GO CATS!!!!!

Spent yesterday with the boys watching the Cats break a 44 year drought. I was planning on having a blinder but in the end only had 4 drinks for the day. I must be getting old or something.

Its a shame that the score was so uneven in the end. Yet again the Preliminary Final was more exciting than the "big one". With the exception of the 2005 & 2006 GF I cant recall another exciting GF unless I go back to '89. For some reason they all seem to be a non event in the end. Thats my opinion anyway.

On the running front, I have been a little lazy this week. I need to build some consistency if I want to run fast. I did an easy 20 minutes today and felt ok but need to start building it up again.

Did some Core work tonight with the Fitball and Ab Roller. Will now make that a regular part of my routine as well. Every little bit helps right???

250's

Back to the track tonight for a session.

Ran with a young bloke by the name of Josh Harris, champ has a 3000m PB of 8:53 and he's only 16 years old. He goes alright too.

Menu was as follows, 3(3x250m w/ 150m rec). I had no intention of doing the whole session but instead ran the 1st and 3rd rep of each set.

I felt ok, need to get on the track more but its a good start. Spikes were definitely out of the question.

Times were around 38s which I was very happy with.

Hopefully tomorrow wont see any problems pop up and things can get back to normal.

Even better, hopefully the Cats can get up on Saturday. Some knob jockey has invited us to an Engagement Party on Saturday at 12pm!!!! This little black duck will be leaving about 2pm due to a "prior engagement" .........WATCHING THE CATS!

Tan Relays

A weekend in Melbourne running the Tan Relays. My first race for Western aths since the XC Relays in April and a pleasant surprise performance wise.

I was expecting to struggle and run about 17 or 18 minutes. Instead I found it easy and ran 14:37.

I started out very easy and cruised up Anderson St, rolling thru 2km in 8 minutes and then it was all down hill to the finish. I reckon if I had had a decent crack I would have run a minute quicker. At no time did I feel as though I was out of my comfort zone. Even better, I had no trouble with my Calf and even did another lap as a cool down to finish off a very good day.

Good to see so many Western Aths runners out as well, as I have said before, the club has a good feel about it. Everyone seems to get along well, and shows genuine interest in their team mates.

Saw a couple of the AFL boys as well and it was good to catch up on the gossip.

Calf has pulled up well today but I will have today off and then an easy run tomorrow night after work at the track.

Hopefully things are on the improve and my injury troubles are behind me.

Deja Vu

Yet another week off with calf problems.

An easy run today and I only lasted 15 minutes.

Quite frankly I have had enough and giving it away is high on the agenda. This has gone on for far too long and I am over it. No matter what I do nothing seems to work, at best it offers some relief for a while then same shit different day.

Tan Relays next weekend may well be the last time my runners see the light of day.

Injury Scare

Decided to take today off as my calf is playing up. Hopefully with a hot bath, good stretch and some ice it will be OK tomorrow. Given that tomorrow I will be spending a good 5 or 6 hours in the car, it will be interesting to see how it pulls up afterwards.

The last thing I need right now is a recurrence. Track season is just around the corner and enough time has been wasted already.

Fingers crossed.

Scorpions & Track Sessions

Decided to have a clean up around the backyard yesterday and in the space of an hour found 5 Scorpions, all of which were about 3 - 4 cms long. I had a quick look on the net and discovered that while they give a nasty sting they are not poisonous. Thank f#@* for that!!!! The little buggas are everywhere around here, and any that venture to close to me can expect to die very quickly.

Headed to the track in the afternoon to do a session and rolled out 6 x 200m with 200 jog recovery. Felt pretty good throughout and felt I could have knocked over a few more. Average time was 34s which was about what I expected. Pretty soon I expect to be doing this session in 27s but its early days yet.

I ran into Kim Gillard at the track. He has had the last 8 weeks off with a Groin injury and is hoping to start back again this week. The plan is to catch up sometime this week for an easy run.

Pulled up well this morning with no soreness however I did have very heavy legs in my 20 minute run this arvo. I had planned to do 30 minutes but cut it short. Still, consistency is the key and running every day is a good start.

Off to the Track

Cruised around the Golf Course tonight after work and felt ok. Starting to add some undulations into my runs and so far have suffered no adverse affects. The GC isnt exactly hilly but its a start.

Plan on doing my first track session tomorrow. At this stage it will be 4 - 6 400's in around 72s wearing flats. Dont want to overdo it too early on, just let the body adapt gradually. When my legs get used to wearing flats again then I will work my way into spikes. Will be at least a couple of weeks before they make an appearance though.

Progress is good so far. Cant wait to get to the Tan Relays in a couple of weeks and see exactly where I am at form wise. Hopefully it will be a pleasant surprise.

Cheers

Tempo & Teething

After sitting on the car all day and travelling well over 300kms I laced up the shoes and headed out the door for my run.

25 minutes with the last 10 at a decent tempo. Felt pretty good when I picked it up but was starting to feel it by the end.

I will hit the track on the weekend and do a rep sesion and see how things go. Will be interesting to see how I pull up afterwards. Im not planning on doing anything silly just ticking the legs over at a faster rhythm.

Jacko is starting to learn more and more words every day. In the bath tonight he picked up the ducky and said "quack quack"..... well at least thats what it sounded like!!! Then again maybe it was his way of saying that this new tooth thats coming thru is really giving me the shits. Dont know what the duck had to do with that though.

I booked flights tonight to head back to Melbourne to run the Tan Relays. I was starting to feel a bit guilty that I havent been running for Western Aths as much as I had hoped. Then again, flights arent always cheap and when they are it seems that I get in too late and miss out. At least this time I'm in, albeit $200 lighter in the pocket. No point being the richest dude in the cemetary right???

Cheers

Fathers Day

The day started pretty well with a Darrel Lea Dads Bag that Jacko bought me. After polishing off the chocolate coated almonds prior to breakfast it was time to have something a little more substantial..........bacon & eggs YUMMO.

We had lunch with Robyns family and then spent the arvo watching DVD's. American Pie The Naked Mile. Come on, most of us have done a "nudie run" at some stage of our lives!!!!

I ran for 30 minutes today (clothed) and felt pretty good. I actually considered going further which is a good sign but given the last few weeks I resisted the temptation.

Things are looking good on the running side of things, everyday has seen an improvement. The calf no longer is a consideration but that doesnt mean that I will neglect what needs to be done to ensure it doesnt happen again.

Bring on Track Season.