Festive Running

Tuesday 25th Ashgrove Cycle Path
15.3k 1:19:55 @ 5:13 HR 139 (75% MaxHr)

Wednesday 26th Gap Cycle path
11.0k 55:29 @ 5:02 HR 139 (75% MaxHr)

Thursday 27th Kelvin Grove Rd
20k 1:44:04 @ 5:12 HR 133 (71% MaxHr)

Friday 28th Gap Cycle Path
11k 54:29 @ 4:57 HR 140 (76% MaxHr)

Week 68.3k
Month 356.1k

Starting with Christmas Day it has been much milder and less humid this week. This has made for better running. I also feel I am very much in front of the recovery curve this week. The run this morning took me to 356k for the month so far which betters last month's PB. 400k is certainly achievable in the next three days. Today we head up to Caloundra for a week. The weather is not looking good for surfing but OK for running.

On the music front, I have been compiling my end of year CDs from my favourite albums. I will post on that when I get back. I also have done a clear out of my MP3 player and loaded lots of new listening albums on to it. This is what I have on there now which will be my soundtrack for running over the next couple of months.

Fulani Journey - Afrissippi
Aye Carumba - Ska Cubano
Una Sangre One Blood - Lila Downs
Plays Standards - Duke Ellington
In Rainbows - Radiohead
Young Moderns - Silverchair
Rekku Mi Rokka - Youssou N'Dour
The Crane Wife - Decemberists
La Radiolina - Manu Chao
Megamix Vol 1 - Lokassa & Soukous Stars

Monday - A night at Club Baobab

Monday 24th December
Gap Cycle
11k 57:41 @ 5:14 HR 138 (74% MaxHr)

Week 11k
Month 297.8k

After the showers yesterday, it was cooler and less humid this morning and a nice recovery run to start the week. I have set the goal to get to 400k this month which means another 100 plus week ahead of me.

Today's album is from Senegal's Orchestra Boabab A Night at Club Baobab.


It is a collection of their songs from the early seventies. Their album Pirate's Choice from 1982 is one of my all time favourite albums. The music here has more of the Cuban influence then their later work. I am really looking forward to getting my hands on their new release Made in Dakar but this will do in the mean time to put some historical perspective on a super band.

Here is a live version of a song from Pirate's Choice.


A Merry Xmas to you all and see you on the road in 08.

I hope Santa brings me some new music ;-)

Sunday - Electric Gypsyland 2

Sunday 23rd December
Bowen Bridge

25k 2:18:33 @ 5:32 HR 136 73% MaxHr

Week 100.8k
Month 287.8k
Year 3272k

I knew it was going to be a very humid run this morning when the alarm woke me at 4:00am and I had already been sweating in my sleep. I started out with the intention of just keeping it easy all the way. I actually felt better than I did on yesterday's run which was a relief. The thought of getting to over 100k for the week kept me going all the way to the end. I haven't run that far in a week since early March this year.

For today's album I return to the Womadelaide 2008 theme. One of the headline acts is Taraf de Haidouks from Romania.



The album is Electric Gypsyland 2. It is a mix of traditional Balkan music and modern electro dance music by a mix of bands and DJs. One of the bands is Taraf de Haidouks. A bonus second CD has the original songs. It is this CD that I played. It is all rollicking good fun and I do like a good fiddle.

I bought this one about three months ago from J&B HiFi, before I even knew the Womad lineup.

Saturday - Duke Ellington Plays Standards

Saturday 22nd December
Gap Cycle Path
6.5k 34:26 @ 5:17 HR 134 (72% MaxHr)

Week Total 75.8k
Mth Total 262k

If you follow Mike and The Mystery Coach at Running With Lydiard you will be aware there has been some discussion of late about keeping ahead of the recovery curve. Today I felt the curve may have caught up with me. Saturday is normally a rest day for me but in order to get 100k for the week I need to do over 6k today and 25k tomorrow. Now 6k isn't too far and I did take it slow but it took quite a while to get going. Only time will tell if it was Madness to go One Step Beyond.



Today's new album is Duke Ellington Plays Standards. This is part of a This Is Jazz Series on Columbia records of which this is number 36.



I have no idea how many are in the series. I bought this (as well as three others in the series) a couple of years ago at Myers. As I recall they were very cheap at $8 each. I find it hard to go past a bargain which is one of the reasons I find myself with my music stockpile. Well playing this makes me realise what are bargain I got with this one. The music on this is just superb. The recordings sound great even those from the 30's and 40's. It opens with a great live version of Take the A train complete with a vocal scat by Ray Nance.

Friday - 100 Days 100 Nights

Friday 21st December
Ashgrove Cycle Path
15.3k 1:20:15 @ 5:14 HR 145 (78% MaxHr)

Week Total 69k
Mth Total 256k

My heart Rate was 139 (39:00) to the turn around but was 150 (41:15) coming back. The humidity seemed to be much higher this morning and from those numbers you can tell I struggle in those sorts of conditions.



Today's new album is a follow on from yesterday's and involves another Womadelaide 2008 attendee. This is in fact the last CD I purchased and I got it through ebay this month. It is 100 Days 100 Nights by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. This is modern day soul music. I will certainly be playing this more in the lead up to Womadelaide but on first listening it doesn't seem to have that edge that Ami Winehouse seemed to have on this year's Back in Black or the class of Etta Jame's 60's album At Last both of which I listened to extensively this year.

Thursday - Rough Guide to Afro-Peru

Thur 20th December
Gap Cycle Path
11k 55:42 @ 5:03 HR 138 (74% MaxHr)

Week Total 54k
Mth Total 241k

A nice easy run this morning in mild conditions.


Today's new album is the Rough Guide to Afro-Peru which I purchased on ebay about two years ago. I am a great fan of the Rough Guide series and I have about 25 of the compilations from the series. They are a great way to explore music from around the world as the selections are always first class. They rarely disappoint and this is no exception. This is not the pan pipe music by guys in woolly hats that most people associate with Peru, but music from the black African slaves who lived and worked on the coast. I already had experienced and enjoyed the 1995 David Byrne compilation Afro-Peruvian Classic The Soul of Black Peru, so the music here was not a surprise to me and this album shares a lot of the same artists. One such artist is Susana Baca who will be appearing at Womadelaide 08.

Wednesday One Blood

Wednesday 19th December
To Kelvin Grove Rd
20k 1:46:22 @ 5:19 HR 137 74% MaxHR

Week Total: 43k
Mth Total: 3214k

Another relatively cool morning at least for this time of year. I hope to get to the point where I am capable of doing a couple of these a week. This course takes me along the cycle path towards town. The turn around point is at Kelvin Grove Road. For my Sunday 25k runs I continue on to Bowen Bridge Road. Parts of this course can certainly be called hilly. Overall it is down hill going out and uphill coming back, so I generally get a rise in Heart Rate in the second half.

All the courses I will be running from home over the coming months are hillier than those I have been used to along the river. I am hoping this will be the secret ingredient that will boost my performance come July. (As opposed to Scott's singing/showering secret).


Today's Album is One Blood: Una Sangre by Mexican Lila Downs (2004). I bought this one at Womadelaide in March this year along with Border La Linea (2001) . You may notice on the cover it has been personally signed by Lila to me. Two of her albums were amongst my favourites from last year, and this certainly has all the qualities I enjoyed on those releases. The big voice, the passion, the humour. One song La Cucaracha bought back wonderful memories of her first night Womadelaide performance where she engaged in an erotic duel with her harp player's harp. Another keeper and another I just want to play again.

Tuesday - Mambo Sinuendo

Tuesday 19th December
11k 56:43 @ 5:09 HR 140 (75% MaxHR)
Week Total: 23k

After some overnight rain it was a pleasantly mild morning for a run along The Gap Cycle path. A lot of people walking dogs and a few other runners. I guess I will be seeing a lot more of these people over the coming months. This course will be my standard easy run. It isn't what you would call hilly but undulating and for that reason I always find it hard to keep and even Heart Rate. It is nice and shady in the morning which is handy.

I have a passion for music and like Homer Simpson and food at an all you can eat buffet, I acquire much more music than I can possibly adequately pay serious attention to. This is resulted in a mountain of CDs I have never played and so I have set myself a goal of listening to a new one each day. Now I'm not exactly happy about this. I like to savour my music. I like it to get under my skin and embedded into my brain which I find takes many repeated listens. Often music that has the most lasting appeal is underwhelming of a first listen. But I will use my years of experience and some triage strategies and hopefully identify the ones with the most potential for further listening.

Today it was the 2003 collaboration Mambo Sinuendo by Ry Cooder and Cuban guitarist Manuel Galban (who featured in the Buena Vista Social Club). I would say it must be close to three years ago that I bought this one.

My first impression of this is a keeper. Nice guitar interplay and wonderfully produced with some great sounding twangy guitar. A mixture of instrumentals with styles from up tempo cubano to late night jazz. I already want to play it again!

Day One

Only 159 more days left before I have to go back to work now.

My first task for my first day of long service leave was to take the family car to have it's 12 month service. This meant dropping it at Newmarket at 7:30 am and running the 12k to home. I love runs like this when you actually achieve something other then just a training run. It fitted perfectly into my plan to convert to morning runs also. I have now started the pattern so now only have to keep following through each day.

I was a bit worried about this run this morning. Generally I have 36 hours recovery time after Sunday's long run when I run Monday night. Today it would only be 24 hours. Secondly I would only usually do 9.5k but today would be 12k. Thirdly the course today is far more hilly than my usual and finally it would be a late start and it could have been quite hot and steamy. So all things combined it might have all been a bit too much but luckily the weather was kind and I seem to have come out of it unscathed.

For recovery, I laid on the couch and watched the two EPL games I recorded from last night (Liverpool v M Utd and Arsenal v Chelsea). Did I mention only 159 more days to go?

Today's run
12k 1:06:48 5:29 HR 139 75% Max HR.

Today I upgrade my Internet plan to a 12Gb ( from a measly 1Gb) so I will be relatively free to surf and download for the period of my leave, as long as the kids don't find out about it.

With now just under 200k for the month so far, I an considering setting a goal of 400k for this month. My mind is willing but will have to see if I can drag the body along for the ride.

An end to hard work

13th - 16th December

Thu 14.5k 1:15:10 @ 5:11 HR 139 75% MaxHr
Fri 9.5k 46:01 @ 4:50 HR 142 76% MaxHR
Sat Rest
Sun 25k 2:17:27 @ 5:30 HR 136 73% MaxHR

Week 92k
Mth 187k
Year 3171k

Another solid week of 92k to back up last weeks 95k. This was especially satisfying as there was a lot of loose ends I was trying to cover off at work before going on my long service leave.
I set out on Sunday's long run at 4:45 am to escape the humidity. It was most pleasing to be able to go that far without the Heart Rate creeping up too much this week.

Highs and Lows

It has been a while since my last post so I'll quickly get things up to date.

26th Nov - 2nd December
Mon 9.5k 46:25 @ 4:53 HR 143 77% MaxHR
Tue 14.5k 1:12:40 @ 5:00 HR 137 74% MaxHR
Wed 9.5k 46:35 @ 4:54 HR 141 76% MaxHR
Thu 15.3k 1:12:00 @ 4:59 HR 144 77% MaxHR
Fri 6.8k 34:27 @ 5:04 HR 137 74% MaxHR
Sat Rest
Sun Missed Session

Week 55.6k
Nov 353.1k

Well I made my target of highest number of Ks for a month. I reached it on the Thursday with a day to spare. My normal run that night would have left me just short of the total so I did an extra 800m just to make sure. It was a tough week. My legs felt very tired each day. I bought a new pair of shoes and wore them Tuesday and Wednesday but they didn't seem to make things any better. But looking back now, the pace for the week was quite acceptable considering the phase of my training.

The week ended on a sad note, as My Wife's father who just a little over three months ago was diagnosed with a cancer of his spinal fluid died in hospital at age 77. A sombre lesson to make the most of life as you never know what is around the corner.

3rd - 9th December

Mon 19.0k 1:36:14 @ 5:03 HR 142 76% MaxHR
Tue 11.0k 55:00 @ 5:00 HR 147 79% MaxHR
Wed 14.5k 1:13:46 @ 5:05 HR 140 75% MaxHR
Thu 14.5k 1:17:56 @ 5:22 HR 136 73% MaxHR
Fri 11.0k 55:39 @ 5:03 HR 140 75% MaxHR
Sat Rest
Sun 25k 2:17:09 @ 5:29 HR 139 74% MaxHR

Week 95.0k
Mth 95.0k
Year 3,079k

The pace was a little slower this week but a nice increase in distance to 95k. It certainly didn't help with the weather becoming very steamy. Looks like summer has finally arrived. The last couple of Ks of Sunday's long run was particularly tough and that clammy feeling of running in sweat soaked shirt, shorts and socks was back. Glad I was not having to do a 30K run. In fact I have found the 25k long runs to be perfect. They are long enough to give you lots of time on your feet but short enough that Monday's session can be more than just a gentle recovery run.


10th - 12th December

Mon 9.5k 46:54 @ 4:56 HR 146 78% MaxHR
Tue 14.5k 1:14:03 @ 5:06 HR 141 76% MaxHR
Wed 19.0k 1:41:03 @ 5:19 HR 135 72% MaxHR

A strong start to the week and I am thinking I might be able to get to 100k by the end. I now only have two more days of work before I go on Long Service Leave. I don't have to go back till the end of May! I am seriously considering switching to running in the morning over this time. This will break the habit of a life time. Getting up every morning may be harder than the running but I'm prepared to give it a go.