Running is awesome! I am having the most fun running in a long time. Just running for the sake of running. How could it be better.
A bit over a year ago I was ramping back up from an injury that I sustained in the Victoria, BC, Marathon. I learnt a lot from this injury. Don't force speed. I always end up injured. Instead I am now focusing on running because I like it, not because I want to go fast. I am running a lot of miles and speed will slowly come with experience. I'm not pout to prove anything, but what I do want to achieve is to be able to just run for as long as I like.
This is a goal as I love running everywhere I go. It is such an amazing way to spend time with friends, meet new people and see a lot more than if you walked! For example, I could run the Yurebilla Trail in one day. If you walk it, you need to allocate 3 days.
Aside from loving running, I am also living Trail Running. Being out in the hills I just forget that I am running. The views are beautiful and ever changing. The air is fresh. It is a perfect time for meditation, delving deep into your mind and investigating all sorts of interesting thoughts or just finding a total point of clarity in which your mind is empty, free from the weights that we impose upon ourselves in this hectic life.
Running has inspired me to take on a few different challenges in the coming year. These two events will pose a new challenge and replace the challenge that Iron Man presented itself. The first is the Yurebilla Trail 56km. This race will take me the length of the Yurebilla Trail in hopefully 8ish hours.
The second is the Buffalo Stampede. A 76km Ultra that will take me and hopefully my great buddy from Colorado, Ty, from Bright to the top of Mt Buffalo and back to Bright in who knows how long. Since talking about this with Ty I have been so pumped. Running with buddies is amazing, but running with buddies that share a passion for being outdoors and running as much as we both do will be a once in a lifetime opportunity! The 76kms has a LOT of elevation gain and is going to be a great physical and mental challenge for us both, and it is going to be really interesting running together and seeing how comradeship helps pull us through the hard times of the race!
I guess this blog post is a random dribble of why running makes me stoked! I'm just so pumped right now that I had to write something!
Get out there and get running! It's awesome. Till next time, happy running!
Friday, May 8, 2015
Greenbelt Half Marathon
After opening my mouth a few weeks ago at one of the ARC Wednesday night sessions and saying that I "might" race the Greenbelt Half, and then backing that up with a few more statements the following Wednesday at ARC, I figured I should sign up. So a day before registration cutoff I signed up. Impromptu half marathon. I was pretty excited though as I've been running some long Kms and had no expectations so it was just going to be a fun run. I obviously hoped for a sub 1hr30min time, but if not I wasn't going to cry
By race day, Sam has signed me up for a 1hr24min race through a coaching app that I am testing, so game on! This little spark set me a new goal. If I raced this it would be a PB. I woke to a beautiful day. Crystal clear blue skies. No wind. Amazing autumn day, perfect day for a run.
The race started at 8am at Athlestone Primary School and headed to the river Torrens and then down the Linear Park trail and into the city. Sam and I had previously discussed our goal pace, and in the end we ran together, talking endlessly about events and training. We stuck to our goal pace and time flew by.
With 5 or so kms to go we managed to open up as we had preserved the legs by not going out too hard and shaved a few more secs off our avg pace. We finished with 1:24:44, Sam crossing the line about a meter ahead of me. I can't remember my old half marathon PB, but I think this shaved off about 3mins. I was super stoked to have set a PB in a race that I wasn't planning on running until 4 days ago. A good re introduction to speed work and a good basis to my Marathon training.
The rest of the ARC killed it, with PBs all around! We backed up a solid race effort with brunch at "The Deli" with the whole crew! Amazing eggs! It's been really great running with the ARC again and meeting a lot of great like minded people. The group is so cool and Kate and I have really found that we are getting pushed, but also making some great new friends!
Till next time, happy running!
By race day, Sam has signed me up for a 1hr24min race through a coaching app that I am testing, so game on! This little spark set me a new goal. If I raced this it would be a PB. I woke to a beautiful day. Crystal clear blue skies. No wind. Amazing autumn day, perfect day for a run.
The race started at 8am at Athlestone Primary School and headed to the river Torrens and then down the Linear Park trail and into the city. Sam and I had previously discussed our goal pace, and in the end we ran together, talking endlessly about events and training. We stuck to our goal pace and time flew by.
With 5 or so kms to go we managed to open up as we had preserved the legs by not going out too hard and shaved a few more secs off our avg pace. We finished with 1:24:44, Sam crossing the line about a meter ahead of me. I can't remember my old half marathon PB, but I think this shaved off about 3mins. I was super stoked to have set a PB in a race that I wasn't planning on running until 4 days ago. A good re introduction to speed work and a good basis to my Marathon training.
The rest of the ARC killed it, with PBs all around! We backed up a solid race effort with brunch at "The Deli" with the whole crew! Amazing eggs! It's been really great running with the ARC again and meeting a lot of great like minded people. The group is so cool and Kate and I have really found that we are getting pushed, but also making some great new friends!
Till next time, happy running!
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Melrose
Wandering around the quaint little town of Melrose, SA. It is a beautiful location and was a really nice little town full of history to wander around and take photos :-)
Alligator Gorge
We were at a wedding last weekend in Melrose, SA. It is always a great opportunity to head to Alligator Gorge and get some photos. It is a truly beautiful part of the world to go hiking.
Monday, April 20, 2015
6 degrees and still swimming
I woke up this morning, with the goal to go swimming. Once I get the idea in my head, I'm pretty stubborn and find it hard to bail on my plans, so although the weather channel said it was 9 degrees outside, I dragged my ass out of bed, made a coffee and rode to Unley Pool, yes it's outdoors.
Once I arrive at the pool, the air temp is reading 6 degrees. Why am I out of bed? Now would be a good point to bail, but I don't and in the end have an amazing strength session in the pool. Due to the low air temp, the pool feels beautiful and I end up having a very productive session.
As there was no wind, and the sun was out, getting out of the pool wasn't too bad either. These are the sessions that lead to progress, the ones that you find hard to commit to, but once you finish, you feel so much better. It's this feeling at the end of a hard session that always convinces me to knuckle down and start a session that I don't want to do! I think it's this that keeps the training cycle going.
The sense of satisfaction for a hard session is always much greater than for a session that you were stoked to start!
Once I arrive at the pool, the air temp is reading 6 degrees. Why am I out of bed? Now would be a good point to bail, but I don't and in the end have an amazing strength session in the pool. Due to the low air temp, the pool feels beautiful and I end up having a very productive session.
As there was no wind, and the sun was out, getting out of the pool wasn't too bad either. These are the sessions that lead to progress, the ones that you find hard to commit to, but once you finish, you feel so much better. It's this feeling at the end of a hard session that always convinces me to knuckle down and start a session that I don't want to do! I think it's this that keeps the training cycle going.
The sense of satisfaction for a hard session is always much greater than for a session that you were stoked to start!
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Silver Sands Multisport Festival
Last weekend was the Aldinga, Silver Sands Multi Sport Festival. It is a very cool weekend. The Saturday consists of a 10km run in the morning, and then a 2km swim in the afternoon.
This is then followed on Sunday with an Olympic distance triathlon. This all makes for a very fun weekend.
I was pretty happy in the end, running a 42 min 10.5km on Saturday, and then swimming a 35min 2km in the afternoon. I think the swim is a PB, and the run was great for me at the moment seeming that I am not doing much speed work and am only just starting to ramp up the speed.
This very successful Saturday, however, led to being fatigues as all hell on the Sunday and really feeling it during the swim, ride and run.
The swim was decent for me (25mins) but was painful, the ride was amazing and felt ok, but the run was one of the most painful runs I'v ever done, and I felt it in my quads like I never have before.
Anyway I crossed the line in 2:19, which is pretty decent for me.
Overall it was an amazing weekend. The Saturday run course was absolutely stunning, and the swim was the most beautiful swim I've ever done! The bike course followed the esplanade along the side of the ocean and some beautiful sand dune scrub making it one of the best triathlon bike legs that I ahve ever ridden as well.
Kate smashed the run and swim on Saturday, but passed on Sundays activities due to a few lingering Iron Man niggles. Instead she decided to look after our pain in the ass dog for a half day. Never doing that again :-)
This is then followed on Sunday with an Olympic distance triathlon. This all makes for a very fun weekend.
I was pretty happy in the end, running a 42 min 10.5km on Saturday, and then swimming a 35min 2km in the afternoon. I think the swim is a PB, and the run was great for me at the moment seeming that I am not doing much speed work and am only just starting to ramp up the speed.
This very successful Saturday, however, led to being fatigues as all hell on the Sunday and really feeling it during the swim, ride and run.
The swim was decent for me (25mins) but was painful, the ride was amazing and felt ok, but the run was one of the most painful runs I'v ever done, and I felt it in my quads like I never have before.
Anyway I crossed the line in 2:19, which is pretty decent for me.
Overall it was an amazing weekend. The Saturday run course was absolutely stunning, and the swim was the most beautiful swim I've ever done! The bike course followed the esplanade along the side of the ocean and some beautiful sand dune scrub making it one of the best triathlon bike legs that I ahve ever ridden as well.
Kate smashed the run and swim on Saturday, but passed on Sundays activities due to a few lingering Iron Man niggles. Instead she decided to look after our pain in the ass dog for a half day. Never doing that again :-)
Friday, April 3, 2015
Coffee Siphon
I got myself a new toy. This rad coffee siphon from Coffee Craft on South Road. It is super fun to use and puts on a bit of a show. It makes 5 cups so is perfect for a small dinner party.
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