.1of1%

Tel Aviv 10 km

Last Thursday I had to undergo a dental operation that involved cutting open my gum cutting out two root canals that had somehow managed to impact into a sinus cavity and as a result I get getting infection and an abcess was growing , one and three quarters hours later I was out of the dentist with six stitches in my gum. So for the last week I have been unable to train and perhaps this was one of the hardest things was the fact that I could not train in any way for seven days, and I was planning to run the Tel Aviv Half Marathon this morning.

I decided that the best thing was to run the 10 km instead of the Half Marathon and that I would run with the 60 minute pacer so that I would not tax my body and treat today as a ease back into training rather than risk my recovery.

It is a interesting and different to run at a defined pace that is slower than you are capable of, I really started to enjoy the discipline of keeping myself in check and running at pace and the mental battle not to go faster, rather than race.

It has been a very frustrating week and I was feeling bad, when I left my friends who were all running the half I trudged to the start of the 10k, but learning to deal with these feelings is helping me change into what I hope is a better runner and athlete.

My time for the 10k 59:06 , a good well planned and paced race, so I took some comfort from the fact that i stuck to my plan and have not had in face or teeth pain post race

The Non Competitor

2007-11-08T14:05:00.000+02:00

Have enjoyed training this week , racked up some good miles and yesterday was a fast solid track session , luckily for anyone who for some reason reads my inane ramblings, the blogger system for some sane reason refused to allow my Heart rate graph to be uploaded, so there you have been spared. The funny thing was running the track yesterday I reflected with another runner between gasps that when you run 800 splits they seem a long hard distance, yet when you run 3000 , 2000 then start 1000m repeats the distance beckons easy ... go figure but managed to keep pace at sub 4:40 for all km splits and last split was 4:30 , Couple of weeks to the Tel Aviv Half marathon, should be fun

Bevan Docherty - Heart of a Champion

2007-11-07T17:14:00.001+02:00

Just watch this

Focusing on Changes

2007-11-02T14:39:00.000+02:00

Running is an individual sport, you can run with friends or a group but they cannot be your arms legs or lungs. But they can and always be part of me.
I have struggled with many aspects of running and perhaps finally I have found that being competitive had made me the wrong runner. Time happens once and you cannot not turn it back but only look forward to the clock going forward.
Dwelling on times and competition does not make me a better runner/triathlete.
It is time know to start enjoying again each footstep, enjoy training and from time to time join friends for a race, run how I feel and at the end reflect on the day with a smile and knowing that I tried my best and nothing is more rewarding than sharing that with friends

Corniche Abu Dhabi

2007-10-23T07:41:00.000+02:00

One great thing about travlling for work is the places you do get to train in. Currently in Abu Dhabi in the UAE [United Arab Emirates]. a city like so many here in the Gulf that is growing beyond anyones wildest imagination. Where hotels try to figure out whether they a seven or six stars, and this is no joke. The Emirates Palace here in Abu Dhabi, is in fact a palace used by the Royal family, it is so large that it takes twenty minutes by golf buggy from one side to the other side, and it is so vast that taking your breath away is almost an oxymoron.
Anyway i am not staying there a more modest four star in town just near the corniche or espalnde, where I ran this morning in the heat, full credit to the woman I saw running this morning fully covered up with head scarf and only here trainers showing as i ran past sweating wearing only a pair if running shorts, luckily the modesty police missed me, must be my speed LOL
Mal
Abu Dhabi

Munich Marathon 2007

2007-10-17T10:19:00.000+02:00

There is one feeling every athlete should experience in his or her lifetime. Finishing a marathon by running into an Olympic Stadium. The sensation of entering the tunnel of the Munich Olympic stadium where the darkness opens up with each step to revel where legends have run.

The lap around the track to finish line should be longer just so that you can enjoy the moment, for just a few minutes more.

The morning of the marathon was cold with the temperature in the single digits and the Olympic Village clouded with mist. Instead of one plastic bag to keep warm I opted for two as Chaim and I walked down to the start.

I always laugh when I think that I spend more time wondering and procrastinating about what to wear on marathon compared to how much time I spend getting ready to go out. What to wear shorts or running tights, singlet or long sleeve shirt? I opted for tights and singlet, wanting to keep my legs warm in the cool seemed the best option. Chaim decided on shorts and forgot the golden rule of “shorts and marathoning”. If you have never chafed once in training then the Chafing God will rear its ugly head, which it did.

One good thing I did find at the expo during number pick up was band aids specifically designed for the male nipple. There is nothing worse than finishing a race thinking you are looking trim taunt and athletic, to only look down and see two blood trails down the front of your singlet, as if a wide mouthed vampire has bitten your chest.

We decided to opt for the Galloway walk run method for the race. As I had not gone further than 28km’s in training and wanted to make sure that I did not injure myself in preparation for Ironman Austria next year.

Much has been written and discussed as to the walk run method; we opted for 9 minutes running followed by 1-minute walk. I ha done this in Tiberius earlier in the year and was amazed at my recovery post that race. It does work provided you do it from the start the theory being that you change the muscle groups and this allows you to run faster longer and avoid the wall.

The course of the Marathon is one of the most scenic and flat I have run to date, the English Garden is more renowned for where the locals like to go and walk around in their birthday suites whenever the weather is pleasant, luckily the cold morning meant that we did not have to avert our focus. Thru leafy suburbs and in to the city center where architecture is measured in multiple centuries, from there you enter the University and theatre area, magnificent buildings that you pass in a slow blur, focusing more on the feet ahead of you. Finally it was onto the loop back to the stadium.

Being Munich, home of the Oktoberfest what would a marathon be without a beer station instead of a water station. Somehow they have managed to make a non-alcoholic beer taste very good and at 39 km’s it was time to stop and enjoy the moment.

We have all heard and read about lists of things to do in life, from a hundred places to visit to a hundred books you need to read. If I was to start a list of things that every runner must do. Then add you must run and finish a marathon on an Olympic stadium, and Munich gives you that thrill. A feeling that I will never ever forget crossing the line with my friend Chaim, our arms raised in victory ... in an Olympic stadium.

Swim Drafting & Rocket Science

2007-10-08T11:45:00.000+02:00

Walking onto the beach, for the Endure Group Open Water swim, I was first shocked by how the weather has changed and that for the first time this season, the sand was cool under the feet. But more to my dismay I watched Coach Max swim towards Egypt towing the buoys to mark the swim course this morning.

I am the first to admit that my swimming is my weakest leg of training and since I have trouble getting to the pool for training due to the conflict with work hours. My training has been limited to only Open Water Swimming Sessions. So the dread of black lane fever is not a problem I suffer from, more the curse of the managing to maintain a straight course from Buoy A to B, as opposed to my normal course which I describe as pretzel course.

Max assembled us on the beach and once again, like last week we were going to delve into the realm of "Drafting". At this point I would add that Rocket Science is simpler try reading this background paper which I found on Google -

http://www.coachesinfo.com/article/329/

Now that the science has been proven, how would this affect me.

What the science does not explain is how to avoid being hit in the face by another swimmer coming at you from the other direction, how every time I lost the bubbles of the feet in front of me I felt no real difference for the first ten sets of the workout.

But if there is one thing I have learnt is, to have faith in your coach and on the final solo lap I for the first time kept up with the feet in front of me and for one minute I actually felt the effects of drafting. It made me swim a little harder than I was used too but at the same time the water ... well it felt a little easier.

Our last sets saw us swim together as a pack, ala Tri racing and yes again tucking into the washing machine, perhaps this drafting thing is not rocket science. But then again contact swimming is a swim not for the feint hearted.

If you get have given up trying to read the article about drafting here is the conclusion -

The present study indicated that the optimal drafting swimming distance was at 0 or 50 cm behind a leader reducing by 11–38% the metabolic response of the draftee. At the 100- and 150-cm distances, the gain was still important with reductions in the metabolic responses of between 8% and 31%. In lateral drafting at 100 cm beside another swimmer, the optimal distance was at 50 and 100 cm behind, when drafter’s head was approximately at hip level of the leader. The drag benefit was only a third of that when drafting directly behind the lead
swimmer. Drafting was always behind or lateral to a passively towed lead swimmer. Further investigation is required to determine
whether the benefits of drafting behind or beside a streamlined lead swimmer are likely to be a conservative estimate of the benefit from drafting behind an active stroking and kicking lead swimmer.

Sdot Yam - Olympic Triathlon Race Report

2007-10-01T11:01:00.000+02:00

Saturday 29th Sept 2007

There are many reasons to look back on Saturady and reflect on my performance, but above all it is good to reflect that you gave it all and know deep in your heart and soul. It was the best I have ever performed, well apart from the swim. Which after progressing so well has stalled and it is back to the basics to get it focused agagin and ready for Ironman Austria in 287 days.

Swim Leg

Talk about the famed washing machine, I felt like a sock trying to find its partner in a front loader. From the git go is was chaotic, punched kicked clawed on swam over no matter where I tried to go there was someone else heading there faster and stronger. Try as I might to keep the freestyle going I was in fact going so slowly that I thought for a minute that I was swimming backwards despite my arms going forwards and by the time I was two thirds of the way to the first buoy I realised that unless I went back to breaststroke I was going to lose to much ground [or water as in this case] for me to make up the time and have a competitive time.

Thus it was back to the curse of the breaststroke but also i immediately started catching others and passing the slower freestylers, so I knew that it was a matter of pushing hard. Many people consider breaststroke as a easy out, but when you put the hammer down and do it aggressively it is a powerful stroke.

Exiting the water after the first loop my heart rate was a solid 143, and my focus was to swim the next two buoys breaststroke again before switching back to freestyle for the last leg back to the beach.

Exiting the water in 30:47 (85th out of 129 in my Age Group) I knew that everything was back on track and my worst discipline was over, but at the same time the discipline that I want to improve the most. Up to transition and out as fast as possible. I am even starting to figure out how to cut and shave seconds in transition, often not the big things but small simple things, or as one might put it, "Do not set up a supermarket, when the corner store is all you need".

Bike Leg

The bottom line was that i really felt that for the first time in my short life as a Triathlete I hammered out a discipline to the best of my ability to the point that I moved from 85th to finish in 46th place in my age group. It was an out and back course no loops just the hwy closed in one direction , a fast rolling course with no major climbs , the only problem is that on this type of road you always feel that you are going forever upwards as there is no relief or chance to rest and free wheel down.

Then add the dreaded "No Drafting" rule , as one might say I enjoy the pace and commitments of being surrounded by other triathletes wanting to push a little bit harder in the paceline. But alas this was a heads down you are on your own. Now having spent the last few weeks watching Ironman Videos your mind conjures up images barreling down the Queen K at Kona, when reality was, I was pushing myself harder than I have ever done on the bike, but I was on the Hwy 2 going North on the Southbound lane to Haifa, and not Hawi.

On the out leg as I passed a rider he asked me whch direction I thought the wind was coming from and a thought crossed my mind that someone the other day at the Group Track Session had mentioned the headwinds.

The first half of the Bike I did in 34:17 (20km's) and as I went around the mark and crossed the timing mat, the headwind hit hard , nothing but to push harder and try to maintain my cadeance and speed. I worked with two others keeping draft distance as best as I could and tried to take in food and drink my bottle of Nuun. Battling the headwind I completed the second half in 40:43 and was out again in 2:41 for the run.

Run Leg

10km's around the Kibbutz , two loops thru sand and past cow sheds, the heat was now well up into the 30's and heat coming back off the lone stretch of the course that was sand was tough. As they say at the water stops if they were selling I was buying tring to get as much of the cold water that i could get off each volunteer and tip it over my head in an attempt to keep cool. I drank sports drink and water at each station and kept well hydrated. In fact my nutrition plan for the whole was spot on as at no stage did I feel empty in fact my energy level on the final run back on the second loop was as good as I had felt apart from being exhausted from keeping my heart rates in the 140's plus for the past two and half hours.

First Loop 5km/ 25:34 Second Loop / 25:24.

Finishing in 66th place out of 129 for all triathletes over 40 and in my age group 45-49 20th out of 33 . My best placing ever and a new PB time of 2:40:19 . My last Olympic had been a drafting race 2:41:25, so whilst the time difference may not have been as good as I had felt, the difference of the draft and a paceline cannot be underestimated.

And a final thought for everyone of us, those silly check lists we use in our first tri and then think we do not need too use then again, well guess who turned up and did not have his Association timing chip, well put it this way I am 50 shekels ($12) poorer for having to rent one at the race, guess what I downloaded again this morning a whole new checklist.

Tri'ing Harder
Mal

A Perfect Day for Training

2007-09-24T15:58:00.000+02:00

I have written many things about life racing and training in the Unholyland, much postive and with my tongue in cheek some not so positive about Israeli Drivers and life as an athlete.
Then comes the one day a year when a day of atonement becomes a day for celebrating as an athlete. For on Yon Kippur (last Fri night/Saturday till sunset) there are NO cars on the road. Imagine a country where there are NO cars, buses, trucks and motorbikes. The roads are completely empty of traffic for twenty four hours. It is without date one of the most incredible experiences to walk out and have silence, in a country where the car horn is used as a turning indicator on many occasions.
Thus Yon Kippur has also become National Bike Day and for a glorious day a year, you can ride on three lane highways without fear.
Highways and roads become the domain of children on their first bikes wobbling across all three lanes, if you have a bike you simply enjoy what is without doubt the best place in the world to train.
Whilst I was on standby for work in the office in Jerusalem, I did get up at dawn and did the ride I have always wanted to do. Ride the main hwy in Israel from Jerusalem down the mountain and back up, approx 600m vertical over twenty km's, the down was easy and hell I even enjoyed the climb back up, my biggest day of climbing on my bike ever, not to mention I also managed a new top speed on my bike of 75kmh.
And who says that religion is the root of all evil.

Still Training

2007-08-23T00:23:00.000+03:00

Have no fear , still training , but dealing with winter issues in Australia and the horror of the fact that a 50m pool is twice as long as 25m pool, you would not think that this would be an issue for concern but holy hell it has been kicking the preverbial wind out of my sails
Lots of trail running with Molly
Mal
Sydney
Australia

Reading a Dogs Breakfast

2007-07-26T12:24:00.000+03:00

I thought I would share my Heart rate readout from last Saturdays Long Group Ride, the trouble with information is that sometimes the graphs often look like a "Dog's Breakfast" with so many lines it can look like spaghetti thrown against a wall and it is only after you start to itemize each line can you start to find the information you need, now whether it makes any sense or aids my training will come with time when I look back at my cycling workouts.

The kicker for this workout is that we are in the strength building phase of the triathlon season, well actually we are in the summer break of the season which kicks back in early Sept with around 4 Olympic distance races of which I will probably do 3. The last race of the season is down in Eilat about a five hour drive and will involve a couple of nights in hotel and I am not sure whether the finances warrant going down for an olympic when I am focused now for the Ironman in less than a year.

Perhaps the hard thing is that when you jump in a pool and swim a lap , it hits me as to the magnitude that lays ahead. I have no doubt as to my belief in myself that I will and I am capable of achieving a goal that defines me as a person of commitment.

This week has seen me do the following

Monday
Group Open Water Swim - 1500 m [5 sets of 10 minute repeats] immediately follwed by 40 minute tempo run [7.5km] temp above 30 C , Core Super Set & Stretch 30 minuts

Tuesday
AM Group Track 1 Hour with Coach Ron , heavy Pliometrics strength training
PM Core Super Set & Stretch 30 minutes

Wednesday
6 am - 1 hour bike drills [25 km's] 4 repeats one leg drills on hill and cadence work
7.30 am - Core Super Set & Stretch 30 minutes
9 am - One Hour Spin Class with sprints
10.30am - One Hour swim drills

Thursday
AM - Group Track 1 Hour - Strength and Cadence Running 400's

Phew and the weekend is still to come

Train Strong
Mal

Heart Rate Feedback this week

2007-07-19T18:27:00.000+03:00

A few HRM charts from workouts earlier this week will also add later a few swim photos when I get the chance, training has obviously started to focus more on running with Munchen now under a hundred day, the track session this morning was probably one of my best running sessions in a long time, legs felt strong and good, pace is certainly picking up just now need to translate that to longer distances.

My arms felt good enough to hit the pool after track this morning and had a solid 1500m yes 1500m drills session. I was so pleased when I calculated my distance today as in my training log. I still keep a handwritten log and each week I have to list three objectives and swimming 1500 freestyle was one of the objectives, given how far I have come swimming feeling so good about the pool and I am really starting to enjoy the water.

The Training Grounds

2007-07-17T20:38:00.000+03:00

So I had my first ever private swim lesson today and I need this question answered?

Is it normal to feel like your upper arms and shoulders want fall off?

Now the picture is the view from my apartment of my training grounds, this is not Wisconsin in winter , the Med Sea is fifty meters away , then there is the salt water 25m pool out the back and the road to the left is the start of many of my runs with the wind off the sea. Just thought I would share this view from my balcony.

The whole weekend has been a great training block from the bike ride Saturday morning when I realised that I have to mive up to the top group of riders, it got to the stage when I felt it was like the Tour de France when I broke away from the peloton when I realised that my heart rate had dropped to below 90 and we were meant to be doing cadence work. So in my mind I took off and did a hard 12 km on a solo breakaway.

Running was good but the heat is sucking me dry, and I am having trouble keeping up my fluids or more importantly being able to carry enough fluid for my longer runs. Saturday afternoon is an exception when I run with the local Hash group and we rehydrate with beer. Sunday was long and it was great to have a new running friend, Riich who I met thru the Phedippidations Pod Cast has moved to Israel and what is even funnier is that we have run many of the same Marathons and I am trying to talk him into doing Munich in October. Monday was a brutal tempo run for 40 minutes with my heart rate in zone 3 to the end of the Marina which you can just see in the picture. And this morning was my first track session of the week and I can feel my running improve with every session.

Swimming, Monday was the Group Open Water in the sea, water was so warm that it is almost uncomfortable even in the dreaded Speedo's well I actually wear TYR to avoid the speedo smears. Not only having to deal with warm water the visibility was dreadful and it was like swimming in watered gravy.

Then today my first swim lesson, ok here are the nuts and bolts. Firstly I don't suck as much as I thought I did, need to widen my arms and not cross my hands/arms, need to drop my chest and get more streamlined and start to spot my elbows. For an hour I was worked solidly by Gavin my coach and yes i was videotaped. If you would like to see my attempts post a comment and I will upload via you tube if any thing good for a laugh.

One funny thing though was that my best lap for form and speed was done with closed fist drill, go figure LOL

Three symbols, a world of possibilities. Let the games begin.

2007-07-13T13:51:00.000+03:00

Define Sport , here I could insert a quotation from dictionarycom , but in a quiet moment of channel surfing in the office I came across a new sport.

It has coverage on ESPN … following are the quotes from the telecast commentators.

“Thousands of pumps down “
“He has been unflinching all night”
“Oh no he has stumbled getting into the ring”
“Fatigue could be an issue”
“Slices paper for the point”
“Must throw flawlessly”
“Players must stay in sync”
“He is exhausted”
“These players are tired”
“On the verge of making sports history”
“He has done the unthinkable”
“One day we will see that fist in the Hall of Fame”
“This is the greatest moment in RPS history”
“He is my champion today”

Ok what is this sport?. Which somehow managed to elicit every sporting cliché from the commentators, there are some clues and even the acronym that it goes by.

I like watching sport and have even been known to comment on sports from curling to my personal favorite “solo synchronized swimming”. Yes they have solo synchronized swimming what the sync against is still a mystery perhaps they put a nose plug on the side of the pool and use that .

Anyway today I have to say that the second annual championship held in Las Vegas complete with $50,000 prize money was won by the “The Brain” in a tight match that included the referee having to stop the match for being out of sync.

Yes folks “ROCK PAPER SCISSORS” is now a serious sport

Check out the web site and if you are truly patriotic American please admit to cringing.

www.usarps.com

This article was on the site to promote the telecast that was my inspiration today …

After logrolling, spelling bees and hot-dog eating, you might think ESPN has run out of sports.
That would not be the case. Tonight, ESPN2 presents its first rock paper scissors competition.
The 2007 Bud Light USA Rock Paper Scissors League National Championship doesn't have the cachet quite yet of the Super Bowl, but it's growing, according to Matti Leshem, co-commissioner of the USA Rock Paper Scissors League.
Although the competition, held in Las Vegas, has been televised before - last year on the A&E Network - this is the first time it will be covered by ESPN, which still likes to call itself "the worldwide leader in sports."
"It's a real validation for the sport," Leshem says by phone from Los Angeles.
The competition was held in May at the Mandalay Bay Resort Casino, with enough underwriting from Bud Light that 300 finalists from nationwide barroom competitions were flown in with a guest for the finals, which carries a top prize of $50,000.
The league has only been around since 2005, Leshem says, "but this is a game played since the beginning of recorded history."
Really? Before the invention of scissors? Or paper?
"Back to the caveman days," Leshem says, though he adds, "it was known as rock rock rock in those days."
The discovery of new materials led to a change in the approach. "For a time, it was known as rock papyrus spear, which you may have heard of before," he says.
Clearly, the development of paper in China, along with the invention of scissors, made great strides in the hand game where, of course, rock smashes scissors, scissors cut paper and paper covers rock.
There is a historic angle to the other name by which the game is known, Rochambeau, after the French general who aided George Washington in the Revolutionary War, and whose march through Connecticut (through Farmington, not too far from eventual ESPN headquarters in Bristol) marked its 225th anniversary last year.
The French general, according to Leshem, "adjudicated several disputes with rock paper scissors."
That may be just as much a myth as Rochambeau supposedly plotting the Yorktown battle with Washington in Wethersfield. But it explains why school children pumping their fists three times in anticipating shooting their desired signal will often shout "Reaux! Sham! Beau!" instead of "One! Two! Three!"
Clearly, there are different styles of the game, which is obviously not treated in complete seriousness by the league. But what exactly makes a great rock paper scissors champion?
"Skill, athleticism, the ability to read an opponent - to know what your opponent is going to throw before they throw it," Leshem says.
Statistics play a role - women often open with scissors, while men often choose rock first; paper is the least often used first signal, studies have shown.
But athleticism?
"There are different styles of play," Leshem says. "It gets quite energetic. A lot of power goes into it. The mental drain of it has a toll on the body."
Besides that, he adds, "there are injuries, people dislocate shoulders or sprain wrists."
Because reading the opponent's intent is so important, a poker champion, Phil Gordon, has agreed to officiate.
Also, like poker, "it takes a moment to learn, but a lifetime to master," Leshem says. "It's like chess, right? You have to practice, and you really start to feel the Zen of throwing."
Eventually, a world view develops, he says. "You look at life as a tripartite thing, that life is not black and white, it's not a binary on-off switch - there's the possibility of third choice."
As for those who don't think it's a sport, Leshem says, well, it takes all kinds. "There are people who think golf is a sport."
Ilan Ben-Hanan, the network's director of programming and acquisitions, says, "For us, I think ESPN is all about competition - traditional stick and ball sports, for the most part. But there's room for something a little bit different."
And the childhood game of rock paper scissors is nothing if not that.
"Everyone knows how to play the game, so that helps," Ben-Hanan says.
Whether it returns next year depends, in part, how it does tonight.
"We'll wait to see what the response is," he says.
Leshem says the initial ESPN telecast coming on 7-7-07 isn't completely lucky for them.
"It's kind of a hard night, there's also that Live Earth thing on," he says. "But we're honored to be on the ESPN networks."
The 2007 Bud Light USA Rock Paper Scissors League National Championship runs tonight at 9 on ESPN2.

Now to add a bit more cringe factor I add one last paragraph from the official site …

“American players embody the ideals of the sport - aggression, cunning and intensity. Finally, they have the stage to showcase their mad skills. Annual nationwide tournaments will honorably determine the best RPS player in the USA, and bring on a new breed of elite athletes to make all Americans proud and unify our polarized nation. The red, white and blue will be properly represented in international competition and inspire a new form of patriotism. The USARPS League is destined to bring on new strategies, training techniques and of course, great American heroes.”

Like a Hollywood Movie

2007-07-12T17:26:00.000+03:00

Remember those scenes from movies about sport whereby the hero always seems in trouble and is told by the coach to run the stadium stairs and our lone forlorn hero is seen in wide shots of the stadium easily climbing up as he has a point to prove against his coach. Well let me tell you stadium stairs hurt big time.
Again at the track workout with the group we were shepherded to the stadium and given the task of two ups and downs followed by 400 around the track repeat till i say stop. It sounds dramatic but in fact a great workout your quads are screaming by the end and I doubt that anyone could honestly run a complete stadium without collapsing.
So another hollywood myth is debunked , but then again it could be just me.
Lots of congrats from the team about signing up for my Ironman and looks like I will have some training partners from the group which will be good on those long runs, no I wait for the horror stories from those returning LOL
Long in the morning
Train hard
Mal

Sold Out in 19 hours

2007-07-11T17:27:00.000+03:00

Well today is either Day 1 or Day 374 depending on whether I wanted to count up or down, I prefer the notion of counting down it somehow adds to the excitement. But then again it seems silly to worry about something that is that far away. Munich is closer so in the spirit of being rational it is only 102 days to Munich so come Friday the clock will read 100 days and my coach Gavin has me focusing on this race as I want to set a PB which means going under 3:58. I have been under 4 hours twice and feel that my running is getting better so I am confident of setting a PB. But one thing I have learnt is that you must respect the distance.

So I woke this morning and looked out the window at the pool down below, my training program had me down for a criterium bike workout on the spinner and a swim workout. The sun was still not on the pool so I opted for a later swim or perhaps I could just skip the swim and do the bike. Hang on whats with skipping workouts on Day 1.

So popped the dvd, put on "What it Takes" the insirational Tri film that follows four elite triathletes training for Kona in 2005. I probably watch this two to three times a week it does give you an incredible lift as you watch them train and compete.

The bike workout was as follows

10 min warm up ,
6 x 30" > 100 rpm+ , 30 " easy - 39 ring
4 x 2:00 90 rpm (53/21) - 1:00 easy
4 x 2:00 90 rpm (53/17) - 1:00 easy
4 x 1:00 90 RPM (53/17) - 1:00 easy
45 minute easy include cooldown

All up 1 hour 30 minutes which is a good way to get time on the saddle , and the roads here are just to dangerous to consider riding on unless you are with a group or have a death wish.

Followed by my core super set of 14 exercises - 30 minutes with stretching

So before 9:00am I had already done two hours training and the pool still sparkled down below. But I had some errands to run and get my bike looked at for new brakes, last group ride everytime I braked it sounded like a screaming banshee car alarm surrounded me and made me about as popular as a pork chop at a bar mitzpah. Naturally the shop sold me more than a brake pad set as preventive chain maintenance is critical and I have now two cans of ozone layer destroying degreaser and lube ready to be used , assuring me according to the shop a smooth silent chain, the jury is out lets wait and see.

Back home the pool still sparkled was reletively empty of holidaymakers, so it was time to put on the much maligned Speedos and head down for my set . Regular readers know that my swimming to date has been not my strongest point but slowly drill by drill I am actually getting the freestyle bug and the thought of breaststroking is a thing of the past. I am not doing any great distance and my whole workout was 750m 3 different drills of 250 m followed by practicing Total Immersion basic drills . The sun beat down and the water was warm , hey i might even start really enjoying this swim part.

Tomorrow morning , my second track workout with the group at 6:30 , up at 5.00 am.

Oh and the title , Ironman Austria sold out in 19 hours online, amazes me that an event can sell out that far in advance that fast , well I guess I am not the only one commited now.

Commitment

2007-07-10T14:29:00.000+03:00

com·mit·ment (kə-mĭt'mənt) Pronunciation Key
n.
The act or an instance of committing, especially:
The act of referring a legislative bill to committee.
Official consignment, as to a prison or mental health facility.
A court order authorizing consignment to a prison.
A pledge to do.
Something pledged, especially an engagement by contract involving financial obligation.
A pledge to do.
Something pledged, especially an engagement by contract involving financial obligation.
The state of being bound emotionally or intellectually to a course of action or to another person or persons: a deep commitment to liberal policies; a profound commitment to the family.

Now all of the above do not specifically relate to what I have commited to. Espicially any reference to prison or a mental health facility, but then again I may have reason to question my state of mental health given to what I have commited to on 13th July 2008

The time has come that I feel that I am ready to complete an Ironman next year "Ironman Austria" Entries opened this morning and the 2,000 spots have almost been filled in less than 15 hours. Hitting the send button and receiving the email back means that purpose has a new meaning.

No longer can I look down at the pool from window and give myself a reason not to go down and do laps, the cycleop's spinner is going to have to hum for hours and more than one pair of trainers will be worn out.

My main focus for the next couple of months is to nail down my training for the Munich Marathon with Chaim in October and finish the tri season here after the summer break which resumes in September.

Then there will be the cold mornings of winter and no doubt work trips which will totally screw up my training plans from time to time, but having commited to what will be the longest day in my life I have only one desire and that is to enjoy the experience from my first workout tonight when I get home to crossing the line in the twilight on July 13 2008.

It is going to be a long journey but every step of the way will be recorded.

Hey I am going to be an Ironman, I hope you will enjoy the journey with me.

Mal

A Hard Post to Write

2007-06-27T18:27:00.000+03:00

Sometimes truth can hurt in ways that really hurt you when you realise that. That you did'nt realise.

A friend today told me that I had made them turn against running and that I was no longer fun to run with. The reasons were stupid callous words that I had forgotten or chosen to put in the just words spoken but with no respect to my friends. people who i have run have every right to run with someone who wants to run just like them for the fun of it and not turn it into a competitive sport.

I will never win anything and perhaps now I should just step back and reflect.

Why? Because I enjoy running with friends above everything else, just for the fun of it. And maybe I have lost that focus and need to take drastic steps to repair this aspect of my life.

I am competitive that is my own curse that needs to be cured, and perhaps today was the biggest wake up I have ever had as to how I need to change my training and become once again the person people enjoy training with.

I no longer want to train alone and stare at my reflection on a computer screen of my heart rates and pace, there is no substitute for laughing and realising that running is fun.

We take each step as a solo runner, but the best sound is hearing a friends footsteps next to you not behind you.

Mal

Attack of the Medusa's

2007-06-25T18:38:00.000+03:00

It has become official, the curse of the open water swimmer has arrived for there summer sojourn on the beaches. The Medusa Jellyfish is back for the holiday season, as I found out this morning when a tentacle managed to drape itself across my mouth during the group swim session. It stung like hell and like everyone else I spent the next thirty minutes wishing with deep reflections not to be stung again, and luckily I managed to avoid the tentacles.

My swim is gradually getting better and I am happy to see progress. Followed the swim with a 40 minute run at a good pace.

The weekend was again a good solid training block, with cycling 65 km on Sat Morining and a run in the afternoon with the hash group. Sunday was swim drills and a late afternoon run in the heat. We have been having a heat wave here with temperatures in the high 30's C or close to 100 F. I have been sweating buckets as they say and it is hard to keep up the fluids on the run.

I have signed up to run the Munich Marathon on October 14th with Chaim, my aim is to run a good sub 4 marathon so the emphasis over the next few months will be running as the tri season is in hiatus till September.

Train Strong
Mal

Long by Tempo Zones

2007-06-22T16:51:00.000+03:00

The good old days of going out for a long run at an easy pace have been changed by my coach Gavin. Long runs are now days dictated by running in certain heart rate zones for periods. What ever happened to those long easy days of comfortable running at a conversational pace.

Todays long run was 18 km in 1:43:00 and it brutally hot and amongst it all I lost a bottle from my fuel belt so when I came to the end gasping with thirst all I felt in my belt was an empty loop.

This weekend looks like it is going to be even hotter with a heat wave coming accross the country, luckily the bulk of my running is over and I have a group bike ride at 6:30 in the morning.

15 minutes and a new PB

2007-06-19T20:27:00.000+03:00

Report on the Tel Aviv Olympic Triathlon

The bottom line is that I dropped 15 minutes off my PB time for the Olympic Distance in a month, now it only my second Oly tri distance but taking it down from 2:56 to 2:41 is good and my challenge now for the next Oly distance is to go sub 2:30. So how did it break down and how can I improve.

Leg #1 - 1500m swim, now everyone who has been reading my blog knows that I have only just started to swim freestyle after being a breaststroker only for all my life. I was confident of swimming the distance as my training in open water group classes has been going well. I am one of those people who prefer swimming in open water to doing laps of a pool.
The horn went off just before 7 am on the beach and we had a long sand bar wade to get to a depth we could swim in, and the course was two loops. I started well on the side hoping for clear water, but for the first time in three triathlons I was well and truly in the washing machine. Hey I even enjoyed sort on contact swimming BUT i was going backwards and was not passing anyone in fact I realised that even with my freestyle breast strokers started passing me.
I had been determined to swim the 1500m freestyle, but the reality of racing made me rethink my race strategy, I was determined to do at least the first loop freestyle and as I came back onto the beach for the second loop I made the decision to switch to breaststroke for the second loop and on the second loop I was in fact two minutes quicker.
I came out of the swim after 33 minutes , happy with my time but I knew that I had been slower than I hoped, the run back to the T1 was a long way thru the Part and took 3 minutes 40 barefoot thru sand and on concrete, it was not worth having running shoes for such a short distance the time to put then on would be negated by the advantage.
My T1 time was 1 minute 16 seconds , the training had paid off
The bike was 40 km and drafting was allowed so the aim was to find a fast group and work together it took a good 5 km's to work up to a fast pack and get the drafting in full swing , Over the course I rode with various riders and we were moving my average speed over the course was above 35 km/h . With 3 km's to go my b.....y computer fell off the handlebars and it was either forget about it and stay with the draft or stop go back and get my computer (Velo Cat eye) I stopped cursed and picked up the computer , the same one that fell down the elevator shaft a week ago. And refocused on the course, I had no one to draft and fought hard against the wind, finally picking up a draft pack with a km to go. Now I thought fast transition get out of your shoes coming into T2 , bending down I managed to twist the shoe off the pedal and had to carry it in my hand , something to work on LOL
T2 was even better exactly 1 minute and I was out and running , it was now close to 30 degrees C around 90 F so it was hard but keeping focused I did the 10 km in 53:20 and probably put more cold water over my head than I actually drank.

So total time 2:41:27 by my watch , my nutrition was probably not the best as I did not eat enough during the race, but my pre race nutrition included a plain no fat yoghurt and gel at 4:30 am and another gel 20 minutes before the start.
I recommend mixing yoghurt and gel makes the gel taste better

Hope you enjoyed the read , was great race
Tri Harder
Mal

Kicked Butt in Tel Aviv Tri

2007-06-18T18:12:00.000+03:00

Full report to come , have not had time today been walking backwards with fatah Gunmen in Nablus on the West bank. But had a great tri Saturday and took 13 minutes off my PB for the Olympic Distance , did a 2:41:06 on Saturday.
More to follow
Sorry no time to write more today , and by the way never eat at Mister Baker if you ever visit Nablus, you could use the grilled chicked as tiles on the Space Shuttle LOL
Mal

How my run finished last night

2007-06-15T11:02:00.000+03:00

This is a funny , only in Israel could this happen at the end of a run.

Thus, last night I was running with my hash group the Thirsty Knights Hash House Harriers, commonly using slogans like runners with a drinking problem or drinkers with a running problem. Simply you run with friends then rehydrate with beer. Ok not the best training program but it adds a great alternative to speed intervals or long runs.

So as we ran back to the car park at the end of the run last night, there was a police car with its lights flashing next to my car. Now your immediate thoughts are of course , expletive my car has been broken into oh expletive.

However the car was untouched and the concern was that my car with its TV signs painted on the windows was in fact a suspected terrorist vehicle. The background being last week Militants in Gaza had tried to kidnap another Israeli soldier down in Gaza by getting a SUV and painting TV on the windows they had approached an israeli checkpoint. There attempt was thwarted one was killed and three others fled back into Gaza.

This story was palyed heavily in the local press, and last night whilst my car had been parked and left unattended two boys had seen my car and being good concerned citizens called the police and reported a "suspected potential terrorist vehicle"

The policeman was cool about it all and drove off smiling, after we explained to him dripping in sweat " That hey no, thats just Mals car".

So a funny only in Israel way to end a run. You have to laugh.

The vehicles look so similar LOL

You often wonder?

2007-06-14T10:38:00.000+03:00

Have been spending a lot of time looking around at other tri and running blogs in the past few days and have been trying to figure out what makes a good blog and how to adapt mine to reflect these.
Some tri'ers have great links and information whilst mine lately has seemed to be an endless listing of boring facts and figures complete with graphs that to be honest only are probably of no interest to to anyone and who cares about split times when the simple fact that I cannot understand simple instructions which are lost in translation are far more funny.
I suppose we all go through doubts about our blogs and whether they mean anything.
Then again what is the magic to some extent of specific blogs is that in a small way in connects us middle (to the back) of the pack athletes who compete for fun, we (well I) am never going to win anything in the forseeable future and no sponsorship deal is ever going to knock on my door.
I like being active and perhaps reading about other active people makes us all feel good, so maybe out there someone will read my blog and get a smile or look at my silly HR graphs and go wow dude that is awesome so that is why I like to blog.
Hope you all agree
Tri'ing harder
Mal

Clif Bar Triathlon Start Commercial

2007-06-13T18:46:00.001+03:00

Ok Something Silly to make you laugh. Must add this to my training schedule
LOL

Overtraining

2007-06-13T18:33:00.000+03:00

I have fallen foul to my own enthusiasm for training we all do it , luckily I have done it without injury but my legs at the track yesterday felt like lead.

When I asked my coach Gavin if I was overtraining he said yes "Take it easy, Your running has improved so much"

So with the words of encouragement I have taken heed, time to back down a bit and focus on the Tel Aviv Triathlon this Saturday

Whew Whatta

2007-06-12T12:23:00.000+03:00

The title "whew whatta" comes from my past, when working as an editor in a tv station n Melbourne Australia, whenever there was a heatwave (Remember those days before global warming) , so whenever we had hot weather the line up editors used the expression " Whew Whatta " as in What a hot day.

So the other day Chaim asks me if I would like a run Sunday evening, not realising that a heatwave was on its way I thought could be a good time to work with Chaim and run at a local track up from his home, and introduce the Yasso 800's into the mix as we start training for the Munich Marathon in October.

From what I can figure it was at least 39 degrees C over a 100 F, when i got back into my car the temp came up as 45 degrees C.

If you look at my heart rate , click on the graph it expands out you can see that it was beyond my max rate of 172 , was hard to guage as i did not feel like I was pushing the bounds, but this is clear proof of the effects of hot weather and training. A good lesson learnt about training in the heat.

We had a good workout but I felt the effects and a lesson learnt

Train Smart .
Mal

Longer and Faster

2007-06-08T17:02:00.000+03:00

I normally do my long runs early and on Saturday morning, which is the same as Sunday morning elsewhere, but today the programme had me long as Saturday is the only day that is half safe to ride on the roads here. Remember that they show Mad Max movies at Driver Education Programs here in Israel, and ifthey do not then how they learn to drive so badly is a vexed question.

So foolishly I started my run at 7am and spent almost half of it dodging cars , note to self do not run late Friday.

My normal pace on long runs is to be as lazy and slow as I can justify , taking into consideration that according to all books it is a LONG SLOW run to be done at conversational pace, rarely will my heart rate get close to 120 unless I am going up a hill.

Thus Gavin my coach has implicit zones to train in now, to break this habit and today I was to train in Zone 3 145 Bpm + , and how did i go. Well I looked for excuses and found I could justify a slow start as I was running on sandy soft trails, but when I got to the paved road I kicked up the gear and thought hey do it , on your long run push it "Define Yourself"

15km's - 1 hour 21 minutes 40 seconds for a training run I was very pleased with myself , Heart Rate average 134 max 157.
Pace 5.33mins/km or 8:55mins/mile. Well ok that is not fast but for me it was the best paced long training run I have ever done so a good session despite the Mad Maxes

and I managed 28% in Zone 3 and 59% in Zone 2

Lactate Larry goes beyond the Zone

2007-06-07T13:52:00.000+03:00

Well first up I think that that is a darn funky name for a blog entry, so excuse me for patting myself on the back, and yes given enough time a monkey with a blackberry would also come up with the exact phrase.

Any thanks for all those who posted comments on the recent video links to you tube inspirations. I also recommend all three of us that read my blog entries , to download some great podcasts about running and triathlons so next blog will give you my rundown. I am at the point that actually I do not like running to music and would much rather listen to a podcast about tri or running.

Anyway, enough digression back to Lactate Larry aka me this morning at the track, given the complete balls up the other morning at the track, go on snigger and laugh I know you are. Before even the warm up I cordoned the coach and got my running orders before the others. Strike 1 victory for moi.

Oh boy,as Gavin said we are peaking for Tel Aviv next week, hey I thought what ever happened to the "Taper" expression, so we are going to have two speeds on repeats today Lactate and beyond Lactate.

Great I thought, not only am I sore from Tuesday's mistakes, now I knew exactly what had to be done. I wished for blissful ignorance instead anyway here is the breakdown

warm up
400 m Lactate threshold 400m Beyond (ie even harder) REPEAT 5 times - Total 4km No breaks
2 minute rest
800m LT 400 m Tempo REPEAT 3 Times
Cool Down

So how did it go , well here are the facts and figures of the session

Warm up 10 minutes heart rate sub 110

Distance Time Max HR Speed km/h
400 1:38 135 14.6
400 1:42 138 14.0
400 1:52 139 12.8
400 1.47 143 13.3
400 1.56 144 12.3
400 1.46 154 13.0
400 1.53 152 12.6
400 1.47 158 13.3
400 1.57 155 12.3
400 1.51 158 12.9

REST 2.30 RECOVERED HR 118

800 3.43 154 12.7
400 2.11 149 11.2
800 3.52 158 12.3
400 2.16 151 10.6
800 3.51 181 12.2 (Last 200 flat out 16.3 kmh - nothing left max effort)

Cool down Walk & Jog

Total Distance workout 9 km
Speeds avg 11.5 - max 16.3 kmh
Hr avg session 135 max HR 181

Can World's Strongest Dad

2007-06-06T09:58:00.001+03:00

A true story of inspiration for all of us

The video points to Dick Hoyt competing in triathlons with his son Rick, and when you first look it won't take long to see this is a video with a difference.

Something happens, you see, when people see Dick Hoyt.

It started 45 years ago, when Rick was born in Massachusetts, US, with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck cutting off the oxygen to his brain and Dick and his wife Judy were told there was basically no hope for Rick.

He had little hope of development and it was best to put him away, the doctors said.

When Rick was eight months old the same doctors told his father that he would be virtually a vegetable all his life and that they may as well put him in a home.

"It's been a story of exclusion ever since he was born," Dick says on his website, http://www.teamhoyt.com.

Dick and Judy didn't put Rick away, though.

They played with him and laughed with him, and when two younger brothers came along the Hoyts soon became convinced that Rick was as intelligent as either of them.

Dick wanted to put his son in school but because Rick couldn't talk the school authorities told him Rick could never understand.

"Tell him a joke," Dick said.

They moved uncomfortably.

"Tell him a joke."

Rick laughed at their joke.

So Rick went to school, and even way back then in the early 1970s they built him a computer that enabled Rick to put his thoughts into words and he got along fine.

So Rick was off to school.

Then one day a schoolmate was paralysed in a car accident and the school organised a charity fun run.

"Dad," Rick typed, "I want to do that."

Dick had never run in his life.

Still, he did it for Rick, pushed him the whole 8km, and when he hit the finish line Dick was as sore as sore can be, and glad it was over.

Then Rick typed something.

"Dad," he said, "when we were running I felt like I wasn't disabled anymore."

That did it for Dick. He began training – swimming and running, riding the bike.

So much so they did the Boston marathon in 1983 four years after being denied entry, with Dick pushing Rick all the way.

After that they went into ironman triathlons. A 3.8km swim, 180km bike leg and 42km marathon at the end of it.

Dick's pot-belly had long disappeared and Rick, who had never walked, was now floating on clouds.

"Dad is one of my role models," Rick says on the website. "Once he sets out to do something, Dad sticks to it whatever it is, until it is done.

"For example, once we decided to really get into triathlons, dad worked out, up to five hours a day, five times a week, even when he was working."

So much has happened since.

Rick graduated from high school and now lives by himself and holds down a job.

Then Dick had a mild heart attack four years ago during a race. Doctors found one of his arteries was 95 per cent blocked – and said that if he hadn't been so fit he'd have been dead.

World's strongest dad . . .

Now to that video. So much is downloaded these days.

Such is the world we live in, people can get just about anything they like on the net.

But somewhere along the line, among all the hate videos and celebrations of violence, among all the rage and division, somebody put together a video of Rick and Dick and, well, give it a try, it might just change something for you.

It's on youtube.com, and if you type "can world's strongest dad" in the search window Dick and Rick will pop up.

What you get is more than Dick and Rick competing together. You get the chance to watch those around them.

Volunteers and fellow competitors, people who get to see some pretty special athletes do some pretty special things as part of the everyday, affected by two honest, good men.

What you get to see is that, at a time when anybody can drive their hate, when the net is a free-for-all, there are still some pretty impressive people out there.

Tuesdays with ?

2007-06-05T20:18:00.000+03:00

Well apart from the upcoming Triathlon Sat Week , my other main focus this year apart from more triathlons later in the year is to run the Munich Marathon in October so a lot of my focus in coming months will be running, well trying to improve my running and going for a PB. I will not mention the BQ word as that is not a reality and I am a realist and not a fool at my age.

So anyway I aim to be running two track sessions Tuesday and Thursday morning leading up to October. So where does the title of this entry come from well there was a famous book out recently which i did not read called Tuesday with Morrie.

Thusly rocking up to the track this morning fully expecting one of the two normal coaches to be there, but a new coach was there with very little English, a quick briefing to the assembled 50 of us, and bang they were off.

"What are we doing?"

One of the girls laughed and said "20 minutes, 1minute break, 25 minutes, 1 minute break and then 10 minutes to finish off"

So off I went good solid pace 5 minutes a km (8 minute miles) , round and around , first the twenty, then the fifteen, the coach smiling and saying looking good whats your pace?

"5's I said thru a pounding heart rate and hard breathing"

I was about to start the final 10 minutes, when he said "now at 10km race pace"

"What ?"

So off I went for the final session, giving it my all. Now I did not barf but was totally soaked with sweat and bent over double by the end.

I asked the girl who had given me the original 20/15/10 formula, what the coach had meant by doing the last at 10km race pace?

"Oh the did I forget to tell you that the first twenty minutes was at your Marathon Pace, the second fifteen minutes at Half Marathon Pace and the last ten minutes at 10k race pace"

"No I replied but I ran bloody hard for the last hour"

Perhaps this entry is another Lost in Translation

Weekend Wrap up

2007-06-04T15:26:00.000+03:00

Thanks to Steve at Phedipidations Podcast for the plug for the blog in the last show, boy know I have to post some interesting stuff apart from my heart rate charts

The best thing of the weekend training schedule was my chance to go and watch a triathlon, instead of competing. The Herzliyya Womens Tri was held early Saturday Morning , so I was up before the birds to get my long run in before the start so at 5am I was running one of my favorite courses up the Nofyam Wilds past the Ammo dump, hey it is Israel they are everywhere sort of like running in the states and not seeing a 7/11 or a Mc Donalds is the way I put it. All runs here involve going past some Military Installation and at least going North meant that I did not have to go thru condom carpark where the results of the night trade are on evidence

Back to the tri , it was great to watch. It amazed me how much you can learn from watching for a change, little points like faster transitions and bike mounting all make sense now. I can see where I will be able to make up time for my own next race in two weeks time in Tel Aviv.

Sunday Morning was nearly three hours in the gym doing everything from weights to a spin class and since I only have a few days membership left time to make the most of it, I cannot afford the gym anymore simple fact of economics rather than lack of desire for the gym as I do enjoy it.

This morning was the group swim in the Open Water and even though I felt I sucked and was being beaten by anyone doing any stroke I did achieve another milestone in that I swam the whole thing from the gitgo Freestyle , not pretty but hey I have only been swimming freestyle for the last three weeks after 48 years of being a breast stroker so there was a positive.

Going to try and work on drills now to get the stroke better and faster . My goal is to do the swim leg of the Tel Aviv tri all 1500m of it freestyle ... wish me luck

Track tomorrow ... oh the pain LOL

Mal

Jon Blais - The Blazeman

2007-05-30T15:46:00.001+03:00

va.le to a true inspiration , roll accross the line next

va.le Blazeman

2007-05-30T15:32:00.000+03:00

A true hero and inspiration to all triathletes and fellow athletes passed away from Lou Gehrigs Disease on the weekend his tribute can be found here
Watch the video for yourself and reflect next time you are having a tough workout

The Most Brutal Track Session to date

2007-05-30T10:40:00.000+03:00

Now if you have run track, you always hear the complaints of the boredom of running endless loops getting nowhere and ending up where you started of course that is all true, but running track with a coach telling you to go faster when you have nothing left in your legs is another story.

I enjoy running track for some bizarre reason I actually like it, I still try to figure out why but there is something about endless loops that appeal to my warped sense of trying to get fit in a rapidly aging body.

yesterday was brutal though and somehow we had to run 3 x 3000m, 7 and half laps of pushing to the limit. My best km split was 4 minutes 40 seconds and so I can reflect that I am getting faster but it hurts if only I can transform these times to my next race then I will be very happy

Saturday Breakdowns

2007-05-29T12:28:00.000+03:00

Heart Rate and Speed Read Outs from - Transition Training

Tr (a) ing for Transitions.

2007-05-29T10:22:00.000+03:00

Now anyone who entered or watched a triathlon has seen and heard about the fifth discipline of triathlon – Transition.

The experts and pros make it look so simple and effortless taking seconds as the move from one discipline to the next, for us new triathlete’s a better comparison is “like watching paint dry” , or in other words women can buy shoes faster than I could transition in my first efforts.

The next triathlon is in Tel Aviv in three weeks and training today in the mountains involved two brick sessions ride hard for an hour, transition and then run hard for 25 minutes. Have a five minute drink break then ride two hard loops with aggressive drafting , transition and then run harder for ten minutes.

Now a key thing to remember is that in our tri group is that out of the sixty odd who turned up for training today, I was the only member of our smaller sub group of twenty who are focusing on the Tel Aviv Race who does not speak Hebrew and the coach stood around and gave a lengthy 5 minutes of explanation in Hebrew of what we were to do. My briefing was 10 seconds so I thought I missing out on the finer points, which became all to evident when I finished the first bike and to be asked why my running shoes were not around as we were doing transition training, I pointed out as I walked back to my car that no one told me that we were doing transitions.

Anyway all worked out great and no doubt my transitions will be faster and tighter in the Tel Aviv Triathlon.

Not to pretty a sight and a good reason to keep shaving my legs

Tri'ng yet again

2007-05-24T17:23:00.000+03:00

Apologies for the lack of postings but been having enough trouble finding time to train amongst all the grief and troubles going on down here in the Middle East , and computer access is not a major thing sitting on dusty hilltops in war zones.

But enough of that rubbish lets focus on the things that make us better as people and things we enjoy rather than images that fleet past us.

Now you would think that having done a Half Ironman in 6:33:00 that the coach would cut me some slack but within days it was back to track work etc.

The reason was last Friday was another triathlon , for those who are fortunate to live in countries were it seems that there is a tri athlon or running race every weekend to choose from, it aint that way here . With summer beating down we do not race basically from mid june till Sept so most events are stacked in May

Last Friday was my first Olympic distance race - 1500m swim , 40 km bike ride and 10 km run

Well having only ever done one triathlon before this was yet another eye opener , as the swim was in the sea , the bike was 5 loops of the same circuit with drafting allowed and the run was 4 loops out and back.

I finished in a PB time , well it was always going to be a PB as it was my first olympic distance, to be greeted by the head coach of our group saying , not well done but "You need to work harder" and my coach saying my running "sucked" and I have to work on running not like a marathoner but a fast runner. Not exactly words of encouragement and congratulations but words that have made me train and work harder.

Hey I am going to get this swim freestyle under my belt four , I even swam in training last Monday in open water freestyle. My biking aim is to learn to push harder and man do i pump my arms harder now.

Another Olympic distance in a few weeeks in Tel Aviv .

But the next big and real challenge is that i want to do an Ironman next year, hey it will only take 14 hours to do and nine months to train for

The day I became a HALF IRONMAN

2007-05-07T09:42:00.000+03:00

Sea of Galilee
Jordan Valley

Before we get to the facts the figures and the stories behind my first triathlon lets take a step back and examine some very rational facts, which may explain why I am not a rational person.

Fact #1 I have never competed in a triathlon, I have never even been too or watched a triathlon, I had no idea what happens in a transition area or what to take or how to set up my transition gear.

Fact #2 Most sane and sensible new triathletes start with a short race like a Sprint
Or Olympic distance (1500m swim, 40km bike, and 10km run)

Fact #3 The Half Ironman distances are as follows
1900m swim (Prior to last Monday I had never swum that far)
90km Bike (Never ever ridden that far previous best 75km with lots of stops, done in a group with lots of drafting)
21.1km Run (Half Marathon) Last time I did a long distance run I DNF’d due to heat and cramps and have not run this distance on a road since January)

Ok so we have established I am not the smartest triathlete to be, but I have great friends to train and travel with that have inspired me to this point and I will be forever indebted to Margaret, Andrea and Michael for introducing me to a new sport that I am sure will dominate my life for the years to come.

Now I had planned to just to the Olympic distance up until a week ago, a nice introduction to Triathlon, and I had done all distances previously. But for all those who know me, know one thing I do have a competitive streak, which for good or bad is part of me. So after the training day we had up on the Galilee a couple of week’s prior, with Andrea and Margaret with our training group we had all decided to sign up for the Olympic, well then Margaret gets talked into to doing the half Ironman as it is the only Half in Israel, and thusly if Margaret was going to do the Half then I was as well, even though I had not gone any of the distances, apart from the run.

The four of us drove up to the race on Friday, it is less than two hours away but on race day we were scheduled to start the race at 5:30 am, which meant getting up at 3:30am to eat and get to the race start.

The night before we all got together for a somewhat bizarre and nervous pre race meal, which naturally involved walking around the streets of Tiberius on the eve of Shabbat trying to find a restaurant that was open and served pasta for a pre race carbo load. Now anyone who has ever gone out with friends in a state of nervousness will know that you will walk around in circles trying to find what you want, so instead of walking into the first restaurant you spend an hour on your feet not resting walking past the same three restaurants in search of something as simple as a bowl of pasta. The trouble in Tiberius was that being Shabbat eve the only restaurants open seemed to be Lebanese that served meat and fish or fish and meat. Finally we managed to find one restaurant that had some bad pasta on the menu.

Frustrated but at least happy to have found some pasta we ate and headed back to the hotel to put the final touches to our nutrition plans making peanut butter and jelly wholewheat pitas and the funny touch of writing our race numbers on our arms.

Sleep well trying to get to sleep at 8:30pm is not the easiest especially when your nerves are wire tight and you know that ou have to get up at 3:30. Of course you are tenser about sleeping in and missing the start than you are are about getting a good nights sleep.

The alarm went off after what seemed to be the longest night with no sleep and immediately you eat and have a coffee and hope that nature will take its course in the next five minutes as going to the toilet is as important as not forgetting your kit at this hour of the morning.

Arriving at the race start we got our bikes together pumped up the tires to race pressure hoping in the dark that we would not get a puncture, even though twice in the past two weeks we actually have got together for practice sessions in changing flat tires, yes we trained to repair flat tires, it makes sense to anyone who has done a triathlon and yet seems dumb to anyone who has not. The difference can be ten minutes in being able to repair a tire quickly.

So in the dark we checked in through the safety check and headed for the transition area to unpack and prepare, even though I had never done this before it was fairly straightforward laying out what you need for the bike and run legs.

Leg #1 THE SWIM

Dawn was just breaking as we lined up, the sun barely above the Golan Heights and the Sea of Galilee was as dark and dim as a scene from a Lord of the Rings movie. My nerves were stretched but at the same time I knew that since I was starting at the back to avoid the kicking and punching of the front swimmers in the washing machine in front. Naturally the start had been moved to 5:45 instead of 5:30am, but it mattered little as I tried to make out the buoys in the distance that we had to swim around. 1900m is easy to write and does not seem a long distance especially when you are used too or in my case having swum only once in my life five days before. But in the open water of the Sea of Galilee there is no black line on the floor and the water is just greenish, you can see your arms in front of you and that is about it.

The horn sounded and with a lump in my throat I plunged in and started my first triathlon. “I am a swimmer, I am a swimmer” stroke glide stroke “I am a swimmer” went through my mind and I began to relax and look around, the sun still not on the water but lighting the hills that make the Golan Heights that separate Israel from Syria taking on a magical glow, turning at the first buoy of the triangular course I could see the sun on the eastern coastline and I just focused on the next buoy to swim too. Now forget images of a bronzed Aussie in the mould of Ian Thorpe turning over freestyle in a relaxed manner, I breaststroke having never learnt to swim freestyle so all I could see where the leading and not so leading swimmers pulling away from me. I did not care or worry as my goal was to get through the swim without having burnt up to much energy when I knew I still had the bike and swim leg to go. In fact the key to a race of this length is the ability to pace yourself it is a long day at the office.

Now I am not going to downplay my breaststroke because like the tortoise and the hare, slow and steady actually had me catch up with the slower free style swimmers, and I actually tried to draft behind a slow free styler but to be honest did not seem to make the slightest difference except I was swimming in the bubbles of his feet.

The shore and finish eventually came and my feet touched the rocks after 59 minutes 45 seconds and looking around Margaret was next to me so we laughed and shuffle ran up to the transition area surrounded by fast little 10 year olds competing in the children’s race. My heart rate for the swim was avg 103 max 110, which was spot on easy relaxed and energy to burn.

Transition #1 Swim to Bike

By the time Margaret and I got to the transition area the first thing we noticed was how few bikes remained the rest of the people doing the Half Ironman seemed to be long gone. I focused dried my feet put on the bike shoes quickly ate a banana grabbed my helmet and headed out to the mounting zone. You cannot just get on your bike and ride all areas in the transition are controlled and ruled by officials with the power to disqualify you on the spot. Transition time incl run from water 9 minutes.

Leg #2 THE BIKE – 90 km’s

Hey two laps of a 45 km loop seem easy to say in conversation. But it is a bloody long way and the reality was that I actually expected to take close to four hours to complete this leg. Remember I have never ever ridden 90km before in my life. 75km’s in a group with drafting yes, alone with no drafting was a daunting prospect.

Again the key to my strategy was to pace myself, remain in low gears and maintain a high cadence so that my thighs and quad muscles would have the energy to run the half marathon.

To make myself feel good in the first few km’s all those little kids who had raced past me running out of the water I blasted past them on the bike, ok it does not mean much being able to out cycle an 11 year old but in my mental state of trying to maximize every positive these were small victories.
After 5 km the kids turned and all of a sudden I was alone, no one in front of me and for the next 15 km’s I rode alone pushing as hard as I dared. I had calculated that to do well on the bike I had to eat and drink smartly as nutrition is often referred to as the fourth leg of a triathlon.

Riding alone on an empty highway seemed strange, tucking into my bento box (food box) on the bike I nibbled on cut up dates and kept sipping water and sports drink. Suddenly ahead of me a bike streaked past heading back in the opposite direction. The leaders were on the return of the first lap, these guys were motoring and seemed to fly past, but then again I was comfortably pushing along trying to maintain 30 kmh., Which I did quite successfully for the entire time on the bike.

I did the first half of the loop in 47 minutes and turning back grabbed a bottle of water and took a gel for energy. I was going to save my peanut butter pita bread for the second lap as a reward.

It was so strange to be alone on the road as I passed the few riders who were behind me it felt good to not be at the back but then again I really did not care. Since no matter what time I did it was going to be a personal best time.

One of the good aspects of loop courses is that you see and pass your friends and it was great to see Margaret and Michael on the course, both seemed to be as focused as me.

The second leg of the first loop saw the traffic jam of the sprint and Olympic distance riders now on the course and mentally it felt great to crank up and pass other riders, with my energy levels high and heart rate below 140. In fact over the entire bike section my heart rate was an average 122 with a max at 140 beats per minute.

The second half of the first loops I did in 44:52 and settled back in to start munching on my peanut butter pita. Note to self here do not wrap so well in plastic wrap not easy to undo one handed at 3o kmh. The leaders raced past me going the other way and I just focused on keeping my head together and maintaining a good cadence to save my legs the third section I did in 49:36, within two minutes of the first one heading back now I passed Margaret and we shouted encouragement and shared a smile in less than an hour I would be off the bike and running. My god my bum and crotch were getting numb by now.

Hang on up ahead another rider, yes another rider after 65km’s I actually past another rider doing the Half Ironman. Hey after 2:45 minutes I actually overtook another rider.
Heading into the final two km’s I dropped the gearing to low and gently try to change the muscles the run awaited.

My final leg took 47:39 for a total bike time of 3 hours 10 minutes and 11 seconds, given that I had hoped for four hours having never done the distance I jumped off the bike at the marshalling area and felt my legs go to jelly with the first step I took, oh dear ….

Transition #2 Bike to Run

Now I wish I could say that my legs felt fantastic, when in fact they felt like two rubber bands for those first twenty steps and by the time I got my bike back into the transition rack, the rider that I had passed had also entered the transition and was off like greased lightning. Taking a minute longer than I wanted I changed shoes and grabbed a drink before hobbling off, but with each tentative step my legs did come back.

Leg #3 – THE RUN

I have run the half marathon distance many times in races and in training so of all the disciplines of the day, this was the one that I felt good going into. I had fueled well and drank plenty so I thought that dehydration was not going to be a factor. Little did I realize how much fluid I was going to need and the Gastro problems that awaited me?

My first km’s were done in a respectable 5:29, 5:27 and 5:24 which are by all factors respectable times and though I felt slow my watch did show I was moving well. It was becoming a mental game and my mantra was “ I am a runner” and through the whole run over the next two hours never did the dreaded left side of the brain ever take full control. Sure it tried but it was the heat that was becoming the critical factor, the run again was a double loop and on the first leg there were runners from the other distances on the course so at no times was there empty path ahead of me.

The path was a brutal fully exposed no shade footpath of hard concrete alongside the hwy south and it was a matter of trying not to look at the signs and distance markers on this first loop as all I could focus on was the thought of on the next loop I will be counting down rather than counting up.

One great thing on the loop system was that I was to see Mike, Margaret and Andrea and we could high five each other, well low five actually but somehow this simple act helped bond us and mentally gave me a great lift to know that all of us were going through the same and yet we took the time to help each other by the simple act of slapping hands as we took another step towards the end.

The first loop was highlighted by the fact that when I got to the Half Ironman check point the volunteer upon seeing my number approach dashed back to the table and grabbed my special need bottle that had been dropped off earlier in the morning, I declined knowing that on the second loop this would be a great mental boost for me. Lets face it since when is purple Gatorade a mental advantage but it was to be.

I knew that up to this point my fluid intake had been good, as I actually had to stop and go to the toilet, ok more than you need to know, but it showed that I was drinking enough to this point.

The run back to the turn around point was tough and the sun and the heat was physically taking its toll, I tried not to look up but simply concentrate on my mantra and keeping my legs moving in what seemed like the slowest shuffle, my km splits were down to 5:50 and 6:00 sometimes longer as I walked through all drink stations taking two cups of water, one to drink one to pour on myself to try and cool down my head.

On the second leg of the run loop my best km split was to be 5:56 minutes per km and after picking up my purple Gatorade and downing yet another gel I walked with another competitor for two minutes as we tried to psyche each other up to run, we did eventually but after 100 m he stopped and I continued pushing as best I could.

I realized that water I had been getting on the run had been coming out of these portable water tanks and that the volunteers had been tipping them up to get the last of the water out, mentally this just started to make me think and sure enough I started to cramp in the stomach.

I needed more water and as bad as I felt I knew that this was crunch time I had less than five km’s to go and as I passed Margaret for the last time I tried to smile but inside I was hurting real bad but did not want to show it. Andrea had finished her Olympic distance and as an act of true friendship came back down the course to find Margaret and me and as I passed her she offered me water from a bottle she was carrying. I really at this point was mentally beyond my zone and thanking her just continued I was so bloody close that I could not figure out why these last km’s were taking so long, my km time were blowing out to 6:30 to 7:30. But I was moving, my legs felt like jelly for a few hundred yards and as I walked they loosened and I wobbled but mentally pulling myself I got back into a run as slow as it was.

Then I heard the best sound of any event you enter the announcer at the end on the loud speaker reached me and down inside I knew that I had made it just another 500m and it would be all over.

There is always a part of you that wants it to be over, but at the same time the journey has taken you through so much and made you realize what it takes that you somehow do not want it to end the journey has made you a better person and the end seems not fair. You want the feeling to never end because you understand what it takes and what you have been through.

But the finish line was there and as I crossed I realized that I had done it I was a Half Ironman. Hang on does this mean I want to be an Ironman. At this point I truly do not know but to push yourself to a new limit is such an emotional high that inside you want more.

My time 6 hours 33 minutes the seconds really do not matter, what mattered was that all of us had taken a challenge and we had all won.

Margaret got a trophy for second place in her age group and packing up the cars tired and exhausted beyond anything I have ever done before.

I felt an elation and endorphin high, today I had with friends done better than my best, we all had.

Arbaim Ve Schome

2007-05-03T12:21:00.000+03:00

Ok whats with the title of the blog today?

Well in my poor translation of hebrew it is actually "Forty Eight" and hence my bitrhday, funny thing is that i do not feel 48.

Two days out from the Jordan Valley Half Ironman and in reality today was the last of the training taper days , a 45 minute run (should of done 48) made up of 3 repeats 10 min Easy 5 Minute Race Pace . We have a sandstorm of sorts here at the moment and the temperature was above 30 degrees C at 6 am when I ran

Getting my stuff together for tomorrow, looks like an expedition rather than a simple race of Swim Bike Run

Reminder to self , at dinner tonight PLENTY OF WATER

Three Days Out

2007-05-02T13:58:00.000+03:00

So I had planned as my first Triathlon to do an Olmypic distance race , surely a 1500m swim in open water, followed by 40 km on the bike and a 10 km run would be enough for my first Tri, hell I do not even know what happens in those Transition areas having never done a "transition".
Well no for some reason I have decided that I will be doing the "Half Ironman" 1900m swim, 90 km bike ride and then run a half marathon , why ?.
Because there is only one Half ironman a year here in Israel and so the left side of the brain has for some reason over ridden all common sense and I have entered it.
Feeling positive about the day, as my goal is not time orientated and just to finish with a smile is all I want.
Have been tapering and concentrating on nutrition this week along with the other great pondering of the event do I wear an old wetsuit , this morning at six am I was downstairs in the pool, and almost drowned on my first lap swimming in a wetsuit, as stupid as that sounds. I thought my time over 1000m was better than yesterday when I swam in my trisuit, but was a minute slower however I was warmer . So this is a question that will no doubt irk me to I actually get in the water Saturday. What to wear ? wetsuit or tri suit ... Erring on the side of the tri suit only at the moment
Followed the swim with a good run , easy 4.5 km loop around the suburb in 22:52 Heart rate did not get above 137 and best km split was 5:12.
Tomorrow I have a 45 minute run which i will do at easy pace and race pace over three intervals

A new PB and only in Israel

2007-05-01T16:18:00.000+03:00

Now readers of my blogs know that I have an affinity with the drivers of Israel. And last Saturday yet another story about life on the roads here took the unbelieveable to yet new "only in Israel" But lets get back to the issue of me running a new Personal Best for 10km.
Personal Bests meaning very little to anyone but yourself, of course people go "oh great" and "well done" but it is the inner self that knows you have gone faster than ever before over a set distance and perhaps all those early morning hours spent running by yourself pushing a little bit harder does in fact pay off.
For the last year I have been running with demons as one might say and not running my own race, more so in my mind than in my body, last Saturday I was focused and decided that this was a day for me to go. My best km split was 4 minutes 11 seconds and the slowest was a respectable 5 minutes 10 seconds on the uphill at the 7 km mark.
When they gave me the tacky medal at the end, for the first time in a long time it meant something to me because I really felt lke I had earnt it.
Now as runners we know that part of the race entry fee is for the police to co-ordinate road closures to ensure that the locals do not line us up like a bowling alley and aim for a strike. So after the race at around 9:50 I got back into the car and tried to drive out back home, only to be stopped in a line at a police barrier blocking the road. Now you do not have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that the police had been told to close the raod till 10:00, but oh no the five other cars around me seemed intent on screaming at the Policeman that they should be let out, these are the same runners who not half an hour ago had wanted the security of a safe road as we ran past other Israeli drivers shouting at Police road blocks that they had a god given right to drive on the road even if it was full of runners.

The Policeman just looked at his watch and shrugged as the departing runners vented their frustrations at the same person who not long ago doing the same thing had given us all safety.
I just laughed and sure enough at 10:01 the road opened up , only in Israel.

Tr(i)aining for my first Triathlon

2007-04-23T12:29:00.000+03:00

Now the swim leg of my first upcoming Triathalon should be easy, that is if I had been a good boy at Sunday School done all the right things and had God as my father. Because Saturday week will see me lining up on the Shores of the Sea of Galilee to compete in my first triathlon, now JC could just run the swim leg being that it is in the plaace where legend has it he walked on water.

But I am no saint and short of a miraculous appirition of the Virgin Mark in sweat on the back of my tri suit, I doubt that I will ever walk on water. So Saturday morning I headed up for a tri training session with fellow Tri'ers, Andrea and Margret.

Not that we got off to a flying start after loading the bikes onto the back of armored car, i started to drive away but somehow managed to roll backwards into the car behind me, luckily there was no damage to the bikes and since it was dark and 4:30 in the morning, the car behind me might of picked up a typical Israeli car park scratch.

The Sea of Galilee is about an hour and half North of my place and we arrived just after dawn, managed to find a coffee shop open to help pacify my nerves and also a clean toliet. Anyone who has ever trained for any morning sporting event like running or triathalons knows what I mean about the necessity of a toilet, I mean we even have cryptic codes to assess who of us has been and we all get jealous if another person has suceeded whilst you have managed only.

The aim of the training day was to do the three disciplines on the course, so at 7.30 we lined up on the shores of the Galilee and took the plunge. It was about 250m out and back to a buoy, now swimming in open water has now concern for me as it beats the black line fever you get swimming in a pool. Margret and Andrea managed it but still do not seem happy in the open water, so hopefully they will relax and be able to enjoy the swim.

Out of the water and get the bikes ready, split into three groups depending on whether you are doing the Half Ironman, Olympic or Sprint distances. I am opting for the Olympic distance as much as I am tempted to go for the Half Ironman, the thought of riding 90km then running a half marathon is just a bit to daunting as my training is not up to that level yet and it would as they say be a long day at the office.

The Olympic distance are 1500m swim, 40 km bike ride and a 10km run.

The Coach let our group know that we would be riding for a while to get warmed up then do two 20km time trials as in race preparation on the actual course. The warmup is always much easier as you ride in a group and can draft meaning that you are only expending about 30% of the effort to ride at that speed alone, for those doubters it really does make a massive difference to be in a peloton.

The time trials are a different out there alone no drafting so you are really working hard an example is that in the peloton my heart rate sat around 90 - 100 bpm, out on the time trial i was never below 130 bpm.

I pushed hard and managed a negative split for the second half of the time trial, Margret had a puncture which sucked and Andrea somehow has a bike that weighs more than she does and was still suffering from the effects of the cold water from the swim and when I passed her on the way back she had more coats and tops hanging off her than a trolley lady in East LA.

Running after biking is one of the hardest things to do as all of a sudden you are using totally different muscles in the same limbs and the first few strides feel like your legs are going around not in front of you. But we all pushed out for a solid thirty minute run covered 6km's which given that it was my first true brick session was more than happy with what we had all done.

As a post note, Sunday night we decided to get together for a while and practise fixing punctures, yes in the training schedule we now have fixing punctures, decided not wear my heart rate monitor for that session.

The Race with the Marzipan Elvis

2007-04-17T13:58:00.000+03:00

We often remember races for things other than the run and this was the case last Friday when we ran the oldest race in Israel around Mt Tavoor in the North. This is the oldest race in Israel being run over the last 55 year, which in age terms and length of history of a nation makes this run one of the most famous in the country.

Of course being Israel it was a complete and utter mess at the begining with access being granted to the car park only after a screaming match with a policeman with me waving and flashing my Press card and pointing to the TV signs all over my car as I explained that I was there to film the event, conviently dressed in running clothes along with my friends Chaim, Judith an Rachel.

Of course they then placed the bib collection down a hill about a km away, it was just all going wrong from the gitgo and for the first time in a long time I actually considered packing it in and just going home. I had to run back up the hill drop clothes off and run back to the start covered in sweat with my pace racing, only to have to stand around and wait in mud for the next twenty minutes as someone figured out where the actual starting line was and that we all were facing the wrong way.

The run itself is a classic ballbreaker with the first three km's being straight up the mountain that you can see in the background of the photo. Following my Ultras back in Australia I soon realised that I was in for a tough race as I was walking (along with everyone else after the first half km) I am normally a good hill runner but this was tough but at least on a road rather than the mud trail we started on.

You know trhe feeling of trying to scrape off the mud from the souls of your trainers as you try to reduce the weight on your feet back down to a manufacturers level.

Now we finally got to the high pointand descended down thru an Israeli Arab village of no beauty or value whatsoever, but then there is the irony of running past a mosque in the middle of Israel.

We now looped back along thru the fields at the base of the mountain once again slipping and sliding thru mud puddles with a quick Hwy downhill before the final small uphill and to the finishing line.

I wish I could figure out my time but the organisers site is all in hebrew, I think I did the 11km in 1:01 and some change so given the conditions and proximity to the ultras I was happy with my time. The others all came in within a few minutes of each other around 15 minutes later.

So what has this to do with "Marzipan Elvis" well the area is known for its Almonds the source of Marzipan and after the race we headed down to a restaurant for a coffee which by chance is also the home of the "Marzipan Museum" all you have ever wanted to know about marzipan is here. But in pride of place behind a protective pane of glass there was a life size model of Elvis (not the slim Elvis) made from Marzipan.

So for some races it is almost funny that you remember not the sweat pain and agony of running to your maximum but hey the Marzipan Elvis "priceless".

Run Strong
Mal

100 km Ultra Race Report

2007-03-27T02:40:00.000+02:00

For a change , a race report from a member of the team I just did the 100km Ultra Team Event - Thanks to gayle for writing this , I might follow up in next day or so. But I get back on the plane tomorrow to head to the UK and back to Israel
Mal
Sydney
Australia

Oxfam Trailwalker is the world’s greatest team challenge. And it’s also one of the toughest. The challenge is to get your team of four across 100km of Australian bush in less than 48 hours – and, collectively, to raise at least $1,000 to help to overcome poverty and suffering around the world.
On the morning of the 23rd of March, 2007 the team known as Dragmoe 151 – compromising of Owen Evans, David Rogers, Mal James and Gayle McKellar set out to complete the 100kms in an aggressive time of 15hrs. All the training in the preceding months showed it was something we could achieve but with no time for any unforseen problems – there were no contingencies built into the schedule. The race was going to prove to be of physical and mental endurance as well as an emotional, frustration and heartbreaking conclusion for us all.

The first challenge to face all 630 teams competing on the day was the extreme weather conditions where it was predicted to be a scorching 35 degrees. History was going to be made today as the temperatures soared to 37.5 degrees, the hottest March day since 1965 and a women’s team called the Dashing Divas were the first to cross the finish line in 10hrs and 44 mins. A woman’s team had finally knocked off the reigning men’s team from Sydney – The Groin Sprains.

The event started in Jells Park Mt Waverley and completes at Wesburn Park 100km’s later. Officially 592 teams began the challenge divided into start times of 7:00am, 8:30am and 10:00am. Before the event had even begun 8 walkers had pulled out. This was to set the scene for the rest of the day. Between the start and finish are 8 mandatory checkpoints each complete team of 4 must register in and out of. The course winds through some of Victoria’s most scenic national parks and trail ways.

Friday morning 6:00am and registration for the teams began. Jells park tea-house was alive with many competitors, support crews and event organizers watching the starting clock tick down to the 7:00am start. Before we knew it the official team photo was taken, our hydration backs were filled with food and drink and as all teams huddled together at the starting point the 10 second countdown began, we were off and running.

With an overnight low of 25 degrees Dragmoe got off to a very good start. Mal was a new team member and new to the race in Melbourne. He had competed in Oxfam’s organised in Hong Kong and Sydney but never Melbourne. The first checkpoint from Jells Park to Churchill National Park is 10.5km’s of relatively flat terrain which allows for some good running. The GPS actually registers 12.5km’s and on the day we were able to complete this distance in a PB time of 1hr 29 mins compared to last years effort of 1hr 36 mins. We were all pumped with such a great result.

Checkpoint 2 is a hilly 9.5km’s into Lysterfield Lake Park which winds past the Commonwealth Games mountain bike course. The sun was now well in the sky and beating down on all the 7:00am starter teams. We joked around that today was probably going to be the hottest day on record – little did any of us know what we were going to be facing in a few hours time. Lysterfield came and went in a time of 1hr 15 mins and we were sitting around 57th place overall. Pretty much where we were same time last year. This is where Dragmoe would begin the attack on the rest of the field as we began to gain back places as we headed for the hills of the Dandenong's.

After filling our water bladders and our stomachs with some quick food we were off on a 15.5km trek from Lysterfield up through Birdsland National Park, Belgrave and onto the 1000 steps at Ferntree Gully. We had barely covered 30km’s and disaster was about to strike. By now it was over 30 degrees and Mal was starting to feel the effects of the hot weather. As we came into Belgrave, our amazing support crew of Kathryn and Andrew showered us with cold water to cool down our bodies. Mal continued suffering from nausea, stomach and legs cramps.

At Ferntree Gully we were faced with the news that they had closed the checkpoint to Olinda due to Total Fire Ban restrictions and they were not letting anyone cross the Dandenongs. This was disappointing to all teams involved but in hindsight was a saving grace due to the extreme heat everyone was enduring. No one could have survived those 1000 steps under those conditions. We were driven to Olinda Football club where we took another 1hr to allow Mal to rest and we discussed team tactics.

All seemed to be back on track as we put on clean team shirts and set out to Silvan Reservoir for checkpoint 5. Mal seemed to have found his second wind and was rearing to go and tackle 8.5km’s of undulating hills. Another PB was set as we completed the stage in 1hr 10 mins and we started to make out way up the leader board, now we were sitting in approximately 34th place and quite excited that we were going to reach our target. We surprised Andrew as we came into Silvan 10 to 20 minutes earlier than expected. I also think we surprised ourselves. Check in and out was very quick but we all took the opportunity to soak our hats in cold water to cool our bodies down.

We were now experiencing about 37 degrees and all feeling the effects. Silvan to Mt Evelyn was our next checkpoint – the shortest of them all of only 5km’s but it was a tough terrain to navigate. It took us just under an hour to complete. Our entrance into Mt Evelyn was starting to show signs of fatigue, heat exhaustion, de-hydration and body soreness on all of us. Check-in placed us in 35th position and I was getting excited about what our potential result would be. We were at the 59km mark – over half way.

The real challenge was about to begin, the dreaded 30km’s of flat straight Warburton Trail from Mt Evelyn through to Woori Yallock primary school then on to Millwarra Primary School at Millgrove. This is where our running/walking training was going to kick in and we were going to start to blitz the rest of the field. After some short jogging spurts and a quiz game to keep our minds active it was quite clear the energy levels were beginning to drop and the team was struggling to maintain the pace in the heat. Mal had another set back and the nausea and leg cramps had returned with a vengeance. This is where we finally stopped and he conceded that he could not continue. Andrew was called to pick up Mal from the course and drive him to a first aid station at Woori Yallock where he received treatment, he was in a serious way.

Owen remained with Mal as Dave and I continued along the course to arrive at checkpoint 7 some nearly 3hrs later. With 5 km’s to go Dave started to also suffer severe leg cramping and our pace slowed to nearly a crawl. I had not realised how bad Dave was until he started to vomit and he collapsed in immense pain 100 metres from checkpoint 7. His legs stopped functioning, he could no longer walk, he was experiencing sever cramping throughout both his legs. This is where the fear and anguish set in as I witnessed distressed bodies trying to deal with what they had endured during the day. We carried Dave to the check in point and stood proud as a team of four as we checked in for the last time having reached the 76km mark. We were now in 29th place.

Half an hour later we retired Dragmoe from the Oxfam event as Dave received medical attention for the next 3hrs. Woori Yallock Primary School was like a disaster zone, bodies had fallen everywhere and St John’s ambulance had to call in emergency paramedics to treat the sever cases. IV drips, oxygen and hyperthermia blankets were common place.

At checkpoint 7 we were the first team to retire to be followed by 196 other people that night. Checkpoint 8 at Millwarra was no better with 100 people suffering from the conditions of the day.

All in all 53 teams and 539 people retired from the event.
We would like to thank everyone who encouraged and supported us leading up to the event.

Our fantastic support crew of Kathryn, Lora and Andrew who dealt with our bad tempers, our unreasonable demands at each checkpoint and our utter disappointment and heartache at having to retire.

Six Hours Thirty-Four Minutes

2007-03-17T09:00:00.000+02:00

I have a good reason for not posting for the past week, namely that after running for six hours and thirty four minutes last Saturday, I have been painting my parents house in Bathurst, a rural town three hours West of Sydney. Now for those who have run a marathon and a hard one knows that your legs are basically shot for the days and the pain of painting a house climbing up and down a ladder hurts enough without having run a marathon the day before.

The Six Foot Track marathon is truly the most amazing and beautiful marathon that I have ever run, and at the same stage the toughest race I have done to date. Even breaking it down into five-minute increments for Stuart and his battle, it was hard.

At major marathons around the world in cities like New York and Paris, there is an overwhelming sense of being at an event of magnitude. You can almost be in awe of the arrangements and logistics, not to mention the fact that you are running with world record holders.

At the start of the six-foot track marathon you milled around drinking tea and damper with golden syrup listening to the sounds of the bush waking up. There is no ramped up motivational music or stretching classes with aerobic instructors, instead you took the chance to stand around and just enjoy the moment rather than eyeing your watch every two minutes wondering whether to start fighting the crowd in get into a starting position.

Now a few words on the actual course, the one and only time you run on a sealed road is for the ten steps it takes to cross a road 39 km’s into the 45 km’s it runs. In the first km you drop off the Blue Mountain range and drop over 1000m vertical, in other words you are slipping and sliding in single file off muddy steps encased in a gully that reminds you of a scene from Jurassic Park or The Lost World. Sheers cliffs tower above and to see the sky you have to look vertically up, not recommended when running muddy steps as fast as you can down hill.

You enter the plains and find yourself on the most magical of tracks that go through low rolling hills, the smell of Eucalyptus from the Gum trees envelopes your sense of smell, At each fence on the Track is a sty over the barbed wire fence. At one point I found that I was running alone where I could see no one in front of me and no sound of footsteps behind me. All I could here were Whip O Will birds calling out there distinctive call and Kookaburras in the distance laughing, the river below raged through the bottom of the gorge and all I had to do was run in an environment like this, running was the most natural thing to do and I honestly felt the most relaxed I have ever done in a marathon or any other race at this point.

At 15 km’s the Cox River awaits and in most years this is barely a trickle, given that Australia is in its worst drought in 100 years you would expect that the river level would be so low that you could hop skip and jump without breaking stride. The week before the area had had rain for the first time in months and of course the river was now flowing,
“No worries, mate, she is only waist deep” said the Bush Fire Brigade Volunteer standing by the rope.

Then the sixty-four dollar question, do I take off my shoes and socks to wade across thus keeping them dry or do I just wade across and run with wet runners and socks.

I have trained and raced before with wet shoes and just jumped into the river, it was freezing cold and my leg muscles contracted rapidly as I stumbled through the water that upon reaching the height of my shorts caused an even greater intake of breath, I ask you when was the last time in a race that your poured ice cold water down the front of your shorts.

Coming out of the water I ran smugly past twenty or so runners who were putting there shoes and socks back on. I was feeling good but in my wet shoes all I could feel was small river pebbles and gravel cutting into my wet feet. So had to stop and try to clean my feet.

Had I made the right decision?

Well yes because in the next two km’s we had to go through three smaller rivers and thus everyone got wet shoes and socks. This year it could not be avoided.

Now I had studied the course profile and after this pleasant few km’s in the valley we would come to the first mountain climb, there are only two mountain climbs on the course, but what they do not tell “6ft virgins” is the sheer scale of these climbs, on rocky rutted tracks where every step is an effort to avoid twisting your ankle I started up the first climb.

One hour later, yes one hour later I reached the peak of Mini M Saddle, I was shot but then again everyone else was totally gutted.

To put some sense into the severity of these hills, in twenty four years history of the running of the six foot track marathon only one (that’s right “ONE”) person has ever run the complete marathon, everyone else walks some of us just walk more than others.

The track went down just as steeply as it had been on the rise for a couple of km’s then the next rise started. You could do nothing but hang your head and try to hang in as best you could, this where Stuart’s courage came to me and I would count in blocks of five. Five steps at a time I kept climbing and once again it takes nearly an hour to climb this Mountain.

When you reach the top I was shattered but then again everyone else was and time became a concern, because if you want a medal you have to finish in under seven hours, my calculations had been going ok till the two climbs and now I considered that perhaps I would not make the cut.

A pace maker caught up with me and he said stick with him and he would get me over the line at approx 6 hours 45 minutes, but man he seemed to be running fast, you know that it is mental but as you approach four hours of running in these conditions, you are not thinking straight.

Then the big mistake I took my eyes off the track, caught a rock with my toes and I did not have the leg strength to hold myself upright. Like a bad slo mo dream I was ploughing into the track. My left hand had skin ripped and was bleeding, my right arm and shoulder took the blunt of the fall and were grazed, and my right knee banged hard causing me to limp as I stood up.

The pace maker and another runner helped me up, I was sore and bloody. But I was not going to quit, I knew that if I kept running and my knee loosened up I would be ok. I thought about stopping at the next medical tent, but I figured out that it would cost me too much time and the cut off was still in my mind.

The bleeding slowed and stopped under the flapping skin, my grazes became a great source of interest and attraction for every fly in the bush. But most importantly my knee started to come good and I knew that I would make it.

By this stage everyone has the same strategy, you walk up an incline no matter how what, on the flats you tried to run if you could and downhill’s you ran.

People who have run with me know that I like to know what my splits are, whether the last km was 5 minutes 30 seconds or 6 minutes.

My watch beeped indicating that another km had been done and glancing down the readout was 5:26 , I felt this great boost of confidence that if I was putting out 5:26 mins/km then I was going very well.

Then about two minutes later looking down again to check my heart rate, the watch showed 5:28 and the seconds hand was ticking over.

I had not run a 5:26min/km. I had been running for 5 hours 26 minutes, the irony was that towards the end the same thing happened at 6:26, which says a lot for my mental status.

The last four km’s were probably the hardest, even tougher than the climbs, downhill on a very rocky and tree rooted single track barely wide enough for one person.

Your quad muscles and calves have by this stage given everything and moving them in the slightest twist causes you to cramp violently as you try to avoid falling off the side of the hill.

Down and down, cramp after cramp, moving faster felt better but it was the most technical and trickiest part of the Ultra.

The finishing line came and I did what I always do and that is dig down and try to sprint across the line, you feel the elation of finishing and at the same time the instant downer of its over.

Mum and Dad were there to great me, and then with my medal over my head I headed to the first aid tent and for the next thirty minutes had skin cut off and dirt flushed out from my cut hand, ice on my shoulder after being cleaned of fly excrement and vomit, and an ice pack on the knee.

It was my slowest time for 45 km’s but given everything that had happened in the days leading up and during the actual race, I rate this race as one of my best.

It is nice when time does not matter, as Stuart says hey another five minutes you should be happy.

Dedicated to Stuart

2007-03-09T04:09:00.000+02:00

It is the day before the 6ft Track Ultra marathon and I find myself on the train going over the Blue Mountains blanketed in fog and mist, and down into Lithgow, where my mother will pick me up and take me onto Bathurst for the night. Before driving back into the mountains in the early morning to the start of Australia’s most famous off road Ultra Marathon, “The 6ft Track” all off road starting at the top of the Blue Mountain Range descending down to the Megalong Valley floor before a lung busting ascent up the Black Mountain Range and down to the finish at Jenolan Caves. 45km’s of torture is how it is portrayed, if you can do a marathon in four hours (which I have done) then expect to hopefully finish in six hours is how the race info puts it.

Now six hours is 360 minutes, but for my friend Stuart he would tell me that he looks it as 72 blocks of 5 minutes. Why five minute blocks?

Well I have spent the last few days with one of my oldest and closest friends Stuart. We met on the first day of High School together back even walked home together on that first day. We grew up and did everything wrong and good together that mates do as teenagers. We never had money and what money we did earn from doing paper rounds we spent together. We did our first holiday overseas together as young lads in Fiji and even when we went our own ways we never lost touch and somehow whenever we talked on the phone, it was like we had only spoken the day before. If I ever needed to hear a friendly voice of a mate it is always Stuart that I call.

Then last year Stuart, only older than me by six weeks got cancer of the bowels, he had an operation and they removed twenty cm’s (nearly a foot of his bowels). He fought and fought as hard as I have ever seen anyone fight, as a single father of a sixteen-year daughter he has too much to live for.

Then last week things went from looking positive to bad, as a side effect of the chemo he had developed a 6cm blood clot in his arm where the chemo went in, the clot had started to break and had passed thru his heart into his lungs.

The hard thing is that often friends do not tell you till to late what has happened, it is not embarrassment or fear that is behind their decision but courage and bravery. I spoke to Stuart Wednesday night after I found out he was back in hospital, he sounded awful but still positive. The next morning I walked into his room and saw what little remains of my best mate, he is fading in body but glowing in spirit and determination to beat this disease.

The good news was that the clots had been stabilized and that he was to be released that afternoon, still amazes me the ability of modern medicine to treat people and Stuart is probably at the best hospital in Australia.

We spent four hours together in the hospital, the amount of time it takes me to run a marathon. Just doing what we do best talk, laugh and plan our future lives.

When I rang him last night he was back home full of spirit and determination and when I asked what he was up to he told me

“ I only think of the next five minutes, I get through those five minutes grateful and I plan the next five minutes. Nothing more nothing less”

He added “have a great race Saturday”.

Running is in all honesty a solo sport, when it gets tough people and friends around you support you and get you thru the tough times but essentially it is you alone with two legs going left right repeat. Tomorrow will be different for me because when I feel bad or hurting, when I feel like there is nothing left and I want to stop. I will say to myself:

“ Five more minutes Mal, just five more minutes. Because if all Stuart wants from life now is five more minutes, then by god I am going to run hard for five more minutes for my best friend. Stuart tomorrow I run not for me but for you.

Friday March 9th 2007
Blue Mountains
Australia

South Pacific Sweating

2007-02-27T01:48:00.000+02:00

Yes even in the South Pacific I continue to train, every morning a five km loop on a Pacific Island. But alas my I pod is flat and all I can here is the sweat pouring out of me.
Have my 6ft track Ultra on March 10th followed by a 100km Ultra two weeks later so my holiday still has me running ragged, not to mention squeezing in two to three Scuba dives a day
Life and training continues, sans music
Mal
Port Vila
Vanuatu

Understanding

2007-02-17T20:59:00.000+02:00

Not only have I joined a gym here whilst i am holiday, tell you what it is a total new experience to have a spin class where you actually understand every word. Then again the two classes I have done it is funny to listen to the accent, by the girls have had an "occa" / Australian heavy accent, that I had to smile to hear classic Aussie slang classics like "Youse"

More later only running with Molly and I have some stair work to do this morning

Mal
Sydney Australia

Has Mal been SLACK ?

2007-02-15T21:54:00.001+02:00

Well no actually I have not neglected my training , sure I would like to have been swimming more. But since it was snowing in the UK, they do not have lap pools in Economy Class on Singapore Arlines or on trains thru Mountains, how was I to know that the Bathurst City Council would of closed its one and only pool to renovate it to Olympic standard. I do not have a bike with me here and I hope to find a spinning class today.
But running yes readers, only snow and flying has meant that I have not run every day. From the streets of London thru the suburb I grew up in as a boy, to rural Australia and post Country Showgrounds and with my old dog along creek banks with Kookaburras and Cocatoos
Hope to write more over the weekend before heading off to Fiji next Tuesday

Running In Wales

2007-02-15T21:49:00.000+02:00

I have never trained somewhere as cold and as hilly as the roads around here, from the guest house hotel it is literally an uphill stretch for a km and I mean uphill not some small gradient that you move up for two minutes and hit the flats, this is ten minutes uphill steady long windy small road with hedge row on both sides, and a permanent frost on the ground.

Fields with sheep and the green is so incredible, you could not go outside without a hat and gloves, the air is so cold that it almost hurts your lungs.

Chlorine & Peanuts

2007-01-30T17:57:00.000+02:00

before I get to the story behind todays workout "Chlorine & Peanuts" , a reflection back on last nights run as shown here in the Heart Rate Readout. Met with Chaim and did the hills course close to his home, which are the same hills (Or hill) that we used to train on for the New York Marathon last year.

5 Solid repeats will have to go back and check how our times have improved or most likely gotten worse, (bad english I know). We motored up and jogged down, as hard as hills training is, I still enjoy doing this workout as it has a diefinite focus and a definite end.

This morning down to the Gym as it just opened, I had to do a swim session and a weights/core. Now on the way to the gym found a packet of peanuts in the car and decided in my wisdom to munch down a few handfuls. Fifteen minutes later doing laps I realised that chlorine in the mouth somehow managed to bring back the peanuts, not that i threw up but somehow the taste of peanuts became mixed with chlorine and that fellow athletes is something that should be avoided. So my training tip for today is that nothing tastes good with chlorine.

Weekend Report

2007-01-29T15:27:00.000+02:00

Saturday Training
Good Endurance Ride 65 km , have been told that I will be moving up into the top group for the next ride, the group on Saturday was the intermediate pack, and they have trouble holding the wheel and moving together, all they do is just keep braking and slowing the peloton down too much. I took off on my own a few times when the coach told me to push harder. When you are out alone you really have to work so much harder and trying to keep in front of the peloton you do push much more.
Saturday afternoon was a hash run of about 5 km, not hard but legs were still tired from the run, will be starting to do brick sessions soon, when you ride hard then get off your bike and start running. Ths does hurt as different muscles are suddenly used.
Sunday Morning . Long Run 16.5 km in 1:33:00 good pace pushed hard in sections thru sandhills, wanted to do this in prep for my Ultra in May. Following the run off to Yoga for a 90 minute stretch and bend, would like to say that I am getting more flexible but not quite yet

Trying to configure weekends

2007-01-26T13:27:00.000+02:00

One of the problems adjusting to my training group for my running and tri program is that they gear it towards the Israel week which has Friday and Saturday as its weekend. Up to now I have always looked forward to running long with my friends on Saturday morning , but that is my group cycling day. In fact Saturday mornng is the only day you can ride safely on the roads here, where hitting cyclists is a National Sport that they want to include in the Olympics. The group runs long on Saturday and I have always had Friday off as my Rest Day.
So the dilemna exists, but this weekend my last in Israel before my holiday I am taking today off as a Rest Day, Cycling 70+ km with the group tomorrow morning then Hash Running in the afternoon and a Sunday Long Run with Yoga afterwards
"Avagoodweekend"
as they say downunder

Hills & Track

2007-01-25T11:07:00.000+02:00

Tuesday Morning. I have not run hills for a while now, once they were a staple part of my weeks training espicially leading up to my first marathon in Athens 2004. The original Marathon course is actually an oxymoron, for one long bloody hill.
My next challenge is an Ultra marathon March 10th in Australia, when I am going to run the six foot track ultra, 45 km all off road and all hills well mountains actually. So Tuesday was my first real hills session, with six repeats next week will up the repeats to 7 or 8 , it makes for a nice graph

Thursday morning Track, after not much sleep due to work I did hit the snooze button twice at 5 am, it is hard to get up and be motivated to be at the track by 6:30 realising that I had to make my lunch, pack clothes for work and more running clothes for the hash tonight.
But there I was in the cold warming up, why is it that coaches always tell you to go faster when you do not feel in the slighest incline to go faster, but then againthat is what the coaches do ... duh ... they coach , After warm up we did hamstring steps which is a cross between a Nazi goose step and a Monty Python silly walk, followed by lunges. A word on lunges is that they really work, if you want to build up muscle strength in your legs then a couple of times a week do lunges 50m slow.
Then for the main session we had to do 400m fast 400m medium withing 12 seconds of your fast pace repeat thus 4 x 400 f/m/f/m 60 second break repeat x 4 . thus 4x4x400 which by the end hurts

The long Runs to come this weekend

Weekend Report

2007-01-22T18:16:00.000+02:00

Started Saturday off with very dead legs but managed to get an hour run done , in the park in Tel Aviv . I have run this park so many times that it can at times bore the living hell out you, but it is central for a lot of my friends so we often end up there. My legs were so tired that I almost realised from the start that Track on Thursday followed by the Long Forest Run on Friday had taken there toll. But call me silly and foolhardy, I did kick out and get 10.5 km in slower than I would like but still the joy of running endorphins do kick in and it felt good.
Saturday afternoon was the local hash groups Run 666, so we hired a bus and went up to the archaelogical site at Meggido, also known as Armageddon, where accroding to the bible the end of the world will happen and in Revelations 13:18 the number of the beast is 666, so we ran through the forests and fields there, another 7 km and by this time I was completely shot , but the good thing about "hashing" is that we always have a few post run beers and even a good bbq.
Sunday was definetely a day off running. No way was I going to run, so I had a killer Spin Class that in the venacular kicked a... , followed by a hour and half of Yoga. As much as I try I still cannot get my head down on the floor but this will not stop me. If anything it was a great stretch to finish the week
Monday ... REST DAY... Well I only did half an hour on my stationary bike trainer , I did try to rest
Tomorrow is Sound of Music Day ... Running the hills

Forest Run

2007-01-19T19:43:00.000+02:00

There are some days when running is pure pleasure and this morning I met with the tri group and we ran in the forest. The sky was crystal clear and cold, sunlight filtered thru trees and cut passages of light.

All nice sounding except that we were running hard, and by no means was this a conversational paced long run. One of my better quotes of the morning was when I turned to a girl next to me and said are you hurting too and the reply was a grunted yes.

It was in the mountains and I hope you can see the altitude in the graph.

One of those runs when you really feel alive, except when you are hurting

Runners Elbow

2007-01-18T15:45:00.000+02:00

Track starts at 6:30 am, and on a cold morning here we stand shivering with our breath's blowing in the early dawn light. It was to be a speed session starting with 5 x 400's with splits 3,4 & 5 to be at maximum. We soon break down to groups in which we are similar in speed, so five of us set out, the first two spilits warming up have us doing around 1:37 for the 400's before opening up and doing the last 3 in 1:30 each within .10 of a second.
On the first lap of the third my legs hit lactate pain at 300 m , on the second at 200m and by the last I had only gone 100m before my legs were burning bad and still with 300m to go the rest of the group tucked in behind me and wanted me to hold the pace. One guy even said if he had passed me I would of only run harder to try and pass him back so he decided to err in the pain we already were in. There is a competitive aspect of me, espicially on track where I can see the end of the pain just around the bend.
Then it was 5 x 100's with only a walk back to regather before sprinting back the track. I can say with pride that I hit 24.8 km/h.
Which to these old legs made me very happy, my best split for the 100 was 13.0 seconds the other four were all within a few tenths with my slowest being 13.8.
There is a lot to be said for a Speed Track Session.
The only pain I had after all of that this morning was that my elbows to the triceps hurt, i had been pumping my arms so hard that I had managed to give myself "Runners Elbow"

Countdown to May

2007-01-15T17:53:00.000+02:00

Well I have a date for a new goal and focus, it seems that there is the Half Ironman Race coming here in May, so I will be putting all my efforts towards training for that.

Being totally new to the sport of triathlon, this is my first season of trying to do Tri’s it is exciting yet daunting to start the approach also given that I have not done a triathlon it is also scary to some extent.

I still enjoy running so much that adding the biking and swimming is a natural progression. I even went out and bought a new indoor bike trainer today, you have to remember that riding a bike here in Israel at anytime other than Saturday morning is considered a death wish given the drivers in this country. So with my new trainer I hope that I will be able to do two more biking sessions each week on my bike, which is better than a Spinning class as I am in control of my destiny rather than trying to follow a Spin Class in Hebrew of which I do not understand a word.

Yesterday (Saturday) morning I was out with my tri training group for the bike ride and my coach Gavin put me in to the second group, rather than the top group I rode with a few weeks ago. The top group basically blew me away, even though I rode well these guys and girls were way above me when it came to hills and speed and I was a proud but distant last.

Riding with the second (middle) group I actually found myself to be one of the better riders, now I add at this point that I have only ridden my road bike about four times, so to find myself at the front climbing all the hills and catching other riders made me feel great and very confident.

We rode around 76 km’s in three and half hours in the cold I did not even take my warm top off. It involved riding out over three climbs before we got to a long hill that was about 5 km up, and there we had to do three repeats of the climb before heading back.

In the afternoon I had a Hash run of about 5km, which is a nice way to round out a day and have a few beers afterwards without any pressure.

Up again at 5:45 am this morning to join a new group of runners who run long on Sundays which is perfect for me and my program as it then allows me to get a Yoga Class in at 10:30.

The run was very easy a nice 17km in 1:35:00 along the cliff tops over looking the Med Sea, very nice soft sandy and firm trails and it was fun to run with new people and we pushed hard on the way back which I enjoy now. A long run with a focus to finish is good rather than just pound out the distance and time.

In Yoga I found that the time I have been spending in the gym is paying off as my upper body strength has greatly improved and holding poses was much easier than before, whilst I may have lost some flexibility I have gained strength.

All in all a good weekend of training with all positives and no negatives

Looking forward to the new week.

Weekly Summary – Week Ending Sunday Jan 14 2007

Running – 43 km’s
Cycling On Road – 76 km’s
Spin Class x 1
Weights & Core X 1
Yoga x 1
Rest Day x 1

The Need for Rest

2007-01-12T15:27:00.000+02:00

Thursday morning was another hard track session, given that it was only a week to the day since the marathon. My legs have felt good but by the end of this session of 3 x 1200's repeats with increasing pace on each lap, followed by 2 x800's each around 3:30 I was tired. Not to mention that I had to set a hash run immediately afterwards and followed it up by running the actual 5 km of the hash run that night.
I woke this morning and said to myself I have earned a Rest Day before the weekend training schedule which looks something like this Saturday AM - 70km bike ride with the group PM Run about 5 km, Sunday AM Spin Class and Yoga followed by swimming and weights in the afternoon.
This training for triathlon is hard but the rewards are coming as my running is starting to feel much stronger with each run being very focused

Back on Track

2007-01-09T12:40:00.000+02:00

Now the title of the post may give you the assumption that the wheels had fallen off my training schedule but rest assured nothing of the sorts has occured.
The alarm went off at 5:15 am, not a glimmer of light in the sky and a kitchen without even a banana to eat. At least there was coffee and some dates. Dates are a great training fuel, in fact it is claimed that dates contain everything you need to live on, think of it this way for thousands of years Bedouins crossed deserts with nothing but dates salt and water. Now this has nothing at all to do with my training today other than to reinforce the point that when I arrived at the track I was not hungry and had enough energy for an hour session. So think about using natural food instead of gels and gu's for a change.
There was a laarge group of at least 40 of us this morning in the dawn light as we ran 2000m warm up then did some drill strides which pulled and strained some muscles that I had not felt since the marathon.
Coach Gavin looked at me and said " That since I had done the marathon last week, my schedule for the track today was to be 800 repeats at faster than marathon pace."
The 800' repeats have become a legendary staple of marathon runners made famous by Bart Yasso of Runners World USA, the formula is that the time it takes to run 800 repeats indicates your potential marathon time: hence a running a 3:47 800 would basically translate into a 3 Hour 47 Minute Marathon.
There is more to this theory and I will write more on the succcess I have had using 800's in the past in nother entry.
My time last week for the Tiberius marathon was 4:04:01, so my goal pace today was to run sub 4:00 800 splits.
#1 3:47, #2 3:40, #3 3:43, #4 3:46, #5 3:47. By this stage my legs were hurting and I was happy with all my times, I had planned to do only 4 repeats but was psyched enough to push out a fifth. Followed by a 800 cooldown , all up about 7km on the track this morning
I like being back on track.
Mal

Crossing the Finish Line

2007-01-08T15:00:00.000+02:00

After much searching a picture of me crossing the finish line, Russ is just behind me. The other photographers there missed this classic moment in history

Tiberius Marathon Pictures Updated

2007-01-08T12:09:00.000+02:00

In the Marathon Report, I have added a few pictures .. check it out
Cheers
Mal

Tiberius Marathon Splits

2007-01-07T17:30:00.000+02:00

Russ
just sent the splits to me , my watch decided to do a nuclear meltdown and is being repaired ....

10km 0:54:48
20km 1:51:03
half 1:56:56
30km 2:49:01
finish 4:04:01

As we already knew, we were doing fine until the wheels came off
after 30km.
It's funny to see the altitude range, -745 to -845 feet.

Note was not so much the wheels but the legs and I think that they really came loose in the last 4 km's before that we were really cruising

Also will upload some photos from Russ tomorow

Tiberius Marathon Report

2007-01-07T17:05:00.000+02:00

Tiberius Marathon
January 4, 2007

It was these words that I read in a book last night that affected more than any other words I have read in running books.

“ The planned walking approach is appealing to runners that don’t or won’t put in the necessary time to train properly. So if you want to take it easy for whatever reason go ahead then, walk - run the marathon. But don’t brag to people that you ran the marathon. You participated, enjoyed yourself and finished. That’s an achievement and has its own rewards. But to be a conquering hero, train to do your best. To do that, you’ll need to race the marathon on the run.”

Extract from the “ The Competitive Runners Handbook” Bob Glover & Shelly-Lynn Florence Glover. Second Edition 1999 Page 266

I thought long the night before the marathon about these words of wisdom, as I had been planning to run this marathon using the Galloway method of run – walk and thought that given I have had no chance to train seriously since the New York Marathon in November 2006, my longest run was a twenty km two Saturdays ago after a month on the road in Turkey and Iraq.

The Galloway idea of achievement appealed to me, I am a middle of the pack runner aged 47 my best time is to go twice under 4 hours by seconds, but still sub 4 is sub 4 whether by 59 minutes or 1 second sub 4 is just that. Both of these marathons had totally exhausted me.

I wanted to run Tiberius, my only chance to run a local marathon in a calendar year. We only have one marathon a year in Israel and the date just sucks for any Spring Fall training schedule. But after New York I knew that to have a goal would help break the dreaded post marathon blues.

But unlike running authors who can pontificate whilst they earn a salary and train in the comforts of Central Park. My world is vastly different, during the “taper” period I was in Iraq being shot at on a daily basis, to help the War on Terror so authors like Glover may run in peace.

I picked up Russ at 5:45am (Russ is a running friend who I met through the Pod cast “Phedipidations” and we had run once in the middle of the year when he was here on a layover from his job as a Delta Airlines Pilot. Russ flew in last night at 8pm and we had arranged to run the marathon for fun.

Driving up to Tiberius took a couple of hours in my armored car and we laughed and joked about life and running. When I asked him what he hoped to do he said 4 – 4:15. This was critical as I had the key to the car and did not want him standing around in the cold waiting for me after the marathon.
So as we lined up with I said lets try and find the 4 hour pacing group and hang in with them to 10km and assess where we were at that stage. Naturally we could not find them and with about six hundred other runners set off, trying to hold a pace and find the pacing team. We hit the first km at 5:40 exactly the pace for 4 hours and still no pacing group anywhere.

For the next couple of minutes we moved along and then as I looked at my watch at 8:30 I turned to Russ and said I am doing Galloway – run 9 minutes walk 1 minute. Russ looked at me and nodded lets try it. Neither one of us has ever tried this in any of our training runs or past marathons, Russ has done ten marathons and I have run 4 before today.

So we just walked at nine minutes for one minute then started to run again, runners past us and we caught them up, then at 19 minutes we walked again and the same runners past us and then we caught them again.

The benefits are not in the first hour or second hour but according to Galloway in the final km’s you will run stronger and faster.

As we got to near the eight km mark we saw a large pack running together, the elusive 4 hour pacing team was about fifty strong and moving along in the distance about 700 m as they went around a bend. Russ and I just held onto what we were doing and as time past, our marathon became very manageable segments of nine running one walking.

Mentally this was a total and complete break through for me as the km wore on and we were buffeted by wind gusts of 40 kmh coming off the Golan Heights we stuck to our plan. Moving deliberately and with purpose. At the halfway the distance to the 4-hour pacing team was down to less than a hundred meters and their numbers were dropping whilst we felt stronger.

We reached the pacing team at 23 kms and since the watch hit nine minutes we backed off and walked and the pace team moved on looking at us as to why we were walking, five minutes later we passed the twenty of them that were left and our pace was picking up whilst they could not hold on to us.

The wind on the back section was brutal almost pushing you off the road, what sweat you put out dried as salt on your skin and face. Both Russ and I had to hold onto our caps to avoid losing them during gusts that beat us without fear or favor.

The thing was that we both felt strong our pace through 30 km was as good if not faster than the first ten km. 32km and you enter the death zone (20 miles) the wall is there we all know it, we have all felt it. That feeling of dead legs, racing pulse and sheer mind numbness where the left side of the brain controls all aspects of life. Nothing is positive in this zone; you just try to hang on. Power drinks taste like kerosene, gels has the flavor of sump oil that gags you and trying to drink water is impossible beyond a sip that does nothing of value. Your body wants to shut down and all you want to do is walk to escape the pain and horror of where you are, and how much further there is to go.

But neither Russ nor I said anything, I hand signaled a walk as I had done for the past hours and we walked. Then again picked up the pace. Looking at my watch I would glance down and say, “just hold it for three more minutes then you can relax for a minute”

Each of us took turns without realizing it pushing the pace and tempo, at one stage in the 30’s we ran a 5:06 km. Never before had I ever achieved this type of speed at this stage in a marathon and felt so good. I was hurting so was Russ. If you do not hurt at this stage you are not putting it on the line and we both without saying a word were in pain.

Looking at Russ I could see salt encrusted sweat lines on his face, his mouth was tighter his arms looked heavier and I knew that he was a mirror image of me.

At 38 km’s the 4 hour pace leader past with the group there was only two of them left out of fifty. They moved past us, we were at the end of our limits there was no shame in being past by good runners and all we wanted was the end.

We had both run one of the best marathons of our lives, strong to the end and positive. We had passed so many walking runners who moved like zombies and yet we strode with shuffling steps. We had come this far together we were going to finish together.

We crossed the line in 4:04:01 exhausted my legs had been pushed to a point that defied pain and endurance. But they had strength that I had not had before.

Did either of us feel less of achievement because we had used a technique of intelligent running never tried before? NO.

We were marathoners who had done it, run a complete marathon in a time that I thought was but a pipe dream before using this technique.

Original members of the 4 Hour Pacing Group were still crossing the finish line as we drove out and back home, they like us were heroes on the day. Russ and I had run smarter and both had learnt that happiness from running comes from within and doing your best.

Messer’s Glover like other elite (sic) runners should realize that behind them are runners who truly embody the spirit of our sport. We complete events that world champions run in and we enjoy the experience just as much as they do. They too walk through water stops as Bill Rodgers used too, is he not a runner since he walked during a marathon.

I could get annoyed at anyone who says that it is not allowed to walk during a marathon we all do at some stage, just some of us use intelligence to maximize performance and allow hollow words in old books to give us motivation.

Russ and I had a great run today a truly great run and no one will ever take that away from us.

Tiberius Marathon Countdown

2007-01-02T15:26:00.000+02:00

Apologies for lack of posts thus far this year , actually taking some days in lieu from work so access to internet involves coming to the gym and using the wifi network here, sure could do a blackberry but it is quicker to drive here
Anyway Tiberius Marathon is only a couple days away Thursday morning locally and feeling good, have been running most days final little 7 km run this morning at about 5:40 pace HR low 130's, legs feeling good
Of course this all points to the obvious that the wheels will fall off the little red cart the moment the marathon starts, have not been able to follow a specific program so have no time expectations and mainly looking to enjoying myself.
Have still not figured out whether to Galloway Method , run 9 walk 1. I know never try anything you have not done .... yada yada yada . But the evidence in many places have had skeptics and procrastinators with having never done this method having great success BUT then again the is the other side of the coin and the queston of Gallorunning v running
Hope to do one more post if i can pre marathon
If not look for details Thursday 4th afternoon
Cheers
Mal

Change of Blog Name Yes/No ?

2006-12-29T15:50:00.000+02:00

I just looked back to my first entry in this blog entitled "Left Right Repeat" in fact for the first few days of writing my running & exercise blog it was in fact called " Left Right Repeat "

Here is this first entry from January 3rd 2006 for youu so that you do not have to go back through the archives .....

"Running is simply a matter of moving your feet , first the left then the right and repeating this as many times as you can for as long as you can till you get to where you want to get too.

Once you are there you are a runner, can anything be simpler in life. No matter how far we go or how fast we do it we are all runners.

Over time and (diistance) you will get to know me and how I became a runner, from the man who could not run around a flat suburban block in Sydney Australia to crossing the finishing line in Central Park in New York.

It is not rocket science , just left right repeat"

I am thinking now that given that I still have trouble remembering how to actually write out .1of1% in the http thing line where we write www's should I try and change the name back to left right repeat or do you like the .1 name

If you feel like weighing in on my name procrastinations feel free to write a comment back to me

Countdown to Tiberius Marathon

2006-12-29T15:32:00.000+02:00

The Tiberius Marathon is less than a week away now, and the taper should be in full swing. The trouble is that since NYC Marathon back in November I have had very little chance to run seriously given the work schedule that has had me in Turkey & Iraq. Running has been very limited not due to my willingness.
And not to mention the very serious operation I managed to survive whilst in Iraq, where I had an ingrown toe nail removed and I was so brave given the battlefield operating theatre.
Last Saturday I did a 20km run which given that I ran 17 km with wet shoes I was pleased, but this morning I hit the dreaded Yarkon Park for an easy 15km just to gently move the legs and relax. Also I wanted to make sure that all the working bits were pain free as I have the option to switch and run a 10km instead of the marathon. Not that I want to not run the marathon.
So I set off with Chaim and his brother in law who is new to running which was perfect for an easy pace with pressure.
I felt fantastic, one of those runs where it just all clicks and by 10 km the pace was around 1:02:00 not bad but the engine kicked in and I took off I felt absolutely charged and ran the next 5km in 24 minutes , my pace was rocking down to 4:30 minute/km
A great run leading up to Tiberius
Tomorrow the Saturday morning run with the gang , going to hold back and just enjoy the fun knowing that today was a great prep for the marathon next week.

This Link Thing

2006-12-29T15:18:00.000+02:00

Finally I think I have mastered the fine art of linking thanks to persistence and many failed attempts of frustration and code things that you have to cut and paste and insert in html whilst standing on one leg and running up a hill.
That being said I would really link now to start being able to add your link to my page, part of that we are all one family thing.
So PLEASE if you read my blog and you too foolishly put fingers to the qwerty machine on occasion let me know and I can add you to the links
Cheers
Mal

Running Music

2006-12-27T13:11:00.000+02:00

So on those days when I want to run long what do I listen too?
To be honest I actually enjoy listening to Podcasts on running and nothing beats Steve Runner and Phedippidations , if you have not come across this running gem log onto www.steverunner.com or look up itunes.

But I do have a generic list of tunes I enjoy running to and for the sake of everyone knowing what music I listen to hear are some of my favorites

Be warned you may shake your head in disbelief at my tastes

Make your own kind of Music - Mama Cass Elliott
Sorry - Madonna
Pretty Vegas - INXS (The Rockstar Edition from the TV show)
Lola - Dave Matthews Band
Voodoo Child - Rogue Traders
Its a beautiful life - Ace of Base
Ooh la la - Faces
Heart go faster - Davey Brothers
Ring of fire - Social Distortion
Let me entertain you - Robbie Williams
Lyla - Oasis
Because of You - kelly Clarkson (remix)
Somebody told me - The Killers (mylo remix)
Point of View - DB Boulevard
Throw Your Arms Around Me - Peral jam & Ben Harper
Start me Up - Rolling Stones
Downtown - Petulia Clarke
Cups - Underworld
Aint that a Shame - Cheap Trick Live
What You Need - Inxs
Everlasting Love - Glori Estafan
Things Can Only get Better - Howard Jones
I'm Walking on Sunshine - Katrina & the Waves
Always Something There To Remember - Naked Eyes
Spirit in the Sky - T Rex
Vertigo - U2
Pure Shores - All Saints
Feel the Beat - Darube
I am the Ressurection - The Stone Roses
Push the Button - Sugababes
Elevation - U2
Mexican Radio - Wall of Voodoo
Beautiful Day - U2
Love Generation - Club Mix Bob Sinclair
You take My Breath Away - DJ Tiesto
Get Ready for this - Sports
You're the Best Thing - The Style Council
Live & let Die - Guns and Roses
Devil Inside - INXS
Breathless - The Corrs
Lido Shuffle - Boz Skaggs
Bad Day - Daniel Porter
Drop the Pilot - Joan Armatrading
City of Blinding Lights - U2

These are in no specific order and I mix and match according to what type of training I am doing on the day

The thing is to figure out and guess which is the track I have listened to the most?

Another Pictoral gem from the past

2006-12-27T13:03:00.000+02:00

So people doubt that at times I do not run seriously have been looking back on old computers for running photos and came across this gem from the Ein Gedi Half marathon a few years back , run along the Dead Sea the lowest place on Earth 450ft below Sea level. This was from memory my first half and was run in a howling sand storm

New York Marathon 2006 Photos

2006-12-26T11:38:00.000+02:00

Thanks to Chaim, my running buddy a couple of pictures from the NY Marathon last November , In the first picture we are on the left hand side with our arms up and you can see my name on my shirt.

The Crossing the line picture we are bottom right, our actual time was 4:27:16

Twas the day before Christmas

2006-12-24T18:33:00.000+02:00

Now the trouble is that when I come back home to Israel after Assignment I am basically bored on my days off, at least when i am working I know I have stuff to do when I am here and almost everyone is away there is nothing to do, So basically I train in the morning go home get bored so train again in the late afternoon as thus today actually looked like this

7 am Spin Class - Crap Instructor all in Hebrew he arrives late as usual with bad music , cardio OK workout
8 am Core Class - a good 15 minute workout of the stomach and core
8:15 am Weights Gym - Upper Body Sets Shoulders Chest Arms
9:00 am Steam Room

pay rent, get ripped off by landlord , nothing new here but anyone who claims to be a millionaire and then chases me up for what he did just sucks , instant ruined relationship end of story. Going to make him buy a new toilet seat tomorrow for the apartment

go grocery shopping , buy new fabric softener as the other woman in the aisle agreed it smelt the best after opening ten other.

Go home unpack , find out what I thought was cottage cheese is in fact not cottage cheese , so why the hell do they put a cottage on the front like they do on cottage cheese

Watch a movie get bored decide to head back to Gym

4:45 Weights - Upper Arms
5:00 pm Core Class again
5:15 pm Eliptical half hour cross country course
6:00 pm swim 500 m
6:20 pm Jacuzzi

Then up to the cafe in the gym as I have internet here which I do not have at home apart from my blackberry

And thus was my Xmas Eve 2006

Pumping Iron Reposted

2006-12-24T09:45:00.000+02:00

Now that I have a high speed internet access again was checking back thru the blog and realised that somehow "Pumping Iron in Ramadi" had been posted 5 times. Now I know you enjoy reading (sometimes) my words but here I must of in frustration hit the POST button more than once as the connection in Ramadi was not the best.
Anyway that said have added some photos and deleted multiple duplicate entries
Cheers
Mal

What is this wet stuff falling from the sky?

2006-12-24T09:24:00.000+02:00

Saturday Dec 23rd 2006
7am

One of the better things about living in the Middle East and there are not many positives to be honest, in fact you could count the positives on the fingers of one hand and still have change.

One thing that it is hard to complain about as an “athlete” is that the weather is almost always great for training, of course in summer it is hot but if you get up early normally you can beat the worst of the heat. The average summer training session takes places in temperatures from 24 to 32 degrees Celsius.

Which brings me back to this morning, it is raining cold (probably around 11 C.) miserable and given that I have a marathon to run on January 4th, less than two weeks away and that I am coming off a lay off with being in Iraq.

Do I go out and run in this miserable cold wet weather or go to the gym, do a spin class in a few hours and some weights and then swim all sounds good and noble, but I still am wracked with the thought that I should be out running. What if on marathon morning it is raining and I will look back on this morning and curse the chance I had to run in rain.

Then again I can run long tomorrow and enjoy the gym this morning and have a short hash run this afternoon. Hash running is not real running but a chance to get out for a few hours run and drink beer and plan my long run for tomorrow.

The rain is getting worse.

08:00 am

Oh fear not that they may think of me as a fair weather runner.

I have procrastinated to a point where the weather looks like it is improving and after a second cup of coffee I start to prepare to go out and run.

Before you think I have sat around doing nothing-fellow athlete for the last hour please I note that I have done a load of laundry as well as drink coffee and type this entry.

10:30 am

20 km later time 1:53:17, negative split run, aim was to run as many at 5:40 pace which was successful and given the fact that 17km of the 20 were done with wet training shoes. At the 3km mark a large puddle marked the trail, and given that the area is mainly sand I took to the side of the trail and stepped into knee high water with both legs into freezing cold water.
Now I could of turned and jogged back home, claiming defeat and that it was a run that was not meant to be, so I pushed on at the 7km mark. Can life get any worse my mp3 battery dies and I am left with nothing to listen too. I prefer to listen to pod cast when I am running alone and thus I was now facing the double joy of cold wet feet, grey skies, and nothing to listen too.

I pushed on focusing my anger inwards and concentrating on upcoming events in my life and arguing cases back and forth.

I did push far harder on the second half, as the course is primarily an out and back loop.

Protein shake at home and a lazy day the rain started as I started to walk my cool down so maybe someone up there was looking after me.

4:30pm

Hash run over, best to say that with even walking to the start and back I barely nudged 5 km but was actually good to shake the legs out to a degree, as they were tight from the morning run

6:30pm Day Review

Total km today: 25km. Not bad considering what might have been given the weather, want to get the sense of how my body is prepared for the Tiberius Marathon on January 4th 2007. The only thing that will preclude me now is that if I have to go down to Gaza for more than a day if rumors are true then the word is that I may be back down there. That being, Tiberius is out of the question I just have to get through a few days without being assigned to Gaza, no one cares and I question why we would even contemplate sending a team down there. With no feasible back up, the ramifications of going there are too scary to contemplate.

Good to be running again

2006-12-22T20:32:00.000+02:00

It has been a long time since I could walk out the door and just run, so i look at my time in Iraq as my seasonal break, enforced by other than good intentions. Also I was a "wuz" in Iraq and it was too cold too run all I had was my running singlet and shorts and with the temperature in the low c's and 40's f .
I decided that I was allowed to skip running and pump iron with the Marines, well OK i did weights and the Marines Pumped Iron it is scary to be next to young guys 18 - 22 in a Gym three hours a day.
I am about two weeks out from the Tiberius Marathon on Jan 4, which I am doing for fun taking it easy and just cruising along still debating whether to try the Galloway Run 9 min Walk 1 min , in my other 4 marathons I have always bonked somewhere between 19 and 23 miles and have found my splits just awful with dead legs.
Has anyone else been there and tried Galloway without training Galloway at all?
Today a nice ten km , very easy low heart rate average 113 max 135 (up small hill) time around 57 minutes, given it was first run back after Iraq felt good , right knee had been very sore for last few days which I must of cracked? in the Marines Gym in Iraq
Looking forward to hearing back from anyone re Galloway Idea
THANKS
MAL

HERZLIYYA PITUACH
ISRAEL

Fear Not - A New world approaches

2006-12-21T07:30:00.000+02:00

Out of Iraq
Minus half a toe nail but good
Have not run for weeks - good - need the rest
Looking forward to getting back into training - good again
Lots more News and stories to come
About to leave Frankfurt after an overnight decompress
More to come
And as always leave comments that way i know I am not talking to myself LOL
Mal
Frankfurt

Pumping Iron in Ramadi Iraq

2006-12-14T06:54:00.005+02:00

There is no lycra and no women, no one is fat or overweight, there are no rows of pristine treadmills and elliptical machines with multi channel TV’s attached, there is no reception area where your membership card is swiped. There is no membership fees or promotions, no changing room, showers, toilets, lockers or sauna bath. You are more likely to hear heavy metal or rap than you are to It is open 24 hours a day 7 days a week, and your membership is valid for four years. (*1). But it has more weights than any other gym I have ever seen, more plates upon plates of weights and bars.

There is no natural light, in fact any windows, the entrance way is sandbagged and you walk past the drop off point for dirty laundry (Laundry is picked up at 6:30am Tuesdays and Fridays by a seven ton armored truck, back on the next run). Eight fluorescent lights strung up and the rumble of the heater that manages to warm the air in front of three machines enhances the atmosphere in the gym.

Most benches and surfaces have some duct tape holding them together. There is dust and cobwebs in corners, in fact most surfaces have dust, it should be noted that almost everything in this part of the country has dust on it if left for more than 30 minutes.

And yet for all its faults, its negatives the Gym here on the Marine Base at Hurricane Point, Ramadi, Iraq has what any gym in the world wants close to 100% of the community belong. Virtually every Marine works out, and they work out hard, heavy and tough. In a realm where the Alpha male rises to the top, he who bench presses the most per body weight is held aloft.

I use the gym here everyday, one because I like going to the gym, two because it is far too dusty to run my usual trail, inches of dust does not make for conducive times let alone ruining a pair of good running shoes, three it is too cold to run here in the morning with the running clothes I bought, and lastly I had an operation on my big toe last night. (More on that later, the big toe that is.)

In the Corps, discipline and respect are the cornerstones of their world. You do not see Marines walking around the Camp here endlessly saluting or standing to attention. But you do see respect and honor.

In the Gym every Marine is equal, because they all want to be the best, no one wears any insignia of rank in the Gym everyone has the same sweats, everyone has the same haircut and everyone wants to be better.

The gym here will never win any trendy award, the old broken treadmill in the corner will still be gathering dust in six months. However today, tomorrow and for every day there after, the Hurricane Point Gym will have close to 100% of the population walk past the sandbags and push open the door.

(*1) When you enlist in the Marines it is for four years.

The Trademark of Death

2006-12-12T21:59:00.000+02:00

Yesterday it was sitting in the armored Humvee’s getting shot at by RPG’s, today a sniper decided to try and take a shot at us.

The worst thing is that there is no warning, no sense of impending danger all that you experience is the sound. The air simply cracks, one single round the trademark of a sniper.

We were down at the Government Center, well to use the term Government and Center together is an oxymoron. Because whilst it may be known as the Government Center, certainly no administration has taken place there for a while. On previous trips it was always where you met the Provincial powerbrokers, but that was before six major bombing attacks on the building compound and a daily assault from mortars, rpgs and snipers.

It is now a shell, cold stark and with tables and chairs covered with dust, no heating exists and the cold in the rooms reflects what is left of the town. Across the road from the GC there used to be shops and building, now there is rubble. The buildings were leveled first by 500 lb bombs then by demolition teams, as they had become a haven for terrorists from which to attack the Government Center.

This morning we went there with the Marines who had escorted a local contractor and his foremen whose job it will be to remove the rubble from outside and make the area suitable for a car park for the GC and planners even have ideas for a park. Now given that no parks exist in this city it seems an ambitious urban planning scheme to say the least.

So whilst the Marines were escorting the contractors out thru the safe back way to the alley and then to the street so that they could assess the task ahead, we tagged along wanting to shoot a segment link for the War Stories Special.

We had a couple of takes in the camera and moved to change angle with the camera rolling Ollie was just about to start when the sniper “sniped”. It shakes you up for a second or two and Ollie headed for the wall, I just ducked down and waited for the inevitable gunfight, but the discipline of the Marines is such that locating the position from which the shot was fired is more important than blasting away.

The site survey did not last much longer and we moved back into the safety (sic) of the Govt Center and spent time filming Xmas Greetings with Marines even then the cracks in the air continued on and off. Just another day in Ramadi.

in Memory of a Fallen Runner

2006-12-11T16:02:00.000+02:00

There is nothing sadder than attending a Memorial Service for fallen soldiers in the field. It is hard not to hold your emotions in during the final minutes, it is not the service or the firing of the salute rifles outside the mess, it is the sight of and sound of fellow soldiers and marines on their knees as they reach out and touch the dog tags. It is not a loud sound but the soft sound of two dogs tags touching each other. Two small pieces of metal that contain the heart and soul of a friend.

They played a song that I never have heard before, a country and western ballad “ American Soldier” I do not know who wrote or sang it. It will forever be in my heart, because one of the fallen was a Marine I knew.

A reservist who came here and paid the ultimate price in the name of freedom and liberty. This is not the time or the place to debate the merits of the war here. We all have opinions and thoughts as to the rights and wrongs of what is happening. But for families who have lost sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, know that out here when a comrade falls the entire community weeps with you and your loss is shared all, in the dust and heat, cold and mud they are never forgotten.

When I run my next marathon I will have on my arm the name of a friend who will be remembered because she like me liked to run marathons.

Training In Iraq

2006-12-07T11:18:00.000+02:00

By the banks of the Euphrates, 135 km west of Baghdad in the city of Ramadi. Not sure whether it is a sunni stronghold or a shia frontline, but the consensus is that it is a stronghold of Al Qaida and other foreign militants whose sole job is to prevent my training to proceed as in a normal day back in the real world, also it may have to do with the thousands of US troops based here trying to rebuild Iraq and stop civil war.

have just found out it is a "sunni stronghold" and that the shia's would have trouble fielding a football team here, so the sunni's are to blame for my lack of training facilities, it is hard to run laps on the streets here, well you cannot so my training is restricted to the bases here, Camp Ramadi the main camp here is big enough to run in but the potholes and tank tracks make it a dangerous place, oh and the threat of mortars also make it les than an ideal location. That being said I did manage a nice 5 and half km run yesterday , hence the photo of running with the tanks as i approached the halfway turn around point a US tank was screaming up the road. If you think a crazed person on a SUV constitutes a life and death prospect, then avoid a 80 ton tank going full pitch towards the same intersection, I slowed down to allow him to pass before turning back.

I have promised Simply Stu (podcaster of Simply Stu a photo of a T shirt he sent me for competing in his inaugral worldwide triathlon last year - so Stu there you have it , Simply Stu's worldwide tri now includes Iraq.

This morning it was to the gym and that is the subject of my next blog later

Mal
Ramadi
Iraq

Ramadi Iraq - Running with the tanks

2006-12-07T10:54:00.000+02:00

The View to Asia

2006-12-02T15:35:00.001+02:00

It is a joy of travel that allows me to run in some incredible places, and the run this morning on the banks of the Bosphorous River saw me running in Europe and looking into Asia, albeight thru very grey and cloudy skies, past palaces that are hundreds of years old and cobbled alleyways.
This must be one of the few places in the world where you could possibly run in two continents, that is if you can get accross a very large and heavily traffic congested bridge.
On any quiet Saturday morning in a city of 15 million people you would expect to see other runners, I saw one other runner out this morning and the universal smile is the same the world over.r
Sometimes it is nice just to have the smile returned and know that you can share your joy with someone else who you might never see again.
Mal
Istanbul
Turkey

Looking Accross the River to Asia in the Dark of Dawn

2006-12-02T06:20:00.000+02:00

Waiting for daylight to come so that I can get a long run along the Bosphorous River, the dividing line between Europe and Asia. If I could figure out a way to get onto the bridge without becoming a traffic statistic I would be tempted as then I would have the bragging rights of saying that my long run took in two continents.
Woke up at 6am to listen to the mosque call to prayer in the distance, the call sounds nice at a distance but the novelty of it wears off if you happen to have a mosque next to your hotel, 5 times a day .... allah akbar gets on your nerves.
One thing about being on the road travelling and running is preparing yourself to go out as you would at home, the trouble is that sometimes things can get lost in translation, or the attempt of a hotel to "go that little bit further"
Before my long run I like to have a banana and coffee. So I call up room service and ask for a coffee and a simple banana, coffee no problem .. but banana thanks for trying guys but I did not need three banana peeled sliced laid out on a plate with garnishings, a simple banana on a plate that all that I needed
Still pitch black outside and thus will have to wait, gives the coffee the time to do its thing

Hotel Gyms

2006-11-29T12:19:00.000+02:00

On the road can really suck when it comes to totally interfering with any semblance of a training schedule. In Istanbul Turkey covering the visit of Il Papa (aka the Pope). Which is a nice way of saying you are locked down in a hotel waiting for something to happen or not to happen. I cannot leave and go for a run because if something was to happen then I have to be there when it happens and not somewhere on the streets of istanbul and out of contact.
I have a traing program for the week which i am trying to stick to, but like all good hotel gyms the treadmills are more for show and peopel walking badly on them rather than Treadmills taht are for runners, every time you get the speed up beyond walking pace the belt slips and the danger of flying off backwards or losing your step terrifies me.
I have managed to get a couple of runs in of five kms at a good pace and the elipticals are reasonable. The weights well they are stacked nicely and the machines ... well they are nicely placed in the hotel gym.
Get the Picture
Looking forward to Saturday morning when I can get out of the bubble of the hotel and go for a run

Ouch my rear hurts

2006-11-26T09:18:00.000+02:00

Now I should point out that I have only just got a road bike and have never riden with a group, but I quickly learnt if you get pushed out the back of the pelaton you are in most cases "buggered" this drafting thing you hear and read about is real and the effort required to ride in the pack is about half of trying to push the wind yourself. So that wa sthe first lesson from my first group ride, as well as trying to decipher the hand signals from riders ahead.
It was a beautiful morning and turning up I had no idea whom I was to be riding with and set out with the head coach Ron and hiis group, they had hinted at our first meeting that i would be riding with the 3rd team out of four, not the beginners and not the real elite. Wrong as we pushed back after sixty five km's I found that I was in fact with the elite group, so my ego was really stoked and it also explained why I could not keep up with them on the hills.
70 km of road countless hills and a sore butt to boot, whilst I have been riding Mountain bikes for years it is going to take time to get to grips with the power of a road bike because comparing the two my road bike is like a F1 compared to the old cheap clunker of a MTB.
My first week of training now complete and I can already feel the benefits and improvements and by weeks end, man was I tired.
Off to Turkey now for the week covering the Pope, so training will be in the Hotel Gym ... Rock on ...

Group Long

2006-11-24T20:20:00.000+02:00

I have always enjoyed Long Runs, they are a chance to simply enjoy running at an easy converstional pace, note the word converstional pace. Every book you read says "Conversational Pace". By the end of my first Long Run under a coach perhaps a "panting muttering of words" is a better description.

This morning was my first "long run" with the Triathlon training group and apart from having the nerves of running with people I did not know and the fear you have of being the lone loser out the back it was fun to meet new runners and triathletes.

We were heading out to the sand dunes area along the coast with the aim of attacking the uphills, it is a beautiful run out along the cliff tops and once I realised that was not the tail end charlie, I could relax and start working at a more than standard pace and I could still "converse" at this stage.

Little did I know that when we got to the Gas station and Coach Ron briefed the group what was instore. The briefing was in Hebrew of which I understand perhaps one word in a hundred that the group was to pick up pace. So blissfully unaware of what was ahead the group set off. I soon realised that we were moving fast and the lead runners were soon off in the distance. At this point a girl next to me panted what the translation was. I mentally decided to move into next gear and for the next 5 km's I motored along at nearly 13km/h which a week ago was my tempo pace not my long run pace.

It actually started to feel good to push through the envelope and find my legs.

Not a week into a coaching programme I am already starting to feel the effects and incrase in my own abilty to lifdt my heart rate and sustain it

The time and diatnce did not refect the workout, so next time I will stop my watch at stops and try and get a better reading of time and pace

Tomorrow morning in the dawn hours it is biking with a coach for the first time

Intervals & Thrashing about in Water

2006-11-24T20:18:00.000+02:00

There is something magic about a stadium in the dawn as the sun comes up and still to this day I am always in awe spiritually as you enter the stadium, normally this is reserved for entering a stadium to watch your team pal and the first moment you see the hallowed turf my breath is always taken away.

This morning I could almost see my breath and the dew on the ground still coated the grass around the track, there were no stadiums filled with spectactors but just a group of us huddled around Chief Coach Ron who was briefing us on the Intervals workout that lay ahead. This was my first session with Ron and was his chance to assess my level of running so there was within me the desire to “hold form” and show him that I did have some talent “raw” but willing.

The session was brutal, perhaps brutal is the word I use, this being my only second session with a coach assessing me and coaching me.

We started with a warm up and the words of “faster Mal” by the third lap of the warm up and even faster on the Fourth lap, before the session briefing. A reverse 2000m down starting with 2000, 1600, 1200, 800, 800.This fellow runners is a workout designed to make your legs burn with only a minute interval between each set. As I set out on the 1200 my legs had that burn and from moment on my heart rate was never below 90% of max. The first 800 was hard and Ron said one more would do me he just wanted me to keep the same pace up and hear me breathe as I ran past him.

As you turned onto the final straight Ron would concentrate on you and it is comforting but unnerving to feel for the first time in my running life that I was constantly being assessed and there is no where to hide or allow yourself to ease down.

My splits were as follows

#1 2000m 9 min 11 secs Pace 4:28 min/km
#2 1600m 7 min 24 secs Pace 4:30 min/km
#3 1200m 5 min 35 secs Pace 4:28 min/km
#4 800m 3 min 37 secs Pace 4:22 min/km
#5 800m 3 min 34 secs Pace 4:20 min/km

Looking back I am happy with my ability to maintain pace and keep running at that level of threshold I believe in myself and my abilty to improve. As the adage goes to run faster, you need to train faster.

I learnt lessons this morning like a yoghurt is not enough to eat before training as I will really need carbs to run track, and in cold weather to use long skin pants to avoid injury. Also have food for immediately after because I was starving by the end of the session and was glad I had a banana in my bag as I climbed in the car.

Now for the second part of the day and the need to actually accept that if I want to complete a triathlon and really compete not just go through the motions and accept that result without actually racing or pushing myself. I am going to have to learn to swim freestyle.

You could take me out of the coast 5 km and tell me to swim in breaststroke and I would not be daunted, take me out 500 m and tell me to swim in freestyle and I would be trouble.

Here in lies the problem to be resolved I have to learn to swim freestyle, Coach gavin gave me a trial program to get me started. The ten laps to warm up felt like I had already done the a workout, BUT I was determined not to give up and pushed myself. Then kickboard a length, one arm a length then one lap freestyle, the lap freestyle actually felt good and positive with energy, the kickboard lengths felt like a bad way to drown myself in slow motion. Followed by 6 laps cool down and the seeing the end of the black line felt really good. So good in fact that I put on fins and did four more laps with fins and a kickboard, I like the fins reminds me of training for my SCUBA Divemaster level.

What felt good was that I did not give up or revert to breast stroke, I had actually completed a freestyle session, not hard by any standards BUT I had done it alone with no one around me, the session was mine. Is my stroke bad “yes” does my kick suck “yes” but it was my session and I had achieved a small goal within myself . A session of freestyle.

In years to come I will look back at this entry and laugh, but then again I remember the first time 8 years ago when I tried to run around the block and could not manage it without stopping and now I have run four marathons.

The next step - The Coach

2006-11-22T11:36:00.000+02:00

I have come to realization that if I really do want to meet my true ambiyions in running and run a BQ (Boston Qualifier) and compete in Triahlons next year that as much as I believe in my own abilities that a professional coach is worth a try.

Contacting one of the biggest Tri teams here in Israel I made an appointment to meet the Head Coach and another Coach (who would be my coach "Gavin") it was intesting to hear there opinions on what I had achieved and how I had been training. I have known within myself that my training was to a degree becoming more and more unfocused and given the distractions of war during the summer, the wheels as to direction and focus have been wobbling. Through my own fault and lack of purpose in my training. The meaningless runs were honestly becoming junk miles and my fitness and times have not improved in relation to the effort I had been doing.

Both Ron and Gavin agreed that my training whilst being good had plateaued and that working with them they could help rach my goals. Not a surprising thing for a coach to say but at the same time was reassuring that working together I could start to better times and goals

I would have a program and work with different groups including track sessions, long runs and biking. My swim training would not begin till I come back from Iraq at the end of the year.

My first workout that Gavin wanted me to do was a tempo run, but rather than just cruise and think I was working hard I was to maintain a solid 12km/h pace which sounds simple but most of my training runs used to max out at maybe 11km.h so to push that little harder and make the run count.

The next morning I was to meet Gavin at the track at 6:30 for my first group session. It was almost daunting to arrive at the track in the dawn light and find almost fifty others there all about to do the same. It involved a warmup for ten minutes then 5 x 1200m repeats a distance I have never done before with expressions like we are going to aim these repeats at between 15km and half marathon pace. After three of these I could feel the lactic building in my legs and then Gavin said on the next two 1200 intervals he wanted my 1km splits as to ascertain my pace and push myself a bit harder.

Over the next two intervals my km splits were 4:40 and 4;44 which actually surprised and the new knowledge that I had base times to work on faster than I had contemplated in previous track sessions.

My next track session is tomorrow with head Coach Ron, I feel that it is going to be even harder and that whilst scary also has added a new impetus to my training.

Friday is a long group run and Saturday morning we hit the hills on the bike