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Tuesday December 30th
5 miles easy / 8:05 average pace
This was my last run in Brisbane so I made it a good one. I was catching a flight in the late morning which meant I was out at 5:40AM :eek: for this one. An ungodly hour looking back now!
I ran this on an 5m loop of Brisbane and started at Kangaroo point. A cliff area overlooking downtown Brisbane. The weather was warm if a little on the humid side. The loop takes one along Kangaroo point on the south side of Brisbane and then over Goodwill Bridge towards the city. You then run along the river on the opposite side, through the Botanic Gardens and then along a restaurant area known as Riverside which unusually is along the side of the river front! :pac:
From here I went up a steep hill and over the Story Bridge which is a typical Brisbane landmark. Here I got a good view of the city.
I was enjoying this early morning run thoroughly! Once off the Bridge I headed back down to the river again and finished off the loop on along the cliff front.
If I lived there, this would be a regular route for sure! Was a bit sad to be leaving but excited about the next destination of the trip!
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Sydney, Australia
Wednesday December 31st
6 miles easy / 8:37 average pace
Arrived in Sydney on the Tuesday evening and bright and early on New Year’s Eve morning I set off to do a bit of exploring. This was more of a tourist run to get to know the place than a run with any specific training stimulus. It was ideal for running as there was no humidity further down the Australian coast to that of Queensland.
Made my way down towards the harbour and past Martin Place where the horrific incident took place just 2 weeks before.
Soon I got onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge I just had to run across it to knock it off the to-do list! Got a nice picture of the New Year’s Eve sunrise as I crossed the bridge on the beautifully fresh morning. The calm of the harbour before the chaos of the fireworks storm later than evening.
When I crossed to the other side I went down to the water and found people already camping at 7am for the fireworks display at midnight!! :eek: Crazy stuff!
Re-traced my steps back over the bridge and jogged along the pier known as “The Rocks” towards the Sydney Opera House where I got a good view of the bridge.
I got as much tourist stuff in in an hour that others would in a day! Running is great for that! Jogged back to where we were staying before heading to the fireworks later that night. It was an amazing once in a lifetime experience being out on the harbour for the fireworks overlooking the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Even better still there was a free bar! I just about contained myself until after midnight so that I wouldn’t miss out on the main event but once it was all done I rang in the New Year in style and got hammered! :pac:
Thursday January 1st
7 miles easy / 7:58 average pace
After the head recovered from the night before I went out on this one in the early evening. The route for this one was out to do a loop of Centennial Park in the eastern suburbs of Sydney and back.
The park is in effect the Phoenix Park of Sydney and was developed in January 1888 to celebrate the first 100 years of European settlement in Australia (grand history lesson there
)
Perfect place to run with views of the Sydney skyline within a peaceful park. Towards the end of the run just outside the Park I passed the famous SCG (Sydney Cricket Ground), started to get into watching the cricket a bit while I was over but limited strictly to the 20:20 Big Bash short version! :cool:0 -
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Queenstown, New Zealand
Saturday January 3rd
6.5 miles easy / 7:11 average pace
Arrived in the magnificent Queenstown on the South Island late on Friday Night and had to get to the airport to pick up a car rental on the Saturday so chose to run over from the apartment. This was probably one of the most, if not, the most enjoyable training run I have had (as can be seen from the easy pace!
). The town is nestled among the Southern Alps on the edge of the clear icy blue Lake Wakatipu and it is a magical place to run.
I set off west towards the town from the apartment first along the Frankton lake trail which bustles with cyclists, runners and walkers throughout the day. A very popular spot. I done a loop around the Queenstown Gardens before returning east on the trail again towards the airport, passing the apartment again en-route. The views were spectacular and it was one of those runs where one was without restraint and it just felt great to be alive. The warm weather helped a bit too!
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Sunday January 4th
6.5 miles hilly / 9:42 average pace
There is a popular viewing point known as Bob’s Peak which overlooks the town and the surrounding landscape. Most venture up from ground level via the cable cars and my family had the same intention on the Sunday evening. I, on the other hand, decided that it would make for a more rewarding view at the top if I ran up it :rolleyes:, so off I went.
The trial up started at the cable car entrance and winds its way up slowly, while there are a number of routes up in terms of gradient, I of course stumbled across the hardest and steepest one going up, known as the Tiki Trail which is in effect a hiking route not made for running. As a result I had to slow to a walk in some parts but it was very enjoyable at the same time. It was nice and cool as it was the early evening and was not going to get dark until about 10.
The approx. 2.5 mile hike to the summit is usually advised to take an hour so I was satisfied with my 35mins when I reached the peak, which included very impressive 14:37 and 11:43 mile splits!
I was rewarded with spectacular views of the town and lake below with the Remarkables mountain range as a backdrop which is usually a ski resort in the winter.
On the peak they had a number of activities going on including a go kart luge, mountain biking down world class trails and running off the cliff and parachute to the town below. I could see why the place was called the adventure capital of New Zealand and why it was swarming with backparkers. I spent a good while at the peak soaking up the beauty before I commenced my decent.
I was a little more sensible going down in that I took the maintenance road, which was a little longer but with less of a gradient and I intentionally done this with the Boston Marathon hills on the horizon. I hear the downhill parts of that route are nearly more critical that the climbs so my quads needed some bashing.
The view going down was just as vivid as from above and it really made the run fly by. Before I knew it I was back in the town below with another run and week in the books.
Week 1 / 2015 Mileage Summary
Monday|Tuesday|Wednesday|Thursday|Friday|Saturday|Sunday
Rest|5m|6m|7m|Rest|6.5m|6.5m
Week Total|Month to Date|Year to Date
31m|20m|20m0 -
Auckland, New Zealand
Tuesday January 6th
5 miles recovery / 8:15 average pace
Arrived in Auckland on the Monday, the last stop of the trip.
. Woke up early Tuesday morning to hear that there had been a quake in the South Island measuring 6.0 on Richter scale, escaped that one! Having been though one before it’s not a pleasant experience! Sadly that area of the country has been having them frequently the last couple of years and it’s got to the point where people have given up rebuilding again because they keep happening. While I didn’t get to Christchurch I hear it is an eye opening experience.
Anyway, was out early morning for this one and ran along Auckland’s North Wharf at recovery pace as the legs were still a bit tired from the mountain climb a couple days before. It was a really nice bright morning.
Looped back the long way back to the hotel by going through the small but very well maintained Albert Park before finishing up right underneath the Sky Tower where I done a 360 around it for good luck!
Wednesday January 7th
4 miles recovery / 8:25 average pace
Last early morning run before the long depressing trip back to the cold and pancake flat Chicago. Auckland is pretty much a city of extinct volcanos so it is quite hilly so the constant up and down was excellent training. Ran down from the hotel and in to the Auckland Domain, where there is a steady climb up again to the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Done a loop of the museum at the crest of the hill before bouncing back down the hill, through Albert Park again like the day before and back to the starting point.
While I was not looking forward to going home, I was looking forward to an end of runs that served no specific purpose. For the next few months this will not be the case. With the amazing trip over, it’s time to get down to business.0 -
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Sunday 18th January
Dan Burnham XC (4km)
Time: 14:59
Average Garmin Pace: 5.53/mile
Result: 35/114
This is a very popular winter event amongst Chicago club runners, It is set in Montrose Harbour overlooking the downtown skyline in an area known as Cricket Hill, the only decent hill in the Chicago city area. The route was 4 1km laps which included up and down of Cricket hill each time. Its not an official event with all the bells in whistles but kept very simple, everyone rocks up to a bag at the centre of a track, gets a number and off you go, no messing, the way I like it.
Arrived in plenty time and our club had a decent turnout at this, done a two mile warm up before the start. The weather has been quite mild for the time of year the last 2 weeks and it was mild and a temp of about 1c for this, that is warm here! The problem was the positive temperature meant there was a lot of snow melt which would cause much fun during the race!
After a little more chatting some went and done a lap to check out the route, I decided to go in blind, and I am glad I did!
Rocked up to the start and soon we were off. Spikes and snow was soon flying everywhere in the bustle to find position, however, we were not allowed to relax for too long as soon I heard screams up above and I realised why straight after, before I knew it I was in the middle of a pool of ice water! :eek::eek:
seen at back with orange hat
Splashing everywhere, it was chaos! It was a mixture of torture and laughter as we eventually exited it leaving my feet behind and then the start of the climb began, felt strong here and was controlled again on the decent.
Coming towards the end of the first lap people were settled down now. Just as I was beginning to feel my feet again it was the start of the second lap a and through the ice water again! I then came to realise that the route was worked out in such a manner to go through the worst under footing areas as possible, true XC style! I was loving it actually it was pretty good fun (apart from the numb feet part). I was picking people off here and there with nobody passing me, I was catching most people on the hill climb which I was satisfied about, however as each lap passed the decent was getting muddy and a little more tricky.
The third lap was uneventful as I was now caught in no-man’s land between groups, I didn’t mind though as it was only a bit of fun. On the start of the fourth lap, (yes, legs numb again!) I started to hear footsteps behind me and sounded like a guy on a mission, I picked it up as I was not going to let anyone passed, this gave me the boost I needed as I soon saw targets to aim for again in the distance. An increased effort for the last lap meant I caught some more people again on the climb and as I rounded the last corner I tore past two others, position was imported for team event. As soon as I passed one guy picked it up and caught up with me, soon we were in a sprint, I picked it up and got ahead, then he picked it up and went ahead, THEN I went into a sprint to go ahead again and pinch it at the death by .2 of a second :cool:
Finished 35th which was alright considering the depth of the field up front, I had the intention of doing it just for a laugh anyway so all is good! Thankfully brought some warm clothes and dry socks to change into straight after and the banter about the various conditions on the course was fun!
It was nice to have one last blow out in a different environment before getting down to marathon business.
Week Mileage Summary
Monday|Tuesday|Wednesday|Thursday|Friday|Saturday|Sunday
Rest|5m|8.1m|6m|Rest|12.1m|5.5m
Week Total|Month to Date|Year to Date
36.7.m|69.7m|69.7m0 -
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AuldManKing wrote: »I like the coordination of the hat and the top - could you not have worn orange runners?.........really?
You seem to be enjoying your running over there, despite the weather.
When you do your normal daily runs, do you get caught at roads/light much??
I had orange shorts but made a last minute change!
Ya its not bad, all my midweek runs are done around 6:45-7pm when I get in from work, I get caught a bit at lights alright, but over time there are some routes I would use were the session parts of the run are not interfered.
I'm 2.5 miles from the lake which is a 17 mile lit up path but when I'm doing 7 mile run there is not much justification to run there for the sake of 2 miles..
Also if one is running a block and adopts the "keep right" method on intersections I tend to miss most of the lights.0
Looks like you had an amazing time! 
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