Now I know that many of you already know and enbrace this, so please humour me.

It's not that I have been completely oblivious to the relationships between Heart Rate, Fatigue, Form, Foot and Leg Strength, Proformance, Mindset, Muscle Soreness etc but until I read The Cool Impossible and started the 15 Week Foundation Program as described in The Cool Impossible these linkages were not front and centre in my mind. They were there, a shadow, a knowing but not really…

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4 x 7 min speed intervals today.

Nervous as always before speed work..At first glance the pace looked not too shabby to hold, but then, "what if you can't you hold that pace?" "you held a faster pace with these same intervals last year what if they are too hard, what does that mean about you?", Hello Walter! Of course I didn't recognize those thoughts yet, they were still more feelings squeezing around my chest as…

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It was too beautiful a day to resist. Breathless, slightly chilly, but glorious spring sunshine; perfect running weather. And I had to go into town anyway, so I slipped quietly out of work and tried a cautious mile down to the bike shop. And I didn't collapse in agony on the side of the road. My knee held up pretty well, perhaps feeling very slightly sore in the last 100m or so. And I didn't seem to have forgotten running form, and with lots of things to think about it may even have…

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After a few months off this winter to recharge and a few good blocks of training, I was ready for my 1st race. I was really excited to get on dirt and test my legs. I didn't have a time goal. My race plan was simple, don't go out too hard, ease up a little on the hills, and put it into another gear for the last 5k. Here is what I emailed to Eric.

I had a really good race. I learned how to push myself to another level

of pain. I will explain in a second.

I was 2nd in my age…

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I have slowly built up to 6 km in my neopren socks..now the real training can begin. I like the strength training however  I struggle to get up to 3 x 25 reps of the pistol squats..I hardly manage 3x 10..

Yes, it is quite possible I have gone completely off the deep end but if you are willing to follow me, it should be entertaining at least! I thought about waiting to blog about Walter until I completely understand where I’m going with this, but writing helps me understand, so maybe we’ll…

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Well, I've made the decision.....to try again! Here I am 52yrs old, hypertensive and never managed to run more than 7kms without injury! Most of the time I spent trying to run was with teeth gritted, just trying to finish! BUT.....I have this urge to run! I had finally given up trying and then I read your book. I now realise how little strength I have in my feet and legs and, because of this my form is more like a crab in reverse! So, here goes....strength training and trying to improve form…

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Eric has been my coach for many years.  In the beginning, I was not a big fan of HR monitors.  It took some getting used to.  Now, it has become a great tool and gives me information about myself during my runs.  It has just been in the last few years that I have begun to appreciate my zone 2 runs.  

At first, I didn't pay much attention to them, they were just slow…

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Ok so I was going to do a 30k run before my op in just over a weeks time, but looks like I'll have to put up with today's 18.5k, not complaining though I simply ran put of time not motivation :)



Today's thoughts - mostly... bow and arrow, cowboy and lasoo, bow and arrow bow and arrow... Step over the log, step over the log, bow and arrow ha!



Then there were some others... My shadow provided an interesting tool to check my form at times. Dropping my arms low seemed to help… Continue

Ok sorry to mention Kangaroos again but....  I went for a longer run on Saturday as I try to do and on my merry way I came across a heap of roos, bounce bounce bounce, hmmm I started thinking about Erics description of running and how we are basically jumping (hope I have that right) Now roos are very graceful when they are going full swing and it looks effortless, their body is basically motionless and they just swing through with the legs, which optimises their energy retention (just like…

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Thirty years ago, I was a teenage soccer and rugby fanatic. Quick on my feet, good sprinter and good strategist made a great pick for regional and local games. I was, to be fair, a kid in great shape.

Fast forward to five years ago.  Married, kids, work promotions, working through the night and week ends, eating on the run made me a successful yet unhappy and severely unhealthy, overweight forty-something man.

At that point, I chose to retake control of my life.…

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Hi Eric and everyone

last night I begun the 15 week foundation program using my test results and something curious happened I found it very hard to keep my heart rate in zone 2 it kept creeping up into 3 and 4. As my run progressed it became harder and harder to get may heart rate down after each 15-20" of moderately fast running. The only way I could get it down was to walk for 30-40" then resume running again. Does this mean my test results were wrong or dose this happen? After…

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Cherokee legend has it that long ago humans and animals lived together and spoke to each other. Those times have long since past, or so thought the Cherokee trail runner. It was a crisp, clear winter day with fresh snow on the ground. Trail runner thought it a perfect day for a long run. She had no idea what she was in for! She made her way through the winding trails of the forest, somewhat surprised that no other humans had made tracks yet. She drank water and ate to sustain…

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I'm not sure whether this is entirely running related, but more sort of me-related, I guess.

One of the reasons why I've been quieter on the blogging front is that I've been spending the last few months writing a book about running - specifically, how I spent a year going from a complete non-runner to someone able to comfortably run marathons and even run ultra distances.

I figure there might be people out there who want to read about an ordinary guy's experiences and…

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545 the alarm goes off, out of bed sneaking around so i dont wake the little one, lots of water, shave, get changed into my gear, shorts and a merino tshirt for the current chilly mornings and a beanie for the first 1/2k or so, pat the dogs on the way out and then crunch crunch on the gravel under starlight as I walk out to our gravel rd, Mudlarks calling and a couple of magpies somewhere out in the way yonder... My eyes are getting accustomed to the dark and I quickly walk to a tree that…

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Last week I got the opportunity to attempt to hit some targets at a makeshift shooting range at the coaxing of my brother in law, Scotty, former military police.  It was an automatic rifle of sorts...a heavy one with a scope.  After getting the basics down I took aim. I had a hard time honing in on the target. The gun was heavy, challenging to find aim and hone in due to the weight and trying to use the scope. It took a lot longer than I thought, but I was determined to keep…

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So after my little experiment and a couple of short runs and walks to allow my calves to like me again ran 5k again this morning, brilliant to be back on track and this time I'll ease into the technique change a bit more :). Bush bash across the ridge line at a spot in the grampians tomorrow morning to give myself a decent work out, great view and a challenge, fun stuff to give an all body work out... well that's the excuse anyway! Hope to do a 30k trail run nearby before end of March and my… Continue