2022 Running Review

Getting in early with the first review, one thing that went well for the year.

Just missed beating the totals from 2021 with a minor injury in the last week of the year.

• 2022 - 5119 kilometres and 390 hours
• 2021 - 5128 kilometres and 392 hours

The running totals were not a major goal for the year and was impacted by running a few more races, although still would have liked to do more - only one in the first five months.

• March - River Run Geelong 10km
• 37:03
• June - Sri Chinmoy Albert Park 10km
• 37:23
• July - Gold Coast Marathon 21km
• 1:19:28 PB
• July - Run Melbourne 10km
• 36:30 PB
• August - XCR Albert Park 10km
• 36:23 PB
• August - XCR Ballarat 15km
• 55:07 PB
• October - Melbourne Marathon 21km
• 1:19:14 PB
• December - Lara Fun Run 10km
• 37:21

I was surprised to be able to set one or more personal bests in each of the 5, 10, 15, and 21 kilometre distances, and in particular finally getting under the 80 minute barrier. The only disappointment was the Melbourne Marathon course seemed longer than previous years adding at least 30 seconds to the result.

I reached the 250 parkrun milestone around the middle of the year, now it will be a very long time to reach 500 - a minimum of 5 years at current pace.

The PB streak from 2021 carried into 2022 and finished at 25 events in April, also the tourism streak ended at 52 in August. I also managed to break the 18 minute parkrun barrier a few times, although none were during that PB streak actually.

• Dandenong 17:58
• Dorset Recreation Reserve 17:59
• Lilydale Lake 17:49
• Warringal Parklands 17:48 and 17:49

The other parkrun stats are:

• 45 events - 24 in 2021
• 12 new events - 9 in 2021
• April
• Dorset Recreation Reserve
• Frankston Nature Conservation Reserve
• May
• Toolern Creak
• Cyril Curtain Reserve
• June
• Werribee Park Mansion
• Lewis Park Reserve
• July
• Kirkdale Reserve
• Peppertree
• August
• Warrandyte River Reserve
• Phillip Island
• December
• Bendigo Botanic Gardens
• Lake Boga Foreshore

The goals from 2022 and new goals for 2023 are:

• 2022
• 5km 18:00 - 17:48
• 10km 36:30 - 36:23
• 21km 1:20:30 - 1:19:14
• 4500 to 5000 kilometres - 5119
• Parkrun
• 10 new events - 12
• PB streak 25 - 25
• Tourist streak 50 - 52
• Races
• 2 new events - 0
• 2 interstate events - 1
• 0 international events - 0
• 2023
• 5km 17:30
• 10km 36:00
• 21km 1:18:00
• 4500 to 5000 kilometres
• Parkrun
• 10 new events
• Races
• 2 new events
• 3 interstate events
• 1 or 2 international events

Kerang Region 2022

A quick recap of my Kerang trip before the monthly review, although I wouldn't call it a holiday. I organised two days of travel to also include some new parkrun locations, since I don't plan on travelling three or four hours to these places on a normal weekend - and benefiting from an extra event on Sunday for new year's day.

Friday afternoon was just spent travelling, getting fuel after about an hour then going the rest of the way without stopping. A few sections of the highway had 60 kilometre speed limit, but overall not too bad. I passed a few take-away food places in the main street of town as I was driving through - right next to each other - and also a couple of supermarkets nearby. If you lived in town you'd be a bit limited for choice, but that would be the same or worse for a lot of towns. The motel had most of the Foxtel sport channels, the best option was a BBL match where I got to watch a Melbourne team lose as per usual.

I seem to wake up every hour when I have an alarm set for the morning, so this was no different. Had a 7am alarm to drive to Lake Boga Foreshore for the usual Saturday parkrun - 45 kilometres but at 100 km/h with no traffic is a quick trip. I did a four kilometre warm up before the start - on a mixture of bitumen and concrete (the worst) - then almost missed the start as I didn't realise it was a couple of minutes walk from the finish.

Due to having consecutive parkrun days I was hoping to only run around 20 minutes, but like usual had someone running just behind me for the first two kilometres. Still can't understand why people start at 4:00/km then finish closer to 5:00/km and never learn. I finished the course under 19:30, it's just a small section of the lake as I'd guess the whole way around would be 25 kilometres or more.

Completed a short two kilometre warm down afterwards and at the end of all that my right foot was still a bit sore - from the previous week of double parkrun and driving to Bendigo - but hadn't gotten any worse, and still better than earlier in the week.

Swan Hill was only about 15 minutes further away, so went for a quick visit. It's a bit bigger than Kerang and other towns in the area - you can tell since it has it's own KFC, McDonald's, Subway, etc. I hadn't been paying much attention to the map so didn't realise the town was right on the Murray River border - I knew it was close - but didn't notice any particular damage caused by the floods from earlier in the year.

The town has a contribution to the Big Things Of Australia - the Giant Murray Cod. Stopped for a quick photo and also to have a walk around the town, but some shops were closed for the holiday so no magnet. Also walked along the river bank and across the bridge to New South Wales.

Drove back to Kerang, stopped at the bakery for lunch then back to the hotel. Went back out walking again in the afternoon but it does seem to get really hot out in the regional areas and there wasn't much shade around. Checked out a few of the landmarks in town like Atkinson Park, some clock tower in the main street, some lookout tower across from the park, not much activity here either due to new year's eve.

Back to the motel after dinner had some more BBL to watch, I didn't realise Kerang had their own fireworks when they went off in the park at 9:30pm, it was so close I thought it was someone outside the motel at first. They didn't last too long so didn't get time to walk over for a closer look. They had another session at midnight though which were much louder and went for around 10 minutes.

Had another parkrun for Sunday but this one was within walking distance for the Kerang Regional event. I hadn't scrolled down four months on their facebook page to see they had changed the course because of floods and again nearly missed the start. It was even warmer than the previous morning but with a very small attendance I was able to run at my own pace just under 20 minutes.

So that was it, back to the hotel to get ready for the long drive back to Melbourne. Managed to go the whole way without stopping but had the usual soreness in my left leg in particular, made worse by driving shortly after exercising I think but got through a bit better having just done the two hour trip to Bendigo the previous weekend to get used to it.

Gold Coast 2022

July 01

July 02

July 03

July 04

Gold Coast 2022, July 04

The last day was just the trip home, so not much happening.

Had a longer 10km race this morning at 7:15am, again very uninspiring due to running on a footpath. Got back and ready to leave by 9:15am, this time the bus was much quicker so got to the airport by 10:00am.

While standing in a massive line for security saw the flight delay had increased from 20 to 40 minutes. At a normal airport this wouldn't be too bad, but there's literally nowhere to sit at the airport. It's more like a large food court with tables, that also happens to have planes departing.

Once the plane arrived had no other issues all the way home, just got extremely squashed from a passenger in the next seat.

Gold Coast 2022, July 03

Got up at 5am again to get the tram up to watch the start of the marathon and the 10km race. The conditions were definitely better than the events for the previous day.

I tried taking some photos from the start of the marathon, but from the side they usually were a bit blurry. Soon after the 10km race started, they went in one direction and then came back again after 3 kilometres, so had a good idea who was leading the men's and women's race by then.

The 10km race at 3km.

Once all the 10km leaders went past I walked over to the finish line to watch them come through, lots of people coming in under 35 minutes and with much better running action than I have, very depressing.

Next I went back again to the main street to wait a while for the marathon leaders coming through at the 31 kilometre mark, looking a bit worse off than when they started. Had two Japanese runners in the lead for the men's and a USA woman in the middle of a pace group.

The men's marathon winner

I went back to the hotel instead of waiting for the race to finish, and watched the live stream from the start. It was very disappointing to have no coverage of the 10km race, which has a lot more action than the marathon.

I got out for a short 6 kilometre run at Broadbeach before lunch, a poor route because after 1-2 kilometres in either direction the track ends and you have to run on a narrow footpath the rest of the way. It should be a path the whole way along the beach. My legs were feeling quite sore but nothing too serious.

There wasn't too much I was interested in doing around Surfers Paradise while still resting, I went back to Pacific Fair for lunch instead. I might have gone to Harbour Town but it's a long way to travel and the main attraction (Nike store) was temporarily closed.

Got back to the hotel later in the afternoon, watched some AFL (always on the 7mate secondary channel in low definition) before getting dinner and then packing up for the morning.

Gold Coast 2022, July 02

Probably woke up about once an hour so didn't need an alarm clock, but didn't feel too tired once 4:00am finally arrived.

Tried something a bit different and just had some Gatorade and lollies before the race, usually have some breakfast biscuits or muesli bars but found they don't always sit well afterwards.

It had been raining all night and conditions still didn't look good from the window. I walked down to the tram station in a singlet at around 4:45am, it was freezing cold so I was relieved the tram (or light rail) came along soon after. The tram took 30 minutes to get to Southport but was full after about three stops - the exact reason why I booked a hotel at Broadbeach this year. I'm still not sure how those people actually make it to the race on time.

Got to the event start at about 5:30am which was good timing, there was a bit of room for a warmup but I also didn't want to miss getting a spot near the start of the race, so only did 1.5 kilometres. I was lining up where the fence was supposed to be opened up for Group A to enter, then people just broke open the fence further ahead on their own.

I still got to about the third row behind the elites and preferred runners - need to be at least 1 hour 17 minutes to make the second of those groups, which is a bit exclusive. Soon we were off but I was stuck behind people all over the course running slower than four minutes per kilometres. Since it was so dark it was a bit more difficult to navigate through, so I just waited until the gaps appeared after a couple of minutes.

For the first few kilometres my hamstrings in particular were feeling a bit sore, possibly suggesting I hadn't had enough rest before the race, which was a worry with so far to go. That problem went away then I started to have my knee problem which had been happening for the last two months during any fast runs. Somehow that came and went quickly and I was able to run through the first half with most splits around 3:45 to 3:50 per kilometre.

The best part of the race is probably seeing all the elite men and women coming back the other way at the turn around point, by this stage they were at least one kilometre ahead, if not more.

I skipped the early drink stations but then decided to get some in the second half, around about the time I started to have my first challenges at the 13 kilometre mark. I was starting to find the same speed harder to maintain but was able to fight through it and stay under 3:50 per kilometre.

Only at about 18 kilometres I really started hurting again, and just had to try and make it through one kilometre at a time. Somehow again I managed to maintain the same speed, each kilometre trying to calculate if I was under 1 hour 20 minutes pace - which is my long term goal, but I didn't expect to reach it today. The Garmin watch was about 100 metres ahead of the course markers which also made things a bit uncertain.

After I got to 20 kilometres I was confident I could make the finish and also get under my target time - even the gun time. I crossed the finish line with 1:19:37 on the clock, but official time was 1:92:28.

Picked up the finished medal and a free Asics t-shirt at the finish line, and some brand of electrolyte drink. I didn't hang around too long and then got back on the tram to the hotel.

I was considering doing a short run when I got back but my left achilles was feeling a bit sore and tight so skipped that - apparently it can be a small side effect of these high stack 'super shoes' which I don't wear often.

Back to Pacific Fair before lunch to the Doughnut Boss shop for some great donuts, and got some different varieties of flavoured milk drinks - not that much different to Melbourne. Dropped that stuff off at the hotel and then back on the tram to Surfers Paradise to walk around for a bit and get some lunch. Bumped into Trent near the Cavill Avenue sign while he was preparing for the marathon the next day.

The usual Surfers Paradise sign.

Two remaining donuts - custard beats jam any day.

Picked up a gingerbread Mountain Dew on the way, which was really disappointing, far too much cinnamon taste. Finished the day a bit early since my legs were complaining from doing too much walking after the race - a good lesson for next time.

Staying hydrated.

Watched the live stream replay of the half marathon while eating dinner, the coverage was good, not sure if I was on the other side of the road when they were filming the leaders on the men's and women's race, but at the finish they were on a commercial break when I would have been crossing the line.

Gold Coast 2022, July 01

Started the trip to Gold Coast on Friday morning, travelling the day before the race.

• 7:15 train to city
• 7:50 bus to airport - hardly any traffic
• 8:20 airport

Decided to go with a carry-on backpack so I didn't have to deal with luggage. Just had enough room for clothes and a pair of shoes for the race, had to wear a pair of shoes to be used for walking and jogging.

Saw all the Collingwood AFL players going to Gold Coast as well, but departing an hour earlier.

Got to Gold Coast airport around 12:30pm but missed the first bus to Broadbeach South because there was too many people, got the second one but took forever, nearly 2:00pm before getting off the bus.

Walked over to Pacific Fair to find some lunch, massive lines everywhere, even at the supermarket.  Had to walk all the way to the other end and back, but finally got some food and then across the road to the hotel to check-in.

Had to go up to the expo in the convention centre at Broadbeach North to get the race number for tomorrow. Just got handed a race number and some strange clips I'd never used before, usually you get safety pins. Did a quick tour of the expo but didn't find anything to buy, no new flavours of Clif bars.

Stopped at another supermarket on the way back to the hotel, got some regular safety pins and more Gatorade.

I decided to got for a short run in the rain during the afternoon - mostly to keep the running streak going and to check for any minor injuries - only went 2.5 kilometres but my feet were already soaked from all the puddles.

Had an early dinner - bread rolls, energy bars and sports drink - and watched a bit of the AFL, but was pretty tired to set the alarm for 4:15am and missed out on seeing Carlton lose like usual.

2022 Goals

Not sure if there's much point to start goals in June, but keeping with tradition.

A lot of these are adjusted or copied from 2021 which were usually 0% or 100% complete.

• Blog
• 25 posts
• Fitness
• Bike
• 10 bike rides again
• Run
• 5km - under 17:45
• 10km - under 36:00
• 21km - under 1:20:00
• Total Distance - over 5000km
• Parkrun - 15 new events
• Races
• 3 new events
• 1 interstate event
• Weight
• 70kg
• Holiday
• 1 interstate
• House
• To be determined
• Money
• Shares
• 10% from the end of 2021
• Super
• Linear increase
• Music
• 2 events
• Reading
• 5 books
• Sport
• AFL - maybe a few games
• Study
• 1 certification
• Video Games
• 5 games completed
• Work
• Finish project
• Same job - to review in 2023

2021 Review

The review of the amazing 2021, just in time for winter.

These were the optimistic goals for 2021 heading into a second year of lockdown.

• Blog (75%)
• 25 posts - had 18 which is basically just the monthly
• Fitness
• Bike (0%)
• 10 bike rides - zero!
• Run (100%)
• 5km under 18:00 - right around 18 minutes
• 10km under 37:00 - about 36:45
• 21km under 1:22:00 - about 1:20:45 was the biggest surprise
• 4000km total distance - 5125km and all 365 days
• 15 new parkrun events - 9 events, got distracted by a PB streak
• Races (0%)
• 5 new events - only 4 for the year, and none were new
• 3 interstate events - no surprise with zero
• Weight (0%)
• 70kg - still stuck around 73kg
• Holiday (0%)
• Interstate - even that didn't happen with lockdowns and other restrictions
• House (0%)
• Buy - with prices going up 20% this continues to be unlikely
• Money
• Shares (100%)
• 10% from the end of 2020 - about right only due to good timing
• Super (100%)
• Linear - also did well only due to good timing to finish the year
• Music (0%)
• 2 events - 0 and almost no tours happened
• Reading (0%)
• 5 - 0 books, need to see if my electronic reader still works
• Sport (0%)
• AFL - most matches and the grand final were played interstate
• NBL - similar to AFL
• Study (0%)
• 1 exam - 0 that apply to work at the moment
• To Do List (0%)
• Had no other major goals and none really came up
• Video Games (100%)
• 5 games completed - 9 xbox and 1 switch, had a bit of extra time without daily travel
• Work (0%)
• Finish project - not even close, could go until 2023

Some favourites for the year:

• Movies
• 
  
• TV
• Mare of Easttown
• Rosehaven season 5
• Squid Game
• The Challenge / The Challenge All Stars
• The White Lotus
• Video Games
• Call Of Duty - some were ok, played too many
• Diablo 3

2021 Running Review

Another year with not much going on in running. The working from home routine made training a little better, but also quite repetitive, particularly during the times of 5km and 10km travel limits.

A new record for total distance as well as running once every day of the year, I didn't expect to beat last year's totals and probably won't beat this year for sure now.

• 5128.36 kilometres
• 4366.96 kilometres in 2021
• 392 hours
• 333 hours in 2021

The major events only ran at the beginning and end of the year.

• Sandy Point 10km
• 37:05 PB
• Run The Rock 13.5km
• 53:06
• Sandy Point 10km again
• 36:45 PB
• Melbourne Marathon half
• 1:20:48 PB

The Melbourne Marathon was a good result - just missed a long term goal of 1 hour 20 minutes, but ahead of my 1:22:00 goal and previous best of 1:22:49 in 2019.

I didn't get close to 250 parkruns due to health restrictions for public events, only 24 for the year up to 226 in total. This was also the year when Christmas and New Year's Day were on Saturday, so no bonus events.

I started the year with a 'tourism streak' of going to a different event each week, beginning in South Australia, then combined that with a 'PB streak' for any local events without a low 18 minute time already recorded. By the end of the year this was becoming a bit more effort than reward - the PB part in particular - but should be wrapped up early in 2022 so I can go back to attending some events launched in the past year.

• 24 events
• 52 in 2019
• 9 new events
• 13 in 2019
• 18:01 Diamond Creek - short course
• 18:03 Dandenong
• 18:07 Aurora

The new parkrun events were:

• January
• Victor Harbor, SA
• Naracoorte Lake, SA
• Dandenong
• February
• Aurora
• March
• Altona Beach
• Point Cook
• Cascades On Clyde Wetlands
• April
• Campaspe
• Sunbury

The goals for 2021 and new goals for 2022 are:

• 2021
• 5km 18:00 - just missed
• 10km 37:00 to 37:30 - beat twice
• 21km PB - beat
• 4000+ kilometres - beat with 5000+ kilometres
• 2022
• 5km 18:00 - again
• 10km 36:30
• 21km 1:20:00
• 4500 to 5000 kilometres - not important
• Parkrun
• 10 new events
• Finish PB streak with 20 to 25
• Finish tourism streak with 40 to 50
• Races
• 2 new events - not many options
• 2 interstate events - Gold Coast half marathon
• 0 international events - probably