On Friday our neighboring suburb Caboolture received 333 mm of rain (277 mm fell in 3 hours alone on Friday afternoon).
At work in the arvo I had a call from my son at home saying the water was backing up on our patio lapping at the door! the water was a combination of just heavy rain not getting away (through the drains) and overland flows coming in from neighbours at side and rear over timber retaining walls.
I explained how to conduct a 'backwash' and this thankfully brought the level back down to just an infinity pool once again!
Not that you'd swim in the brown green goo that was left!
I left work straight away but got stranded on a train unable to move due to flood water over the tracks. 3 hours later we eventually got to Petrie but were told we'd not get any further north. My car was at the next station Dakabin 5km up the road so I tried to get Natalie to come pick me up. No luck there as the roads were all closed, nothing else to do but run it in my civvies! It was dark and running along a flooded country road (Narangba Rd) with cars high beams blinding me , bag under my arm, black shoes black trousers black jacket it would have made a fantastic photo/video. The rain had stopped me from doing my morning run so this was a belated run not recorded on the Garmin (thought about putting it on the phone Strava app - but battery was low and might have needed it once I got to the car).I thought the parkrun would be cancelled we'd arranged at Minnippi due to it being very low lying ground and indeed it was cancelled - when I drove past half the course was under flood water. We transferred our Masters event to Wynnum which fared remarkably well other than tonnes of seaweed quite thick and slippery in places washed up onto the esplanade pathway. This course is a bit like Sandgate except you run south 1.6km 180 O turn run back past the start finish and run another 900m and do another 180 O turnaround and back to the finish.
Like at Sandgate I went 'all out' but again suffered a similar form reversal finishing in 16;27. Somehow I have dropped 30secs and cant fathom where. Aerobically I feel fine and physically OK other than the standard niggles and aches. The latest is a sciatic type pain Im experiencing in the right leg for the last 4 weeks. Maybe that is impacting my pace will get some iron down me just in case its anemia.
Bazza put on breakfast back at his place hosted by the lovely Olga. They did a magnificent job once again coping without electricity (due to the storms).
Anne Ryan once again smashed it on the age grading and The Robot, Peter J. Reeves finally managed to wallop his beloved Garmin Lama (me!). Special guest at breakfast Pat Clohessey - coach to Deek and many many Australian Running Royalty gave a talk on the influence of John Landy.
Special mention to Paul Shard (Shardy) who following on from a major back operation last year is managing to continue to chip away at his time.
Here are some photos (thanks Barry and Olga) I'm hoping google will turn them into a GIF for me so you get more of an animated clip than a zillion photos.
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At work in the arvo I had a call from my son at home saying the water was backing up on our patio lapping at the door! the water was a combination of just heavy rain not getting away (through the drains) and overland flows coming in from neighbours at side and rear over timber retaining walls.
I explained how to conduct a 'backwash' and this thankfully brought the level back down to just an infinity pool once again!
Not that you'd swim in the brown green goo that was left!
I left work straight away but got stranded on a train unable to move due to flood water over the tracks. 3 hours later we eventually got to Petrie but were told we'd not get any further north. My car was at the next station Dakabin 5km up the road so I tried to get Natalie to come pick me up. No luck there as the roads were all closed, nothing else to do but run it in my civvies! It was dark and running along a flooded country road (Narangba Rd) with cars high beams blinding me , bag under my arm, black shoes black trousers black jacket it would have made a fantastic photo/video. The rain had stopped me from doing my morning run so this was a belated run not recorded on the Garmin (thought about putting it on the phone Strava app - but battery was low and might have needed it once I got to the car).I thought the parkrun would be cancelled we'd arranged at Minnippi due to it being very low lying ground and indeed it was cancelled - when I drove past half the course was under flood water. We transferred our Masters event to Wynnum which fared remarkably well other than tonnes of seaweed quite thick and slippery in places washed up onto the esplanade pathway. This course is a bit like Sandgate except you run south 1.6km 180 O turn run back past the start finish and run another 900m and do another 180 O turnaround and back to the finish.
Like at Sandgate I went 'all out' but again suffered a similar form reversal finishing in 16;27. Somehow I have dropped 30secs and cant fathom where. Aerobically I feel fine and physically OK other than the standard niggles and aches. The latest is a sciatic type pain Im experiencing in the right leg for the last 4 weeks. Maybe that is impacting my pace will get some iron down me just in case its anemia.
Bazza put on breakfast back at his place hosted by the lovely Olga. They did a magnificent job once again coping without electricity (due to the storms).
Anne Ryan once again smashed it on the age grading and The Robot, Peter J. Reeves finally managed to wallop his beloved Garmin Lama (me!). Special guest at breakfast Pat Clohessey - coach to Deek and many many Australian Running Royalty gave a talk on the influence of John Landy.
Special mention to Paul Shard (Shardy) who following on from a major back operation last year is managing to continue to chip away at his time.
Here are some photos (thanks Barry and Olga) I'm hoping google will turn them into a GIF for me so you get more of an animated clip than a zillion photos.
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| Olga and Pat Clohessy |
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| I was so weak Pat had to hold my arm up whilst Olga held me upright! |
2 comments:
It was a clearly emotional Pat Clohessy who paid tribute to the Garmin Lama after this year's Minnippi World Age Graded Master's challenge, transferred at the last minute to Wynnum due to inclement weather . Addressing the multitudes who had gathered to pay tribute to their beloved Garmin Lama , Clohessy drew on the example of John Landy who has been his life long inspiration and mentor . The iconic and legendary coach paid tribute to Landy who inspired a generation of athletes both in the Garmin Lama's adopted homeland and worldwide . He obviously sees McSweeney as the new Landy inspiring , through his garmined exploits , a new generation of champions . He even saw parallels with Landy's stopping to assist Ron Clarke who fell once in a famous race and that moment now captured forever in a magnificent bronze statue in Melbourne Park . Paul Shard ( like Clarke) fell as well on Saturday slipping on sea weed meters deep in places on the course . The larrikin Scotsman has had Shardy ( as he is known on the park running circuit) pledge to remain silent as to what impact that fall had on both their performances but it was significant . Shard paid tribute to his idol as well after the race . "They said I'd never walk again but the GL inspired me never to give up . KBO he said . Keep buggering on . When I slipped and was being trampled under foot I felt an arm haul me out from beneath the suffocating blanket of storm debris and sea weed ." When asked to elaborate further Shardy said he was pledged to silence for the rest of his life . History will recall that Anne Ryan , a devoted disciple of both Clohessy and McSweeney , was the winner of the 2015 age graded challenge but the real winners were those on hand to see the passing on of the Landy legacy and tradition to the Garmin Lama . As Clohessy put it , Monna will be forever associated with his special brand of fartlek . Likewise McSweeney will always be linked with the Garmin age of which he was the harbinger . A fitting tribute that Australia's premier and world renown coach was on hand to symbolise the passing on of that baton in the form of a simple fastest time trophy . There may have been a dry eye in the audience but this correspondent couldn't see it .
The Garmin Lama has settled comfortably into his new mantle as maintainer of the Landy Legacy , an honourable and honorific title bestowed on him by none other than legendary coach Pat Clohessy after his extraordinary performance in this year's Minnippi Age Graded World Challenge . In what has become known as the " arm of God " incident among Garminites world wide , mystery today still surrounds what part divine providence or human intervention played in the rescuing of Paul Shard from his sea weed encrusted nightmarish fall. As the man himself has taken a monk's vow of solemn silence on the issue, which is seen by many as tacit recognition that it was in fact the Garmin Lama himself who rescued his stricken fan , it is certain that this incident will become apocryphal rather than anecdotal and ensure that Landy's legacy is etched ever more firmly into the collective consciences of an entire new generation of athletes so sorely in need of role models . The man himself , whose face now looks so benignly down on us from billboards as far removed as Alaska to Afghanistan and is unmistakably linked with Garmin in a partnership of cosmic proportions , will soon be stepping into the unchaterted waters of half marathoning and the hopes and aspirations of his myriads of fans will be holding their collective breaths and licking their chaffed lips whilst simultaneously willing their garmined hero onto ever more epoch defining performances .
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