Sing it LOUD!!!

Running by yourself can be hard work. Sometimes it helps to let everyone know about what you’re planning.

During this last week a mate I went to uni with called Mick, had said he had been inspired by Sweaty’s story who featured here recently. Success - What is it?? He was hugely impressed that Sweaty was heading towards a marathon this year and now wants to try to do something similar. When I mentioned this to the big Sweat it inspired him right back and he said he was going to punch out a few extra kms in the next few days because of Mick.

So by singing it loud about what both blokes are doing has got each of them punching out the kms. They have never met and they will be running by themselves, but in a way they’ll be supporting each other as they go.

When my alarm went off yesterday it was 4.40am. I had planned to run 30km. It was however, the first time for ages that I would be running solo on a long run. I shut the alarm down but didn’t get up. Instead I lay there trying to think of how I could justify going for a shorter run. Maybe even a much shorter run. If I was running with Seb or Gully, my usual long run training partners, I would have no choice but to get up and meet them as planned. Instead it was just me I had to answer to, or so I thought. As the time ticked by the chance of me doing a 30 was diminishing but one nagging thought kept at me. On Thursday I had told Seb I was planning to do 30km. I had sung it loud and the thought of having to own up to doing any less was just not appealing. With guilt or pride or stubborn-icity now taking over I got up and headed out for thirty of the most enjoyable kms you could imagine.

So sing it loud ladies and gentlmen and others. Leave a comment on here, or on the Face, and let people know what your planning. Let them know your big goals. It might just help get you out for a few extra one day.

Sweaty update – Broke his nose in a boxing session, signed up for an event and loving it.

Mick update – 10km on Saturday, a bit on the bike, another run imminent and loving it.

Like a kid on a swing.

After the Two Bays event I went into recovery mode for a week which is a necessary evil. After such a buzz there is a bit of come down and the slow, shuffling recovery runs can be really boring. Also in the week before an event the slow taper runs can be equally mind numbing. I was getting a little bit ho hum about my running but three things have got me right back on top of things.

Realisation: Since getting fit and healthy I have come to realise that the ‘down times’ don’t last very long. I still go on a bit of a roller coaster, that’s just life. But things that used to be problems or issues and have an effect on me, no longer do. Sure work can be tough at times but it always picks up. Bills keep coming, cars keep breaking down and at times you feel financially stretched but things always get easier down the track. I still feel flat every now and then but I know for a fact that there’s no chance it will last. The ‘down times’ or the ho hum, boredom in running or work or anything are almost humorous now because this realisation is so strong. So you just go, ‘oh yeah, here we go again, she’ll be right’.

Speed: You can get into a habit of runing slow. I still clock up the kms but it’s all a bit cruisy sometimes. This can be when running gets a bit boring. This week I laced up for another trot and when I walked out the door something in my mind just clicked and I thought about doing a quicker run. So I started off and the first km was a 5.10. That was 30 or 40 seconds quicker than I had been starting at recently. Straight away I was feeling excited about running again. No ho hum today. Next km was a 4.40 then a 4.27 and I was like a kid on a swing. Was having a ball and wanting more and more.  My fifth km was a 3.53 and I thought that might be enough. I slowed down thinking I’d cruise home from there. But km 6, uphill and into the wind, as I had hit turnaround, was still a relatively quick 4.40. This was getting to be very fun so the next 5km to home, all into the wind, still got a smashing.  4.30’s, 4.15’s and a 4.03 to finish. I felt on top of the world.

Inspirational and passionate people: The third thing that has got me all pumped again happened last night. I caught up with a great group of people to celebrate and remember the life of a mate, Dan. Dan died 13 years ago and each year his family welcomes us back to their home for a bbq and drinks. Every year when driving home with Leah we chat about what a great time we’ve just had. On what could be a sad occasion, the overwhelming feeling is always joy.

Last night I spoke to Mike and Noni who are just absolutely passionate about Swing dancing. They teach it, they go interstate to dance camps, they dance several nights every week. They love it. Mike was saying that just finding that one thing that you love to do is the key. Dancing aint my thing but these two people inspire me.

I also spoke to Nik who is a research scientist. He spends a fair bit of time in a lab trying to figure stuff out and writes detailed papers that in the end will maybe lead to cures for diseases. That’s awesome in itself but also he passes on his knowledge to younger people and he’s only 30 himself. He’s also got people all over the world who look at his work and see that what he’s found out can help them to figure out their own stuff. This is a very non-sciencey  way of explaining it but I could tell clearly that he loves it. He is passionate about it and that, to me, is inspirational.

Everything last night was positive. This is a group of people who, years ago, went through a horrible time. It seems a common response to that time has been to live life with passion and to find your thing. My thing is running and I am very lucky to have found it. If you haven’t found something yet that you love maybe just head to the park and go nuts on a swing. That is pure joy.

Two Bays

‘The central reason I was at Western States was to push hard with other folks who were capable of bringing out my best performance and taking me to places I’ve never been before. Exploring that unknown territory is a crucial aspect of fully engaging in life.’ Anton Krupicka http://runningtimes.com/Print.aspx?articleID=20048

Sunday January 16: Two Bays Trail Run – 56km

I read an article by Anton Kupricka about his run in the 100 mile Western States Ultra. The above quote was how he finished the article and I loved it. I knew it was something that I could use in the Two Bays run.

Two Bays was really tough. Even though I have run further before, on this day I was definitely taken to places I’d never been before. The thing that got me was how quickly it all went pear shaped for me in a physical and mental sense.

Going into the halfway point I was feeling fantastic. Two Bays is an out and back course and with 380 of the 500 runners doing the 28km option, the turn around point for me, was the finish line for many and was buzzing with great excitement. There were young kids cheering in mum or dad. There were big smiles everywhere. It was awesome, only problem for me was I still had 28km to go, over 3 hours to go and lots of pain to go.

The out and back course can do your head in and as soon as I turned I started feeling anything but fantastic. A few kms into the return and I was cactus. Still 25km to go and I just didn’t want to be there. So there I was being taken to places I’ve never been before. When I first read the quote I thought of it in a positive sense. I didn’t think the unknown territory was going to be like this.

At the next checkpoint one of my running mates, Gully caught up with me. I asked how he was feeling and the answer...Fantastic! I’d gone out too hard and I was wishing I was in his shoes. Gully stayed with me for a bit and got me going before running ahead as he obviously had a fair bit in the tank. I was then running a bit, walking a bit but realised I would be out there forever if I didn’t change something. So the walking bits became shorter and strangely running actually started to feel like the better option. I looked at other runners around me and learnt a stack about how to dig yourself out of a hole.  At the final checkpoint I actually caught back up to Gully. We were both pretty shocked but my pacing throughout the event was all over the shop. Slowish and steady is Ultra Gold. Next time I’ll remember that, I hope.

From that point Gully and I ran together to the finish. At one point I said for Gul to run ahead and break 6 hours which he would have done on the bit. He said he couldn’t give a shizen about the time and we were going to finish together. So here was a bloke sacraficing his best so that I would achieve my best. Unreal.

The final stretch from the top of Arthur’s Seat seemed to take forever. But the vacuum effect started and the finish line drew us in. The smiles that I’d seen at the 28km finish were big but Gully and I were like Luna Park.

It’s amazing. Every ultra I’ve done has been exactly the same in two ways.

1)       At some point I question my ability and sanity. 2) I somehow make it to the finish and can’t wait for the next one.

The biggest cheer we got when we crossed the line was from our other runniing mate Seb. He did reasonably well too. He won the event and set a new race record by a 19 minutes. His running abilty is only matched by his modesty, so that’s enough on that inspirational champion.

For the record I think Gully and I stopped the clock somewhere aroung 6.14. Seb got home in 4.48.

Change of pace.

After two solid weeks my legs were starting to feel heavy. Not injured at all but just very weary. It sort of got to the point that every run, although long – mostly 15km minimum – was a trudge. So yes I was clocking up the kms but there wasn’t much variety, no speed, no super long runs and no recovery runs. At the start of my holidays I had planned to do huge kms but sometimes you have to reign in the ego, listen to your body and drop it back.

It helps that myself, Seb and Gully are registered for the ‘Two Bays Trail Run’ on January 16. http://www.twobaystrailrun.com/

 I need to freshen up for that anyway. Two Bays is from Dromana to Cape Shanck and back again. 56km. Seb and I had a look at the course on Monday when we ran one way. The 28km took just under three hours so with a taper and race conditions I’m hoping to do the 56 somewhere between 6 and 6.5 hours. But who knows, I might be kidding myself. We’ll see.

When you’re running trails you often have to slow to a walk because of brutal ascent that rockets your heart rate and burns your calves. Thankfully, with every good ascent there’s generally a descent that gives a bit of respite. As well as this change in pace, up and over Arthur’s Seat, the Two Bays trail made us freeze in our tracks on several occasions. I’ve run past kangaroos before but on Monday them big bouncy things were freakin’ huge. If they wanted to they could have fixed us up big time. There were also wallabies and birds everywhere. A new thing this time however was the butterflies. For what seemed like a couple of hours they were flying all around us. Not much else seemed to matter at the time, it was bliss.

But the biggest stop dead in your tracks moment was still to come. Just before the end of our run we came across Bushranger’s Bay. I fair dinkum couldn’t believe how good lookin’ it was and, unbelievably, it’s all for free. All I had to do was change my pace, get out of the car and just go and look at stuff. Some stuff is really worth looking at.

This week:
Sunday 2/1 - Rest
Monday 3/1- 28km Dromana to Cape Shanck
Tuesday 4/1- 5km barefoot
Wednesday 5/1- 10km
Thursday 6/1- 15km
Friday 7/1- 15km
Saturday 8/1- 12km
Total - 85km.
* 'Sweaty', who featured in my last post, did a 12km run this week. Awesome stuff!!! He'll run a marathon this year.

Success - What is it??

Well it doesn’t have to mean coming first in any given race. Just because you don’t win doesn’t mean you’re a loser. My wife Leah entered a 5km run earlier in the year and, just quietly, was a bit concerned that she might come last. We have been conditioned to be embarrassed if you come last. Everyone remembers the cruelty back at school of two captains picking teams on the playground. I didn’t care which team I was on, I just didn’t want to be the ‘loser’ standing there alone, suffering the idignity of being last picked.

With running you can never lose. The second you take a step out the front door you become an outright success story. It doesn’t even have to be a race or an event. When you step out you win because, you see, you had a choice. You could have stayed on the couch, you could have grabbed another stubby, you could have hit the snooze and hid under the doona. Success is in the decision to just have a crack.

When Leah started that 5km race she had already been successful day after day in the training for it. As it turned out she didn’t come last. The records will show that. But the records will not show how many million Australians did nothing at all resembling exercise that same day. Leah was more successful than all those millions. She also beat the time she had aimed for. That’s a great result and the smile on her face, and mine, told the story. Success.

I had a big week of training with another 100km completed. In all of that there were some runs that I was really happy with. All of them are listed below. The 27km was the day after a big boozy lunch so I was very happy to get that much done. The day after that one, NYE, was a really tough 15km. Those tough runs mean more once you’ve got them locked away. On a completely individual basis it was a great week. A big success.

The biggest thrill this week however, was an 8km trot with a mate who was down from Queensland. We went to school together and played footy together for years. We also drank a truck load together. ‘Sweaty’ as he is known has always been a big unit. A massive personality, barrel of laughs and genuinely a fantastic person. Not long ago Sweaty was tipping the scales at 124kg. When I saw him on Wednesday I couldn’t believe the change. He’s dropped 16kg and wants to drop a fair few more. The 8km was a huge success.

As it turned out my son presented me with a plastic toy medal after our run. Sweaty’s boy did the same for him. In their young eyes we are winners just because we are having a crack.

Yet the real success will last forever. The real success is going to be growing old and being healthy enough to watch our kids enjoy their own success.

Sunday - Rest
Monday - 16km
Tuesday - 18km
Wednesday - 8km
Thursday - 27km
Friday - 15km
Saturday 15km
Total - 99km + 1km barefoot