28	5:28
32	Jean-Louis Hansen	331	Leg 1	27:33	6:09
33	Louis Mcwhirter	320	Leg 1	27:33	6:09
34	Kristian Montgomery	315	Leg 1	28:49	6:26
35	James Holmes	306	Leg 1	29:35	6:36

See you all at Kings Park 9:30am Start for the Ray Brown 8km, the final PSA Cross Country race of the season.


Barrel On wombats...

Polar Express...

Normally, as I cruise over Wedge-tail plans, I am greeted by a mob of Kangaroos looking at me and wondering "Whats this idiot on about". Tonight with clearer skies and the temperature plummeting my audience had changed....Butlers watched my every move

I can't complain, I guess, the last few days have required fins, snorkel and mask to complete, tonight it was more a case of "I cant feel my fingers" ( Mind you I can't touch my toes either, not that I can see that as a critical element in tying up shoe laces , unless of course your knees don't work) 

The run was easy but still a grind, I'm pretty sure that despite my pace I should be able to manage the commentary on City to Surf day. Watching Penguins bound away I soon realised that hypothermia was possible the reason for the big greys looking more like butlers and I simply needed to suck it up and keep  moving.

Glancing at my watch, yeah I know but don't start me off on that soap box again, I notice I'm cruising at a very steady 5min/km pace. I let my mind wonder back to a time when this was my mile pace. Still I cant complain , my calf has not annoyed me tonight ... Ping..Shit bugga bum... thought too soon, adjust running style, limp home and try not to think about it... I love getting old , its such a wonderful sensation to creak, groan and shuffle my way around my homely burrow. Still I am moving so that must be a positive... I wonder how long before my watch can make me a cappuccino on the go, oh look I've burnt half a calorie, gee that it really useful information... Note to self

I make it home and take the shoes off . Heading straight for the shower, after which I will tell my young wombats about the penguins I saw out on the run tonight....

Barrel on wombats...

PS Good luck to all the crew racing the state Half marathon this Sunday... Go Mr Caulfield!!!!!

Bloody watches..

Back when this old wombat was a little less greyer and a lot faster things were relatively simple when it came to a stop watch. You put on your running gear, stepped outside , pressed start , ran then pressed stop. You went inside , noted the time and wrote this in your diary.... Well at least that's what I did.

Over time the watches improved and you could actually keep multiple sessions in your watch. This was great as you would keep track of your entire session and actually break it down rather than try and commit it to memory. At about this time I found my Casio, this was a bloody good watch. I could keep 50 session in it and when I started do sets I could plug in some pre-set times . In the case of a Mona session I st it to beep every 30 seconds. This required a bit of maths while you ran but noting over taxing. Every now and then the band would break, but hey, I'd duck to the jewelers, or even the newsagents at times, get a new band, change it and Bobs your uncle.

The watches have improved even further now and you can actually record heart rate, calories burnt, pace, distance, pre- program entire sessions and then map where you ran. Some watches . like Skippy  and Lassie, can probably run home and get help if you ever find yourself trapped in a cave and all this is great, BUT if the strap breaks you are knackered. I have a draw full of watches that look fantastic except for snapped straps that then require me to send them offshore to be repaired because the average punter can't simply swap the band.

Now these watches are generally not cheap, some are just shy of a kidney to purchase so you would think that they could at least make a watch where the strap lasts a bit longer than 4  to 5 months. I note with the Garmin a small change, it looks like I could, if push came to shove, knock out the pin and change the strap but this is not the case with all the watches. It is something that is annoying because I don't like going without a watch while I wait for the bloody thing to have the synthetically moulded wrist strap heat shrunk by a dwarf who lives in inner earth off -shore while they wait for the next installment of The Hobbit.

Anyway , I'm sure Ill get over it.

Barrel on wombats...

I saw the Ark

I'm not saying that its been very wet over the last few days but I saw this on the run this afternoon, down on the lower playing fields with the GGS Boys.

Easy warm up tonight, light 3km down to West Swan Bridge and back to the lower soccer fields. Moving well and no calf issues, could this be on the mend.

A large group and we set out for a solid half Mona Session (10 minutes) around the bottom soccer fields. In layman's terms this was 90 seconds hard, 90 seconds easy, 60 seconds hard 60 seconds easy x 2, 30 seconds hard, 30 seconds easy x 2 and finally 15 seconds hard 15 seconds easy x 2. For the wombat this was basically a solid consistent surge. For the boys is was a structured fartlek session. Unfortunately the calf twinged at 6 minutes however by adjusting my style , as old people tend to do , I managed to continue with the run and finish off.

The cool down was a very easy run , past the Ark and back to the Gym.

Even though I was disappointed with my own run, the boys worked hard and again demonstrated the spirit that makes training with them more a pleasure than a chore. In general this young group have bonded really well and each year the dynamics of the team has improved which is leading to a real team culture with a strong work ethic.

Barrel on Wombats...

The Perth City to Surf gets closer still and while it is important to ensure that you keep running, it is also important to remember  that now is not the time to start trying to build your mileage up. For the marathon runners the taper should have begun, your last long run was more than likely last week and from now on everything drops in length and may, depending on your individual programs, increase a little in the speed stakes just to sharpen up. The half marathoners may have one more long run but again this is likely to be the last for  a while and the 12km runners may also have reduced in volume , although this is a very different beast to the marathon.

Start to smell the roses and enjoy the flow and feeling of the runs rather than concentrating on the grind. This is a time to really begin to appreciate the work that you have done in getting yourself into shape to cover the distance and be in the best shape you can to tackle what the course and the conditions may through up to you in a few more weeks. Remember ...Be in the now , not the tomorrow or the yesterday.

Barrel on wombats...

GGS Govo Long Tempo

Today was brutal, thankfully it was only 8km of brutality. For as long as I've been running them,  the tempo run has always involved going out easy , getting comfortable , then winding up to a pace that is on the edge of uncomfortable. For me this was the most enjoyable type of running. I remember some really memorable tempo runs with Hambo, Sully, Delb's, Bonner, Shatty, Hawksey and Thurls that started up behind Fraser's Restaurant, looped Kings Park and then wound around the river before climbing up ANZAC Bluff. By the time we hit the Causeway and were heading towards Barrack Street the pace was usually bordering suicidal however, we always managed to drag ourselves, testicles and all, up the final climb to Anzac Bluff , often dry reaching only to return the following week and do it again.

This afternoon there was none of that former glory, tonight I did a reverse tempo. I set out at a very comfortable pace, 4.30ks, with a few of the Guildford boys, only to be left in their wake 4 minutes into the run. The bit that was annoying was that as the run progressed I got slower. By 5km I was hovering at 5 minute kms and this was maintained until 7km before a slight improvement and drop to 4.50kms. The finish was up a small incline, this of course paled into insignificance against ANZAC Bluff, but none the less it felt like hitting a wall, the only similarity to years gone by is that I'll be back there again next week, as for my testicles well I think there are still at the base of the small climb.

Barrel on wombats...

The Road is Long...

Running is not an easy sport or past time. Today's run was spent nursing a tight left calf, that felt like it would explode on me at any moment. Fortunately I managed to nurse it home and, in return, it got me home.

It has once again brought home to me the fact that it is important to do the little things, the things that I find mundane, to ensure that I can continue to put one foot in front of the other in rapid succession. I have started to stretch a little more after my runs and a little during my runs. I find if I'm standing still I will catch myself doing calf raises to strengthen, what is slowly becoming a weakness. Its the little things that make the biggest difference , because when you combine a lot of little things you get one big thing... the ability to perform.

Barrel on wombats...

Four weeks to go...

With four weeks to go many runners will have completed their last Sunday long run before they commence bringing this important run down in distance. While the overall length of your runs generally get shorter with slightly fresher legs you will notice that the pace increases. This is good but don't over do it, the taper also provides an opportunity for your body to fully recover from the  pressures that you have placed it under in your marathon and half marathon preparation. 

Make sure, during this colder weather, that you accelerate gradually during tempo runs and that your easy runs are easy and don't simply become another hard hit out. Recovery is as important, if not more  so, than the actual training.

Barrel on wombats...

Don't PANIC

It's that time of the year, the lead in to the Perth City to Surf, when distance runners of all shapes and sizes start to panic. Have I done enough training? Should I up my mileage? Do I need to put in more hills? ... you know the drill, I certainly do because I have been there many times before.

These questions and these doubts are a wonderful part of being a distance runner however, the good runners see them as just that, questions and nothing more. At this late stage in your preparation for the 12km, half or full marathon there is little point in panic. Cramming will only make you tired and susceptible to injury or illness and these are far worse than worrying about not having trained enough. 

Just stay your course, make every run you have left count and remember ... if you have missed it , it's gone , nothing you can do about it so move on and prepare for the next day.

Barrel   on wombats...

Sometimes being a distance runner, or in my case being a has been  distance runner, looks a bit like this.The funny thing is that despite the isolation of the journey , it does become an addiction.

I ran hard last night, against a young guy I'm helping to coach as a part of a team and a part from the fact that he wiped the floor with me and this morning I felt like I had been hit by a bus, I ran again today. 
This is not normal behaviour however, it is a distance runners behaviour. Sticks and stones may break my bones but long runs seem to excite me.... 

Barrel on wombats...

It's Raining

I ran today....ouch!!!!

While the mind was willing the body was weak. This sport is not a place for the soft of mind. I am constantly telling those who I coach, help or guide , to remember that distance running is about time and patience. It seems however, that once I lace up these pearls of wisdom that I continually bestow on others , do not apply to me. I think I need to listen more than speak.

Perth had a great deal of rain, I know this is a god send for us in terms of water levels but if its the day that you step out the door for the first time in a long time its quite simply A TEST OF MY INTESTINAL FORTITUDE.......

Barrel on wombats...