Hey well, no not really dead, but a couple of weeks in "maintenance mode" - just enough running to keep the legs and spreadsheet ticking over but not real training as such.
Today I was lucky to run at all. Been feeling dead to the world all day and even fell asleep mid-arvo and missed all of Rocky Ponting's last ever test innings. As penance I donned the running shoes anyhow and sloped off for an easy three-quarters of an hour or so. That did the trick; a few clicks in the banks and I'm feeling much more alive.
One big step forward however - I have definitely committed to the Canberra Marathon in April and also committed to raising some funds for JDRF Australia (the link is below if you're so inclined to throw some dosh at them). So a 16-week training program for same begins on New Year's Eve* ... luckily(??) I'm working both NYE and NYD, so not likely to be big boozy events for me this year anyhow.
But for the moment I am enjoying a couple of weeks gentle running. And trying not to eat and drink too much. Hmm. That side of the equation remains a little tricky.
Oh well...
Core on everyone!
7.2km 43m47
YTD: 1,316.6km
*Actually it starts on Christmas Eve ... must have been drunk when I wrote that.
(03-12-2012, 07:00 AM)Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man Wrote: Been feeling dead to the world all day and even fell asleep mid-arvo and missed all of Rocky Ponting's last ever test innings.
Short kip, was it? ; )
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
(03-12-2012, 07:00 AM)Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man Wrote: Been feeling dead to the world all day and even fell asleep mid-arvo and missed all of Rocky Ponting's last ever test innings.
After a restless night and in warm, muggy conditions I took off for another of my mega-early Pacific Highway runs but felt dog-tired. I threw out any thoughts of a fast time and just took it easy, concentrating on a gentle, comfortable pace. The focus at the moment is merely on keeping up the mileage, and speed can come later.
Apparently many others had found it as difficult to sleep as myself, as the roads were really quite busy! At 4 a.m. the Gordon shops were littered with people – some gazing in shop windows, a bloke texting as he walked down the street, another one punching numbers at the ATM, and there was traffic everywhere! What on earth were they all doing? Then again, what did I think I was doing?
Whatever, there I was, and it was a tough run, or more to the point, they were tough conditions in which to run, but I laboured through it thinking I’d get home in around 59 minutes. Although I had my Garmin, I can’t read the watch face in the dark (even with its backlight) ... you know how it is ... I’m old and grey, my eyes are bent, my back is dim etc ... so I just paced it as best I could. So I was pleasantly surprised when I returned home and found my time was actually 56:14 – my fifth fastest time on that course for the year! You ripper!
More important than the time however was just getting out there. I still have this weird sensation that I have no choice in the matter. I still head out the door feeling as if I’m in some awful Gulag and there’s an AK-47 and a baleful, hating pair of eyes pointed my way ensuring I do the deed. Which is ridiculous. I do this by choice.
I. Do. This. By. Choice.
Gad!
Insane or not, I'm glad I did this run. Even on ridiculously long days these early runs set me up for the day ahead, making it a simple choice, really. I even had enough time to get off the train early and do a half hour walk through Darling Harbour to work. And that was amazing too - runners everywhere! They easily outnumbered the walkers this morning, so maybe the authorities have put something in the drinking water. Whatever the cause, it was great to see runners in their droves enjoying the early air, and even greater was my smugness in knowing I'd already completed my run, and in good time as well.
If this is some kind of Purgatorial Gulag, then I'm pretty happy with it.
I missed my run this morning as I had to leave the house way before dawn to hit the Smoke for an 08:30 JDRF meeting. I see this as a violation of my rights, and unwanted intrusion. When the mood rises there really is no substitute, and there's a running mood on the rise in these parts, I can tell you.
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
Wow, I'm thinking from here on I do all my runs when I'm feeling least inclined, because for some reason they seem to turn out to be good ones.
This morning's run had to be postponed 'til after lunch due to the arrival of a new washing machine (a very, very rare case of the old one dying 3 weeks before the 5-year warranty expired!!). I was tired and cranky anyway, but waiting around for said washing machine made me more tired and more cranky, especially as "morning delivery" was in fact 1:15 p.m.
By the time the beast was installed and proven working satisfactorily, it was after 2, and I definitely did not feel inclined to run, but because that Soviet guard with the Kalashnikov and the evil eyes insisted, I decided to do "15 minutes or so" and see how it went.
Well, after 5 minutes I felt good and so upped the ante and actually pumped out a decent run, and felt great for doing so. Nothing perhaps to write home about, but a good effort for a training run at this stage of proceedings.
And the Soviet Gulag-guard (who I think I shall call "Oleg") even let me have a post-run snooze. He's not such a bad chap after all.
It is with deep regret and profound sadness that I must inform you of the passing of my trusted training companion of recent years, my faithful treadmill, Infiniti MA200.
Infiniti had been with me through thick and thin, working with me me through multiple campaigns, sharing in my successes and quietly empathic during the numerous downturns and failures.
Given Infiniti's quiet but steadfast service throughout these recent years, it was perhaps fitting that s/he/it went out with a literal bang. In fact s/he/it created something of a stink, exploding (almost literally) five minutes into a run and burning sufficiently well to stink out much of the house. After years of faithfully suffering being trampled upon, it was a last, assertive act of defiance which I can well understand and admire.
Three out of three. It can't be a coincidence! For the third run in a row, I've gone into it feeling awful and had a blinder of a run... go figure!
After two graveyard shifts at work I was of course feeling about as alive as road kill. Still, Oleg, my demonic Gulag guard insisted I head out for a run. Despite my pleas and at the pointy end of an AK-47 I found myself on the cold, dark rainy streets sore of shin and knee and muttering dark oaths of hellish retribution if I ever became able to enact my revenge against the cause of my agony. Damn that Oleg to eternity!
Except.... except that after the first kilometre or so I found I was really, really enjoying this run! My legs felt surprisingly strong and the hills disappeared beneath my feet as if flat and springy. Weird, but wonderful.
Having headed out for an "at best" 15 minutes of self-flagellation I instead finished with over an hour of fun on two legs, cut short only to stop my wife from worrying why a token quarter-hour gentle jog had transmogrified into over an hour of yee-har-ing feel-good-ness.
I'll be buggered if I can understand this running game. Really, I can't fathom it.
But I'll tell you this much ... give me more! This is pretty bloody good!
(10-12-2012, 11:17 AM)Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man Wrote: Fellow RCers,
It is with deep regret and profound sadness that I must inform you of the passing of my trusted training companion of recent years, my faithful treadmill, Infiniti MA200.
RIP, faithful Infiniti.
Mate, I think I you battered that poor sucker into the afterlife.
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
(10-12-2012, 03:59 PM)marathondan Wrote: Yep, *wearing out* a treadmill takes some doing! Impressive.
Actually, there may be some miraculous resurrection-type news re the treadmill. Closer inspection revealed the motor to be OK, and the motor control board to be the actual fatality. It's currently in the hands of a specialist treadmill surgeon who has promised a better than even chance of revival.
Here's hoping, anyhow. It will certainly make life easier inregards to interval and hill training.
(12-12-2012, 11:52 AM)Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man Wrote: Closer inspection revealed the motor to be OK, and the motor control board to be the actual fatality.
Ah, so you have destroyed it mentally rather than physically... In a way that's even more impressive.
(12-12-2012, 11:52 AM)Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man Wrote: Closer inspection revealed the motor to be OK, and the motor control board to be the actual fatality.
Ah, so you have destroyed it mentally rather than physically... In a way that's even more impressive.
Yes well it's only fair. It destroys me physically, I destroy it mentally.
Not unlike some other relationships I can think of...
I should be pounding the streets. 10km was scheduled and conditions are cool and ideal. Instead I'm sitting in front of the TV watching the cricket, drinking beer and eating Pringles (sour cream and chives).
In my defense I've just come off a string of night shifts and just walking to the fridge for the beer was an effort. And there's still a week to go before marathon training starts in earnest. And I've a long run scheduled on Sunday so I'll still get a decent mileage done this week. And ... well ... the cricket is just too damn fascinating. And the beer is good... and I can't remember the last time I had Pringles.
And I'd like to confess more but Clarke's on 49 and I need to watch this.
(14-12-2012, 06:22 AM)Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man Wrote: And I'd like to confess more but Clarke's on 49 and I need to watch this.
Cookie never got a sniff of his fourth consecutive test hundred thanks to a stinker of an LBW decision. He's still the most hundredest scoringest batsman in English test cricket. And he's 28. The battle between the two skippers next year should be enthralling. Can't believe I'll be Down Under when it all kicks off.
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
(14-12-2012, 06:56 AM)Sweder Wrote: [quote='Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man' pid='23911' dateline='1355466131']
... The battle between the two skippers next year should be enthralling. Can't believe I'll be Down Under when it all kicks off.
Yep. If Cook and Clarke are in peak form it'll be a cracker of a series. I'm already worried for Antonio and Suzie's sake!
(14-12-2012, 07:04 AM)Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man Wrote:
(14-12-2012, 06:56 AM)Sweder Wrote: [quote='Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man' pid='23911' dateline='1355466131']
... The battle between the two skippers next year should be enthralling. Can't believe I'll be Down Under when it all kicks off.
Yep. If Cook and Clarke are in peak form it'll be a cracker of a series. I'm already worried for Antonio and Suzie's sake!
Yes. It all sounds like Chinese to me but it will be interesting to change from soccer to cricket. When in Rome do as the Romans do.
This time the inverse law of running didn't work. I felt pretty awful going into today's long run and as the run progressed I slowly and steadily felt ... even worse.
The previous evening I had felt crook and then I slept badly and so wasn't in good shape for this morning's run. I couldn't afford to skip it however, and in any case I had a date with Next Door Andy to join him on his favourite 18km run through Lane Cove National Park, so there was nothing for it but to tough it out.
It was already warm when we left at 0700, and no amount of positive thinking was going to allow me to escape the fact that this going to be very hard. It's a hilly route, this one, but net downhill on the way out with the last 9km being a devastatingly awful 9km climb back home, with some short brutish hills that really do make you question the wisdom of all .... this.
However it must be said that it was great to have someone to chat with (albeit at a rate of one syllable per gasping breath on my part), and even though he is a vastly better runner than I (generally around 1:34 for the half mara) he was keen to learn all about this (to him) strange concept of "long, slow runs" to build endurance without risking injury, and so he chatted happily and easily and enjoyed the scenery while I laboured heavily throughout all of the second half of the run.
We returned home for a total time of 1:56, some three minutes slower than last time I ran this route and I was well and truly spent. As in 'collapse on the ground and do nothing but re-hydrate for several minutes' sort of spent - too out of breath to even communicate with Mrs MLCM about anything. And endorphins? Nada. Nothing. Zippo. Not even a glimmer of feel-good-ness to compensate. It was just a bad, tough, nasty brute of a run.
However the good thing about brutish runs is that while they may be disappointing, at least they train you to deal with and get through the bad times when nothing is going well, such as in the last 10km of a marathon, for example.
And it is another 18km in the spreadsheet and more strength in the legs. So, was it worthwhile? You bet it was.
Well, yes. The 'official' 16-week training program doesn't start until next Monday (Christmas Eve, and that's a rest day of course!) but I want to start on a good footing and so haven't been lazing around too much, and this week I do start to get a little serious about not missing runs and getting my weekly mileage up to the 50km mark or thereabouts.
And so I was up at 5 a.m for an early run with No. 1 son Chris. He only had time for a 10km or so before work, but I thought I'd tag along and then add another 6km or so at the end. To be honest the first few kilometres were very ragged, but after 4 or 5km I started to warm to my task and it was a good run in the end. Plenty of hills to keep me honest and a beautiful morning for running, so whilst it was hard yakka at the time, the apres-run glow of ruddy good health makes it all worthwhile. And it's another decent run in the log book.
Apart from the great weather the only real thing of note from the run was the amount of wildlife now evident in the suburbs. Rabbits are now in near-plague numbers, impossible to count, and brush turkeys - a particularly stupid and large native turkey are in rapidly increasing numbers as well and are so panic-stricken but inept at getting out of your way that there's a constant threat of being tripped up by the damn things.
More interesting last night was my first ever sighting of a marsupial mouse hiding in a moraya tree in our backyard. These apparently used to be quite common in Sydney's suburbs many years ago but were wiped out by suburban sprawl and particularly an abundance of cats. Well there are now very few cats in our area - in fact I can't recall seeing a single one in the last three years - and so hopefully that means the native fauna is staging something of a comeback.
There's an obvious segue there to running, but I'll let it pass.
17.18km, 1h46:21
YTD: 1,390.4km
P.S. On the treadmill front, the previously hopeful news of a resurrection has to be tempered somewhat. The patient had a secondary heart failure whilst on the operating table and it now looks far more uncertain that Infiniti can be revived. I await further news with bated breath.
Strewth, if you're in this form in week 0, you'll be on fire by race week. I'm sure there'll be the odd hiccup in the next 16 weeks, but this is a fantastic base to start from.
Deadish December 2012
