Novice 10km X-Country

10th in 34:53.

It was either a mud bath or a swimming pool. A few clear sections to add some pace but otherwise a slog. Treated it as another hard tempo and didn't get too excited beforehand (also a bugger of a day yesterday with meetings all day down in Melbourne). Having said that, at 3km with David Tonge and Thamal pulling ahead and a bloke from behind catching me, I decided it was time to either give up or make something of the race. Had a good second half after that, closing on David and Thamal (and thinking I was going to get David) before they lifted their game in the final km. Thamal finished in 34:34 and David 34:39.

Massive downpour half way through and got home feeling fluey. Hope to be ok for the morning to host the boys on a long run.

One Rep Wonder

Wowsers. Rocked up to one of the biggest HuRTS turnouts ever, at least for a Thursday, for the Gate to Gates off 5 mins. We were graced with the presence of CT, and with Bartles, Clyde, Fast Charlie, Dicky H, JF, Andy, Young Timmy, Ray and others backing up, there were plenty in support. Nick from Singapore showed up as well as Manly runners Dicky G and Sam.

With the race on Saturday, a bad head cold and 3 days of decent runs behind me, I didn't want to push hard today. So I sat in the middle of the pack staring at Young Timmy's unfortunately bare back and knocked out each rep between 2:55 and 2:57 (3:13 to 3:15 pace) feeling pretty comfortable. Got a bit excited on the final rep and tried to keep CT honest only to have Ray come flying by me and steal my thunder. Legs started to buckle a bit in the middle but managed to hold it together to finish the rep in 2:35 (2:51 pace).

Jog down after for 11kms all up.

Back to marathon pace

The usual Wednesday Centennial Route with Richard High including the 3 marathon pace stretches. Started with MC and Louis aswell but left them when we started the first marathon pace stretch at Rushcutters. Got through the run nicely and felt good around Centennial. Ran on the wide concrete path instead of the white fence due to all the recent rain.

Total of 18.69km in 1:19:34 (4:15 pace). Average pace would have been much lower but for the first few kms:

5:01, 5:14, 4:40, 4:03, 3:48, 4:13, 4:13, 4:15, 4:08, 3:31, 3:30, 3:34, 4:18, 4:31, 4:10, 4:24, 4:55, 3:35, 3:21 (4:52 pace).

Dicky went well.

15km Easy Hard

Something Tiger mentioned in his blog a couple of weeks ago resonated - trying to increase the average pace of the weekly mileage. Every time I run slow my achilles feels worse, so I'm going to try to include a bit of quality into every session I do.

Today was the 15km route running alternate kms easy and hard. Turned out to be an easyish session as you obviously spend longer running easy than hard, yet it was a good way to cover 15km relatively quickly. The easy kms end up being quicker than normal as you never fully slow down but they still feel like a recovery. Splits were as follows:

4:30, 3:39, 4:09, 3:23, 4:09, 3:30, 4:12, 3:32, 4:09, 3:48, 4:29, 3:25, 4:25, 3:34, 4:10, 1:11 (3:40 pace).

All up 15.33km in 1:00:23 (3:56 pace). The outlying 3:48 was up the hill at the back of Shelley Beach.

World's most tired man

Got back from Singas the world's most tired man.way too tired to run Saturday and intended to go out yesterday but fell asleep on the sofa instead. So was determined to fit my long run in today. Got a call from Dicky G last night suggesting a 20km fartlek session at 6.30am and that fitted the bill so set off in the pouring rain at 6.30am with him and Ben. We did 5 mins on and 5 mins off on a route up to Seaforth Oval, across to Tania Park, around there twice and then retraced our steps. For me, the fast sections got progressively quicker and the slow sections progressively slower as I'd circled back to regroup with Dicky and Ben. Still felt fresh at the end of the 20km (bottom of Suwarrow St) so just tagged on my standard flat 10km route which I knocked out in kms between 4:05 and 4:15. Felt tired at the end but a great way to get through the 30km.

All up 30.03km in 2:08:07 (4:16's).

Ran in my new Brooks Infiniti ordered over the net. Achilles feels great but plantar fascia very sore.

Couple of photos added from Singapore:

Early doors:




Blue Steel:

JPMorgan Chase Champs

21st in 18:16.

Hot, hot, hot. If we thought Sydney got hot and humid in summer, this was something else. Spent the whole day trying to hide in air conditioning but they arranged to bus us to the start area almost 3 hours before the race just to heat us up. I think I drank 5 bottles of Gatorade in the lead up. What this translated to was a scorching pace to start with but a question of holding on for afters.

Sprinted off and everyone was flying. After 500m Charlie starts pulling ahead and I couldn't go. He got into a nice bunch while as usual I found myself alone. Went through 1km in 3:02 then at 2km Travis comes alongside which spurred me into action a bit. 3km in 9:31 so still a quick pace but then the humidity started to take effect. A long drag of a hill between 3.5km and 5km and I was just concentrating on the back of the chap 20m in front and desperately looking for the km markers. 5km in 16:24 so a shocking 2km split but I was just hanging on with the longest finishing straight you've ever seen about to face us.

Jonno finished strongly and must have closed over the final 2km to record 18:26 as when I saw him at the turn he was running with Richie, Enda and Trav. Charlie had a great race to run 17:38. Many, many beers consumed after in a great night of celebrations. Will post pictures soon.

Four floors

10km on the treadmill trying to sweat out a hangover. 40:59 feeling ok in the circumstances. No doubt it will hit me tomorrow.

Recovery

Very easy 9km around the City in the evening in 42 mins, feeling relatively OK. Achilles has recoverd well after yesterday's long hilly run. Fly out to Singapore in the morning.

Berry Mountain

Out early for a run to the top of Berry Mountain and back. To be honest, it was a real struggle - heading out 12 hours after a hard 10km and
facing 5kms of solid up hill from 9km until the turning point. 66:49 on the way out and 60:22 on the way back for 28kms in 2:07:11 (4:32s). Just pleased to have done it. Bit slower than last time though.

Hard 10km

Felt very average over the past 24 hours (sore throat and joint aches) and was in two minds whether to do today's session but told myself just to give the first few kms a go and see how I felt. This is my 4th hard 10km on a Saturday in a row and feel as though I'm starting to feel some benefit. Finished in 35:04 after turning in 17:42. Felt great between 6 and 8km but struggled up the hill in the 9th km. Splits:

3:37, 3:33, 3:26, 3:35, 3:29, 3:34, 3:22, 3:32, 3:35, 3:19.

Easy 15km

Took my usual Upper River Road route but continued on for another 2.5kms before turning. Stunning scenery getting up towards the head of the valley especially as I was out at 8.30am before the sun had burnt off all the morning mist. This is getting quite poetic. Back to the stats. Turned at 32.32 and back in 63.07 (4.12's). Felt great which I didn't expect to after yesterday's session.

83km for the week.

Kangaroo Valley 400's

Kicked off my marathon training yesterday with a rest day. Didn't intend it that way, but after a day at Jambaroo Water Slide park (my second most favorite amusement park) arrived home in the dark which put paid to any run given the lack of street lighting.

Punished myself with 400's today, needing them with the JPMorgan race in a week. Jogged 3km to a straight flat section of road, marked out 400m on the Garmin (straight line so i think it was accurate) then did the usual session off a rolling 2 minutes. Reps went as follows:

69, 70, 70, 68, 70, 69, 69, 69, 69, 67.

Felt stronger in the second half than last week and form felt better, although that could be from running on road rather than grass. 3km jog back for 11kn all up.

Marathon Man

Kanser upped the bet to $200 so I'm in. Also had an email from Sam at GS saying he was in, Quentin said he was in so I'll have some local training partners for the long Sunday runs. Others confirmed are Enda and the Tiger. Just need to hold the body together for 11 weeks.

Today was the same 10km as yesterday at the same effort but 2mins quicker - 39:14 after 20:24 at half way. Shows the impact of running the day after a long run. Then timed the kids for a "round the farm" X-Country route. They kept on knocking fractions off their times with Bec running her fastest of 43.28s and Billy 43.30. Amazing how close they are, but they refuse to race one another, ala Coe and Ovett. I did a lap full bore and managed 36.20s so it shows how much quicker they are getting. Got a sore back now after trying a bit too hard.

Holiday day 1

10km in Kangaroo Valley in 41:12. Beautiful day and the best place for a run.

Great run by Uncle Dave in the Paris marathon - 2:21 to finish well up in 23rd place. Speaking of which, Kanser is trying to goad me into running Gold Coast marathon, first by betting $100 I won't break 2:40 then telling me I'm running scared of the Tiger. I'll spend the holiday considering my options...

Longish Sunday

Did 5km at 6.30am then caught up with Quentin and a Kiwi chap called Clive (he knew Clyde, but in my experience anyone who can run and hails from NZ knows Clyde) to run along Manly to Spit, then up to Seaforth Oval before heading back to Manly via Campbell Parade. All up 25.5km in 2:01 - slow pace but lots of bush. We finished pretty quick. Tired again from yesterday but on holidays now so all good.

Saturday tempo

Ok, so 2 weeks ago it was a hard run, rather than a tempo. Having been stuffed at work and with only 4.5 hours sleep last night and thirty minutes on the sofa over lunch with 4 kids jumping on me, the last thing I wanted to do was push hard today. Decided to take it out feeling comfortable then see if I could push on later. That's just how it went. Felt great running down Manly beach until I turned at Shelly and realized I'd had a following wind. Pushed hard into the wind on the way back up the beach and was rewarded at Queenscliff with a couple of quick kms out of the wind.

Total time was 36:12. Pleased as it felt OK other than having to work hard into the wind. Kms as follows:

3:45, 3:38, 3:38, 3:39, 3:43, 3:41, 3:31, 3:31, 3:35, 3:28

11.5km all up.

Couple of recent photos to keep my brother Alec happy.....

Friday meander

Caught up with MC, LF Charlie, Todd, Marc and Ray for a wander around Balls Head. Felt pretty tired despite the easy pace, probably the result of the first speed session in my legs from the day before. 13.3km in 66 mins.

97km for the week.

HuRTS 10 x 400m

Small turnout becuase we were doing some speed work. Honestly, the HuRT Squad don't live up to their name. Bunch of pussies. They're all more interested in Ultra Marathons and Triathlons. 10 x 400m is painful, both mentally and physically, if you do it properly. It's much easier to run 150km a week than do 2 VO2 Max sessions a week.

So the hardy bunch were myself, Wildman, Bartles, Young Timmy, JC, chap called Tim and Anton from UBS. Marked out the 400m (always slightly dodgy when going around an Oval) and set off. Reps went as follows:

66, 68, 66, 67, 67, 68, 68, 69, 68, 70

I normally finish the second half stronger than the first, but not today as the reps were solid from the word go chasing Wildman and trying to stay in front of Bartles. I reckon the lap was about 2s short despite what the Garmin says. I came last on the final rep, when the legs were just goooone. Wildman was about 2-3 seconds ahead on each, looking very strong, but blasted out a 61 on the final rep. Pleased to have stayed in the front of Bartles, the 800m specialist, on each rep other than the last, despite him taking "the Kanser line". Young Timmy will know what I mean. Speaking of which, Young Timmy was like a Kenyan today, popping up with the odd 67 interspersed with a couple of 82s.....

10km all up. Nice to do some speed.

Arse

4km jog to Spit for strength with Carl. Quite intense leg strengthening stuff today and a load of bloody skipping which I hate.

Had planned on running home but too much work has put paid to that. It never rains but it pours.

Hexham vs Morpeth

Session today was the Progressive Tempo and there was a cast of thousands already assembled by the time I showed up (late). All the familiar faces were there - Wildman, Young Timmy, hot to trot Durante, Enda, Quentin, Bartles, JF, Dicky H, Pete W, Jason, JC, Rob, Sam, etc. Tucks was there but only to show us he could do the same session by himself and didn't need us. Timmy rocks up with a girl with a familiar accent who happens to be from Morpeth. Now, those not familiar with the English county of Northumberland will not realise that there there are only two towns of any note in it - Hexham (from where I came) and Morpeth (from where Sian, Timmy's friend came). The rivalry between them was similar to that between Sydney and Melbourne. I Googled a couple of pictures of the towns so that you can see which is Sydney and which is Melbourne:


Hexham



Morpeth


Anyway, a lovely girl nonetheless.

Perfect conditions today. Great session to do as you can chat for the first half before things get serious in the second. Judging by the km splits, it was a perfectly judged progressive tempo:

4:03, 4:01, 3:57, 3:51, 3:48, 3:43, 3:37, 3:25, 3:23, 3:21, 3:32, 3:28

The last 2kms blow out a bit coming up the hills.

Ran with a big group up front including Wildman, Bartles, JF, Jason, Dicky H and Quentin. After the turn (just past 6km under the first bridge on Hickson Rd), the pace stepped up again and from there it just wound up trying to drop people from the front group. Stevie really increased the pace around Farm Cove and dropped the rest of us. I tried to push on up the hills and thought I'd dropped the rest before Quentin reappeared with a sprint so I finished with him.

Nice session. Got back in 44:19 so well under, with the final Gate to Gate in under 10mins. 12.02km averaging 3:41's.

1km jog there and 2km warmdown for 15km all up.

Home run

Ran home. Saw Fats. Felt tired. I trust that at some point all this training will come together.

Lap of the Lake STaR

Took advantage of the end of Nipper season and the clocks going back to turn up to Dee Why for the new Lap of the Lake STaR. Flakey, Steve Hume, Georgie, new chap called Richard Banks, Mark F, Jo C etc were there for the 6.20am group. Very easy pace and enjoyable run as a result. Ran short of time towards the end in order to get Bec to soccer so cut short and sped up a bit. Total of 29.05km in 2:17:14 (4:43's).

Interesting looking at my post on April 7th 2007 - the last time I ran Six Foot then followed up with the April Striders 10km. Almost exactly the same time and same sentiments as yesterday. Just hope I can improve this month the same way I did back then.

Striders Lane Cove - 9th in 34:14

Felt pretty good about this race. Got up early, did a 3km jog, a few run throughs, had a chat and was off.

Here's a start line photo standing next to Young Timmy, Tucks, Dave Criniti and Pete Walker:



Didn't want to go too quickly off the line so held back a bit then pushed on after 500m to catch Tucks. Went through 1km in 3:19 and 2km in 6:41. Then ran up the hill to Scribbly Gums where it all started to go wrong. Tucks pulled ahead on the way back down and Brendan Davies and Jonathan Bleasel caught me between 3 and 4km. Stayed with them up the hills until the turn where we were closing on Tucks slightly. Felt OK on the way back down but then had a shocker between 6km and 8km where I just let them get away without really putting any effort in, as if I just wanted an easy ride. Chap behind (Craig) caught me at 8km which spurred me into action. Finished with a 3:12 final km to hold him off (photo conveniently taken when running relatively quickly).



Pretty disappointed with the run. Finished the race without feeling spent. I think I just need to race more and get used to the feeling of being under pressure etc. Plenty of races coming up.

Easy peasy

5km after work very slow around and about. Looking forward to the race tomorrow.

Big brother Alec is visiting but too lazy to come and watch me race. Tells me he was chatting to a bloke at work today whose son was apparently a handy runner. I asked what his name was and he said dunno, but his Dad's surname is Gregson.

92kms for the week.

Panadol and whisky

Defeat. Humiliation. Embarassment. Last of the HuRTS Boys. Chicked. Beaten by Young Timmy. Where to from here? Well, as Yazz famously said, the only way is up.

Rocked up to register and was given number 13. I had an inkling at that stage that things may not fare well for me. Met up with Wildman, Durante, Young Timmy and Enda with everyone looking a bit nervous, not least because we'd all taken our tops off. I started trying to make Stevie nervous by telling him that the double knots in his laces would cost him 2 seconds in transition and that he should go to a single bow like me. Enda told us we were both amateurs and that we should have elastic laces like him. We told him he was gay.

So we set off and I hang back a bit trying not to go lactic up the hill then push ahead to the front next to Stevie feeling good and, what do you know, my lace comes undone. Stop at Mrs Macs Chair to do it up and everyone comes streaming past. Do it up then start trying to chase people, overtaking a heavily gasping Timmy first of all. Run past Kanser and Tucks spectating who abuse me for letting a half fit Durante and Enda be in front. Catch Durante and Enda by the hill before the Freeway bridge and, what do you know, the lace comes undone again. So stop and do it up at the turn, giving them another 10 seconds. Still feeling good so start chasing them again. Run past Kanser and Tucks at the point where I happen to be the same distance behind Enda and Durante as I was first time I passed them. Then my other shoelace comes undone. I think, f**k this, the thing can come off for all I care now. Running angry I catch Durante and Enda just before the end to get to the pool in second place, with Stevie now about 40s in front. Despite only have one shoelace to undo, I still manage to transition slower than Enda and Durante, probably because I stood on the edge of the pool thinking how the hell am I going to manage this. Managed about 30m of freestyle before reverting the breaststroke. Blokes are flying past me at this stage, but not Timmy yet. Reach the final length and see Timmy 10m behind me. Make a half arsed attempt at freestyle to hold him off but in truth it was about 3 strokes, then give up. Then Greta comes past on the inside with 5m to go. I pull myself out of the pool a shattered man and just stand there waiting for the ribbing to begin.

Lovely few beers in the Wolloommoolloo Bay Hotel after, telling stories and cracking jokes. I thought Wildman was coming out to play for a moment when Stevie made an inappropriate remark about the organiser having sex with an old lady just as the room fell silent, but he soon disappeared after getting a phone call from the wife. Timmy was beaming like a Cheshire cat all night. Tucks had one for the road 5 times. Kanser's changed. Talking about bikes and stuff. Not cool. Enda told us he could have been a contender if Ireland had swimming pools. Durante told us Tiger was a pretender and that he could beat him over every distance from 800m to the marathon. Greta was lovely, couldn't have been beaten by a nicer lady.

Check out Timmy's blog for the photos. Might have to start calling him Tummy.

Results:

Stevie/Wildman: 18:08 (2nd)
Enda: 18:20 (4th)
Durante: 18:28 (5th)
Young Timmy: 19:43 (7th)
Greta: 19:47 (8th)
Me: 19:48 (9th)