Why I Respect Tony Abbott

For those who haven’t followed the news this previous weekend, Opposition leader Tony Abbott competed in the Ironman Australia Triathlon. For those readers unaware of what this involves, it’s a 3.8km swim, a 180km bike ride, and a 42.2km (marathon) to finish. To put this feat into perspective, as a full time training athlete, the farthest I’ve run is 36km in one go.

Abbots feat, however, has drawn more negative light than positive light. Paul Kelly from the Australian questioned whether it was a publicity stunt. The SMH declared it a publicity stunt, trying to combat Kevin Rudd’s image as a workaholic. Tony Wright of The Age thought that he needed to tone it down, and Malcolm Farr from The Daily Telegraph thought the pink lycra would help him earn the ‘pink vote’.

To add to this, news website readers across the country voiced their opinions that Abbott could better spend his time in Parliament, trying to lead his party, and that he would be ‘too tired’ to work properly for days.

Well here’s a thought all you naysayers and whingers. How about stop and think about what you did on the weekend for a second.

Tony Abbott, probably the second busiest man in Australia – MADE TIME to compete in an Ironman. YES, MADE TIME. He trained before and after work, and competed on a weekend. The message he has sent is that there is ALWAYS time to keep fit and healthy.

Being in the exercise and health industry, the amount of people who have this perception that they have a lack of time astounds me. How many of you have got home after work, and gone to the fridge and pulled out some food and sat on the couch for a couple of hours before dinner. How many of you wake up, watch the morning news for 30-45 minutes and THEN go to work.

It is easy to find 30 minutes a day to exercise. 

In a typical 9-5 job, its 9-5. So let me write a program for you. Wake up at 6.30. Go for a 30-minute jog or walk or swim. Have some breakfast and a shower. And then look at the clock. Its still not 8am yet. Still an hour before work starts. THERE is your half hour. “Oh but Courtney, I start work at 7am not 9am.” Easy, you probably finish at 3pm. Do it then.

Being someone who needs to run 12 times a week, there are times that I think it’s too hard to fit in that extra 30 minute jog in the morning before work. Or when I finish on Sunday at 6pm and just want to go home. But guess what. I still did my 90-minute run after work last night.

Tony Abbotts message is loud and clear, and he should be respected for his endeavors, and not knocked.  Australia can be fit. Australians can find the time. If Tony Abbott has the time, then so do you, Australia. Because we aren’t currently the fattest nation per capita in the world for nothing.  

The Three-Peat

The last week has been an interesting one in my running life. For the first time in the last few years, I was at a loss. How to win the WA State 5000m.

The last two years, with no disrespect to other competitors, have been fairly easy victories. 2008, it was at 11am on a Sunday morning that I trailed Todd Ingraham for 3.8km before closing the last three laps in 3m18 – recording a modest time of 15.38.

2009 was a different year. I ran from the front, knowing that I was the best in the field. I ran 14:52 from the front, with my stopwatch beeping on 15 minute pace every 200m, and ended up dragging Ethan Heywood through for a great PB for him at the time.

2010 was different. The emergence of WA distance runners has begun. The field was to consist of Roberto Busi – a 14:34 man who outkicked me in a 1500m last week, Aaron Patterson – a 14:44 guy who has been improving steadily every week, and Marc See – the 3:48/8:12 guy, who was untried over the 5000m distance. So I was up against it all – strength, speed, and an unknown.

As it turned out, Patterson failed to front the start line, so on a blustery Saturday night at 7.10pm, I had to make a decision. Take the lead and drop See, with the possibility of Busi beating me. Or sit back and hope Busi took the lead, with the possibility of See being in the hunt with 600m to go.

The first km was slow. Painfully slow. 2m58 slow. Definitely not enough to hurt See. And not only that, it was in surges. Busi being in the lead had decided to surge with the wind, and relax into the wind – stringing out See and then letting him recover. This went on until the 6th lap – where See went for it, putting in a 67 second lap to break it up. We went through 3000m in 8m44sec, and then See dropped off.

It was then I put my race plan into action. 5 laps, increasing lap speed. It worked. Gradually pulling away from Busi, I made up the ground I needed, and was able to soak up a good win in 14:33. While it wasn’t the cracker 5000m that everyone had talked up for the months leading in, it was a win, and one that I was very happy with. I had felt pressure during the week to win from all my training group – but it was a quote by Ryan Gregson, about enjoying pressure, because it means you’re doing something right, that made me realize the win was there to take.

So from now – three weeks. Three weeks of hard work, three weeks of waiting, three weeks to get myself in the best possible condition for when the best of Australia descent on Perth for the 2010 Australian National Athletics Championships. Lets hope I can get up, and give my PB of 14:24 a shake.

I would also like to thank the great support crew I had down there on the night. Cody, G-Money and Jason for getting down there and yelling, Doigy for being on the back straight to keep me honest, my wonderful girlfriend Gemma for coming down to support, and actually finding the track on time (I’ll pay for that later) and to my family and friends for coming to watch.

Team Athletics

Tonight I was privileged enough to be invited to talk to a group of young elite triathletes from Western Australia, heading over to Adelaide for the National Junior Triathlon Championships. Being asked to speak was quite humbling - I didnt know what they would expect to get from listening to a no-body talk about running, when running is only a third of what they do! 


But it was halfway through the presentation that it struck me how much I missed the team environment of running. Speaking with Cody Agnell, the American who is running The Running Centre, we got into a discussion about Nike Nationals and Footlocker Nationals (basically the two major competitions for USA high school runners) and their pro's and cons. And the major pro we found with Nike Nationals was this 'Team Title'

So what is it about a team?


Coming from a private boys school (Wesley College in South Perth) we competed week in/week out for the school in a team based competition. I took it for granted. For years, we didnt perform, finishing 6th or 7th in a 7 team competition. But then, in our final year, something happened. We recruited. We got some enthusiasm. And we may still have finished 6th overall. But, in the last two races of the season, the 5 man x 3km relay, and the 3 man x 5km relay - we won. No Wesley team had done that. Ever. In fact, it was the first time many of the guys in our team had tasted victory. And it was amazing.


To be able to share success with others in a VERY individual sport is a rare thing. I remember back to my last state junior team. We ended up finishing third out of the seven states in the 5 x 3km relay. Not one of us cared that four of the other teams didnt toe the line. We got there. We raced. We took it up to first and second. And I dare say, we would have finished third if Qld, Tas, ACT and NT had have started with us. 

My latest team moment was nothing to be super proud of, but none the less, it was a shared achievement between myself, Nath and Gerry - competing for The Running Centre in a corporate mile at the UWA Big 6 meet. We talked up the race for a couple of weeks....together. We warmed up....together. We ran...indiviually. But we won the race....together. And we warmed down together, and were all able to share in a success that usually is bestowed upon one person only.


So why write about this? What importance does it have?


I think that teams are looked past all too often. Coming from a state like WA - we never send a full team of 6 athletes to a Senior XC championships - and seeing the common Vic/NSW/Qld trifecta is as boring as hearing another story about Lara Bingle hitting on a sports star. It is in a way sad - whatever state I may reside in, I will ALWAYS wear the black and yellow singlet with pride. However, with the strength coming through in WA distance running, with thanks to coaches such as Paul Heywood, Marg Saunders and Ray Boyd, maybe, just MAYBE, I will be able to share in a success with another team.

Ahhh, so thats what track feels like!

Tuesday marked the first time I had trained on the red stuff...well...in a long long time. Coming to think of it, the only time I have been on the tartan since Falls Creek is to race, which puts sword to the theory that you cant run PB's without trackwork - I've managed to run 4 seconds quicker this year over 1500m off just base work.

But something had to give, and finally, I had my date with a pair of spikes, a stopwatch, and 3 sets of 4 x 400m. The goal of the session was simple - recoveries would get longer by 15 seconds each set, reps had to get quicker by 1 second each set. 


However, the lack of workouts - or specific work for that type of session saw my target times and actual times a fair bit different - in fact, somehow the actual times were faster! Nevertheless, I have woken up the last couple of days wishing I could swap both of my gastrocnemius' with someone else.

Wednesday we set off from The Running Centre - well, the rest of the group set off without me, while I waited for ignorant, unashamedly terrible Perth motorists to find their place on the road. If I had a dollar for every time someone in Perth waited till the last possible moment to merge - and hold up a whole lane of freeway traffic, or sit at 80km/h in the right hand lane - I'd have enough money to travel the world twice over. So as I pulled in to park outside the 'Centre' - I saw the boys head off. Chasing them down with a 5 minute deficit was the last thing I really needed after the track workout, but it got me going, and finished off nicely in a new best time for the loop. 


And the reward for all this? Home cooked goats cheese, grilled tomato and pumpkin, chorizo and rocket pizza's courtesy of a wonderful young lady I call my girlfriend. I think I need to complain about my legs being sore more often!

Racing Against Time

The Sunday long run at Helena Valley is a ritual amongst distance runners in WA, with athletes from all different distances, disciplines and abilities joining together in the common goal of getting fitter. These Sunday runs are great for a catch up, to pass 24-30km without realising, and on the not-so-odd occasion, the chance to have a good hearty argument.

This week, it was the Wombat Warrior under fire. In his blog (http://thewombatwarrior.blogspot.com) he had mentioned in an earlier post that it was ‘great to see two young guys chasing a fast time’ – referring to Marc See and myself chasing the elusive state 3000m record. This is a time that I have had on my radar for the last couple of seasons, and one that Marc almost took on Friday night, with a brilliant display of front running that I wish I was there to race against, or even witness. 

One of the guys on the run wasn’t so keen on this, and was of the opinion that it was more beneficial to race against each other instead of the clock, because it teaches us to win, instead of chasing a time. The disagreement turned into a good old-fashioned yelling contest, and it wasn’t until the end of the run, I had a chance to think about what I really thought about the matter.

In the perfect world, I guess, racing other people is the best way to go. You don’t beat a clock to win the Olympic games, nor the World Championships, not even your own state championships – you’ve got to beat the guy that comes second. There is simply no other way. You need to be tactful, you need to be smart, but most of all, you need to be physically better on the day.

This is true for the top end of running. However, the debate was taking place in the context of WA distance running. You see, in WA, the fastest 5000m time that has been run in the last 5 years is 14:24.3, with the national qualifier being 14:18.00. The fastest 3000m time in the last 5 years is 8:12.60, with the fastest time in Australia this year being 7m55sec…that’s without Birmingham or Mottram being on the books. In both these races, the second placed time was way off the winning time (14:55 and 8:23 respectively). So the question needs to be asked – is it better off to race for a slower time, or run for a faster time?

I believe in this context, the answer is run for a faster time. To make the Olympics, first you need to qualify. If you aren’t fast enough to get there, you’ve got to somehow get fast enough. And if you’re the best in your country, and you have very little competition, how do you go about it? You either get pacemakers to help you out, or travel elsewhere. The rules are simple – no qualifier, no Olympics.

This is the same in WA, but on a micro scale.  It’s not a race to make the Olympics, it’s a race to qualify for nationals, or at least feel competitive. The best in WA are good, but put them in a field with the rest of Australia, and a mediocre time, and the chance is that a mediocre performance will follow. However, put them in a national event, where they have the confidence in knowing that they have run a time that is going to make them competitive – now that’s another story.

So in this instance, racing the clock is more beneficial. Not only does a fast time breed confidence, it gives you the leverage to be selected for such events. And run a fast time in Perth with no one around you – such as the 14:24 and the 8:12 – then an even faster time is possible come a big race, with faster and more numerous runners.

If I had been satisfied in racing to the line with the second place getter in that 5000m race in 14.4x – one of two things would have happened. I would have run over 10 seconds slower than last year, and I would have lost a lot of confidence. Similarly, if Marc See had been happy with racing for an 8:20, he would have replicated the performance of his last 3000m – not moving forward…staying stagnant, and possibly not having as much confidence as he would now, which is a good thing for him, but for the rest of Australia, mark my words, look out for Marc See – this kid can, and will, run fast this summer. Very fast.

Anyway, moving on from this story, the story of WAdistance has been continually on the upward climb. After a solid tempo on Wednesday, and some speed play on Thursday, the weekend rolled around – meaning its one-week closer to nationals. Having negotiated a much improved work schedule, I’m finally back to running 11 times a week (previously 7) and hopefully feeling a lot fresher. Fingers crossed, this weeks track work will leave me in good shape to progress through to the WA State Champs on the 26-28^th March – where I will once again try to convert myself in to a 1500m runner – I wish!

The Importance of Recovery

Distance running can be a funny thing. When you’re running well, and mentally in a high point, you want to run more and more, and when you’re at a low point, you want to do less. I say funny, because it seems that for each of these situations, the natural instinct is counter productive to the athlete. Train more when you’re feeling good – and you’ll probably over –do it. Train less when you’re feeling not so good, and there is always the chance of going backwards.

Over the last four weeks, I have found out just how tough it is to mix in running with the ‘real world’. For the last few years, the student life has been a bliss. Sit in a lecture theatre for 15-20 hours a week, train twice a day, and get by on student handouts from the government, and the odd work shift here and there. Now having graduated, and being in a transition year between undergrad and postgrad studies, I have just begun to find out what this much talked ‘real world’ is all about.

Working in a busy café in Leederville has opened my eyes to the work needed to stay afloat economically. Gone are the 730am wake ups, and out for an easy half hour jog. These have been replaced with 5:45am alarms, and a rush into Sayers to get the doors open by 7am. Also, gone is the comfort of the lecture hall chairs – this has been replaced by standing on my feet for 8 hours a day, pushing out 300-400 coffees. Whilst this may not be the ideal type of work for a serious athlete, it is lucky that I love my job, and am enjoying every minute I spend there – it certainly beat stacking shelves in a supermarket.

In light of all this, I have learnt that I need to make some changes in my day to day life Afternoon naps are now a lot more regular, even if only for 30-40 minutes after work. Getting to bed early is also a must, and this has been the hardest thing to adjust to, just so I can get in my 7ish hours of quality sleep.

Not only this though, but I have had to approach my running in a different light. It was drawn to my attention that my easy runs are too hard, my long runs are too quick, and my workouts aren’t as quality as they need to be. I guess, coming form a small place like Perth, where everyone knows everyone, there is competition in every run – someone wants to be the boss. IF we are to get anywhere as runners, we need to learn to recover, and run each run as it is intended.

Training wise, the last week has been fantastic. I’ve been feeling great, but not pushing too hard. The Sunday run at Helena was the most talent laden run I’ve been on in WA, period. In the pack was 3 or 4 3m52sec or quicker 1500m runners, 3 sub 14m50sec 5000m runners, a couple of 1m52sec 800m runners, a world number 2 ranked duathlete, and on the other side of the pipeline, a 2m13 marathoner, who was a member of the 1997 world championships team. The only person missing from the group was the elusive Chris deBoer – I’m sure we’ll hear more from him soon though.

Tuesday’s workout was bush miles. After a full day of work, it was never going to be easy to nut out a good session, and a nap was the best thing that had happened to me that afternoon. Heading out for the warm up my legs felt like bricks. However, with deBoer running half of the mile reps, I managed to make my way around a lap in 5m00.9sec – which Boydy tells me is a first for that loop. Must mean I’m doing something right!