finding my equilibrium

Sun 2.00pm Nudgee 8 X 1000m 200m jog recovery
Hip was noticeable during session , started cautiously,
in pretty windy conditions with a 3m18 very comfortable,
thought Id get upset with times and only decided to
time every other one, 3m12, 3m10, and 3m07
Considering the wind & the hip I was satisfied with the session.
I haven't downloaded the Garmin data yet but I saw my heart rate
up at 179bpm towards end of session, really working hard. It is
exactly the type of training I felt I had been lacking
during recent races where that feeling of the heart
racing (uncomfortable) has led me to dropping down the
pace to find equilibrium.

The Go-Betweens - Streets Of Your Town Version 2

Life in Tokyo - Japan

Sat  5.56pm  Roo+Lake 10.57km  40m42   (3m51 K's)
Fri  5.32am  Roo+Lake  10.67km  46m43  (4m23 K's)
Thur 5.00am Roo+Lake  10.6km  46m11

Very windy all last night and all today, perhaps it is the two cyclones up North .
I thought about going to the track and running 200's (to stay out of the wind) but in the end decided 
just to go for a steady run this evening and see what conditions are like tomorrow for speed endurance session .
Left hip still giving jip.
63kg after tonights run.
Listening to my ipod during the week I heard Quite Life by Japan and thought I must check out Life in Tokyo but found I didn't have it ! So here courtesy of  YouTube is a Giorgio Moroder (The King of Disco) Remix.
Just read the comments and saddened to hear the brilliant base player Mick Khan died of cancer recently.

8 X 800m

Wed 8.29am Nudgee  8 X 800m  400m Jog recovery in 3m30


2m26;94 153bpm,  71.94 (141bpm) 75.00 (166bpm)
2m28;43 159bpm, 73.01 (149bpm) 75.42 (169bpm)
2m30;28 161bpm
2m27;68  163bpm,  72.04 (155bpm) 75.64 (173bpm)
2m28;79  163bpm,  72.99 (154bpm) 75.80 (173bpm)
2m29;75  165bpm,  73.46 (156bpm) 76.29 (174bpm)
2m28;06  166bpm, 72.31 (157bpm) 75.75 (175bpm)
2m25;38  168bpm, 72.34 (160bpm) 73.04 (177bpm)

Shane George

Sun 4.41pm Roo+Lake 10.65km 42m53  (4m01 K's) Ave BPM 144 Max BPM 160
Mon 5.18am Roo+Lake 10.66km 48m45 (4m34 K's)
Tue 5.19am Roo+Lake 10.63km 45m45 (4m18 K's)


Running at Queensland Masters last Sat in my M45-49 Cat, Shane George ran 9m23;37.
He must have just turned 45 and is another one in the mix for Nationals in April.
I heard he is aiming to run sub 9 by Feb so he might be running by himself.

Queensland Open 3000m Championship 2011

Sat 8.30pm Qld Open 3000m Champs. 2nd Heat 4th 9m19.33
Fri 6.45pm Roo 5.70km 24m25  (4m16 K's)
Thurs 5.00am Roo+Lake 10.68km 47m51 (4m28 K's)


At 7.00am Sat I looked outside and saw we had beautiful conditions; No wind,and 24 O C. However, I had decided to race with the kids in the Queensland 3000m Open Champs. By 9.00am the wind was up and gusting very strong and I thought 'bollocks I've made the wrong choice!' 
The Q'land Champs were due to take place at 7.30pm , I had seen the pre entry numbers and thought there was a very good chance that they would need to split the race. 
They were going to split the field into three races but in the end they made it two mens races and as I had seeded myself with my seasons best 9m18. I was in the second heat following the Mens A and Womens A.
It was really good to see the Championship race. 
Nick Toohey who ran 3m40sec for 1500m (waving and cavorting at the finish!!) at the Zatopecks a month ago was the standout competitor. 
After a slow start 70secs and 3mins for the first K , Nick kicked and decimated the field gaining an 80m lead in the next K. He looked strong confident and unbeatable. 
Of course you can guess what happened!
He died and two lads Jayden Russ and Daniel Bulmer caught him and these two had an almighty battle over the last lap (someone said a 53 !!), the winner (Bulmer)crossing the line in 8m24;49. Now forgive me for blowing my own trumpet in a way but as a 17 year old I ran 8m23. It seems inconceivable today that had I raced at my best  I might have ever been up there with them.
After the Womens race the second heat of the Mens Open started an hour later than the scheduled start time!
The 20 strong field went flying from the gun. The kids went though 200m in 31/32 me at 33 thinking 'this is too  fast but I got to stay with these kids!'
Inevitably there was a slow down as matters sorted themselves out . 
Do I run first lane or second lane? 
Do I overtake or do I run their pace? 
These questions don't normally arise at Masters as after 100m I'm in the lead and pulling away. So the first few laps was quite competitive real racing, at one stage I overtook a lad and  he overtook me on the next lap and then I had to overtake him again within 200m! A group of 3 kids had broken away and I was next in 4th chasing. We were soon lapping the real kids. 
I had the impression from the times I heard at the finish line that I was running OK . 
I thought I got to the bell in 7m58 which I thought meant I might run 9m10, however, as I crossed the line I thought I heard the call 9m18. 
Don't get me wrong 9m18 is OK -  it equals my best for 2010, however, I thought I could run sub 9m10. It turns out I ran 9m19;33. I nearly caught 3rd place on the line.
My Garmin had again buggered up (battery read 0% charge when it should have been 100%) so I did not clock my own time.
The Results are below and yes they put the age that your going to turn this year down as your age ! I'm not 50 yet! See what I mean about racing the kids?;



Men 3000 Meter Run QLD CHAMPS
================================================================
    Name                     Age Team                    Finals
================================================================
Section  1
  1   508 Bulmer, Daniel      21 GCV                    8:24.49
  2  1114 Russ, Jayden        26 QE2                    8:24.51
  3   646 Crook, Daryl        23 ASR                    8:31.19
  4   106 Toohey, Nicholas    23 PAC                    8:34.36
  5   876 Crew, Andrew        31 MAR                    8:37.81
  6   335 Nispel, Patrick     31 UNQ                    8:42.84
  7   875 Bock, Peter         29 MAR                    8:45.40
  8   333 Nankivell, Dylan    16 GLD                    8:47.82
  9   110 Twist, Jay          23 UNQ                    8:48.91
 10   222 Chambers, Charles   18 GCV                    8:49.43
 11  2312 Carlsson, Matt      20 UNQ                    8:55.67
 12   379 Thomas, Jordan      19 QE2                    8:58.10
 13   767 Schofield, Sam      19 UNQ                    9:04.70
 14   202 Barton, David       20 QE2                    9:12.27
 15   397 Watkins, Julian     17 JIM                    9:15.93
Section  2
  1   975 Gebre, Mesele       16 QE2                    9:09.19
  2   925 Hagan, Patrick      18 QE2                    9:09.71
  3  1076 Fox, Loughlin       17 UNQ                    9:18.91
  4  1015 Sweeney, David      50 UNQ                    9:19.33
  5   803 Bruce, Jack         17 UNQ                    9:27.12
  6  1101 Kianga, Skene       24 QE2                    9:35.58
  7   223 Tucker, John        32 UNQ                    9:38.00
  8   194 Allen, Max          15 GCV                    9:52.62
  9   496 Healy, Matthew      21 RNB                    9:58.21
 10   354 Saleh, Osman        19 ASR                   10:04.72
 11   526 Stanbrook, Mitchel  15 GCV                   10:08.02

Men 3000 Meter Run QLD CHAMPS....
 12   829 Hong, Seunggil      32 INT                   10:29.23
 13   846 Litfin, Tony        48 RNB                   10:36.04
 14   962 Cossettini, Thomas  15 QE2                   10:41.68
 15   805 Cook, Hugo          15 UNQ                   10:43.63
 16   797 Gallagher, John     14 QE2                   10:50.49
 17   995 Waldron, Jayden     14 DEC                   11:18.97
 18   499 Healy, Michael      16 RNB                   12:01.80
 19   970 Early, Michael      21 QE2                   12:02.11
 20   215 Purcell, John       43 ASR                   12:04.05

Saturation Point

Tues 5.00am 10.77km Roo+Lake 45m59 (4m16 K's)
Wed 5.00am 10.6?km Roo+Lake 45m59 (4m 16 K's)


Back to morning runs . Just steady stuff , well that was all I was capable of - not sure if 
it was just normal reaction to track session on Sat, early mornings, the various niggles I'm carrying or the conditions.
Brisbane humidity levels have been sky high. 94% this morning at 5.00am and 25 O C. The weight of my singlet(vest) alone from the sweat might have contributed to slower times. It is saturating. 
I do enjoy it though because most of my running life was spent running in  freezing muddy $hitehouse conditions and I'll take the warm over cold any day. 
Interestingly the organisers of the National Masters  T & F Champs in April are going to pander to the out of towner's by putting on the 10,000m at 6.00pm when it will be dark and the humidity levels at their lowest for the day. This is for the best if we are to run fast times (and I do!) but it isn't offering the true Queensland experience!
This morning my Garmin's battery had dropped down to 8% battery so I left it at home and took the old stopwatch - how skinny and light does that feel by comparison! 
I managed to run exactly the same time today as yesterday!
The rest of the week will remain just steady stuff as I want to race on Saturday maybe 3000m at Masters in the morning or 3000m Queensland Open Champs with the kids in the evening.

St Lucia

Mon 6.12pm 10.54km Roo+Lake 44m38  (4m14 K's)
Sun 5.30pm 10.64km Roo+Lake 44m43 (4m12 K's)


Two slow recovery runs, suffering aches and pains from Saturday's session.


I joined the University of Queensland Athletics Club in order to participate in QA event this Summer.
They had laid a brand new track which had never been raced on! 
They were waiting for the rain to stop before putting down the lane markings. Unfortunately it never stopped raining! Today was the first day they were going to try and shift the mud, I hope the water hasn't got in under the surface. 
Click on the image for a larger photo.

Joe Begley

Nudgee 5.46pm 10 X 400m 115m Jog Recovery (75secs?) > 68:60


67:96 (146bpm), 70:85 (152), 70:13 (154), 68:53 (156)
67:73 (155), 67:73 (156), 68:72 (156), 68:47 (157),
69:00 (157), 66:95 (159)


Just felt like I needed to do the shorter speed intervals again today though realize longer ones are required next time. Conditions were warm 28 O C (82 O F) same old wind down the finishing straight but not too bad.
There were a few athletes around today and I think that sometimes influences my performance (makes me go faster!). Again this week not feeling that fluid during 2K warm up but knuckled down and perhaps over did it with a 67.96 opener!. 
After that I did more normal settling in few reps 70 followed by 70 and then started to pick things up, a 68 followed by two 67's on reps 5 and 6. 
I was dead on the track and 4 to go! 
My mind was saying well see if you can get to 8 and call it quits.
7 & 8 were both 68's and I told myself just two more! But of course I was mentally weak and cruised 9 in 69.
I tried my best to remained composed on 10, concentrate on fast start, high leg turnover, remaining smooth, not straining, then I got to 200m and told myself only 200 to go, hold it together, high leg turnover, don't strain.
Blessed relief across the line, flop to the grass, 66:95 for a session average 68:60, very happy with that.
After my warm down I had a word with a Master who had been running sprints on the infield trailing a weight sled. He introduced himself as Joe Begley, he is in the M55 - M59 Cat. He told me he'd been timing me and said I appeared to be running 68's like a metronome! (look at reps 5 & 6!) 
Little did he know the gut busting mental and physical  turmoil I went through! He's a sprinter though he was wearing the Gold Coast Half Marathon Tee Shirt from the year when I did it in 2008! 
Turns out he's a very useful performer and should be interesting to see how he goes in the Nationals though he was telling me he is up against two fast guys who turn 55 just before the Champs! 
I just checked out the last Queensland Masters Results in Brisbane and he ran a 95% age graded performance in the 60m and a 91% Age graded performance in the 100m. A 95% performance is up there with Keith Bateman in comparative performances!

1111.11

Thurs 6.13pm 10.68km Roo+Lake 39m49  (3m45 K's)
Fri 6.38pm 10.62km Roo+Lake 43m19  (4m05 K's)


Yesterdays tempo run made up for Wednesday's slightly disappointing run. I felt OK from the start and if I run an opening K in 4mins I know it is going to be a fast one. I tried to run fast but without effort. That was not accomplished as I really pushed it over the last 2 or 3 K's. My reward was a rare sub 40min clocking (went through 10K in just over 37m30), the Garmin had the K's;
4m00, 3m44, 3m44, 3m49, 3m43, 3m48, 3m42, 3m38, 3m40, 3m42, 2m13 (3m17 pace)


By contrast todays run was an effort the whole way. Stiff right hammy, concern over left knee and hip but ploughed on and was happy enough with 43m10 following a fast two days. K's went;
4m17, 4m07, 3m58, 4m04, 4m01, 4m01, 4m10, 4m01, 4m08, 4m04, 2m24 (3m52 pace).


Amazingly I checked my total K's run since 27th Sept when I got the Garmin and the total K's I have recorded are 1111.11km Freaky!


I went back to work today. Only 5 people made it to the office when the normal total would be 50 or 60.
It was understandably rather surreal. Many shops on the Queen Street Mall still shut, only one train per hour going into the city (rather than say 10) and the train only had 3 carriages so by the time it got to the city it was heaving! Plenty of streets were closed off to traffic. The clean up has begun, in the city it meant pumping out many of the building basements and cleaning up the gloopy mud silt from the streets.
Many areas have had their power cut so police were on hand to direct the traffic. I took a look at the river at lunchtime, still flowing with incredible power the level had dropped considerably from yesterdays high but it was still an amazing site. I heard a body was found 80km from where the person had gone missing!

I took this photo this arvo from my desk, it shows the normally very busy intersection of George and Margaret at 2.50pm today, not a car, not a person in site! The Brisbane river runs around immediately behind our office and snakes around the Botanical Gardens and back in front on this photo, the building in the center of the photo is the Stamford Plaza Hotel and thence further in the center distance is a raised section of the Highway just before the Storey Bridge. The second photo is from Brisbane Times showing the scene further down Margaret St corner with Albert St.

The Day after Yesterday

Wed 6.23pm 10.61km Roo+Lake 41m06  (3m53 K's)

A Tempo run in very humid conditions. This left hip niggle is more of a hindrance after a run than during. Hopefully it is just 'old man' syndrome.

Below are some random photos I took on my phone on my way home on Tuesday. The 4th photo with the Yellow Sign is a Park in Strathpine next to St Paul's School where they held the Queensland XC Championships this year!

Here is phenomenal footage to Natures fury in Toowoomba on Tuesday.You can see why there was loss of life.

A grim day for Brisbane

Mon Rest
Tues 5.48pm Roo+Lake 10.65km 45m10  (4m15s K's)


Today is a very grim day for Brisbane, the torrential rain over the past few days has worked its way into our river system and all rivers are flooding. 
The Brisbane river which snakes through the city is set to rise to record levels causing major inundation of homes and business throughout the city the peak flow will come on Thurs arvo. 
Yesterday afternoon the call went out to 'evacuate' the CBD and I left work early to get home. Major problems as flooded rivers closed roads and the rail network shut down and I had to complete my journey via a very circuitous route to pick up my car in Petrie. The flooding that I witnessed from the train yesterday was unbelievable, where there were once green fields and parks was inland sea!
Where we live is fine, we are not close to any river systems/flood plains. Thousands are not so fortunate and there will be major damage in Brisbane and Ipswich. Travel to the CBD is not advised so I'm off work today and tomorrow.
After last weeks 2hour trail run I got a niggle in the left hip region, I have been taking it relatively easy since. Though it didn't seem to affect me during the track session, it has been giving me some cause for concern. I will monitor the situation.

The Bureau of Meteorology

Sun 4.51pm 10.62km Roo+Lake 44m46   (4m13  K's)


I waited most of yesterday for it to stop raining. It didn't so I had to go out yet again in the stinging rain and splash around the paths of North Lakes, pretty soon all the lakes are going to join up and we'll rename the suburb North Lake. The Bureau of Meteorology officially has Brisbane as having recorded 94mm of rain from 9.00am yesterday till 6.30am today so looks like we'll have a 100mm in the full 24hours.
I have to compliment the engineers who designed the stormwater drainage systems here as last nights rain was of the hammering it down variety you only seem to get in the Tropics, and the fact that it coped with such a deluge without any flooding is a testament to them. No run this morning but might splash around this evening.

'well happy'

Nudgee 8.37am 10 X 400m 115m jog recovery (75secs?) > 68;77


70:76 (143bpm), 70:00 (151bpm), 70:80 (152bpm), 68:86 (155bpm)
69:05 (157bpm), 69:XX (161bpm), 67:60 (157bpm), 68:50 (159bpm)
68:21 (161bpm), 65:XX (163bpm)


Conditions were warm and humid , cloud cover provided respite. Windy again down the finishing straight but not  the blow you backwards wind from last week. Warmed up with 6 laps and 4 strides, didn't feel particularly fluid.
Concentrated my mind on the task in hand and commenced. 70 first off was a good start and showed it wasn't too hard a battle into the wind. Next two were consistent as well at 70 secs, then a 68 when I concentrated on trying to stay relaxed and pick up the leg turnover. Another 69 and that was followed by a 69 but I couldn't stop the Garmin as sweat must have got onto it and it locked me out. The extra time on that split meant my average bpm upped out of step. I felt that the session was going really well and felt determined to keep up the effort, but was worried I might have blown it with a 67.6 on No.7. Thankfully I was on a roll and managed to keep the toughest late intervals honest with a 68.5 and a 68.2. There is a mental tendency to want to conserve energy and these intervals can slacken off. Of course the easiest interval is the last one and as ever I went flat out. As I crossed the line I saw 65 tick over and agonizingly once again the Garmin locked out and I couldn't stop it. I felt robbed of that little bit of satisfaction you get when run a good time and review your splits later. None the less, I was 'well happy' with the session.

More of the same!

Fri 5.00am 10.64km Roo+Lake  44m11  (4m09 K's)
Thur 5.00am 10.6km Roo+Lake 44m09  (4m09 K's)
Wed 5.00am 10.6km Roo+Lake 44m50  (4m14 K's)


We have had more of the same this week! Rain Rain Rain. Heavy stuff here . Extensive flooding in Queensland out East and up North, luckily both today and yesterday I got my run in before the skies opened. Really enjoyed this week getting back into early morning runs. At 4.45am when my alarm goes it is now quite dark! A sure sign the days are shortening and Autumn is approaching .

Keith Bateman M55 5000m World Record 15m29.7

Keith ran WR No.3 last night in Sydney!
Paced by Tom Highnam through 3000m in 9m16 (3m05, 6m10, 9m16) Keith brought it home in spectacular style in perfect conditions to record 15m29.7 for his 3rd WR (the Mile and 3000m)
That beat the previous WR of 15m37 set by Englishman Michael Hager in 2006.
All Keith's achievements are amazing but really stands out for me is Keith's ability over all the middle distances.
No one has else has ever set marks at all the distances but Keith is in the process of setting WR's from 1500m to 10,000m - truly unique.

Back to Work

Mon 3.48pm   23.51km   Mount Mee Mountain Trail    2h05m23   (5m20 K's)


It was literally a steaming hot day so I drove 52.5km up into the mountains for a cool run in the forest for my last run of the holidays. A storm had passed over the mountains and deposited a fair smattering of rain which on hitting the super heated tarmac of the roads instantly evaporated into steam. Iconic imagery for our part of the world. As I drove up into the mountains I was looking down onto fluffy white clouds. Got to the Gantry Day Use area of Mount Mee State forest and hit the trail in the rain with my ipod for company. The trail was slightly heavy with mud (very unusual for Queenslander's to get muddy shoes). The trail starts off with what I call 'big dippers' then flattens out a bit then goes into really big dippers. The mother of all is the 2km uphill section just past 'L Traverse'. I got to that point in about 46mins and carried on for 14mins  to turn around on the  hour. Running the down hill sections was just as hard as the up hill sections and I only ever got moving on the few relatively flat sections. The Garmin tells the story of the elevation assents and descents 738m Gain 729 Loss.  Some of the data might not be accurate as I find running through dense forest does lose tracking and you can see that on the timing chart.
A great way to burn up a few calories from the holidays! 
Today I took off as recovery, went back to work and needed to ease the aches and pains! 

Mount Mee K Break Loveday Road L Traverse by brizzygooner at Garmin Connect - Details

Mount Mee K Break Loveday Road L Traverse by brizzygooner at Garmin Connect - Details

Tangled

Sun 3.56pm 10.61km Roo+Lake 41m41  (3m56 K's)


I wore a tee shirt today as I was afraid I'd get burned if I wore just a singlet/vest  (didn't want to lather myself up with sun screen). It didn't rain!, it was warm (29 O C/84.2O F) and really really humid 69% (felt 95%). 
I normally don't mind it but I suffered today.


This arvo just Lily and me went to see the new Disney movie Tangled - really sweet old fashioned fairy tale - we loved it.

Trigger Happy TV - Dom Jolly

Sat 5.00pm 10.63km Roo+Lake 43m46  (4m08 K's)


Not too much damage from last nights excesses! Must have been feeling OK as though I laboured through the first K, I did get into aprox 4min K mode by about 3rd K. 
Calf muscles were remarkably pain free after yesterdays session but L. knee and R.Groin/hammy thing a bit sore.
After two days where we have seen the big yellow ball n the sky again it was back to very heavy clouds and about 6 inches of rain. The forecast is for two more weeks of rain but at least that means we don't have the unbearable humidity and heat typical of this time of year.
Max is pestering me to get on the computer now so my brief review of last year will have to wait again.