Now for the wait

I'm quite an impatient person at times, although quite contradictorily many people who know me well say I am very patient. I think it really depends on the context. Here is an example - I decided I really really really wanted a heart rate + speed and distance monitor watch and I wanted it yesterday. However, I had the patience, some might call it common sense, to do the research and make sure I bought the watch that was right for me. Yes, yesterday I offed some of my hard earned cash (and Asia's too :) ) and bought the Polar RS800SD HRM and now I have to wait a week and a half for it to arrive from the states - arggghh frustration and impatience. I just want to go running with it. I know I have said it already but I really can't believe how much better I feel since I have started running again - it's great to have a positive goal outside of work and something else to focus on. I really can't believe I stopped after the half marathon last year but I had good reasons - major life changes, moving to Germany then settling in Australia among other things. Although a wise man once said don't change too many things too fast and maybe I did by stopping running although I have finally corrected the error now. I think one of the reasons why I am enjoying it so much at the moment is the training group I have joined. It's great to be able to run with other runnners!

19km training run, are you kidding me?

Yes that's right 19 km. As part of my new resolution to get back into running again I have joined a training group that is preparing for the 'Run to the G' half marathon on June 17. I went along for my first session on Saturday, realising that I was coming in about half way through the build up, but still thinking okay they will probably only be running just over an hour maybe 13-14 km, easy. So when I was still going reasonably strong and we finished after one hour and 37 minutes having run 19km I was feeling quite surprised. Although, every runner knows that the cardinal sin of running is to run too far too soon - as I found out with what seems to be my first ever running injury. I have had a sore knee for most of the week and until yesterday it was extremely uncomfortable to put weight on. Thinking I could run it off, I went for another group run yesterday, only 11 km. It was feeling pretty ginger throughout but I made it and after icing it last night it feels a lot better today. I think it is probably nothing serious though, just a bit of inflammation. I will keep you posted.

Being an electrical engineer I am slightly obsessed with gadgets, although not as much as you might think, but when I discovered people in my running group wearing these and these I instantly wanted one and I wanted it yesterday. However, now I am faced with a dilemma. Having made the decision to buy one, I can not decide which - the Garmin 305 has GPS and is as ugly as sin, while the Polar RS800SD has a pedometer (less accurate than GPS but works better in poor GPS coverage areas) and looks f..in fantastic. Plus the Polar has an altimeter, brilliant bundled software - lets face I really want the Polar and I would get it if the price difference wasn't so massive. I can get both cheap, relative to local retail from overseas vendors, but even then the price difference between the two models is about $200, ah dilemmas, dilemmas...

Train 1 Brad 0

63 minutes ish was my final time, I was hoping for under one hour but in the end I think I can be reasonably satisfied. I mean, considering my current level of running fitness it went pretty much as expected. A little disappointing though as the train was a bit slow this year, clocking in at just under 58 minutes, so only five minutes faster and I could have beaten it. My team all finished within four minutes of each despite none of us actually running together. It was a tough race to run though as there were over 3000 entrants which made the run into a 'walk' for about the first 500 metres and then it was pretty slow weaving in and out of people for most of the first half of the race. In fact, I was in a pretty big crowd for most of the run and never really felt like I got a proper rhythm going. In all, it was a pretty new experience for me running with that many people.

Train-Day minus 1

The big train race is tomorrow morning at 9:30am, starting at Belgrave railway station. I got my number in the post this week, 1397 seems decent and no special astrological significance I think...

My preparation leading up to the race has been okay but not great. I have had in total probably no more than half a dozen runs in the past few weeks. However, I still have a reasonable base level of aerobic fitness from biking to work everyday. I went for a good run in the Port Hills in Christchurch last weekend - the infamous Harry Ell track, well it's not really that infamous but a good hill run nonetheless. I also ran a couple of laps of 'The Tan' during the week, which is Melbourne's famous running track around the botanic gardens. I will post again tomorrow if I'm not too buggered after the run.

In other news, I've been toying with the idea of setting up my own website - I mean not just a lame blog but a website with actual content of my choosing that I can update regularly. I have been developing a few pages off-line recently and the site as a framework is starting to come together. Watch this space because it's likely I will transfer this blog there too once it's up and going.