Golfing with the Greats

Had the pleasure of playing golf today with 2 of Australia's best distance runners, Kim Gillard and Peter Brett. Despite the howling wind blowing off Bass Strait, an awesome day was had with the obligatory sledging and boyish banter flying thick and fast.

Yours truly took the honours by 1 shot from Kim.

Given that we headed to the Golf Course straight after our long run (2hrs) it was a very long day. By the last hole I had definitely had enough and could not wait to sit down and relax. Coffee was good too!!!!!!

Robbie and Jack have been in Melbourne since Thursday and return home tomorrow. One thing is for sure, they wont be flying Tiger Airways again. After arriving at the airport in plenty of time for their 11am flight last Thursday, they were told that there was a delay.........until 3:45pm. Not a happy camper.

The Darrell Lea Dads Bag full of Licorice that I received last Sunday has well and truly gone. Pity, it was quite yummy. Good for the digestive system too.

Training has gone well this week. 110kms all up. Ran a 10/20 session yesterday. A 10/20 is 10 minutes hard followed by 10 minutes easy, then 20 minutes hard. I have adapted this session to be a 3km followed by a 6km. Rep times were 10:09 followed by 20:39 with the last 3km in 10:06. Tough session.

Struggled big time today in the last 45 minutes. At one stage I turned to Kim and asked "is this what the last part of a Marathon feels like?" Kims reply, which was accompanied by a huge smile, was "nah, worse". Thanks mate, made me feel heaps better given that I am thinking of running the Gold Coast Marathon next July!! Cant wait now.

800 in 8

National XC was 8 weeks before Burnie 10. Given my showing at Nats and the reasons for it I decided that in 8 weeks I MUST run 800kms minimum in order for a decent showing @ Burnie. So far so good. The last 2 weeks have both been 100+ kms. More importantly, the sessions that I was neglecting previously such as tempo runs are now a priority.

It also helps that my Wednesday run is now 90 minutes and I am back doing a long run on Sunday of 2 hours in the hills.

Harder sessions have been going well also. I did an hour at tempo yesterday thru Trevallyn Forest which included some solid climbs and a track session last Tuesday that consisted of a km @ sub 3mins followed by rep 400's in 66 - 67 with the last in 63, all off about a minute. I did this session in spikes and had no problems at all in regards to soreness afterwards.

Fathers Day today and upon returning from my long run I was greeted with a huge brekky of bacon, eggs, sausages and toast. Just what the body needs after 2 hours in the hills!!!! Am I complaining???? HELL NO. It should be a regular occurence on a Sunday I say.

I got a Subscription to R4YL and a Darrell Lea Dads Bag so whos a happy runner????

Awesome effort by the Western Aths runners at todays Vic Half Marathon Champs. By the sound of it a few Premierships have come our way. Our way??? Yep, the way things are going with Aths Tas I may soon be registered in Victoria once more. I sent them a nice little email over a week ago and do you think I have a reply?? Shit no, that would be too easy wouldnt it? If anyone wants to read it I am happy to email it to you.

A major overhaul is required at AT and the sooner the better. Can I do a better job? Mr Magoo could do a better job me thinks, as do a lot of others. I just found out that our selection trials for the Pacific Schools Games are being held AFTER the closing date for PSG entries!!!! FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARK ME.

Too many clowns and not enough circuses.

Enough for now, I can feel my blood pressure rising.