Devonport Busted

Off to Devonport last night to watch Buster Mottram run the Mile.

The big fella ran 3:59.1 on grass to win by about 30 metres. He hit the front just under 300 out and it was all over.

Some other big names in the race included Collis Birmingham (10m) Lachlan Chisholm (scr) and Irishman David Campbell (20). None of them got close. Buster had dropped Chisholm by the end of the first lap and Collis never looked like taking him on.

On a sad note, there was a MASSIVE crash in one of the cycling events that caused a 2 hour delay to the program. 7 riders came down, one breaking his Collar bone after hitting a light pole, and another guy (Shamus Liptrop) fracturing his skull, and breaking his Jaw and Femur after being thrown over the outside fence. He looked like a rag doll as he was flung off his bike.

He was later airlifted to Royal Hobart Hospital for emergency Brain Surgery.

We were sitting about 150m away and could hear the impact of the guys hitting the fence. The silence afterwards was shocking.

Unfortunately, track bikes often contribute to the seriousness of a crash as they have no brakes, and are fixed wheel, so when the s#*^ hits the fan in front of you theres only one thing thats going to happen......... OUCH.

Tell me why I gave up cycling again???

Mottram was a class act. The first thing he mentioned when interviewed after his race was the crash, and he thanked the crowd for their patience and hoped that all the riders concerned would be OK. Like I said, a class act.

Hopefully young Shamus makes a complete recovery. Whether or not he ever rides a bike again is another story. A crash like that has to leave more than just physical scars.

Happy New Year

Well Santa has been and gone for another year and yet another Xmas Day survived.

I even managed a rep session after lunch on Xmas Day!!!!! I made sure I didnt eat too much at lunch and then headed out late arvo for a run.

My Parents thought it would be nice to by Jack a Drum Kit for Xmas!!! Nice one. Like he doesnt make enough noise already.

The rest of the week has been pretty laid back. Ran a 1500 at Heritage Forest yesterday and then ran a 3km 10 minutes later. Happy with times, they were quicker than last time I did this session. The only problem out there is the wind, unless you're running less then 400m there is no way to avoid it. Still, if you take that into account when you're reviewing your times then I guess you still get a pretty good idea of where you're at.

Having a BBQ at home on New Years Eve with some friends. Nothing too over the top as New Years day is a Tuesday which means another Rep session.

We are heading to Hobart next weekend as I plan to run the 5km event at the Cadbury Marathon. Hoping to start 2008 off on a positive note with a good run. Given my training of late I am looking forward to getting out there. I know that leg speed is lacking as I have only been doing longer reps, or stuff with short recoveries so it will be good to see what time I end up with. My 5km tempo runs @ 85% max HR have been around the 17 minute mark and I have been finishing those with a bit left in the tank. Having said that, thats about as hard as I have been pushing too so the body doesnt know what its like to dig in yet. Time will tell.

Happy New Year to all, and a safe and successful 2008.

Ho Ho Ho

Santa comes tonight!!!!!

I spent about half an hour yesterday putting together Jacks new bike. How is it something so small can be so fiddly to put together??????

Lunch with Robbies folks tomorrow and then a run followed by a BBQ with some friends. Very much looking forward to a few quiet Coronas tomorrow night, its been a while since I had a beer and me thinks its a little overdue. Time to relax and enjoy myself a bit. Of course I do plan to run on Wednesday morning before heading to Latrobe for a day of Cycling and running at the Latrobe Carnival so will limit my alcohol to just a couple.

Will head to Devonport on Saturday night to see probably the best Mile field ever assembled in Tassie. Mottram, Birmingham, Hoffman, Gregson and Irishman Dave Campbell are all lining up in the Devonport Mile and I reckon it will be a cracker. Mottram has been quoted a saying he wants to better the time he ran here 2 years ago, 3:58 on grass. Cant wait.

I saw the Handicaps earlier this week and Buster will be giving away 335m to the front marker.

Will try and get some photos to post on here next week.

Merry Xmas to all and I hope the New Year is full of rewards.

Getting Stronger

Completed my first one hour run on Sunday. I have been adding 5 minutes to my Sunday run each week for the last 6 weeks and finally got the hour on Sunday. The plan is to add 5 minutes each week until the end of January when it should be around 90 minutes and then keep it at that.

My Tempo run on Saturday turned into a flat out TT. I just missed 17 minutes and I know exactly where I lost those few seconds. I was 2 seconds ahead at 4km but lost it in the last k. My HR was 181 for the trip which is a lot higher than the planned 175, but at least I know where I need to improve.

The next 2 weeks will all be long reps @ tempo with short recoveries, and I will increase my weekly tempo run to about 30 minutes.

Ran the 6 x 1 minute with 1 minute float tonight and made it back to the start (out & back course) which is a good sign. Last week I missed the start point by about 50 metres. I also felt a lot better this time around. This is another session I will increase over the next few weeks.

Unfortunately the Vic Champs fall on the same weekend as the Tas 3000m Champs here in Launceston. I was hoping to run the Tas Champs and then try a Steeple at the Vic but its not to be. Given that the actual Tas T&F Champs arent until the week after the Nationals in March, it looks like I wont run a Steeple until then. Maybe an Interclub before that but not too sure. See how things pan out.

The Cookie Monster

Caught up with Cookie on Tuesday night for a run.



Thats Cookie on the left of the pic. The bloke on the right is some guy called Mottram. Apparently Mottram has run a few sub 13 minute 5kms!!!!!

Cookie had wanted to do a track session along the lines of 600, 500, 400, 300, 200, & 100. Due to the local Interclub being held that night, I took him to Heritage Forest for some rep 500's instead.

So, the plan was for 6 x 500 with 90sec recovery. Standard stuff, and I told him that the plan was to run 95sec for each rep. No worries he said!!

Rep number 3 was sub 90, as was rep number 6 (88). Thanks Cookie.

It was good having someone to chase. Especially the last 3 reps when I was hurting a little. And of course Cookie made it look easy, as he always has.

The rest of the week has been pretty cruisy. Easy runs have been no longer than 30 minutes as the last 2 weeks mileage has been a little more than the body has been used to, therefore whilst still doing the quality sessions this week, I have kept the easy recovery runs short to keep the k's down.

Off to Heritage tomorrow for a 5km tempo @ 175bpm. Hoping to go sub 17 minutes with a bit left in the tank.

State 3000m Champs are just under 2 months away and I reckon I will have a crack. Top 3 or bust.

Another good week under the belt

4 x 1km along the river on Thursday night with Kim and the gang. Recovery after each rep was roughly 2:30, but handicapped so that if you finished the previous rep 5 seconds back then you got a 5 second head start next time around. Good idea, kept everyone honest.

My times were all within 5 seconds so thats a good sign that I am moving ok. A drastic drop off in times towards the end would have been disappointing but it wasnt the case.

A longer session today at Heritage Forest. 1500m with 10 minutes recovery followed by 3000m. Times were ok but the last 1600m of the 3km was into a pretty stiff head wind, and it didnt help. 3:10 thru the km and turned at about 1400m into the wind and almost stopped!!! Still, another good session under the belt.

Interesting session, I guess if you wanted a different effect you could run the 1500 last therefore running at a faster pace while fatigued from the 3km. Either way, its still a tough session.

Its been a good week training wise. Feeling a little tired now but a couple of easy days now until my next effort so hopefully I will pull up ok. In fact due to Xmas Parties etc this week it may just be easy running until Thursday night.

Young guns

Decided that I liked punishment so I met up again last night with Kim Gillards group. The menu featured 6 x 1 minute with a minute float in between.

The idea was to run out and back turning after the 3rd float and see how close you got to the starting point at the end. The run obviously ended with a float and I missed the starting point by about 50 metres. Close but no cigar. Very tough session though.

Still, I felt good and thats all that matters right now.

I have now put together 12 days straight which is the most in a very long time. Best of all, I am feeling stronger everyday.

Kim is coaching a group of junior runners and theres some serious talent there. One dude just set a State junior record for his age group over 300om, and 2 others have run close to 2 minutes for 800. All are 17 or younger. Young guns.

Easy 40 minutes tonight at Heritage Forest and apart from feeling a little tired all is good.