Going the distance

I love a piece of Cake at the best of times, in fact listening to it again, I still love it. 

Right now it's about gaining confidence in my body to carry me further; I know I can run fast and cover 5km but can I cover double, triple, quadruple that? Can I bounce back and ride or swim off the front or back of that distance?

The weekend that passed I wanted to test my body; see how it would react. I went all mad scientist and stretched my training numbers up, in fact I went further than I'd been before, not faster but further. 

It started Friday night; my new swimming/ sauna night. I punched out some endurance laps of 500m, including using my new hand paddles to assist with getting better arm strength and technique and finished with some sprints. I felt confident in the pool in only my second session, feeling natural rolling the arms and body. I happened to get chatting to a nice local guy in the sauna and started explaining my quest, he didn't laugh at it or question it but admired my single mindedness to do laps at 9pm on a Friday Night while my daughter slept soundly and my friends chased pints. 

That conversation had me thinking. I need to be the influence and make people see that its not just 5km runs and walking to work; and sometimes you've got to get the coffee grinder going a bit earlier or sacrifice the comforts of a warm bed if you want something so badly.

A friends BBQ / Housewarming was a good opportunity to push a little further. A 16km trail unveiled itself to me when looked at how I would run to the party, with super wife and Z-Girl in the car ahead and me testing some home made rice cakes for some extra energy along the Yarra River. Swimming had recovered my legs from the week's riding and I felt good when I started running, telling myself a new mantra - 'the further I go, the easier it gets.' Weaving my way from walking path to skinny single tracks, I got to the party ahead of super wife and Z-Girl. A part of me wanted to keep going, the legs weren't showing any signs of weakness and my mind was asking the question of more kilometers.

Then came Sunday morning, I ride in most weather to work rain, hail or shine. And as my major mode of transport I have conditioned myself just to get pedaling and the weather will sort itself out. So Sunday I headed for Humevale, a beautiful gradual climb outside Whittlesea. The only catch, it takes 35kms to ride this beautiful 7km climb (crazy I know) but the lead into Whittlesea rolling past farmland is just perfect for a lonely moment turning the pedals.

6am coffee sucked down and a gut full of porridge I headed out, a light weight jacket and a thick pair of gloves. At the 25km I hear the friendly honk and its the Sommerville Crew heading out on my path but starting a little closer!! Some words of encouragement from the Captain and a quick Happy snap kept the legs moving. 

The pace wasn't my best as my loneliness had got me thinking. Legs ticking, light pedals strokes, tempo, tempo, dammit I'm hungry. But knocking back another sweet rice cake (will give away the recipe soon) hitting the base of Humevale Rd I just still felt stronger like I could ride across the state! The endorphins had me feeling invincible and endless in my energy.

But then I think I've always had this. As a junior swimmer I broke age old school records but always preferred the long distance races and my heroes were Kerian Perkins & Daniel Kowalski that summer of 1996. I preferred the long ones, the 400m individual medley, 800m freestyle and the mother of all 1500m is what got me excited. It wasn't about being the quickest but can you be consistent.

Outlasting my rivals with my ability to stay at a consistent high pace for the whole race rather than surging efforts, I built my lead lap after lap feeling stronger the more strokes I took. And it's this I'm starting to get back, the freedom within the grind, the joy in the movement. I'm finding my distance legs and feeling happier when the activity lasts longer than an hour; the only real draw back to wanting more distance is finding the time; and setting early on weekend and weekday isn't everyones cup of tea (or strong coffee) but then if everyone did, nobody would say I was crazy.

The lost art of recovery

Let's face it working 5 days a week, training 6 days a week, loving my wife and family everyday of the week (Husband Bonus Points) doesn't leave much time for much else, in fact I'm starting to have to meet my friends either while running or riding so that just about shows you the amount of 'free time' I have.

So lets add something else to the schedule. Recovery.

First things first, listen to your body, if you can't hear your body you're not listening well enough as it tells you when it needs more recovery. That tightness in the calf, the tired eyes, the blurred thinking all these add up to moments when you know you need to take a step back, ease off and maybe look at your recovery.

Plan a day off. Nobody likes a rest day, if you're a ball of energy like me rest days suck! Getting the train to work and getting off a stop early to walk helps with taking the stress of training off the body.

Foam Roll. I'm guilty of not doing this enough, and hit home when I when I got a massage from Physiohealth to be asked "Do you foam roll?" and when I said I did sometimes, they said you need to all the time as my calves were rock hard and in need of some TLC. I find a couple of minutes a night, in fact I have my routine down to 1 min per body part making it no more than 10 minutes! That's perfect 5 nights a week or after a heavy session of running/ riding on the weekend.

Have an easy day. Sometimes I just don't go so fast, maybe I take the less hilly way to work on the bike, or I dial back the km/min ratio to 6 minutes instead of 4:30. I'm still moving, I'm still working but I'm not smashing it out. Active recovery they call it, recovery ride/ run. These usually follow my hard runs.

Find your Zen. In my early 20's I messed around with meditation & yoga, in my mid-twenties I went to the pub too much, in my late twenties I forgot everything and now in my 30's I'm trying to find my sweet spot. Take a few minutes to smell the roses. I have been adding in a Sauna session for 10 minutes after my swim, it's silent and calming to close my eyes for a moment. Take the nice way home on the bike and watch the sun go down, or even just go to your library in your lunch break for 15 minutes and read a book. Embrace the calmness and moments of silence, you can find it without looking at your facebook!

Fuel your recovery. This I'm becoming more in tune with than ever before, having been inspired by Eat & Run by Scott Jurek (the great Scott Jurek) I'm not just examining closer what I eat after an event, which lets face it most of the time we are good at this, grabbing our protein shake or having a fresh salad with chicken for dinner after a workout, but then 6 hours later we're knee deep in Fish & Chips or a Pizza. Our recovery food is much more than just than first hour after a workout, it's the whole day, the whole week in fact. Check that item as you take it off the shelf, think is this fuel or fire? Can I chose something the same but better, great example the other night I got a hankering for some Chocolate, I'm staring down the barrel of a sweet Cadbury Dairy Milk bar, then I look around and I see an organic chocolate, and next to that a antioxidant boosting dark chocolate so I reach left instead of straight.

Recovery is important, and the more I train and follow my path the more I see the need for it. Training back to back days requires recovery, and we're all one step away from an injury but the prevention is better than cure statement couldn't ring truer in this instance.

Hip to be square

Training is starting to consume more of my life; it is taking over in areas I haven't even thought it would matter. I find I'm checking weather reports on Sunday afternoons planning my riding and running for the week, my evenings taken up with prep for the next day whether that's laying out cycling gear or finding a fresh towel for the kit bag. And I'm becoming more conscious of what I'm putting in my mouth, questioning if it's going fuel me positively or negatively, but more and more I'm starting to question my motives.

Why am I getting up at 5:30am every morning; I have no doubt it's for the thrill of it. I love the training the effort required and the endorphin's it's produces, but why train? I'm being asked it more & more by those outside of my training circle. 

The reality is I don't think I'm going to win an event, at 33 those young kids have got 10 years of training on me, I don't even think I could win my age group, I will sure as hell try but the reality is a Top 10 finish would be an amazing result and just finishing without dying is a bonus. I enjoy beating my PB and the personal goals, the games within a game is sometimes the driving factor. Can I ride faster this week than the last, can I run under 20 mins for 5km and still last till the end of the race.

But why do all the effort for a few minutes when it's only you keeping score? 

And that's when I started to dig a little deeper; when I started to think further into the hidden factors to rolling my pedals over and over again at 6am, pushing myself faster and faster to get home from work while leaning into a headwind and a little rain mixed in that makes your teeth clench and your jaw numb. 

It's her. Z-Girl. Otherwise known as Zara. I'm running, riding and cycling all while creating positive change in our family life for her, for us. Maybe when she is older we will enjoy running and cycling together, no doubt at 12 she will find my obsession with lyrca & french mountains embarrassing. At the moment she has no idea and the mornings spent speeding along running tracks will be only memories from a photo, but I think your mind can remember more than that, I think it stores experiences.

And then there is the frustration of her hips, she has had Hip Dysplasia pretty much from birth; with the Maternal Health nurse first picking up on her lopsided legs and the scans at the Royal Childrens Hospital confirming it. Z-Girl has been in a brace now for longer than she has been out of one, and I know it's not the end of the world and in due time she will be able to hopefully have it removed.

The brace pins her legs back into a curve, similar to that of an old style western cowboy and requires it to be on for 23hrs a day. She doesn't know why. And for most part it hasn't effected her too much, it makes changing her difficult, a lot of her clothes we got as gifts from nice friends stopped fitting her as they can't stretch over the brace, as she hits the solid eating phase it's difficult to get her to fit into the high chair as her legs don't slide in correctly, she struggles no matter how much she wants to sit up to keep her balance with a plastic bar under her backside rocking her forward, and when she lays down on her play mat she can only rock side to side and can't roll onto her stomach and finally where the brace grips her legs its clamped her muscles in her thighs so now her leg is skinny in one section and over sized in another so even with it removed you're reminded where it is.

It's my evenings when I speed home taking the shortest least traffic light ride home so as to see her for bath time, it's the best moment when we can take the brace off for a fleeting hour. Her face lights up, her legs jiggle about, and the first thing she does is roll over and over trying to put her foot in her mouth (why not you would if you could) But the brace always returns in the end, the legs pinned back, and then she tries to sleep waking up frustrated in the night because she can't stretch them out, it can't be comfortable sleeping with your legs entrapped. 

When I run to work I think about how frustrated I would be if my legs were in a brace, if I was told I only had 1 hour of activity a day to which I can move my legs and what would I do with that precious little time. 

Now don't get me wrong there are people out there with worse issues with their kids, children with little to be happy about, and having stopped playing rugby this year and hear of Maciu's injury certainly gave give goose bumps as to those days stuck in the scrums.

I'm moving because of those that can't move, I'm moving so I don't ever take for granted what is not always a given ability, I'm moving to remind myself that movement & endurance is what made us evolve to the species we are, it allowed us to live longer than those before us. When I use my body to propel myself, instead of to propel a ball I'm directly connected to my body and to my surroundings a connection that we take for granted as we run for the bus or walk to the shops. 

So as I searched for the answer deeper and deeper I start to contemplate it, my heart rate thudding against my chest cavity as I climb up the hill one foot in front of the other on my way to work. I'm riding, running and swimming because I don't want to stop moving! that one day a doctor, a hamstring or the big man upstairs will tap me on the shoulder and tell me .....

"That's enough Oliver time to sit down" 

And when I do sit down I will always remember all those movements, all those efforts, no doubt my memory will fade but my experiences won't leave me, so when Z-Girl get's asked what her Dad does she'll say

"He moves, he moves a lot"

#dadathlon #forher #Geelong2016 #running #cycling #swimming #tritraining

Turning Negatives to Positives; Duathlon Race 2

I just didn't feel it this week leading in, I didn't really time my nutrition to factor with race day, I forgot to foam roll during the week due to being tired and a little lazy, the weather kept me off the bike, backed out of parkrun due to morning rain, so didn't stretch my legs pre-race and I did my long run for the week just 48 hours out from the race leaving me a little tight and sore. It wasn't a good week.

Feeling all out of sorts on Saturday night as I prepared my race bag I chose to watch a movie Wolf of Wall Street; which by the way is a crap film! Why I wanted to watch it I won't know, but I kept thinking about cocky Jordan Belfort and how much I hate power & money for at least the first 2km of the run leg.

Making the walk to the check in desk had a different element this time around, with Super Wife turned Super Supporter having to dash back to get her sweater she left in the car I walked Z-Girl in the pram,  with my kit bag and Bike myself. It was a almost quiet moment where I forgot about performance pressure and how she won't care where I finish, or remember this run other than the cuddle she gets pre race and the one she gets post race.

Even with the sinking feeling of being out of sorts I still felt better prepared than previous races, I had a Sommerville Sports teammate with me which was a comfort having someone to chat to and warm-up with pre-race. And worked on my improvement areas of my warm-up routine, still work in progress but getting a rub down from the Physiohealth pre-race loosened out my already tight calves.

Lining up I let that doubt cloud sneak into my head; I started out hard and fast making the classic mistake of not running to my race plan, my Sommerville Sports guru Ivan is/was/can be a hell of a runner/ cyclist/ triathlete and has historical form in this department, on training runs I've stuck with him to beat PB's but I'm not so sure this was a good idea. Hammering hard on his tail drove me into the early red zone by the 3km mark, and as he drifted off into the distance and around the final turning point I could feel that I may of blown my engine early. I slowed down a little in the final kilometer and recovered heading into the transition area.



To my surprise post race I had come close to running a sub 20 5km, something I thought I couldn't do, so now I'm more confident I can get that sucker next time.

The bike leg started better, I got out in a good rhythm and my gearing was in the right place, but my legs were getting heavy as the ride wore on and my energy levels started to fade. My race plan was to hit up my energy gel on lap 3 heading into the final lap and run, giving me a boost. But this was an emergency so I turned to the back pocket on lap 2 instead.

Bringing my pace back up and pulling in a few other riders gave me some confidence and seeing Ivan on each turn certainly helped as we encouraged each other to keep pushing. I tried to find more power, but felt that I just didn't have anything else in the legs and settled for consistent pace instead of surging movements. Heading into the transition I remembered my slow change from last race and already had my shoes unzipped and made a quick change by a whole 15 secs from previous.


That final run was harder than I ever felt, running out of the transition area tailing another athlete that looked like they had more than me in the tank gave me a running goal to try and stick with them, I kept up for about 1km and then they too started to push further and further away. I shorten my stride as my legs were now burning and tried to keep the steps short but fast, this felt better but it didn't feel faster.

Running on an island is what I call when you're stuck in a race or group run on your own, when you're not at the front, not at the back, and have no one around you. That's the island, and it makes you start to over think things. I needed to get off the island and to do that I needed to find something to challenge me, and there he was Mr Hawthorn Tri-Club (due to his outfit he gets this name) He looked about 50-100 metres in front of me, so I wheeled the legs a little quicker and got to his tail.

A quick check of the watch suddenly had me thinking with 1.5km to go that I might be able to post a PB, in fact if I get a move on I could beat it by almost a minute! But I was stuck! Stuck behind Mr Hawthorn, and on the skinny running track it was hard to find energy & room to overtake, best bet was on the left hand turn into the trail to the finish, so I jumped out to his right, my legs hated me for it and edged my way in front using the down hill section to gain a little space.



The legs wobbled the brain was cooked, in fact the body was fried. I had that contorted face of pain at the finishing line rather than a smile of relief, but I had beaten my previous time by 1min 20 secs; considering my negative thoughts early and getting caught trying to pace with Ivan like a training run, it may of worked in my favour!

With nicer weather meant better athletes turned up, but better weather also meant more crowd support. Was great to have Ivan's wife and in-laws along cheering with Super Wife & Z-Girl, all of them giving you a little boost as you came up the main straight of the race. Family is what I like about Triathlons/ Running events, it's a family event where the kids can join in, Mum & Dad can compete, a friendly atmosphere compared to a rugby ground where half the supporters don't like you or your team.

Everyone is cheering for Everyone there is no booing, and with the week that professional sport has had in Australia around crowds and attitudes, it was nice to say I'm involved in this positive movement of people and fitness. I remember a friend saying to me Triathlon is more a lifestyle than an event, it's a not a season you turn off at the final whistle; you go home and live and breath its positive impact into your life. I'm starting to agree with them.

#dadathlon #trilife #islandrunning #duathlon #forher #IM70

Here comes the sun, August Training

Here comes the doo doo doo, here comes the sun and I say  it's alright  .....

Just thinking of my favorite little Beatles track as I wake to some August sunshine, make no mistake its a little chilly still and that wind can threaten rain clouds, but the evenings at 5:30pm when I jump on the bike to get home aren't pitch black straight away. And the weekends are offering more opportunity to get out on some longer less soggy rides without every thermal product I own on.

August is the beginning of the Ironman 70 Training EEK!

With a perfect 6 months out from the event in the first week in February 2016. It also means it's time to get back in the pool. I like swimming, in fact I'm pretty proud of my swimming exploits as a youngster, even to the point that I wish I had stayed on the black line in the pool more than I did chasing hoop dreams in the USA.

Now adding in another session without losing one is going to up the effort levels, and will require a late night swim to begin with until Z-Girl is joining us in pool. The initial plan was to start her in swimming lessons and that then gives me a chance to swim while Super Wife & Z-Girl paddle about, rotating every two weeks so I get to have some fun as well, and was part of another family training session.

Swimming lessons are popular for little ones so it seems and with all the bookings taken till September I'm going to have to start training without my No.1 Sidekick.

Last month I added in longer runs, no booze and better recovery techniques; I'm happy to say that I'm 5-6 weeks (I lost count) and still no booze it's now starting to feel normal waking up fresh without a fuzz on a Saturday & Sunday morning, so much so I don't even feel like a beer on a Friday.

The longer runs have built up my endurance levels; but they do take a little longer to recover from if I don't foam roll and eat clean foods afterwards. Been a bit slack with foam rolling and it's resulted in some soar weekend efforts. Running is becoming a friend more than an enemy, and even has me thinking bigger and badder trail runs this Spring.

This month will be about keeping the routine going; I think I have developed the plan well but now need to look at what surrounds it, diet! I got a bio-signature done by my good friend and super-dooper Personal Trainer at Fitness First QV shel (Thanks Ria) and it showed me a lot of what I knew and now need to fix. The results gave me 10% body fat, so in the elite range but I lacked protein and my sugar/carb levels were a little high.

I'm a sweet tooth guy and I chew up pasta for fun! So it's going to be tough getting cleaner, I'm not a dirty eater but I dabble in late night chocolates, biscuits from the tin at work with my coffee and maybe the odd muffin mid morning. I like sugar what can I say, with my carbs I think I'm conditioned in this area so need to just look at my in take and try not to double up with carbs for lunch and dinner.

August Training Plan:

Mon - Rest Day *
Tues - Ride to Work ^
Wed - Long Run 10km
Thurs - Ride to Work
Fri - Long Ride 35km - Swim Session Evening (8pm)
Sat - Running Group 5-8km
Sun - Group Ride 35km

* Might look to add in a AM swim if I can't make the Friday night swim session
^ I've changed my route to work, so my normal commute round trip is up from 20km to 25km

Events in August
Duathlon   Race 2 with Team Physiohealth
Arthurs Seat Ride with Sommerville Crew

#dadathlon #tridad #triathlontraining #forher #geelong70 #ironman

PBs vs. FBs (Run Melbourne)

Gentlemen & Little Ladies start your engines!!

I've typed plenty here already about family, and how running is the best thing we do as a team, but this weekend topped anything we've done together so far.

It has been 19 weeks since the birth of Z-Girl, it feels like a lifetime at times and I can't quite remember life before she came in to our world. Yet at times it also feels like yesterday. A lot has changed, in fact everything in our lives has changed, in both a positive and frustrating way that I only understand since becoming a parent.

Super Wife struggled to get back into post baby fitness and running at first. It was never going to be easy - recovering from an emergency cesarean, adjusting to becoming a mum, lacking both time and motivation not to mention the Melbourne winter chill. I had entered the Run Melbourne 10km early enough to pay the early bird price and told her that I had a goal of taking Z-Girl along with me for my first pram-run event. Four weeks out Super Wife suffered a severe case of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and asked me to enter her into the run.

The day prior to to Run Melbourne was a tough one, we had a rough week with Z-Girl; attempts to get her to sleep in the evenings weren't working and it was starting to show on us more than her. We had a grizzly Saturday run (Lady in White) followed by a testing day trying to get her to sleep for more than 30 minutes. Frustration boiled over and tired emotions got the better of both us.

You always hear about the tired moments and the 'special' moments from the myriad of well meaning people offering advice. But they forget to tell you about the angry and frustrated moments that come out when the lack of sleep, long nights, busy days and working week combine in silly arguments between a couple about silly things like breakfast plans, TV Show selection and cooking dinner. It comes out and sometimes you don't even mean it, you just need to vent so you blame the closest person that will understand. Unfortunately it's your partner or wife, only to return 5-10mins later and apologise.

It was an apology filled afternoon pre-race day; so I made the choice that we needed to do this as a family, not me trying to break PB's and waiting for Super Wife at the finishing line. It was going to be a together-run from start to finish, spurring each other on and maybe try and get close to the hour mark if we can.

Race Day was a new day, the threatening rain clouds had gone away and with everything packed and organised the night before we were out the door with ease. The train into the city was a buzz of runners and support crews heading to the start line. Getting to Flinders St Station there was a large throng of people waiting to find their spot in the race, spectators walking all over the place and we had a baby that needed a quick nappy change and two parents who needed a nervous wee. We found Melbourne's best kept pre-race warm-up area, the lobby of the Arts Centre. We got out of the morning chill, utilised the facilities and had a good stretch. We were all set!

Bumping into a fellow parkrunner Wendy was a nice surprise and also reaffirms the friendship shared by runners. Making our way to our Wave D starting point  (thanks to Super Wife's late entry) it was concerning that Z-Girl was getting her grizzle on. I had flashbacks of my 5km grumble the day before but with a slightly delayed start she settled down and provided a great talking point with the other runners. They were amazed Super Wife was back after four and a half months and that Z-Girl was so well behaved (she always likes to show off to a crowd!)

Jogging past the speaker system concerned me as we got started as the load noises can startle her, but we got going okay and she was alright in the cool air. We were feeling pumped and wanted to accelerate but found it hard to pick our way through the crowd with so many runners and we sometimes had to settle on the narrow paths in the hope to overtake on the winder roads.

What a great event! Run Melbourne was a great 10km loop of the city taking in St Kilda Road, The Shrine, running along the river a fairly flat route and plenty of festivities and music along the course. The tram lines were the only concern, with my ankles and pram wheels.


With bands playing in tents and plenty of people just getting out and enjoying themselves we passed the half way point with ease, and sticking to a steady pace Super Wife looked like she was having no trouble at all! My new birthday gift of a selfie stick (yep, you read correct) got a good showing as I captured some shots of the 'Comeback Girl'. Inside the last 2km Super Wife felt a little pinch and we slowed a little, then with about 700m to go, Z-Girl felt that enough was enough and started to grizzle. It was just about her second breakfast time after all! We got plenty of empathetic smiles and this, along with the crying, encouraged us to sprint to the finish line.

Soaking up our very first Family Run, so proud of her, she is back
and this might have been the catalyst for bigger goals

With both sets of hands on the pram we crossed the line together! A time of 1:05 was a smidgen over the hour mark we had hoped for, however considering the single lane running tracks I reckon we did pretty well. But time wasn't the aim and nothing can take away the 'runners high' that hits your veins like a secret drug when you cross the line and pick up your finishers medal. And this was even more special knowing it was Team effort, better than that it was a Family effort.

Training for this Ironman has had me out on my own more often than I ever thought, chasing Km's on the bike, or rattling runs in the early hours or under moonlight. To share my training, to see the person who inspired me to run make her comeback is worth more than any of my PB's. In fact it was an FB (Family Best!) on Sunday and one we will return to better next year!


#forher #runmelbourne #dadathlon

Lady in White

Running is starting to take over more of my time on the weekend than the bike, and with Z-Girl loving getting out in the pram and seeing the world zip past, it certainly makes winter training easier. Hopefully getting out on frosty mornings means I will appreciate the summer days when they arrive.

But not this morning! It was a pretty standard night from the little girl, a couple of up and down moments. We didn't quite resort to watching Fox Sports News at 4am but we got pretty close, in the end bringing her into the 'Big Bed' for a cuddle, which generally results in me being kicked in the ribs for the next 4 hours until I wake up!

We were celebrating hills at parkrun this week, starting and finishing at the top of the course's big hill. It was a good change of scenery and the walk to get to the top of the start point certainly helped with the pre-run warm-up. Z-Girl didn't like the hill start, in fact Z wasn't interested in this morning's run at all. We had a little grizzle as we got to the start line and few more grumbles as we got going, and I just had this feeling in my gut we weren't going to be calling this one "quality time."

We started jogging alongside my running mate for the morning Matty, keeping a steady pace in preparation for the next day's 10km run, however it was becoming apparent that Z-Girl was having a rough time. I tried popping the pram's hood over as the sun might have been pestering her eyes, nope! Multiple attempts at replacing her dummy while jogging just resulted in her spitting it out over and over again.

Waving Matty on I pulled over to the side, no PB today but sometimes that's the variables that can come up when running with a kid. In fact these are the variables that can come up in life when you have a kid! The plan rarely works 100% of the time, but when it seems a little crazy you just have to give it a check.

Is she fed, check.
Is she comfy, check.
Is she too cold or too warm. Nope, check.
Is there a smell. Nope, check.

The last check is always a relief when out running, as nothing is less enjoyable than a path-side poopy pitstop!

I worked out that Z-Girl was just after a little cuddle, maybe a little tired, and had no interest in seeing the world zip past like most mornings. I had runner after runner from the club ask if everything's okay - with Race Director Rohan even offering to push the pram if I wanted to walk her the rest of the way. That's what you get in a family friendly running community! We all get it, we get the good days when the legs feel like steel and the PB is on, and we can empathize on the tough ones when the legs just aren't going to roll or your the kid decides to throw a wobbly.

Z-Girl has to go back in the pram, tears or no tears, and we had to catch-up to Mum who passed us with some words of encouragement. The tears started flowing again, and I upped the pace as the crying got a little more consistent. There was no sneaking up on anyone now as we could be heard quite clearly over the rolling wheels of the pram and the sound of runners pounding the pavement.

If she was going to grizzle, we were going to keep moving and get to the finish line ASAP! So I plowed on over the first hill and then downwards to towards the last, my legs staying true and all the while telling Z-Girl how much fun we were having, although I don't think she felt the same way.

Passing a few more club runners, I got the empathetic chuckle and lines of "Just not your morning, Dad" for which a shrug of the shoulders could be the only real reply.

I always try to give non-club park users a nice wide berth, and coming up behind a pair of morning walkers I veered to the right hand side of the path. It seemed the ladies had heard us coming and turned to see me jogging along. I smiled as I made my way past them, however when I got about ten meters in front I heard it....

"You think, you'd stop to take care of your child first wouldn't you" lady in white sniggered to her walking partner.

My ears heard it and my brain processed that line pretty quickly, so quickly in fact that I stopped in my tracks just long enough to turn and look at where the comment came from. It sure as hell wasn't the kangaroos that frequent the park. The line didn't warrant a response, although part of me wishes I had given her a piece of my mind!  I gave her a look of "I heard you," and that was enough to have her fumbling her words - "sorry, I was .." I didn't wait for the response I just let my feet do the talking and got them moving again.

I don't see my daughter all that much during the week. From my morning cuddle and nappy change to potentially being home in time for bath time and a feed I spend an hour with her each day. ONE HOUR, five hours over five days ain't much and is only improved if Super Wife brings her into the city for lunch so I can get an extra hour with her once a week.

Taking my little princess out for our Saturday morning run is a special time of my week as it's generally the longest amount of time we have together as a duo. Those moments are sometimes fantastic, giggle-filled rays of sunlight and other times they are grizzly moments of me trying to remind her the world ain't so big and scary.

I would never let Z-Girl be without anything she needs and that includes my comfort or attention. That small little statement was ill-placed, uninformed and in poor taste.

Kids grow up with different rules, different cultures and carers who have different thoughts on how we get from point A to B in life. In the most part society can function with all of these different ideas and still produce a variety of well mannered adults. So when I think my kid is going to be okay for the next 2kms so long as I run at a good pace, then I'm making the parental call that everything is A-OK!

We reached the top of that hill and the next, I gritted my teeth and she grizzled. As we started to climb the big hill towards the finish line I was pushing so hard that I hadn't noticed that the grizzles had subsided. Once we made our way over the line I checked on my little girl and sure enough the eyes were closed and she had drifted off  to sleep, maybe dreaming of gliding wheels and daddy pushing her up hills. Or maybe the excitement of being pushed around for 30 minutes was just all too much.