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...