Green Head...Bloody Hot

Family time sometimes means you run in tough surroundings.. 2 days at Green Head, a small coastal community approximately 300km north of Perth, meant running in 42 and 43 degree heat. Interestingly 12 years ago I would have covered many more miles in the same surroundings had I had to go there. Mind you my young wombats would not have been on the scene and I would not have been there anyway. In fact I more than likely would have been in Falls Creek with the rest of the running fraternity. (Usually stayed until late February)

Very barren terrain on the road's edge, gravel tracks and grey hot sand. Still I managed to get the runs done and not melt. Got some swimming in too. Not quite the Falls Creek altitude running but heat training is supposed to bring similar gains. (if you don't burst into flames in the process. ) Checked the Garmin at one stage and I think it said " You're a bloody idiot, it's too hot to be running you may die" I will check that once I get around to down loading the data. I have already written the mileage and times in my diary but I may as well get digital too.

The old ASICS Kayano's need an upgrade too. Fortunately I have kept some old habits from my more glorified running days (well glorified in my head) and always have 2 pairs on the go.

I am actually looking forward to getting into the full swing of the training regime again after a small break (smaller than 6 years anyway). The trusty old wombat who set it a few years ago knows a fair bit about running and let me tell you the program works... Why do we push ourselves.... because we can I guess..

Anyway back in Perth now and happy to be in familiar surroundings... back into the bushland of jacoby park , may even venture to the river and head along the flat lands...

until soon

Barrel on wombats...

steady..steady.. Step by step

When Wombats were younger..... Got three runs done today and still feeling okay... Ran am, squeezed in the bike session, ran noon then again at 7.45 tonight....

All the runs were small in distance but the desired effect was achieved.. Probably not something I would recommended to everyone but it is a good way to cram a little distance.....

More impressive is the fact that I laid footings for the orchid in between these runs..... Gotta love the school holidays..

Hope your all setting goals...

Barrel on wombats...

Desire to match...

Another session on the bike , in the shed for 20minutes of 12sec on 8 seconds off. I didn't spew this time but very close and very light headed..

Passion is the one thing that allows us to do what we enjoy. Desire is the element that enables us to set goals. For example I desire the Shelby in the photograph inset. The idea for me then, would be to set in motion a goal and in doing create a pathway of actions that will enable me to achieve the goal and ultimately put in my hands what I so desire....

For runners, athletes and sports people alike this is what desire is about. Setting a goal and creating a pathway to achieve that goal and ultimately the desire.

In my own life my passion was running. eventually I harboured a desire to represent my country at the Olympics. I then established a goal, along with a series of smaller goals to act and check points along the way. Did I achieve my goals? Some yes, others no. Did I get to the Olympics, well despite qualifying in both 96 and 2000 the answer to that is no. In one case there were runners better than me who also qualified. In another case I pretty much ran myself out of the team.

These are obviously simple answers however if and when I looked very closely at everything that I did I could argue with myself, and believe me when I say I have, that i did not really do everything that I could have to get there. Yes I went to Falls Creek a number of times to get quality training but on the other side of this in one instant I went up there very unfit and so did not get everything out of the time up the mountain I would have got if I had been fit.

I stayed in Perth and competed mainly locally however through the support of Skilled Engineering and Kerry Hughes the Managing Director I was able to travel , often to the east to compete on a higher level. had I based myself in Victoria I may have achieved at an even higher level still. The flip side is that I may not have managed the sponsorship deal with Skilled which was largely due to my profile in Perth.

These are just a few of the things that I can sight as a form of self sabotage in achieving my ultimate goal. BUT as I have said before running was not the be all and end all for me. I loved my friends I loved the Perth Life style and I enjoyed my chosen profession. Put altogether these things made me who I am and allowed me to experience the things I wanted.

Even having a young family could be used as an excuse for ultimately slowing down, but again this is only an excuse. Mrs Wombat would argue that it is a good one. The bottom line is that being a top sports person is a very selfish pursuit and while I am extremely capable of being highly selfish I was not prepared to put in place the structures to enable me to continue at the level I was capable of. Instead I channelled my energy into my family and work.

In 2011 I am continuing to structure my life in such a way that I can achieve certain goals. I work not to sabotage myself and set myself up for failure. By doing this I can ensure that I achieve what I desire.

For readers of this blog, athletes, runners, sports people,mums, dads who ever. You need to be honest with yourself when you set a goal to achieve something you desire. Is it practical to train twice a day seven days a week if you have a family and hold down a job. Probably not, however it can be done with planning and clear guidelines for yourself.

Any athlete I have coached or helped has been told don't set a training routine that you cannot maintain. you end up becoming despondent. In my life if I have not run by 5pm then the next practical slot for me is after my kids have gone to bed and this is usually 7.30pm , problem is I have usually eaten too so this actually means I don't get out until 10.30pm. I have done this many times . Do I enjoy doing that ? No... so I work really hard to get out from work and run before 5pm.

Set yourself a goal for 2011.. The set about a pathway to achieve the goal. Believe me it can be done and by having a clear goal and set pathway the task of getting what you so desire will be all that more easier

Barrel on Wombats...

It's about the love of it....

Another run done and another day fitter... easy from home today around Kangaroo View and out past the Eagle's Nest. Just enjoyed the solitude.

Spoke with Radar and he is in his element up at Falls. At the present time I am extremely envious of his location. No distractions, similar minded people doing what they love doing...Running

Herb Elliot to have pushed so hard must have loved what he did...?? Seen here pipping Merv Lincoln. maybe the closet he ever came to being beaten.

I was often asked why I ran. The simplest answer and the only answer was and still is " Because I loved to run"... It certainly was not because I was good at it because early on This was far from the case. I was often last or at the very least at the back of the field. BUT I just loved the feeling of running as fast or as long as I could. Obviously because I enjoyed it so much I tried to do more of it and as a result of that I developed a talent, well a bit of a talent , in the sport.

It is only now as an adult in their early forties that I have come to realise that I lost that connection with my running at some stage. I lost the reason I ran. It is true that you need to set goals be that to run for ten minutes or get out every day or just find time to run but at some stage this goal became the only reason for doing it. The goal by itself is not enough to keep you doing it. you need to have the passion for doing it and together the goal and the passion support one another... It is true that you can continue to run with just the passion but the same cannot be said for the reverse. with just a goal when it gets tough or too hard its the passion that gets you out the door. " Desire and passion far more than talent are the essential ingredients to achieving success in sport" For some that success may be the simple fact of getting out and running.

I have just read in the 2011 January edition of "Runner's World" an article about Georgie Clark. The article is titled : Just a normal girl (who likes to run a bit) by Jonathan Beverly. Georgie had an amazing talent at a very Young age. In fact she ran in the Sydney Olympics and made the semi finals of the 1500m as a 16 year old. Georgie loved running but their came a point in time (and I am paraphrasing here) where the goals and targets became the driving point for her running and she lost the passion. Georgie says in the article " I always would look back to why I started to run. It was for the pure reason that I loved it, for the freedom and the simplicity of it" She goes on to say " I felt like it was so complex, every time you go to Europe, and you're doing all this - living in London, chilling and spending hours a day trying to fill in while you decide when to run in the morning and run at night. It's just not that time-consuming, running. It just stressed me out that I was not fulfilling other areas in my life." Interesting comments from someone with obviously amazing talent however if we examine the girl , the runner, we find that Georgie got into running because she enjoyed it. I was fortunate to meet Georgie in Leonora one year and having read this article some peices came together. She was obvioulsy a person with a great deal of talent and love of the sport or action of running but she seemed uncomfortable in the limelight and the surroundings of the hype that it brought. She appeared a little guarded and I guess that what she was getting at . She loved the running but was more at home in her own town with her own friends running her own agenda..... I am just glad she ahs rediscovered her passion and found a coach who can nurture that... Good luck Georgie

Look at yourself and examine why we do most things in our lives. The answer most always is "Because its something I enjoy doing."

Never lose sight of that and you will surely achieve everything that you set out to do in your running. The wombat warrior discovered this when I stopped running and realised how much it was a part of me and how much I actually missed the simple action of running. Did I love winning or achieving PBs , of course, but I also enjoyed getting out there....

The passion enables us to develop the drive that in some cases has us setting goals that may lead to greatness. The important thing is that greatness is many things for different people.... Never lose sight of your passion and you will run forever.....

Hey jas... Don't worry about your knees, just run..

Barrel on wombats

OMG

Yes I know , no blogs for months then two in a day.... Just need to share the session. Being on holidays I have the time to put in some additional sessions.... Read some where about this corker bike workout. I do mine riding in the shed on a wind trainer.... Basically it involved me pushing really hard for 12 seconds then backing off for 8 secs.... I made a conscious effort to keep the hard really burning and then only backing off enough to notice I was backing off... Anyway the idea is to go like this for 20 minutes..... The result Legs burning by the 8 minute mark, dry reaching at 12 minutes , threw up at 19 minutes but managed to get through to the 20 minutes.......

My legs are shot , I lost about 30 litres of water in perspiration and I am shattered.... but I really enjoyed pushing to the limit.... Where to from here? Well I though I might go and slam my testicles in the car door for an easy session... Unbelievable "Who though of that session?"

Barrel on Wombats...

Another run in humidity that would put Queensland to shame... At least by the time I had finished it was raining... Saw no one again throughout the run. Gotta love the solitude of distance running...

Again through the back tracks of Jacoby Park and out to the old Burnt Bush Road... I do find it amazing that after years of not running up here I can still recognise the old land marks that signal the turn off to cross through the bush to the Northern side of the Weir...

Using a new watch that I recently purchased.. Still not sure on the new technologies. Running used to be a simple matter of putting on my shoes throwing on the singlet, and shorts (in case you were wondering , and then heading out the door. If it was cold I would put a singlet over a Tshirt.It took me years to get used to wearing sunglasses and even now I still don't put them on religiously....... NOW I check that the footpod is secure adjust all that is necessary and off I go...

The watch chimes every km , something I have not yet figured out how to turn off ( I tend to work it out without reading the instructions) and according to the GPS I averaged 4m38s/km with a max pace of 3m 55s/km ( may have been when I thought I had a wild pig behind me, adrenalin tends to do that to your pace) Interestingly going through my old diaries I was almost spot on with the distance that I thought I had run without the use of the GPS watch. (Garmin FR60).. Even my pace judgement was pretty close. Guess that comes with having run miles and miles over the years. Why the flash watch then,,, ????? Well my well loved Casio died on me and I have been searching the planet for a watch that did everything that the old one did. Quite a difficult task in hind sight. It turned out that I could get a watch which would make me a coffee, do up my shoe laces while booking flights and accommodation to Disneyland but they just would not allow me to run a repeat interval session off 30sec on 30 sec off or better still 5min on 1 minute off. This one comes close without weighing 4 tonne but its still not the same as the good old Casio. (what were they thinking when they stopped making it, Actually found someone who could fix it but by that time the watch was gone , thrown out, which is interesting as I tend to not throw out running shoes in case I hurt their feelings.)

Anyways back to the run... Moved well throughout the journey and even seemed to maintain my pace during the climbs (according to the FR60) Only problem was that according to the heart rate monitor I was flat lining. Guess I wont be wearing that again. Besides who needs the heart rate monitor, if you vomit it was a hard session , if you didn't you were running easy and if your wet then it is most likely raining.

Mrs Wombat is just happy I am running as she feels I am a better human being when I am running. Wished I had never stopped actually.... Still one foot in front of the other is the goal and if I can get to the stage where I can do that really quickly I will be a happy athlete.. Bet that Radar is loving Falls, Courts is enjoying Barcelona and Young Patto is hopefully keeping fit in Rio.... Wonder how Jas is going with using his knees... ( see you out their Blazer!!)

Barrel on wombats...

The runs continue as does the heat. Jacoby Park is very dry out the back trails and getting a little snakey. Not sure who is more frightened, me or them.

The climbs are not getting any easier but at least I am in control of my pace at the moment. I know most of the group do their runs from Helena however over the last few months I have made this my stomping grounds in an effort to revitalise the compeitive instincts. Mrs Wombat thinks I should just race regardless but for once I am being a little reserved.

Great to hear that Raf has headed for the hills and joined the Falls Creek crowd for Christmas. I am sure that this will enable him, or at the very least provide a fantastic foundation on which to kick start the year. Go RADAR.

Remember to keep the water up on the runs, got hot out the back today and unlike Helena there are no taps outback of Jacoby Park.

Barrel on wombats...