stop the clock, I'm done

Thank fuck it's over.

I've crossed the imaginary finish line and achieved my made up goal. And now...well I don't know really. Anyway, today's run.

Another ropey night's sleep with an hour lost to a coughing fit. I woke up almost dreading today's run. I timed the Lemsip to kick in once I got back from AJ's swimming lesson. The ladies were all heading off for a snooze and I went out and did a final beach loop for the month and for Janathon.

I needn't have been so anxious. The run was incident free, taken easily and with a couple of stops to take photos and to chat to the lifeguards at the beach. I decided to not stop for water today, after the coughing fits it triggered yesterday. That seemed to work for me; not too dehydrated, no coughing fits while on the hoof.

I got home and uploaded the run then checked my total. runningfreeonline was shortchanging me vs. Strava. Annoying. Nevermind. I could go and do another 100m, dressing-gown-dash style, up and down the street and make sure I was where I wanted to be - the equivalent mileage of 31 half marathons in 31 days. I think the difference is due to Strava filling in the 1.3km gap in one of my runs where I forgot to restart my Garmin - schoolboy error. runningfreeonline cuts you no such slack. Anyway, head to Strava to see what I've been doing. Including today.

And this is what 100m in a cow-print dressing gown and Ugg boots, in 25degrees, looks like. It isn't pretty.

So how has the month gone? Jan 1st was the traditional Six Foot Track try-out. It's a semi-brutal 34km that I use as a the litmus test of whether I should even consider 6ft. I got through it OK. The next few days were unsurprisingly achey. A lot of people will tell you that aching muscles should be stretched or rested, but I don't do either. I've not stretched at all this January, and you can't really rest when you have to run every day. Put the miles in and your body will get used to it. HTFU. Once into the second week I was tracking well and the third week was also pretty good. Sweaty and a hydration nightmare, but the miles were clocking up.

Then the wobbles set in. I did something silly on the 22nd and chased a number. I put in a big day to get to 500km. Then I compounded the error by doing a midday 20k the following day in some pretty warm conditions. That wiped me out on Friday 23rd, which may have broken Sal's "don't turn yourself into a zombie" rule but I figured it was my birthday so she could cut me a little slack. I threw in a light Saturday, but trouble was on the horizon when the weather changed dramatically after the weekend. Initially I thought the cooler, wetter weather was a godsend, but I think it threw my body into all sorts of thermal confusion. I finished a couple of runs feeling cold, shivering. Wednesday night something crept up on me and I've had the sweats, the shivers and the shivers and sweats ever since. Plus a hacking chest cough.

I took a couple of days off work without even remotely taking the piss. I was lucky to have a few miles in the bank that meant I could still get to my goal with three relatively light days of 10 and 11k. I'll not lie, they haven't been a whole lot of fun, each one making me wonder how much I was adding to the time to recover from this bloody cold. The daily ritual of checking the Janathon totals and blogs did not have me convinced that I'd done enough to ease up.

But it's over. I achieved my personal goal, knocked out my second largest month ever and have laid down a decent slab of Six Foot base training. I concede 11hours to the Janathon guys in the UK. For some time there has only been one guy with a chance of catching me, the misfortune of some others being good news for me - such is the nature of the beast. I think I've done enough, but he's good and I give him a definite target and it finishes on a Saturday. I'll keep checking to the totals, but for now I just need to get rid of this cold.

Janathon Grand total - 654.1km. Or thereabouts. Certainly not less.

PS
This isn't supposed to come over as all negative. I'm just really tired right now. Sorry.

Well, son, the funny thing about regret is...

The cleaner who comes over every other Friday came over today. I don't like hanging about while she's here; I feel like I'm in the way. So I decided to head back to the bakery at an even more leisurely pace, grab a bite to eat and let Rowlf have at least some exercise today. Wasn't really thinking about running. Well, I might have been.

The coughing had mostly gone and I was breathing OK. I was a bit vague, even by my standards, had a temperature but wasn't roasting, and I had a headache. But...I could probably run. I Set to work justifying my already-made decision. AJ is out at a friends house for dinner and Sal will be out with H. So I won't be needed to help with much and could, if I needed to, curl up in a ball in a corner. The night out I was planning was off of the table because I wouldn't want to infect my friends. Once I got moving I'd be OK on the run. I didn't expect to enjoy it, but I reckoned I could knock out a flatish-10k. The unknown would be how I would pull up afterwards.

Then there was the nagging thought of getting pipped at the post in Janathon. If I could do a 10k today and then my standard beach loop tomorrow I might open just enough of a lead to keep the top spot. Two things were swirling around in my head. A friend once told me you should never get beaten by someone you don't know. Not sure why, but it stuck with me. And the other was the quote at the beginning of the Butthole Surfers "Sweat Loaf"

"Well, son, the funny thing about regret is that it's better to regret something you have done than to regret something you haven't done. And by the way, if you see your mom this weekend, will you be sure and tell her SATAN! SATAN! SATAN!"

So I got changed and headed out to do the flatter second half of my standard beach loop as an out-and-back. Get to around 5k, turn around and come home. And that was what I did. I concentrated on keeping the pace down and just turning the legs over. At a little under 4k I stopped at a bubbler for a drink. There was a slightly unpleasant feeling in my chest as the cool water went down, and once I set off again I started coughing. The same thing happened on the way back, but I needed the drink. Running while coughing - not fun.

I stopped a couple of times at the beach to look at the large surf. It was a bit messy but big, and a few guys were getting eaten by waves that were up to double-overhead from trough to peak. The Queenscliff Bombora was breaking and a few guys were out there, about a kilometre offshore.

On the way back I stopped running at exactly 10k and walked the last few hundred metres home. The maths is now pretty simple. I need a little over 11km tomorrow to achieve my Janathon goal. Lemsip and a snooze time.

Janathon total - 643km

Seaforth Bakehouse

Today I ran to the Seaforth Bakehouse, a place that has featured in several of my previous Janathon posts, typically as the place I grab a morning coffee when walking the dog. It's 454m from my house. I know that because it was today's run. That run will probably be it for today. I'm still feeling like I've been hit by a train. Temperature is all over the place and I've got a horrible cough that feels like I'm being stabbed in the chest with a hot stick. In one of last night's coughing fits I thought I was going to puke. I think it's fair to say that I'm not well at the moment.

But I still have today and tomorrow to finish off the month and I need to do something. I dragged myself out of bed and went through the ritual of looking at the totals. I was 115km ahead of the closest runner, but I know he's capable of - and planning to - knock out back-to-back 20mile runs. Living in Sydney I concede 11hours to him. And the last day is a Saturday. So right now I am thinking I'll end up with second place. Which kinda sucks, but what can you do? Of course he may not have the same mindset as me, but if I was in his shoes I'd be feeling confident right now.

I pulled on a Helly thermal top and a wind jacket - a bit of an overkill for summer in Sydney - put on a hat and ran to the bakery. I wore my Vivobarefoot Achilles, shoes I almost never run in. I think I just wanted to be able to add something different to compensate for the frustration.

Ho-hum. Another day off work, another day of rest. Maybe I'll crack 500m tomorrow.

Janathon total - 633km

only because I had to

I had a better night's sleep, which is more than can be said for Sal who eventually bailed and went to the spare room. Apparently the toenail in the calf was the last straw after previous kicks, the coughing and my human hot water bottle act.

When I got home from work yesterday I was out on my feet. I cooked up some pasta for the kids and as soon as Sal got home I crashed on the sofa. Lemsip and a swig of Robitussin and I was done. I woke up at dog walk o clock and rolled over; no chance. He could wait. There was no way I was going to work, we'd sort something out later. I got up at about 6:30 and sat on the sofa with a Lemsip while Sal did all the kid bits. I didn't feel too bad about that as I'm usually on my way to work by then and she'd be doing it all anyway, but I always feel a bit of a shit sitting feeling sorry for myself while stuff goes on around me.

Sal took H to daycare and AJ and I took Rowlf the 800m round trip to the bakery so I could get a coffee. As I sit typing this I wish I'd put the Garmin on, got up on my toes and logged that as a run. Ah well. Quick aside - I've had a cramp in my right big toe all day. Go figure. In the greater scheme of things it is the least of my worries.

Rowlf had his second walk, the far from exhausting 700m round trip to school, when I dropped AJ off. Back home and with a record-breaking (OK, equalling) lack of motivation I pulled on some running gear. I was careful to not choose any shirt that suggested I was any sort of runner because I was fairly sure this was not going to be particularly heroic.

I had a quick cough - one of those centre of the chest hacks - and set off on a beach loop. I know Janathon only requires a logged run each day and there is no minimum requirement. However, I've a target in mind so I decided to do an easy 11k. My legs felt extremely heavy. The quads had been replaced with a sort of lead-playdo thing. But they moved, and I Cliff-Young-shuffled along (by the way, you really should click that link if you've not heard of Cliff Young. Bona fide legend.)

I believe this is known as "very nice"

Not a lot to say about the run. I took it easy, trying to keep at bay the really annoying voice in my head that was telling me what fantastic running weather it was. It really was a nice morning, best of the month for running. Fucking arse-chunks to it. It was lovely down at the beach. There were some nicely formed waves for the surfers and the stands for the upcoming Australian Open of Surfing are being built. Maybe there will be some waves for the event this year...

I got home and crashed out on the sofa, which is where I've mostly been since. Soup and Lemsip. Cough does not seem too bad but you could fry eggs on me at the moment and I'm sweating up a storm.

Bleugh.

Janathon total 632km

bluegh

A truly horrible night's sleep. I'd watched almost all of the Australia vs. UAE game in the Asian Cup, figuring that Australia had it won at 2-0 with 5minutes to go I went to bed. Sal stayed up to watch Baz Luhrmann's Australia, which she'd recorded over the weekend. The last hour or so seems to have 'Over the Rainbow' playing non-stop. I wasn't feeling well and that did not help. I tossed and turned and that was the way the night went. The internal thermostat was all over the place.  I know I fell asleep at some point because I had a dream about putting an aircon unit on a factory roof. Helped by Julie Wallets, Joanna Lumley and Joan Rivers. Bizarre. They weren't very helpful.

I got up at 05:20 to take the dog for a short walk and get a coffee, came home, packed my gear and headed towards the office. It was overcast and raining and around 17degrees - half what we had on Sunday. No wonder my body was confused. The run didn't feel as slow as it was. My Reynaud's kicked in leaving my fingertips yellow, I felt dizzy and was shivering a little more than I thought was strictly necessary. Very glad to get that out of the way, and as I reach for a Lemsip I'm wondering if I'll knock out my lunchtime loop or if I'll pull the pin and head home for some rest.

Of course I went for a lunchtime run. I felt bloody awful, but figured that if I could get moving I'd be OK, at least while I was running. And that was the way it played out. Another spell of standing in the rain waiting for the Garmin to lock on followed by another foreshore loop in the rain. And then after I finished I felt bloody awful again. Not really a lot more than that to say about it.

Another 20-and-a-bit-km added to the total. Nearly there.

Janathon total 621km

hurrah for rain!

The temperature has not got above 20 degrees all day and there has been either rain or drizzle for most of the day. Halle-fucking-lujah! At long last!

Back at work after my Friday and Australia Day Monday off. I've been pretty much sticking to the script so didn't do anything silly over the long weekend. And the same goes for today. It was a slow and steady trot to work that I did in I'm not sure what. Slow though. I was soaked, as usual, but at least half of it was rain water and when I got out of the shower I didn't start sweating.

The morning at work came and went, the highlight - by which I mean lowlight - being the message that I knew was coming, the one saying a colleague and good friend was leaving after 14years, the last 8 of which I've worked with him. I knew already, but I felt extra shitty when it was made official. I felt like I was clock watching, just waiting for middayish when I could go and knock out the rest of today's miles.

I enjoy running around Sydney in the summer when it's raining. Everyone clears out. You don't need to dodge tourists or lunching office workers. No one in Sydney has a wet weather plan, a plan B. Farm Cove was actually peaceful. 

The run had started with me standing like a goose in the rain waiting for the Garmin to pick up my satellites. My steam-powered Forerunner 305 is getting a little long in the tooth and I don't think it has that "remember where I was" thing that newer models do. The size of a laptop computer, it has a certain retro chic. It eventually locked on and I set off.

The domain was not entirely people free. There were a handful of runners, ranging from those who looked like the new year's resolution was becoming strained to Andrew Lee who is really quite good.

"Andrew Lee is one of the nations top ultra marathoner’s. His exploits include victories in the likes of The North Face 100 and 6FT Track as well as representing Australia at the World Mountain Running Champs."

I'm told I look a lot like him. Although I'm currently sporting a quite ridiculous moustache which he isn't; very few people can match the ridiculousness of my mo. I was off with the fairies at the time and didn't realise it was him until we'd passed each other, so missed out on the chance to have a chat. I should catch up with him at this year's Six Foot, by which I mean speak to him when I arrive at Jenolan Caves an hour or so after he does.

A little further around I started chatting to a runner named John. He's going straight from road marathons to The North Face 100. I think I'll top out at half of that. By the look and sound of him I reckon he'll go OK. He certainly dragged my pace up a bit.

And that was it. Another utterly predictable day on the road to bring up my 600km for the year.

Janathon total - 600km

not taking advantage on Australia Day

Today is Australia Day, a public holiday downunder and a day off work. I'm a recent citizen, yet already Australia Day means as much to me as it does to the vast majority of dinky-di, true-blue Aussies. It's a day off work. It's a celebration of modern Australia, a day when new Australians are welcomed in Citizenship ceremonies, it marks the anniversary of the 1788 raising of the British Flag in Australia (when the First Fleet arrived) and this year it is the day our Prime Minister made Prince Philip a Knight.

It's complicated.

With boring predictability I got up and went for a run. Sal wanted to take Rowlf for a walk and is not a fan of the early start so I went early, setting off pre-dawn, at about 05:30. It was cool with some drizzle and still sticky. The bin-men - "garboes" in the local patois - were busy dealing with the mountains of bottles left after Sunday's scorcher. Bins overflowing, but a least most of the trash was in the vicinity of the bins. If the weather cleared up they'd have an even bigger mountain waiting tomorrow.

It was a standard beach run. I don't like the get-up-and-go run and it showed. I huffed and puffed and it was a slow start to the day. But I got it out of the way, got home, Sal took Rowlf for a walk and I took the kids out for breakfast and to do a little bit of shopping.

We had friends over for brunch, their kids and our kids went a bit mental, we ate and chatted, they left, we tidied up, Sal and the kids chilled and I decided to head out for run #2. The temperature was an arctic 19.4 degrees (I jest.) It wasn't raining as such but it was a bit more than drizzle. I toyed with the idea of heading up to North Head and punching out 19 or 20km, but decided it was smarter to stick to the script and do my beach loop. I grabbed last night's DVD (Fury, staring Brad Pitt. Quite good.) I dropped the DVD off, adding an ever-so-slight variation to the standard run.

My pace was far better this afternoon and I went through 10k in about 48min in the better conditions. he weather was a bit crap for people celebrating Australia Day with the beach far less of an option. I think the garboes will be happy with the reduced crowds, and it made it an easier run for me with less ducking and weaving between drunkards. As I got to Queenscliff I passed a guy who was the image of the actor Chris Evans. Pretty sure it was not him, but the guy was solid. Just off the beach there were some decent waves being ridden...and I'm struggling to come up with much more to say.

So I'll wrap it up. Didn't take the opportunity to add a few extra miles on a public holiday that the Brits don't have, and the schedule provides a day off the plank challenge - huzzah! Beer o clock.

Janathon total 579km.

It wouldn't be Australia Day without a bit of Chisel. Here is one of my favourite Australian songs, Cheap Wine by Cold Chisel.

rinse (the sweaty running gear) and repeat

I really am a lucky bastard to live where I do. Which of course isn't really true; my folks brung me up proper and I've played my hand reasonably well. A-n-y-w-a-y, that comment is the prelude to what I believe will be a rather dull blog post about a couple of runs - or rather one run done twice - that took in Sydney Harbour and a 1.6km stretch of Pacific coastline in Sydney's Manly. A magnificent place to "have to" run and today, it was where I had to run and each run was a workmanlike trot to get my numbers up.

We'd had friends over to stay on Saturday night and I'd had a couple of beers more than I should have, so an 11ish to start the day seemed appropriate. Humidity, dehydration, blah blah blah. So the first run came and went, wit me going through 10k in a little ender 50minutes, so I'm still not chronically slow.

I'd set off early, when only the girls and the dog were awake. I got back and there were a couple more moving about. There had been some wispy cloud and my early start meant I avoided getting zapped by the sun. But when I got home it made an appearance and even at 07:30 had a lot of bite. Breakfast done, we headed to the pool.

Since Christmas the chore that was taking the kids to the pool has become a pleasure. AJ, now 6, clicked one day. She pushed aside whatever had been holding her back and is now jumping into water she can't stand in, swimming widths, picking toys up from the bottom. I still watch her like a hawk, but we can now have fun. School's summer holidays, over Christmas when I get a block of time off of work, fell at the perfect time for me and her. We went to the pool every day, didn't have lessons, just fun. Click!

H, who turns 4 in May, is also coming good. She has a reckless disregard for her personal safely, so she'll end up as a great swimmer. It's funny watching her try to beat the shit out of the water with her doggy-paddle and shout "DO YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT I CAN DO?" at anyone she bumps in to.

By the time we left the pool the temperature was in the mid 30s. I wasn't running home...Mum crashed on the sofa, the girls in their bedroom and me on a beanbag under the ceiling fan on the deck. It was that sort of day.

By mid afternoon the temperatures was still about 32. There were some clouds building up and the threat of a storm that has not yet come. Just before 4pm the temperature dipped under 30 and I decided it was time to head out and do the same loop again. We're have friends over for brunch tomorrow so I didn't want to leave the run too late;  I need another early one tomorrow, want to maximise recovery and rehydration. Actually, I fancied a beer. As far as the miles go expect tomorrow to be a repeat of today. Head down, turn the legs over, dehydrate, rehydrate, rinse and repeat. Oh, and do the 30 day Plank Challenge ins support of Sal, who decided she was doing it and really isn't. Three and half minutes today. A bit ouchy.

The run was OK. Humidity was at around 50% and with a bit of a breeze 29 actually felt relatively pleasant. Go figure. Looking forward to February. Another 22km for the total with 2 beach loops.

Janathon total - 556km

slacker!

Today will probably be the lightest day of the month. Still recovering from yesterday and the day before and I was in mental turmoil trying to work out what to do. Best case was a morning and evening beach loop. But that wasn't going to happen because the girls wanted to go swimming early and mum wasn't going to take them because she was confined to kitchen, cooking like a demon. So Rowlf had a swim. the girls had a swim and I lost an opportunity to do a couple of runs. What to do, what to do, what to do..?

I did a bit of gardening. It was already hot (around 28 again) and unlikely to get significantly hotter. Whether I cut the lawns before or after running made no difference. At least if I cut the lawns early the misses would not be able to beat me up about cutting them after a run when there was every possibility that I'd be a dribbling mess.

I was running through all sorts of scenarios and runs and trying to work out how to keep my average up without hurting myself physically and emotionally. I wanted to do one of my 19km loops but no matter what way I looked at it this seemed like a really, really bad idea.

Eventually I did something I wish I'd done earlier and compared my current average with my target average. I've run 522km so far this January. I'm aiming for an average of a half marathon per day this month. And 21.1 x 24 is a bit under 507km. Interesting. I could take a day off, dip into my credit balance, and still be ahead by 15km. No point in being in credit if you're not going to splurge every now and then.

So I decided to spend 10km and do a workmanlike beach loop for a little over 11km. Quite pleased with how I went. I was quite focussed on keeping the pace down, just rolling the legs over and getting the day done. That said, my moving average was little under 5min/km. Certainly not fast, but nothing to indicate a terminal decline. 

A light day with a single run is probably what the doctor ordered and I'll be back to the doubles tomorrow. Need an early start though...forecast high is 35 degrees and despite the amount of "fuck that" I've been spending recently I still have some left for 35 degrees. I mean come on, fuck that.

With Australia day only a coupe of days away I am replacing fluids and carbs with Nomad Brewing's Sideways Pale Ale.  The brewery is just up the road and I buy from the tap room. Got to support your locals and your craft beers.

Janathon total 534km

happy birthday to me

I'm not even Australian, so I don't know why I stayed up to watch the soccer - sorry, football - last night. Australia beat China in an Asian Cup quarter final. I knew I had some work to do on rehydrating after the evening run, maybe that is why I stayed up. Chardonnay is RUBBISH for rehydration. I spent a little while chatting online and ended up getting to bed at an outrageously late 11:30PM, was up again at 05:30 to take the big lump for a swim. And so started my 46th year.

I had the day booked off of work so wasn't in much of hurry, hence Rowlf getting a swim instead of just a walk. An early highlight was finding a cicada next to the case it had recently shed. Getting a picture of a cicada is often tricky as they rate among Rowlf's favourite foods. But I got a few pictures, he had a swim and the day-proper started.

It's my birthday today (thank you) but the first half of the day was pretty much given over to the little ladies. On an earlier lunchtime run I'd seen that The Australian Shakespeare Company had their production of Wind in the Willows on in the Botanic gardens. The play's run ends on Saturday, so today was the day I'd chosen to take them. I bused them into the City and popped into the office - to book some holiday - then we headed to the Botanic Gardens to meet mum, who drove over so we could make a quick escape, and see the show.

The show was great, the kids enjoyed it (they liked the Weasel and didn't like the policeman!) and there are loads of reviews online for you to read if you're interested. My blog. my rules. We sat in shaded areas, but it was still pretty warm even before I set off for today's miles; basically my standard lunchtime loop and then run home. Miles down in one for my daily half. I was a little concerned about my hydration and fuelling. Not much dinner last night, and those calories were spent on the evening beach loop. I'd had 2 cappuccinos, some toast and a pastry this morning. Not much really.

I applied some sunscreen and set off. First stop - bubbler. It was around twenty eight degrees in the shade, of which there was none, with sixty three percent humidity. The first 8k passed at under 5min/km and I thought I was overcooking it a bit. By 13km and the "woofs water" bubbler at Milson's Point I was fading. I stopped the GPS, wrung my singlet out, failed to restart my GPS and kept going. Fortunately it was only 1.3km later (I've mapped it) that I checked the GPS, it told me I'd not moved at all and I restarted it. Bollocks.

I stopped at Dive2000 in Neutral Bay to say hi to JR and have brief respite in their aircon. I once dived a lot - I'm a qualified instructor - but not these days. Kids n' shit. I left before the store was knee-deep in my sweat. It was a proper plod home. I was feeling sick, which I put down to my body having to dig around for some fuel. I felt quite horrible. The Gallipoli Steps were horrible. I was leaning forward because I thought I could have a dizzy spell, and if I lost my balance it's a long way down. There was a lot of fuck-it-I'm-walking-the-last-bit going on.

Fortunately there was a little more don't-be-so-fucking-soft going on and I sucked it up and made it home doing something that I suppose you could just about call running. Done. Tick. Fuck that.

Still feeling a bit sub-optimal, so bullet points to end it. So I can concentrate on having a beer.

• I'm usually around 66kg. Today I was 62kg. I'd dropped a couple already this month, but another 2 today! Will probably find the lost kg again. Told you it was warm.
• Lovely singlet-tan, broad Garmin watch band and sundry other burns. Should probably use a little more sunscreen.
• The girls made me a cake. The dog ate it. All.
• Still managed a 3min plank

That's it for now.

Janathon total - 522km

beer maths

For a change it was horrifically humid this morning. I wore my running singlet while I walked Rowlf and by the time we got home I was pretty soggy. On the plus side, I'd had a better sleep - certainly not good, but better. I think I woke up once in the night and managed to fall straight back to sleep, eventually getting up at around 05:20. Still criminally early, but that's how I roll.

I threw down a pint and a bit of water and set out for the city. I wondered if the litre of 4 Pines Citrus IPA would hinder my running. More specifically, I was wondering if going to my firm's annual awards dinner next Friday, the night before a 10km race, was a smart idea. There will be free beer and I'm only human.

I'd set off at 06:45, the same time the Sun Run sets off in 10 days time. The weather would probably be about the same - bloody horrible. I'm not sleeping well so it really doesn't matter if I have a night out and less sleep than I'd like. I happened to look at my Garmin at around the 10k mark. Fifty two minutes. OK, not fast. In fact pretty slow. But but but...I was carrying a backpack. I was stopping at lights. I stopped to have a brief chat with a PT. It's a commute and I'm not after the land speed record. And I'd had those two beers. I didn''t think the beers made a difference.

I don't really want to use race day to see if I can drink more. Let's assume those two beers put me at some limit beyond which I might be adversely impact performance.

The Citrus IPA is 7% ABV and it comes in 500ml bottles. It will not be on offer at the awards night, which is a shame but for the best. If I could get on it for free then I'd probably drink myself into a hop-coma and you can jam both Janathon and the Sun Run. Mmmmm, beer. Ahem.

The company will stump-up for more mainstream mass-appeal brew. So we have some simple maths.

((500ml x2) x 7%) / (355ml v 4.5%) = 4.4 Corona. It's Mexican cat piss, but technically still a beer.
((500ml x2) x 7%) / (345ml v 4.2%) = 4.8 James Squire One-Fifty Lashes. A bit better.

So by my reckoning I can go to the bash and have 4 or 5 beers. There is a bit of variation around bottle size and ABV, but we're ball-park here.

So I arrived at work drenched, leaving my small puddle of sweat in the foyer before the lift arrived. Morning done, 12km chalked up.

Lunchtime came and it was pretty hot outside. I didn't feel rehydrated and my piss was more like cloudy pineapple juice than weak apple juice. Ah well, no real option but to run and I didn''t want the land speed record, just my standard trot around the foreshore. Which was what it was until I heard the rhythmic thud-thud of running shoes just behind me. A little too close for comfort. And getting closer. Just as I caught a glimpse of him starting to pass I put my foot down. Just a few steps, but enough to open up a little gap. I slowed and he once again got up on my shoulder. We were running around Farm Cove, approaching the Opera House and the path was fairly clear, so I put my foot down again, this time not letting up until I was out of the Botanic Gardens, plenty of daylight between us. He caught up again after we'd rounded the Opera House then kept going, taking a different route to mine as I stopped for a drink. I eased back to a gentle plod for the remaining 5km of today's miles. So that's about 21km for the day, something that should no longer surprise anyone.

Oh, and I'm doing a plank a day challenge. Up to 3min tonight. More in support of the wife than something I've chosen myself.

Janathon total 487km


But wait, there's more! I did the three minute plank before dinner, loaded today's miles and then took a look at my total. Really quite close to 500km and with a day off work tomorrow I figured I could knock out tomorrow morning's not-going-to-happen miles tonight. So I did a 13km beach loop to bring up 34km for the day and 501km for the month to date. And, quite pleasingly, I did the first 10k of tonight's miles in a little under 48min. Feeling good about the Sun Run at the moment.

Janathon total - 501km

Refuelling with 4 Pines Citrus IPA

I really didn't need to see that the guy behind me in Janathon had thrown down a 34mile - yes MILE - day. Yowser. Anyway, enough about him already. My blog, allaboutme.com.

Another below average night's sleep with Rowlf deciding at a little after 1am that he needed to go outside for a whizz. He once slept in the garden but now has to remain indoors as he has developed a habit of jumping the back gate and going missing. He did it yesterday; I got home after picking the girls up and there was no dog. Sal was out at a work function so I was in no position to go and look for him. I called the vet on the off-chance that he'd been handed in, but that was more to feel that I'd done something; if he was at the vet then the vey would have called me. I left the back gate open and about an hour after the girls and I got home he sauntered back in and straight into the kitchen where we were having dinner. He really is a pain in the arse, and waking me up at stupid o clock in the morning did nothing to help his cause.

There was a bit of thunder and lightning about, which developed into quite a storm over the next hour as I lay awake. Rowlf slinked (slunk?) into the bedroom to sleep on the rug. He doesn't go mental in storms as some dogs do but he does like to be near people when it gets especially flash-bang.

Once again in the wide awake club I got bored counting the delay between lightning flashes and claps of thunder and had a look at Facebook to see if anyone in the UK was saying anything interesting. Then, foolishly, I opened my work email. Bad things were afoot, emails being exchanged up until midnight is rarely a good thing. At least I had something to think about while not getting back to sleep. Wonderful.

I did eventually dozed off, waking up at around 4am to hear rain hammering down and a gale howling outside. The worst had passed when I eventually got up. Rowlf seemed in no mood for or need of a walk, so I decided to leave for work. I had hoped to run through a bonkers-apocalyptic storm, but it was slightly overcast, a little breezy and once again muggy as I plodded in. It was the usual run to work, I could feel the three weeks getting on top of me and I was glad to get to the office and get through 450km.

Then I remembered that shit was about to hit the fan.

Which counterintuitively was not a bad thing for me. A couple of Directors barrelled me up to see if I had any ideas about how to get us at least part-way out of the hole we were in. As luck would have it I did. Anyway, work stuff is even more dull than running stuff, so I'll just say I had a very busy day, worked through lunch and left a little early to run home.

The weather had cleared and it was quite a warm and sunny trot home. Good to knock out a little over 24km instead of a little under 21. Especially with my 34-mile-day looking like he might be making his move. I think my brain burnt more calories than usual today. I'll be honest, I rarely get above a cruising speed at work so it made a nice change to be fully focussed for a day and to leave feeling that I'd achieved something.

Despite wanting to cut out mid-week beers I shall tonight be refuelling with 4 Pines Keller Door Citrus IPA, a local small-batch brew that was bottled yesterday. First impressions are good. A big hoppy wallop. OK, enough typing, this fella won't drink himself.

Janathon total 466km.

Mr I-Have-a-Stop-Sign-and-I'm-Not-Afraid-to-Use-it

An abysmal night's sleep last night. H woke me at 02:18, letting me know she'd wet the bed. My reaction is unlikely to win me father of the year, but I changed her bed and went then back to my bed. Where I tossed and turned and failed to get back to sleep until well past 4am and overslept, not getting up until nearly 6am. Rowlf had a shorter walk; were it not for my dawn-caffiene addiction he might not have got a walk at all, especially as it was raining. So it was a short walk and a coffee, back to pack my bag and set off in the drizzle for the new-usual run to work via North Sydney. An uneventful commute brought up the first near-enough 12km of the day.

Then it was a lunchtime loop and today I ran past Mr I-Have-a-Stop-Sign-and-I'm-Not-Afraid-to-Use-it. There was a cruise ship at the quay and although that can mean traffic and tourist chaos it was not the case this lunchtime. There were a few people dragging wheely suitcases but not the crowds we sometimes get. And there were no taxis or vans or buses or supply lorries or vehicles of any sort coming or going as I approached the pedestrian crossing Mr I-Have-a-Stop-Sign-and-I'm-Not-Afraid-to-Use-it was guarding with the zeal of Monty Python's Black Knight. He made a valiant effort to stop me from crossing the traffic-free road, dropping his stop sign from vertical to horizontal and mumbling something, but I was a bit quicker than him and kept on trotting around the harbour foreshore. I know, I'm such a rebel. Loop complete and that was just under 21km for the day.

In other news, I have moved desk at work. I now sit on an all-male pod of desks (so much for diversity) surrounded mostly by people I don't have a great deal in common with. What's more, the guy I would usually spend most time talking cod-shit with handed his notice in yesterday. This goes some way to explaining the poor night's sleep. I see an approaching shit-storm of work as I start doing the work of 2 people while not having anyone nearby to blow off steam at.

First world problems, world's smallest violin.

In better news, I found some accommodation for the night before Six Foot. It reviews OK; the first review said "better than sleeping outdoors." Good enough for me. Wasn't really looking forward to a pre-race sleep in my van.

Janathon total 442km

not sure what to make of today

The running was pretty straightforward today. Commuted there and back on foot for a 23.9km total for the day. Far cooler and reasonably pleasant. The greatest challenges were getting under Spit Bridge without getting my feet wet in the high-high morning tide that flooded the footpath and then getting to the mezzanine level at work, where the showers are, with the one lift that serves the mezzanine level out of order. First challenge overcome by walking along a small wall and holding a handrail, second by having the cleaner let me go up the fire stairs. That was about as challenging as my day got - sad but true.

Let's hope tomorrow is a little more exiting. Sorry.

Janathon total 421km

the wobbles

A bit of a Janathon wobble today. One of those "why am I doing this?" days. Of course one of the reasons I'm doing it is as training for this year's Six Foot Track. My rough training plan is a ton of base in January, go long once in February and hope for the best on the second Sunday of March. That seemed to work for me last year, and I figure it is the least I can get away with. Said it before and I'll say it again; old guys need to train smarter, not harder.

But I can do a reasonable base-load in January with a couple of days off...I blame Paul Lewis. On the one hand I don't want to get involved in a Janathon race, but on the other I don't want to open up too much of a lead and allow the wobbles to creep in, that devil on the shoulder saying "go on, have a rest, you'll be fine..." I know he can thrown down some big runs in exactly the same way that I can't. So that leaves me in a bit of a rut; I churn out (the equivalent of) a half each day, running mostly the same routes (or variations on a theme to make sure I go via enough bubblers to prevent dehydration getting on top of me.) It can get a bit dull. I've got a 10k on the last day of the month, so I know I need to keep on top of things in the mid-section in order to have a bit of a rest before Saturday 31st. After all, I'd like to do a respectable time in The Sun Run.

Once again choice was a bit limited. I try to run at times that have the lowest possible impact on the rest of the family and fit around the things I need to do. The dogs needs a walk, and in the summer it has to be early. He's a big hairy lump and struggles in the heat of the day. Hence a lot of my posts starting with something like "So I walked Rowlf..."

So I walked Rowlf down to the Spit and he had a swim and an early breakfast of dead fish. He spotted the fish first but I managed to keep him away from it and distracted while working on fetching from the Harbour. But then I got a bit distracted and he nailed it.

Back home and it was off to Darling Harbour so the kids could play in some fountains and on some

swings and slides and wot-not in the play park. It was a warm morning and I was sweating with the effort of just standing there, which was a little concerning. But it was nowhere near as hot as yesterday; it was about 27 in the shade, so still pretty warm, but I can do that. I set off at ten past midday.

The girls had had a good time, mum had loaded them into the car while I changed - unenthusiastically - into my running gear and set off. Mad dog at home, Englishman out running in the midday sun. Nothing new there. The plan was to bimble about in the city for a while, clock up a few km then head over the bridge and home via a bike route. The plan changed a little as it went along. I thought I might do 23km to get to 400 for the month, then I thought I'd do a half and eventually I thought sod it and headed home a little shorter than that. I did run a few yards past home and back to clock up 20km for the day. I was in credit from yesterday so still managed a marathon distance for the weekend, and given the weather I figure that's OK. Happy to do a single run.

Janathoned out

I had a bit of housework to do when I got home, then the girls woke from their lunchtime snoozes Sal headed out. Fortunately the girls have some sort of bead-craft-plaything that a more engaged father would probably know a bit more about. I'm not him. They entertained themselves and I fell asleep on the deck, under the ceiling fan. AJ took a picture of me - Janathoned out - wearing my Janathon T-shirt. Represent!

Janathon total 397km

Edit: Six Foot is the second Saturday in March. I nearly added 24hours to my personal worst. Glad I looked...

feeling hot, hot, hot

I didn't quite make it 24hours without running. I think it was about twenty two and half. I took Rowlf out for an early swim and then headed out for a beach loop that would get me back in time to take AJ to the cinema. Birthday treat for her, off to see Paddington with some friends. The run also helped to shake off the dust of a couple more Friday beers than were good for me.

I picked the pace up a bit to get home in time for a shower. It was heaving at Queenscliff - there was surf lifesaving competition setting up. It looked like it was going to be a warm day for it. So that was run one, a stock run of 11.5km knocked out before breakfast.

Paddington is a thoroughly enjoyable movie. Not too long and drawn out, well done and enough to keep the kids and grownups entertained. It was a low-key affair and we only had another couple of kids along for the ride and to pour some sugar into after the movie (achieved.) Then it was back home. The kids were fairly tired and headed for a sleep, mum toddled off for a nap and I toyed with the idea of heading out to top-up my miles. It was 33 degrees and sunny which I decided was ever so slightly too fucking hot. So I had a kip on the sofa.

About 90minutes later I woke up and checked to see if the temperature had dropped off. No, not really. In fact it was even hotter - 35 degrees. We went to the pool and I took my running gear with me so I could run home afterwards.

Post splash about it still felt pretty damn warm. I checked when I got home and yes, I'd run through 30 degrees, but humidity was down around the low 30 percents so it didn't feel too bad once I got moving. It was, I thought, a good choice for a run in those conditions. The first 5km is almost all downhill, then there is a flat 6km and a bit under 2km to climb before a short drop home. Reasonably easy miles.

I bumped in Braden Fastier (and his camera and moustache) on the way home and had a brief chat. He's a local photographer who takes and posts a local picture each day to Manly365. He's a talented guy, check out his stuff.

Didn't expect to clock up 25km for the day, quite happy about that. A bit more in the bank that I might be able to spend tomorrow and award myself a slightly lighter day.

Janathon total - 377km

down in one

Friday is usually a to and from work day but Sal had the day off and that offered me the opportunity to leave home early and get my miles down in one. I'd very roughly mapped a route to work on Thursday night that would have got me at least a half marathon before breakfast by heading inland, across Roseville Bridge and then back to North Sydney. A little hilly, but plenty of it downhill with a few climbs.

However, I woke up sometime after 3am and managed to doze until 4am at which time I renewed my membership of the Wide Awake Club. A bit of Facebook and reading some news did nothing to help me get back to sleep. I bimbled about until 5:20 then headed out to give Rowlf his morning walk: I don't leave until I know I can get a coffee at the local bakery.

Guess what? Yes, it was humid. This made me doubt the wisdom of running the planned route. I didn't want to run with a water bottle and the inland route was water bubbler-lite so I decided to hug the Harbour shore and try to get as many of my miles done before I got to the Bridge. Then I could stagger the final couple of km in without arsing about in the city.

FJ Holden Special with the Opera House in the background

And that was pretty much it, with a bit of arsing about. I avoided the Galipoli steps to add a few humdred metres before Spit Bridge, then when I got to Military Road I veered off towards Mosman, then Cremorne Point...you can look it up on the map if you're interested. I stopped under the north side of the bridge to take a few pictures of a Holden FJ Special, a car that is at least 58years old. It was a bit tatty, but bloody good for its age considering it looked completely standard.

I wasn't feeling particularly good for my age as I squelched my way back up and over the bridge. Still a little short on distance I looped back under the bridge and kept hugging the harbour foreshore. Time seemed to slow down, as often happens when the end is in sight. I became a little fixated with my Garmin but eventually if clicked over 21.2km and I went from almost-stopped to stop.  I walked the last little bit in to the office, not really cooling down and not beating myself up too much for missing the opportunity to add an extra few hundred metres. Getting a decent slab of time off felt far more appealing than another few hundred metres.

groundhog groundhog day

Not a lot to report today. It was a repeat of Tuesday and Wednesday with a via-North Sydney run to work and then a lunchtime loop. A little cooler today - the run in was almost pleasant - but twice as humid at lunchtime. Must be summer. Interestingly, if you're interested in that sort of thing, Strava claims that I am getting quicker. Pace over the last 3 days being 4:49/km, 4:48 and today 4:45.

So there you have it. Low on inspiration today, same on mileage. Hopefully hump day will perk me up a bit.

Janathon total - 331km

Happy Birthday AJ

I was the first person to wish AJ a happy 6th birthday this morning when she came in to the bedroom at around 4:30am, en-route to the en-suite. She toddled back to bed and I failed to get back to sleep. It was about 24degrees and humidity was well in the ninety percents. I got up a bit after 5 and took Rowlf for a shorter than usual walk so I could be home while AJ opened her presents. I got home just after 6 and all the presents were open. Frozen dolls, a Frozen board game, an Elsa wig (Elsa is in Frozen, which you may have missed if you've been living under a rock for the last 12months. Or if you don't have kids.) There were some clothes and books and off to one side a distraught little sister, wailing theatrically because she didn't have any presents. Not your birthday H, toughen up princess!

Let me get the running bit out of the way first. It was truly fucking horrible this morning. I sweat my arse, tits and bollocks off. By the time I got to the bridge I was a dried husk, drenched in sweat after pretty much all moisture had beaded out of my body. I'm surprised I didn't burst into flames as I ran across the bridge, the sun hitting my head horizontally in the left ear and microwaving the tiny brain that was melting inside my skull. It wasn't pretty. Mind you, I don't mind sweating when running and prefer it to simply sweating. I passed plenty of non-running blokes with big oval sweat patches on their shirts. It's going to be that kind of day. At a shade under 12km via North Sydney and I passed 300km for the first two weeks of January.

So, in the blink of an eye, AJ is 6. I struggle a bit to write about things that really matter, like my wife or my kids. I can drone on about running or diving or all manner of other fluff with relative ease, but closer to home I struggle.

So it's a good job I wrote that this morning and I've just been for another run and have that to prattle on about. It was quite hot out there. Thirty three degrees of hot. And mostly sunny, so fuck knows what the temperature was in the sun. Not much breeze. But other than the  slightly unpleasant feeling of gulping down hot air it wasn't too bad. Of course I sweat my arse off, and I could have done with grabbing a drink at a bubbler, but the bubbler I usually stop at had a queue 8 deep and I was in no mood to stand around waiting. I finished my 9km-ish loop to bring up 21.1 for the day. When I got back to my desk I found out why the run had not been too bad. I was about to stuff my shoes with newspaper to dry them out but didn't need to - first time in a while. I checked the Bureau of Meteorology website and humidity had dropped right down to 31%. Chances of it staying there? Slim I'd say, but I'll take it when it's on offer.

I have 1500 pictures of AJ, or rather 1500 pictures in an album I created for pictures of her; I'm sure I have a lot more. 1500 is 250 a year. Is that a lot? I don't know. She is a lovely little thing. Independent, smart, funny, pretty. I'm going to be biased - of course. Most people say she looks like her mum and a friend once told me she looks like my mum. I'm fairly hopeless with things like that. She drives me mad at times but over little nothings; mucking about at dinner time, not doing what she's told when she's told. She's 6 for fucks sake, what do I expect!? I suppose I am a bit "Victorian Dad", but it seems to be working out OK and I suppose time will tell. Besides, it's always the mothers who do the real psychological damage. Give it another 6 years and maybe she'll be alcoholic or bulimic, but we're tracking well at the moment.

I don't do the starry-eyed wonder thing particularly well sand I can't tell you what her first word was or when she said it. I can't tell you when she took her first steps. Maybe I've missed out on some things, but that would be me trying to think like other people think. We've not been unlucky; others might say we've been lucky, but luck doesn't really come in to it. We had a healthy little baby girl and we've now got a lovely little 6 year old.

That's all your getting. Told you I wasn't very good at that.

I did toy with the idea of having another run before bed, but I've had enough for the day and Sal isn't feeling well.  I need to referee the kids who might be a little jacked-up on ice cream cake. I was thinking I could swap tomorrow morning's commute for a 12k to bring up 100miles for week 2. Would have been nice, but it's a a zero-sum game if I'm shuffling runs I'll be doing anyway. And rehydrating might have been an issue. Us old blokes need to train smarter, not harder. I might wait until all thee of the ladies are in bed and then have a beer instead.

That sounds like a much better idea.

Janathon total 310km

I will release a tiger

I don't think I'm an unreasonable man and that's why I'll give you a choice.

• Take a day off. Sleep in, catch up with some friends, go see a movie, go to the pub. Just have a rest day. Go on, you've earned it already.
• Back-off the mileage. If you can just drop it back to the same numbers but in kilometres and not miles then I'd be OK with that.
• Deal with the tiger. Oh yes, I know where you run (GPS logging means you cannot hide) and I will release a fucking tiger into the woods around your home unless you slow down a bit.

I'm knackered. I can't keep this up for another fortnight. I've got small kids, a full time job, the garden is a mess. Go on, do the decent thing. I'll be your best friend.

The last time I threatened to release a wild animal during Janathon it was a panther into the Hampshire countryside. Undeterred by my threat Gary Vallance, aka LocalAdventures, went on to hand me my arse-on-a-plate. I wouldn't make a good standover man, what with standing five foot six-and-a-bit of nothing-like-Harold-Shand.

Slightly different today. Kids are well, wife is back to work and I'm on pick up duty this afternoon. So no running home. The morning shift was fairly typical. Walk the dog then grab my stuff and head to work. I added a kilmotre (and avoided a  hill - hurrah!) by going via North Sydney. It was cooler and there was drizzle. The run felt a little more comfortable, but it was still pretty humid, by which I mean 100% humidity.

The challenge then was to get myself sufficiently well hydrated to do a lunch time top-up. Which I managed to do, and left for a foreshore-loop at a bit after midday. My first lunchtime City run for a while and there were loads of other runners about. I think I managed to overlap with Pain in the Domain, but even away from the Domain there were a lot of people about.

I needed to do a bit of back-and-forth on the way back to the office to make sure I ticked over my distance - the trusty old Garmin 305 is a little grumpy in amongst the City's tall buildings, so I'll kid myself that I ran a bit further than I did.

On the plus side, I now get a few extra rest hours before tomorrow morning.

Janathon total - 288km