A bit to catch up on here. Yesterday morning saw me hit the gym for another weights session and a short warm-up run, then last night it was off to the local park for another short run. I felt pretty good and ran a consistent pace (4:46, 5:04, 5:06, 5:07), only bumping up against my HR limit once so I was happy with that. It’s hard to know whether I’m adapting to the regular running, or whether it’s just being relatively fresh at the start of the week.

Today’s swim session went pretty well too. I felt great for the second half of the session, so I put on my paddles and managed to get down to 1:17 on the last 100 without too much effort.

400 FS
2 * 8 * 50 FS as {
    2 on 60,
    2 on 55,
    2 on 50,
    2 on 45 }
8 * 100 FS on 1:45 (1:27)
8 * 100 FS on 1:45 (1:25 → 1:17)
200 Pull
Total: 3000m

I’m off to Centennial Park to attempt my first long run this evening. It’s only 7km, but I reckon it’s more interesting to do 2 laps of Centennial Park versus the 9 laps of my local park I’d need to complete the same distance.

S: 3000m – B: 28km – R: 4.9km – W: 1 session

Well I got fired up enough to write a letter to the Premier of NSW:

Mr. Iemma,

I would like to register my extreme disappointment that you agreed to the Federal Government’s request for special anti-terrorist powers. None of the agreed to powers would have made the slightest bit of difference to either the WTC or London bombings, as in neither case were the terrorists being actively monitored by the security services.

Since 2001, we have been repeatedly exhorted by government to continue our normal, everyday lives, as to do otherwise would mean that “the terrorists have won.” Meanwhile, the very same government has been drawing up plans to further curtail our civil liberties, which apparently does not signify a terrorist victory? Given that you’ve been party to these decisions, perhaps you could enlighten me as to what exactly it is the terrorists are trying to destroy? I always thought that our civil liberties, freedom from government intrusion and right to a fair trial were what made Western civilisation great?

To quote Benjamin Franklin, “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” I think your actions in this regard have been a disgrace and you have been party to an agreement which moves Australia one step closer to the edge of the slippery slope towards a police state.

Regards,

Donncha Redmond

Vaucluse,

NSW 2030.

If I disappear for a while, I’m being held without trial for 14 days ;-)

Look’s like the state Premiers gave in to the government’s wishes and granted all the special “anti-terrorist” powers, and think they’ve done a fantastic job because they managed to get Howard to agree to a sunset clause after TEN years. Whoop-dee-fucking-do! What I love is the fact that the powers that be bleat on and on about how these powers will make us safer, while in actual fact they would have made absolutely no difference to either the WTC or London bombings.

The new powers allow police to detain someone without charge for up to 14 days. The UK started off with a 14 day limit as well, but recently increased it to three months, so I’m sure we’ll follow suit. Detainees will be allowed to know why they’re being held, but not see any evidence against them. They’ll be allowed to contact family “solely for the purposes of letting them know they are safe, but are not able to be contacted for the time being”.

A control order on a suspect that could put him or her under house arrest for a year, without charge, without trial, and without criminal standards of evidence, can be granted by a judge operating in a closed court, under the proposals the premiers agreed to.

The leaders emphasised that the powers would be subject to “judicial review”. But what this means is vague. The reviews will be limited and probably conducted behind closed doors.

The Sydney Morning Herald has the story.

I missed my lunchtime swim yesterday. I wasn’t paying attention to the time and when I finally checked I’d missed the start of the session. Oh well, I’ll have to make it up on Friday instead. I rode home and did a couple of laps of Centennial Park as well to start the week off.

B: 28km

A good article from The Guardian on what happens when you get arrested for being a terrorist suspect in the UK. Note the following logic the police used to figure out he was a suspected terrorist!!

They handcuff me, hands behind my back, and take my rucksack out of my sight. They explain that this is for my safety, and that they are acting under the authority of the Terrorism Act. I am told that I am being stopped and searched because:

- they found my behaviour suspicious from direct observation and then from watching me on the CCTV system;

- I went into the station without looking at the police officers at the entrance or by the gates;

- two other men entered the station at about the same time as me;

- I am wearing a jacket “too warm for the season”;

- I am carrying a bulky rucksack, and kept my rucksack with me at all times;

- I looked at people coming on the platform;

- I played with my phone and then took a paper from inside my jacket.

Particularly relevant in light of attempts here to introduce laws which would allow people to be detained without legal representation, or even being informed what they are being detained for.

Well the weekend didn’t go quite to plan on the training front. Got up on Saturday morning and did some work on the indoor trainer. I had intended doing an hour, but I spent quite a bit of time adjusting various parts on the bike, so only rode for about 30mins. That was then end of that. I was supposed to do a run on Sunday morning, but as I spent Saturday afternoon on the beers watching the Sydney Swans with their first Grand Final in 72 years, there was no way I was running anywhere the next morning ;-)

S: 2900m – B: 71.4km – R: 13.3km – W: 1 session

Today I really noticed the effect beer has on training! Went out for dinner and a few beers with the Canberra guys last night. Not too late, home by 10.30 or so. However, I cycled home from work today, and did a couple of laps around Centennial Park too, but I felt bloody sluggish all the way. I had figured that if I drank loads of water during the day then all would be well, but that would have been too easy.

Went for a short run when I got home too, which wasn’t too bad, though I seem to have some issues lacing my left shoe correctly. Obviously I can tie my own laces, but for some reason my left shoe seems to end up too tight and I end up with a sore lower left leg, presumably from irrtating a nerve on the top of my foot, or constricting the blood flow. The problem is that it usually feels fine when I do my laces. It’s only after running for a couple of minutes that I notice something’s amiss. I’ll have to experiment with lacing patterns or something over the next week or so.

S: 2900m – B: 56.4km – R: 13.3km – W: 1 session

Acccording to this article in the Guardian, Sandro Donati, a senior Italian Olympic official reckons that organised crime is heavily involved in the trafficking of performance enhancing drugs around Europe.

The police in Italy first started serious investigations in 2000 when they claimed to have smashed a big mafia operation to smuggle human growth hormone, anabolic steroids and EPO from Sicily to sports centres and laboratories across Italy.

During a nationwide operation they raided 65 houses, offices, laboratories, gyms and pharmacies and confiscated thousands of banned performance-enhancing drugs and instructions for athletes on how to administer them.

I wonder how long it will be before an athlete is made an offer he can’t refuse ;-)

Well I rode straight home yesterday and forced myself to go out for a run. It was fully dark by the time I was setting off for the run, so I elected to skip the park and run on the footpath. It’s a bit more impact for the legs to handle, but on the positive side I can see where I’m going so there’s less risk of twisting my ankle. I did 3.4km with the usual HR limit in effect. My legs are bloody tired today, that’s for sure!

On an even better note, I weighed in at 88.2kg this morning: down 1.7kg in three weeks, so the work is paying off.

S: 2900m – B: 33.8km – R: 10km – W: 1 session

Since Ty and Andrew were supposed to be coming up from Canberra today (since postponed until tomorrow) I decided to ride in to work and do a couple of laps of Centennial Park on the way, leave the bike in work and then cycle home tomorrow. This would mean that instead of having Thursday as my rest day, I’d have from Wednesday lunchtime until Thursday evening which wouldn’t be ideal, but wouldn’t be too bad either.

I rode down by Bondi, then up Bondi Road, entered Centennial Park via the Queen’s Park gates, then did two laps, exited on to Moore Park Road and proceeded in to town. My legs were a bit dead after the heavy weights yesterday morning and the longer than usual run yesterday evening, but once my HR had calmed down after the hill at the bottom of Bondi Road all was well. Total distance: 23.8km, Average HR: 138, Average Speed: 25.2km/h.

The lunchtime swim was supposed to be little more than a chance to stretch out the stiffness from yesterday’s weights but our coach decided to throw in some 100s on 1:35, about 15secs faster than we normally do them, probably because some of the slower swimmers weren’t here today. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be though.

400 warm up
4 * 100 FS on 1:45 (1:72)
4 * 100 IM on 1:30 (1:32)
2 * 8 * 50 as {
    2 on 60,
    2 on 55,
    2 on 50
    2 on 45}
400 Pull (6:10)
4 * 100 FS on 1:35 (1:25)
100 cool down
Total: 2900m

Anyway, now that the Canberra lads have decided not to come to Sydney until tomorrow after all, I can cycle home tonight and possibly go for a short run, depending on how my legs feel. It also means that I have tomorrow completely off too! Whew!

S: 2900m – B: 23.8km – R: 6.6km – W: 1 session