#32-33 - Only 12 days to go

What a disaster the last few weeks have been. Work has totally screwed up my training. I did the City2Surf and hardly move a limb for three days. I eventually mustered up 500 metres in the Cook & Phillip pool on the Wednesday. Then 1km on the Fri. And kitesurfing the Saturday. And about 400m on the Sunday.

Then #32 - the biggish run the Monday lunch time - I ran part of the marathon course - about 1.5hrs worth. Wow that hurt me a lot. So much so I didn't run again for six days. I was also working 14 hour days - up to 18 hours on two days of the last 14. FK - why do I do it to myself. Well the busy few weeks are over as of today so hopefully I can kick back for a week? Can but dream.

So I made it to Sunday alive, having fallen asleep at 8pm on Friday night. So Sunday I just had to get a decent run in before starting the wind-down 2 weeks. Laden with irony given that it's not hard to wind down from the training schedule I never quite managed to achieve. Anyway K came with me on the bike which was nice. Gave me the impetus to make it a decent run. I did 2hrs 10mins inthe end, along the Cook River cycle path. Not a bad bike ride path. As for running, I was not tired after the time but my legs were bloody well killing. So I stopped and cycled the bike back - giving K a backie.

As I say, 12 days to go....

...that's 4 min 53 sec kilometres I was running!

...I came 3,947 th out of 50,000 finishers

and my official time was 68 mins 20 secs

fan-bloody-tastic

#31 - An awesome time at the City2Surf (14km in 68 mins)

Yesterday was Sunday and City 2 Surf day. So today I hurt.

I had an awesome time. And also did an awesome time - 68 minutes 20 seconds. Here's the proof (deduct 8 mins 8 secs for when the group 3 gun was fired).

...there I am in yellow, with proff af my time!

My target time was 75mins for the 14kms, which is not totally arbitrary. In order to get in the first group you must have completed it previously in sub-75mins.

This year I was starting off in the third group with the other amateur first-timers. We were still in front of the "back of the pack" which is where the gorilla costumes and budgie smugglers hide out. So next year I'll be in the first group. Weyhey. Yippeedidoodah.

City2surf is a bit of a Sydney institution and like the London Marathon people line the streets all the way from the City to Bondi. The course follows the Old South Head Road past Rose Bay and up "Heartbreak Hill" which is a 2 or 3km of pain as you gain height over the headland. Tons of people from the office were doing it - 5 of the 8 that sit around me. Sydney people are so annoyingly fit.

I was very excited...this is the first decent organised event I've run in. I was a good boy and went to bed early the night before having consumed pasta til I could consume no more. It was then I realised I'd left my trainers and shorts and the tape for my dodgy knee at work. Oh well, will have to go via work in the morning then.

Morning came. I woke before my alarm. This is an extremely rare occurrence. Almost unheard of. I was very excited.

So it was beans on toast and a cuppa while I awaited my taxi. No taxi. Phoned and engaged. Bloody annoying. So I scootered in leaving the Vespa at the office. Very excited. Got my bib number. Downed a litre and a half of water. Ate my high-carb gel thing and joined my group at 9 o'clock.

Fortunately I'd parked on the wrong side of town for my group so I had to enter from the start line, rather than from behind 20,000 people. Of course the marshals are not silly enough to let you just amble up and squeeze in at the front, ahead of all those people who've been camping out since 7am.

But they are silly enough to not block the holes in the hedge. So I followed a couple of other cheeky buggers and got myself to about 30 people back from the start line. This would later save me minutes on my official time, as I was across the line a mere 30 secs after our gun was fired.

In the meantime I needed a pee. As soon as I'd settled into the waiting masses. Badly needed a pee. Damn. One and a half litres of water pushing up against the gateposts. I'm not very good at waiting for the loo at the best of times. Full of nerves and energy and 1,500ml of water I was exasperated. I bounced up and down wasting valuable energy for 28 minutes til our gun was fired.

So for the first 2km all I could do was think about my bladder. I spent the whole time looking around for strategic hedges or alleyways but the streets were fully lined with the plethora of different flouro jackets of the fire police hazmat volunteers st johns ambulance marshals crowd friendly management and regular punters. At Rushcutters Bay I spotted four blokes darting towards a strategically placed hedge. Phew.

Phew.

Ten yards later I ran past the official toilets.

All good so far. Legs feeling fine. I was really enjoying running with the crowd and dodging and weaving through the masses. From about this point on the terrain seemed to be up-and-down for most of the rest of the course. Up to Edgecliff and then Down to Rose Bay. Then up the dreaded Heartbreak Hill. And Down Military Rd a bit. Then up something or other and the down something else again.

Good fun on the way - lots of music blaring from flats and bands on pub balconies. The odd "oggy oggy oggy..."

Anyway I had this 75 minutes target at the front of my mind the whole way. I was struggling to benchmark my progress because I couldn't see any mile posts. I asked some bloke and he said 4 and a half kms. OK I thought - good going - about 5 minute kilometres. Ten minutes later I asked some bloke again. 4 and a half kms he said. OK not so good. That makes it 7 minute kms. No-one knows. So I decided to ignore all that stuff and focus on running.

Eventually at the 9km mark I worked it out. I was at 46 minutes and tracking at just over 5 minute k's.

Wow. It's not long after that I got the first decent glimpse of the sea past Bondi. Stunning. I'd hardly noticed but the day was a gorgeous one. Crisp unblemished blue sky and the sun shining down. A stunner.

So I did some thinking (not much) and decided that if I pushed it only slightly I could do sub-70 minutes. I was buzzing and had just got a shiver up my back as I got to the top of a small incline. So I stupidly pushed up the pace a touch. I had no pain in my knees or hips or anywhere. That was to come later!

So off I went. Running as hard as I could to the finish line. The last mile is a hard one - - you get to the promenade at Bondi thinking you're at the end. Then you have to run right across it and double back on yourself.

...I really couldn't have gone any faster! This one doesn't do much for my running-rep...

I went hard but too early and realised I couldn't keep it up. So I slumped for a minute. Then some bloke in a red shirt whizzed past me so I latched on to him and burned to the finish line. Hands in the air.....I heard my name shouted from the crowds. The voice was familiar - I knew K would make it to the finish line for me - and a scream of relief as I passed the line. 69 minutes and 28 seconds.

Yes. F'in yes.

#30 ish - Swimming & yoga & physio

Took a few days to recover fully from the weekend's big bike ride. Monday I did yoga down in Bondi to get some stretched in. Not been before. Not sure what brand of yoga this one was but it certainly got me stretched out - aided with chairs, polystyrene blocks and belts.

Tuesday was 500m swim (10 lengths) at the Cook & Phillip pool - really good $5.80 for an indoor heated 50m pool.

And this morning was a visit back to Clare the physio to check out the ITB problem and give the leg a good massage. Also been doing some more ITB research lately, here's a great website to start from: www.itbs.info. The good news is that there's been a massive improvement since my last visit despite the big bike ride. I've mostly been a good boy doing my stretches and squat things almost everyday, and they seem to working.

"City 2 Surf" is this Sunday (www.city2surf.com.au). 14km's from the Sydney CBD out to Bondi, up a long hill fondly known as "Heartbreak Hill". I'm aiming for a 75 minute time. Let's see how we go...!

#27-29 - The Katoomba Ride: 230km cycling to the Blue Mountains...

...now that really did get my knee in a frenzy. It's 115km from Bondi to Katoomba (each way), and you gain 1,000m in height.

I class the ride as marathon training. Especially after a week during which I didn't run AT ALL, though I did manage 700m of swimming on Monday. Last Friday's big run had really knocked it out of me, and then I got a bit lazy as well. On to the ride...

DAY 1, Saturday:

A 6am start and we were 70km's-down by breakfast time at 9:20am. This is the second time we've done this ride and we were following roughly the same route and schedule as last July's effort. Poached eggs and baked beans at the excellent cafe behind the "servo" (Oz for petrol station) in Glenbrook. A good start!

We had a great run out there. A crisp morning, ie bloody freezing. I had my stockings and Gore Tex on. And J had opted for full winter gloves. We've both discovered the joys of ear-warmers!

The route is through the City, then along the beautiful Parramatta Rd, then onto the hard shoulder of the M4 motorway at around Homebush. Even at 6:30 in the morning the traffic was building up and frenetically trying to catch orange lights. The P. Rd is not what I enjoy about cycling. The M4 is a big improvement. Still a few cars but we have our own space in the form of the hard shoulder with only the odd shreds of blown tyre, and dribs and drabs of spilled lorry-loads in our way. It's great that you're allowed to cycle on the motorways over here.

At the construction site which is the new flyover for the M7 we merged with two chicks and a guy cycling our way. We hooked up with them all the way to the base of the mountains which I really enjoyed. It's good for motivation and great for efficiency to get in even a mini-peloton (I steered clear of leading!). The girls were triathletes one of whom appeared to be in the national team.

Anyway, the final 5kms before getting to Glenbrook (167m altitude) is a killer. After 65km's of nearly-flat we got a sudden awakening on some very steep hills. But the thought of breakfast only minutes away spurred me on and got me to the menu. 3hrs 20mins to cover the first 70kms.

From Glenbrook onwards it's uphill all the way for 45kms. We stopped for the odd stretch but cycled past our intended coffee spot thinking there'd be another quite soon after. There wasn't for bloody ages, so the next decent stop wasn't until Wentworth Falls. We arrived at 12:30 my right knee now really feeling it after been put under some decent pressure for the last few hours. We found a spot in the sun outside a cafe and tucked into a pastry. At this point we really should've eaten more but we were now only 5kms from our destination so we held off. We also should've generally eaten more on the way up.

We now had hours before our clean clothes would be arriving in Katoomba. So, as if we hadn't already climbed enough hills, I suggested we make a small excursion to the actual waterfalls of Wentworth and then take a different route up to Katoomba via the back streets of Leura...

...Great views. But this final stretch really was the last straw. It was probably only a few more miles than the direct route, but we managed to lose a few joules of potential energy cruising down Megalong Rd, before having to gain the bloody stuff again up Megasteep Hill. At the top was our destination, 1'000m high, Katoomba Railway Station. I was nauseous and shaking. But wearing a big smile!

Off to the Flying Fox backpackers (youth hostel) for a shower. The perfect place to stay. Only $58 for a double. Bike and baby-friendly. And the piece de resistance...the log fire and comfy lounge.


We did the same ride last year. At that stage I'd only had my bike a few months and I distinctly remember thinking on numerous occasions on the way up, "never again. I'll get to the top, but there's no way I'll do this again". I'm happy to say on Saturday those thoughts didn't cross my mind at all. Fitness-wise I'm in good shape. The knee (tight ITB) was playing up big-time but fitness was never the problem.

And here's some credit where it's due: The road from Glenbrook to Katoomba is excellent for cycling. There's a decent cycle path most of the way and wherever the road has been upgraded the cycle path has been widened and properly marked out. A very rare pat on the back for the highways department! (On the way down it's nowhere near as good for some reason??)

DAY 2, Sunday:

We ate at Niagra which does great food but in that great Aussie tradition is lit-up like a supermarket. I had pork something-or-other which was fantastic. My tyre had deflated overnight so we piddled around with that for a while. I proudly (stupidly) boasted that it was only my second puncture since I bought the tyres over a year ago. One minute later the new innertube blew with a big bang as I'd not put the tyre back on right. The friendly proprietor Ross took our pic as "he doesn't get enough cyclists staying".

Men at work, outside the Flying Fox in Katoomba

Breakfast at Isobar didn't compare with the food the night before. And then it was off...down hill for the next 45km's! Wayheeeeeeyyyyy....

Our arses were badly bruised and tender! And my knee was bloody killing me. So we stopped at a servo for some stretching and Panadol and Nurofen before continuing a really good pace. The first 70km of the day - to the McDonalds on the freeway - we did in about 2 hours. J led all the way so I could slipstream him and reduce the pressure on the knee. That worked really well and meant we could keep the pace at the high 30's (Kmph). My first "Deli Choices" turkey and cranberry for lunch and I also made a good effort to keep my belly stocked up all day.

The final slog is a real slog. Really puts perspective on how enormous Sydney really is - or at least how sprawling the Western Suburbs are. We avoided Parramatta Rd by map-reading our way through the rabbit-warren back streets. It took us another 2.5hrs ridetime to do the second (45km) leg of the day.

Home just as darkness fell. A great trip.