split training

Fuel
Originally uploaded by Auswomble

Alex decided that 04:30 was a good time to get up this morning, and although I managed to get another 30mins of rest by telling her mum was still asleep and she could kip on the floor with dad, dad got no more sleep. And so the working week started. Legs a bit achy but pretty much OK. Interesting. I checked the weather online to see what I should dress AJ in and, like a fool, also looked in on the RunningFree website’s Janathon group pages. LocalAdventures now had 18k on me. And Jenks was level and above me in the list andhas edged me into third. Bugger. Shouldn't have looked. I loaded AJ into the backpack, grabbed the leads and headed out to the dog park, via Quasi Coffee, open again now Alison is back from her Xmas/NY break. Fat chewed and coffee in hand it was up the hill to let the energetic run around while I stood and chatted before heading home, completing the 4.75km loop with time left to get ready for office day 1, 2011. This week should be quiet and a gentle start to the working year was on the cards. Should be able to get a few runs on the board, thought I.

Now I know I shouldn't get all competitive but I can't help myself. Not so much competitive with LocalAdventures and Jenks, rather they will spur me on to see what I can achieve. Heading into Janathon I'd mentally prepared myself to average 10k a day, which would have left me with a couple of light days each week for some r&r. I'm not sure that'll be enough. Breaking new ground here.

Anyway, starting to think about how to get a few miles under my belt I wandered off to get the bus to work. Yes, I could have run, but I fancied a bit of daylight between yesterday's run and today's. Besides, I knew I'd be able to knock out 10k at lunch time. For well over a decade I've done some exercise during my workday lunch breaks. I was fortunate to get my first "proper" job, back in London in 1995, working for a company whose chief exec was passionate about exercise and where there was a gym onsite. My boss’s wife, a former competitive cyclist, was head of the department that was the gym (the only department that never failed to turn a profit.) It was dead easy to get into the habit of exercising regularly and get some coaching thrown in for good measure. Once in the exercise habit I found myself making time to exercise, not slotting exercise in when I got a chance - a sure fire way to miss out (I've just got to finish this off, think I'll go to the pub etc.) I didn't start running regularly until 2003, but by then I was really quite pig-headed about my lunch breaks. Though I don't remember, a colleague who is now in my team tells me I went for a run on my first day with my current company, back in March 2007. And therein lies (my) secret. When you get a new job you must set your stall out early. If you're the one who always goes for a run at lunchtime then no-one bats an eye when you go for a run at lunchtime, even if you come back maybe 75mins later, maybe 90. Far too many people seem to think they need to be nailed to their desk or never more than 18inches from their Blackberry. I work waaaaay more productively if I can get away from my desk for a spell, have a shower, come back refreshed. Or sweaty. As long as I’ve been away I’m happy.

Lunch time today was my flattest regular run, around the waterfront and piers between the office and the south side of Anzac Bridge. It is pretty much road-free and the only real obstacles are the tourists wandering across Prymont Bridge. Once beyond there you find few people; office workers chilling at lunch and the beautiful people tending their boats. It's always nice to run by the water's edge, and today seemed to pass fairly smoothly as I contemplated running home to get my name back at the top of the leaderboard, albeit only briefly. Weather was overcast and a bit sticky, not great but not bad. There were a few other runners about, some of whom I suspect were fuelled by Xmas guilt and New Year resolution. I am starting to wonder if the to-be-scuttled-off-the-Central Coast-HMAS-Adelaide will ever be scuttled or if the nimbys and light-greens will continue to hold things up. in the meantime I get to run past her as she sits waiting...and waiting...I finished my out and back, 10.7k in a little under 50mins, which I was a bit surprised at. I thought I'd be running slower than usual. As it turned out I simply ran where I felt comfortable. Right, now for the hill home...

OK, I told you it was a quiet day at work, which was where I was when I wrote that bit. Now I'm home and feel a little better after a chunk of xmas pudding and some ice cream.

I started the run home with a flat section of wharf that I like just as it is and will over the next few years become a developers playground that I suspect will ruin it. I hope I'll be proved wrong, but this is Sydney, the land that architects forgot. Anyway, I started slow and stayed that way. I'm not a big fan of split training, and today did little to change my point of view. I wanted to ask someone to take a pic of me as I ran along the waters edge, or over the bridge. But more than that I just wanted it to stop. So I sort of trudged home in a bit of a grumpy fug. The bridge was s-l-o-w at 07:20. If there are any pub quiz fans out there, you might like to know that the walkway on the bridge is 1.5km form steps t steps. Probably a little longer today as I dodged and weaved through the many tourists on a late afternoon stroll.

I live on a hill, so coming from sea level or thereabouts means that the run home is mainly uphill, but that's OK. I kept the legs turning over and even ran a few metres past home just to click the GPS over to an even 20k for the day. Another one down, and competitive me likes to see my name atop the leaderboard, if only until I get up in the morning. Might have a glass of red. Need a glass red. Will have a glass of red. Light day tomorrow.