“No obstacle will leave you the way it found you”

The last 2-3 weeks have seen a major blip on the radar, hence I have not posted any thing. Due to personal difficulties the training has stopped at a time I was just starting to gain momentum. It has however allowed me to take a step back and plan my journey with a little more knowledge and insight.

I have barely done any training for the last 2 weeks, the challenge is to use the next couple of weeks and get back to where I was and then start to step it up. My next race will be the Gold Coast marathon on the 5th July 2009, which I can use to get my Comrades qualifying event out of the way. Then I can focus the next 9-10 Months on building up to Comrades 2010.

I’d like to offer my congratulations to 2 of my friends, Brett Vincent and Ollie Ladd who both ran the Canberra Marathon on the 19th April. Whilst I ran it with them last year, this year they are both way fitter than me. Both of them ran PB’s with Brett finishing in 3:08:06, and Ollie in 3:24:26. Well done guys but don’t get cocky as I might have to run with you next year! I’ll challenge you Brett to see which of us can run the first sub 3:00 marathon? What are we going to bet on?

The weather is getting quite cool in Brisbane, so it’s almost time for long sleeves, Polyprops and the gloves to come out! It’s also quite dark in the mornings so the senses need to be sharpened so I don’t cause myself any injuries due to poor navigation. There is still a lot of training yet to be done…

“Do not try to be anything but what you are,
and try to be that perfectly”
St Francis de Sales

“In reading the lives of great men,
I found that the first victory
they won over was themselves.
Self-discipline with all of them came first”
American President Harry Truman

Resting HR (average): 51

Injury status: (L) low back 4/10

This was a full training week and involved pushing through some pain barriers and maintaining discipline. Monday was an uncomfortable run of 12km as my left hip felt slightly sore but more worrying felt as if it was going to give way. I saw a new physio on monday and acupunctured my hip also. Tuesday it was ok initally and I managed to push through the 18km.

Wednesday was a strengthening session and the hip was still sore walking around. By Thursday it was slightly better although I only did 6km.

Friday it felt alot better for my long run and although it was very slow, I got past my goal of 32km, and actually managed 36km. After 24km my back started tightening up and the left side started to get sore, and the backs of my legs started to get very tight. Conditions weren’t great, being overcast and drizzly, and I think the damp shoes and socks didn’t help my feet and I started to get sore feet and blistering/rubbing which was getting more and more intense. I was glad to be able to finish!

Saturday was a strengthening session and my back was quite sore and stiff. I was pretty tired and simply didn’t feel like doing another session later that day. Sunday I felt quite comfortable running 18km, although the pace was pretty slow. I was happy with the ileage I did this week and exercised 2x day on 6 of the days. Next week I look forward to reducing the mileage and letting the legs recover a bit…

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap,
but by the seeds you plant.”
Robert Louis Stevenson