Thursday: HIGH heart-rate while running

After a good night's sleep, undertook domestic chores before heading out for a run. As usual, headed north, along coastal path and turned at the Mirage Resort. For the first time in a while I wore my heart-rate monitor while running (I have been wearing it cycling).

When Carolyne uploaded my run details from the Garmin Forerunner 305, it showed that my heart-rate had risen to alarmingly high levels as soon as I started running. My heart-rate stayed at those elevated levels for 1.7km (9 minutes) before returning to more normal levels, 112-122, over a couple of minutes. I was most concerned. The high heart-rate coincided with me running along footpaths, and returned to normal levels when I reached the waterfront at Surfers Paradise. Could the paths I was following be a factor? I will wear the heart-rate monitor while running regularly.

Carolyne and I enjoyed two short black coffees at Elk Espresso.

As for the past three Thursdays, I went to the Southport Pool for the Gold Coast Tri swim squad. I forgot to take my equipment but it did not affect the training. While swimming in the warm water I could feel the wind as cold on my arms out of the water.

This afternoon I went shopping and then to the Gold Coast Convention Centre to register for the Gold Coast half marathon on Sunday.

Wednesday: wet & windy

After a long night's sleep I woke refreshed but my legs felt tired. As it was raining lightly I gave away the idea of going for a run.

Tuesday: Binna Burra

After arising at 6:15am I ate breakfast and drove to Nerang velodome to meet Trevor Gammon. Trevor arranged to start work a little late, allowing us to ride together to Lower Beechmont.

We headed off at 7:40am, with pleasantly cool temperatures, but we soon warmed up. The traffic eased off as we left route 90 that continues to Murwillumbah.

Sunday: race & relaxation

This morning dawned fine and mild, with scattered high cloud. I drove north to the Luke Harrop circuit for my first race with the Gold Coast Masters Cycle Club. The club alternates the venue between Luke Harrop, Nerang criterium circuit

Saturday: warming up

For the fourth consecutive Saturday I rose in the dark and drove north to Luke Harrop Cycle Circuit at Runaway Bay for the criterium with the Gold Coast Cycle Training Club. It was the warmest morning for a while and very pleasant for cycling.

As for last week I started with D grade. There were only three of us, starting a hundred & fifty metres behind C grade with maybe a dozen starters. As the race director waved us off for the 45 minutes plus 3 laps course, he invited us to catch up with C grade, if we wished. I immediately chased after the C graders, calling to the other two to join me. We caught up with them relatively quickly, and I stayed with the leaders for the remainder of the race. At one stage I dropped off the back and it took ¾ of a lap, and a lot of effort, to regain contact.

Trevor Gammon talked me into joining him for a post crit ride to the Spit.

Back at Broadbeach Carolyne had a bad headache and was not feeling great. We went to Elk Espresso for two coffees, sitting at a table out the front under an umbrella. It was very pleasant, wearing shorts and tee shirts.

Friday: Exploring the hinterland & relaxation

I collected The Australian soon after 7am. For the second time in three days, I felt tired after a big day yesterday and soon decided not to go for a run. I took the opportunity to catch up with my on-line finances. Carolyne was not feeling well, but went for a coffee at Elk while I finished the financial jobs.

I picked up Carolyne and we drive west, through N and Beechmont to Binna Burra.

In the afternoon we both had a snooze.

Thursday: birthday number 64!

Awoke a little later this morning to a cold but as clear and sunny as for the past two weeks.

Breakfast at Elk Espresso

Lunchtime swim squad at Southport pool.

Afternoon cycle to the Spit.

At 6pm we walked to the O Me Ly Vietnamese Restaurant in Broadbeach to meet with good friends John Thannhauser & Elizabeth Dolan, and their daughter Kat with partner, Zac, for dinner.

Wednesday: laid back recovery

When I woke up I felt both mentally and physically tired. So I decided to skip my morning run and start with coffee at Elk Espresso.

Tuesday

Was up at 6:10am to drive to MacDonalds at Hope Island. There I met with John Vincent and 10 other members of the Gold Coast Masters Cycle Club for a 50km ride. It was another cold morning, but by the time we started at 7:40am my arm warmers and a short-sleeve thermal were enough to keep me comfortable. It was also fine and sunny with a light breeze.

We started heading along route 4 to Upper Coomera, then north parallel with the M1 motorway, then west to the cane fields. We returned south, again along a road parallel to the motorway. It was a harder ride than I had expected because the stronger riders in the group, including me, went hard on the hills and in the latter part of the ride. When we got well ahead of the slower riders we stopped and waited.

After the ride we all had coffees at Maccas and chatted for half an hour.

Back at the apartment Carolyne had been for a coffee at Elk Espresso, so we decided to head south for a little exploring. We started with another coffee at Piccolo Espresso (see photo) before heading down to Coolangatta and Point Danger. We looked for whales without luck, but a flock of gannets were diving into a school of fish a few hundred metres of the rocks which was great to see. The cycle made me too hungry to go exploring further so we headed home for lunch.

After a quiet afternoon we enjoyed a pleasant Carolyne-cooked meal of grilled salmon and stir-fried vegies.

Sunday: Nundah duathlon

Left Broadbeach at 12:45pm to drive to Nundah, a suburb of Brisbane north of the river, close to the airport.

Saturday: Another criterium

My alarm had me up at 5:40am. I want to race as many of the Gold Coast Training Cycle Club Saturday morning criteriums at the Luke Harrop Criterium Circuit at Runaway Bay, so I headed there for my third consecutive Saturday. After struggling in C g last week, and with a duathlon race tomorrow afternoon, I decided to race D grade today. It was definitely easier but still required fairly solid cycling. As in D grade two weeks ago I came in second, this time out of eleven starters.

After we finished another D grader, John Vincent, introduced himself and invited me to the Masters Cycling Club training rides every Tuesday and Thursday morning, as well as the Sunday races. I agreed to ride with the training group on Tuesday morning.

Back in Broadbeach I

Friday

My calves were sufficiently recovered after not running for 3 days for me to try an easy run north along the waterfront. As my friend, Rad, would say "My calves were talking to me", but I completed 9km without serious problems.

Carolyne had already enjoyed a coffee in the sun at Elk by the time I joined her.

Having experienced problems with our prepaid Telstra Wifi device that we need to use for our computers, we were forced to visit the Telstra shop at Pacific Fair. We found that we had used all the credit, 5Gb, in about 2 weeks, after buying the device on 17 May. Unfortunately we have not been able to see our usage account which might help us see where, and maybe how,we used about 20 times as h as we expected.

I fitted in a haircut: $22.50 with a seniors' discount!

Thursday

Today brought continuing beautiful weather, dawning fine, clear and still.

We spent a pleasant hour at Elk Espresso. At lunchtime I swam with the lunchtime triathlon squad at Southport Pool, with Mark the coach and 5 other squad members. It was a tough but satisfying 2,700 metres.

This afternoon we went shopping - boring. Late in the day I went for a 40 minute ride to the end of the Spit.

The beach at 5:15pm:











The full moon at 5:30pm:

Wednesday ride to the hinterland

This morning Carolyne and I enjoyed a delightful hour at Elk Espresso, chatting, drinking 2 strong espressos and reading the Sydney Morning Herald.

In the afternoon I met with Trevor Gammon at the velodrome and criterium circuit at Nerang. We enjoyed a cycle with up to Beechmont (566m altitude) in the hinterland behind the Gold Coast: great views across the Nerang River valley to the coast! It was substantially colder, even though it was only 4pm. The descent was very cold and it too me an hour or two to feel comfortable again. Next time I'll leave earlier in the day. We rode around the criterium circuit: it includes a short, steep climb and would be a challenging circuit to race on.

Tuesday

During the night I became acutely aware of just how sore my calves were. So once I was up I decided to take it easy until the lunchtime swim squad. So it was another Elk coffee morning.

After swim squad at Southport pool with coach, Mark, and lunch I felt energetic enough for a ride to the Spit, where I completed several loops. It was breezy but still very pleasant. There were no other cyclists there.

Carolyne slept during the afternoon but awoke very tired. We ran out of time to cook dinner, so took ourselves to the Broadbeach Bowling Club - a 5 minute walk - for their Tuesday evening $12 T-bone steak & chips meal. My steak was tough, so will not be rushing back.

Monday: Meet with more friends

I started the day with my regular run along the waterfront north past Surfers and Sheraton Mirage. For the first time I wore new Nike light weight racers, and did 7 x 500m intervals, for a total of 14km. This was obviously way too ambitious as I now have very sore calves.

Carolyne and I coffeed at Elk Espresso. Although fine and sunny, it was cool enough to have to sit inside at 8am.

At 11am we met with Connie Clement, a dear friend from Sydney, and her brother, Des, who were visiting the Gold Coast for a relative's birthday and to visit their mother, Hennie (?), who at 94 is in poor health. We spent a delightful 2 hours at Hard Coffee on Tedder Avenue in Main Beach having coffee and lunch.

In the afternoon we went for a walk along the beach south.

Sunday: Carolyne's 47th birthday!

I started today with a pleasant run along the waterfront past the Sheraton Mirage Resort, half-way up the Spit. As with my last few runs, I did 7chin-ups at the outdoor facilities a Surfers.

We celebrated Carolyne's 47th birthday by having brunch at Piccolo Espresso at Miami. The food was pleasant but unexciting but the setting is delightful, right across from Nobby's Beach.

We met with John and Libby Thannhauser at Kurrawa Park where a Green Fair was being held. We only chatted with them as they were caught up meeting with colleagues at the various tents. Carolyne and I left them for a while to have a coffee at Toast in the Oasis shopping centre. We agreed with John and Libby to have dinner on my birthday at a local Vietnamese restaurant.

Saturday: criterium at Luke Harrop Circuit

The alarm stirred me at 5:45am, for the 25 minute drive to the Luke Harrop Criterium Circuit at Runaway Bay. This event is conducted every Saturday morning, starting at 7am. All 5 grades race on the circuit at the same time, which seems to work okay. The track is quite wide, and each grade keeps to the left, allowing faster grades to overtake. The course is a good one, with plenty of twists and turns, one U-turn, and a small rise over a bridge.

I raced C grade, having found D grade rather easy last week. Unfortunately my legs had no zip at all, and I struggled through the 45 minutes of our grade. By the time the "+3" laps started I could not hang on and finished well off the back.

After the event I cycled with Trevor Gammon to the Spit and back, making and solid 60km of riding altogether. He and I get on well and it was a nice way to finish the session.

Thursday: Lunch with John & Libby at the Eco Village

The day started cloudy and cool, but I took a run north along the waterfront.

Carolyne and I headed south to the Currumbin River valley to John & Libby Thannhauser's new house at the Eco village. John and Libby are friends I have known for more than 40 years.

John

Wednesday

Today we went to dinner with Col Bridge, a friend who moved from Canberra about 5 years ago. Col lives at Upper Coomera, about 30 kms NW of Broadbeach: it was a bit like the western suburbs of Sydney.

Sunday: Queensland half marathon championships

This morning I was up at 5am to drive an hour and a quarter north to Doomben race course, not far over the Brisbane River. There I ran the Queensland half marathon championships, finishing in1:34:45, about a minute quicker than Canberra, and second M60-64. The course was utterly boring, along closed streets through the industrial area close to Brisbane airport. The event organisation was okay, but definitely not up to the high Canberra standard I’m used to. There was no food or sustenance after we finished.