If you read my previous post – Traralgon Marathon – you’ll know last weekend I picked up third place, albeit twenty odd minutes behind the winner. Besides coming home with a little trophy, I got a taste of competition again and arrived home with a sense of drive that has been missing for a while.

There’s something about that feeling when you put it on the line – when you’re in a race, right on the edge of blowing up, but so is your opponent. That feeling that you’re waiting for one another to drop back an inch. Make a mistake. Tighten up. Give in.

Somehow, it had been a while since I’d felt that. I suspect that pressure of competition sometimes got to me when I raced as a junior and later in the VIS development squad. Maybe it was the thought that future opportunities balanced on the outcome? Maybe it was just not knowing how to handle that pressure?

Perhaps those few years since then have let me appreciate how to embrace the pressure of competition. You have to want it. And back yourself.

Do you want that feeling? Maybe a taste of competition is just what you need too.

Credit: www.traralgonharriers.org

I ran the Traralgon Marathon last Sunday. Our little running group had a boys weekend away in the country, which was a perfect way to focus on the task at hand and have fun at the same time.

It is Australia’s longest running marathon, and has a rich history including a 2:13 marathon by Derek Clayton back in 1970. The current course is out and back, with a defining feature being a 6km dead straight stretch of road at the far end of the course. With only two houses along the length of this stretch, there’s not a lot to look at and can challenge even the strongest mindset. When you get to the end of this road, you turn around and head back again!

This year, the conditions were close to perfect – cool temperatures with a slight headwind on the return trip. However, after 30km a slight headwind definitely feels stronger than it is.

Continue Reading “Traralgon Marathon” »

REWORK – by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson

If you are involved in small business, software development or just want a fresh outlook on life, you need to know who 37signals are.

If you’ve never read their work, this book is a must read.

If you’ve been a long time follower of their Signals vs Noise blog, reading this book will be like a quick trip through the archives. It’s the kind of book to have somewhere in your workspace, to pick up and read a random page or two when you need a little poke of motivation.

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I thought I might try a weekly post with a list of links I’ve tweeted during the week. I find I sometimes miss a quality link from my favourite tweeters and this kind of post would come in handy. If you find it useful, let me know and I’ll keep it up…

• Some great photos from the Giro d’Italia prologue
• Pre-race photos from the Rev3Tri pro triathlon in Knoxville, USA
• Race day photos from the Rev3Tri
• Triathletes to race time trial at Tour of California
• Police blitz on cyclists without lights this winter in Melbourne, AUS
• Carlos Sastre’s Cervelo P4 TT Machine with SRAM & Zipp
• Lance Armstrong vs. Chris Lieto 2

Enjoy!

It was 4:30am the other morning – dark, wet and an icy cold wind in the air. I was out running and drenched by the time I got 500m down the street.

It’s times like these when you question why you aren’t curled up in bed.

I knew why. It’s because when you’re on the start line of a race, you remember one of two things. Either the sessions you neglected to do out of choice, or the sessions you did that were difficult to get done. That little piece of mind that comes with knowing you’ve done the work pays dividends come race day.

There was once a running shoe ad featuring Steve “Mona” Moneghetti (famous Australian distance runner) on his early morning run. It said something along the lines of “whilst you’re out running in the dark, so is Mona”. I thought about that, and still think about that, just about every morning I run.

So tomorrow morning when you’re out running. So am I. And probably Mona too, somewhere.