Sunday at Ourimbah 32km

Shin wasn't the best today. No problem running on it but I could feel it that's for sure. Much different compared to yesterday.

I met up with Ian Temblett at 6:30 and we ran pretty easy the whole way. That's something I think may have made the shin ache a bit more. Sometimes running a bit faster seems to help it. The human body sure is some complex piece of engineering that's for sure!

The weather was perfect. Cool with a little drizzle and the trails were in pretty good condition. I was expecting the hill near the start to be quite slippery with clay but wasn't too bad.

We got to the intersection in about 58min, the green sign in 1hr6min and to the turn around in 1hr27min so nice and cruizy. On the way back we ran slightly faster as you do on this course. Just past the intersection I start to feel bloody hungry and start thinking of the Chocolate thickshake and donuts I'm going to have shortly!

Get to the road and it's here I put a bit of effort in mainly because I just wanted to finish.
We get back in 1hr17min so 2hr44min all up.

I then made my way to the gym to do some stretches and to use the steamroom then it was off to grab that thickshake!

Kerry Anderson handicap 10km

Since I haven't ran a trotters 10k flat tt in over a yr that meant I didn't have a handicap for this race so last night I msg Mark and get myself a handicap going off 39:30. That's about right I guess. I thought I'd be about 40min or just under fitness wise.
So I line up in the rain and am the only runner to go at that time. I ran bat out of hell knowing Kevin Byrne and Ian Temblette are only 15sec behind me. It doesn't take long and I start to pass a couple of runners then I'm on my own again for what seemed to be like a very long time. Just pass 3km Kevin Byrne catches me and we run together for a little while but he eventually drifts off into the distance.
On the turn around I can't see Ian and think that's a great sign and just try to push on. A little further I see Mark Lee powering along and decide I need to keep him behind me. By now I'm catching a lot of other runners an I'm hurting...hurting real bad. I see who I thought was Kevin just ahead but am seeing triple now and when I get a bit closer I notice It's not Kevin but Jame Moran wearing a bright green singlet similar to Kevin.
At 8km I start thinking I'd much rather be running GNW100 miler then think I should have under 8min to go.  Shit my legs are lactic and I'm trying to find an injury to justify slowing down but can't find one. My muscles decided to feel all good as far as niggles go then my inner voice kicks in and say's you're on the last hill...keep moving. I start to pass other runners and can see Kevin not too far ahead but know it's too late to catch him. WIth about 200m to go I'm on the home straight and my muscles are fucking burning. Finally cross the line in 22nd spot which wasn't too bad considering I was one of the last to get going and finished in 38:46 by my watch. About 30sec behind Kevin. It took about 3 or 4min before I could talk.

After all that was over I made my way to the gym for a cycle class. Great day!

Easy Friday

10km in 49:57 doing the first 5km in 25:47 so a bit faster on the way back. Ran down at Umina beach for a nice flat run. Shin was pretty good. A bit sore at the start but soon settled down. Felt low on energy as I didn't eat beforehand.
Went straight from that to a swim. 1.5km done in the pool. Would've done more but I had to get to work and I needed FOOD!!!!

Thursday...Intervals and I need a toilet!!!!!

A bit of fartlex this morning and my shin felt the best it's felt in ages. I could still feel it but it was all good. Pretty much ran from Bensville to Kincumber and back. 16.5km doing 5min warmup then 1min hard, 2min hard, 3min hard, 4min hard, 5min hard, 4min hard, 3min hard, 2min hard, 1min hard all with a 1min recovery jog between sets. Finished by running 38min back easy. On the first 3min hard interval I needed a toilet quick! Lucky I was near maccas!
All up it took just over 1hr15min.

At 10:30am I did a yoga class

Windy Wednesday

Shin wasn't too happy this morning. Felt fine until I ran then it was just achy. Sort of a mixture between pain and ache.
Ran an easy 10k in 47:23 stopping a few times in the first 5km too massage the shin and calf out. Always feels better for a while after a quick massage.

Then I went for a 1km swim then had the most painful calf massage I think I've ever had!

Finished my morning with bodybalance

Tempo Tuesday

Again the normal soreness in the shin when I got up. Laced my shoes up and headed out the door. Did a 1km warmup stopping a couple of times to stretch and massage my shin. Then off I went running to Empire Bay and back home. 10.2km in total in 40:36. That's just under 4min km pace so I was happy with that. Shin was ok doing the tempo run but could feel it the whole way. More of a slight ache.
I found the run hard at first with my asthma playing up.
After the tempo I did a 2km warmdown so 13.2km done today

Monday...active recovery day

Hard to get out of bed this morning. Those flannelette sheets really hold you hostage. Anyway I had no choice but to escape as I had clients to see.

Later I had physio on my shin and Stan said to see how it goes over the next 4 weeks and if no better come back otherwise he will see me again next time I'm broken.

Got a strength workout before I saw Stan then tonight I got a yoga class in.

Sydney trail running...Wildflower gardens 10km

After a few more beers than I should have consumed yesterday...(12 in total) I got up just before 5am. A couple pieces of toast, a shower and a big drink of water I'm off to the Hope's residence to meet Kerry and Charlie. We then then pick up Therese and Alyssa and make our way to St Ives. Finding a great parking spot which no one else managed to find we trudge through wet grass trying to keep my socks dry.

Finding a nice spot near the heater we huddle around until it was removed and located in a new location. 

With 30min before the hooter sounded Charlie and myself run some of the course for a warmup. Testing my shin and other than a slight ache  it's not too bad. 

Not long later we are lined up and ready to go. A great course of lots of technical single trails, lots of wet rocks, lots of puddles, lots of ferns, some nice steep downhill fire trails, a few stairs and we get to run the course twice.

I'm feeling great for most of the first lap but about 4km in my legs got heavy. First lap in 26min but have no idea of the seconds and I'm on my way in the second lap thinking I may do 2min slower so a finish time of 54min would be about right That second lap took just under 4min and I finished n about 56:30ish. 

All in all a great course and nice wet conditions

Saturday...trotters and spinning

This morning felt absolutely friggin freezing! Off to trotters for a run to Avoca. Got about 11.5km done by going the wrong way. Shin was good but felt tight as with the calf. Ran pretty easy as I'm doing the Sydney trail race tomorrow.

After trotters I went a done a double cycle class the some strength work. Then it was a relaxing arvo sipping on a few beers :-)

Shortest day of the yr......does that mean it's almost Summer?? (I wish!)

After working until 9:30pm last night I was happy to have a sleep in and get my butt out of bed a little after 8am.
Got an easy 47min 10km down in Umina. Shin was pretty good. Slightly sore and uncomfortable at the start then just felt tight.
Then time for a 2km swim then later made my way to the gym for some strength work.

Thursday 15k

15.2km to be exact. 1hr11min10sec or 4:40/km pace. Bensville to rip bridge and back.
Started off pretty slow then just picked it up because I felt ok. Once again my right shin was painful at the start but after 5-10min was fine. Tight but fine.

Wednesday...cycle class, run, balance...is that a triathlon?

Like the headline say's......I started with a cycle class then a 10km run on the treadmill then straight to bodybalance. For the first time in about 6 weeks my shin felt good :-)

Tuesday.....swimming....sneezing....active recovery

No running today. Just feel like I need a few days rest. Right butt and left peroneals haven't quite been the same since glowworm and the trouble I've been having with the right one is about the same as it's been for the last 6 or 7 weeks.

So today I head to the pool and swim 3km. Taking my time and enjoying it. Took around 70min. Then for the next 20min I sneeze. Then later out of the blue I go through another 15min of sneezing. Sneezing is something that while you are trying to drive is quite dangerous. Maybe worse than drink driving. On that note I need to find a tissue

TOUGH = Glow Worm Marathon weekend.......

I'm not too sure how to put this race weekend into words. It's a race I think you are best living the whole atmosphere and camping with everyone else the night before. I think those who choose to stay elsewhere missed out on what makes this event so great.

If you love running hills you will love this race, if you love climbing cliffs you will love this race, if you love amazing views you will love this race, if you love running down hills you will love this race, if you love running down cliffs you will love this race, if you love technical uphill and downhill then you will love this race, if you love running fire trails, single trails, glow worm tunnels you will love this race!

So for me it started getting to Newnes about 4pm. I was hoping to get there about 2ish but got away a bit later than I hoped for. Straight away I put up my tent then have a look around. It wasn't long before the sun went down and the cold came up. I was ready for this cold and had layers of clothes ready to keep me warm.
The rest of the night was chatting to some people I haven't seen for a while, chatting to a couple of other trotters who made the journey, drinking a few beers, eating some food and listening to the band they had playing. Went to bed all rugged up and by 10pm I was crashed out.

Sunday morning I wake early and get out of the tent. I look up in the sky and see so many stars. It was quite magical. It looked so different than the Central Coast. Not sure why but it was pretty amazing!
Soon the sun is up and the next thing we are getting ready to race this thing.

At 8am we head off. a couple of km's in and I notice the cold air is making it hard for me to breathe. Next thing we run up some stairs and make our way up the first hill. I try to keep with the people I'm running with but am just having too much trouble breathing so I slow down.
Next thing we hit our next hill/mtn/cliff. Not too sure but I think "cliff" would be best to describe this thing. I mean there is a rope there to help you climb up part of it. This cliff just keeps going and going and going and going. I'm also able to get my breathing back under control as we climb as the pace is now really slow. I have no idea how long or how far we climbed that cliff for but it seemed like eternity!
Ok so once at the top we get to do an out back section of about 100m over a few rocks. The view from here was just outstanding! It was enough to make me stop running and take it in for about 10seconds and in a race that's a long time. Next thing we start to make our way down another hill for quite a few km's. There are about 4 of us running this section together and soon I see the front runners heading back.
Once down the bottom we turn around and start to make our way back up to the place with the amazing views. I manage to run quite a bit of those hills then it's down, down, down the cliff.

2hrs15min I'm back at the start and that means i'm half way there. Cool I'm now thinking I may finish this thing in about 4hrs15min but that soon changed.

We make our way across a river that's about ankle deep but cold enough to numb my feet for the rest of the run.

A few more km's later still feeling ok but heavy in the legs we go up some stairs. This was the point that wrecked me! Calves, hamstrings and adductors all cramped up and left my legs so lactic I had trouble moving them. I somehow manage to shuffle/walk to the Glow worm tunnel getting passed now by the half marathon runners with Mark Lee flying past me to the other elite runners to the larger types. grrrrrr c'mon legs work!!!!!!

Get to the tunnel which we have to walk through then it wasn't long and we were heading down hill for the rest of the race. This is where I came back to life and was now passing quite a few runners that got me earlier.

After 4hrs35min I finally finish walk over to my tent, change out of my running clothes, grab beer, walk back to the finish, lie down on a towel and think what an amazing event this is!

Sat...trotters Enzo's run

Not much to say here but we ran every hill in Terrigal/Wamberal and must have covered about 15km I reckon. I ran with Gary Pickering for most of it.
Ran about 2km beforehand to warm up my leg

Friday.. a recovery day

No running today. Decided to give my leg a bit of rest and sleep in. Pretty much worked then went and got myself a massage. It wasn't as painful as I thought it would be so I guess that's a good sign.

Thursday

14km this morning. I head out the door with compression (well long compression tights) on my lower leg and can still feel pain there. More of an ache than anything. Kinda travels from midway along my leg and sometimes I feel it more near the knee and other times down lower. After about 2km I stop and move my tights off my lower leg by pulling them up to my knee. Fells better so I run about another 1km to test it out and notice the ache is slightly better but that could be because it's been warmed up so I pull my tights back down and carry on and this time notice the ache has come back slowly. GOD ALL I WANT TO DO IS FUCKING RUN AND NOT PLAY AOUND WITH MY FUCKING CLOTHING.....I'm thinking in my head!  Hip/glute nerve pain all good so that put a smile on my face.

Anyway I continue with my run and as normal I notice it gets better the longer I go and doesn't seem to get any worse. I notice it stays achy all day though
So I'll keep on going get this Glow Worm marathon out of the way this Sunday then may take a week off to recover.

Tomorrow might be a rest day (maybe)

Wednesday easy run

Up in Newcastle this morning and ran a comfortable  57min 12km from Carrington to Nobby's beach and back. Back/glute was sore for the first min then came good and calf was pretty good on the first half but on the way back my calf felt mega tight! Felt like I had a small cork in it. Could still run ok and was fine when I finished.
Tonight I spent quite a bit of time on the foam roller

Tues...speed run, easy run rehab and swimming

So it seems I do have peroneus longus pain on the right leg. Always seems to be something.
Not stopping me from training though...well not yet anyway. I'm hoping it will be like a lot of injuries I get where I can manage it and keep my training up.

So today I got up and 15min later at 5:30am I'm out the door and off running. After the first few steps I notice pain straight away so I stop access the situation then get back into it. Only quite sore for the first few steps then feels ok. I do know it's there through the whole run but seems to be manageable.

So this mornings run I do 8 or 9 4min hard with 1min recovery on a 11km circuit. Stopped a couple of times just to stretch out my hip and quickly massage my peroneus and calf.

A little bit later I have physio but do my second run just before. 10km in 47min. I then explain where I'm feeling the discomfort.

Next stop after physio is off to get acupuncture done. 10-15 needles stuck in my peroneals, butt and back. I notice the difference straight away.

Next stop I'm off for a 2km swim then its off for food and now here I am :-)  

Sunday 43km of around the Bay

Had a nice sleep in and didn't wake up until 7am. I was pretty tired from yesterday.
My peroneus longus pain was only there slightly so I wore my compression socks.

Decided to run from home and do around the bay plus a bit extra to make it over the marathon distance. The more I got into the run the less pain I was getting. I just ran a moderate pace after the first 3km. The concrete from East Gosford to WoyWoy wasn't pleasant.

Anyway I pulled up pretty good. Took a water bottle with me and 2 gels

After the run I went and got a massage. Felt great after that

So 43km in 3hrs21min. About 4:41/km pace

Saturday....Frosty Canberra

Up and out running at 5:30am. It was about -3deg and the one thing I didn't bring because I couldn't find them were my gloves! So I grab some socks and decide to use them.

Even though the weather was cold there was a magic feeling in the air. Crisp and icy. Great weather for running.

Just did the 15.5km loop around Lake Burley Griffin.

Rest of the day was massaging from 8:45am to 7pm then driving home. Got home just after 11pm

Friday. Driving, working and running

It's crazy how much you can fit into a few days. Friday started off with me getting up at about 3am and was out driving on my way to Canberra by 3:25am. I get to Mittagong and I stop to do a 10k run at about 5:30am. Back about 48min later and continue to drive to Canberra. I get there and get straight to work and finish about 2pm so I then go for another 5k easy. Leg was pretty good. I can feel the side of the calf but seems to get better the more I run

Rest of the day was spending it with my girls at the Movies

Thurs 6th June....nerve pain coming and going...ohh and I can't breathe

Off for an early morning 17.5km run from Terrigal to Forries and back. Pretty much doing the Waterslide run. First few steps into it and glute painful from the nerve pain but soon settles. About 2km in I find I'm struggling to get any oxygen in. I really struggled. Wasn't wheezy but couldn't breathe properly.
Anyway so what do I do? I decide after 24min to do intervals. 3min hard with a 1min recovery and 5 of them. Hard was an understatement. Funny thing is as soon as I put in hard efforts all my nerve pain totally vanished.
Once I got the intervals done my pain came back but only slightly.

1hr24min or 4:48/km pace.

 

Wednesday 5/6 run and cycle

Wake up to my alarm at 6am and decide to reset the silly thing for 6:15am. 15min later it goes off again. Damn. Ok I can lie in bed and stay nice and warm or get my butt up and start my day. I choose the latter and get up.
By 7am i'm at Terrigal and off for a 10k. 48min45sec later I'm back Nerve pain there but much better running back.
Next stop was the gym where I got a double cycle class in.

So thats it for today

Tuesday a run and a swim

Up feeling really tired for a 6am 11km run done in just over 55min. Nerve pain was showing me it's still there but was fine to run on. It was radiating down to my calf but mostly came on after about 4km in.

Work was next then off to the pool to do a 30min swim. Lost count of how many laps because midway through they decided to change the 50m pool to a 25m pool so I just kept on swimming along in my own world for 30min. Back, leg, butt and all the other signs of nerve pain was settled slightly after the swim. It was then home for more work then a letric soda crystal bath where I feel asleep for about 45min.

it's cool it's only nerve pain

So off to physio and it looks like the pain on my right butt/hamstring is nerve related from my L5/S1 disc bulge. So with 5 stretches to focus on here's hoping it speeds up the recovery. In the mean time I'll keep running at this stage as it doesn't seem to bother me too much as long as I don't run too fast.

No running today just a recovery from the run yesterday. Woke up tired and some discomfort in my leg. Got better as the day went on

A very wet playground...Wakefield to Congewai with the Trotters!

Have to be at West Gosford by 6am to get the Trotters bus. Ok...no big deal....alarm goes off just after 4am and I spring out of bed....ok I set the alarm to go off 20min later then I slowly get my creaking muscles out of bed. After a shower I kinda feel pretty good for 4:30am on a Sunday morning.

On my way to West Gosford and a stop at Maccas for coffee I'm ready and standing in some light rain with a few others.

About 7 of us got off to do the 40km section and the rest were off to do the 30km section. I have no idea what time we set off running but off we go. I'm running with Ian for 20 or 30min and we are discussing how great the run will be if the weather stays how it is (light drizzle) then somewhere I lost him behind me in the fog. The first 10km has quite a lot of hills and with the rain lots and lots and lots of slippery clay where I think I spent more time sliding than running.

The next section was where the 30k runners started and I got there in 54min and up the hill to the communication tower I head. I ran most of this except for the almost vertical bits then I'm on the stairs where I see some walkers heading towards me and one wanted to chat to me about TNF race 2 weeks ago. So we are chatting away for a bit over 5min and I tell him I might get going again. He tells me the 30k runners were about 20min ahead. Cool I might catch them. Once up the top I find it easy going to Heatons Gap. No use looking at the lookout because of the fog so I head down to the jungle section. I love this part and after a while I catch up to Les, Deirde, Lynne and Wayne then just ahead a new guy (forgot his name) the up to the Hugging pole. Thats a nasty steep climb which I manage to walk run it. I hug the pole and off I go again. Into the real jungle I loose track of the course. I can see the pink dots on the trees then they just vanish so I decide after 10min scratching my head I'll just run back until I see another runner. Then I see Ian and together we find our way through. Well it was Ian that found the way. We then run together until we get to checkpoint 1 where Robyn is waiting with all sorts of goodies. She tells us she has only seen Jo, Detta and Denise and they missed the jungle section and were about 15min ahead, so off we go again.

Ian dropped off pretty much straight away and it wasn't long before I catch up to them then I'm on my own for the rest of the run. I get to the bus in 4hrs40min and Graham Steele is there. He says he finished in 3hrs10min and I'm thinking thats a pretty time then I ask if he went through the jungle section but he missed it too.
17min later Ian and Denise came in and over the next few hours the rest made it.

Long day but an awesome day

How did my hip go? hmmm well I couldn't take off on any down hills and after about 3hrs my hamstring was getting quite achy so I just ran within myself

Tomorrow I'm off for physio and I'll see what Stan reckons

Sat a run and help move a house

Got up all ready for trotters. Leg butt hamstring all felt good. Go to trotters a bit early and go for a bit of a warm up to the haven did 6 laps then ran back. Did a few stretches while I was running those laps so I guess about 5km then the run was Woody's run. 13.8km to Erina through Erina fair to the base of Kincumber mountain then back to Terrigal. My leg started off great but if I tried to put any pace on the hamstring would get tight so I setteled for an easy running pace. Lot's of hills, road and trails. I did do an extra km because I couldn't remember a turn so went a way that I knew.

Then my next workout of the day was driving up to mum's and with my brothers help we moved pretty much the whole house.

So a good workout for a Saturday

Tomorrow it's a GNW run with the trotters doing about 40km in whats meant to be RAIN! Fun fun fun!!!