Saturday Tighe session

Wanted a tough session today so planned for the hardest one I do - 5km hard, 8 x 250m hill then 5km hard. Dickyboy agreed to join in but had Cameron in the pram so was just running at 4min kms, cutting short a couple of sections to give me something to chase.

I ran 17:10 then 17:24. Not quite as good as the week post State 10km (where I did 17:17 and 17:15) but I just couldn't keep it up on the second 5km - in June I felt good on the final lap, today I was just holding on running 3:30's before putting in a final sprint. Still, it was consistent and it is done.

A few more recent photos for the family:

Run in

Met up with Dickyboy in Fairlight and ran to work with him. Was intending on a nice easy pace but Dicky starts with a 4:10 and keeps the pace up the whole way, clocking sub4 mins kms along Military Road. I was trying to chat but was gasping for breath mid-sentence.

Ended up with 54:46 after 26:15 at Spit Junction. Dicky goes a slightly different route through Neutral Bay and once off the bridge but I don't think it affects the overall tuime too much. Turns out he tries to beat his time to run in each time he does it.

82km for the week.

Couple of photos from holiday:

Kids on the beach:



Highs and Highnams:

HuRTS Pyramid

Really small crowd today. Tucks showed up at the Art Gallery but sporting an iPod and just heading off for a jog before he attempts to cement his position as King of the Trails in the Fitzroy Falls Fire Trail Marathon on Saturday. Bartles, New Dad J-Fen, Todd, Ray, Hamish and Killa were men there for the real session.

Bit nervous beforehand, haven't done any speed in weeks (and nothing since pulling out of SMH) so set of gingerly but felt quite comfortable. Reps went as follows:

82
2:47
4:12
5:38
4:11
2:42
75

Ran them all bludging off Bartles until the final lap of each rep where I'd take the wind. Times were comparable to what I did back in May but without feeling absolutely shattered. Uncomfortable running 3min kms again mind. Took my shoes off half way through and ran the back reps barefoot. Interestingly it felt easier doing so. I could be on to something here. I've discovered a new running technique I'm going to reveal to the world...

Home again

10km in shoes both yesterday and this morning. Then a 10 hour drive back to Sydney. Slow yesterday, steady this morning (4 min kms). Stiff and sore now. Need to get back into the regime again.

Attempt at a longer one

Did 5.5km along the roads (seeing Charlie D drive past in the process) then hit Tallows beach running the length from Broken Head to Byron Bay lighthouse and back. I'd bandaged my blistered toes but the tide was high and I was running on the soft sand and in the sea when I couldn't avoid the waves. Before I hit the lighthouse the bandages were flapping off. 2km later the toes were shredded. Felt a bit sick with the pain at the end, but finished up with 20.78km in 1:35:10.

Mr Sand Man

Yesterday was a very easy 8km barefoot on the sand again with the blistered toes feeling very sore. Averaged about 4:17's.

Today I had 30mins to fit a run in before LF Charlie was turning up with family to watch the mighty Sea Eagles win the Grand Final. This place has become a HuRT Squad northern base over the past week. With only 30mins to spare I went hard from the beginning, feeling great before turning after 15mins only to discover I'd been running with the benefit of a strong Southerly. Finished up with 8.04km in 31:04 averaging 3:51's. Again, on the sand barefoot. Feel as though all this barefoot sand running has done great things for my PF and achilles, with no issues from them whatsoever.

Great Grand Final to watch, even for the impartial observer with Glenn Stewart, Will Hopoate and Shaun Johnston showing some lovely bits of magic. LF Charlie managed to remain suitable muted, but at least his eldest son showed some allegiance.

Good results from Homebush yesterday. Tucks beat my Homebush PB by 13 seconds so will be hard to beat from here on. Timmy is on his summer decline and Kanser is slowly progressing. Thought JF would go quicker though. But then I remembered he's probably only had 3 hours unbroken sleep for the past 2 weeks so fair play..

More of the same

12km today up and down the beach. Tide was out so ran on the hard sand, so much quicker (50:57 with a slow first and final km beating my way through the bush behind the beach). Fantastic day, blue skies and 23C but no Ursula Andress today.

Back out again

Sydney half was a shocker. Set out feeling very good, going through 3km in 10:00 with Bleasel before my hammy started tightening up at 5km. Tried to stretch it out by lengthening my stride until it tightened up to the point of limping at 8km. So I pulled out. My first ever dnf. It stiffened up massively as soon as I stopped and I hobbled around for the next couple of days.

Had a conference up in the Gold Coast last Wed/Thurs and tried a short run on the Thurs but my hammy was still sore. Incidentally, we had a big night out on the Wed where one of the fellow attendees at Shooters was Clive Cooper, who Tucks will remember as the Sydney University runner who bolted away from us in the State 3000m in 2008 before we crawled our way back to him on the final lap. He went out similarly hard on the vodka red bulls, but this time I matched him stride for stride from the gun.

Ran to work on Tuesday before pulling up stumps at Cremorne and catching the bus with the hammy tightening slightly. Drove up to Byron Bay yesterday for a week's holiday. Ran along Broken Head beach this morning - 5km up then back. Highlight was reaching 4km to see a lady emerging from the waves in her birthday suit. I was too prudish to take a closer look but she didn't strike me as your traditional nudist (teutonic, overweight). I'll be heading out at a similar time tomorrow morning.

Finally, had Richie High over for a BBQ this evening. He's holidaying up here too. Plenty of slagging off of Young Timmy which was fun. His kid Ben is a future AFL/soccer star. Either that or my kids are very average. Mmmmm.

Even easier Saturday

6km around and about with 4 sprints. Achilles a bit sore which is a pain in the ass. Well, the heel.

Very easy Friday

Very easy jog with MC, Marty and Russell around and about in my new Mizuno Wave Elixir 6's. Ordered them for A$106 on Tuesday and they arrive this morning - how good is that! Feeling much less tired than the last couple of days so hopefully will be well rested by Sunday.

10.2km in 48:06 (4:42's). 86km for the week.

HuRTS 10 x 400m

Woke up this morning feeling knackered and dragged myself to work. Not sure why I'm feeling so tired as I'm not doing any more volume or intensity than normal. Also had a raging thirst last night and remember Kanser saying a while back that he'd read that this was a sign of over-training.

So decided just to take it easy today. Jogged over to Rushcutters with JC, Tucks, Clyde, Kaley and a few others and met Timmy there who had neatly laid out his cones, while watching J-Fen do his own thing and TB showing up late. I cruised around the first rep at the back in 80 seconds. A groundsmen then appeared telling us to get off but Hardman gave him a hard stare and TB (aka Drago) puffed out his chest which was sufficient for the groundsman to retreat back to his shed to finish his cup of tea. I'm pretty sure Timmy was last seen after the session heading over to join him.

Did all my reps in 79-80 from the back other than reps 3, 6 and 10 which I pushed hard in 65, 66 and 63. Jogged back and felt better for having got out there.

Very Easy Wed

Ran home in 58:29. Very easy, slowing myself down, which wasn't hard as the legs (particularly bottom of glutes) were tired again after yesterday's session. Also a bit tender after a Tiger massage this arvo. The Tiger has gone bearish on Young Timmy, betting me $50 he won't break 77 mins at the weekend. I jumped at that offer, particularly after Timmy himself sent me a text telling me he would smash that time. So Timmy, over to you.

HuRTS 45mins Fartlek

With the Irishmen opting for an easy session earlier this morning, only the hardcore (and Timmy) fronted up for one of the toughest sessions in the calendar. Hardman was there, rounding up the troups. The King of Trails, despite an exhausting weekend, didn't shy away. Even Timmy was there, last seen walking around Farm Cove looking pale.

I wanted to take this one out quite hard so set off with no-one following me, then at Mrs Macs Chair J-Fen appears stage left. I thought he'd settled back with the rest of the pack but just sticks to my tail, slightly behind on the fast sections (1 min on) but catching up again on the easy sections (30 seconds off). We turned well down Hickson Road, opposite the steps beside the Lend Lease building, which is as far as we've gotten before, particularly considering the detour we have to take around the Park Hyatt. J-Fen is still there. I try to push the pace around the Opera House and can see Dicky H and Macca, but still J-Fen holds on. We run past a walking Timmy and no change. Only coming up the hills at the end, when I'm pretty much at 100%, does he drop off, and then only a little, finishing 3-4 seconds behind. I got back in 45:02 which I was chuffed with given the fast start.

Total stats were 12.9km in 45:02 (3:29 pace). The Garmin 610 seems much more accurate than the 405, no funny readings around Circular Quay. And I love the shakes it gives. But story of the day was the form of J-Fen. The rest seems to have done him good.

Easy Monday

Run home in 54:37. Felt fantastic, the difference with last Monday couldn't be more marked.

Now to deal with the dead rat by the pool.

Taper Sunday

Friday was an easy 12km with 2 JB's and Kanser. 92km for the week.

Friday night was some joint birthday drinks with Richie H and Sonya which resulted in a slightly dusty Saturday so took another day off.

Today out at 6.30am on a glorious day with Paul Macca, Ben and Scott for an easy 25.4km in 1:52:59 (4:27 pace) up to Narrabeen Lake and back along the beaches.

HuRTS Yasso 800's

Small but merry band today. Young Timmy, LF Charlie, Tucks, Kanser, Jason, J-Fen, Paul Mc, King James, Christian, new girl Orla and a few others jogged over to Rushcutters for 10 x 800m off 90s rest. Wasn't feeling up to it on the jog over but felt fine as soon as we got going. Tucks was taking it easy again so I was out front alone for the most part. Reps went as follows:

2:26
2:25
2:23
2:23
2:23
2:23
2:22
2:20
2:22
2:18

Felt pretty comfortable for the first 5. J-Fen pushed one of the later reps and Tucks pushed rep 8 which helped quicken them up a bit. I reckon they are about 5 seconds short of a full 800m.

Big news of the day though was the return to form of Kanser. Our Irish friend stuck on Young Timmy's shoulder for all the reps which caused a growing look of consternation on Timmy's face as he tried to shake him. Then on the final rep Young Timmy was Kaned. Usually full of banter, our self-styled teller of tales and trash hopped straight onto his bike and refused to speak to anyone before peddling back (legs full of lactic) to Erskineville. We were gobsmacked and hardly knew what to say as we jogged back to the city.

About 13km all up.

A few links

This bloke really annoys me.

Almost as much as this bloke.

Check out the final standings in the Runnerstribe tipping comp.

Today was the 4 x 10mins HuRTS session. I had a call at 12.15pm which I took, half knowing it would make me late for the session. So rocked up at St Mary's to join in the final 3 reps. Legs still knackered. Just couldn't seem to turn them over. Anything under 3:30 pace was a real struggle. Bartles and Stuart were well ahead. Tucks and Richie H seemed to be struggling with me. Jason kept me honest on my second rep (his third). Had a chat with a few of the boys and Laura though so nice to catch up.

About 11km all up.

Slow Monday

Very easy run home. Was even slower than it felt. 59:21. Very tired, may listen to the body and take a couple of days rest. Will see in the morning.

Long Sunday

Thanks for all the comments for yesterday. Brought back down to earth today with a very tired and sore long run. Dropped Bec off at a party at Queenscliff so set off from there for a loop around Narrabeen Lake via Cromer each way, but up Pittwater Road and back via the beaches. 29.01km in 2:06:10 (4:20's). Left PF very sore all the way.

Go Mo!

Striders North Head - 1st in 32:24

Didn't think I'd ever be writing that title for a post. Woke up feeling pretty good for once. Took my new pre-race concoction of Endura Optimizer and drove up to North Head, bumping into Kanser and Timmy in the car park. Timmy was his usual self and Kanser had more excuses than you could even contemplate. Saw Truscott, the Horne and Thamal warming up, then was greeted by Robbie Neill at registration so there was a decent crowd. Bleasel and Hew were also on the start line so I knew it'd be a decent race. My plan from the start was just to stick to CT for as long as possible.

CT went straight to the front for those 2 annoying little loops of the car park then heading out on the first big lap it was a group of CT, Robbie and myself in front with Thamal just behind. Then at 2km Robbie suddenly puts in this burst of speed, CT goes with him and they gap me by about 10m. I'm thinking, WTF, is this what proper racing is all about? Then on the slight rise after the roundabout I start to catch them again. We're altogether coming back to the roundabout so put some pressure on up the hill and Robbie dropped off. It's now just a race between me and CT. Basically, CT puts in a series of surges which I gradually claw back, usually on a hill. Coming up to 9km I'm waiting for him to go again and thinking that I can't let him gap me this time. Sure enough, he does and I go with him then pass him and suddenly I've got a gap. Can't believe my luck. I was dreading the dogfight of a final sprint. Just keep the speed up for the final loop and turn the corner to the finish to see 32:18 or thereabouts on the clock and I'm ecstatic. First win since pre-injury at the age of 16 and a decent PB to boot over the distance I run most often.

No idea about the splits. I ran without a watch again because I wanted to race it. Robbie said he went through 5km in about 16:05 and we were about 10s in front.

Some great runs out there today, none more so than Timmy who clocked another big PB in running 34:27 and almost beating Richie again. Richie overtook him with 20m to go! Sounds like those 2 had a good tussle with Paul McClarnon the whole way. Eoin had a good run in the low 35's and Kanser is getting back with a 36:40 (before running another 21km back home). JC ran an inaugural 10km in 36:36. The one down point of the day was seeing Anna looking as though she suffered another attack at the 3km mark, hope she's OK.

Friday meander

Very easy 8km around and about. Bumped into MC and Mrs Tucks (not together).

100km for the week.

HuRTS Pyramid session

Lovely day. Good crowd. Over to Rushcutters. We despatched Jason to negotiate with the groundsmen who had stuck up a "Ground closed" sign, but alas to no avail. So across to the rugby field to mark out a 400m track. That basically consisted of running around the edge of the field and adding a bit on at the end. Wasn't quite a full loop so two laps was longer than 2 x 1 laps, if you know what I mean.

Bartles, Tucks, Jason, Richie H, TB, Luke, Ben, Pete W, LF Charlie all there, with a number of others, including the return of J-Fen! Turns out he's back off running for 2 weeks looking after his back. Even Big Mikey H showed up but disappeared after a couple of reps. Plainly UBS are working him too hard. He needs to move to MC's team.

Reps went as follows:

1 lap (383m): 67s
2 laps (802m): 2:21
3 laps (1.18km): 3:34
4 laps (1.57km): 4:49
3 laps: 3:33
2 laps: 2:16
1 lap: 58s

Rest was half the time of the previous rep. Richie was doing the timing. However, for the last rep I told him to cut short the rest time to blunt the impact of the burglars who save themselves for the final rep. My cunning plan worked a treat. Ran just in front of Bartles (going very well) for all reps with Tucks taking it easy following his win at W2B. Jason and TB were looking very good too.

Got a call from Bec (my eldest) this afternoon very excited about her District athletics meet up at Narrabeen track today. She came 3rd in her 800m heat running 3:03 so is through to the final tomorrow. A good placing there will see her through to Zone for the first time. We'll be talking tactics tonight.

Slow Wed

Had a massage booked with the Tiger at 9.10am so just ran to Lime Street from home. Very tired from yesterday's efforts. Set my Garmin at the start of the run and it still had yesterday's session showing. I didn't stop the watch yesterday for each rep so it just showed the total - 13.09km in 50:30 for an average pace of 3:52 p/km but that includes 10.5 minutes of rest (walking, chatting), so no wonder I was still buggered.

Just put one foot in front of the other for the first 3km. Felt a bit better from then on but more than happy to stop at Gary's. He sorted out the achilles and PF nicely.

13.29km in 57:55 (4:21's).

HuRTS 8 x 5mins

My secretary saw me about to write my blog and sent an email suggesting the following:

"Well guys, I was on fire today! My secretary would have been very proud of me running faster than Forrest Gump (my all time idol).

Back in the office I worked on churning my stomach up by mixing juice, yoghurt and chocolate - I'll keep you posted on that experiment!

I'm about to go and get coffee and forget to buy lollies for the bowl - lately I've had dementia and forgot my secretary's coffee yesterday - I felt so horrible.

Talk to y'all tomorrow,

Forrest Gump"

Wasn't quite like that. Big crowd today despite the temperature dipping back to Winter climes again, but with a few of the big guns (Tucks, new boy Stuart, J-Fen and, err, Young Timmy) missing. I tucked in behind the flying Bartles with Fast Charlie on my shoulder and Dicky H just behind. Ran the first 6 at 3:15 to 3:16 pace. Then at the end of rep 5 Rich says, "what's the further we've ever got, it's to that big rock isn't it?". Bartles indicated it was within reach and, running back on rep 6 I pass a flying Keith Bateman going the other way. That was enough to stoke my fragile ego, so set off quicker on rep 7 and pushed all the way, finishing past the big rock and at the start of the fence at the bottom of the ABC hill. Averaged 3:09 pace. Bartles was about 15 yards back. Was feeling good at this stage (apart from a dodgy stomach - cue secretary email above - which I've had for 24 hours) so ran the final rep with Bartles pushing ahead of him towards the end averaging 3:06.

Great session. Felt comfortable at 3:15's but had to push hard to go any quicker. Rodgered now.

Good to see a few familiar faces returning to sessions, MC, LF Charlie and Anna in particular.

Oh no, Mo!

Screamed at the telly last night during the 10,000m World Champs final. First due to the atrocious coverage from the Koreans (let's hope there's a Korean running the 5000m) and then the agonising final lap for anyone who follows British sport.

Set about training with renewed vigour today inspired by Mo's words in the post race press conference. Safe to say I don't think last night will dampen his enthusiasm. Having missed a long run yesterday, I went early today planning on catching up with Kanser along Barangaroo and the rest of the squad for the second half. Kanser was nowhere to be seen, bumped into Clyde instead at CQ and ran with him. Really didn't want to be running when by myself but time flew when I had someone to run with. Caught up with the rest of the squad (and Kanser) at Farm Cove and turned with them. To complete the string of accidental acquaintances, bumped into the Tiger near the Hyatt on the way back and ran with him for a bit.

Pace slowed a lot when I joined the group. PF was sore by the end, it doesn't like it when I run long and slow. More worryingly, my right knee was (and still is) sore, just on the knuckle on the inside and particularly when I lift my leg. I've been switching the ice from left foot to right knee all afternoon.

All up 28.12km in 2:02:59 (4:22's).

Not the Pub to Pub

Woke up with a red wine head and sore body. Hauled my ass back to Luna Park to pick up the car and that was my run for the day. PF pretty sore after yesterday's efforts. Having said all that, the pace wasn't too bad after putting some effort in up Parriwi Rd. I've become obsessed about working my glutes on hills. 10.78km in 45:32 (4:13's). Will go long tomorrow.

Good job I didn't bother fronting up to Pub to Pub. Vlad won it ahead of the Horne and Truscott, so even getting on the podium would have been unlikely. Ominous that the Horne was ahead of Truscott. Sounds like he's almost back. So no more easy Fun Run wins available.

Tempo Saturday

Had to decide between a 14km tempo and hills, so took the easy option. Good running conditions, cool but little wind. Fairly non-descript run. Said hello to Tony Wong en route and that was about it. 13.92km (measured short this time) in 49:48 (3:34's). Turned in 24:59 so 10 seconds quicker on the way back. Ran through 10km in 35:52.

Going to a charidee ball tonight so decided against Pub to Pub in the morning.

Just heard a rumour that Tucks won Willy to Billy today. Fantastic result if correct, well done mate.

Easy Friday

Back to back interviews, calls and meetings today so ran in. Felt very average for the first 2km (yesterday's hangover diet of Hungry Jacks and lollies didn't help) then got into it. 26:03 (chasing two cyclists up Parriwi Rd) at Spit Junction and 55:12 all up. Beautiful day. Dare I say it, Spring is here.

96km for the week.

Easy Wed

Interviewing at lunch so headed out just after 1pm for a shortened one lap of Centennial with Dicky H and Andy. Legs very tired, but a nice easy run on a beautiful day chatting to the boys, mainly taking the piss out of Timmy.

View from office window this arvo below:

HuRTS Progressive tempo

We had it all today. Big crowd, popular session. Started out at 4 mins per km in a group with Tucks, new boy Stuart from Deutsche Bank, Jason, Dicky H and JB. We were pretty strict about dropping the pace to 3:50's after 10mins, then 30:40's after 20mins but after the turn (at 23.5mins), suddenly we seemed to throw in a 3:20. Then under the Harbour Bridge I could see a big crowd of the squad standing around someone and feared something bad was up. Anna had had an epileptic fit (discovered after she'd actually had 2). Someone said an ambulance had been called and rather than more people crowding her, we set off again.

Pace dropped again after 30mins but rather than running 3:30s I clocked splits of 3:15 and 3:17. Sensed the group was splitting up and only Tucks was still there coming around Farm Cove. Pushed the hills back home (running a 3:25 split up the hills feeling really good) to finish in 44:20 (12.36km). Final Gate to Gate in 9:45.

Feeling in good form at the moment. Looking forward to a race.

Anna recovered OK. She sensed she was recovering after the second fit and cancelled the ambulance with Bartles giving her a lift home.

Sorting out stuff in storage and came across this photo. It's of me winning the Boys Northern X-Country Championships in Feb 1989. You can see why I was never any good at rugby, and notice the spazzy left hand which remains 22 years on.

Easy Monday

Got caught on a call so trotted out by myself bumping into the group along Hickson Road. Turned with them and ran back, chatting to Wildman, Dicky H, Pete W and Laura along the way. Felt great today, PF and achilles are good, I'm convinced the straight leg, grab foot while sitting down stretch is the cure to all my ills.

12.03km in 49:44 (4:09's).

Back to long Sunday

Caught up with Dickyboy and Ben at 6.30am at the ABC Pool for what I was hoping would be a nice easy run along some bush trails. They are both doing the 3 hour pacing job at the Sydney marathon so are planning on a few longer runs over the next few weeks. I'd jogged down to meet them at a very easy pace still struggling after last night's efforts, only for Dickyboy to set off like a hare at 4:10 pace. I asked what was going on, and he said they were planning on running at 3 hour pace (4:12's) but with some 5km intervals "a bit quicker". Hell, this was news to me. After struggling to keep up suddenly we were off on the first faster paced section. Started to feel OK at this stage. Took a magic gel ("Smart") at 10km and felt better again. The first faster section I was averaging 3:57's. Easy run through the bush next to Narrabeen lake and we were off on the second fast section (16km - 21km). Averaged these in the low 3:50's pulling ahead of Dicky and Ben. Fortunately, it finished just at the bottom of the nasty hill climbing out of Dee Why. Final quick section (26-31km) was basically Queenscliff to Shelley and back, but cutting back via Pacific Parade. Dicky was running really well at this stage and we did the whole section in 3:45's. Coming back from Shelley I started to get tired. Dicky mentioned that my old Geordie accent came out as I got more tired. I must have sounded like Jimmy Nail by North Steyne.

All up 31.89km in 2:12:26 (4:09's).

Great run by Wildman to finish 9th in the National XC Champs yesterday (thanks for the heads up Flakey). He's getting closer and closer to the big guns.

Old Manly route - PB!

Planned 14km tempo but ran out of time so I did my old 7.5km Manly route hard. 1.5km warm up then just attacked it. First 2km in 6:50 so knew I was on course. Couple of km splits along Manly beach of 3:21 and 3:18, was buggered running up the Suwarrow hill but finished in 25:23 (3:26's). Over a minute PB from March 2008.

Short jog after for 10km all up.

Easy Friday

Out in the cold, howling wind and heavy showers for a very easy run around Centennial with Kanser and the King. 12.47km in 55:59 (4:29's). Ran without orthotics for the first time in 3 years. Loved the feeling of going "au naturel", we'll see whether I avoid any achilles reaction.

70km for the week.

HuRTS Mona Fartlek

Peeps still taking it easy. Non J-Fen, no Y-TimTam, nobody to push for the T-Shirt. T-Ucks, B-Artles, D-High, Scott(?) and I ran together fairly easy, hitting all the hills at the bad spots and finishing about 15s short of the gates. Felt good on the way back so and ran the 30s quite well to finish well in time. Jog back around the course with T-Bell, S-Pringer, T-Ucks and E-Stank (that's right, he's back!) in the sunshine. E-Stank's talking about avoiding all racing until he can get fit enough to beat Y-TimTam - so sometime early December when he hits the summer booze then.

Fitting it in

Saw the Tiger. He sorted out my PF. Paid him $100. Wish Kanser would do the same. Busy at work. Ran home. Felt great. 54:31. More work. Pints of Kolsch at 4 Pines. All's well that end's well. Note the single spacing.

HuRTS 14 x 3mins

Beautiful day today (C2S weather) and, despite having a sore left plantar fascia, decided to head out for a chat and jog. Big crowd but with no-one putting in any effort other than good old Kanser, who moaned about the fact that we were plodding around and took off. Timmy should be scared, he's starting to look dangerous. I only did 10 along with Dicky H, J-Fen and "top 16" Laura. PF felt better after though. Ran without heel raises for the first time in 2 years as my achilles feels almost cured.

Paper results came out today. Net time was 46:49. Timmy's was 49:17 so he is claiming the $50 by 2 seconds. Flakey has rightly pointed out that no-one cares about net times, gun times are where it's at. So I'll hold my cash for the time being. Truscott ended up with 46:47, hadn't realised it was so close in my desperation to reach the line. He's angling for a head to head bet at JPMorgan. I might take him on, it's my favourite race and will get me through the bloody 400m's sessions that lie in store.

One for Alec - the mighty Manly Vale Falcons (2011)....

C2S: 27th in 46:56

Drove in with Dickyboy and Ben with great plans to take my high caffeinated gel 30 mins prior to the race and run a stormer. Dropped my bag off in the luggage trucks and shortly after realised that i'd left my gel in my bag. It was pissing down with rain. I thought C2S guaranteed good weather? We all huddled near the gents toilets in the Domain and Timmy mentioned that he had a spare gel so I swallowed that, convinced that my race plans were back on track.

Lined up well before the start and the tension was the same as ever. I had Richie H and Timmy next to me so the mood was fairly light but soon enough we were on our way. Tried not to go too crazy down William St but what can you do when sprinting downhill in front of 85,000 people? Jason I and Bartles were in front, as well as the 2 leading ladies so I figured I was being fairly sensilble. Overtook them going through Edgecliff and noticed I was making a load of places on the hills. The same happened through Double Bay where I caught Keith Bateman. At this stage I could see a group of Tom Crasti, Truscott, Chadi Elashka, Anthony Farrugia and Charlie Low in front and figured I was going very well - all guys I'm normally well behind and yet they were in striking distance. I seemed to be struggling on the flats and downhills and going well on the uphills. At the start of Heartbreak Charlie pulled off the the side and I started to catch Chadi. Went past him at 7km and started to get pretty excited - i've never beaten Chadi before but started to concentrate on Truscott in front. I was now by myself and trying to hold it together but probably drifting a bit. At 10.5km Chadi came past again and I used him to drag me along. Some big chap came past on the long downhill into Bondi but then suddenly Chadi and he gapped me on the slight rise along Campbell Parade. At this stage I was suffering and just trying to hold it together. Finally at the turn with 300m to go I have a quick look over my shoulder and who should I see but Tucks! The f**king Burglar! Haven't seen him all race and assumed he was about 2 minutes back but there he is within 8 seconds (or "the pocket" as Timmy calls it). With 6-0 for the season I wasn't going to allow him to get this one so just started sprinting all out thinking he'll have to suffer to win this one. In the course of sprinting I caught and over took Chadi for a first time win over him. Ironic that it took Tucks behind me to make me do that. Finished just behind Truscott to get in under 47 mins.

Very pleased with the placing but a bit disappointed with the time. I felt great today - especially on the uphills and based on who I was running with expected something in the low 46's but when I went through 10km in 34:00 I knew it wasn't on.

Fantastic time afterwards. Fair few beers in the AAR Chalet then dancing in the Pie Face Chalet. All very random but part and parcel of C2S.

Some great runs by JF in particular in 47:41 and Timmy in 49:22. I lost a heap of cash on bets but well worth it.

Last shouts

6km very easy in the evening with a few run throughs.

Was getting coffee this morning in my usual spot and bumped into Paul McClarnon, a Strider who's a decent runner (he beat Timmy by 6 seconds last week at Lane Cove). Turns out he lives on Bellevue St, one next to ours, so should have another occasional Sunday morning companion for the long runs.

Congrats to the Tiger on the birth of a new cub, Koji. He was trying a very dodgy bet about Millie not giving birth before I finished C2S, knowing full well she was in labour. We eventually agreed on a complicated 4 way combo:

$50 Harry S beats Marty D
$50 Norman doesn't go sub 43
$50 I don't go sub 46:30
$50 Timmy isn't over 49:30

I reckon I'll get 2 so we should be even.

More tapering

Very easy 11.38km in 48:58 with Timmy, Dickyboy, Big Sam, Norman, Russell, Indrajeet, Dom etc. Plenty of trash talk. Timmy said he was going to rile my big brother Jamie and looks like he achieved his aim. I can hear Alec laughing all the way from Melbourne.

Taper time - getting excited

Out for a very easy 13km run with MC, Kanser, Craig, Brendan, James, Russell etc.

Run at 4:30's but you can tell it is taper time as I just couldn't be arsed. Told Kanser he was looking a bit heavy and he got all upset with me, going silent like a 14 year old girl for the next 5km. I could only coax him out of it by raising the issue of Timmy's mental fragility in the face of big races, and he was on to that like a red rag to a bull - telling me how Timmy didn't have the wealth of racing experience that we did and, having not tasted success at a young age, didn't know how to handle it in his mid-life. I thought this was going over the top a bit, but was just happy to hear the big fella talking again.

MC pulled up lame (tweaked hamstring) at the Opera House. This was about 90 seconds after we told him that Laura was going to smash him on Sunday and I was getting ready to lay a bet. I'll let you work out the correlation.

Otherwise not much else to report. Here are my C2S predictions:

1. Norman: I'd say 43:10, but then he always smashes my expectation, so I'll go aggressive and say 42:40.

2. Fast Charlie: Hit form beautifully. Done a load of big hill sessions. Performs when fit and not injured. 45:15.

3. Bartles: Some big kms in prep for NYC marathon and has speed, but a relative newcomer to this toughest of courses. 47:13.

4. Tucks: Has struggled to find form after his stress reaction injury or alternatively is pulling the best bluffing act ever. Don't discount the latter. But being a betting man, I'll go with the former: 47:57

5. JB: My bet for next HuRTs man home. Struggled since GCM but has class and determination in spades. Knows the race well. 48:10

6. JF: A real step up in form recently and some very impressive hill reps. The only factor against him is, like Bartles, a lack of experience over the course. 48:15.

7. Richie H: Good form over 10min reps. Will be chasing JF the whole way. 48:25.

8. Richie P: Consistent performer. Will be desperate to hold off Timmy. 49:02.

9. Timmy: Form of his life but big questions over mental fragility following State 10km where he should have run 30s quicker. Will he be equally obsessed about getting under 50mins? I think so. 49:45.

10. Big Sam: Yesterday showed signs of regaining his pre-GCM form. Should be enough to get him back in front of Dickyboy. 50:25.

11. Dickyboy: Mr Consistent. Been turning up to more HuRTs sessions recently so I reckon he'll be slightly quicker than '09. 50:30.

12. Laura: Will take the honour of being first HuRTs girl home. And don't underestimate that. 51:40.

13. Flakey: Scraped into preferreds this year. Won't be happening next year. 54:30.

14. LF Charlie: Who? Anyone seen him? 57:30, narrowly holding off...

15. Lisa: First of the CBA girls in 57:40.

Top three will be Shelley, followed by Adams and then Dent.

HuRTS Gate to Gates

Final hit out before the big one on Sunday. Everyone's nerves were palpable. Young Timmy could barely keep his hands still (despite the fact that only Emma of the girls showed up). Fast Charlie was in the zone. Tucks was silent. Dicky H wouldn't stop going on about Timmy's recent rate of improvement. Bartles and JF were too scared to even show up. Most scared of all was MC, who has foolishly offered to pace Laura. On current form, this is like me offering to pace Mo Farah. More excited than anyone was me. Went off like a hare with just Fast Charlie following. Started to go lactic after 4 reps, so decided to ease off, before coming good again on the final one. No idea whether this will turn out to be a sensible session or not. Felt OK after though so hopefully no damage done. Reps for the 909m were as follows:

2:40 (2:56 pace)
2:42
2:40
2:40
3:04 (3:22 pace)
3:00
3:02
2:46 (3:02 pace)

All off a 2 minute rest.

10km all up.

Easy run home

Missed going out with the boys during the day due to a work lunch so ran home, with the rib eye steak, potato gratin and fine slice of Tiramisu still heavy on my stomach.

15:35 at Ben Boyd, 29:00 at Toyota Garage and 54:30 all up. Otherwise pretty uneventful.

Getting excited/nervous about Sunday now.

Long Manly route

My old Manly route via Burnt Bridge Creek, Queenscliff, Shelley, North Head, Collins Beach and Manly to Spit cutting back from Tania Park. Felt really sluggish for the first 10k (43:20), took a gel after an hour then it was a different story. Felt magic in the second half finishing strongly in a course PB of 1:58:58. There could be something in this. I always run crap first thing in the morning so maybe it's partly nutrition. I think I may take a gel pre-C2S next week.

Striders 10km - Lane Cove

Caught a lift with Ben, Paul, Dicky Boy and Big Sam and turned up on a coolish morning but not half as cold as Lane Cove usually is for the August race. I was on 40 min pacing duties so none of the usual nerves and could just enjoy the beautiful surrounds of Lane Cove National Park on a cool but clear morning.

Nice training run. I decided to go at straight 4 min kms the whole way which probably helped no one as I was passing a load of people going up the hills but before being overtaken by them on the downhills. Kanser, being too close to me than he should have been, gave me a stack of abuse the whole way on my pacing skills. I reckon he could have run 2 mins quicker if he'd just kept his mouth shut. Nice chats with Action, Christian, Marty Doak and Ron though. Finished in 39:54 with splits of 3:59, 3:53, 3:55, 4:04, 4:07, 3:59, 4:00, 3:59, 4:05, 4:01. What's Kanser complaining about?

Couple of photos:

Tom with chins:



Mags:

The Return of Wildman

HuRTS Drinks last night at Cargo Bar. Norman Cook was put to bed and Wildman came out to play, to lead me astray as usual. The result was a monstrous hangover this morning, so big thanks to Clyde and Dicky H (suffering as badly as me) for dragging me through 40mins at lunchtime. Toughest run of the year.

A few more bets were laid (noted here for evidence):

Richie giving Timmy a 1 minute headstart at C2S. Timmy finally agreeing a 2:30 headstart against me. Each for $50.

Wildman giving me a 2 minute headstart at ABC biathlon and Timmy 2:20, each for $50.

101km for the week.

HuRTS Hickson Road

The toughest session. I worry about it all morning when it's on. Tucks says he does the same. Hurts like hell and mental torture. Felt knackered this morning (probably half psychosymatic) but feeling the effects of a tought fortnight back after 3 weeks rest. Thought I'd just push the first and see how I felt. I normally don't run the first quick enough. Good group of Bartles, Tucks, Jason, JF, Dicky H, Timmy, Dickyboy and Big Sam up front. Bartles was on my shoulder until half way through each rep and I'd try to kick at each set of speed bumps on the way out and each bridge on the way back which gave me a few seconds for each rep. They went as follows:

3:35 (3:02 pace)
3:35 (3:04 pace)
3:34 (3:01 pace)
3:35 (3:04 pace)
3:32 (2:59 pace)

Bit of wind on the return leg (10m shorter) which made the times consistent. Went lactic half way through the penultimate rep. Just sprinted through the final one from half way home.

Pleased with the session. 10km all up.

Wednesday MLR

Usual route on a warm day (24C mid-Winter!) with Norman Cook, Clyde, Jonathan W and Ben Decreuse (to start with). Pace was honest from the outset but felt OK. Thurston was scaring us with his predicted time for C2S.

All up 18.64km in 1:17:48 (4:10's).

Locked in 2 new bets. Durante's giving me a 1 minute headstart for $50 in the first biathlon of the series (need to find a pool soon) and I'm giving JF a 1:30 headstart for C2S ($20).

HuRTS 4 x 3km

Tough old session this one. Basically you're running for the same period of time as the 8 x 5mins reps, but with only 6 minutes total rest as opposed to 10.5 mins total rest.

Another big crowd, ran from the front with Fast Charlie pulling ahead about half way through each one and gapping the rest of us considerably. Had Bartles on my shoulder the whole way through the first 2 reps with Richie H, JF, Tucks, Vicky Jo, JB and Timmy (yes, you read that right) just behind. However, this session is all about the 3rd rep (read Timmy's Blog for evidence) - the penultimate is always the toughest and this session makes it doubly hard as you run it up hill. Put a real effort in on this one trying to keep the time consistent knowing I could just roll back downhill on the last. Times went as follows:

9:54 (3:23's)
9:28 (3:14's)
9:54
9:25

Got a bit excited about this session for a while thinking it was the fastest I'd done it until I checked my blog from 22nd July 2008, shortly before running my C2S PB. So maybe a PB isn't on the cards.

Good session nonetheless. Had stomach cramps all afternoon just like the old days so obviously put a bit of effort in today.

Locked in a $50 bet with Timmy giving him a 2:30 headstart for C2S. The guy is on form and giving him such a generous start was the only way I could pin him down. He's obviously been learning sharking skills from Richie H.

Easy Monday

With the Banks on holiday, it was a lower turnout on a cracking day. Ray showed up, fresh from his 2nd place in the Cities Marathon yesterday (2:40:05) where he netted himself $3,000! Jonathan W, Big Sam, Pete W, Brendan and a couple of others also there. Usual route. Watch died again so no idea of the time but Sam said we were averaging 4:14's overall when he peeled off at CQ.

15.8km.

Longish run

Spent last night at a charity trivia thing at Paddo RSL and left the car there overnight so plan today was eventually to finish up picking up the car. Caught up with Dickyboy, Big Sam and Big Ben at 6.30am and Dicky led us on a trail tour through Mosman. Mosman has more hills than Rome. And plenty of trails too. The pace was slow as a result but tough on the old legs. Eventually popped out at Spit Junction after 16km so I said farewell to the boys and headed into the City and on to Paddo.

Nice run on another beautiful morning. Looks as though the crap weather has ended for now. Felt OK at the end despite it being my first long run in 6 weeks (discounting GCM). All up 25.5km in 2:00:56 (4:44's).

Havent had any issues with my achilles now since GCM. No idea why that is. Still do the eccentric loading but have slowed the speed of them down a lot and it seems to be working.

NSW Short Course X-Country

I've been late to 2 races in my life. The first was when I was 11 and Dad turned up at the Morpeth Road Races in time for the Colts race, but not the Minor Colts race. In fact, as we drove to the race, we drove past a bunch of young kids running fast down the road and when I pointed out to Dad that it looked like we were late, he just said, don't worry, they're just warming up. He was wrong. The only other race I've missed was the ANSW Short Course X-Country in 2008. I turned up after getting lost just in time to hear the gun go off.

Today, at the same race, it was very close to being the same. Turned up with 3 minutes to spare, Flakey asked whether I had my chip yet and when I said no, very kindly raced off to get it. I attached it to my lace, ran to the start, and then the gun went off.

Felt very average after only about 400m. Richie Roberts pulled inexorably ahead and after about 1.5km who should appear on my shoulder but my close rival from 2008, Dr Jamie Harrison. We basically ran together hauling younger runners in until the drag of a hill on the final lap when I pulled slightly ahead and started to catch the 2 runners in front. Stayed with them until the end, with me finishing between the 2 in a sprint finish. Clocked 26:27 after running laps of 8:29, 9:00 and 8:58. Very similar to last year (26:22 with splits of 8:32, 9:01 and 8:49). Definitely felt Thursday's hills still in my legs today but pleased to crank out another race.

Beautiful day today - warm, clear and no wind. Had a great time.

Easy Friday

Run to work. Legs felt great at the start until I hit the first hill. That was how the rest of the run went. Fine and moving well along the flats and downs, crumbled when faced with any incline. I think yesterday must have taken it out of me. Doesn't bode well for the X-Country tomorrow.

26:43 at Spit Junction then 56:19 all up. Still a reasonable time.

98km for the week.

HuRTS - Hills

New hill this week - starting opposite the Lowenbrau Keller (just to tease us all) and running up Argyle St before turning to the top of Observatory Hill. Lower turnout than usual due to mavericks organising break out sessions but still a decent crowd up front with Tucks, Bartles, Jason, Dicky H, Dicky G, JF and Young Timmy forming a good little group. JF was on fire today pushing ahead of us all, although there were some raised eyebrows when he decided to jog back down with the rapidly improving Lisa after the 8th, run with us on the 9th and then up stumps. Definitely some mind games going on there. Equally with Young Timmy who seemed to get confused about the route on the jog back down the hill. Every rep.

Tried to hold on to Tucks and Bartles on the hills, without much luck at the start but with better luck towards the end. Good session, as the first rise is run fast with the hill kicking up in gradient towards the end. Legs felt wobbly after, which is always a good sign. I think I was doing about 2:12/2:13 for each rep, but the watch died on me.

14km all up.

Wednesday MLR

Stuffed at work. Turn up 5 mins late. Everyone gone. Take an age to get a satellite reading (that sentence wouldn't have appeared in many runners' training diaries 10 years ago). Set off at pace trying to catch the squad. Run past Craig and King James near King Cross (not sure what route they took after that), and Norman Cook, Andy, Jonathan Worswick and Mr Ace near Rushcutters Oval. Fortunately they chose against the fast pace sections today as I'd already been running sub 4's to catch them up. Pace did lift though. Nice run around Centennial, telling Norman all the same stories I told him on Monday forgetting that I ran with him then too. He was polite though. Jonathan regaled us with tales of ultra runs through muddy fields, with only Andy showing vague signs of interest. Pace stayed honest throughout.

Distance felt fine but was starving and energy depleted towards the end. Not helped running past Harry's Cafe de Wheels at 18km.

All up 18.56km in 1:17:07 (4:09's).

HuRTS 5min reps

Showed up today wanting to push myself to see how much I'd lost since GCM and how much of a struggle C2S is going to be. Cast of thousands again, I won't mention everyone's name as I only know about half the group now. The female contingent is growing with Sonya, Lisa, Emma and Laura showing up - Laura fresh from her 38:50 over the 11km Sutho to Surf (going through 10km in 35:10) - that's basically National standard.

I ran from the front with Bartles, Jason I, JF, Tucks, Quentin, Dicky H and new chap Jo fresh from Melbourne (perhaps he can be Vicky Jo) who is with ANZ - Dicky is already replenishing his JPMorgan team following the loss of Benny Saint. Kept all the reps very consistent - went through 1km in 3:17 each time on the way out and 3:19 on the way back. The only variation was on the final rep where I averaged 3:14 pace. Big crowd for the first 6 but only Bartles staying there for the final 2. Fast Charlie also joined in on the final 2. Felt great out there today. Was worried all the way through that the recent lack of mileage would hit me towards the end but just managed to stave off the legs going wobbly.

Just noticed Mo Farah's fantastic run in the 5000m Diamond League meet in Monaco - beating all the top names (Lagat, Merga, T Bekele, Kipchoge) and running the world leading time this year - yet the English press has largely ignored it. The Brits haven't had a runner this good since Cram.

15km all up.

HuRTS Monday

Usual route, but a liner was in at Barangaroo so we did a detour then stayed on Hickson Road on the return. Cast of thousands again, the group just gets bigger and bigger. It splintered a bit today though as we weren't hanging around. I ran with Norman Cook and Durante and on the return with a chap called Angus who was pushing the pace. It was all sub4 min kms from CQ back home. Dicky H, JF, Pete W, Craig and Ray were around but taking it easy.

All up 15.4km in 1:03:05 (4:06's). Felt great today. True test will be how I feel after tomorrow's session.

More steady Manly stuff

Was supposed to meet Quentin, Sam and Dickyboy for a long bush run this morning but after sinking a bottle of wine and two whiskies last night, then staying up to watch Cadel perform heroics in the TT, the last thing I was capable of at 6.30am was running. So headed out later for a route to Shelley then finishing up the hills in Balgowlah Heights to pick up the car where I'd left it the night before.

Very similar to yesterday, started easily then picked up the pace the whole way, putting in some effort in the final 3km up the hills. 11.41km in 45:25 (3:58's).

Steady Manly stuff

Ran the 7km route to Shelley then cut back via Pacific Parade. Steady to start with, picked up the effort after turning at Shelley and really pushed the final hill up Suwarrow. 10.34km in 40:42 (3:56 pace). Felt pretty good but that's 3 weeks off for you. Not much else to report, didn't see anyone I knew, Manly beach seems to have disappeared with all these storms.

Running! (Part 2)

Last Saturday I said I struggled towards the end. Woke up Sunday feeling like crap, went to the doctor who prescribed me strong antibiotics for a chest infection and sinusitis. So no running until today.

Unfortunately, today wasn't the best day to start up again - freezing cold and bucketing down with rain. Dicky Green (who claims to be a Northerner) sent an email saying that even mad poms wouldn't be going out today. Wasn't having a bar of that. Put my Gore-tex jacket on and leapt into it. After your hair gets soaked within the first 20 seconds, it's not too bad. Ran past LF Charlie and Pete W before bumping into Quentin and started running with him. Then who should pop out from behind a tree but Tucks, so the Three Amigos all ran together just like every other race this season.

All up 10km in 42 mins. Nice to be back into it, feeling a bit better this time.

Usual Saturday

Headed out for the usual Saturday 14km route. Felt fine to start with running at about 4min kms (the Garmin ran out at 2km) but got tired at about 8km and struggled home to be honest. In fact, stopped at Campbell Pde at 11.5km where Alec had been looking after the kids. He'd been timing them doing laps around the 650m bike track so plainly is as competitive as me. Jogged the final 2.5km after that. Might pass on the long run tomorrow and just do more of the same rather than pushing too early. I really missed Kirsten so I might give tomorrow's run a miss and spend the day with her. I just don't know what I would do without her.

Getting there

Run to work. Felt very bouncy to start with but heavy legged by the end. Cold is gradually going. 26:32 at Spit Junction and 56:12 all up so not too shabby a time. Ran in the new Mizuno Wave Elixir 6's that we won at the City Mile Dash. Quite hard compared to my Brooks' but nice and light.

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.