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.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

This morning I was not up as quickly as I have been in the past week but when the alarm went off at 5:30 I did get out of bed.

By 5:50 I was out running. In my head I was having a heck of a debate. One side wanted to go for 1 mile and call it a day. Another side wanted to actually do a long run…what ever that meant. Then there was the body saying why don’t we just see how things turn out.

I felt okay but I’m noticing that my pace is starting to fluctuate quite a bit. I’ll have to buckle down and start focusing on a more even pace throughout my run.

In the end I finished my morning run in just under 31 minutes and completed 3.2 miles.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Back to normal.

I woke up this morning at 5AM and decided to wait until the alarm rang. Since I ran last night I wasn’t completely up for this. I managed to drag my but out of the door, even while there was American football on TV, LIVE none the less!!!

Got in a quick 1.2 miles and then was back in my room watching the next football game…oh and getting ready for work!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

I just didn’t want to get out of bed this morning so I didn’t but by the time I was ready to go running it was already too hot. So I opted to wait until evening.

After dinner I waited about 2 hours and set out on a nice easy run. I ended up hitting a few spots were I just couldn’t run slowly. But in the end it looks like I was able to keep a relatively moderate pace. Completed 1.4 miles at a 9:37 pace.

10/14 – 10/20 Totals

10/7 – 10/20 total miles = 15.8 miles and a lot of additional walking around Australia

Sydney

I went for a walk in Sydney today and managed to get nearly the whole city in!!

Here is the link to the map: My Sydney Walkabout

Saturday, October 20, 2007

I got up relatively early this morning and decided to milk it a little. Ended up rolling out of bed around 6AM and got running at around 6:15.

I knew that I wanted (needed) to run a little longer but was unsure as to how long I’d really go. I started running south away from my hotel and toward a paved bike trail I saw there the other day. Picked up the trail and followed it under the motorway and then along a parkway next to the motorway. That lasted all of .5 miles at which time I had to choose between going back under the motorway and continuing into a neighborhood to the south.

Since I was unsure where I’d have the opportunity to cross the motorway again I opted to go under. Once on the other side I face a rather large hill I trudge most of the way up in and begin walking…not very fun but needed. I continue running once the ground levels off. I make my way another mile or so when another rather large hill presents itself. I muster my way up this one and was grateful to be stopped at the cross walk.

Once I’ve crossed the street it is down hill to the park. This is the same park I spoke of a few days ago; the one that I didn’t know was here. Well today I decide that I will run the whole park. Very beautiful and about a 2 mile loop!! On the backside of the park there was at least 5 trees full of large bats all making a heck of a racket for this time in the morning.

Once I exited the park I continued up toward a nice peaceful neighborhood in north Parramatta and started my way back. I was starting to realize that I have not been drinking as much water as I usually do…the water isn’t bad here I just haven’t been drinking it.

I got back to the hotel and found that I had run 6.2 miles (10k) and did it at a much slower pace than last week…10:17.