S
stormrev
Hi Guys
Just reporting in to say I was able to complete the 4.5 km swim on Saturday with no hassles and without stopping!
It was a gordeous day as we set out from Sorrento Pier, with even a pod of dolphins keeping us company. Some of the swimmers reported them as close enough to touch!
There were 650 in the even this year, and I managed to swim it 30 sec faster (52:58), than last year, even with minimal training. I reckon my aerobic capacity is still improving 2 years post-op.
I had one of those epiphany moments half way through as a I realised it was 2 years to the day since I was 'under the knife' and at the time of the swim, they were probably about to swap out the valves! It was a great moment to celebrate!!!
Tonight I ran in a practice night for the John Landy Mile to be held next week. John Landy is one of the icons in Australian sporting history, sparring with Roger Bannister in the mid 1950's in the race to break the four minute mile barrier (Movie: "The four minute mile" is great watching). To commemorate that time, our local masters Athletics club has devised an event for Veteran runners consisting of a 200m, 1 km and 400m run all on the same night. Age-handicaps are used to determine starting position, with more metres reduced as your age increases e.g. an 84 yr old only runs 729 m in the nominal 1 km race, wheras I (49 years) have to run 930 metres. Points are awarded for finishing places and the final 400 m event serves as the decider. http://www.mastersathleticsdoncaster.org/landy.html
This year the event is being held in conjunction with the Commonwealth Games http://www.melbourne2006.com.au/ And so is being held next Monday, two days before the Opening ceremony. Should be a fun event - last year an 83 year year old Mike Johnstone won the event. Inspiration for all active lifestylers for years to come! I may be the first valvathlete to enter, but Martin who is an amputee is also running next week. I'll keep you in touch!
Regards
Grant
Just reporting in to say I was able to complete the 4.5 km swim on Saturday with no hassles and without stopping!
It was a gordeous day as we set out from Sorrento Pier, with even a pod of dolphins keeping us company. Some of the swimmers reported them as close enough to touch!
There were 650 in the even this year, and I managed to swim it 30 sec faster (52:58), than last year, even with minimal training. I reckon my aerobic capacity is still improving 2 years post-op.
I had one of those epiphany moments half way through as a I realised it was 2 years to the day since I was 'under the knife' and at the time of the swim, they were probably about to swap out the valves! It was a great moment to celebrate!!!
Tonight I ran in a practice night for the John Landy Mile to be held next week. John Landy is one of the icons in Australian sporting history, sparring with Roger Bannister in the mid 1950's in the race to break the four minute mile barrier (Movie: "The four minute mile" is great watching). To commemorate that time, our local masters Athletics club has devised an event for Veteran runners consisting of a 200m, 1 km and 400m run all on the same night. Age-handicaps are used to determine starting position, with more metres reduced as your age increases e.g. an 84 yr old only runs 729 m in the nominal 1 km race, wheras I (49 years) have to run 930 metres. Points are awarded for finishing places and the final 400 m event serves as the decider. http://www.mastersathleticsdoncaster.org/landy.html
This year the event is being held in conjunction with the Commonwealth Games http://www.melbourne2006.com.au/ And so is being held next Monday, two days before the Opening ceremony. Should be a fun event - last year an 83 year year old Mike Johnstone won the event. Inspiration for all active lifestylers for years to come! I may be the first valvathlete to enter, but Martin who is an amputee is also running next week. I'll keep you in touch!
Regards
Grant
