HuRTS Hickson Road

Powerco sale settled yesterday after months of negotiations so went out and celebrated with the banks, not getting back home until 2am. As a result, I wasn't in the best shape for this session although it was useful for sweating out some more booze. Relatively small crowd today with MC, Tucks, Kanser, Durante, Enda, Phil W, English Andy and even Serg but not many more. Felt bloody awful on the first rep running with Andy and Enda but then gradually felt better each rep I ran. Suddenly on the 4th it all felt easy again so gave that one a blast tussling with Durante all the way until he put on a burst at the end. Pleased with the time for that one considering I cruised the first 200m. Times went:

3:50; 3:35; 3:43; 3:22; 3:43

Kanser was flying before pulling up on rep 3 with a calf injury. Hope it's alright mate. Durante was looking easy and Tucks' inexorable rise continues...

PM: Easy run home. 30:50 at Toyota Garage, 58:24 all up. Felt great (much better than lunchtime) but heel is sore so have taken Voltaren.

Wednesday MLR

Session with Carl first thing doing a lot of stretches and work on the legs.

Good turnout today of the Chairman, the Saint, Wildman, Durante, Kanser, MC, Clyde, LF Charlie and Kaley. A few cut short along the way leaving only Clyde, MC, the Saint and myself to finish in 1:20:29 (4:24's). Nice run. Knee no problem but bursar was a pain the whole way - mainly due to the calves being so tight following Carl's work this morning.

HuRTS 45mins Fartlek

I reckon this is my best session. Was feeling good after yesterday's run so decided to push it today. The weather didn't help though - bloody hot and no wind or cloud cover. I set off with Tucks on the first rep and we looked over our shoulders at 45 seconds to see that no-one had come with us. The Chairman (fresh from his Hussky Tri victory) caught up heading past the ABC Pool and we ran with him until halfway along Hickson Road. Reached the turnaround point much shorter than usual (just before the speed trap) having averaged 3:31's. Tucks told me to push on when under the Harbour Bridge on the way back so from then on I was by myself and couldn't see anyone in front to chase. Reached the 10km point in 35:20 (3:32's) then struggled around Farm Cove with the fast sections getting noticeably slower. Saw Terence and Kanser in front from Mrs Macquarie's chair but I didn't have enough energy to try to catch them. Finished the 45mins at 12.54km (3:35 average pace). Felt good on the fast stretches but it was the heat that got me on the way back. No-one got back to the gates in the allotted time today.

Knee is a lot better. Heel same as ever. Pleased to have a bit of energy back. Will double up on Thursday after the dreaded Hickson Rd. Just want to get through this second 120km week now and ease back next week.

Easy Monday

Usual Monday route with Kanser, Wildman and Serg - MC, Ray and Springer were behind although Springer ran back with us. Easy pace and the first run that I've enjoyed since last Tuesday. Knee felt better after rubbing Voltaren gel in beforehand (although could still feel it on any hill) and heel wasn't too bad. Hot though. 64:21 for the 14.77km (4:21s).

Great performances over the weekend. The Chairman won the Huskisson Long Course Triathlon with a time that would probably have placed him 3rd in the professionals. We know how good he is at running but his swim and bike times are even better. Ray won the Equaliser.

Different Sunday

Late night at Ken and Emma's last night only getting to bed at 1.30am and I was kicked out of bed at 7.30am and told to go and pick up the car. So did 2 flat 10km loops plus 7km up to Balgowlah Heights. Felt bloody awful for the first 7km, sore knee, sore heel, tired plus huge hangover. Sot into some sort of rythmn from 7km to 20km where the average pace was brought down to 4:24's before struggling from then on particularly up the hills in Balgowlah Heights. 27km in 2:02 for 4:31's average. One of those runs where you're just pleased to have done it, although I'm saying that frequently about my running at the moment.

Nice afternoon in Vaucluse at Kanser and Olivia's pre-baby get together. We was robbed at Volleyball.

Manly 15km

Plan was for a steady run, starting easy then increasing the pace to try to get down to 4mins per km. Just about went to plan. Started very slowly but felt terrible and incapable of going any quicker. Tendon under left knee was sore, heel wasn't great, cold is lingering on my chest and I felt knackered. Then after about 3km I got into a rythmn and the run got better from then on. Km splits went as follows:

4:38; 4:25; 4:07; 4:08; 4:10; 4:08; 3:57; 3:49; 3:46; 4:13; 3:54; 3:42; 3:36; 3:41; 4:13.

You can spot the hills at 10km and at the end.

All up 14.70km in 59:11 (4:02's). 117km for the week. Struggling to get over 120km (was too busy yesterday but grateful for the rest). I guess it's my body imposing the 10% rule on me.

HuRTS Pyramid session

Small crowd today of Tucks, Durante, MC, Pete W, Ray, Chris G, Dom and a few others. The lower insider of my knee was sore - something that came on towards the end of yesterday's run. And I'm just generally very tired - increased mileage is definitely paying its price. Struggled to a 82, 2:49, 4:11; 5:48; 4:19; 2:52 and 82. The legs were just dead. Durante was drifting off in front and Tucks was struggling like me just behind. Pretty hot too. Probably about the same pace as January 15th but then I was deliberately taking it easy and had more than enough energy for two quick reps at the end. That was very far from the case today.

Heel still fine but inside of knee giving me jip when I lift it.

MLR

Usual Wednesday route but with a bigger crowd than usual of Wildman, the Chairman, Clyde, the Saint and Serg. Started very easy (top of Ocean St in 22:30 - 4:35's) but we started running sub-4's all around Centennial to bring it home in 1:18:05 (4:17's). I was pretty stuffed towards the end but it's not surprising having run about 47kms in 24 hours. Sun came out which made it pretty humid with all the rain we've had.

HuRTS 14 x 3mins

Huge crowd today, as big as I've known it. Everyone there other than MC and Serg. Had a really good session. Front group was myself, Tucks and Kanser with Fast Charlie and the Chairman just behind (other than for the final reps) taking it easy before the Huskisson Tri on the weekend.

We banged out the first 10km at a very consistent pace - none slower than 3:20 p/k and none quicker than 3:18. All felt comfortable until the legs started to feel a bit dead from rep 10 onwards. The final 4 reps were run in 3:15; 3:14; 3:14 and 3:09 per km each. Tried to stretch the left leg between all the reps - took 4 Voltaren yesterday to get the inflammation down as it had started to become permanently painful.

Tucks is looking strong again maintaining the pace the whole way. Kanser also looked strong although the poor lad was almost vomitting with the effort of trying to keep up at the end. Good to see Mike Race back out there again.

PM: Easy run home. Felt great. I love Voltaren. 30:48 at Toyota Garage and 58:17 all up.

Monday recovery run

Big crowd today for some rare sunshine. Wildman, Durante, MC, Kanser, Serg, Springer, Ray and Clyde all fronted up. Ran with Wildman and Clyde for the first half then circled back and ran with MC, Ray, Springer and Durante on the way back. 4:13's on the way out and 4:23's on the way back. Felt very easy although I seem to be developing a high cadence, stunted stride length running style. Perhaps all marathon runners end up running like Jeremey Horne. Albeit not quite so quick.

Same Sunday again

Very frustrated about missing out last night. Conditions looked perfect and the times were great. DrJH running 31:43, Earl (who I beat in the 5km) running 32:03 and Ray having a great run to clock 33:18. Woke up this morning feeling a lot better and after a lazy morning headed out at 2pm for the same route as the past 2 weeks. Intended to take it very easy being careful about the cold but was chugging along nicely with no effort - probably due to the 4 day taper and cool (but wet) conditions. It bucketed down about 3 times during the run but the only problem with this was making my trainers very heavy which put some more pressure on the achilles, both of which were sore.

Reached the Stone Arch in 70:00 still feeling fresh so I knew I was on for a quick one. Bumped into Mat Kaley on the Fairlight path so he turned around and we ran the final 7km together (Mat pulling me along for the final 2km). Finished in 1:59:20, a 2 minute PB. Just planning a heavy block of training for the next 3 weeks with no distractions.

Sick

Got Man Flu. Won't be running tomorrow.

HuRTS Gate to Gates

Wednesday - early morning strength training with Carl but no run as too busy for the rest of the day. Considered running home but I'm feeling pretty tired and flat so thought it best to rest up before Saturday.

Thursday - jog down to Farm Cove for Gate to Gates (8 x 909m off a 2 minute rest). Good crowd with Kanser showing some speed up front with Tucks, just ahead of the Chairman and the Judge. I milled around at the back running through them in 3:20-3:30's. But to be honest, didn't feel capable of running much quicker. Still feeling very flat and worried about Saturday. Also have a niggly cough that's started. Blah blah blah.

HuRTS 4 x 3km

Look at June 24th 2008 and July 22nd 2008. How on earth did we manage to run those times for this session? OK, it was a lot cooler and we had a big group upfront, but that's a mammoth difference. Today, 10 minutes was reached about 15 seconds short, then 9:47 from the Stone Gates back to the Opera House Gates, then reached 5 seconds short, then 9:36 for the final rep. It was me, Charlie and Tucks up front with Dicky H just behind and a number of others missing. Bit worried about the weekend given the huge gap in training times. However, console myself with the fact that on July 24th 2008 I ran a hard tempo run home which was a pb at the time and which was almost 2 minutes slower than I ran last month. Perhaps I don't push the HuRTS reps as hard these days - I certainly don't feel as though I want to spew with stomach cramps which was quite frequent last year. Perhaps I'm just tired from the weekend. Did feel pretty heavy legged today and lacking all bounce. The first rep in particular was a real struggle. I'll take it easy for the rest of the week.

Tucks is getting right back. He was with Charlie and I all the way on the first two reps and only fell off slightly on reps 3 and 4. Charlie was flying on the final rep. John Binfield is also getting very strong.

Recovery Monday

Southerly change brought much cooler weather today (down to a chilly 22C) and much nicer running conditions. Out for the usual Monday route with Kanser, Springer and Ray. Very easy 1:06:26 (4:30's). Need some sleep.

Long Sunday run

Too tired and hungover again to go out early so headed out in the heat over lunchtime. Same course as last week (Seaforth, North Head, Tania Park). Temperature was 32C but there was already a decent sea breeze so it never felt oppressive. Felt great today (although still wilted in the heat and hills towards the end) and the time showed - 2:02:26 (4:30 per/km) which is almost a pb for this course.

Some great results over the weekend - good to see Benny StL (hopefully) pick up a place for the World XC finishing 5th. I think the first 4 do so and Dent (who won) has ruled himself out. Also good to see KMK winning the B Race last night in the 1500m at the Allcomers finishing in 4:02 ahead of Chamkaur in 4:03 and DrJH in 4:07. Hoping to stay ahead of the latter 2 in the 10km next week but I'd never get close to their times over 1500m.

Photo above is taken from the Manly West swimming carnival this week. Check out the professional dive from a 7 yr old. I won't mention where Bec finished. Suffice to say the Manly West Carnival under 7's race would rival the English National under 7's race.

Striders Lane Cove - 7th in 34:53

Acted as the 35 minute pacer which I was pretty pleased about as I didn't fancy trying to race it given the heat, the big week and going out for the last 2 nights. Good crowd from the HuRT squad including Durante, Kanser, Dicky H, TB, Mat Kaley and Timmy L all set off together with Jeremey Horne hitting the front and Tim's Ashby and Cochrane, Dimitry and Darren Moyle also amongst them.

Went through the first 2kms in 3:24 and 6:48, then 3km in 10:21 after the Scribbly Gum hill. Was feeling great at this stage just rolling through comfortably. Durante, the Tims and Kanser were in front and I was in a group with Dicky H, Mat Kaley and TB. Went through 5km in 17:38 - just right as the negative split is about 20 seconds. However, didn't count for the conditions. The heat and humidity was starting to sap people's strength and Richard then TB fell off. We needed 3:23's from 7km onwards and Mat was holding on but was hurt by the hill around 8km. So I was then on my own closing in on the Tims and Kanser. Hit 9km in 31:40 so picked up the pace to make sure I got under 35. Great tempo run in the end and a confidence booster for next week. Good to see Durnate pick up 3rd spot and congrats to Dimitry on a great time in those conditions.

Missed Thursday evening and yesterday's run due to client commitments so only 112km for the week - was hoping for over 120km.

HuRTS Mona Fartlek

Smaller crowd on a hot and sunny day. Fast Charlie, Durante, Tucks, Terence, Kaley and Travis were the ones upfront with a bigger crowd further back. Set off in the front and could hear Charlie behind me for the first 2 reps before he held back on the 60's. Turned at the stone monument (100m short of the Gates) quite far ahead and then chased people all the way back. Short of the gates because of the heat and no-one to run against. The speed of the floats were what cost the distance - the fast sections were as quick as normal.

Jogged back over the route afterwards with Durante, Kaley and Tucks for about 10km all up.

After a call from Barbara I've agreed to act as the 35 minute pacer for the Striders 10km on Saturday morning. It's forecast to be 42C on Sat (and 44C on Sunday) so I'm now worrying about whether I can actually run 35 over a hilly course in those conditions...

Easy MLR

Run home but went via Cremorne Point, Mosman, Taronga Zoo and Balmoral to add some kms. 17.5km all up in a very leaisurely 1:24. Slow because of all the steps and hills in Mosman. Not as hot as recently but very humid - my shorts and vest were saturated by the time I got home. Ran in my new AdiStar Salvations - new version of the Controls. Bloody stupid name but they feel great.

Went out this evening to watch Slumdog Millionaire - great film.

HuRTS 5min reps

AM: Went to see Carl to chat about program. Will begin core work on Wednesday am's.

Lunch: HuRT Squad 8 x 5mins off 90 seconds rest. Big crowd, just like old times with the likes of Springer, the Judge, Tucks, Fast Charlie, Kanser, Durante, Dicky H, Ray etc all in town. Started very easily at 3:42 average per km but quickly brought that down to 3:30 then from 4 onwards they averaged 3:20's with the last 2 at 3:18 and 3:17. Felt very comfortable all the way through - great session. Big crowd of us sharing the lead upfront but many dropped out after 6 so that I was running with Fast Charlie for the final 2.

PM: Run home. Breathing fine, definitely easier doing this on Tuesdays. 31:15 at Toyota Garage and 59:26 all up. Felt good following the aches and pains subsiding after 2km. Legs started to stiffen up over the final 2km which made the heel a bit sore.

Big news on Six Foot is that Ray has entered! After years of vowing he'd never do it again, he's gone and entered again. It's just like women and childbirth. HuRT squad team now comprises:

Terence, Tucks, Dicky H, Muz, Chris G, Richard G, English Andy, Ray, Less Fast Charlie, Matthew Hook and myself. I reckon we're shoe-in for team winners.

Supposed Recovery

Usual Monday route with Wildman, Durante, Kanser and Kaley to start with, also picking up Springer for a while on the way back. Hot again (getting bored of reporting this - and it's forecast to get even hotter this week) so easy to start with but then the pace increased on the way back. Durnate blamed this on me but I thought it was Kanser's fault. He's getting far too excited about trying to beat me that he turns every training run into a race.

14.59km in 1:00:36 (4:09's) after averaging over 4:20's for the first half.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen

Kirst was swimming this morning so my slot was at 12.30pm - height of the day and 31C. As such, just took it easy with no intentions to speed up over the final 10km - just hoping to survive. Ran the Burnt Bridge Creek, North Head, Tania Park route (27.30km) in 2:04:40 (4:34s). Breathing was fine but struggled in the heat towards the end. Heel sore, have iced and Votarened this evening.

Queenscliff Nippers Champs this morning, Bec was 6th in flags and 3rd in the ocean run/wade. Billy was 6th in flags. Not quite the glory I was hoping for but good nonetheless.

Thoughts for the day:

1. The Brand Power girl has changed - first time in 9 years since we moved to Oz. Times they are a changin'.
2. Dead Poets Society is 20 years old.