Alberto gives accountants a bad name*

Compare and contrast the following:

Armstrong - "Contador is that good, so I don't see how I would have been higher than that," said the American who returned to the Tour this year after a three-year retirement. "I think his performance this year would have beaten my performances in '01, and '04 and '05."
He added that Spaniard was better than Jan Ullrich, one of his biggest rivals during the years that he won his seven Tours. "Absolutely," he said. "Far better."

Contador - "My relationship with Lance is non-existent," Contador told a press conference in Madrid. "Even if he is a great champion, I have never had admiration for him and I never will."

What a jerk. I don't care who wins the Tour de France next year as long as it isn't that tosser.

The Third Test starts tomorrow and I have been giving a lot of thought to who they should pick. I don't think that no change is an option. That was the policy in 2005 and look where that got us. So here is my team for the Third Test:

Hughes
Katich
Ponting
Hussey
Clarke
Watson
Haddin
Johnson
Hauritz
Hilfenhaus
Clark

This is obviously without seeing the track and if there is going to be nothing in it for spinners at all, I would be tempted to keep North in, bring in McDonald and leave out Watson and Hauritz. Not much to pick between Watson and McDonald but I think Watson is the better batsman. McDonald will be handy if the pitch is a real pudding.

I think Johnson deserves one last chance plus he adds a lot with the bat. I don't think we can go in without back up for him though in case it all goes wrong again, hence the inclusion of Watson. Siddle would be unlucky but he is going for too many runs so he is a bit of a casualty of Johnson's lack of form. Stuart Clark is too good and too suited to English conditions to leave out any longer.

My prediction though is that we will (unfortunately) go in with an unchanged XI.

Monday - 21.7km in 1 hour 39 minutes. I had 27km in my schedule in an attempt to try to make up for my lack of a long run on the weekend but just didn't feel up to it either effort or time wise. I was up at 5.45am to get this run in (after watching the end of the Tour on Sunday night) and couldn't bring myself to get up the 30 mins earlier to get in the longer run. Felt a bit heavy in the legs early on probably as a result of Sunday's hard effort but felt better the longer I ran.

Tuesday - Rest day. I had run for the previous 8 days so figured it was time for a rest. Plus it was Ben's birthday so we had a nice morning with the kids in and on our bed while Ben opened his cards and presents.

Wednesday - (today). 12.8km in 58 minutes. Broke out a new pair of 2130s for this run. I had been wearing my previous pair since a few weeks before Boston and as I am now getting my volume up over 100km a week, I didn't want to wait until I started getting a sore back (which seems to be my best indicator my shoes are on the way out) before I made the change. Interestingly, these ones felt a bit tight and as usual on the first wear, I felt/developed a numb spot on the mid foot on my left foot. I think I will interchange between these ones and my old shoes until they feel just right so I may not wear them for this Saturday's long run.

I have a pretty hard workout scheduled for tomorrow morning as follows:
Lactate threshold run (5km easy, 15mins @marathon pace + 1 min easy, 15mins @ half marathon pace + 1 min easy, 15 mins @ half marathon/10km pace, 5km easy -approx 21-22km.

Next week I have my first track interval session which is an interesting one based on a killer workout that they do at the University of Michigan as follows:
Intervals "Michigan" (3km warmup, 1 mile @ 5km or faster; 1.5 miles tempo @ between 10km and marathon pace; 1200m @ 5km or faster; 1.5 miles tempo; 800m @ 5km or faster; 1.5 miles tempo; 400m all out blast, warm down - total approx 14.5km).

Weather permitting, I'm going to do this at the new athletics track near Challenge Stadium. I will be riding the scooter though so if the weather is going to be bad I may need to make alternative plans either by doing them somewhere else and using the car and coming home before work or maybe doing them earlier in the week depending on the long range forecast. I haven't run on the track for ages and am looking forward to checking out the facilities at the new stadium.

*"Contador" is Spanish for "accountant".

PB at the Run For Gold

Managed to take 12 seconds off of my 10km PB at the Run For Gold this morning. It was pretty cold but did a good warm up even though I found it hard to get a sweat up. It was very chilly riding the scooter there which may have been why it didn't feel too cold when we were waiting to start. Weather conditions were perfect though with no wind and a dry course (it's often a bit of a raffle with flooding this time of year down near Trinity College)



Very strong field in the 10km race this year with Raf Baugh and Paul Mackay running. Raf Baugh won in 31.05 by nearly 2 minutes.



Saw Sandgroper arriving for the 5km just as we were heading out for the start so didn't get to have chat other than good luck and didn't see him afterwards.



I went out at a comfortably hard pace without feeling like I was "red lining". For once there was a few people running at my pace so I actually felt like I was racing rather than time trialling. I was in a "group" of about 4 who interchanged spots for most of the race including the girl who was the first female to finish. She passed me between 7 and 8 kms but I passed her back on a sharp right hand turn about 100m later when she went too wide. This was just after the photos Rox took below. It was great that Rox and the kids came down to cheer at exactly the right point where I needed a boost.



I found it a pretty hard slog from 4km onwards but managed to pick it for the last 3kms which was pleasing (not at the time - only now when I have gone back and looked at my splits. I'm not sure what happens between 5 and 7kms but they were where I missed out on my chance to go under 37 mins.



The first female ran right behind me from about 7.5kms to the finish and I had to work really hard to hold her off. We passed one guy at about 9km with another about 10-15m in front of us. We were getting close to him as we neared the final turn but I had gapped her enough that she wasn't going to get me and then with about 30m to go I heard the guy who had been behind her (and who is in the background of the first photo) thundering up behind. I dropped the hammer and not only managed to hold him off but I passed the guy in front who I wouldn't have had a crack at if not for the pressure from behind so thanks young man in blue.



The girl thanked me for pushing her through, although I had to say that I thought it was her pushing me. She said that it was a PB by over a minute for her so I'm glad to have been of assistance.



My time was 37.13 and I was 13th overall and 3rd in my age group. As I predicted after his great run at the Gold Coast, I struggled to keep Simon in sight as he finished in 35.44 and 10th overall and 2nd in our age group. As I said at the start, it was a strong field this year. My time would have got me 6th overall last year.



With a 2km warm up and a 2km warm down, total for today was 14km.



Just as satisfying (well pleasing really) was that the soccer team that I coach and which Ben was captain of today, won our first game of the season 2-0. We have now been unbeaten for 3 games and the kids are really improving. Lots more running off the ball and supporting their team mates as well as better organised at corners and throw ins. It was a real thrill to see the looks on their faces today and while it isn't all about winning, it isn't much fun losing every week either and it was a deserved reward for their perseverance.



What else did I do this week?



Thursday - 16.5km (approx) with Simon in 69-70mins. Pretty wet out there with lots of flooding on the paths and surrounds.

Friday - 12kms general aerobic run

Saturday - 8.4km recovery run. Ran this a bit quicker, not sure why. 44mins and as a result average HR was bit higher at 140.


Last night of the Tour de France tonight and all I can say is that I can't wait for next year with Lance Armstrong coming back with a new team. Hopefully his Radio Shack Team will also take part in the Tour Down Under in South Australia next year as well.



(Apparently, some people thought that my last post about the Tour was bit negative. "Grumpy Old Man" and "You should call it Biscuitman Whinges" were two pieces of constructive criticism. I'll try to keep it a bit lighter from now on.)



Splits (I didn't miss any, they just weren't there):



1-4 - 14.21 (3.35/km average)

5 - 3.48 (18.10 for first 5km)

6-7 - 7.52 (3.56/km average - this is where I lost too much ground)

8 - 3.45

9 - 3.45

10 - 3.39 (37.13 - new PB!!)

Ramblings about Le Tour

How good was the Tour de France last night? The big mountain stages are sorting out the strong riders from the sprinters (who are a bit like sit and kick track runners and let's face it, no one really likes them ... ). Thankfully, Phil Ligget and Paul Sherwen can now stop feeling like every third sentence has to include the words "Mark Cavendish".

Watching Armstrong get back onto the group with Contador and the Schleck brothers up the mountain was awesome. Rox had just gone to bed but I called out to her when Lance took off. I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat (actually a very comfy couch). I hope people don't think less of me when I say that although Contador looks like he is the best rider in the race, I sort of hope he comes a cropper in the individual time trial so that Lance has a chance to win.

Not a good day for Cadel Evans again. I know this is probably sacrilegious for an Aussie, but I can't really get excited about Cadel Evans, it's like he has had a charisma bypass (plus I can't help thinking how much he looks like Virgil Tracy from the Thunderbirds every time I see him).

I have to say though that the commentators are giving me the sh!ts a bit especially Paul Sherwen. I know maths isn't my strong point but listening to him stumble about with simple addition and subtraction as he tries to work out relative placings on the road is painful.

Worse than that though is that he has taken this whole affectation about calling each of the teams "Team this" and "Team that" to a completely new level. Never mind the stupidity of it in the first place which doesn't occur in any other major sport (although I am really looking forward to seeing "Team Reading" get promoted back to the English Premier League alongside "Team Manchester United" and "Team Chelsea". The football should be good this week with my team "Team Western Bulldogs" playing "Team St Kilda") .

Sherwen can't help himself though. "Team Cervelo Test Team?" - Paul, they've gone to the trouble of putting "Team" in their name, you don't have to insert another one - "Cervelo Test Team" will suffice, you plonker.

Although it seems easy, I think the job they are doing might actually be quite complicated as they are commentating for a number of different networks across the world. In a few of the earlier stages, I was sure I could hear Phil commentating in the background while Paul was talking and I am assuming that he was providing comments for another network at that time - I guess so they can tailor their comments for their audience. As a result, it can seem a bit disjointed at times as if they are not really listening to one another or can't remember if they have already said something before. On the other hand perhaps they are married ...

Michael Tomalaris isn't any better especially since he has started talking to that wally Rupert Guinness after every stage. Never mind that Guinness seems to know as much as the average armchair critic, (apparently he is a journalist from the Fairfax Media Group - well whoop de doo),what is going on with those shirts? Tomalaris seems vaguely disinterested and I know he is looking down at a monitor when Rupert is talking so that he can see if we need to cut back to the other cyclists finishing or an interview with the winner, but he looks like he is averting his eyes from the shirt or avoiding Rupert's bad breath. Why can't they put the monitor up higher on the other side? On the other hand, those shirts of Rupert's look like they are made of polyester so they are probably a bit stinky at the end of a warm summer's day.

Why does he wear them? Is it to rub it in to the rest of us that he is on holiday in France in summer while we are back in Australia in winter? Or is it his "thing" in the same way as some eccentric academics wear bow ties? I guess some people find something they like and stick to it. My Dad has an unusual liking for the skivvy and waist coat combination and my friend Bolty always wears Adidas Sambas (he had a pair when we were in Germany that squeaked whenever he walked - I think he relieved his problem with vaseline in the end but that's probably a story for another time). Rupert could hardly look more ridiculous unless he was wearing a beret. Actually that could be quite funny in an ironic sort of way, especially if he had "Rupert" embroidered on the front of it a la the Griswalds in European Vacation. ("A la" this French stuff is really catchy isn't it?).

I wonder where Mike Tomalaris gets his SBS body shirts from? More importantly, are they available to buy, especially the nice brown one?

Isn't this supposed to be a running blog? I guess I'll try to remember what I did this week.

Monday - felt quite fresh after Saturday's 32km run so headed out for my 16.2km general aerobic run as scheduled. Very windy so not great time wise 72 minutes from memory but felt very comfortable even when running into the wind apart from the big blustery gusts from time to time.

Tuesday - 21.5km medium long run scheduled. I knew it would be flooded down Burswood way so did my run out to UWA instead. It was raining quite heavily when I was getting ready and I was a bit sick of getting cold and wet so I took a rain jacket with me tied around my waist. Murphy's Law came into effect of course and it didn't rain the entire time I was out for my run. Even more annoying was that the underpass at the Causeway was flooded so I was unable to do the necessary detour out to the Marathon Club and back so as a result my run was only 19.7km. I could have added on a bit at the end but I find that when my planned runs get disrupted I often can't be bothered making alternative plans on the run. Had to stop for a pitstop on this run so not sure of exact running time - approx 91 mins I think.

Wednesday (today) - 8.4km recovery run plus 10 x hill sprints. I didn't do my hill sprints last week as I was concerned about the soreness in my achilles. No soreness this week so back into it and felt great. The gradual increase in reps has resulted in me running much stronger through the short workout such that I think I am going to have to find a longer hill and get the sprint time out to 14-15secs per rep. HR was a little higher today 137 but I think my HR monitor was playing up early in the run and I don't know how that impacts on the overall average.

The forecast for this Sunday's 10km Run for Gold is excellent. A little bit of wind but nothing like we have had recently and no rain on the day or for the few days before. As a result the course should be dry. I have got a couple of different ideas about how I might run this race and can't decide which one to choose. I think it might come down to how I feel when I warm up on the day as to what tactics (which makes the assumption that I actually follow any plan that I decide upon) I will try. I will have to leave straight after I finish to get to Ben's soccer in time to take the warm up.

PS - I am a little bored and lacking focus at the moment.
PPS - If you disagree with me about my take on the cycling, please leave me a comment - I could do with a good argument.

6666 - The Number of the Beast ... err Biscuit?

Got my bib number for the Asics Run for Gold 10km race in the mail yesterday - number 6666 which looks pretty cool. I think it will give me a good indicator of where I am at although I'm not super confident of a PR as I will not really be tapering for this run and I don't think it is a really fast course, especially if it is as windy as it has been lately.

Friday - Recovery run, went out for my usual recovery run but met up with Rox on the way back so went around again with her. As a result I'm not sure of the distance (probably around 11km) in 63 minutes with average HR 128.

Saturday - did my first 20 miler - 32.2km in 2 hours 24 minutes. Had a look back in my blog at when I did this run early in my program pre Boston (February) and it took me 2 hours 48 minutes. Admittedly, that was inclusive of a few breaks and it was vastly different weather conditions but it indicates that I am building off of a much stronger base this time around. Didn't feel great at the start as I had a bit of crap on my chest and was running into the wind but found that I got into a real groove from around 15km onwards. I took 2 gels, one after an hour and the other 45 minutes later. It was pretty windy and blustery but fortunately I had the wind behind me for the last few kms and felt like I was bombing along. I'm a bit stiff now but not sore so will make sure I get plenty of liquid in and try and do some stretching.

4.28/km is an average pace I'm very pleased with. My aim is to continue to improve my endurance before gradually increasing my focus on specific race pace workouts as i get closer to and enter the sharpening phase of my program.

The cricket isn't going too well, not helped by that moron Rudi Koertzen. How he has been given the chance to umpire in 100(!!) Test matches is beyond me. I've never seen him have a good game and is one of the poorest umpires going around. No excuses for most of the dismissals though and it seems like the Poms have got the upper hand in the mind games as well. Come on the rain!