Let me tell you a little story..

What up crew!  Hope and pray this babble meets you all well and good!

Things in the TR hood are all good!  Family is awesome, work is going stella (with even a few foot chases and exciting jobs) and training is ramping up nicely.  For the last three or four weeks I have consistently run well over 100km per week and feel fresh as a daisy!

As I have had a few ups and downs in the start of the year (nothing to really complain about), I wanted to get a good solid run in before The Cooks Tour (80km) in a couple of weeks.  I wanted to run to Childers at Easter but dont think I was quite ready at that time...so I set a date, TODAY!


So I rounded up a few friends and we met at Mum and Dads at 4am and set off into the darkness.  There were  five starters, Tanya, Lee, Karen, Matty and myself.  Sue wanted to get an early start and was off at 3am!  Crazy times!  Dad was to be our support vehicle as he has been injured.  It sucks he couldn't run but at least he was still threre!

Starting off there was no drama and we were all in good spirits!  The dark running was exciting for a few that hadnt done that before and it was nice and cool which kept us plugging along.  Everyone did really well and seemed to be progressing nicely.  With Dad having food/drink in the ute, it made for a reassuring run.

Matt, Karen, Tanya, Lee and I

Karen plugged on well and achieved a personal best of a bit over 20k (I think it was more like 21 or 22).  Matty then kept going to complete a personal best in his home made huaraches of 24km.  Stella performance my friend, stella!  We then stopped for a quick few photos and to refuel the body before saying good by to Matt and Karen.  Dad drove them back into town, what a champion!

It was at this point that we also caught Sue.  She was going steady, but I tell you what, that is one determined woman!  She was going great, looked fresh, but I think was happy to see dad with some water and aide!  She said that she was happy to keep going on her own so Lee, Tanya and I left her to chug along herself.

So, the three of us kept running at a great pace!  I am thankful that I had their company as we were going quite a bit quicker than I would have on my own and there conversation and companionship was super!  As dad had to go into town and back again, this was our longest stint without aide.  He eventually caught back up to us after about 1hr 15min and I was pretty happy to see him and get some Coke in the system and refuel with some of Tanyas home made protein bars (YUM) and watermelon.

Once refueled we kept going and things were going nicely.  I ditched the Sunday business attire (my new race collared shirt, as per above) and went all minimal on your ass, shirtless.  It was nice and cool to start with as the early morning fog was STILL around.  After a while however the sun came out and it heated up nicely.

Tanya and Lee

As we were running quite quick (for a long run anyway) I started to slow a little from Tanya and Lees cracking pace.  I kept about 10-20meters behind them and just kept plugging away.

We arrived at the Apple Tree Creek Servo and had time to take a few photos.  We heard that Sue had made it 40km which is an amazing effort!  I think the longest she has ever run is 25-30k so just incredible!  Well done Suzie!

Tanya, Lee and I, almost there. (I
need more tattoos, wanna sponsor me?!)

As per usual, and something that ALWAYS seems to happen on long runs, Dad started to lose his mind!  Between all the driving back and forward and being on the road, he always tends to get a bit loopy, which is always fun and evident from the picture to your    right!

After Apple Tree Creek, we turned off the Highway onto Old Creek Road to go to my work friend Leesa's house.  She so very kindly offered for us to use her shower and use her place as a finish line.  So after a nice sharp little hill and a few more k's, we made it!  All feeling pretty darn good and stoked with our performance for the day!

After a tub at Leesa's beautiful house (thanks again Leesa) we then met up with Lees wife and son, Mum, Tegan and Pria and all went into town for a feed, relax and a laugh.  Beautiful day out!

A couple of wraps...

The three at the finish!

Tanya - Holy makral!  Before today she had not run further than 30k!  She ran through her first marathon and completed the entire distance fresh as a daisy and powering on!  Super super effort!  I have a sneaking suspicion she may be joining me for some trail ultras in the near future!

Lee - Appart from being a big skirt and not even planing on coming, he as usual did an incredible job!  He is as fit and strong as ever and was great to do another run with you mate!

Dad - Thanks Boss for all your help today.  Was super to have you there and provide all your usual energy and fuel supplies you bought!  Thanks again Boss, hope your back on the road with us soon again!

So, I am stoked.  I only walked one hill and Lee, Tanya and I completed 51.18km in 5hours and 29min (including stops).  This was a super hit out physically and mentally for the Cooks Tour...BRING IT!

Good times people!  Thanks again for following my blog!  I love writing it and I hope you all are still enjoying the rants!  Keep smiling friends, be good to each other and Ill catch you again soon.

TattooRunner

Week One

The beginning...

Day One- Today was off to a rocky start. We were up through the night with a sick little bub so my early morning run got thrown off track. I did some stair climbing on my stair machine and a half hour on the exercise bike instead. The day was enjoyable and I finished the day off with a 8k barefoot. My foot was pretty sore this arvo which was disappointing as it has been coming much better. I plugged through though and enjoyed the afternoon sunshine. I was able to stick to 100% vegan today which was a top start to the plan. I am very excited and looking forward to the next 99days!

Day 2- Runners high! It has been a while since I have felt that full on euphoric feeling but right now I am grinning from ear to ear, high on the good stuff...LIFE!

So this morning I did my 10k at the hummock (hill day) with Jodie. Now she usually only does 5k there but decided to step it up today, doubling her distance. The first lap went as normal but the second started to get her a bit. I did my best to encourage her (with a little yelling) talking her through each section. I can proudly say my training buddy And friend smashed it in and did a super job! This is going back to my blog a few weeks ago and encouraging others. I went away from that run not even caring about what I had done but so proud of Jod's because of what she had accomplished!

I then got to shot my gun at firearms training today...a perk of the job!

In the arvo we had Bundy Road Runners. Now this is usually just a nice steady pace with Matty or Brett or both. Brett had the pram today so it was me and Robbo. We were running along as usual and got to the 5k mark and hear our spilt of 5:22 pace. I challenged Matt that we had to get under 5:20 pace by the end of the run and had 2k to do it in. I then felt like I wad flying. This session I always do barefoot and it felt awesome! We hooked in and were doing about 4:45-4:50 pace! We ended our 7k averaging 5:15min per km! I am SO proud of Matty for his efforts and how far he has come in such a shoot time! Amazing! I was wrapped also as I don't usually run that quick and to do that speed barefoot and after a 10k hill session in the morning I was stoked! One very happy camper!

Today was a ripper! Life is grand, smile and run fast every now and then...it is fun!

Day 3 - Well today was a bit non-eventful. I clocked up 14k of running plus time on my stepper but did it a little tough. This was a combination of hard training yesterday and battling the flu. I don't have it, but it is lingering. I am doing what I can to fight it. Food wise it has been a bit tough and I have felt a little like eating some junk. I withheld the temptation though and got through the day clean as a whistle. I am praying this flu will go away as I have much training and living to do!

Day 4-6 - well the last few days have been busy and a bit up and down. Thursday and Friday were ups. Diet went well and got some good training in. Today however (Easter) I have allowed myself a day off from my eating plan to relish in the festivities. It has been a super day and I got a top 30k run in this morning without hardly any fatigue! Stoked!

I have been reviewing myself and plans a little and going to change a couple of things up from the original plan. I don't think the timing is exactly right for my vegan eating. It is surely something that I am interested in in the future but I just don't feel the timing is exactly right now.

Secondly, I can't maintain my daily posts on here. It is all bit hectic finding the time somedays to get things typed up.

So...where to from here. I am going back to my healthy vegetarian diet. I want to get it in check and under control. Healthy eating a vast majority of the time is the plan. Secondly I still want to reach my goal of under 75kg by my 30th birthday. Focus, determination and drive will get me there!

So that has been the week that has been! I am smashing out the k's again, getting my diet down pat and lovin life!

I hope that you have all had a Stella Easter and enjoyed the day as I have. Lets get back on focus tomorrow and hook in like a banchi!

Until next time friends! Run on!

A new journey...

This blog will be honest...proberbly a little too honest but thats why im here!

A new journey is beginning...let me explain.

As of my 29th birthday (November last year) I went full on vegetarian. Before that I was vego through the day and just eating meat at night. Since going vegetarian, my running has improved, my recovery has improved and i generally feel better. For some reason though, i have been struggling with eating a fair amount of junk! I have also been battling to drop extra weight that i have been wanting to drop. Ever since i had my tumour removed from the base of my brain I seem to have been battling with eating a fair amount of crap food and I don't even know why half the time(connected? Who knows?) It is a viscous circle and I end up pretty down on myself. My life is so abundantly blessed in so many ways and it seems like my diet is the only thing that really brings me down! I hate it and I really want to change.

I have tried and failed so many times over the last little while. I am sick of the ups and downs. Things need to change! I generally only start thia type of thing at the beginning of the week, month etc (as most people tend to do and end up failing by Wednesday), but i need to take action NOW! I feel as though I need to take some drastic action to change up this rutt I'm in. I am going to have a go a a new plan starting 03/04/2012.

I am looking forward to the next 100 days. I am setting a pretty challenging goal for myself. I am aiming to eat a vegan diet wherever possible but generally vegetarian at night due to it being much easier on my family and socially. This will generally eliminate the crap that i struggle with eating and make me be more creative and healthier overall.

I am also looking at running everyday and training damn hard. I will be doing my absolute best to do a weekly blog with daily updates on how I am going. I got this idea from Anton Krupicka and think it is a much more creative/progressive way for me to blog my way through this journey. I will be updating you on how this new diet effects my running and general health/well being. I know that this idea/personal challenge will be damn tough but I need to break myself from this rutt i feel I am in!

As a side point, I will be weighing in every 10days to keep track on my progress. I am not wanting to focus on weight but do want to keep an eye on how I am going. This challenge is more about improving my health, not necessarily weight loss. In saying this though, I know that by eating this way and training hard, the weight will fall off and I will break through this personal barrier.

I find that when struggling with any area in life (diet, motivation, health, fitness etc) the best way to break through is to saturate ones self with help and inspiration. I will be doing this throughout my 100day journey, reading a lot of vegan running and non running related articles, watching a lot of YouTube videos and reading a lot of information about vegan related info.

I would also appreciate any advise or encouragement from any of you along the way. If anyone finds any cool YouTube clips, articles or books to read, just holler!

So that is it! The new adventure of the TattooRunner. I hope and pray that this will be a real turning point in my life and change the way I view food/my health. I am not necessarily going to stick at the vegan eating permenentlly but it is a possibility...I will review this at the end of my 100days and see how the process goes.

Good times! I hope that this blog finds you all well and ripping into life. I look forward to catching up with you all soon and having a good old yarn. Keep smiling and I'll see ya Mellon soon!

TattooRunner