11/4 – 11/10 Totals

11/4 – 11/10 total miles = 20.37 miles average pace 9:21

Friday, November 9, 2007

Well I thought that yesterday was going to be my final day in Australia but it looks like I’m here for another morning run. You see my flight yesterday afternoon was canceled due to mechanical difficulty and they put me up in a hotel just down the road.

Woke up this morning to more rain but decided that I had to get the run in just to be on the safe side. Ran a nice mile around the nearby park in 9 minutes.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

My last day in Australia and I wake up to the sound of rain pounding on my hotel window…not a good sign. I waited about 15 minutes in hopes that the rain would lighten up a bit but there was not a hint of that occurring.

I go down the stairs of the hotel and out the back door and start my GPS…I have to stand in the rain until it catches a signal then I can start running. I run 1 mile at an 8:21 pace and by the time I am done I am drenched!!! Since I am wet I decide I might as well stretch out here in the rain. I finish my stretching and head on in to get cleaned up for the day.

By the time I head to work the rain is down to a sprinkle…damn, just my luck.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

After going out with our auditees last night and getting back to the hotel around 11pm I thought that getting up this morning was not going to happen but I was up and ready to run by 5:55.

I stepped outside and noticed that it had rained again and it was cold…okay not like home cold but cold enough that I should have put my long sleeve shirt on.

Started running and felt pretty good. Had a nice easy pace going so I put down , pace was 10:08.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Up this morning at 5:45. The Indian food last night didn’t have much effect on my system, thank god! Decided that I wanted to run more than 1 mile but didn’t know where to run, so I just started running. I ended up running 1.64 miles at an 8:56 pace. Would have liked to go more but just wasn’t feeling it 100% this morning

Monday, November 05, 2007

Got up with the alarm today and got ready to run. I was still feeling a bit drained from yesterday’s run so I decided that a mile is more than enough. Once again the sky is cloudy and it is a tad on the chilly side but once I start running the chill went away.

Ran my 1 mile in 8:46.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

What a difference a day makes!

When I woke up this morning it was just pouring and I assumed it was going to be a repeat of yesterday. Well I decided that I didn’t want to run in the rain so I took my time and had breakfast. By the time I was done 8:45 the sun was already coming out and it looked like it was going to be a great day!

At about 4pm I got a call from one of the auditors and we made plans to head to dinner at 7pm…PERFECT! Just enough time for me to get in a run before dinner and still clean up.

With the sun staring to head for the horizon and the weather being rather nice (65 degrees and a moderate to stiff 15mph wind) I thought I might get a few extra miles in. I felt really good and had to keep checking my pace so I didn’t go too fast.

I managed to put in 5.70 miles and did so at a 9:27 pace.

10/28 – 11/3 Totals

10/28 – 11/3 total miles = 18.6 miles

Saturday, November 3, 2007

It is my last weekend in Australia and I have been working hard the last 3 weeks so I decided to sleep in a bit and go running at a more reasonable hour. Well 7:30 is better than 6 am!!

It started to rain last night and the prediction is for rain most of the day so I head out knowing full well that I will get wet and there is little I can do about it.

My route was to take me away from the hotel and into a very heavy industrial area before crossing the river. When I say heavy industrial I mean HEAVY industrial…I’m talking oil refinery and metal scrapping!!! The place stunk to high heaven!! When I got to the area that was supposed to have the bridge I noticed that there appeared to be some work at the top of the steps. Once I got to the foot of the steps I see that the pedestrian bridge is out…well there goes that route. There isn’t another bridge to cross the river in miles.

So I head back the way I came and decided to see how lost I can get…just joking I have a great sense of direction and it was easy to find a new route back to the hotel.

I had noticed that about every 15 minutes or so that the rain would pick up and by the time I had hit 4 miles it was a steady downpour. I ended up just calling it a day with 7 miles, it wasn’t as many as I was hoping and it was definitely slower than I expected (10:23 pace) but it’s done.

Friday, November 02, 2007

It was hard to get up this morning since my room was very dark. It appeared to have rained last night and there were still quite a few clouds so the bleak atmosphere nearly made me crawl back into bed but I figured that it might rain more so I better get going while I have the chance.

Decided to mix my directions up a bit…getting tired of the same hills every day…so a new route but the same sights. Managed to put in 1.55 miles and maintained a nice even pace of 9:10.

Glad I ran this morning…it is 10:30 am right now and there is one heck of a storm going over!!! Sometimes getting up is worth it…I really didn’t just say that did I?

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Wow its November already.

I can remember not that long ago looking at my wife and saying that I had to change my running habit. I decided at that point (June 30th) that I would run a minimum of 1 mile every day. I mean there really is no excuse for not doing this…its all of 15-20 minutes of my day?!?!

Well even being here in Australia has not stopped the streak. This morning I woke up and decided that I was only going to do 1 mile; so that is what I did. 1 mile in 8:12.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Slightly overcast sky and daylight savings has made the morning a little later than I expected. I got up and did my usual bathroom ritual…hoping that there will not be any repeat of yesterday’s debacle.

Started out rather strong and felt really good. There was a light breeze that kept me cool as I ran to Parramatta Park. Once in the park I decided that I would run to the little dam and cross there to head back to the hotel.

I neared the dam and suddenly I was having a flashback to yesterday…I began to cramp up and I did not think there was a way for me to make it to the hotel without messing myself. Luckily the park, unlike the city, had a public bathroom near the dam. I stopped the watch and took care of business.

With that out of the way I headed on across the dam and toward the hotel. Finished my 3.1 mile run with a 8:56 pace.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

I should have figured that today was going to be bad when I spent quite a bit of time in the bathroom this morning. With that over I thought I’d be alright…how wrong was I?!?!

I had planned on a 2 mile run but about .7 miles out my intestines said it was over. Now I’m running in a downtown area that does not have much for public restrooms during peak hours much less anything being open at 6 am!

With a hell of a pain in my gut and a lot of clenching (I’m sure you can figure out the issue) I barely made it back to the hotel at a snails pace. The pounding of the run made things worse so I was in between a jog and a fast walk.

Ended the day with 1.3 miles at a 12:30 pace…OUCH!

FYI: I made it to the bathroom without a second to spare!

Monday, October 29, 2007

This morning was very difficult to get up. With daylight savings time starting here it was still rather “dark out” compared to what I have been getting up to. But I managed to drag myself out of bed and into my running clothes.

I ran just 1 mile and felt much better afterward…to bad it hasn’t carried for long…it is just 2 hours later and I’m ready to go back to bed!

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Daylight savings time here so I lost an hour of sleep…I don’t like losing sleep!

I decided to stay in today and focus on my studying. I got a chance to talk to my wife today as well…it is so good to hear her voice, I really miss her.

Anyway I didn’t get to running until nearly 8 PM tonight but I did end up with 3.6 miles at a 10:05 pace.

10/21 – 10/27 Totals

10/21 – 10/27 total miles = 16.9 miles and one hell of a hike in the Blue Mountains…that was about an additional 8-9 miles!!

Saturday, October 27, 2007

There are two things I knew when I woke up this morning: 1 – I’m supposed to run 14 miles this weekend. 2 – I’m taking my auditors to the Blue Mountains to go hiking today and I don’t think I can do both 1 and 2!!

So with the impending hike today I opted to run just a simple 10k. I’ve really noticed how much better I run…consistency wise…when I run with people. my pace was all over the place but in the end I finished the 6.2 miles with a 10 + min pace.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Felt I was getting rather lazy in my pace so I decided to just run the mile today. It could also have to do with me staying up late to watch a TV show and that it was still raining or that I am planning on either a long run or hike tomorrow…

Ran 1 mile at a brisk 8:15 pace.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Last night I had a feeling that this morning wasn’t going to be great. It had started sprinkling on the way from work to the hotel. After dinner it was pouring.

This morning when I awoke the sky wasn’t visible and it was sprinkling. I decided that I still had to run a minimum of 2 miles but really didn’t feel like it. Took my time…kind of had to since there are many sidewalks in Parramatta that are tile and when it rains boy are they slippery!!!

Managed to put in 2.6 miles…time was horrible so I’m not sharing.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

I got up this morning only because the alarm went off. I spent too much time last night working on a work project.

I really did not want to run this morning but could not figure out when I would run tonight so I got moving. I decided that I would take things rather easy and it worked by half way through the run I was feeling much better.

Total for today was 1.37 miles at a 9:37 pace.