Describe Your Running Today, Part II

Hope it goes well for you HR!

Yesterday, 6.5km handicap trail race in the Whipstick Forest near Eaglehawk. Did a 3k warmup, running the last 750m fast uphill (about 3mins) to clear the cobwebs. The course is quite testing. 2k downhill on loose rocky/sandy trail then a testing 4.5km rails to loop back to the finish.

I ended up running alone for the first 5kms before catching the frontmarkers. The backmarker, KB -a 1.50ish 800m untapped talent, flew by me through the hills 1km from the end. Shortly after another guy passed me. 400m from home I slipped from 3d to 4th when Greg H passed me. 26.40, not a bad time for me on this course. 3k cooldown.

Today, out to Kangaroo Flat for an 8km handicap on the trails around Crusoe Reservoir Park. A 3km warmup with a fast 500m. This course is basically last week's 6.5km course with a 1500m add on which climbs us up the dam wall twice, placed nicely at the end of the race.

Felt good despite yesterday's race. Hit 3.52/3 for the first 2 flattish kms. From then on I started to work through groups of runners who'd started ahead of me. By 4kms (15.50) I was closing on the leaders fast. I hit the lead at the 6km mark (23.45). Held on until the last 600m then Greg H. caught me and dashed away. I stuck on well to finish 2d beaten about 25m. 32.00. 2k cooldown.

track chick wrote:

So is this a 24 hour race with each of you doing one hour? How many teams do it?

Correct tc, and about 30 teams did it/doing it as still ongoing as i type... ran the 2 to 3am leg. Went to sleep at 9pm and woke up at quarter to 01 in total rem phase. Couldn't figure out if i should have breakfast, if i had digested my dinner, if i was really awake. it felt more like a military mission then going to a race.

anyway i think i bettered my pr and managed to finally do more than 37 laps (so far in two similiar 12x1hr relays) and came in second in my heat. It was pretty surreal, at terme di caracalla track, people camping out, some asleep in their tents, fresh people perkly marching inside the stadium for check in procedure; zombies of various degree limping around the outfield, all quite picturesque; pa system was blaring some majorly retro Deep Purple "smoke on the water" and Santana hits.

As much as i appreciated the cheerfulness of running events this was truly obscure. In rear thinking, i thought that sometimes running ik like a vocation or something, a doctrine. Also i stubbed my pinky on my right foot at home just after dinner and it hurt like heck. My form compensated for it and heck was i wasted when i drove it in...

Saturday: awesome kds athletics

Friday: happy rest, bike commute

...and yes, only 718 days to Gimmewald 2011

Some data, according to Dyrt archives:

september 2007 12x1h, 14.290Km and 2 blisters

september 2008 12x1h, 14.637Km and no blisters

may 2009 24x1h, 14.845km and no blisters; 1 stubbed pinky

looking to break 15k sept 2009

Had a hell of a race this morning! Ran a 3:06 marathon in Ottawa! Only my second marathon ever too!

Missed my A Goal of 2:59 but I'm pretty happy considering I just came back from injury and my mileage has been really low these past 5 weeks.

At the end of the day I know I gave it my all, refused to quit, gave 110% and was died at the finish line.

nice run HR!

Glad you both had good runs.

I may head back to the gym today but I'm not sure if it'll be open as it's a bank holiday (public holiday) here.

20 mins walk yesterday with some friends. The most challenging since March so some progress is being made.

Well done HR, 2.59 is only an uninterupted build up away.

No running today. I did 3x15mins on the windtrainer plus 3x3mins punching bag and a mix of weights and bodyweight exercises.

TPCB, we used to run 24 hr relays while Yiannis Kouros and his fellow 24hr competitors were soloing around the Coburg track. It was done as 10 person teams and we'd run about 30 mins at a time. On the 1/2 hour the runner would complete the lap he/she was on then hand over, sometimes you did a bit more than 1/2 an hour, sometimees a bit less.

Our team won it 3 years in a row.

I just found the 96 results. We completed 384.69kms that year. I completed 95 laps/38kms in my 5 runs. Our number one runner amassed an impressive 111/44.4kms. Another guy, who was a 1.46 800m at the time, managed a handy 40.829kms.Not a bad effort for a guy more accustomed to 1 to 2 laps.

At one of these events we witnessed the amazing Kouros reel of 296kms despite torrential rain flooding the track.

They were great times as we always fielded 2 teams. Not much sleep happened as we tended to be a rowdy mob.

Just over 100 weeks to go!

Thank you!

Thats a hell of a countdown by the way...100 weeks.

tc,

progressively challenging is admirable. wishing the best for you.

mopak,

interesting alternative the half-hour instalments. Pretty damn steady on your part. I have a feeling i was a little rowdier myself in 1996

today: 40mins loosely in the midday glare, feeling somewhat dizzy...

-717 to Gimmewald 2011.

It is one heck of a countdown, yes it is.

Amazing if we do it.

Keeping fit...

I did the 800m. 13 of us toed the curved line, and it was mayhem once the gun sounded. After 50m I was fine though, in 4th place. First place was waaaay ahead....forget about him. One of the guys I initially chased was Paul Reimer...age 54....always faster than me in previous races.

My first 200m was aggressive, but it didn't feel crazy. 33sec. Into the home stretch, and into a strong breeze, the 2 guys who led me (Paul and Edwin) slowed, and I was quite happy to cruise behind them to the bell, in 68. I felt good.

Until Edwin slowed suddenly and significantly. I basically ran into him, then struggled to get around him.

Suddenly Paul was way ahead, and I felt tight and tired. At 500m I was hurting. At 600m in 1:44 I was really hurting. At 700m I was going real sloooow, into the wind, and another guy came flying by me.

I saw 2:21 on my watch at the finish, and I was spent. Ouch. Secretly though, I was dreaming of 2:19 today, so I wasn't very far off.

I've got a long way to go, and I'm very eager to get cracking, and go faster at Duncan in 3 weeks, and Courtenay in 5 weeks.

This wasn't pretty, but it was a start....and, it was FUN!!! Heather and Matthew cheered, Diane, Keith and Wayne also ran the race.

Yeah, I think I'm going to stick with the walking. Went to the gym, it was open, but the bike felt horrible, then went on the rower and that felt nasty on my knee too this time. Did some on the punchbag but your knees take the strain on that and that felt like it was doing something bad to my knee. Decided to leave it as I don't think it's doing any good.

The walking, however, is something I can build up.

track chick;Wishing you the best in your search for the right combo of therapy and exercise as you deal with the knee.

HR123;Nicely done at Ottawa.

TPCB;Undeniably getting better with age. Cool.Good luck with the 15K goal for Sept.

mopak; What an interesting array of luminaries you've had occassion to rub shoulders with. Awesome. The Greek and his feats are incomprehensible.

CVRR. Count your Blessings if you have that many venues for Masters track in your locale. It's a rare thing in these parts. Way to cruise,by the way.

Question for mopak and TPCB. As per the count down to Gimmewald- The implication is that a specific week has been chosen. Is this indeed the case?? Sorry to be so out of the loop as to have to ask for clarification etc.

I fear I may have missed something during one of the editing barrages.

Today.18.1 miles on the Lake Superior trail. For whatever reason it felt to me like my first day with my new feet. I was tripping alot on the plentiful roots and rocks but took only one actual header.

The eight of us kept the pace very pedestrian and only one fell back near the end. Other than a scraped nose and a few skinned knees we came through intact.

Temps were a favorable 60F amd bugs tolerable.

Wil is gearing up for Leadville 100 and JW prepping for Pikes Peak Marathon. For myself the occasional 25K or mild Marathon is plenty.

I don't think any particular week has been chosen. I'm guessing TPCB is just putting out a marker for us to aim at.

Rubbing shoulders with illuminaries is one of the great things about running (in Australia anyway). My sunday morning running group in the 80s being a case in point. Although I was just a fit jogger of the 33min 10k variety I had the pleasure of training with stars most sundays. Rob De Castella, Chris Wardlaw and a host of guys with sub 4 miles, sub 14s, sub 29s, sub 2.15s etc.

Our informal running group of the 90s-early 00's inc a 1.46 800 man, an 8.35 s/chaser, and a 60.02 half marathoner as well as some 3.30-4.00 marathoners.

I don't think too many recreational golfers play a round with Tiger. We are lucky in that regard with running.

The sun is shining and I can hear some forests calling my name, I better go run.

1hr 50mins easy, up and over the rocky McIvor Range then across the Argyle Forest. No falls for me but the McIvor Range always takes plenty of concentration to ensure I remain upright.

Driske, there was a time when both Leadville and Pike's Peak were on my radar. Unfortunately the body isn't capable of doing the work required these days. I doubt I will run any more ultras or mountain marathons.

Trackchick, a few years ago I did a lot of hiking with ski-poles to rehab a bad foot injury. I found the poles helped to keep the intensity up, also gives the upper body a bit of resistance work. Might be another option you can try.

congrats HR123.....that's a terrific time for marathon #2.....i have come down with a pretty good cold.....have sat on the sidelines for a few days......probably will have to stay there for a few more......no sense running with this thing......no aerobic benefits.......anxious to get back.....

sp02; There are some nasty respiratory ailments circulating here as well. My Bride missed 2 days at school with a bug she picked up last weekend on the plane. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

thanks for the clarification mopak. As to timing, something from early to mid June through Sept. works the best on this fellows calendar. Any idea when they lose the snow in that region??

Catski, 24 minutes at low intensity.50F and light rain.

Today I did a good feeling recovery 60mins about Airforce Beach, Kin Beach, Powell River ferry terminal, Anderton Rd, Ryan Rd.

I am so going to run faster in Duncan.

Re Gimmewald 2011, that's right: the countdown refers to the convergence "window" opening for the whole of summer 2011. We have sometime to decide a date and other logistics as such, but the point is, as mopak said, to put a marker down, ya know, just to get going from a mopak input...

today: villa pamphili (she screams some as wel mopak!) at 2pm, scorching, dusty, in vibrams, hills repeats, steepish, at least 15 of them, up in 35secs, about 1min, max (hardly ever) 1:20. Then a breather and a 1k in 3:28.

-716

De Castella? Wow cool, mopak! That was one of the first names which rung familiarly hopeful (italian sounding!) when i was growing up with Seko, Dixon and all time favorite Alison Roe...

June will be busy for me: 800m on the 14th at Duncan, Chemainus 5k just 2 days later, then 800m again on the 27th at home, just 4 days before 5th St Mile.