Mt Portal 28K.

TUESDAY 13/11/07, 28K, WEEK TO DATE 35K

Night run (7.30pm start), from home to Mt Portal and back via Glenbrook Causeway. Slightly different course to Sunday's run, and slightly quicker (6.03 vs 6.06 pace). The view from Portal Lookout in the dark is really quite something. Felt reasonably good, the last 4Ks (gradual uphill) were banged out at a fairly consistent 5.30 pace.

Happy with this run.

Monday 12/11- 4K Kayak, 7K Run

Was going to paddle two laps of the Bridges tonight and follow with a recovery run as well.

Was trialling a new (cheaper) kayak tonight with no rudder- got about 2K down the river before getting the shits with it and turning back. Lack of rudder makes a huge difference.

Ran the 6.8K round the Bridges at 4.55min/k pace afterwards.

Sunday 11/11- 27K.

Been busy with restaurant stuff all week- staff illnesses, exams etc. No exercise since Monday till I did a run to Mt Portal and back on Sunday, a slightly shorter route than last week (skipped the diversion to Euroka). 27K in 2.45. 6 minute pace. Some good hills there.

Monday 5/11- 12K Kayak on the Nepean River.

47 and 49 minutes for each 6K lap- half of which was paddled into a biting south westerly. Loved it.

30.5K.

SUNDAY 4/11/07, 9.30AM, 30.5K, WEEKLY TOTAL 81K

Home- Glenbrook- Euroka- Mt Portal- Glenbrook- home. Very hilly. No breakfast beforehand. Got very ugly.

Saturday 3/11- 6K Kayak.

Too busy to cycle Friday, but knocked out 6K in 46 minutes in the kayak on Saturday arvo.

The bridges circuit is a popular one for local paddlers as boats have an 8 knot speedlimit in this area- so less chance of being "buzzed" or copping a nasty wake from a speedboat. Nevertheless, I do intend to paddle up Nepean Gorge (under Mt Portal) in the near future- weekdays are better than weekends for that sort of lark, not as much water traffic.

30K Highway Run.

THURSDAY 1/11/07, 4.30PM, 30K, WEEK TO DATE 50.5K

Very unedifying run from Parramatta along the Great Western. Had intentions of going all the way home (45K) but had enough of the fumes and bleak scenery by Penrith and called it quits.

Trotted along easily enough at around 5.30 pace. Seemed like a time-efficient way of getting in a long run but.... won't try it again though.

Wednesday 31/10- 17K Ride.

First road bike ride since August.

I intend to make Wednesday and Friday cycling days, but things were a bit busy today in both jobs and I only had time to ride from Emu Plains to the restaurant via the Nepean River drive and Lapstone Hill. Got up the hill reasonably well given recent lack of riding (outside spin classes) but my back was pretty sore.

17K in just over 40 minutes.

20.5K, Quicker.

TUESDAY 30/10/07, 20.5K (1.41, 4.59min/km)

Set off later than usual- 8pm- after being held up at the restaurant. My now-standard 3 laps of the Nepean Bridges was on the menu tonight.

Warm enough tonight to not need a shirt. Started off feeling a bit rough- acidic stomach, burping up some nasty stuff- but on the second lap got into a groove and picked up the pace more the third time round. Surprised myself by dipping just under 5min/km at the finish. Nice improvement- previous two weeks this run was at 5.11 and 5.09 pace respectively.

Recovered nicely from Sunday's crash-and-burn.

Monday 29/10- 12K Kayak.

Two laps of the Nepean Bridges, starting at 6.30pm. Felt good although my hands suffered a fair bit- some blistering today. First lap was 46 minutes, the second 47. Coming back to finish the second lap the sun had set and I was paddling towards the silhouette of Mt Portal, framed against the purple and orange twilight.

It was near dark on the water but the slapping of waves against the kayak and the slash of the paddle striking the water were clear in the near-silence. It was fantastic and, dare I say it, romantic. All five of my senses were very alive for those 15 minutes.

Sunday 18K- Hilly, Humid, Horrible.

SUNDAY 28/10/07, 7AM, 18K, WEEKLY TOTAL 60.5K

Shogun and I set out to run a 22K loop we'd looked at for a while- from ym front door, down Rickard Rd to Long Angle Trail, up to Singles Ridge Rd at Yellow Rock, down to Illingworth Rd and descending an old bridle trail to the notorious Riverside Trail by the Nepean, between Emu Heights and Yarramundi. Long uphill on an old powerline service trail to Mt Riverview, down the Elizabeth St trail to Long Angle again, and out. About half road, half dirt, with a 4K long uphill from the river to Mt Riverview shops. I even had ambitious plans of running 2 laps of this course.

Early on I was battling with the heat and humidity- when we reached Illingworth Rd we could see the whole Nepean Valley below us and 'twas wreathed in mist, and when we dropped down to the Riverside Trail we were in full glare of the sun as well, no shade. The Illingworth bridle trail that drops down to the river seems to be a secret of the local mountain bikers, very rough underfoot but some great views down to the water.

I did a lot of walking from here and Shogun started to get oedema (swelling) in his fingers from dehydration. He eventually took off back to his place to get the car and gave me a lift home from the Mt Riv shops.

Not a good experience. Bloody hilly loop- I'll post map and profile tonight- but I think over summer I'll need to do my longest runs at night....

Saturday 27/10- 6K Kayak in 47 minutes.

22K Road Run.

THURSDAY 25/10/07, 9AM, 22K (1.58, 5.22min/km), WEEK TO DATE 42.5K

Worked from home today. Set out on a drizzly, cool morning around 9am to run from home to Winamlee Shops and back, via Waratah and Tusculum Roads and the Hawkesbury Rd bikepath.

The coursestarts at 280m ASL and rolls a bit for the first couple of Ks, then there is a steady climb to around 400m ASL at the Hawkesbury Rd Reservoir. Then a rolling descent to 310m ASL again. I tacked on an extra couple of kilometres by running out to the end of White Cross Rd and back once I'd reached the shops.

My legs were wondering what the hell was going on for the first couple of kms (quads still pounded from Spin y'day) then I got into a pretty good rhythm for such hilly ground. Felt a bit rough on the way back but overall a pretty good pace for a fairly hilly course, quite pleasing.

Wednesday Lunchtime Spin Class.

Another class at FF Market St. Bashed myself fairly well....

Scary to report, I spotted the long lost BOOF in the gym there.... who remembers Boof?

20.5K.

TUESDAY 23/10/07, 7PM, 20.5K (1.44, 5.09min/km)

Same course as last Thursday on a muggy night- the Nepean Bridges, 3 laps thereof. Got round about a minute and a half quicker than last Thursday. Legs felt a bit off for the first couple of Ks as a result of the lunchtime spin class, but then I got going fairly well.

Tuesday Spin Class.

Did bugger all on the weekend for a few different reasons. Back into it Tuesday 23/10 with a lunchtime Spin Class at Fitness First Market St.

20.5K.

THURSDAY 18/10/07, 7PM, 20.5K (1.46, 5.11min/km), WEEK TO DATE 29.5K

Western Sydney's rough equivalent of the Bay Run is the Bridges on the Nepean- 6.85K from the Victoria Bridge up the Nepean River to the M4 Bridge, crossover and back. The Penrith side is on bike path, the Emu Plains side either bike path or (my preference) grass. Early in the morning a lot of runners trot around here.

Wanted a faster tempo run tonight so did 3 laps of the Bridges at solid but not hard pace. A bit spooky on the Penrith side- running past trees at forehead height which are full of bats... I was hoping to get round at sub 5min/km but didn't quite manage it. I'll get there again before long.

Good training day.

Thursday Morning Kayak.

Last weekend I hired a Dagger Discovery kayak for a month from Horizon Line at Penrith, to see if I could fit regular kayaking into the schedule before making the decision to buy one.

12K paddle this morning on the Nepean River in 104 minutes.

Night 9K.

My usual 9K local route (half bush, half road) done at night with the PT Apex . Only my second night bush run since Glasshouse in September last year (the other being the Turon Rogaine in April). Kind of spooky to hear unseen creatures crash off into the bush, but quite nifty also.

Felt reasonable, a little tired, puttered around at 6min/km pace.

43.5K.

SUNDAY 14/10/07, 7AM, 43.5K

Nathan and I started from the Long Angle trailhead on Winnicoopa Ave, Blaxland for a somewhat over marathon-distance session- first run for me since the Upper Murray Challenge.

The route we were to cover followed Long Angle FT all the way to Singles Ridge Rd at Yellow Rock, then dogleg into Yellow Rock Creek FT up to the bottom of Lee Rd at Winmalee. Turn around and go back for 22K, then repeat it all again.

Very sandy underfoot much of the way. Knee was sore for the first couple of hours then gradually improved. We puttered along okay for a few hours but a bit slower than anticipated, which meant I decided to turn off at the Rickard Rd trailhead on the way back and run directly home, which took about a kilometre off the total distance for me. Faded fairly badly at around 38K- it got fairly hot out there also.

Still, 'tis done. Not a fast course- lots of short steep hills and sandy, loose footing. Good to log another long run, en route to Bogong and Six Foot Track.

6K Kayak.

No running since the Upper Murray Challenge. A few knee twinges being worked on with new orthotics, anti inflammatories and acupuncture, plus some staff shortages at the night job.

Did an easy 6K paddle on the Nepean today with Mel in a double kayak.

Upper Murray Challenge.

... or perhaps better titled "how I bullshitted my way through an offroad multisport race off zero mtb/kayak training..."

Still pretty satisfying though!

The Upper Murray Challenge ( website ) is a multisport race in the foothills of the western Snowy Mountains- starting in Khancoban and finishing in Corryong. It commences with a 38K mountain bike ride before transitioning to kayaks for a 26K paddle down the Swampy Plain and Murray Rivers to the hamlet of Towong, then donning the running shoes for a 600m of vertical to the summit of Mt Elliott and descending to finish at Corryong College.

As regulars might note, training of late has consisted of bugger all cycling and definitely no mountain biking (not that I ever had any mtb skills to begin with) and one weekend of whitewater paddling at Penrith, otherwise no paddling.

So why try this event? I liked the look of the video on the website and wanted an excuse to get down to the High Country again.

So Mel and I drove down Friday 5th October with the race starting 9am the following morning, with my old Learsport mtb and a hired kayak strapped to the roof of the car. After a 5.5 hour drive we arrived in Corryong for dinner and registration before driving 20 minutes to our digs in Khancoban. From most of the Khancoban area you can see the snow capped Main Range soaring into the distant sky. Closer at hand, I studied all the bikes and kayaks atop vehicles in both towns and concluded that I had just about the crappiest equipment of anyone in the event! I quite expected to be last off the bike and close to last out of the kayak, then to pass a few people in the run.

38K MTB
9am Saturday morning I was at the tail of the bunch as we rode out of Khancoban- according to the start sheet 85 solo competitors and 23 teams. We started climbing on a steep firetrail right away and I found myself passing people on the uphills, then they'd all come past as I inched down the other side- this course had a lot of steep downhill. Shaped more or less like a dumbbell, the course described a loop through the hills behind the town on a mix of firetrail and singletrack before descending past the kayak transition area and then into the farm "Khancoban Station" and riding through paddocks to another hill loop, returning to the transition and hitting the kayaks.

A long downhill early on gave me the heebie jeebies- I had the brakes half on to slow my descent and the wheels locked, however I was going too quickly to put my foot down. In a triumph of arse over class I managed to "ski" the bike to the bottom and went on my way. After that, though, I did the "hike-a-bike" thing on the big downhills. I found myself regularly swapping positions with a collection of Army guys- I'd pass on the uphills and they'd pass on the downs.

One minor routefinding error after being directed down the wrong track by a marshall, otherwise the course was thoroughly well marked and interesting and I got off the bike right near the back of the pack but with a couple still behind me. It was just after midday.

26K KAYAK
Spray skirt, vest and helmet on and into the kayak, a few hundred metres downstream from Khancoban Dam. We'd been told the night before that the water level of the Swampy Plain River was too low for safe paddling, so Snowy Hydro (main sponsor) was releasing extra water down the spillway to raise the river's level for the race.

The river did not have difficult rapids, but there were regular "gravel races" where the river bed was shallow enough to scrape the kayak and the surface was choppy and turbulent. More tricky though was the velocity of the water, emphasised several times in the race literature. There were always currents cutting across the river from one side to another which did require good river-reading skills, and my kayak got rolled twice early on before I got used to the patterns of the flow. The first time the kayak was caught between the regular river flow and the swirl of an eddy on the bank and flipped- and being snowmelt, the water was definitely cold. I dragged the kayak to the bank, tipped out the water and resumed. About half an hour later I came to a near u turn in the river, took it too sharply and a current turned the kayak sideways and over again, but I was underway reasonably soon.

I passed a couple of competitors on this leg, folks who had gotten into trouble with the currents or just had the wrong equipment, such as the Army guy who had a tiny whitewater kayak which was almost impossible to control. Physically it wasn't taxing, just mentally demanding from concentrating on the river's currents and I could have easily gone over four or five more times but saw the problem in time and corrected.

There were the occasional marshalls on the river banks, but for the most part my only company were the willows that entangled either side of the water- another potential risk if you didn't pay attention. Funnily enough I never noticed where the mighty Murray River joined the Swampy Plain River I had been paddling down; later I was told that the Murray was more or less a trickling creek at this point and was hard to spot from the water. Interesting.

I was aware that there was a cutoff at 3.30pm, 6K into the run leg. For that I figured I needed to be off the kayak around 2.30-2.45 just in case, so when at 1.45pm I passed under the Murray Valley Highway bridge with Mel and a marshal standing on it and they told me I was but halfway, the swearing started in earnest. The minutes ticking over on my watch assumed new importance, and when I steered the kayak into the transition at Towong Bridge it was 3pm and I was most unimpressed. Vest, helmet and spray skirt off, running shoes and hydration pack on and I was running up a dirt road with sweeping views of the Snowy Mountains in front of me and a cutoff looming.

25K RUN
Felt pretty good in the run and quickly passed an Army guy named Aaron. The view was fucking awesome and it helped inspire me in a fast start- the first couple of kilometres were 4.40s. However, the dirt road started to climb from there and I was losing time against the cutoff.

Mel drove past a few hundred metres before the cutoff checkpoint with Aaron in the passenger seat (DNF) and bike and kayak on the roof. I muttered something about arguing with the marshal if they tried to pull me out- my watch had ticked over to 3.32 and I was cursing the wrong turn I had been sent down on the mtb leg. However, they happily waved me on and I crossed into a farm paddock and started climbing across a grassy slope. Mel met me at the next marshal's location about a mile further on with an Up&Go (I had been subsisting on bananas and Up&Go drink all day) and informed me two fellows had just left the checkpoint, walking pretty slowly.

I ran until the course went up a narrow gully in amongst trees; above me I could see the two competitors nearing the top of the gully. Walking strongly after them I emerged onto a rough 4WD track which arched skyward towards the summit ridge of Mt Elliott, 600m above the river and 930m above sea level.

I quickly left the two dudes behind and, mixing the walking and running, emerged at the top of Mt Elliott where antennas maintained a vigil over the Khancoban and Corryong valleys. The track followed the Elliott Ridge, gradually descending but with enough uphill to keep you honest. Eventually I was dropping steeply through bush then farm paddocks towards the hamlet of Thowgla, negotiating a herd of dozens of cows as I did so.

Mel was waiting at Thowgla Hall. I took another Up&Go, dropped my hydration pack and set off for the last six kilomtres of road running into Corryong, chasing the three competitors I could just make out down the road. Although I made up plenty of ground, I didn't have enough room to haul them in and they finished a minute or two ahead as I ran into Corryong, pumped a fist, then under the finish banner in 8 hours 58 minutes.

Piece of cake. (-:

Fantastic, fun even which tests all the skills of an athlete in a wonderfully impressive setting. Support crew is essential and they have to be resourceful, as there is no aid of any kind on the course, even at transitions, which makes this somewhat unexpected finish Mel's as much as it is mine.

With a little skills work on the mtb and kayak and some better equipment I could easily take 90 minutes off my time next year....

23K.

TUESDAY 2/10/07, 7PM, 23.5K (2.17, 5.49min/km), WEEK TO DATE 32.5K

Same route as last week- a little faster. Finished fairly strongly. Right knee sore- got some acupuncture etc on it this morning. Orthotics need replacing.

Very hilly down around Lapstone way.

9K.

MONDAY 1/10/07, 7.30AM, 9K (58min, 6.24min/km)

Much better recovery from yesterday's long one than the prior weekend's- no real soreness, some stiffness and fatigue. Ran my 9K Sun Valley loop, which is about half road, half soft firetrail, with one big hill.

Took it veeeryyy easy and walked up Sun Valley Hill. Better than the shattered mess I was last Monday after 8 hours on the WildEndurance course the day before....

44.5K of 6FT.

SUNDAY 30/0907, 7.45AM, 44.5K, WEEK TO DATE 97.25K



Nathan and I ran on the Six Foot Track on a warm day- start to Little River and return in about 6.5 hours.

Heaps of people on the Track today- turn a corner and more people. Must have been at least 8 tents at the Coxs River campground.

Ran all right on the way out, died badly on the way back.

Legs fairly tight tonight- right knee a bit tender also.

Friday Night Spin Class.

Got the staff to cover for me again. First spin class in many months. Not very fit. Hurt like hell. legs thrashed.

Centennial Park- Very Tired.

FRIDAY 28/9/07, 12.30PM, 8.75K, 5.01min/km, WEEK TO DATE 52.75K

Work in Surry Hills- lap of the inner fence at Centennial- return.

Intended to do two laps of the fence, but was verrrrry tired from about the 3K mark and battled from there.

Reverse Station Run.

THURSDAY 27/9/07, 6.30PM, 10.75K, WEEK TO DATE 44K

Reverse of the morning run with a little variation at the start. Took it very easy- a bit over 60 minutes- uphill this time!

Station Run.

THURSDAY 27/09/07, 7AM, 10.25K (50.32, 4.56min/km), WEEK TO DATE 33.25K

Did a Pilates course Wednesday lunchtime. Very tender in the abs Thursday. Was alo going to spin on the stationary bike for an hour Wednesday night after finishing work at the restaurant, but a family medical commitment saw me driving to the hospital instead and getting home around midnight.

This morning- my semi regular run to the station. Made an effort to push this one fairly hard for a course PB of around a minute on a morning that was oppressively humid...

Another run tonight.

23K.

TUESDAY 25/09/07, 6.30PM, 23K (2.18, 5.46min/km)

Managed to get staff to cover me at the restaurant tonight and did a 23K road run, fairly unexciting- Warrimoo- Blaxland- Glenbrook- Lapstone- Knapsack Bridge- Emu Plains return, turning at the Whitton Place carpark at the bottom of Mitchells Pass.

Woefully slow but the longest road run I have done in many months (Cities Marathon excepted). Will get better.

Some very steep hills in Lapstone- the climb out of the Tunnel Gully Bridge is a right bugger.

50K of WildEndurance.

Nathan and I covered about 50K of trails in the upper Blue Mountains on Sunday 23/9. (Garmin readout a the time said 47K, Motionbased says 52K).

Took us about 8 hours on our feet- but I was woefully udnerdone and totally thrashed after 5 hours or so, so travelling very slowly after that.

Ostensibly it was to help plot the course of the www.wildendurance.org 100K, but a good training run for both of us for Bogong etc. Full course was Leura- Pool of Siloam- Cliff Walk- Dardanelles Pass- Landslide- Golden Staircase- Narrowneck- Tarros Ladder- Mt Debert- Medlow Gap- Mitchell Creek Firetrail- Six Foot Track- Stuart Rd Trail- Narrowneck Road- Katoomba station- cab back to our cars. We drank from streams en route.

Glorious clear still day.

Utterly fucked on Monday.

9K.

THURSDAY 13/9/07, 4PM, 9K (51.47), WEEK TO DATE 19K

My usual 9K loop from home- http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/australia/warrimoo/630560146

Decent hill between 6 and 7K.

Felt okay despite lack of recent running.

Train Station Run.

WEDNESDAY 12/9/07, 7AM, 10K (51.44)

Of late I've run from home to Emu Plains station a few mornings each week- this morning's run was the first run of any note since last week, although I did get in a hilly 20K bushwalk last Friday.

I carry my work clothes in a http://www.trailspace.com/gear/deuter/ac-lite-25/ Deuter AC Lite 25 pack which is pretty cool- it has a lightweight frame within the pack which takes some of the load off the shoulders. Run down through Blaxland, down Mitchells Pass and past Aldi, Woolworths and Nepean High School. Very much a downhill run- I intend to lengthen it in future and including some serious uphill. Of course, that means getting up earlier...

This morning I ran past an accident opposite Nepean High School- a light truck had crossed the road and bashed a hatchback into the school fence. A few minutes beforehand I had been passing the shopping centre when several emergency vehicles flew past with sirens and lights on the go- turned the corner and there they all were.

Usually do this run in 52, 53 minutes but today was 51.44.

9K.

Woke up Monday morning with a blocked up head- several folks around me have had flu of late so perhaps this is a manifestation thereof.

I was too beat up from kayaking to run Monday but yesterday morning I did 9K from home in Warrimoo- down Rickhard Rd, Long Angle Trail to Sun Valley, up Sun Valley Rd hill and home in just over 50 minutes. Cold day with rain threatening.

Whitewater Kayaking.

Man, the first weekend of that course beat the shit out of me. Covered in bruises and sore shoulders, back, triceps, quads etc. Another two days of it to come......

Tired 12K.

Same route round Centennial Park as last two days but quads and glutes were quite tired. 25 degrees and fairly windy at 1pm. Got round in 60.45.

This weekend and the following one I am doing a Quickstart Whitewater Kayaking course at http://www.penrithwhitewater.com.au/html_05/home/index_real.htm Penrith. I have done a bit of flatwater kayaking (including the 2003 Hawkesbury Classichttp://www.canoeclassic.asn.au/ ) but to do the multisport stuff like the http://www.coasttocoast.co.nz/ Coast to Coast in NZ I have to be accredited to do grade 2 rapids- which the follwing two Saturdays and Sundays will give me.

Should be fun!

So There's Been a Lot of Water Under the Bridge....

... in recent months.

Another house move, no WS, now working two jobs- both at the restaurant by night and by day as the WildEndurance Project Manager for the Wilderness Society in Surry Hills, essentially my job is to organise this Trailwalker type event in the Blue Mountains in May next year. Then in the evening I get the train to the mountains and make pizzas.

Not much free time for training but I'm getting organised- morning runs to Emu Plains station and runs in my lunch break. Started dipping my toe back into competitive waters with the Cities Marathon, MaxAdventure Multisport and Sydney Tower Run in recent weeks, all way off what i would do at top fitness but still better than nothing.

The week to date...

Monday- 10K morning run to Emu Plains in 53 minutes
Tuesday- 10K morning run to Emu Plains in 53 minutes again; lunch, 9.5Ks including 4.5K barefoot on McKay Oval
Wednesday- 12K at lunch- to Centennial, 2 laps of the inside fence and back in 60.05
Thursday- 12K at lunch- to Centennial, 2 laps of the inside fence and back in 59.38

Week so far- 53.5K

Been feeling tired (sleep deprived) but can feel some of the old running rhythm slowly returning.

Not Having Much Luck!

So since my last post I've had the flu which limited me to two runs- a very slow Mt Portal run on Saturday 7/4 and, on Thursday 12/4 my 5K Lucasville/Zig Zag loop, during which I was so buggered I almost vomited twice.

Add to that, today (Friday 13/4- appropriate) I think I broke another toe- this time the big toe of my left foot. I was shifting a griller at the restaurant this morning when a metal plate slid out of it and landed on aforementioned toe. Been munching Nurofen like peanuts since then but the toe is much too painful to walk on without a limp, let alone run on. I'm hoping for a rapid improvement over the next few days!

I've entered the Blayney- Bathurst 110K cycling event for this Sunday- hoping the toe will be up to it.

Only two and a half months to Western States and, apart from one good week, fuck all training has happened since 6FT. It's a concern but can be dealt with- back in 2002 I was preparing for Glasshouse 100mi (September) and had a hip problem in July which caused me to not run a step for three weeks.

I managed to race myself back into shape quickly- 2 marathons on consecutive weekends followed by 12FT Track the next weekend, a 12hr rogaine a fortnight later, and running from Katoomba to Mittagong (137K) the weekend after that. Finished Glasshouse in 27.39 three weeks after that.

I have a solid schedule in the next several weeks-

Sunday 15/4- B2B 100 bike race
Saturday 21/4- Hellgate 92K
Saturday 28/4- Turon 24hr rogaine
Saturday 12/5- Spud's Great North Road Fat Ass- 61K or 86K options
Saturday 2/6- Twelve Foot Track 90K

Good base of runs in there.....

More updates on flu, busted toe, cycling shortly....

The Cold.

Pinched the title of this entry from a West Wing episode.

WEDNESDAY 4/4/07, 1PM, 5.5K RUN- WEEK TO DATE 22K
8AM, 45K CYCLE- WEEK TO DATE 147K

Got a cold today. Running nose, sore throat, croaky etc.

In light of this the usual 102K ride became a 45K ride at easy pace, Prestons- Penrith.

In the afternoon, an easy 4 laps of the trail around Glenbrook Lagoon. Heartrate and breathing noticeably elevated.

Hopefully things will clear up tomorrow.

Shit, it's taken me three days to run as much as Spud does in one run these days.

9K Run.

Around 3pm from Warrimoo down Rickard Rd to Long Angle Trail, left turn down the hill and out to Sun Valley, up the hill and back to Warrimoo. Mix of bush and road. The trail alongside Sun Valley Creek is sublime, soft underfoot in a small tree filled valley.

Humid run. Woke up today with a sore throat and ran like a dead man for the first 4 or 5K, then started to come good and was moving well although legs were tired.

... Plus a 7.5K Run.

Ran into the restaurant a couple of hours after the ride today- 7.5K. Felt tired but strong.

Good training day.

102K Cycle.

Same as last Wednesday- started at Prestons, rode the M7 Cycleway as far as Deans Park, back to Prestons, then back again to the M4 and home via Lapstone Hill.

Feeling better on the bike than I did last week. Body must be adapting. Some neck soreness, that's about it.

Getting a bike computer later this week so I can time and get proper speeds for these rides.

Weekend Update.

24K Saturday morning- from Warrimoo on the road to Sun Valley, then back to Lapstone, and back to Warrimoo. Legs very tired- ran like a dead man.

Ran with Spud, Rod and co Sunday morning- out to Nepean Lookout, divert up Pisgah Fire Trail, then had to run out to Glenbrook by myself rather than guide Spud to Mt Portal as planned, after a problem arose at the restaurant. Still did 35K. Felt fine for the first 16K or so, then pretty tired after that.

75.5K of running for the week, 306K of cycling.