HuRTS New Hills

Major excitement within the HuRTS camp today with MC introducing a new session to the calendar. With C2S in mind, the plan was for long hills, and did it pull a crowd! We basically had a turnout rivalling the C2S itself today, all waiting attentively for instructions from MC. We did a slow jog up to work out the course to start, realised it was 750m so decided on 7 reps.

Still with a hacking cough I decided on taking it easy and found myself with JF, Timmy, Luke, MC, Richie H and a load others. Norman Cook was miles out front, with Fast Charlie isolated behind and Bartles further isolated behind him. Luke and I took a short cut on the run back down the hill (trying to shorten the recovery) while others didn't, so we found ourselves running together behind Bartles.

Reps went 2:51; 2:57; 2:58; 3:01. Then my chest felt really tight so I stopped, hurled some abuse at Young Timmy, and jogged back. Still happy to take baby steps at the moment.

About 11km all up. I reckon that session may be quite good. The lads were taking it too easy though - often the way with a new one.

Running!

Whoa!

Have I been sick. Even Enda's been taking notes.

Had Monday and Tuesday off post marathon. Then Wednesday started to come down with a bad cold but was swamped at work so just had to fight through. Thought I was pulling out of it over the weekend but then Monday I was a shivering, feverish mess and spent the day in bed, drinking Lucozade and eating Mars Bars. Best day ever. Chest still feels full of crap but ventured out this evening for 10.58km around the Opera House, Hickson Road, Darling Harbour, Chinatown and Central in 44:21 (4:11's). Chest tight but legs felt great after all the rest. Coughed up a lung at the end. Then walking back to the office the thighs felt strangely sensitive so still the lingering effects of the marathon. But running again! Feels good.

4.5 weeks to go to City to Surf. Holy crap, nowhere near enough time. Will just aim to train hard and hopefully be on an upward curve come race time.

Gold Coast Marathon - 24th in 2:36:40

After all the worry about health in the week leading up, woke up on the day feeling good. Andy and I were sharing the apartment so walked over the the start with him and hung about in the elite area admiring the Kenyans and Troopy etc. generally feeling a little out of place. Didn't even do a jog as a warm up and before I knew it we were on the start line wishing Ray, JB, Big Sam, Quentin, Andy and Richie P a last minute good luck.

Race plan was to go out at 3:40's at least until 25km, see if I could hold it until 30km and then just battle my way to the finish. And that's the way it went. Quickly formed a group with JB, Tongey and a couple of other guys just banging out the 3:40's like clockwork. If a split edged up to 3:42, JB or I would put a bit of an effort in to bring the next one down to 3:38. It was almost fun. I wouldn't say it ever felt entirely comfortable (I was thinking this when I was running - at any point I'd rather be sat on the beach) but it's unlike any other race where you are under pressure the whole way. It was nice to turn at Burleigh Heads and get a load of shouts and "Go Striders" from the runners going the other way. At about 18km JB gapped me. I checked my watch and I was still running 3:40's so I let him go. He seemed to struggle a bit at 23km when I caught him again and at this point I was feeling great - heading back through Surfers and knowing I'd soon be back to the start/finish line. We had dropped Tongey and the other two guys so it was just us running together and regularly overtaking runners who had gone off too quick. At the turn in Main Beach (about 29km) I sensed JB was dropping off so concentrated on running strongly up the one gentle hill on the whole course. Running through the start/finish area at 31km was magic - loads of shouts from the HuRT Squad and with splits of 3:36 and 3:37 between 30 and 32km the encouragement obviously lifted the pace. But then suddenly you're own your own again, heading away from the crowds and the finish line and past the infamous 32km mark. I caught and passed a tiring Quentin here (he had barfed 2km earlier) and was catching other runners but the km splits were dropping - 3:45, 3:47 then 3:50. It wasn't like I was hurting badly but I just couldn't make the legs move. Luckily managed to stop the slide at 3:50 and held that pace for 4kms between 35-39km. 39-40km was a struggle at 3:53 but then suddenly you can see the finish line and the mood lifts again.

The run into the finish was brilliant. Massive crowds, could hear and see JF and Timmy screaming their heads off. Saw that I was going to get under 2:37 so start waving my fists in the air like a madman. The best feeling I've had finishing a race. Got a bit emotional after crossing the line and had to pull myself together a bit before going to meet everyone.

Big thanks to JB who got me through three quarters of the race with very even splits (5km splits went 18:15, 18:22, 18:27, 18:20, 18:22, 18:26, 18:40, 19:27). But massive thanks to Big Sam and Quentin for those 35km training runs with Sam putting his foot down and banging out the sub4 min kms from 25km onwards - I'm sure they had the biggest impact. Sam himself, despite being completely out of action for nearly 4 weeks, was on for 2:46 before cramping badly at 38km.

Some big beers afters with Young Timmy (celebrating a famous victory over Enda), Tucks, Quentin, Sam, Enda, Rob and JF.

Will definitely be back for another. But it's not as hard as Six .

Me, Timmy, JB, Andy and Quentin

Friday all alone

Easy 10km squeezing it in during a manic day at work. Pretty stressful at the moment. 10km route in 42:09. Sounds faster than it felt, but then again I've been pissing around for 2 weeks now.

Tucks mate, that's rotten news. What's the suggested rest period? Might have to schedule a few races shortly after it ends so that I can address the one-sided head to heads this year...

Making it up as I go along

Chest feels a bit better each day. Decided to give it a proper test by doing a few fast sprints along Hickson Road. Hooked up with JC in the changing rooms (that doesn't sound right) and jogged down together. Was expecting a couple of guys who aren't racing this weekend but was greeted by a cast of thousands. Just cruised through each rep in 3:40 pace but put in a fast sprint for 30 seconds on each one. Did each rep in 4:06 (3:30 pace) which, if nothing else, was a masterclass in even pacing. Only did 4, then jogged back. 9km all up.

Chest a bit tight after but better than yesterday. More confident about Sunday as a result.

My predictions for the weekend:

Marathon:

1. Quentin: 2:32:50
2. Tongey: 2:34:20
3. Binfield: 2:35:25
4. Heyden: 2:36:40
5. Ray: 2:37:35
6. Dicky P: 2:45:50
7. Big Sam: 2:48:48
8. The Burglar: 2:53:49

Half:

1. Lara Tamsett: 1:11:10
2. Tucks: 1:11:21 (sorry mate, she's just too strong)
3. Enda: 1:15:59
4. Young Timmy: 1:16:01

10km:

1. Old Man Sweeney: 33:09
2. JF: 33:58
3. Kanser: 36:01
4. MC: 36:10

So there you have it.

Bad Tom

Was feeling slightly better so headed out with MC, Wildman, Craig and client Frik for a very easy 10km run in 45:00. Chest still a bit tight but much better than yesterday. Will test it again tomorrow with some sprints.

Check out THIS LINK to send messages of support (or abuse, as you like) during Sunday's (hopeful) marathon. Move your mouse to the right hand side of the screen for the supporters message service. There will be big screens at certain checkpoints on the course and when I run over the checkpoint mat your message of support/abuse will pop up on the big screen. How cool is that.

The Times

Was worried about the lingering, wheezy, chesty cough this morning so checked into the nearest doctor I could find who had availability. Mr Miyagi was a nice chap. But he told me I might die if I ran the marathon on Sunday. Apparently I've got a viral chest infection. I told him that I hadn't done all this training and come this far to be side-tracked but some vague threat of imminent death. He seemed sympathetic to my position, prescribed me some steroids and told me to come back on Friday for another check (and another $185 cheque).

So no running today.

Big news of the day was the establishment of Enda's Blog. "The voice of reason" has been promised for quite some time so I hope it lives up to its pre-billing. I seem to have copped a spray already. Poor Young Timmy is in tears. Also adding a link to Keith Bateman's blog, just so I can keep track on his training. Bit too much pulpit preaching on the barefoot malarkey for my liking, but the fella's results speak for themselves.

Monday plod

Crikey. Cast of thousands today. Monday is becoming the most popular HuRTS meeting day. Perhaps it's because it's run at such an easy pace. Is HuRTS' popularity at the expense of its quality? Though good to see Emma and Laura spearheading the female HuRTS (perhaps they need their own name; "Lady HuRTS", "HuRTS Ladies", "HuRTS the Girls" or "WHuRTS"?).

Chatted to Mat K (getting back from injury), MC, JF, Springer, Ray and Dicky H. Just 11.5km at 4:30's. Still got a bit of a chesty cough. Feeling very lethargic now. Should try to fit in another massage this week pre-Thursday.

Sunday easy

Out at 6am for a very easy run solo for a change. 24.4km in 1:48:28 (4:26's) around and about generally near Dee Why. Reached the top of Long Reef just as the sun was rising (probably spoiling the moment for a romantic couple wrapped in a snuggie hugging on the rock, especially when I cleared my nose). Magic morning though - calm, cold but crystal clear - one of those days you enjoy being out there.

Sat Steady

Didn't know what to do. Promised the kids a bike ride so did the 14km route. Felt good at the start so turned it into a marathon pace session. Quick chat with Dickyboy near Shelley. All up 13.95km in 51:47 (3:43's). Felt comfortable running 3:43's. Felt slightly uncomfortable running 3:42's so I think I know where my threshold lies. Very even paced with splits of:

3:42, 3:44, 3:44, 3:43, 3:46, 3:41, 3:40, 3:42, 3:43, 3:40, 3:42, 3:42, 3:38, 3:44.

More easy stuff

12 noon - log on to Co-Sport (Australian Olympic Tickets site), pick up tickets for 3 athletics finals day (Mens 100m Final day, Mens 1500m Final/Womens 100m Hurdles Final and Relays Finals). Maybe I'm just jammy, but can't see what all the fuss is about not getting tickets. Unless someone tells me that Co-Sport is a Nigerian registered company.

12:45am, catch up with Wildman for an easy 11km. Bore him with the details.

Sick note

Monday, sick. Tuesday, sick. Wednesday, kind of sorry for myself pretending still to be sick. Thursday, slightly tight chest, otherwise fine, decide I need to move my arse if I'm to do this marathon next week. Put on one long sleeved top, one vest and one t-shirt and run outside to discover the sun's shining and it's pretty warm. MC and JF are baring their chests for God's sake and I'm looking like the Michelin Man and starting to sweat.

Fair crowd with MC, Young Timmy, Tucks, Bartles, Enda, Clyde, JF, Ray, Jason and a heap of others fronting for the pyramid session over at Rushcutters. Fast Charlie used the distribution list to attempt to lead a renegade group of hill climbers over the bridge but MC (having learned from his spanking last time he tried the same trick) assured us he sent a stern warning email to our flash friend not to try such backhand tactics again.

The boys did the 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1 lap session looking sprightly. Ray and I jogged around. I told Ray he wasn't allowed to talk to me during GCM as I'm a miserable bastard when I race. He said he'd probably be following a few yards behind in that case. He said JB was planning to go out at 3:40s and expected me to be with him. Maybe for 10km I reckon. Getting excited about the marathon now. Will be especially so when I clear my lungs.

Kanser's sick. My money may yet again be at risk. Although MC looked to be struggling to stay with the boys today...

Mini-Mos - 7th in 34:40

Kanser swears by the central governor theory. Essentially, the theory goes that your body performs to the expectations that your mind (your central governor) places on it. I predict I'll do something close to my course PB (34:39) and end up with 34:40.

Did a long warm up of 7km. Rocked up to the start after a brief chat to Wildman to find the money-men had sorted out the places already. Harry Summers, Scott McTaggart, Wildman, Kevin Batt, Tom do Canto and Vlad were all there. They ran off. I was left running with a chap I didn't recognise, he then pulled ahead at 4km when I started to struggle, took a gel at 5km to see if I could stomach it running at race pace, started to come good again at 7km and that was about it. 34:40 felt much harder than I thought it was going to. It's a bloody hard course but others don't seem to struggle with their times as much as I do. I think it's all the hills and corners that disrupt your rythmn which doesn't suit me. Kevin Batt pulled out. Vlad, who was a long way behind the leaders and isolated at 5km ran a very strong second half to regain contact.

Did a 4km warm down with Wildman and Scott McTaggart for 21km all up.

Easy Sat

Felt fantastic from the start running 3:51 and 3:52 for the first 2km just coasting along. Slowed down a bit for the kids to catch up on their bikes and finished with 11.11km in 44:32 (4:00's).

Looking forward to Mini-Mos tomorrow. Always a testing run but hoping that the strength from the Marathon training will pull me through to a course PB (34:39).

City Mile Dash

Wildman was excited. The emails started arriving at 8.30am. Durante and I wanted to pull out, Wildman wanted us to run with the elites. Tucks said he was tired. Wildman said he was feeling great. Sauntered over at 12 noon with Durante and Tucks, arrived to find Wildman buzzing around the registration tent telling us he'd already put us in the elites and we'd only have to run once to count towards the team award so we reluctantly agreed.

Then bumped into JF, JB, Pete W, Rob, Enda, Eoin, Eamo, the CBA and MBL girls teams from Singapore which almost made it a reunion. Had the world's longest warm up. Got incredibly nervous. And we were off. And then I finished. A mile really isn't a very long way. Planned to sit behind Tucks which I did to start with but then felt good so pushed on. At the half way turn Wildman and Hugh Williams (World Cross Country Rep) plus some stranger (Mitch Dean - turns out he's a former pro-triathlete) were about 20m in front and I was in fourth, feeling good and as though I was running away from the rest. Then I hit the wind. Then Tucks came past. Then something looking like Zebedee came past which turned out to be Durante. Legs were feeling slightly jelly like at this stage. Tried to stick with them but to no avail, Tucks finishing his customary 4 seconds in front and Durante 3 seconds. Results here. I can't run a mile in 4:23 so I think it was closer to 1500m. Wildman of course won. I don't think Ryan Gregson would have beaten him today he was that gee-ed up.

With 4 in the top 6 we won the team prize by a country mile. $260 worth of Mizuno shoes, $240 worth of Alanic sportswear and a load of other goodies so not bad for 4 mins of effort.

Everyone proceeded to cough up a lung afterwards. I don't think we do enough lung busting stuff.

Blinkin' Nora

Meeting at lunch and State of Origin this evening so did the 19km MLR with marathon pace stretches run to work. However, every time I came to do a marathon pace stretch (other than Military Rd) I seemed to be running into a gale. So the marathon pace stretches were like 3:43 then 4:06 with a 4:19 average pace up Parriwi. Hardly setting the world alight. That's a bit of an excuse really though as I was really tired from the word go in any case. Just one of those runs you have to get through.

What made the run the worst though was the fact that I couldn't get the tune "Watch out, Beadle's about" out of my head. Only the Poms out there will understand this issue.

All up 18.54km in 1:19:57 (4:18's).

My secretary just sent me this photo as a potential solution to my limp wristed hand problem during races...

HuRTS Progressive tempo

Still had yesterday's run in my legs so decided not to set off too hard today. Wildman, Tucks, Ray, Bartles, JB and Scott(?) went off super quick with Richie H, Enda, Pete W, the Judge and myself in the next group. The Judge pushed on, Pete dropped back and Enda, Richie and myself made our merry way around the course together chatting about Richie's weak ankles, how we're going to smash the Irish in the City Mile Challenge and the bloody awful weather.

Pushed on a bit from the Opera House onwards (noting JF's shortcut) and got home in 44:36 just holding off Wildman who had run about a km further. Exactly 12km all up so 3:43's average. Had to work hard over the final 2km but otherwise feeling OK.

Tis done

Yesterday was a write off. Just too tired in the morning - slept on and off until late afternoon (Quentin said the same thing). Then planned a jog but we had a power cut so my day was done.

So met up with Quentin and Jamie for the long run today. They only wanted to do about 80 minutes so we did a loop around Cromer and Dee Why before coming back to Manly where I headed off up around North Head then back to Queenscliff and home via Campbell Parade. Didn't have my Garmin (power cut put paid to that) but time was 2:38:38. I'd guess at 37km. Pace was fairly honest with Quentin and Jamie and I did the last 10km in under 40minutes trying to push the pace home.

The long runs are done!!

Monster Saturday

Friday

Easy 7km in the evening feeling bouncy. Nice chap. 111km for the week but feeling like I bludged it after missing Tuesday's session.

Saturday

Met up with Quentin and Jamie for the Chloe Tighe session I did a couple of times last Spring. 5km hard (4mins), 8 x 1min hills (4mins), 5km hard. Ran the 5kms in 17:17 and 17:15. Felt pretty comfortable on the first with laps of 8:36 and 8:41. First lap of the final 5km I was feeling it (2nd km in 3:34) but then suddenly felt good on the 2nd lap and came home strong with laps of 8:41 and 8:34.

Durante has entered a team for the City Mile Dash next Friday lunchtime because there's about $500 of ASICS gear for each of the winning team members. It's him, Wildman, Tucks and me. I'm the weak link.

HuRTS Mona Fartlek

Bloody cold today so it was the hardened runners only, i.e. Timmy, Kanser and MC were absent. Was secretly hoping that the fast guys wouldn't be there as I didn't quite fancy a tough session today but rocked up to see Bartles, Tucks and Wildman bouncing around looking raring to go so resigned myself to a tough slog.

Set off pushing the pace. Got to the gate in 2:51 and into the virtuous circle of hitting the tops of the hills on the floats. Wildman was playing around running ahead and jogging back to us. He and Tucks pushed on a bit towards the turn but Bartles and I still reached the gates in 9:43. Again Tucks and Steve pushed ahead on the way back with John and I keeping each other company all the way. Felt better again on the 30's. All up 6.02km in the 20 mins (3:19's).

Did the route again as a warm down with JF, JB and Tucks. 14km all up.

How about this for a trophy! Better than the crappy medals we used to get...

Wednesday MLR

Missed yesterday's session giving a talk at lunch. Had planned to do a tempo run home but work dictated I had to have a few beers with a client to celebrate a deal win so that went out of the window. Not good to be missing key sessions at this stage. Maybe Kanser's right.

Today did the usual Wednesday route with MC, RMR, the King and Wildman with Stevie and I drifting ahead fairly early on to do the marathon pace stretches. Wildman's gut went wild mid-run so did a few detours via the Gents. Pace up Ocean street was 3:56 and 3:46, for the lap of Centennial it was 3:24, 3:28 and 3:28 but we had a strong headwind in parts. Caught up with MC's much swollen group now including JF, Kanser, Andy and Big Sam and ran back with them. Andy, Big Sam and I did the final fast stretch together.

23km all up as I did a 3km warm up feeling guilty about yesterday.

Easy Monday

Out for the usual Monday route with a cast thousands. Wildman, Durante, MC, Kanser, Andy, Ray, Craig and loads others. Stevie almost turned his ankle near the start and shades of Wildman rose to the surface as he started shouting indiscriminately at fat, slow blokes with no right to be running getting in his way. I tried to smooth things over by explaining that there was a place for everyone in this beautiful world that God has given us but he just growled at me.

Anyway, the pace picked up at bit after that as angry Steve hit the front. Kanser couldn't stop talking about Timmy. He's getting pretty obsessed. The world is collapsing around poor old Demolisher Dave. First, he sees me marching on inevitably to smash his marathon PB at the first time of asking, and second he sees Young Timmy disappearing out of contention - the realisation dawning on him that he will have to content himself with bets as to whether he can finish within 60 seconds of our iPod wearing polar explorer.

All up 15.92km in 1:08:34 (4:18's).

Plenty of great photos from the race (Gerry's got real talent for this):

Tom putting some effort in with Tongey with 150m to go:




Sam and Tim at 6km:




Jonny Binfield at 4km:




From left at 6km: Blue singlet chap (dunno), Jonathan Hew, me obscured by Bleasel, Tongey, Lara Tamsett, Tucks, Keith Bateman:



Andy at 6km:



Tucks and Tom at 4km:



Terence Bell and Richie P (cut down the middle) at 6km:

4 weeks to go

Out with Big Sam for the same route as last week. Came back over Queenscliff this time though so couldn't avoid the horrendous hill which turned my legs lactic after 35km.

Tired to start with but got into it, with Sam dragging me home from 30km onwards. All up 36.07km in 2:30:36 (4:11's).

Back from the run straight to Bec's soccer game where she scored her first ever goal, and followed it up with a second.

State 10km Road Champs - 29th in 32:41

Perfect morning. Cool and no breeze. Rocked up to find a cast of thousands from the HuRT Squad. Everyone but the injured was there. Did my usual pre race drills and was feeling great which boded well. Lined up next to Chadi and Tucks and we were off. It's a lightning quick start. Very wide and slightly downhills which lends itself to a charge of the light brigade. I was chatting to the Tiger afterwards and he said something which I had been thinking earlier this week - if you want a fast course for 10km, it has to have a fast start so that you get into the rythmn of running quick. It's why North Head is now slower since they changed the course, and why Lane Cove is relatively quick despite the hills. Anyway, none has a faster start than this one.

Fortunately I wasn't wearing a watch as Bartles said we went through 1km in 2:59. At that point I felt great and actually pushed on through to 2km. At that stage we had a group formed dominated by Striders - Tucks, Keith, Thamal, Tongey, Bleasel, Lara Tamsett (the only non-Strider!) and myself. Someone shouted out 9.28 at 3km. Still felt good. But on the drag between 4 and 5km past the Olympic Stadium I started to suffer. Keith said we went through 5km in 16:04 and I was still in touch. However, at the U-turn I just couldn't hold the pace despite everything I told myself before the race. It wasn't mental, I just didn't have it. They slowly gapped me between 5 and 7km where I told myself I could either put it all in or slowly drift away. Concentrated on catching Tongey who had become detached from the group. Caught him at the turn after 8km and then concentrated on Keith who looked as though he was starting to drop off the group too. Had a strong finish to drop Tongey but Keith was too far ahead, beating me by 6 seconds. Chuffed to bits with the time though. Only 4 seconds shy of the PB but I was spent - I don't think I could have squeezed any more time out of the race.

Some great times out there - Terence with 34:01, Timmy getting his dream with a 34:51, Andy running 33:45 just in front of Clyde (how does he do that off minimal training?), JB with a 33:21 3 weeks after Ironman (gives me hopes for C2S post GCM yet) but run of the day was Wildman. 30:37 to finish 5th, just failing to catch Scott Westcott! As Tiger said, it's amazing what can be achieved with a bit of class and determination.

Special mention to Young Timmy. We were all rootting for you mate. Walked back to the car with Big Sam after the race and he said that as soon as he crossed the finish line he went and gave Timmy a hug knowing how much it meant to him. Plainly a bit of Richie High behaviour going on there.

Also should mention Lara Tamsett's performance. Never great being chicked but 32:27 for a road 10km puts her in world class territory.

Results here.

I wasn't bad with my predictions. See the post below for the actual results versus predictions...

Plod City

6.5km jog around the Domain and CQ, bumping into and running with JF and Big Mikey H along the way.

More drop-outs for tomorrow with Dicky H suffering from a dicky ankle. However, the big news (and a major blow for the English contingent in the ongoing battle for the Ashes) is that Wildman is running. So I've updated his estimated time below. Based on my predictions, the 3 man Aussie team will beat the 3 man English team by a whopping 2:XX (feck, nearly gave the game away with my own predicted time).

72km for the week.

They're dropping like flies

Quentin out (that jettisons race plan #1). JF doubtful. Andy doubtful. It's the big race pressure. Only MC seems to be reacting in the right way, running angry after the naysayers predicted him conservative race times. Young Timmy's scared. Chances are our Stoke FC schoolboy reject will be developing Enda style flu in the next 24 hours.

Busy at work again but popped out this evening for 8km with five 40s - 60s fast patches interspersed. Felt good.

It's a drug

Managed 2 days off (and didn't feel like running at all) but was bouncing around my office this morning and persuaded myself that a gentle 6km would be a good idea so that I could have a good stretch afterwards. Bumped into JF (still with the lingering effects of the flu) and Andy along the way and ran with them.

Lots of trash talking going on about Saturday's race. This race, the C2S and JPMorgan are the three big HuRT Squad races of the year. Poor old Mikey is copping a fair bit of flak. And I'll spare him none here. These are my honest predictions based on people I know are running (assuming favourable weather conditions):

(Actual results in brackets)

Wildman: 31:37 (30:37) - doops
Quentin: 32:40 (DNS)
Tucks: 32:48 (32:32)
Bartles: 33:15 (33:01) - I know how that feels
JB: 33:25 (33:21)
Rich H: 33:43 (DNS)
Andy: 33:45 (33:45!)
JF: 33:49 (DNS)
Big Sam: 34:24 (34:56)
TB: 34:35 (34:01)
Dickyboy: 34:49 (DNS)
Richie P: 34:52 (34:40)
Young Timmy: 34:53 (34:51)
Jamie: 35:10 (DNS)
MC: 35:42 (36:15)
Kanser: 36:52 (37:14)

Long run with the Manly Boys

Up for a 6am start with Sam and Quentin. Took 2 Voltaren last night to get through the run and the heel was painless. Voltaren is the best drug in the world. And so small. Kirst could have slipped two into my mashed potato last night and I wouldn't even have noticed. I'm going to have to take some rest. Legs are far too tight and continually running on them just makes the achilles sore. I'm doing a load of stretches which works temporarily but feel as though I need to give them a rest to recover.

In saying all that, today's run was a monster. The boys went off at their usual pace. I felt great throughout and the time flew with plenty of conversation. Big Sam started to put the hammer down at 23km and we did the next 10km in under 40 mins. Timmy and MC - try and stick with him next week at your peril. The big guy is flying and I'm predicting a low 34.

All up 36.02km in 2:30:47 (4:11's). Another 6km at the same pace and it would be a 2:57 marathon.

North Head 10km - 5th in 33:26

Stood on the start line in cold conditions next to Thamal wondering how to tackle the race. I wanted to be aggressive like last month but didn't want to make the same mistake as last year in sheltering everyone from the wind and giving them a free ride. We quickly settled into a leading group of 5 - myself, Thamal, Quentin, Bleasel and a young chap called Jonathan Hew. Thamal and I did most of the work. I ran without a watch again and, with no clocks on the course, I was completely blind. We stayed together as a group until the end of the loop at the end of the first lap (i.e. about 5.5km) when I started to drop off. My legs were just dead. Was still turning them over OK but just had no zip or strength today. I'm guessing it's the effects of a big week this week.

Found out later we went through 5km in 16:30. Jonathan Hew developed a rocket up his arse at 8km and immediately gapped the rest of them by 20m, with only Quentin chasing. This meant that Thamal dropped off which at least gave me something vaguely to chase to keep me honest. Bleasel is looking stronger by the week. Results here.

So a bit disappointed to be 30 seconds behind Quentin but I was surprised with the time as I thought I had completely blown out over the final 4km. I'm thinking I might take 3 days off after tomorrow's long run to freshen up. I'm constantly tired and the achilles is sore. I figure this will freshen me up before State 10km next week where I hope to go under 33. However, it may not be ideal to take 3 days off 5 weeks out from the marathon. Would be interested to hear people's thoughts.

Special mention to Sam who is getting stronger by the week to run 34:57 (a minute improvement in 3 weeks!). Helped along by Ray who has now entered GCM too and ran 35:01 after a 20km warm up.

Easy peasy

7km jog off the Jet Cat in Manly. Very slow. Heel sore.

100km for week.

easy run home

Busy day at work meant I missed Hickson Rd reps with the boys so ran home at 8.30pm instead. 61:37, a new PW!

Good interview here with Benny. He even gives a shout to the HuRT Squad!

Wednesday MLR

With JB and Richie H deciding that their priorities lay with Corporate Cup, I was a bit worried about being alone for the marathon pace stretches today. Luckily I was able to fall back on the services of the Australian 10,000m record holder and Wildman to push me along.

Bloody awful weather - cold, wet and windy. Showed up to find MC, RMR, King James, Andy, Benny St and Wildman huddled together. We shuffled off. My legs were numb, both from the cold and the last 2 days training. At Rushcutters I signalled the start of the first quick stretch and the Saint immediately heads off to the Gents leaving Wildman, Andy and I to force ourselves up through Edgecliff and up Ocean St - gale blowing in our faces. Felt tired here and wishing the session over. Easy lap of the park with the Saint suddenly reappearing from another toilet and we were off on the quick lap. Stevie called out splits of 3:25, 3:22 and 3:23 while he and Benny casually chatted about this and that and I concentrated with my head down, legs burning and spit dribbling down the side of my face.

Andy rejoined us for the jog back, one last quick stretch along Garden Island and we were done. One of those runs you just feel pleased you managed to finish and put in the bag.

HuRTS 4 x 3km

Used to be 4 x 10 mins. But when you get fitter it becomes 4 stone gates to stone gates, which is 2.92km, which is the way it was today.

Another huge crowd but with a few of the speedsters (Wildman, Tucks and Quentin) in hiding. More girls again, with Sonya and Olivia joining in this time. Ray will have to pick and choose who to run with soon.

Set off in a group with Fast Charlie, Andy, Dicky H and Bartles all running together with Teetotal Timmy, JF, Clyde and a host of others in hot pursuit. I was immediately struggling with the pace. Went through 1km hanging on to the back of the first group in 3:24 thinking I was running 10s quicker. It wasn't that it hurt, just that my legs didn't feel as though they could go any quicker. Felt good on the hills though where I'd claw back any gaps. Gradually got into it finishing OK. Times for the reps were as follows:

10:02
9:44
9:53
9:29

So they got quicker each time (reps 1 and 3 uphill). I felt better each rep. Make a concerted effort to drop everyone on the hills on rep 3 with just Fast Charlie holding on. Then on rep 4 I felt fantastic.

Obviously a bit of yesterday's run in the legs to start with. May struggle on Saturday as it's a big week ahead. Still deciding whether to do North Head or the relays.

Long Monday

35.02km in 2:35:55 (4:27's).

Did 22km around Manly - Burnt Bridge Creek, Queenscliff, Shelley, North Head (inc. Fairfax), North Steyne then picked up my bag from home and ran into work. Felt pretty average around 20km and it was a bit of a struggle from then on but didn't feel much worse at 35km. Made an effort up Parriwi Rd as I knew that would be the make or break. Had a burst of energy at 32km - dunno what Kanser is on about with this 32km mental barrier issue. He's plainly got issues.

Had to run in my flats which wasn't great for the left foot. Not too bad after plenty of stretching.

Easy Sunday

Still not feeling great this morning after Friday night's efforts so ditched the idea of racing the Manly Fun Run and ran with the kids in the 2km instead. Billy had a great run finishing 11th in 9:04, Bec was 22nd 30 seconds back but run of the day was Maggie showing her mother and elder brother a clean pair of heels to finish in 14:04 running all the way. Probably a safe bet that she was the first 3 year old.

Felt better in the afternoon (and it was a beautiful day) so headed out with Billy on his bike. We did 12.25km in 51:46 (4:14's). Billy will sleep well tonight.

Quick note of Friday night's bets so that no-one forgets. $200 that Wildman can't run sub 2:25 for a marathon by Gold Coast 2012 and $20 with MC on whether TB can go sub 34:20 at State 10km. Kanser went for $50. The match up that no-one was willing to put money on though is Young Timmy v MC.....

Easy Friday

Cruised around the usual 16km route with TB and Kanser. Beautiful day, much warmer than recently. 69:50. 97km for the week.

All set of the Sydney Striders Annual Dinner tonight. The hottest tickets in town. Young Timmy hasn't been able to sit down all day.

HuRTS Pyramid

Showed up today expecting a small crowd of maybe 2 or 3 and so was shocked to see a hoard of runners congregated near the Art Gallery. Tucks, Bartles, JB, JC, JF, Enda, Ray, Andy, Dom, Sam, LF Charlie and a whole host of others. Plans for an easy session were immediately aborted.

Reps went as follows:

80, 2:42, 4:08, 5:36, 4:06, 2:42, 76

5:36 for the long rep is 3:03 pace. So comparable to the best I've done (11th Dec '08). Nice and consistent though, and as Tucks said, that's the game. This coming from the metronome of the running world.

Legs felt pretty sluggish at the start of each rep but I tended to find something about half way through and finished them all alongside Tucks with Bartles a couple of yards back. Tough session mind.

11km all up. Need a longer one tomorrow to find the 100km this week.

Wednesday MLR

Usual route. Turned up late to find everyone gone. Caught up with the crowd along Garden Island (MC, Sam, Andy, JB, Craig, RMR, King James etc) then started the marathon pace stretches just with JB and Andy. 22:05 at the top of Ocean Street so a solid effort. Quick for the Centennial loop with JB pushing all the way (splits of 3:27, 3:20 and 3:25 feeling good). Then Wildman appeared and I ran back with him with a 3:19 split along Garden Island. All up 18.70km in 1:18:00 (4:10's). Perfect weather, cool, sunny and still.

HuRTS 5min reps

Big crowd, most taking it easy post SMH Half. Cool but beautifully sunny day. Perfect running conditions. Took all the reps easy trying not to overdo it. Chatted variously to Ray, Tucks, Quentin, MC, Laura, Aine, JB, JF, JC, Sam, as I say, loads were there. Other than Young Timmy of course. Last seen wandering down Wembley Way with a bottle of Jameson Irish...

Kids School X-Country today. Bec came 2nd and will be going to District which was brilliant given she's had the last 2 weeks off school having had her tonsils out. Billy unfortunately came 7th (top 6 go to District) having been pipped on the line just like his Dad. He was gutted. He was racing against boys in Year 4 though (he's in Year 2) so will have plenty of chances in the future.

Plod recovery

Very easy plod on the Monday route with MC, Ray, Sam, Andy, Craig, Brendan and others. 11.5km in 55 mins just to flush out the legs.

Managed to find a photo where I was in front of Tucks. It will go down for posterity...



Results of yesterday's race. And how good is THIS for the race splits?! Check out that 15-20km split Kanser...

SMH Half - 22nd in 1:12:38

Woke at the ungodly hour of 5am to catch a cab in with Sam, Dickyboy and Ben. It was blinking freezin'. And dark. Wondered what the he'll I was doing. A few stretches at work and a very short jog before being called to the start line very early. Stood around having a chat with Tucks, Steve Jackson and Keith. Everyone seemed to be there -particularly from th HuRT Squad. This really is a runner's race.

Gun went and got myself a clear path through and immediately felt pretty good. No idea about km splits as I'd decided to run without a watch again. Soon found myself in a group with Tucks, Jonathan Bleasel, Quentin, Quentin's friend from the USA and another chap who I think was called Geoff judging by the shouts from the side of the road. Speaking of which, that was the best thing about this race. Lots of loops back where you passed runners from behind going the other direction and got loads of shouts which was always a lift.

Went through 5km in 16:43 with Keith a good 30s in front and Tongey about 10s in front, having gone off fast once again. Our group was just sticking together though working really well - pretty rare in shorter races. Nikki Chapple, the first girl, was just in front and remained there from 5km to 15km, working by herself rather than in the group of 7 which couldnt have helped her. At 10km (34:03) we caught Tongey who I thought might immediately drop off but he raised the pace to stay with us. Had dark thoughts coming back along Hickson Road but worked the hill up to Kent Street well (i seemed to run the hills well today) to regain touch. We caught Nikki coming into Art Gallery road and I hit the front of our group with a rash surge of confidence only to have Tucks come past soon after. Still kept touch with him coming around Mrs Macs chair where we caught Keith (who suddenly stepped aside? - i'll claim the win in any case). However, Quentin and Tongey then came past at the ABC Pool going strong and gapped me. Legs were tiring rapidly and just held on from there holding off Jonathan and pipping Quentin's mate in the run in.

Chuffed to bits with the time. I was hoping for a sub74 so to run my second fastest on a tough course (and I'm still dubious of the accuracy of the Blackmores Half when i set my pb) was great. Bit disappointed not to challenge Tucks and Tongey in the run in. How come I manage to finish 5 seconds behind Tucks whatever the race distance? Plainly a psychological issue there.

Great to catch up with everyone after. Amazing run by the Chairman to run 70:45, the bloke's a machine. JF suffered over the distance to run just over 76. Same with Bartles who started strongly. Enda came good for a mid 76. Clyde ran mid 74 off little training. Even Kanser and Durante were out for a run. Other good runs out there. General consensus seemed to be that it was a tough but fair course. Even achilles OK so happy days.

Another one squeezed in

Friday was 11km late in the evening, this time through Darling Harbour, Glebe, Camperdown and back along Parramatta Rd to the office. About 11km very easy, feeling much better about SMH Half tomorrow than I was on Tuesday.

101km for the week.

Squeezing it in

12 hour meeting in Melbourne yesterday put paid to any running. Knackered again today but took some time out of work at 8pm for a run. Headed up to Bondi Junction via Garden Island but got lost and ended up going all the way around Queens Park and back. About 17km all up so a bit further than I wanted. Felt surprisingly OK though, that's what a day's rest and perfect cool conditions do for you.

HuRTS Progressive Tempo

Crowd of thousands today, we even had 4 girls (Ainee, Emma and Laura from MBL and Anna) but some more usual faces like Rich, LF Charlie, JF, Terence, MC, Tucks, Andy, Wildman, Sam and the Chairman. Tucks, Wildman and the Chairman immediately went to the front and I started running with TB. I just had no energy to go with the front boys, the weekend's efforts having caught up on me. Turned under the second bridge still with TB and immediately put some effort in. Caught JF, Rich and Andy at CQ at the same time that Tucks, Wildman and the Chairman caught me. They were flying. From then on I ran with Rich all the way back. Final gate to gate in 10:09 and got back in 44:54 (12.6km). Average pace of 3:33's but I was running tired. Think I'll take tomorrow easy rather than the 19km marathon stretches and try to recover.

Easy peasy

Very easy run home. Would have been enjoyable but for the fact it was freezing cold and pissing with rain. 59:47. Some pictures from Saturday's race:


Look - Stevie does a spastic hand like me!




Just to prove the point, here's mine.




Young Timmy; "Now if I just close my eyes, perhaps I can just pretend the clock says 34 something..."

Long run with the Manly boys

Out with Quentin and Sam for exactly the same as last week (including my 5km "get the legs moving" extra bit at the start). Stunning morning this morning - perfection conditions again and some beautiful views. The boys kept the pace very honest but still chatting all the way. Did an extra bit to Shelley Beach and back at the end (bumping into Jamie along the way) which upped the kms a bit. All up 33.58km in 2:21:31 (4:12's). Felt really good today. Took gels (Powerbar gel) at 50 mins and 1:40 which made a big difference.

Sam's going well - looked very strong today. Expect he'll make some big improvements soon.

Homebush Striders 7th in 33:29

I thought it was in the bag. 1:45 headstart for Timmy, had been feeling good, finally record a good time and I turn around after finishing to see Timmy crossing the line within 10 seconds of his PB! Hats off to the fella, things are obviously a bit tough at home to put so much effort into getting $20 off me. Tucks did question whether he'd hidden behind a tree and avoided the final loop of the horse track but I've got more faith in him - Timmy's an honest grafter. So he gets the cash by running 1:42 behind. Amazing how close we manage to make it though. Last time it was an 80 second start and he finished 80 seconds behind. I put it down to two consistent performers who know how to get the best out of themselves. Others may put it down to two old buggers who are scared to get out of their comfort zone.

I was chuffed with my race. Told myself beforehand that I wanted to push hard for 5km then hold on. Even ditched the watch as well as i just wanted to race it and not worry about times. Plan was to stick to Tongey who always seems to go out hard. That plan went out the window after 50m when Tongey didn't go out hard, so stuck to Tucks (as ever) instead. He was generally in front other than for short periods when the pace dropped a bit and I'd take a turn. Went through 5km in 16:30 and realized going round the car park that we were in front of the Horne which was a bonus. Tucks was pushing on between 5-7km and I was just hanging on but the hill killed me and I had a shocker km between 7 and 8km where Tucks gained about 10 seconds and sure enough I hear the quickfootstpes of the Horne approaching. I tried to hold on to him when he went past just after 8km to let him drag me around which worked to a certain extent but then I hear Tongey approaching too. Desperately tried to lift the pace past 9km to avoid a sprint finish with Tongey but to no avail. Started sprinting over the bridge and start catching the Horne at the same time. Too short though. Finish in 33:29, a NEW COURSE PB! Haven't said that for a while so very chuffed.

Did a warmdown with Tucks and Wildman, who turned up to collect his $50 from Timmy (he had to get under 34 mins) and ended up giving Dave Criniti a run for himself money finishing second in 32:15. You could sense he was disappointed not to get the win. That's the difference between champions and us also rans.

Beautiful day - cool, sunny and no wind.

Very easy Friday

6km jog to work (before hopping on a bus) at a very easy pace. Achilles sore though. Had a 9.5 hour meeting today which isn't great race prep but mustn't grumble, the bet with Timmy stands.

93km for the week.

HuRTS Mona Fartlek

Smallish crowd today but with Wildman, Tucks and Bartles fronting up it was never going to be easy. Some familiar faces showing up as well with Luke, Geoff, Sam, Dickyboy and Ray all there.

Had decided I wanted to push today's session from the start in order to make the Stone Gates. Given how many times we've done this session, it gives a pretty accurate guide as to where you're at with training. Set off hard with the boys behind and kept the floats honest such that we cruised the first gate to gate in 2:53 (ie. 3:10 pace including half of that as float). The hills were tough and we had a bit of a headwind but managed to get into the virtuous circle of running the hills on the floats. Stevie helped out heading into the 60s efforts and we reached the Stone Gates with 20s to spare. This equals our fastest ever from June 19 2008. Struggled a bit on 3rd and 4th 60s when Stevie gapped us but recovered again on the 30's. Ran with Tucks all the way back with Bartles just a bit behind. It's a solid session. Hurts like hell when running it but feel fine shortly after. Pleased to have the confidence back to go out hard though, i'm going to try the same on Saturday morning.

Jog down after for 11km all up.

Marathon pace Wednesday

Usual Centennial route with Andy and Rich with the usual marathon pace stretches. Overall time was 1:19:50 which was slightly down on last week despite being quicker (22:45) to the top of Ocean Street. I think the quick sections were quicker but the runs in between were slightly slower. Richie kept the quick pace very honest. Felt very fresh after yesterday's rest day (enforced through work which is hell at the moment).

Australian 10,000m Record!

Go Benny Saint! Fantastic result in Stanford last night with Ben running 27:24 to beat the Aussie record by 5 seconds. What a champ!

Easy run home tonight, but tired to start with. Felt better as the run went on in perfect cool conditions to finish up with 56:40. Feel as though I'm turning a corner...

Long run with the Bloggers

Tiger arrived at 6am limping so we hobbled 5.5km together before joining up with Dicky Green, Young Timmy, the Burglar, Sam, Quentin and Jamie at North Steyne. Dicky had a fairly flat route planned going up Pittwater Road, via Narrabeen Lake, back to Dee Why Beach and home. Because it was fairly flat, the boys seemed to think it would be a good idea to run at about 4:10 to 4:15 pace. Felt pretty good today though even with the quicker pace which is good after yesterday's race.

Timmy and the Tiger came around for bacon and egg rolls and a few cups of tea after which was good on the first sunny Sydney day in weeks. Tiger even showed us his trampolining skills. I gave it a go after and only managed to split Billy's lip and make him cry.

All up 30:02km in 2:13:08 (4:26 pace - the average slowed by a couple of very slow kms over the cliff at Queenscliff at the end and a slow start). Took a gel (Hi5 Isogel) at 15km which worked well but I reckon I needed another one just before 26km so perhaps every 45mins? I'll try that next week.

Revelation of the day was Hamburglar's fitness - he'll smash 3 hours at Gold Coast at this rate.

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)

Sore

Woke up and did a 4km Cliff Young special to Carl's. Told him I was too tired and sore for plyometrics so did lower body stretching and upper body strength. Achilles sore afterwards. At lunch did 6km very easy with Jules from work. Then Tiger for a massage (check out the new blog link and marvel at the mileage) then a few beers.

Not confident about the biathlon tomorrow. Body feels pretty knackered.

HuRTS 14 x 3mins

The boys are getting fit. That's all I can say.

Found a new venue to do one of the toughest sessions on the calendar trying to avoid the crowds of Farm Cove. The venue was our spiritual home (Hickson Road) but veering off into Paul Keating's spiritual home (Barangaroo) for the second half. Rocked up to find JF half way through the session. With him warmed up, it meant the first rep was run at a pretty quick clip - I had it at 3:18 (JF had it a bit quicker on his Garmin). We basically then ran all of the reps at a consistent pace - reaching the same point (the big blue sign on Barangaroo) and getting back every rep. So about 3:18 to 3:19 pace. The final two reps were quicker at about 3:10 pace.

What was surprising was how many of the lads were up there at that pace. Wildman was leading but JF and Enda were up with him, Tucks and Rich too, Ray on every other rep, Clyde for the first 8-10, even Smolly on some. My legs felt like they'd been injected with lead - I was really struggling. Not sure whether it is a Six Foot hangover or just because I've had quite a strenuous previous 5 days. The lads would get away from me in the first half of each rep and I'd spend the second half trying to reel them in. Only came good on rep 10 (and I'd nearly pulled out before that) when you're pretty much running on reserves in any case.

2km jog there and back for 18km all up, a big session.

Funday Monday

Usual route. MC, Indrajeet, a large crowd of others from UBS, Craig, new chap Glen from Minters but then Richie H, Durante, Rob C and Big Mikey H join in after the start for good measure. The usual drop off after CQ with only Rob and Glen finishing with me. 35:20 on the way out (4:29's) and 33:58 for the way back (4:18's) for 1:09:08 for the 15.76km (4:23's). Felt tired again for first 4km then got into it.

Apparently poor Young Timmy has rolled one of his feminine ankles and is crying out of Thursday's gargantuan challenge. The news was received very poorly on today's run. Thursday night is shaping up for one of the highlight races of the year.

Getting longer Sunday

Straight up the beaches for 52:30 then turned around but quicker on the way back, finishing 23.12km in 1:42:27 (4:25's). Really struggled for the first 7km having set off after waking from a lunchtime nap and with yesterday's tempo in my legs. Then started to feel ok. Ran in my new Brooks Infiniti. Went into Northside Runners yesterday and said I wanted something similar to the Infiniti (given the line is now discontinued). He made me try on 4 different pairs - Nikes, Mizunos and Brooks Nervana or something. I quite liked the Nervanas but they didn't have a size 10, to which he then said; "I've got a pair of the Inifiniti in size 10".

Relieved not to have run the State 10km last night as there's a real risk Keith would have lapped me after he ran an amazing 31:51! Vlad and Dave also had great runs going under 31mins for the first time. Nice to see two Striders going top 3 in the State.

Saturday tempo

Kirsten told me my blog was boring so I'll stick to the facts. 10km tempo on the flat Manly 10km route. Bit of a southerly but not too bad. Much cooler than yesterday so they will be running quick times in the State 10km tonight.

34:59. Very happy. Splits as follows: 3:27, 3:32, 3:35, 3:32, 3:33, 3:29, 3:24, 3:27, 3:31, 3:29

1.5km warm up and down for 13km all up.

Au revoir DS Trainers

Tuesday I ran in my racing flats, Wednesday was a rest and Thursday again in my flats. Walk to work this morning with my achilles feeling great. Then run in my DS Trainers and it starts to feel sore again. I check out the heel and look at it! The shoes are only 8 weeks old but the heel fitting must be rubbing against my bursar so much it's worn away a big hole. So the DS Trainers are the problem. Didn't have any issues with the Brooks Infiniti so I'm going to try a Brooks replacement tomorrow.



Today's run was the usual route but with a ship in. Big crowd including MC, JF, JC, Clyde, Brendan, LF Charlie, Craig, Indrajeet, Laura, laura's mate etc. Very slow on the way out but picking the pace up a bit on the way back. 15.2km in 1:09:03 (4:33's).

86km for the week.

Tempo run in

Missed a run yesterday because I was busy at lunch then wasn't feeling great in the evening - sore throat, aching limbs. Think I overdid it on Tuesday but there are a lot of colds going around the office. Just being a lazy arse really though as I was in two minds.

Got a lunch on today so decided to punish myself with a tempo run in. I hate pushing it in the morning. I'm never fully warmed up and so it feels painful all the way as a result. Decided to try and mitigate this with a 2km easy jog before starting the run. Set off OK, running the first 2kms slightly up hill in 3:40 and 3:46. Got a shout from Dom on his bike at the bottom of Parriwi Rd then a pat on the back from Richard (Work) at the top. Ran 4:11 for the solid Parriwi uphill km. 23:09 at Spit Junction and was going well. 3:40 along Military Rd then started to lose concentration as I got into Neutral Bay. Struggled up the hills in Kirribilli and felt rotten for the drag of a hill over the Harbour Bridge but then suddenly got my second wind as I crested the bridge. Finished all up in 49:20. I think that's my third fastest over the disstance (PB is 48:45 set just before the City to Surf in 2008) but fastest run to work as opposed to home. Really pleased with that as I was hoping for something sub 51.

15km all up.

HuRTS 45mins Fartlek

On February 24th I said I probably had 2 more weeks until Wildman overtook us. I was a bit premature as it took him 4 but I don't think he'll be looking back now.

After all the rain of the past few days today was bright and sunny but very humid (for Flakey, it was 28C and 89% humidity). The session was bound to be tough as a result. Good crowd of the old timers today including Dicky H, Pete W, Young Timmy, MC, JF, Enda, Rob, JC, Bartles, Wildman, Tucks etc. Young Timmy made a dash to the front that EJ would have been proud of before calming down. I was in the front group with Tucks, Wildman and Bartles. Stayed this way until Circular Quay on the way out when Bartles dropped off - we were pushing the pace quite quick though. Turned just before the second speed bump on Hickson Road which wasn't bad given the detour at the Opera House. At this stage, we were averaging 3:31's. I managed to hold the pace until running under the Harbour Bridge when I started to struggle. Tucks had just dropped off and Stevie was pushing on so it was just a question of hanging on by myself and not letting the elastic snap too hard. Ran through 10km in 35:40 but really struggled around Farm Cove and up the hills with Stevie pulling further ahead. At this stage I was really dragging my feet on the 30s jogs. Finished the 45mins at 12.45km (3:36 average) and jogged back to the gates in 46:23. Caked in sweat and knackered but at least everyone struggled. Tucks cut short by missing out the Opera House, Bartles hit the wall badly. Only Stevie was strong out there today. Km splits show how the humidity affected us. As Richard H pointed out though, it will help us in Singapore.

3:25, 3:24, 3:36, 3:30, 3:29, 3:34, 3:38, 3:29, 3:41, 3:46, 3:45, 3:50 - final 450m at 4:10 pace.

Bit wet

It's been pretty wet recently. 130mm on Sunday, huge downpours again today. Had a meeting at lunch so ran home from work in a torrential shower. Could barely see for water getting in my eyes. Saw only one runner mad enough to be out there in those conditions - Fats!

Pretty easy run home in 58:44 (splits of 16:38, 30:38 and 49:49) but with the last 2km very slow trying not to fizz up a bottle of Diet Coke I bought for Kirst from the BP garage. I'm a good husband.

Weekend around and about

Sunday

20.3km in about 1:28 (4:24's) up to Seaforth Oval, along Wakehurst Parkway trail, down Alambie Rd then back through Manly. Nice run but heel a bit stiff.

Saturday

Finally feeling a bit better but seem to have muscle memory resulting in me collapsing at the sight of a hill. 10.5km around and about at 4:17 pace ending up the hills at Balgowlah Heights to pick up the car. Tried to at least not shuffle up the hills.

Run in

Ran to work. Felt good at times, felt dead at times. 27:27 at Spit Junction and 58:25 all up (sounds like a slow second half but didn't feel that way?). Hills still scare me.

70km for the week.

Lazy arse

Enjoying this post marathon recovery malarkey. 4km jog to Carl's this morning and a very easy workout with him plus Tiger massage this arvo. Eating the house down and enjoying a few beers.

Walking like Elvis

Quads are still shot. I feel like someone has taken to them with a hammer. Just an 8km jog today with Quentin, Dickyboy and Jason. Tried to do some heel kicks to stretch the thighs but it just made me cry.

Couple of photos added from Six Foot. I tried very hard not to mince my way across the river but it looks as though I failed again.

Six Foot Track - 9th in 3:49:57

Approached the race feeling pretty good. Training had gone well, tapered well, no illnesses and was feeling pretty good. Nothing to complain about which is rare for me. Rocked up to face the longest toilet queue in the world, stood there panicking a bit then finally joined Wave 1 next to Tucks and Quentin. Decided to push the start a bit quicker so as not to get stuck going down Nellies Glen, Quentin jumped ahead of the two guys in front of me who proceeded to take it very gingerly allowing Quentin to gap them significantly. The girl behind me (Anna Frost) was getting a bit impatient behind so we let her through.

Picked the pace up with the two Gramps Army runners in front, one of whom was David Hosking, who I'd end up running quite a bit with. Pace was quick along here, with km splits of 3:34, 3:49, 3:50 and 3:52. Always love this bit of the race before the pain begins. Followed David all the way to Cox's (overtaking a few on the way, including Anna). Launched myself into the deep river so as not to look like a mincer and proceeded to overtake David and another chap in the process. Crossed the Cox's mat in 1:08:50. Then the hills begin. The hills to Mini-Mini are the worst. Ran them all until I heard a familiar voice just before the open field and sure enough Tucks comes past. Ran with him until the bugger of a hill to the top of Mini-Mini where I started to walk. I was plodding so slowly that I was starting to cramp up, so figured I might as well walk the very steep bits. Tucks of course kept on running and started to gap me. Going up Pluvi I ran by Timmy Ashby but was overtaken by David Hosking and Anthony Scott (who went on to finish 4th!). Reached Pluvi in 2:14:55 (I think). From then on, it was a pretty lonely experience. Had very black thoughts along Black Range (where did those extra hills come from?). Got very worried about being "chicked" as very time I went past an aid station I'd get a cheer then 30seconds later would here a cheer twice as loud. After crossing Caves Road I put a real effort in to get some low 4min kms. Massively relieved to finally see the finish and got all emotional as usual. Shame Dad and the kids were still doing a Jenolan Caves tour so went for a massage instead.

First PB for 2 years which is a bit of a relief. I was worrying about getting old. Having said that, this does seem to be a gnarly old man's race.

Great result by Quentin to run 3:44 on debut. Tucks is a machine, running 3:41 after being just out of sight at Pluvi. He must hammer the Black Range. Nice couple of bees with Eoin, King James, Marc, Dickyboy and Rob after.

Body a bit beaten up. Hip flexors are very sore and Achilles not great. I'll take it very easy this week.

Thanks for the SMS's - sorry i couldn't respond until now as there's no coverage at Caves House.

Here and there

Jog around Hyde Park, Mrs Macs Chair and Macquarie St prior to catching the Fast Ferry. 8kms in 35 mins. Bumped into people doing the ABC Biathlon. Would have been a good day to do it judging by the pace of the leaders of the first wave.

Aims for Six Foot:

1. Don't die
2. Avoid requiring oxygen at end a la Dicky H
3. Enjoy myself
4. Beat Timmy Ashby
5. Run 3:49:19

We'll see.

Lots on

Terrible night's sleep last night. Claudia starts screaming at 3.30am and stops 2.5 hours later. Then up at 6.30m for conference speaking duties this morning. Sandbagged all day but manage a run home. Feel very average for the first half then it all comes together. 55:41 all up after splits of 15:52, 29:45 and 48:21. Need a couple of good nights sleep before Sat.

Run home

58:35. I'd normally say easy run to upset Young Timmy but after a last minute massage last night and not drinking enough water today my legs felt like lead the whole way.

Achilles much better though after some TLC over the past couple of days. Relieved as I was getting worried for a while. Not sure Saturday morning will do it much good mind.

Some very fast times on Saturday morning up at North Head. Vlad and Unc in particular smashing their PB's with low 31's, Bleasel and Bartles with sub 34's, Eoin running a PB and even Young Timmy getting back under 36. Spoke to Quentin on the ferry this morning who sounded a bit disappointed with his 33:27 saying he felt tired most of the way. Could be a lesson there if I cared to listen.