The Drugs Dont Work (or do they?)

I started a new course of anti inflammatory drugs on Wednesday and today the knees which had started to get worse again feel good ! Like a switch!
Still not sure what the problem is but some form of Tendinitis probably.
An MRI scan might be able to provide the answer .I'll see how I go when when this batch of drugs runs out. Achilles is still not 100% so I will not risk running for a few days yet.
I added a gadget to my sidebar on the blog and eventually adjusted the settings so it works! I asked my Friends Danny in Israel and Vesna in Canada to log onto blog so I could see how effective it is = most impressed! Just look at all those people all over the States and Europe, even someone in Japan looking at my blog! I had to show Natalie as she is convinced I'm doing this just for my own edification!

OK so I forgot or perhaps I wanted to forget Arsenal results
West Ham 0 Arsenal 2

Arsenal 4 Spurs 4
I don't want to talk about it! I feel dreadful, absolutely gutted. Cant bear to read my normal sports media in case there is a report on this game. I feel sick. I don't want to support Arsenal any more . I don't want to watch another game of football. I've had enough, I'm sick of being ripped apart and all my emotions being exposed - till the next time!!!!

The writting is on the wall

Jamie Harrison (Dr.JH) turns 45 in Dec.

Last weekend he ran 8KM Road at St Marys Community Fun Run in 24m31 for 3rd place.
Result was;

1st Colin Johnston 24m08
2nd Anthony Farrugia 24m24
3rd Jamie 24m31
4th Richie Roberts (M40)24m37

Even if the course might be slightly short (Jamie says maybe 30secs) that is still
fantastic running. Should equate to sub 32m 10K and low 15m 5K.

What it also means is he is on form to smash my M45 3K record of 8m56, probably somewhere between 8m40 and 8m50.

M45 World Record is 8m27

Photo shows Jamie taking it easy (4th Place) en rout to winning Australian 10K Champs 22/2/91 - just a few famous faces alongside!

Great Southern Land

Thanks for you comments.

Geoff Jan 26th 2008 was among  the most painful experiences I've ever put my body through!

I'll leave the Beer Mile for you to win but I'll be pleased to drink a couple of VB's SLOWLY after with you!

Spent half  the day rubbing down the blistered varnish off a wooden pergola out the front of my house. I have two to do and probably only got about a tenth of the way through one.

The harsh Australian Sun is a real killer with the woodwork I'm thinking of painting it rather than varnishing it again.

I tried some exercises on the Achilles - but it's not ready yet!

Couple of weeks back I got another reminder of the City to Surf! That makes two Certificates and two medals!

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Quite apt really, 'I walk alone, I walk alone, I walk alone, along this Boulevard of Broken Dreams' - well perhaps not! Sandy and Natalie walk with me! Optimism on two fronts, the swelling in the ankle/Achilles is going down and the pain the stomach/abdomen is subsiding ( It felt remarkably like a hernia even down to the pain in the balls when you sneeze) , so I'm planning on taking it easy for a few more days to assess where I'm at. The knee is still sore, but at least I have a (short term) remedy for that, anti inflams give me near instant relief.

Party Fears Two

The only exercise I'm getting is walking Sandy (our beagle) in the morning. Still its another beautiful day , cloudless blue sky and 14 O C at 6.00am, a slight vestige of autumn - but something still beautiful with the relentless onslaught of humid summer days to come. I saw two pairs of Galah's on my walk,might be quite a common bird in Queensland but when you've lived 40 years in the urban sprawl of London still something beautiful to behold.

Fenebache 2 Arsenal 5 (Need I say more!)

This is the Day

No exercise Monday.

I tweaked something in my abdomen doing the push ups or the rowing. Also My triceps were busted (No chance of continuing the 100push up program till they are repaired!!). Also knee has been hurting on occasions when cycling and the Achilles is still twice the size of the other one!

My All Time Favourite Song - This is the Day - The The.

My Perfect Cousin

Sunday
Bike 22KM (ave 24KM per hour)
Air Rower 3.3Miles in 15m05
Swim

Another beautiful day in paradise! Stiff after yesterdays upper body work out!
Pool temperature 25.4 O C.


Saturday
Bike 20K's 50min Ave pace 24KM an hour
Air rower 3.4Miles in 15m10sec
Started 100 Push Up Challenge first maximum effort - 35!

I bought a cheap Cycle computer from Aldi to add some interest to my rides.
It gives just about every statistic you can think of.
I'm amazed that my average pace is only 24K's an hour! I truly push myself as hard as I can go (No free wheeling and pushing hard as!)I'd hope to run about 18K's in an hour.My only excuse is at times the course is tight technical and twisting.

I saw the 100Push Up Challenge on Coolrunning and thought I'd give it a go. With Frozen shoulder Syndrome afflicting both shoulders to some degree (different stages of waxing and waning)I wasn't sure I could even do one. To do 35 quality push ups in one sitting was much more than I expected. I waited 5mins (rather than the suggested couple of days) then started the program.
35 push ups suggested I start in Week 3 of the program. So the session required ;

14 push up 60sec rest
18 push ups 60 secs
14 push ups 60 secs
14 push ups 60 secs
Maximum Push Ups (Minimum 20)

I managed to complete the session but could only manage 15 on the last sequence. It is a really tough challenge and perhaps the 35 prior affected me. We shall see. It has left me feeling really stiff in the chest/ arms this morning.


Ronnie thanks for your encouragement! I hadn't seen the birthday thread (and thanks Craig) but checked it out this morning - Sham 69 indeed you old punk rocker!
This one is for you (One of my favourites)

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=I5hnCb-93WY



Arsenal 3 Everton 1
Had a few beers last night and fell asleep for the whole first half (which was probably a good thing) Like me, Arsenal woke up in the second half and played the stylish World Class football that has become their trade mark. Great stuff!

"I must not give in"

Friday 5.00am Bike 22K (2X Roo+Lake) 59m07

Sore knee, sore achilles and now sore arse!

What Difference Does it Make?

Thurs. 5.00am Bike 22KM 2 X Roo+Lake 59m25

So what difference does it make?

David Dundas

5.00am Bike 22KM 2XRoo+Lake 58m25



I was listening to a Fat Boy Slim take on the David Dundas classic and thought I'd grab the original !

Gloria

Tuesday 5.00am Bike 22KM 2X Roo+Lake 58m47s



A Glorious Morning ! Amongst many tracks on my random shuffle I listened to this morning I thought about sharing was U2's Window in the Sky - but I couldn't find that but Gloria is a belter of a song.

U2 once played a gig at Loughborough Uni - but not the main student bar, back in 1980 they were unknown and played a gig in front of about 30 people at The Towers hall of residence!
I'm still having issues with my blog sidebar disappearing down to the bottom of the page for some reason!!

I grabbed the photo of me at the G in the Mighty Maroon of Queensland! - Somehow I've ended the half Mara looking like a 20 year old Muscle Man!!!!!!!!!!

Andy Warhol

Back from Melbourne! Achilles feels like a very old rubber band! when I stretch it, it feels like it's gonna break! 

Felt a certain amount of muscle fatigue from yesterday (only to be expected with lack of training!). Had today as a rest day and will restart cross training (for what its worth?) tomorrow.

Yesterday I shared a taxi from the Hotel to the airport with David Criniti (Uncle Dave - Coolrunning) and Joseph the Kenyan athlete who finished 2nd in the Marathon . Dave's 2h29m in those conditions was a terrific performance and 5th place (in the money!!)

My blog layout was buggered up so I changed it to this. The banner reminded me of one of the Andy Warhol "self portraits" I saw at the National Gallery of Victoria on Saturday. The splashes of colour over his floating  black and white photo gave a 3 dimensional impression.

Melbourne Half Marathon

Sunday 7.00am Melbourne Half Marathon(incorporating Australian Half Mara Championships) 78m01s  42nd - 1st Cat
Arrived in Melbourne Friday at 11.00am. Billeted accommodation was the swanky Swanston Hotel on Swanston S.t in the heart of the Melbourne Central Shopping District. I really hadn't got any plans for the day and walking past one of the mega Shopping Centres I decided to kill two hours watching a film. Body of Lies with Russell Crowe and Leonardo Di Cappreo.Was falling asleep in the first part but eventually snapped out of that and enjoyed the balance of the film.
Saturday was another lazy day, I attended the Elite athletes briefing at the MCG
Or simply the "G" as it is known by the locals! Impressive stadium and to think we would be finishing with a lap on the hallowed turf in the morning!
I killed a couple of hours in the arvo at the Victorian Gallery of Art!
I had a late lunch that sat rather heavy so I skipped dinner. I'd suffered stomach problems on Monday and Tuesday and was hoping I wasn't about to suffer another bout!
An early night meant I was in bed by 10.00pm. I was awake by 4.00am but got up at 5.00am stomach not quite right. Breakfast was a muesli bar, tea and a yogurt.
I got to the start line this morning with just the briefest of warm ups but enough to make the Achilles start to bite a little. If I had a plan it was not go off too fast and try to work hard throughout the race and to enjoy it! My fitness level did not warrant any time goals as I simply had no idea how I'd go. As the gun went off I seemed to get swallowed by a big group who were travelling quite slowly so I dropped back more and went past them around the side and caught back up with the main leading pack which was probably about 20 or 30 big.The joys of early exuberance! After the first K fellow Queenslander Brendan Whelan went past me. I thought I was travelling OK but I started to feel some discomfort in the stomach. The knee was OK and the Achilles was there but not causing too much pain. Got to 3K in 10m30 and was interested in how I might go considering the relatively sedate pace. Got to 5K in 17m30 and was enjoying the section through Albert Park and along by the lake.
I had last come to Melbourne back in 1989 when I was working as a civilian at the HQ of Training Command for the Australian Defence Force in Mossman. The Defence force had an annual relay around the lake.
The course headed back out onto the St Kilda Road and toward the beach. Between 9 and 10 K I got passed by the leading two ladies and Matt Skeet for Queensland. Nobody seemed to be travelling excessively fast and overtaking was done by small degrees. I got to 10K in 35m40 which all things considered I was happy with and might have suggested a mid 70's time. The Achilles started to bear witness more and more and I became concerned it might make my calf cramp and that really would stuff me up!As we headed off the beach section we headed into a strong headwind which made progress difficult. Dropped water cups and seed pod leaves from the trees combined to make an unusual obstacle. We started come up against the Marathon runners travelling in the opposite direction but in huge hoards! Most of them stayed to their side of the road so as not to impede us. Some 'older guys' past me but I couldn't concern myself about Category competition as this was really a case of surviving rather than racing. I made myself look at the Bay and take in the view and I said to myself enjoy this (!). I went past 18K in 65m something thinking the winners were finished and were 3K's in front of me! As is always the case when your surviving those last few K's seem to take forever and of course comparatively do take forever! I was looking up the G's floodlight and then the Stadium and finally the Gate. It was really good to fun into the stadium through the tunnel and wonder what it must be like to do it in a major Championship with a full crowd.
I was disappointed as I saw the line and the last few seconds of 77m run out for me to cross out 78m01 but at the end of the day it was about the performance I expected.
I managed to hold off Shawn Claydon to be third and final scorer for Queensland which was something. Having aprox 6 weeks off in the last 8 weeks is no basis to run a half Mara so all in all it was OK! Only two ladies beat me , maybe a few old timers beat me and scored for my State in a National Championship!
After the run I had a massage on my rapidly deteriorating calves/Achilles which was a first for me and felt tremendous!
I'm killing a few hours before my 6.00pm flight back to Gods country but I have to say Melbourne impressed me. Like Sydney I found it to be a very busy city full of people - the crowds! The trams and the buildings make Melbourne an extremely attractive city (much more than I expected) - and this was helped by the fantastic weather (26 O C yesterday 28 O C today!)

Sound of the Crowd

Wed 5.00am BIKE 22K (2XRoo+Lake) 62m35

Thurs 5.00am BIKE 22K (2XRoo+Lake) 58m18

Not the best prep for a half Mara, but I feel the  main goal is to finish the race and the second is to start it with as little pain as possible. I guess I might run 75m-80m

Killer Queen

Tuesday  5.00am 15Mins Air Rower 3.2Miles, 20mins Airtrainer (Cycle; Biggest wheel/lowest cog)

Monday 5.00am 11KM Roo+Lake  47m24 - steady; Achilles reacted badly!

Sunday Rest

Saturday 4.00pm  15min Air Rower 3.4Miles, 20 Mins Airtrainer (Biggest wheel/lowest cog) +

6KM Roo 25mins

Stone Cold Crazy

Friday  6.00pm 11KM Roo+Lake  44m57

Stone Cold Crazy Indeed!

 

Natalie talked me out of more madness whilst on holidays.

Why crucify myself further if I've resigned myself to; 

A. Running a time someway shy of 72mins

B. I will be capable of completing a 21K run 

So why not limp along till Melbourne (pun intended) then rest and recover properly for a shortened track season.

We got home today from Hervey Bay, where we had a great time. Lots or rest, early nights, a few beers, reading, just hanging out with the family!

My anti inflams have run out so I'm interested to see what effect not taking them has on the knee and the Achilles - and on my body generally. I know it's not good to take them for too long and I was starting to notice things like mouth ulcers and cold sores  popping up ! So I needed to take the break, even  though you do start to feel a dependency (if I don't have them my knee will hurt and then I cant run! What will happen to my Achilles?).

Nearly forgot to mention;

Arsenal 4 Porto 0 - I saw  bits of the game on SBS and by all accounts Aresnal were just magnificent- "playing the best football in the World said SBS expert

'Fossie' along with Argentina, Spain and perhaps Barcelona! High Praise indeed!