Posts October to December 2006

Tuesday December 26th; Cycled 65km on my tired worn out MTB Beechboro to Mt Henry Bridge and back...
Took me 3hrs 51min and 49secs...splits 1.32.45/2.19.04
HR 159 at end... Tailwind/headwind...

On the way back I had a lot of trouble getting home cos of extreme saddle soreness, (no long rides for a few weeks, and maybe should wear bike pants!) fatigue ,not enough fluids, and the headwind and heat...Got home about 1pm just in time to see Warnies 700th wicket on TV!...Took a few breaks in whatever shade I could find...Used 1 powerade, 2 litres of water in my hydration pack (drank every last drop with 9km to go), and one hammer gel...Very hard yakka on the way back...But good to get in a solid ride...

Now have my six-foot Track 2007 entry pack...hope to do this in March 2008 or maybe even March 2007 if I can handle logisitcs expenses, training obstacles....
My wife being pregnant makes it much harder to do this race in 2007....So 2008 may be a more realistic goal...plus not happy with my running times in recent times at all! Nowhere near my PB's or where I would like to be at the moment...We shall see....

Did 26.5 hrs meter reading work last week, had a lot of problems with my bruised heel flaring up again after inflammation that flared up after running the 6-inch 45km on December 17th...Iced the heel a bit during the week but lost work time as a result...not! good...Made the most of the four day Christmas break by resting the heel from any running...

Walked 33min at night December 23rd with my wife and parents looking at Christmas lights shows around nearby streets...

for 2006 6-INCH TRACK 45km trails race run Sunday 17th December 2006 from North Dandalup to Dwellingup.

Posts from;

http://wamc.proboards41.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1151932410&page=7;

Trents post;

OPEN Results
[new course record]
First:...... Dave ......... 3hrs 42mins 05secs
Second:. Victor ......... 4hrs 19mins 31secs
Third:..... Nathan ...... 4hrs 36mins 29secs

Ladies Results
First: Cherie & Kaye ... 6hrs 10mins
[initial holders of the ladies course record]

New Longest Course time
............ Jon ............. 7hrs 04mins
Bettering the time Jon set in 2005 of 6hrs 25mins
Hot, Still and Humid conditions had a lot to do with the slower course time, but finishing is it's own reward!

Knowing their limits award
Mark limit=32km time=4hrs 15mins
Note: Mark was in the race for longer than the winner, but an upset stomach caused him to dehydrate. He also had the chance to climb into a support vehicle at 29km [3hrs 01mins into the race] when he was not yet suffering from dehydration, although he knew he was having a hard time, but choose to test himself by going on.

Other Statistics
Whittakers Turner Hill Mountain Bike Trail
7km 22.5km
Dave 29mins <1hr 50mins
Victor 28mins 1hr 58mins
Nathan 31mins 2hrs 07mins
Mark 35mins 2hrs 18mins
Cherie 37mins 2hrs 38mins
Kaye 37mins 2hrs 38mins
Jon 38mins 2hrs 57mins

Del Park Road Crossing 17km approx.
Dave 1hr 29mins (1hr 36 in 2005)
Victor 1hr 34mins
Jon 2hr 20 (2hr 17 in 2005)

Scarp Road Crossing 34km approx.
Dave ? [<3hrs] got by while we were not there.
Victor 3hrs 11mins
Nathan 3hrs 25mins
Mark DNF
Cherie 4hrs 45mins
Kaye 4hrs 45mins
Jon 5hrs 00mins

My initial post;

1st Dave K. 3hrs 42 (2nd year in a row and a big improvement in time! wow!)
2nd Victor L. 4hrs 19 (Great effort after jetting in fresh from a Marathon in Singapore)
3rd Nathan F. 4hrs 36 (Improved considerably on last year to be amongst the best this year)

4th Cherie 6hrs 10 (sub 4 hours at Rottnest Marathon this year)
5th Kaye T. 6hrs 10 (around 4 flat for the Perth Marathon this year)
These two ladies from triathlon background ran together and are the first women to finish the 6-INCH Track challenge!

6th Jonathon Trailblazer P. 7hrs 04 (2nd Six Inch in a row...struggled...Perth Marathon 06 of 4hrs 18)...

about 28km DNF Mark B. (started well but did not persist through dehydration, other factors?)
See http://www.oocities.org/Colosseum/7549/run6inchfaq.html
for 2005 results and more info about this race...

The race started at 0530am and by 9am or 10am the heat/humidity became a factor despite the high prevalence of shade on this course... The hills that characterise this race tested most. Heat probably not a major factor for the first 3 as they finished before it got going a lot.
Also a bushfire last night threatened to re-route the race, and although smouldering near Del Park Rd, only the last few 5-10km was run through recent bushfire area from last night...

Saw Kangaroos and a Racehorse Goanna...

There maybe a race report and photos in a major running magazine early next year, look out for that. More details soon....Will eventually have photos available from the race!
Big thanks to Trent who did such an excellent job with the drink stops and encouraging runners! Also to my wife Kathryn for taking photos at the 17km mark again...Feel free to share your thoughts, photos, and info with regard to the result...Let us know if its ok to use them in the Runnung Magazine article and/or the 6-inch webpages...

A few of us plan to head for Sydney,Katoomba and Jenolan Caves to (As 2P's put it so well, in comments) "convert the inches to feet" in the 6-FOOT Marathon 45km. Its looking like March 2008 is the most likely odyssey for myself,Dave and maybe some others, although like last year I'd love to get over there for March 2007...we shall see what happens...

Well this week I seem to have shaken the worst of the flu..still getting some mucous buildup which concerns me a bit but seem to have my energy back and not using as many tissues as before by a long way...Did 36 hours meter reading including some tough hills in Duncraig today and some smaller ones on other days...
Felt stronger in the legs today and I have lost another kg of weight from the spare tyre taking me to 79 kg now down from about 82 kg a few weeks ago...Also did 300 Ab crunches on Thursday..still no cycling or running (although I did run a bit while working today an a number of occasions...so hoping I will have a decent 6-inch despite coming in with at best a very experimental preparation...here goes nothing...2 sleeps until the 6-incnh track 45km...weather looks like a humid 33 so the last few hours of the race will be tough however I am used to working hard on the streets in long pants, long sleeved shirt in the heat so I reckon I am well acclimatised...see what happens..looking forward to racing and getting out ton the beautiful trails of the Munda Biddi whatever else happens is just details it will be awesome to be running!!! Also thinking about 6-foot track again although might be that March 2008 is a better option...than 2007...

Last week I went flat out trying to catch up on work...after being really busy going to Doctors with my wife and trying to juggle that with work and house rent inspection it was a mess of a start to the week...

Ended up doing 30 hours of meter reading work including a very frustrating/annoying tricky round in Nedlands/Claremont/Karakatta..too many dead walks and commercial properties...plus the long drive from Beechboro to there and back two days in a row...

So had very little sleep/lots of driving around the city, and by Friday night I was very tired and just needed to recover from the week...The weekend consisted of various responsibilities, Kathryns cousins party and lots of cricket on TV...Biggest positive was that we finally got internet up and running at our home, something I have wanted all year...so was pretty busy Saturday getting that setup..it wasn't easy with the ancient operating system and graphics problems on this old computer, had to make several calls to my ISP as I could not read the installation disk on our graphics mangled computer...so felt very satisfied when I finally got it to work!!! So now I can get on the net every day...

Was so tired Saturday night after party and an 0200 bedtime its not surprising I slept through and failed to get up at 0430 as planned to drive to Daves farm for planned 28km run...instead spent day watching cricket and in hindsight it was the best thing to do as I really needed the rest after a tough! 6 days...
Was asleep on the couch real easy Sunday arvo without meaning to but woke up in time to make it to Sunday evening church real late....So missed the Grave Forsaken/Scourged Flesh gig, but again I think it was the right thing anyway...

Started getting a sore throat sunday night, and Monday 4th December I woke up pretty sick...
However I could not afford to not work so got out there...Tuesday I really wanted to stay in bed for sure, but pushed myself out there and I was very slow moving low on energy went through over a hundred tissues and spent about 8 hours blowing my nose, feeling like I was going to pass out and just wanting to go home and go to sleep but pushed on regardless as I had to get my work round done...
Wednesday I was a little better, and Thursday I felt much better plus took opportunity to have a more cruisy day...Still trying to get healthy again today (Friday), but my nose aint running as much and I suspect by next week I will be pretty much right...and healthy again just in time for 6-inch...

Had a round in Jolimont the other day so used the long drives out there to
listen to my Don Carson talks in the car which I have on CD from the Mens Convention earlier this year..something I had been meaning to do for months...
Interesting stuff about the Glorious gospel of the Christ,Christians in the last days, and Men,money and motives...Interspersed with the usual crankin tunes from my latest new CD's which are Demon Hunter: Triptych, and Grave Forsaken:Beside the River of blood. Available from http://www.soundmass.com It was Mortification: Scrolls of the Megilloth and Bond:Classified in recent weeks...Thinking about getting a copy of the debut release Released from Damnation from another Perth Christian metal band Scourged Flesh from soundmass soon...

No point in training when I was that sick, it was a more than a little mad to go to work...(but I had to do that!) but I am hoping I will be well enough to do some easy rides for a few hours this weekend..might even see about getting to the beach as salt water might help clear the last of the junk out of my cardio-respiratory system...plus the beach is a very calming therputic place I have found in the past when I have been through stressful times......Did 31.5 hours meter reading this week.

Saturday 25th November 2006 A.D. Ran about 33km on the railway heritage trail from Darlington to Mt Helena and back in 4hrs 8min (HR 141 at end).
Splits; 1hr 51/2hr 17....

Ran behind the A-team for the first hour or so, well to be more descriptive I tried to hold onto the back of the A-team bunch for 15-40 minutes or so then dropped back to my own pace but well ahead of the B-team....(WAMC training groups that meet at Darlington...) Then on my own mostly from Mundaring to Mt helena as the WAMC runners returned to Darlington turning around at or near Mundaring for them.....left heel was a little tender when I crossed the bitumen of Great Eastern Highway but was fine when I was running on the softer gravel trails....Saw an interesting plaque near Mt Helena which talks about CY OConnor the chief engineer in WA construction the railway line in 1890 on the route I had run up as a less steep route for heavier trains to get up the hill as the original rail line route went through John Forrest National Park (e.g. corner of Pechey Rd and Morrison Rd)...On the way back I was rationing my two 600ml powerades as the heat, lack of fluids, and lack of running in recent months, started to catch up with me a lot...

Ended up slowing considerably and walking about 2-4km...it was a real grind to get back to darlington and I drank long and hard from a tap at a little park near Hardey Rd that I found...Tough, and probably a bit foolhardy, but hey I achieved my aim which was to get a 33km run on the board to keep my 2006 Six Inch Track plans operational which is only about 3 weeks away... Quads are a bit sore today (sunday)...

About 23hours of meter reading this week including some tough hills to climb in Swanview just near the corner of Pechey Rd and Morrison Rd actually...Also ran about 1500m in Woodvale at a steady pace where I had to get from one meter to another a long way away...

My wife Kathryn and I have been for lots of short walks most mornings and some evenings this week as Kathryn is getting very keen on a 15min to 30min walk in the morning...the drive is coming from her this time not me...

Today (sunday 26/11/06) I managed to spend about 45min to 60min moshing with the awesome Grave Forsaken band who were playing at Briggs Park in Byford...it was rather hot and got up quite a sweat out there in the 35 degree heat...did a few commando rolls and scored a copy of their cool album "Beside the river of Blood" which you can also get a copy of from soundmass.com

Sunday 19/11/06 Cycled about 56km in 3hrs 20min...with a few long breaks in the middle.... HR 147 at end.
Went from beechboro to Runners World in Perth city then out to South Perth...rested for an hour watching the RAAF jets and other planes doing aerobatics before the main air race (red bull air race world championship)...then went back to runners world bought an issue of R4YL rode home....still waiting for heel bruising to heel up....

Been doing lots of short walks with the wife....who is getting keen on an early morning walk all of a sudden which is nice...

Heel bruise is slowly healing I think hopefully be running again soon. Walked up and down some tough! hills at work in the last 2 days in the Swanview area near the railway heritage track near the Pechey Rd John Forrest National Park entrypoint...

Monday 13th Nov; 24min walk with my wife...

Did 33hours or so meter reading from 13/11 to 17/11 this week....and badly bruised my heel I think from jumping onto concrete or rocks froma great height...
but not sure which means my plans to run a long one in the hills and race the Rockingham 5km look to be dead...maybe next week...

Ive been doing lots of walking fast and some running around various localities in recent weeks so much so I have decided to keep record on my blog of how many hours I spend walking and sometimes running the streets every week...
23/10 to 27/10 Total; about 36 hours....
30/10 to 3/11 Total;about 22hours (handheld didn't charge on one day)
6/11 to 10/11 Total; about 33hours...
So around 30+ hours per week at this stage...

Have also tried to start easing back into some training...have been tired and worn out from work, plus busy with helping out as a marshal for WA marathon Club the last two weekends and with various responsibilities and joys of married life...

26/10; 20min 33 walk with my wife to Amazon Drive and back.....

4th November 2006; AM; 7km run 37min 10 on Reid HWY Bechboro Rd course...HR 168 at end and splits 19.01/18.09...
Enjoyed the run a lot it rained a little on the return leg...but I loved being out there!

PM; 13.5km ride 38min 27 on Benara Rd Reid Hwy course
...HR 150 splits 19.21/19.06... A little slower than my PB for this course which I did 23/7 (35min 37), but quite quick considering the low heart rate at end (150)...It rained a little and I was a little concerned about all the lightning striking anf flashing around me on the ride home...

Well Ive been busy with my wedding,honeymoon and lots of meter reading work....been so happy with Kathryn I just forgot about my blog for awhile...and been so busy settling into the new routines....

On the honeymoon I managed to get a short 25min run in along the Busselton beach cycle paths, followed by about 10minutes trying out the treadmill,exercise bath and swimming in the pool briefly before heading back to check out the spa with my wife... The next day played tennis with my wife Kathryn for an hour in Dunsborough....

Final stop on the Honeymoon was the Stirling Ranges wuhoo!! where we got engaged last year...we climbed Mt Trio on 19/10/06 70min up and 66min down...Kathryn did this one ok....20/10/06 we both did Bluff Knoll again revisiting the spot where I popped the question in Decmber 2005...KL was a bit sore from the MT Trio climb the previous day (maybe a thigh strain too...) and it was a rather slow ascent and descent this time...130min up and 110min down...

Been spending a few hours most days walking around streets reading meters as fast as I can and last weekend (7th and 8th october) had a very memorable bucks weekend hiking the arrows circuit (aka half the Stirling Ridge walk) with two of my groomsman... 5 hours first afternoon followed by sleeping in a cave at altitude of 800m above sea level (just below first arrow summit) ...The next day we hiked for 10 hours and summited Pyongerup and Ellen Peak....photos coming in the future...wedding only a few days away now...hopefully get a little more freetime come November....not been training wayyy too busy lately....