Old Hat

I found some shots of my Dad from his running era circa 1970's. He was pretty quick back in his day, and he got his marathon time down to 2:27 in Singapore Marathon of '78. He did most of his running in Singapore when he was posted there for the military. I hated running 10km once in Singapore because of the heat, I don't know what would entice you to train for a marathon there! A few ultras later he busted his knees and never ran again.

 

Return...

to blogging and training.


I have just taken the past month off, and now trying to cram some training in for my perennial quest of winning the Noosa Triathlon. Breaks are weird. I was so eager to get on one when I was training, and then when I was finally on one I was so eager to train. I know I'm better for it, but I think I may have taken too long off and could be in trouble for Noosa! Compounding this, I didn't really do anything useless with my time off, and it seems the only things I became accustomed to were;

-Wasting time
-G&T

And now that I'm training again, all I have become accustomed to so far is;

-DOMS

Nevertheless, I made one more step towards better fitness this morning with this old man



And this is my new tool





And here's a bonus shot from the day

New kinds of competitions (for me)

I picked up a flier at Uni the other day and found out about a really neat photo competition being run by my Political Science school at the uni. I decided to enter some of my shots from Morocco (this first one was originally posted here I think) when I went for an ITU race back in May. Each photo required a description that obviously has to impress the professors and PhD scholars, so I gave it a go and here are my entries!


Writing on the Wall

This photo was taken during my second day in Morocco. My perceptions as to what Morocco would be like prior to arriving had been well adjusted by the time this photo was taken.  It was made abruptly clear just by walking the streets that time in Morocco has stood still for decades. Time and civil society in Morocco may perhaps even be going backwards as encapsulated by this photo. The writing on the wall is clear, but the doors are locked, the blinds are closed and the streets are decaying and littered with filth. Ironically, a lack of monetary wealth and purpose is a large part of the problem. The money comes out of the wall, but ultimately the dilapidated streets and the dreamy populace don’t allow it to go back in. Thus, the vacuum is filled on the gutters and pavement of the streets.

Divisionals

My journey in Morocco continued with some late night discovery walks around the city of Larache. Every corner I turned, I would see something that blew my mind, and this image stands as no exception. The road is in a state if disrepair as Asphalt is broken up and divided by sand (the dominant surface of the city’s landscape), to me encapsulating the city’s failed attempt to modernise.  Behind the sand is an uncovered, but perfunctorily fenced man hole perhaps leading to the town’s sewage system, neighbored by a mound of dirt. People are walking past oblivious and without concern, yet this is by no means a pedestrian street, demonstrated by a cars attempt to negotiate the obstacles. To me this embodies the sad duality of the people; their continued intent to modernized, but failure to recognize the pitfalls that are bringing them up brutally short. 

Devotion

Larache in Morocco is the most visually oppressed city I have seen in my travels, and the people have a clear disconnect between pride and property. However when the sun goes down, the streets are lined with people sitting on chairs drinking a simple mint-leaf tea. There is no alcohol to be found and no hooliganism to be seen; the Koran is the rule of law here. Graffiti as a common crime in the west is evidently a simple act of faith here as a hooded man scribes the Koran on a wall. I stood there for five minutes watching this man, who never once turned his head or attention from his scriptures on a wall seemingly painted and cleared for this exact purpose. 

Thanks for reading,


Josh

VO2max Study

A friend of mine is currently doing her PhD thesis in determining the relationship between laboratory-based lactate data and performance in sub-elite triathletes. She is recruiting male triathletes between the ages of 18-35 years of an elite or sub-elite status for participation in a number of laboratory tests involving running and cycling. The main aim of the study is to examine the strength of lab based data in predicting endurance performance.


So if you have ever wondered just how behemoth your VO2max is, and you live within a drive of Brisbane, get in touch with Sam @ samantha.fisher@uqconnect.edu.au


Get involved chaps

Shots from my weekend in NZ visiting the family, mud, high pressure hose, snow, clouds, and blue die (marking the edges of the cliff faces).