Saturday, April 26, 2008

Rule Number 1 - Avoid the Knife

not sure which one of Tim Noakes (the lore of running) rules this is but i'll say its number 1.
saw 'guru sensei' physio this week.
and he started talking about getting an itb tendon release operation.
bloody hell i thought physios hated the knife!

he wanted to see me next week (but cant until the week after) when he will discuss again.
have pretty much made up my mind not to get it operated on.
decided some years back to get the right side 'fixed' if it flared up again.
it never did and that was 4 years ago now.
hope making the same decision again will help the left side too :)

heading to sydney in a week for TOHs work conference.
usually i would do a fair bit of running when travelling but i wont be able to do so this trip :(
spud doesnt know this yet but i'm going to pop into his work every day and just play with some stuff to keep occupied - hearing aids and things.
maybe make some design improvements ;)

next 'test' run in 2 weeks.
nothing until then.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Lawn Bowls

mellum has convinced me to take up lawn bowls.
unfortunately my itb may not like that much at the moment either.
the itb is completely rogered.
can run about 2km before it hurts (so wont!) and isnt passing the monday night bin test (steep driveway).
will be out for months and take a while to build up again from there.
while i regret the outcome i dont regret the decision ;)
had a chance (albeit small) at a piece of history.
sometimes youve just gotta live on your feet (and die by the knees?).

Monday, April 14, 2008

Perspective

hey before i forget the last post was my 100th!
yipee?????????

so i'm walking the dogs on friday arvo with TOH.
start to lag behind.
just couldnt keep up - feel 'unwell'.
go home and just lie down for a few hrs then go to bed.
woke with a fever the next morning.
by the time i had rigors ('shaking chills') in the arvo i figured i had better pop into work and play 'the other role'

dont mind putting this on the blog as everyone at work now knows :(
but i have a urine infection.
yes it is a strange thing for boys to get.
ruth started wondering what my weekend with spoonman and maggot entailed ;)
and mellum have simply concluded that if i am getting girls diseases that i must be a girl.
lets hope that improves my IQ and cleanliness.

was worried for a while i actually had a septicaemia (bugs in the blood).
with temps of 39.4 i was expecting it but thankfully not the case as the bug i had is a common one that can spread from there to the heart valves.
one of those cases of better to know less i think.

had a few weird thoughts over this time.
first was that even when i felt crappest i had felt worse during glasshouse 100 mile in 2003.
the other was (when getting better) how nice it is to feel well again and do simple things like eat!
and how far going for a even short training run is from lying on the couch all day unable to get up or eat or do anything.
puts a lot of things into perspective.

then just to blow me away i watched australian story tonight http://www.abc.net.au/austory/
diagnosed with lung cancer at 19 dead at 24.
met jessica once or twice.
just terrible.
running is just so unimportant.
it is just a small but hopefully pleasureable part of our lives.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Alpine 100


innes, lawerence, paul m (spoonie), paul a (dougaldog)

well i guess that sometimes in the 'all or nothing' scenario you end up more at the 'nothing' end!
brief version is the itb started to ache going up mt feathertop ie. at the bloody start.
the brief descent from feathertop was a worry and the trip down diamantina spur very problematic indeed.
i was basically using 1 leg and 2 poles.
the only bit the knee felt good on was the 'bum/mud slide into prickle bush' section :)
by the time i got to the bottom of d-spur i couldnt run more than 5 paces and tho briefly (insanely) considered trying to walk the entire event i knew that it would soon be painful just walking which it indeed was.
pulled out at 28km and 7.5hrs (it was a hilly 28km!) where i could walk out to the helpers car.
more surpised than disappointed.
spoonie said i looked relieved!

switched to crewie for the rest of the weekend and have to say what a great weekend i had despite my own difficulties.
have been to a few ultras over the years but this one absolutely took the cake in persistence and determination.
4 guys just hammering themselves on the run and another 4 (myself included) just giving their all in crewing/pacing duties.
100% effort 24/7 for 2.5 days.
well except for the nice meal and nap i had at the icicles ski lodge on sat night.
i like ski lodges :)

had a weird feeling on sunday lunch when i realised mal & i hadnt seen the runners for over a day!!
super-pacer bryan had spent a rather uncomfortable night with paul a - bedding down at the big river site with some varments who decided to eat thru pauls pack into his food supplies!

rather (pleasantly) suprised that the 'stage race' aspect of it was a furfi.
the 2 guys who stayed at the planned rest spot (cleve cole) did so because they were buggered.
and the pre-race favourite and the race director didnt make it there and spent the night on the trail!

stage race my a*se.

pity the 2 pauls faced bad visibility conditions at mt loch car park as both were sure to finish the entire race course.
spoonie's quote re not continuing in whiteout unfortunately came to fruition.
as he was the first to mt loch in these conditions i spent some time trying to convince him to go on.
deepest respect to him for making such a balsy decision for safety reasons.
kudos to innes and lawrence for being the 'first finishers' after a 0/4 in 2006.
but this race wasnt about winning.
it was about adventure - and we all had plenty of that.
i was amazed by how fresh the guys looked at every stage.
just inspiring stuff.
i will be back.
paul a offered me free entry next year - bribed him with soup at mt loch :)