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Adelaide Marathon Campaign - Week 4 of 16 - Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man - 02-06-2008
Day 22/112. Rest day.
Adelaide Marathon Campaign - Week 4 of 16 - Bierzo Baggie - 02-06-2008
That beach last week looked really excellent for marathon training. Psychologically speaking I reckon it must have been much tougher than a more varied, undulating terrain (er.. I mean "hilly") especially if you're on your own. 2 hours without stopping is impressive stuff at this stage in the game.
Well done.
Adelaide Marathon Campaign - Week 4 of 16 - Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man - 03-06-2008
Bierzo Baggie Wrote:That beach last week looked really excellent for marathon training. Psychologically speaking I reckon it must have been much tougher than a more varied, undulating terrain (er.. I mean "hilly") especially if you're on your own. 2 hours without stopping is impressive stuff at this stage in the game.
Well done.
Cheers BB. Yes I think it is harder mentally to run when you can see how far you have to go, but beaches are great places to run, and the sand is so much easier on my knees that the pros outweigh the cons. And yep, I'm pretty pleased with progress so far.
Adelaide Marathon Campaign - Week 4 of 16 - Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man - 03-06-2008
A dutiful 8km this evening. No fuss, no drama. Just another one of those chores. I put the rubbish out, fed the cat and then thought "well I'd better do my run now". And I did.
It's beaut when it just becomes routine like that.
8km, 48m46s.
Track du jour: Freda Payne's Band of Gold. Dunno why, just like the song I guess.
Adelaide Marathon Campaign - Week 4 of 16 - Moyleman - 03-06-2008
Like the cat pic.
You lucky thing having a sandy beach to run on. I'd be down there every day. Bare feet running to toughen them up and sand dunes ? Great for a hill session.
Sounds idyllic
Adelaide Marathon Campaign - Week 4 of 16 - Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man - 04-06-2008
Moyleman Wrote:Like the cat pic.
You lucky thing having a sandy beach to run on. I'd be down there every day. Bare feet running to toughen them up and sand dunes ? Great for a hill session.
Sounds idyllic
Sadly no dunes. Would love to run barefoot but am now resigned to wearing orthotics forevermore. At least using them I can run.
Adelaide Marathon Campaign - Week 4 of 16 - Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man - 04-06-2008
Supposed to be a cross training day, but I wimped out. More early shifts, more insomnia and I just wussed it completely.
Oh well, I really haven't dodged too much to date, and the cross training is a bonus. A better effort will be called for tomorrow though.
Adelaide Marathon Campaign - Week 4 of 16 - Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man - 05-06-2008
First moderate hiccup of the campaign. Supposed to have put in 8km today, but insomnia has hit hard the last two nights and sleepless exhaustion has seen me pull the plug on a run today.
This puts pressure on the next two days to get two big runs completed, but if I can get some sleep tonight I'll still be able to rescue the schedule.
Cross fingers.
Adelaide Marathon Campaign - Week 4 of 16 - Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man - 06-06-2008
Yay, it's amazing what a difference a bit of sleep makes. 8km covered in 45:39 to get me back on track. That's my best 8km in over a year, so I'm doing OK. I did the last km at my 10km PB race pace - how I ever did a full 10km at that speed is beyond me. I've still a long way to go if I'm ever going to lower my 10km best time.
But first, there's still another 20km to do on the weekend, but heck, what's 20km? A mere walk in the park these days. :p (MLCM quickly touches nearest wood, grabs lucky charm and burns a stick of incense just to be on the safe side.)
Body's feeling good, my times are better, I'm losing flab and the knees and shins barely wimpering... we're definitely on the right track.
Track du jour: The Stranglers' Walk On By. Triffic stuff, even for running.
Adelaide Marathon Campaign - Week 4 of 16 - Sweder - 06-06-2008
Uplifting news on this woolliest of headed mornings :o
And what a corking TdJ; that'll take some beating.
Adelaide Marathon Campaign - Week 4 of 16 - Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man - 07-06-2008
Rest day. Okay, I probably should have caught up on some cross-training, but I didn't. No problem though, I feel great and have no doubts whatsoever that tomorrow's 20km will be done without fuss to round out the week in fine style.
Stay tuned marathon-lovers, for more antipodean drama tomorrow.
Adelaide Marathon Campaign - Week 4 of 16 - Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man - 08-06-2008
This is why I run..!
The sign said "Exit 55 kmh", but my speedo said "100 kmh". Huh, the sign was clearly wrong - just like that other one a few kms back with the flashing yellow lights. That one had said "Danger! Frost and Ice". That was wrong too. The only ice I'd seen was on my windscreen when I left home, but the roads so far were clear.
I left the highway at an apparently dangerous speed and turned off toward Seven Mile Beach. I was late. Which is kind of odd because it was still very early in the morning, still dark and still very cold. According to the weather bureau web site when I checked there later, it had been 2 degrees when I left home, not super cold but a breeze was pushing the apparent temperature below freezing, hence the ice and frost warnings and iced-over windscreen.
Sunrise this morning wasn't until 7:36. I had a 20 km run to do and I had to be at work by 9:30. If I wasn't on the beach running by 7 I was going to be hard pressed to make it. I'd woken at 6 and took too long to get up, too long to force some breakfast into me, too long to pack everything and too long to de-ice the car. Hence I was breaking the speed limit just a little bit.
However I made it to the beach in reasonable time, threw the car somewhat incautiously into the car park, paused to snap a quick photo for my RC friends (that's you
) and took off down the beach just as a golden sheen started to grace the eastern horizon, and straight into a vision of splendour that is going to be hard to describe, but let's have a go, cos it was pretty darn special...God! This was magical. It was cold, but I quickly warmed and was staggered by what I saw. There was enough light to make out the beautiful mirror imaging you get in the wet sand at dawn and dusk as the water recedes. Where the waves were crashing, the salt spray was causing a roll of fog to form, which then tumbled backwards as a gentle beeze blew it back to sea where it evaporated. The effect was incredible - the entire beach had a rolling coil of fog no more than a few metres thick forming just where the waves were breaking and then burning off as it rolled back on itself, giving the effect of the sea breaking waves of boiling water onto the beach. With the gold and red colours of dawn in the east (toward which I was running) and a carpet of stars still in the sky overhead, on an utterly deserted beach this was one of those rare and humbling moments of complete peace, serenity and indescribable beauty - and I had it all to myself!
I basked in this as I ran for what seemed like half an hour. But when I glanced at my watch it ticked over to 11 minutes, and I resolved not to look at it again until I reached the turn around point at the end of the beach.
Apart from two lonely looking pacific gulls, there was no other sign of life. This was a very special form of solitude, and I was glad that I had chosen again not to run with any music.
The run up the beach went very well. My knees were cold though and I was aware that it felt like bone on bone. Although there was no pain, I resolved to get a couple of knee wrap things to try and keep them warm for the next early morning run to see if this helps at all.
About half way along the outward leg more birds began appearing. Pacific gulls were now in abundence, flying in and out of the fog "rope" and feeding on something just off shore, while small groups of pied oystercatchers stood grumpily in the shallows, unusally for these normally shy birds not even bothering to move as I approached. They looked like they hadn't had their morning coffee yet and weren't particularly happy - despite the spectacular dawn - to be facing another day of the same old same old.
The sky was slowly becoming brighter, but there was still no sign of the sun. The fog was still forming along the line of surf and rolling back on itself and I continued to shake my head in amazement. The oystercatchers just looked sullen, as if they'd seen it a million times before and thought critically that there wasn't quite enough peach vermillion in the dawn sky, or that the fog wasn't rolling at quite the right speed...
The sun finally showed itself just as I reached the end of the beach and my turn around point. 59m55! I was on target for sub-2hrs, despite the cold. I felt good, and then as I turned I was greeted by the sight of Mt.Wellington looming in the distance, bathed in early sunlight and up which I must run next November. The fog quickly burned off as the sun rose, but now I was on the return leg and feeling brilliant and privileged and well, rather special really.
As the fog dissipated I could again see the entire beach, with my finishing point way, way off in the distance. So it was a kind of dichotomous sensation really - of having done 10 and a bit km in bloody good time, but now facing a long return journey. Pleasure and pain, pride and prejudice all in one simple vista.
Given the specialness of this run, it was inevitable I suppose that I ran the return leg even faster than the outward one. I did start to tire for a while there around the 13km mark, but on such a special morning there was no way I wasn't going to run a negative split.
Dog walkers finally started to appear near the end of the run - all of them dressed in bulky warm jackets and wearing assorted beanies, gloves and scarves. How I laughed! I felt far more affinity with the dogs actually, who were having a great time running up and down the beach, oblivious to the cold. Right near the end of the run one large woolly thing charged straight at me, not aggressively but just having fun with a fellow running beast. It caused me to stop and an apologetic owner called the dog away, but I felt an affinity with the woolly mongrel - this was 20.5 km of pure fun, and only us running animals seemed to understand.
A great run in the end - one of the best - and a PB in 1h57:45.
Even getting bogged in the soft sand of the car park didn't faze me. A couple of wet-suited surfer dudes gave me a push and I was away, still with enough time to get to work, towel down and change (not time for a shower sadly, but I had brought deodorant) - feeling very, very satisfied.
That is why I run. It's worth everything you go through to experience this. Even if you never run a marathon or any major race, you'll at some stage get a day like this.
Oh yes.
Week 4 total: 36.5km run.
The photo taken from the car park doesn't really show the fog that well unfortunately - you can just make out the very end of it at the right. That end of the beach where the photo was taken is quite sheltered so there was little wave action to produce the fog. But the sunrise was nice.
Adelaide Marathon Campaign - Week 4 of 16 - El Gordo - 08-06-2008
I'm jealous.
Jealous of the running arena you have, and jealous that you've ticked the LONG RUN THIS WEEK? box, while I'm lying in bed, staring down the barrel of mine.
Sounds brilliant, and enjoyed the superb description. I don't envy you having to work after a 20km run, with no opportunity for a long lazy shower or bath, followed by a smug session in armchair, cup of coffee or glass of beer in hand. But you can catch up on that bit later (or perhaps you're doing so now, looking at the time). Anyway, very well done.
Must dash*.
--------------------------
*That's my version of dashing...
Adelaide Marathon Campaign - Week 4 of 16 - Sweder - 08-06-2008
Lovely post; straight into my best of files.
Also jealous, mostly because the only rolling fog around here is in my noggin.
An unusual Sunday 'off' (no running) for me; what better way to start it than with a full English whilst reading this beautiful account.
Adelaide Marathon Campaign - Week 4 of 16 - Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man - 08-06-2008
El Gordo Wrote:I don't envy you having to work after a 20km run, with no opportunity for a long lazy shower or bath, followed by a smug session in armchair, cup of coffee or glass of beer in hand. But you can catch up on that bit later...
Indeed! Cheers!
Adelaide Marathon Campaign - Week 4 of 16 - Moyleman - 08-06-2008
Sounds like you're making admirable progress, with everything intacto.
Stunning vista to boot, lovely account m8.