Training Log Archive: acejase

Lunch time run out through ANU, Museum then on to two bridges run. met Brucie at ANU Boat Shed and the Captain at the lake. Starting to feel like a runner again rather than a blob on a stick trying to get fit for summer. Got something in my eye fairly early on and I think i got it out but when I stopped running my eyes have got itchy, one of them is all blood shot and swollen and I'm sneezing like a demon. Luckily my work mates super-duper anti-hayfever tablets seem to be kicking in. Also had 2 of the doughnuts left over from yesterday's training in case they are the antidote. Dunno why I dont lose weight.

Left HR monitor at home.

First run over an hour since Whitsunday run. Really enjoyed being able to run in the evening in light. Ran from work over Black Mtn, down the concrete path then over to the back section of the classic course.

C • evening runs in light ... p... 2

commuting. bike developed a beauty of a squeaking noise on the way home. I'm sure nothing to do with my efforts at maintenance. *sigh*

Classic loop in reverse with Searlo. Searlo's 3rd run in as many days. Must be a late effort to get fit for the wedding. He was certainly suffering in parts (knees, lungs and hills mostly).

Possible PW for the classic loop. ran with searlo both carrying our bags of cbf over our shoulders.

Decided better go for a run before my weight ballooned anymore so trotted up Mt Painter and back. Words to describe the run: heavy, slow, tragic, slug.

Spent some time in the arvo thoroughly cleaning the bike after yesterdays rain-ride and also putting on my new polar speed sensor. Given my mechanical prowess this last part was quite a feat. So after getting the beast in good working order adn with a new toy added I decided to cut a lap of the lake. Twas a beautiful ride with sun setting at the end. Basically just cruised round although pumped a few of the inclines and had to slow to a walk many times for the punters wandering along the path. New toy said avg speed 26km/h.

Ride from work to pick up car from service. as predicted the storms that were threatening all day started pelting down at precisely the moment I went to step out the door at work. I hovered in the shelter in civic for a while hoping in vain it would ease off but in the end just had to go. Bike fairly cruddy by the time I got there - not to mention me.

when i say rest week i mean rest week. not even the sound of Liggo heading out the door running at 5.45am was enough to inspire me. actually it had the opposite effect.

weight starting to balloon already.

cbf levels so high i only did half a commute, getting a lift home with my boss.

commuting, rode home with emily.

super commuting. pretty tired on bike in the morning.

decided to skip the blob in favour of a swim at band aid central aka CISAC. Forgot goggles which was bad for eyes and keeping out infectous diseases but good for not being able to see band aids etc.

C • goggles 4

ACT MTB-O Champs at Kowen Forest - the Felled Timbers section. Signed up for the big boys, although there were no actual big boys there. Rode really well - probably a PB for MTB-O events. Pushed hard to the map change which was at about 25k and then sufferrred on the 2nd loop. 31deg so nowhere to hide either. Absoloutley shattered by the end. Winner was adventure racer dude who did 2hrs11. He did Scott 24hr solo last week so on the one hand he is really fit but on the other hand he may have been a bit weary from that. I ssupect I would've been level with him at the map change but faded after that.

warm up plus had to pick up a few controls.

I'll leave it to the readers discretion as to which current member of my household maximised the automatic login feature of attack point with yesterdays trog entry.....

C • LMAO 10

Run around the local haunts with Liggo, dave and Stace. Nice casual pace.

I must say its a privilege to have Liggo staying with us again this week. His intelligence, humour and generosity knows no bounds. He is an excellent cook and spends several hours each day keeping the house tidy. He has not failed to wash up once since he's been here. Aside from this he is clearly an oustanding athelete, and its no wonder that the phone is ringing hot with girls trying to secure a dinner date with him.

run into work. warm day.

commuting. had plans for ride with Devil in the morning but then I thought...... Naaaahhh.

to and from work. rode home with Emily.

blob run on reverse classic with Stace. Not feeling too bad. Bit flat and a bit of quad weariness. nice to be able to run in the light, finishing in the last dregs of the day.

think i'll have an easier week (or even two) after reaching my winter-time goals of whitsunday run & LifeCycle.

Double lap starting at 530am with blue lap (55) first, 3mins removing sleeves and eating museli bar at transition and then red (52). After an amount of sleep scientifically determined to be too small to be measured it was beautiful to see the sun rise as I got ready. A lot less people on the tracks and slowing down a bit to pace myself for the double lap improved my technique heaps. Passed a lot of people going up stromlo and hardly stepped out of pedals. Nice. Had a good coffee at end.

I was feeling fine for another lap but the rotation meant it didnt get to me before our time was up. An enjoyable Scott 24hr on 'new' location. Especially good we could park car next to camp site removing nightmare of carrying all gear bloody kms to campsite. Searlo and I packed up in last few hours while others were riding and I was home by 1245pm!!!!!

1st lap (daylight) in Scott 24hr. The Beer Monkeys team, in riding order, was Top Gear Watne, Dave Quayle, Ferg, Dreaded, moi, Searlo. First lap was Blue i.e. not the one that went over Stromlo. Felt ok. technical skills would hopefully improve as 24 hr went on! I was very good at catching/passing people on easy technique bits such as fire trails and very good at being caught/passed on technical bits and corners.

!st red lap, in the dark about 9pm. Would've been handy to have done this lap before in the daylight as I was quite slow back down off Mt Stromlo, unsure when the tricky bits were up ahead. Lights worked well at least. Quite a bit of traffic with me being slowed on the up hill 'easy technique' bits and slowing people on the 'hard technique' bits.

run in to work. had left over indian in a container in my bag for lunch so ran a bit gingerly. nothing worse than butter chicken sauce through your work clothes and down your back. fortunately it survived.

C • trades 4

Happy Birthday Tash Key if you read this (which she wont).

commuting on the mtb through the wilds of Black Mtn. a few sore spots revealed themselves on my return to a push bike.

Run to work via Black Mtn. Starting to warm up in the Nations Capital.

Cruisy cook blob with only Stace & I. Around old classic loop as it was just light enough to make it. Hoggster gone to the US for a month. I didnt ride to work!

Day 2 LifeCycle - Goulburn to Canberra

A much more enjoyable ride than yesterday but worse conditions. Woke up to blowing a gale which proved to vary between a crosswind and head wind. Set off from Goulburn Maccas with riders more organised and in a group. 4 of us (including Travis) actually set a fairly good pace, made easier by having 1 of the guys not having ridden yesterday so he did more than his share of lead work.

After about 5k it was great to get off the Hume and onto Federal Hwy. A fair bit less traffic and a lot less trucks. Also a better verge to ride in from about Lake George. Wind was pretty bad but it was pretty flat and we set a good pace averaging about 28k/hr to lunch stop after 50k. At one point got swooped a beauty by a maggie. I was at the back of our group at the time and he swooped me 4 or 5 times tapping my helmet. Travis was yahooing at the maggie like a mad man but it didnt have much effect. Or maybe it did coz he never went Travis.

A bit slower after lunch with the end in sight we all had to meet up at Eaglehawk for group ride and police escort into Old Parliament House. We were well ahead of schedule to get to Eaglehwak for 130 so got there at 1230 and had a coffee. Sweet. A very criusy ride into and through town (15-20km/hr). Made it to OPH and nice to see Belinda, Searlo and a few work colleagues giving us a cheer. Also had free red bulls and snags although cant say I am a red bull fan (just Mark Webber).

My ar$ was/is cactus from the bike seat. Spent a fair bit of today riding out of saddle. Also numbness in hands continued getting a bit worse. Pins and needles in feet a given. Overall though my legs held out really well, not too tired at all and given I'd never ridden longer than Cotter-Uriarra before I was pretty pleased. Also pleased to get to the end without having an altercation with a truck!

Thanks to AttackPointers and others who sponsored me. I will contact you abotu payment sometime in the next week or 2. I dont know how much the whole ride made for Lifeline (there were about 50 riders) but my rough calculations show that my attackpoint sponsors, work mates, friends and family sponsored me to the tune of about $1100. Way more than I expected when I took this on so thank you very much.

Dont think I'll ride to work on Monday....

C • Good effort mate 10

Day 1 of LifeCycle from Campbelltown to Goulburn.

Started out from Campbelltown (Uni of West Syd) at about 730am. The organisation of the ride was pretty, well, disorganised. Not really sure what was happening so set out with most people in the first group which turned out to be the 'slow' group. It didnt matter anyway as there wasnt much grouping going on. We were soon spread out like Browns Cows along the Hume Hwy/Fwy. My support guys (Paul and Eloise) had a cb radio tuned into the truckie channel and lets just say that the descriptions the truckies had of the ride and riders are not suitable for a family-friendly trog. And to tell you the truth I cant blame them - to be frank it was fairly dangerous. The traffic on the Hume never stops with a high amount of trucks. Crossing exits/entrances to the highway was pretty hairy as were bridges where the emergency lane merges into the main 2 lanes. Looking over your shoulder doing somewhere between 20 and 40km/h trying to judge whether the trucks and cars doing 110km/h are going to see you is not that pleasant.

Anyway didnt start out that well with a flat after 20mins! had started in the slow group and was just trying to get with some guys who were about my pace when I flatted and got passed by the mountain bikes, baskets and FIT (Females in Training) group. Got back going and passed some people. The first 40k or so was pretty flat which was great. Somewhere approaching the hills of Mittagong and Mossvale started to ride with this guy who seemed about my pace. One big hill over a river but otherwise the hills werent as bad as I thought they might be and we got to the rest area designated as lunch break after 86k.

Only 60 odd to go to Goulburn! Had a good 30min break, eating plenty and Travis (the guy who was my pace) and i got going again. We'd been averagin about 25k/hr which seemed reasonable and got into a group of 6 or 7 guys at a similar pace. Got a bit tougher then as the wind started to pick up and it was more 'rolling hills' towards Goulburn. A few mechanicals and the group was down to me and Travis. I was feeling quite ok but unfortunately my new found buddy was starting to struggle. He sat in behind me but was a bit wonky and just wanted to stop so we did. He had a lie down in Paul's van and I thought maybe he was goign to retire but after 15 or 20mins and a bit to eat and drink he got back on again and we continued on. A couple of decent hills into a strong wind in the last 10k before Goulburn was a tough way to end but the downhill into town was great.

My legs finished feeling really good. makes a difference not having the impact of running. My ar$ was pretty sore though and I'd had pins and needles in my feet for a lot of the ride. Also numbness in the outside of my hand and pinky finger. I was pretty tired though and in bed by about 830.

rest and travel-to-sydney day.

commuting through the forests of black mtn. a nice way to start and end the day.

i said there would be no more mention of monetary requests but Lifeline email has been on the blink for the last 2 days so the flood of donation emails sent by attackpointers will have been bouncing. sorry about that - you can email me at home on bajase(at)tpg.com.au if lifeline email bounces for you.

commuting. got swooped on way home - 3rd swoop for spring so far.

M21E+tough physical terrain = cbf. Went round floating between long run pace and a bit more effort when others around. Ran with Blair for a while and a kiwi who looked failry demoralised. Great area. More babies & kids at O every time I go - Ella, Cathy Hogg's Mackaye (sp?), Eoins little girl (if you reading this Eoin - yes I cant remember her name), met Andy & Alexa's Lyra and of course Tiia & Jamie Marsh. Hope I havent offended any parents leaving their off spring out.

Warning Blatant Request for Money follows:

Some of you will have read that I am training for the LifeCycle ride from Sydney to Canberra. The ride is to raise money for Lifeline, my employer, whose main role is providing a 24hr crisis telephone service to the community. The ride is on this Friday & Saturday coming.

Anyway now for the plug....if anyone out there is interested in donating/sponsoring me for the ride, Lifeline would appreciate it muchly. All sponsorship/donations over $2 are tax deductable and you can sponsor either a set amount or per km. The ride is 244kms in total. To sponsor you can either add a comment here on my trog or email me at jason.mccrae(at)act.lifeline.org.au

Thanks. I will return to normal trog like entries now.

C • Aoife 2