.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

Jonathon's Racing Attacks and Adventure Packs!

Amazing racing and training adventures on roads and mountainous/hilly TRAILS, freewaybikehike and triathlons. Dreams of a SIX FOOT 45km finish,(DONE 2011,2013,2014,2015!),then ULTRA-TRAIL AUSTRALIA (50km DONE 2016! 100km DONE 2018!!!), memorable Melbourne Marathon and Gold Coast racing. Over a decade dreaming of a SUB 3HR MARATHON, sub 18min 5k, sub 38min 10k, sub 90min Half marathon etc...(shattered? or still realistic?)

My Photo
Name:
Location: Perth, Western Australia, Australia


. .

42.2km SB; 2004; 3.55 2005; 4.02 2006; 4.18, 2007; 4.10 2008; 3.55
2009; 4.11 2010; 4.05 2011; 4.02 2012;3.49 2013; 4.12 ... 2014; ; 4.08 ...2015; 4.00
2016; 4.11 2018; 4.15 2019; 4.25 2020; 5.38 ... 2021; 5.44 ... 2022 DNF at 37km
More ongoing GOALS;
***PB's pursuit; 5k 21.49, 10k 41.01 21.1k 1.41, ...42.2k 3.49

MM and the G!...

In recent years I have been enjoying races like;
December; 6-INCH(46km offroad)2005;--6 hrs 25 min...
2006; 7hrs 04 min 2008; 7hrs 00min...2009; 6hrs 16min
...2010:--5hrs 49min..2011:---5hrs 30min..2013---7 hrs 24min... 2014--- 7 hrs 06min 2015--6hours 43min ...2016---6hours 41min... 2017--7hrs 3min?... 2018-7hrs ... 2020 8hrs 19 ... 2021 8hrs 51
October; Melbourne Marathon 2007; 4hr 10 . 2008 DNF at 23km..
2009 4hrs 11. 2010 4hrs 05min...2011;4hrs 02min...photos
2012; 3hrs 49min 52secs PB!... ..2013; 4.12 2014; 4.08 2015; 4.05... 2016; 4.53
Rottnest Marathon 2004; 4hr 32min ... 2013; 4hr 16min... 2019; 4hr 41min 59secs
August; City to Surf most years since 1997 see HERE for details,photos.
PERTH C2S PB's; 4K;17min 25 (2002) 12K;52min 52 (1997)
21.1K;1.54.20 (2007) 42.2K; 4.00.20 (2015) (2010 video..45secs into it)
Perth City to Surf Marathon finisher 2009,2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019.
June/July;
GOLD COAST; 2012 HALF; 1.44 2013 HALF; 1.47 2014 HALF 1.49
2015 4.11 ..., 2016 4.11..., 2019 4.25
PERTH Marathon(42.2km)
2004; 3hrs55min
2005;--4 hrs 02 min. 2006; 4hrs 18min 2007;4hrs 33
2008; 3hrs 55 2009; 4hrs 41min 2010; 4hrs 30min
2011; 4hrs 12min 2012; 4hrs 6min 2013; 4hrs 19min 2014 4hrs 48min 2018 4hrs 15min
2019; 4hrs 28min
2021 5hrs 44min
May; Ultra TRAIL AUSTRALIA;
2016 50km 9 hours 50min 956th
2017 100km DNF CP4 57km
2018 100km 24hrs 33min 15 913th
2019 100km DNF CP3 46km 2021 CP2 DNF (severe back injury)
April;TWO DECADES of Bridges racing; 1997; 43min 43 1998; 41min 01
1999; 47min 29 2000; 46min 47 2001; (5km) 30min 01 2002; (5km) 22min 48
2003; 42min 40 2004; 48min 50 2005; 44min 40 2006; 48min 07 2007; 49min 16
2008; 50min 42 2009; 49min 54 2010; 48min 39 2011; 52min 55 2012; 47min 02 2013; 54min 45 2014; 48min 47 2015; 49min 53 2016 52min 20
March;6 Foot Track 45km;
2011; 6.53 2013; 6.54 2014; 6.47
2015; 6.14!!! 2016 DNF


As of October 2022; 37 road marathons finished (Perth x14, Melbourne x9,Perth City to Surf x7 Gold Coast x3 Rottnest x3 SunsetCoast x1)
Have also finished 20+ ultra races; 6 inch 47km ultra finished 12 times, six foot 45km ultra 4 times, Ultra Trail Australia ultras 2 times, Truth 50km ultra once within cutoff (and once outside cutoff), Lark Hill 50km ultra, 6hour track race, 24hr track race.
Also completed the Bloated Goat 31km (1500m Vertical gain) 2 times which is similiar effort to a 46km ultra.
DNFs in UTA100km, WTF50miler, WAMC40miler race, Truth 50km, Six foot and 6 inch.
The first 3 DNFs were after covering more than 42km, and with Truth one was a 25km DNF and the first one I finished the full 50km but was 19minutes outside cutoff battling an ankle injury for 36km.
In road marathons 3 DNFs one at 23km in the 2008 Melbourne Marathon due to severe ankle injury in the first 1km, and PC2S @ 30km, also 2022 Perth Marathon at 37km too fat and slow

Most races October 2009-October2020; >
30/10/2020 50th John Gilmour 10,000m track race 58min
20/09/2020 XTR Sunset Coast Marathon (#36) 5.38
30/08/2020 Fat Lamb PTS 20km
02/08/2020 Perth Half Mara 2.04
11/07/2020 Jumbuck PTS 3.39
08/03/2020 Darlington Half Marathon 2.07
01/11/2019 John Gilmour 10,000m Track race 51min
06/10/2019 Perth Marathon 4hrs 28min. #13 see here
01/09/2019 Rotto Biddi 3hrs.09.44
25/08/2019 City 2 Surf Marathon 4hrs 48min
17/08/2019 TW Parkrun 5km 24.29 (5th)
3/08/2019 Truth 50km DNF (at 25km in 4hrs 26min)
28/07/2019 RunMelbourne Halfmarathon 2hr 03min
21/07/2019 Champion Lakes R2R Halfmarathon 1hr 55min (32nd)
7/07/2019 Gold Coast Marathon 4hrs 25min
16/06/2019 Rottnest Marathon 4hrs 42min
18/05/2019 Ultra Trail Australia 100km DNF at 46km (CP3) 8hrs 58min
17/03/2019 Fat Lamb 20km 3hr 29min 49th of 70
02/03/2019 Lark Hill 25km 3hr 54 (Night race forgot headlamp)
24/02/2019 Swissmurdie 2hr 35
09/02/2019 Busselton Half marathon 2.13 (Late start actually 2.05)
20/01/2019 Chi Gong 1hr 58 134th of 158 finishers
16/12/2018 6 inch 47km 7hrs (12th finish)
21/10/2018 Rottnest Half 2hr 03 min
16/09/2018 Fremantle Half 1hr 58min
04/07/2018 Truth 25km 3hrs 11min 55 (PTS)
24/06/2018 Eagle 22km 2hrxx(59min officially, but 43min on my watch as started late)
17/06/2018 Perth Marathon 4hrs 15min
19/05/2018 Ultra-Trail Australia 100km 24hrs 33min 15secs 913th of 964 finishers
218 withdrawals
03/03/2018 Lark Hill 50km
17/12/2017 6 inch 48km 7hrs
06/08/2017 Truth 50km 8hrs 22min 59
16/07/2017 Jolly Jumbuck 21km 2hr 54min (94th of 129)
02/07/2017 King of the Mountain 16km 1hr 41min
20/05/2017 Ultra-Trail AUSTRALIA 100km DNF (at 58km and 10hours 38min)
26/03/2017 Bloated Goat 30km 5hr 18min
18/12/2016 6 inch 48km 6hrs 41min
16/10/2016 Melbourne Marathon 4hours 53min
25/09/2016 WTF 50 miler DNF at 55km
14/08/2016 Truth 50km DNF at 25km
3/07/2016 Gold Coast Marathon 4.11
14/05/2016 Ultra Trail Australia 50km 9 hours 50min
3/4/2016 My 20th consecutive Bridges fun run 10km 52.20 (hammy strain)
12/3/2016 Six Foot Track DNF at 30km 5 hours.
---------------------- 20/12/2015 6 inch 47km 6 hours 43min
15/11/15 Bloated Goat 30km Trails race (1600m Vert) 5hrs 43min
18/10/15 Melbourne Marathon 4.05
13/09/15 Fremantle 10km 47min 22
30/08/15 Perth City to Surf Marathon 4 hours 00min 20 secs.
05/07/15 GCM 4.11
24/05/15 R4R Half Marathon 1hr 46min 13secs
12/04/15 Bridges 10km 49min 53secs.
04/04/15 Perth Trail Series Truth & Consequences 50km ULTRA 8hours 49min
14/03/15 Six Foot Track 45km 6hrs 14min 11secs Smashing PB!!! (32min)
21/12/14 6 inch Trail 47km 7hrs 06min 30secs
12/10/14 Melbourne Marathon 4hrs 8min (8th fastest marathon in 25 finished)
14/09/14 Fremantle 10km 49min 26 (first K 3.47 5k split 23.02)
31/08/14 Perth City to Surf 42.2k 4hrs 34min
06/07/14 Gold Coast Half Marathon 1.49
15/06/14 Perth Marathon 4.48
01/06/14 Elleker Half Marathon 1.59.
21/04/14 40 miler DNF (28miles)
06/04/14 18th Bridges 10km 48min 47secs...since 1997
08/03/14 6 Foot Track 45km 6hrs 47min 02. (824th) A PB!!! :-)
09/02/14 Snakes and Ladders 15km 2.05
15/12/13 6 inch Trail Ultra 7.24
27/10/13 Rottnest Marathon 4.16.41
13/10/13 Melbourne Marathon 4.12.55
25/08/13 Perth City to Surf Marathon 4.13.28
11/08/13 Perth Half Marathon 1.54.05
28/07/13 Fremantle 10km 50.06 (very sick but first 1k in 3.55)
07/07/13 Gold Coast Half Marathon 1.47.29

16/06/13 Perth Marathon 4hrs 19min 55secs
My 10th consecutive Perth Marathon...Click to see -> how I became a SPARTAN...

19/05/13 Joondalup Half Marathon 1hr 58min 26secs 310th of 495.
07/04/13 Bridges 10km 54min 45seconds.
09/03/13 6 Foot Track 45km 6 hours 54 minutes 20 seconds. 740th of 804...blog post or ...photos! page.

24/02/13 Perth Trail Series Qi Gong 14km 1hr 37min 04 Placed 79th of 117 finishers.
09/02/13 Busselton Half Marathon 1hr 51min 58 secs 219th. full Busso results here
02/11/12 John Gilmour 10k track 47.17 ..see here
14/10/12 Melbourne Marathon 3hrs 49min 52secs ..(777.)
16/09/12 Fremantle 10km 47min 16
26/08/12 City to Surf Marathon 4hrs 42min 41 secs
15/07/12 Lake Joondalup 10km 47min 30.
01/07/12 Gold Coast Half Marathon 1hr 44min 49 secs. 1668th of 9035 finishers

17/06/12 Perth Marathon 4hrs 6min .. (post and photos here)
20/05/12 Joondalup Half Marathon 1hr 47min 01secs. (151st of 313 finishers)
15/05/12 Masters 5000m 21min 58secs
13/05/12 Bunbury Half Marathon 1hr 46min 45 secs. (76th of 240 finishers)
22/04/12 PTS Ellis Brook 21.8km trails race 3hrs 12min 28secs. 39th.
01/04/12 Bridges 10km 47min 02
25/03/12 17.3km (690m ascent) Swissmurdie trails race 2hrs 19min 17secs 54th of 60.
20/03/12 MastersWA 1500m in 5.56, 100m in 14.3, 400m in 76.4, 5000m in 23.33.
26/02/12 WAMC Swan Twilight 5km 24.32
26/02/12 Perth Trail Series Qi Gong 14km 1hr 44min 08 secs 70th of 102.
04/02/12 Busselton Half Marathon in 1hr 49min 31 secs.
18/12/11 6 inch 46km 5hrs 30min PB!
09/10/11 Melbourne Marathon in 4hours 02minutes 49secs...photos...

12/09/11 Fremantle 10km in 45minutes 50 secs.
7/8/11 Perth Half Marathon in 1hr 47min 46 secs.
17/7/11 Lake Joondalup 10km in 46min 33secs.
19/6/11 Perth Marathon in 4 hours 12min 54secs (351st of 547.)
12/6/11 Lake Monger 10km in 48min 09secs
22/5/11 Bunbury Half Marathon 1hr 51min 44secs 109th of 261 finishers
10/4/11 Bridges 10km 52min 55
12/3/11 6 foot 45km in 6hrs 53min 07 secs...819th...of 877...33 DNF's...4 outside 7hr cutoffRace Report and race photosPre & post race photos,initial ELATION
Note; Completing 6 foot is a major goal achieved which I have had in mind since 2005!!!!!!!

4/3/11 3000m in 12min 40 (19th of 19 finishers)Momentum building a little,sub 13 done! :-)
18/2/11 5000m in 23min 31 (20th of 20 finishers...4 DNF's)..results
5/2/2011 21.1km Busselton Half in 1hr 51min 41 secs for 124th of 218 finishers.
19/12/10 46km 6 inch trails race in 5hr 49min (63rd of 79 finishers)
10/12/10 5000m in 22.43 18th of 18!
5/11/10 John Gilmour 10,000m in 47min 36. (23rd of 31)
10/10/10 Melbourne Marathon 4hrs 5min...2895th of 5027 finishers...
12/9/10 Fremantle 10km in 46min 53...a big SB and my best time since 2005!
29/8/10; 42.2km in 4hrs 15min for 537th of 830 finishers...my 6th best of 12 M. finishes.
19/8/10; 5000m in 22min 06.0 secs (SB by 0.6 of a second, & Stan did a SB also that night)
22/7/10; 5000m in 22min 06.6 secs. (SB and 17secs off my track PB)
20/6/10 Perth Marathon in 4.30.
13/5/10; Masters 2000m 7.55 (first sub 8min run since 2005) & 5,000m 22.42
22/4/10; Masters 800m 2.46 & 5,000m 22.29!~(2nd best ever track 5,000m, track PB is 21.49,)
3/4/10; Australian Masters 35-39yrs; 4th in 1500m 5min 34secs. see here...
28/3/10; Bridges 10km in 48min 39secs. 388th of 1646
25/3/10; 300m in 47.6, 600m in 1.57.0 100m in 14.6
18/3/10; Masters 1500m in 6.03 & 10,000m in 49min 35
28/2/10; 4th place in 6 hour Track Race at Coker Park; 45.003km
6/2/10; Busselton 21.1km in 1hr 52min 50 secs
20/12/09;6 inch 46km 6hrs 16min
15/11/09; Peninsula 5km 22min 5225th of 73.
6/11/09; John Gilmour 10km 48min 39
11/10/09; Melbourne Marathon 4hrs 11 min 33 secs
4/10/09; Freo funrun 5km in 22min 53 secs
... ...
2011; 5hrs 30min 6 inchPB!! 2012; 3hrs 49min PB(Melbourne Marathon)!!2014; 6hrs 47min PB! @ 6 foot!

The next big things racing wise maybe;


6 inch 47km
on 20th December @ 0430hrs, countdown (activated a few days before?) is;


Kathryn and I welcomed our daughter K into the world May 2015 A.D.!

Kathryn and I welcomed our daughter J into the world June 2010 A.D.!
Kathryn and I welcomed our son J into the world in late July 2007 A.D.!
Our challenge is to be good parents with the Creator Gods help!



... 2004 ...2005 ...2006 ...2007... >...2008...2009...2010 ...2011... 2012.

but for the most important thing in life;
there is only 2 ways to live!...Bible Gateway...

Sunday, April 04, 2010

RHR 43 and 5.34 1500m as I miss Bronze medal by 11 secs

Happy Easter all!

Australian Masters results from this weekend can be found @ http://www.waathletics.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=214&Itemid=215....Good to hear Paul Mitchell won the 5000m and Ray Boyd had a run. Outstanding performances from Sugar in difficult conditions now to trawl through the results in the next week or so, and discover exactly what happened on all 4 days once the races have all been run and the results become available....

Photos from my 1500m race coming soon... Massive thanks to Techno K for taking those...

Was really nice seeing some familiar faces at the track on Saturday like Techno K, Emailstar, Charismatic,Sass,Sugar,Biscuitman, and others, helped me to settle my nerves a bit before the race.

Caught up with my old coach Stan again on the Friday he got a Silver that day, got there too late on the Saturday to see his race, I know he was in the medals, but he had a big challenge on his hands to get the Gold again like in previous years, as a bloke had moved up into his age group in his las year before he moves up again...

Sunday; Ran a low intensity 3.5km run in 20minutes 24. HR 129 at end. Pushed it out to about 4.40 per K pace for 700m, from 2100m-2800m but mostly took it very very easy to try and remove any lingering soreness from the last 2 days... but still get to 40 miler tomorrow with fresh legs...Did 4.05/4.07/4.13/3.11/4.48 700m splits, not that it really matters...

No other training this week other than my 10k race on Friday and my 1500m race on Saturday, been too busy with work and a trifecta of hospital visits re Kathryn and I's baby on the way. My wife is almost up to 33 weeks, and we finally have an ultrasound confirmation this time on what sex the unborn baby is, so can now start getting serious about choosing baby names...

FREOOOO has retained 2nd spot on the AFL ladder, with another thrashing this time of Essendon at eddies hat stadium Did the ladder predictor thing and I know I'm dreaming but I think maybe this is the year we finish 2nd...

Another 40 miler attempt from silly me on Monday...

Saturday Day 2 thoughts;

I was in the bronze medal spot for the Australian 35-39 1500m with 200m to go today , but NSW bloke kicked and I had nothing left to give...bittersweet 5min 34 (29 second improvement on what I ran a few weeks ago, but came up 11 seconds short)..for my 1500m today is 3min 42 per Km pace...well outside my high school 4.52 PB, but wasnt expecting to get anywhere near that...

If I can build on this (more likely to happen in second half of year after the baby is born, but be better if I can somehow maintain the progression now, either way its nice to get a look at the potential improvement window opening up this early in the year, and my resting heart rate drop to 43 this week another indicator we are almost back to the level I was at for Melbourne last year, so the combination of Mona Camp, Coker park/Australian Masters and Bridges, has kind of revived me, and snapped me out of the slide I was going into after 6 inch, but with the baby on the way/the need to ramp up work, doubtful if I can stop the slide any longer, but then again maybe if I stay focused it can still happen, especially if I can get a better job...) and keep progressing at some point this year, I should start to see some sub 8 minute 2k and sub 12 minute 3k times, something I havent been able to do for about 6 years or longer...The raw speed is there, its just about putting the trackwork or fartlek or anaerobic threshold work, long runs etc in. All of those roads lead to the Rome of better times.

splits were;
a subdued 52secs first 300m (I held back a lot in the front straight),
then 400m splits of 1.32/1.35 and 1.34 last lap included me grinding to a halt in the final 100m as I ran out of steam trying to stay ahead of the NSW bloke...

I hatched a last-minute race plan in my mind while warming up, decided to try and hit 300m in about 50 seconds, and then try and hit about 1.30 for all three 400m splits. I knew I had to get to 700m in under 2.30, and 1100m in under 4 minutes to have a decent chance of coming in around the 5.30 mark or better. I followed that plan as close as I could, and am satisfied I almost pulled it off. I think my tactics were pretty close to right.

Started well, and hit the lead with a first 100m in 15 seconds, (they had a trackside clock in the backstraight as well which was cool,only at an Australian Championships do you see things like that!, thats how I knew I hit the first 100m in 15 seconds, didn't look at my wristwatch at all during the race) and lead the field, until about 250m, where I eased off a bit, as one of the blokes in the other age groups passed me.
The first 300m was maybe a touch slower (by 2 seconds) at 52 secs than my race plan, but I made it to 400m still ahead of WA runners Kim Thomas and Paul Burke (the gold and silver medal winners in my age group in 4.56 and 4.59), as photo coming soon will illustrate.

When they surged past me in the back straight, I struggled hard to keep the momentum going, but the clock said 2.24 at 700m, (I made a conscious effort not to look at my watch as my old coach Stan reminded me at Coker Park the other week, that it costs you a second or two.) and I knew that was well under my target of 2.30, and a 1.32 was almost about what I had planned.

As pretty much all of the field had passed me by the 3rd lap it was hard to stay focused, and keep the momentum going, as my legs were screaming to stop, and the mental feeling of being passed by about 5 runners is hard to ignore. Did my best to ignore that, and focus on my own race. I knew EJ was still behind me, so I still had a chance of doing a bit of a Steven Bradbury and fluking an undeserved bronze medal. Tried to dig deep and keep at it. I was so focused I forget to even check for my 1k split, and I sensed EJ was catching me, and sure enough he was right on my hammer going into the front straight. Got to 1100m and caught a quick glimpse of the trackside big clock saying 3.59, which was 1 second under my target of 4.00. looking back now a 1.35 was probably a bit slower than what I wanted, but I doubt I could have come up with much better at that stage.


So for a brief micro-second I congratulated myself for hitting the target time in the last minute race plan of 4.00, but I knew I was slowing down, and felt like stopping then and there, instead as EJ was ready to attack, I surged hard with 400m to go, with the aim of trying to gap him enough to make it to the finish ahead. Had to dig deep for that one, and it worked initially, hard to tell as I wasnt looking over my shoulder, but I sensed I had about 5-10 metres on him, but with 200m to go though I felt like I had run out of steam. I steeled myself to kick for home, as I got a bit of a nasty shock as EJ kicked past me, I tried so hard to kick and hit back with one last surge, as I knew there was my bronze medal slipping away there and then, but with 100m I knew he was going away from me, and my legs had nothing, absolutely nothing left, I had done the classic example of having my kick burned off me, by what I had done in the first 1300m, not often that I have reached that point in a race, but I remember that feeling of optimal lactic acid concentration from some hard sessions in training last year, and many times over the years. I know when you reach that point there is nothing you can do, and sure enough I staggered over the finish line in 5.33, knowing I had given my all, but experiencing that bittersweet deep disappointment, of not being able to kick when it really mattered in the last 200m, and not only that losing my window of opportunity for a bronze as well. That hurt mentally, and as I struggled not to throw up I just wanted to go home, but I stopped briefly to hear the medal presentation as I left the stadium. The last 400m split of 1.34 is pretty good considering I probably staggered the last 100m in about 30 seconds or slower, so I'm guessing I probably ran the first 300m in about 63secs, so if I had done the training to hold on and maintain pace, I would have done the last 400m in about 1.24, which would have been a photofinish for the bronze medal, but I had nothing left, my kick was totally burnt off, I was beaten by a a better man on the day.

I knew I had to hurry home anyway as my night job was beckoning (I ended up going to work with my race singlet on still with my race numbers still safetypinned on...took em off at my first teabreak... under a polo shirt), and I needed to make sure my wife and 2 year old found my sisters place ok and on time for Darcys 4th birthday...

After the race Wests Tigers fan EJ said to me "I thought you had me with 400m to go", which was my last successful attempt to dig deep, and surge away from him, but when he went past me at 1300m, I went to the well and tried to kick for home/hit back with a finishing surge, and the legs just wouldnt respond, in fact I spent the final 100m staggering to the finish. I reckon if I'd done a blood lactate sample at the finish line the lactic acid levels would have been one of the highest levels of concentration in the blood Ive ever had. Even 5 minutes afterwards I was trying very hard not to throw up, so I reckon I pushed hard enough to be in that throwing up zone by the end.

so Mens 1500m 35-39 years; Gold Kim Thomas 4.56 Silver Paul Burke 4.59 Bronze EJ Davies 5.23
4th me 5.34 If I could have beaten EJ it would have bean a WA 1-2-3...duh duh, duh!!!


Bjorn Dybarl (spelling wrong) won his M55-59? 1500m for WA, an outstanding sit and kick at the end effort...

David Cane also ran an outstanding race to pick up the bronze in his 1500m race M45-49?

very memorable two days...:-)

full results will eventually be @ http://www.australianmastersathletics.org.au/
photos @ http://www.mastersathleticswa.org/Championships/championships-gallery.html

2 more days of competition to come, but my Australian Masters 2010 experience is over unfortunately. Its been wonderful although a little bittersweet with my 10k disaster and the 1500m just coming up short of a Bronze medal...but I'm pretty satisfied with the 5.33 for where I am at now, and I didnt seriously come into this championships expecting a medal...so overall I got what I wanted from these championships, and I know I gave my all in the 1500m...

David Cane is in the 5000m on Sunday, and Ray Boyd is on entry list but he didnt show for 10,000m so may still be injured...8km cross country still to go I think...

Just found a pic of Bjorn Dybarl (my spelling is wrong sorry) in front in the M55-59 1500m on an ACT runners blog @ http://runningtourdefrance09.blogspot.com/
heaps of photos of various events and even some videos..understandably dominated by ACT athletes...

Friday Day 1 thoughts;

Well done Tiger Boy on getting on the podium in a great time in less than ideal conditions, could be a good collection of medals you take home...Be interesting to see how long Sheeds stays with Western Sydney...

Really enjoyed catching up with various people (including my racewalking coach from a few decades ago, who was adding to his massive collection of Australian Masters medals (but not the gold like usual this time unfortunately) today at the Australian Masters...

awesome to be a part of the event as a spectator and as a try-hard runner...

not the best lead into it, as I had a long day Thursday with an early hospital appointment to check on my wifes baby (well into third trimester now), then had to check brakes on my wifes car, then juggled my day job with 2 hours of driving to the track and back to get my race numbers because I thought my 10k race would be at 0745..., then worked my night job from 9pm to 3am, (couldnt find any shift swap takers), then slept 3 hours 4am-7am, long 40-60minute drive to the track then raced at 10amish...
probably explains why I was trying not to black out/micro sleep after a few hours in the sun waiting for a medal presentation for my coach to finally occur, that kept getting delayed.....2hour nap when I got home seemed to recharge the batteries...guess I'm getting old...
but then again you are as old as you want to be, although age does catch up with all of us sooner or later, but later is better...and later is a personal choice to some extent...as the efforts of my coach and all the people I saw out there today highlighted for us in a big way again...

My 10,000m messup;
Conditions about 25 degrees and 60% humidity with a 1015am start...at the WA Athletics stadium...

-couldnt resist getting caught up in Paul Mitchells pace for the first 300m, and then took my lead foot off the accelerator to ease through the first 400m in 74secs.
-My first 2k (8.47) in the 10,000m was good.
-my 5k split of 24.12 was a lot slower than the 23.03 I did at Bridges on the weekend, so not good enough, disappointed in myself...
-my next 4k (20.10) was almost acceptable...
then I had a toilet stop for a few minutes got the ok from the officials to keep running, did the last 4k at about 20minute pace...(5 min per K)
- hammered the last 200m to split the final 400m in 92secs...
official time including toilet stop = 54min 16secs.

Not a race I'll be remembering as a good one, although I still had a lot of fun...
Second time the pressure of trying to raise the bar for myself, has turned into a major muck-up...
but you try and learn from mistakes, and make gains...

Paul Mitchell led early but was targeted by an ACT legend, who ran away with the race in the end I think. Paul finished in about 35 minutes, way outside his 31minute PB...but the warmish pretty humid conditions were overheating us all a bit...not good weather for fast times...I think 10k races should always be done early morning or late evening but it least it wasnt 35 degrees like the 6 hour nrace in February...and its tricky with so many 10k races to do in one go...tough job for overworked organisers...and their efforts mean so much to many...

They ran separate races depending on age-group we were in the 30-54 group.
In my category (35-39) the medallists were Paul Mitchell gold (by a long way), Kim Thomas from WA , and EJ Davies from NSW.

Im scheduled for the 1500m tomorrow at 1220, although I felt pretty unwell after this one...

Random thoughts;
-Saw patron John Gilmour out there for the offical opening of the championships.
- my coach from my racewalking days still has several more events...

-saw some WAMC/hills group people there...one of the "Simon Says Sub 4" ladies (last years Perth Marathon) did a PB in the 10,000m so I heard...

-Gary Hastie still going well with about a 6.33 in the 1500m walk.
-Mark Donahoo, Robin Whyte and Andrew Jamieson all there for the racewalking, so some names I recognise from Nationals results in previous decades...

-I'm reminded again just how fast that track is...my 74 secs first 400m felt like I could have gone several seconds faster, and I was not wearing spikes either...see what happens if I show up for the 1500m...

-one of our WA people has expressed a desire to try the marathon, so be interesting to see how he goes when he attempts it...

-felt special to pull on the black and gold again as its been 10 years since I represented the state officially, although I am glad they dont have qualifying times, otherwise I probably wouldnt have been there...first lap sitting on Pauls shoulder had that Nationals feel to it for sure, and being lapped by Victorians, Tasmanians, ACT, and NSW runners, also brought back many of my old memories from the 80's and 90's...

7 Comments:

Blogger Sling Runner said...

Looks like a very closely contested race. It must have been very cool to get an Australian National champs medal ! But anyway, it was still a great effort, shaving 30secs off your previous timing.

Exciting times ahead with the baby due soon.

Sun Apr 04, 08:15:00 am AWST  
Blogger Clown said...

Great effort, just missed it, bad luck. Sounds great for future races, now just need to get a few good weeks in when you can and thinks will continue on the upward spiral.

Don't talk to me about footy :(.

Sun Apr 04, 12:24:00 pm AWST  
Blogger Ewen said...

Shame about missing the bronze by such a close margin, but 5:33 is a great run and improvement. From there you can kick on down close to 5 minutes - that's how much Katy, Ken and Gary from the Geese improved. Thanks for the links to the results.

The 10k not so good, but yourself to blame a bit me thinks - 30:50 pace at 1 lap isn't exactly 'easing into it'!

Tue Apr 06, 02:50:00 pm AWST  
Blogger trailblazer777 said...

thanks all. was a tough 2 days racing for me, overall really enjoyed the experience. This sort of racing opportunity only comes along very occasionally for me so keen to make the most of it...

Ewen fair point re 10k, big differnce between 1.14 and 1.40-2.00, although my 2k split of 8.47 is 4.23 pace, so thats about right...Its very hard for me to start slow, but I guess I will at least have to start experimenting with it, just to see if it works, as so many people keep telling me I should do it, and maybe Ive misread the energy systems setup a bit there...

we shall see...in the 10k I needed to be in the mid 40's for a bronze, and I also needed to take the night off work I think, but its all good....that might have eliminated the toliet stop...either way still a fantastic couple of racing experiences, and a lot to work with, some progression happening ...

Wed Apr 07, 02:53:00 am AWST  
Blogger Ewen said...

I think one can run "a little" faster than even pace for the first 200m. For example Geb et al if trying to run 26:30 might split the first 200 in 30, second 200 in 33, then sit on 63.6 second laps until a lap to go. If you were trying to run 40 flat (96 sec laps) you could run 44 for the first 200, second 200 in 48 (92 first lap) then sit on 96 sec laps. It's very easy to get into a non recoverable situation by running too fast for too long at the start of a long race.

Wed Apr 07, 01:15:00 pm AWST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great job with the masters TB..sorry you 'almost but not quite' got bronze....great determination and effort nonetheless, which counts far more than placings to me.. Funny you still had your race number tacked on when you turned up to work! All the best, Hunna

Sat Apr 10, 02:13:00 pm AWST  
Blogger trailblazer777 said...

Excellent comments there ewen and hunna Thanks for that. I will try to take on board what you said there Ewen about more even pacing...and start to reduce the number of non-recoverable race situations I get into...
the race numbers still being there is just another indicator of how busy some of my days are...and although I didnt get a medal I have some glorious photos on facebook now thanks to Techno K, and a NSW bloke, and the sensational experience was well! worth it...

Sun Apr 11, 10:47:00 pm AWST  

Post a Comment

<< Home