ran a very hilly 10 today. felt decent/average the first 7.5 miles...sort of bonked and felt pretty bad the last 2.5 miles.
probably taking tomorrow off, as it's been 20 days now since my last day off.
ran a very hilly 10 today. felt decent/average the first 7.5 miles...sort of bonked and felt pretty bad the last 2.5 miles.
probably taking tomorrow off, as it's been 20 days now since my last day off.
20 in trainers, 15 in flats, 4 100m strides(comin off injury. would really like to get up to around 70 miles a week) 45 on bike and 30 in pool. way too much cross training
and the whole running question at the begining was a bad idea. all you have to do is back out to the previous page and resubmit an answer.
multiple long walks over the weekend......long = 3K ish.......still a bit of residual tightness......had one cramp on Sunday's second walk......decided to hold off on the running for a few more days.....rather be safe than sorry......
Tasmania continued...
Next morning we headed out from Windermere through some forest then emerged onto buttongrass moorland. From the elevated moorland we had great views of some of Tassies high peaks, Oakleigh, Ossa, Pelion East, Pelion West. We also found a wonderful lookout over the heavily timbered Forth Valley 300 metres below the moors.
We then headed into a steep section of myrtle beech rainforest, a welcome contrast to the moorlands. The track through here was very rocky (Amy gave herself a nasty ankle bruise).The twisted moss covered trunks and logs and the cold dark from the thick canopy quickly earned this section the title of "Enchanted Forest".
We crested a hill and emerged from the forest just above a nice fast flowing creek, an ideal venue for morning tea.
From here we were back into the open buttongrass moors with Mt Pelion West overlooking us. Back into thick forest and a long descent to a clearing called Frog Flat beside the Forth River.
Along this section I spotted the one and only snake of the trip, a very young little tiger who slithered across the track between myself and Greg.
Crossing the Forth the track starts a steady climb through a mre eucalypt dominated rainforest. Huge old stringybarks towered over us and great tree ferns grew between the mighty gums.
Linda was setting the tempo up the climb and was going strong. This gave her a great confidence boost after her first day struggles.Amy on the other hand was struggling a bit with her bruised ankle.
As the climb levelled out we met up with "Ranger Jen" who pointed us in the direction of a good swimming hole.
The water was freezing but it was great to have our second "bath" of the trip and also to "wash" the clothes.
From the swimming hole it was just a short walk to the Pelion campsite. Along the way we spotted a Tasmanian echidna, this fella was smaller and less spikey than our mainlanders.
Pelion is a large camp area with a big hut so we had another night indoors. From the front verandah we looked out over Mt Oakleigh's dolorite columns.
My trip to the water tank to rinse my dishes presented me with my first quoll sighting. The little fella lives under the ank during the day and comes out to check what scraps are being washed into the grease trap. He was quite happy to pick a few tiny flakes of tunaoff my bowl while it was in my hand.
Little tiger? Wow, that's quite a site. Havent googled yet, but there are tigers in Tasmania? That's encouraging to hear.
Yesterday: rest, busy-ness prevails
today: will rest, more of the same
Trying to positiv-ize this inevitable, not-injury related, theoretically unncessary rest. With some creativity should not be too difficult. We all know how much we love running...
Ha,ha. The Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacine) is unfortunately extinct, if I'd proven the existance of one I'd be a millionaire !!!
No it was just a little tiger snake, a bit more common than the thylacine.
Today I squeezed in a tough little 60 min mtn bike ride. Climbed the ridge twice the first time the back way -a 27min climb up rugged terrain, then dashed back up the 4x4 road in 8mins.
Yesterday I had to take my old dog to the vet to be euthanased, have to admitto shedding a few tears.
I also went down to Melbourne to visit my parents, my father is not so well. A bit of a tough day.
I went for a mind clearing run on my old course in the outer burbs.
60mins of steep trails these days, back in the day it was cow paddocks and remnant bushland. The swamp below the ridge is now a suburb of several 1000 people -Mill Park Lakes, I refer to it as Mill Park Swamp. Still quite a few roos up on the ridge line.
Tasmania continued...
An early start for 3 of us the next mornig. Gary, Greg and myself planned to climb Mt Ossa, Tassie's highest peak.
Phil, Linda and Amy were going to just walk straight through to the next camp.
In a light mist we headed uphill for 4kms mostly through a dark, damp rainforest. We came into clearer alpine country and reached Pelion Gap at 1100m ASL. We dropped off our packs and followed a sidetrack off through low scrub. Ossa was covered in a light bit of cloud as we started the ascent. After skirting around the smaller Mt Doris we got our first glimpse of the track up Ossa. No switchbacks, she was straight up the side. 3/4 of the way up the track disappeared into a v shaped rock gully.
The climb was every bit as steep as it looked. Strong winds were not helping either.
At the rock gully it is pretty much just a case of climbing from one boulder to the next.
We clambered out of the gully onto a high meadow of delicate alpine groundcovers. We were very careful to stay on the rocky track. I could see bare patches the size of feet in the vegetation where people had left the rocky track and killed it. Some of these alpine plants are very fragile. Above the meadow more boulder hopping brough us to the top of Tasmania.
The clouds swirled about but broke open often enough to allow us terrific views of the dozens of mountains and valleys in the area.
The descent was a much quicker affair.
Back at the track junction we decided to also climb East Pelion, the mountain on the other side of the gap. A coupleof 100 metres lower.
This was a very direct climb up through steep grassland until the last section which was shards of rock debris. We were rewarded with magnificent views of Ossa, Cathederal Mountain, West Pelion, Oakleigh and even our old buddies Cradle Mountai and Barn Bluff.
The descent was extremely quick, highlighted by me finding a calf deep mudhole to step in.
To be continued...
adding insult to injury, I had a bit of a cold for much of th week.....sore throat, not much else......maybe a blessing as it convinced me to wait a few more days before testing the leg......feels pretty good right now.....leaning towards giving it a short go this weekend.....just in time for the lousy weather to return.....keeping them crossed....
O2, truly, wish you better!
mopak, really enjoy keeping up with the trek. Wow.
today:
AM 4k to school and back
Lunctime adult session at the track. Brought my metronome and played with some turnover drills. Used a bell to call for last-lap like rate increases. Looked agreeable despite the still ungratifying weather.
One Year -7 days to The MOARG, The Mother Of All Running Gatherings, in Gimmelwald, Switzerland, in 2011.
That's 51 weeks i suppose.
AM: 4k to school and back.
Tomorrow: kids athletics, will experiment with the metronome.
-357 days to The MOARG, The Mother Of All Running Gatherings, in Gimmelwald, Switzerland, in 2011.
thanks for the good wishes, tpcb......this rest has been good for my knee, so it's not all bad.....weekend weather looks crummy, but I still may give it a go......certainly sooner rather than later.....I'll let you know....
yesterday: kids athletics- Metronome experiments went fine.
today: rest
AM: 2k to school. Back from school with a buddy for a 1h15m walk to Villa Pamphili. Glorious, sunny day. Lots of tree pruning going on. Some sick ones cut down. Speaking of fallen trees, saw Avatar with the kids yesterday but the threads are gone.
Yesterday I completed 8.4 k fun run, flat road, time was 37:32
Quickest time so far so I am pretty happy with that! : )
BlackRunningShoes
a mixed bag.....laced them up on Friday with the intent of doing a 20' out-and-back.....being conservative.....got about 6' out and had a mild cramp in the calf.....slowed down and turned around.....it started to feel better so I kept going.....meandered around for a total of 15'......some residual tightness the next two days.....did several walks without too much trouble.....maybe the elliptical today and another 'run' later this week....
BRS, howdy, and enjoy your blackshoeing around.
O2, i forget if in the past, for your issues, you have gone to see a therapist or doctor of sorts.
AM: walk to school and back, 4k
tpcb, no professional therapy....usually 3-4 weeks of rest and I'm good to go.....and this happens maybe once per year.....maybe just my body's way of forcing me to shut things down for a bit......though I am tempted to pursue a deep tissue massage....ouch.....will try something today and report back tomorrow....
lunchtime:
adult group at the track, more metronome, light drills, lots of crisp sunshine for a privileged hour
CONGRATULATIONS, DYRT!!!! 4000 posts!!!! This is historic!!!
I am so proud of all the many faithful positive contributors to this epic thread. You have taken this thread to a truly historic place. You are the best!
And arguably this is only half of the recent historic accomplishments of this greatest of letsrun threads. Think of it; the greatest thread on the greatest board. And more to come?
I am humbled to have played a small part in the genesis and growth of this tremendous thread. Thanks again to all of you have continued to provide positive reports about your personal tributes to this great sport.
I am happy to be the first poster of the next 4000! Keep up the good work, all!
lol