Friday apologies

Well, all hell broke loose this morning when one of my key clients sends an email explaining that a member of his team was very upset at being left off the list and that I couldn't expect any work to flow my way as a result. So, with grovelling apologies, this has been rectified. Please view yesterday's updated list of the HuRT Squad Chosen Few.

Today was an easy 13km with Ray. 86km for week.

Was checking some old race results yesterday and found these PDFs of the English Schools Track and Field champs in 1988 when I was 14. I just missed the final in the Junior Boys 1500m that day in a sprint finish (as usual) but more interesting is Junior Girls 1500m. Check out who finished 8th in the final. I'd travelled down with the Northumberland squad all the way to Yeovil on the bus and was quite interested in a girl on the bus from Northumberland called Valerie Botham (albeit in a 14yr old asolescent sort of way and who I think was from the same school as Timmy's mate Sian Ellison). Great pins. Little did she know she'd just beaten a girl who would go on to be the greatest female marathoner in history.

Check it out:

HuRTS 1.2km reps but, shock horror, at new location

Given it was teeming with rain, I made the call to shift to Farm Cove knowing it would be deserted (and having G-Mapped the distance from the Opera House Gates to the bottom of the hill at Mrs Mac's Chair at a convenient 1.29km).

I would like to note for posterity the hardcore of the squad who showed up for this session on the coldest and wettest day that Sydney has produced in living memory:

"Young" Timothy Lindop
John "Bartles" Bartlett
Jonathan "J-Fen" Fenton
Indrajeet "Jeet" Aich
Michael "MrAce" Race
Andrew "Skippy" Heyden
James "Kenny" Everett
Charles "Warrior" Dalziell
Damien "Damo" Sullivan
Paul "Paul" Birch
John "JB" Bowe
Ben "Bob" O'Brien
Anthony "Muz" Murrell

and Yours Truly*

*[let me know if I missed you out]

If they ever read my blog, let them say that I walked with giants. Men rise and fall like the winter wheat, but these names will never die. Let them say that I lived in the time of the HuRT Squad, tamer of chicks. Let them say I lived in the time of Conway.

I wore two short sleeved tops as I was cold. All this meant was that both layers were soaked through within 5 minutes, weighed a ton, and I was still cold. No hanging about today so we were off. Barts was taking it easy so I ran alone at the front other than rep 2 when Muz stayed just behind most of the way and the final rep when Barts helped me out and stretched his legs. Rep times were:

4:00, 4:00, 3:57, 3:57, 3:56

Works out at about 3:06 to 3:03 pace. Legs felt pretty heavy but breathing was good. Pleased to have got it done as those VO2 max sessions always test you mentally. Longish warmdown for 11km all up.

HuRT Squad stretching out around Farm Cove today:

MLR Wednesday

Strength with Carl this morning. New regime, lots on the hammies. Was walking like Elvis afterwards.

19km at lunch just avoiding the rain. Was late to start so had to run solo. Finally saw MC and Mr Ace crossing the road at the very end. Felt magic today.

HuRTS Fartlek Not

Monday

Rest

Tuesday

HuRTS Fartlek with the plan just to take it easy. Everyone else (Fats, Andy, Ray, Smolly, Muz(!) etc.) had the same idea. So much so that Smolly was calling out the start and end of each split and half the time we couldn't work out whether we were supposed to be speeding up or slowing down.

Turned at 2nd wharf on Hickson and pace actually picked up on the way back finishing in 43.5 mins and ended up averaging 3:44's. Felt fine albeit legs a bit weary when pushing on at the end.

I now know Fats' formula for winning Six Foot. It's all about meticulous preparation. Check out the cutlery tray in a Fats' loaded dishwater:

Gary Howard, August 11th 2013:

SMH Half - 15th in 72:36

Went into this race feeling pretty confident after some recent consistent training and generally being a bit more healthy than my usual debauched self. But then Saturday morning my stomach starts producing noises from deep within and doing somersaults and was just painful after I ate anything. But figured I wouldn't be eating anything before the race. In the end, it wasn't an issue.

Met up with Timmy early doors along with Kirst and Dan (her relay partner) before heading out to meet all the usual suspects. I love this race. There's a great atmosphere to it, and there always has been. Despite doubling in size in recent years it has maintained its feeling as a real runner's race. I also love the switchbacks where you get loads of cheers and encouragement (thanks for all those who shouted - not least Phil Dove who I could hear from half a mile off). It's why I always wear my Striders top as you get a load of "Go Striders!" shouts which never cease to lift you

Set off feeling comfortable running just behind Barts and with Jim Perrett and Robdog. I think Fats may have been on my shoulder too. They then edged ahead and by 4km I was running with Hamish pushing a good pace. Felt OK at this stage but not as comfortable as I felt last year. Going through Pyrmont, Fats and Nikki Chapple caught us as we caught Jim. This was my lowest point - Fats and Nikki looked really strong and I was worried they were just going to power ahead. But we managed to stick together as a group going through 10km in 33:56. Then coming back along Hickson Road I first felt good leading the group, then felt as though I was barely able to hang on. When we got to the nasty hill at the squashed car roundabout I drifted to the front and started to feel more confident - it's always the hills where you can tell how people are feeling. But if that's the basic gauge, Nikki was feeling good as she powered up onto Kent Street with me just trying to stick to her heels thinking it may be hurting Fats and Hamish. We overtook Neil Pearson at this stage with Barts next in front. Any thoughts of Fats being done were dispelled when he reappeared at the head of the group going along the Cahill Expressway. It was at this point last year that I began to unravel so made a real effort to keep it strong up Macquarie Street and then attack the loop around Mrs Mac's chair. Sensed Fats had dropped a bit here so really started to push hard but it hurt. The little pinch before the Art Gallery made my legs a bit wobbly so tried to shorten the stride and increase the cadence. This seemed to work as suddenly Nikki dropped too. I may avoid being chicked! Hell, that was enough to start sprinting. Wait there, I've gone too early. Bugger, I'm starting to fall apart. Then I see the line, see the clock and it looks as though I'm going to run 72:38. I like the symmetry of that, but the results give me 2s quicker. I'll take it. It's an SMH PB. It's probably a Half PB as I'm fairly sure the Blackmores was short in '07.

Happy with the form. Stronger in the back half than last year (where I went through 10km in 33:37) and last year I was further down the marathon training plan. Would love to give the Half PB a shake at Gold Coast.

Some great runs out there today in perfect conditions. Robdog smashed it with a mid 71. Barts got my PB with 72:08 but Eoin was my run of the day in 76:50 closely followed by Justin B in 77:20. Also great to see RP with another PB in low 76. The Tiger lost his bet going down by 7 minutes against the 6:40 on offer. I'll claim some beers from Andy C too...

The Churchill/Sands trophy looks to be England's again. You can expect a few more photos while testing Fats' homebrew this afternoon, but here's a starter.

CHAMPIONES!

Saturday jog

6km jog with a few strides.

Great result by Benny last night - 13:18 for 5000m in the States finishing 3rd behind Mo and Dathan Ritzenheim.

On other world class performances, congrats to Brenda Davies taking out the North Face 100km in a record time with Tucks smashing his PB for 3rd. Looks like CT had a tough day in the office. Hope he decides now to stick to what he has great talent for rather than this trail walking stuff.

Friday meander

13km very easy with Ray. Wandered over to the SMH route in Pyrmont. Still can't tell what extra fiddly bit they are making us do around Barangaroo but a new entrance popped up today so maybe that's it. Only looked as though there would be one hairpin so not too bad.

Now just have to get through the trauma that is the Manly West Primary School Carnival that's on tomorrow.

HuRTS 8 x 800m

Small but merry band not shying away from a bit of speedwork. Ray, Andy, French dude, Durante, John Doe and a couple of others. Left hammie started to feel stiff after 4 (and I was looking for any excuse) so just pushed every other rep after that. Tired going in but felt good on the last rep. Times were:

2:30, 2:28, 2:29, 2:26, 2:48, 2:24, 2:48, 2:20

1:30 rest between reps (I'm sure we used to get 2 mins?).

Andy looks good and is foxing for Sunday. Expect a big one from him. Have a feeling I'll be chasing him and Fats around Mrs Mac's chair with 2km to go. Andy says JB is a dark horse too. The English are on fire...

Busy Wed

Strength this morning with Carl. Busy all day so couldn't get out. Ran home untimed nice and easy with a few strides.

Ooh, nearly forgot. Saw the Tiger and he cajoled me into a bet for Sunday's race and forced me into accepting a 6:40 handicap. If he doesn't take $50 off me he should be ashamed of himself.

HuRTS 8 x 5mins

Something old and something new.

Joined today by Muz for the first time in years now he's resettled back in Oz. Durante was also out. Then a first time appearance for Jamie Palmer (5km nemesis back in September) who was smashing out 6 reps with me and Andy.

I pushed quite hard today - first averaged 3:25 pace, then 3:20, next 4 at 3:15's before easing off on the last 2 at 3:23's. can't say the 3:15's felt easy, but Fats made them look so, running out front at what must have been close to 3:10's for 5 of them. Vlad was also around running with us on the odd numbered reps before "making an effort" (aka running 2:55's) on the even ones.

Had to take a dip in the harbour post session with Pete W, Smolly and Welsh Jim. Not bad considering its almost Winter.

15km all up.

Mondayitis

Usual route but Opera House was blocked off so only 14.3km. Very easy, but did some fast strides (3 x 80m) to finish off.

Feel fine during day but neck and shoulders ache by end of day. Maggie was off school today and Kirst is crook so maybe I'm fighting something off.

Same again Sunday

Same as last week with Macca and Justin. 33km in 2:28:31 (4:30's). We were at exactly the same pace as last week until Cromer when Justin put his foot down and dragged me and Macca with him. Another stunning morning - weather is perfect at the moment.

Knee tendon a bit sore. Tired now.

Manly hilly tempo

Felt rotten this morning but well enough to get out this afternoon so decided to punish myself with the hilly tempo. Plan was not to race it but to feel fairly comfortable and run the hills strongly. Felt good the whole way. Still puffed hard especially on the hills but not the usual desperate feeling. Almost a PB in the end (50:37 - 17s slower than fastest on Jan 19th) so pretty pleased with the form. Was helped at Forty Baskets with the tide being out mind.

3:36, 3:48, 3:53, 4:03 (still can't get that tough km under 4mins), 3:33, 3:49, 3:56, 3:36, 3:54, 4:44, 4:13, 4:22, 3:06 (857m).

Bloody hard on the hammies this run. 2km warm up and down for 17km all up.

This one for the family:

Bec's Little Prelude

Striders Night of Nights

13km easy in about 57mins (4:26's).

Then on to drink too much at the Striders dinners and ask Lisa Weightman inappropriate questions (like would she beat Lara Tamsett over 10km, which she seemed pretty confident of).

115km for the week.

HuRTS Pyramid

Strength with Carl this morning but only a little bit on the legs as mostly core an upper body so felt OK for this session.

And a funny session it is. There aren't many occasions I've done it at max effort for one reason or another. It's quite intimidating, especially on the 3 and 4 lappers, to commit early on. Anyway, all I had to do was follow Barts who continues on in sparkling form, with J-Fen not far behind and Ray and others dropping in and out occasionally. Reps went:

80, 2:40, 4:00, 5:29, 4:10, 2:37, 74

That's as good as the best I've done. Disappointed with the 4:10 when Barts took a big lead on the first lap taking it out quickly, but otherwise pretty happy considering the lack of speedwork I've done recently.

Some photos from Saturday:

Tucks and I (and random ranga):

Dicky H, J-Fen and Richie P:

Macca and Hamish M:

Enda:

The Tiger and Justin B in the background:

MC in blue:

Laura:

Young Timmy - he could take a lesson in form from Laura:

Short Wed

Busy day. Massage with Theresia late arvo followed by very easy 8km jog.

Dreamer!

Bec had her school XC today. Last year she won it easily (they're all geeks at her school) after having done 3-4 months regular training with me and Billy. She kept on telling us how she was going to win today (despite having done nothing but sit on her arse for the past 3 months) to which Kirst and I would respond by singing the following Supertramp song to her:

Supertramp: Dreamer


Well, I was in the changing rooms after my run at lunch and received a call on my mobile with Bec singing it back to me. So well done girl. She wins her "mother and daughter treat trip to Max Brenner". Talk about incentivising in inappropriate ways.

Today did 45mins tempo. Ran with Andy the whole way with Barts, Vlad and Fats ahead by about 60m at the turn. Fats came flying by us under the bridge and was on fire today. Edged ahead of Andy climbing the hills at the end and tried to catch Fats but didn't quite manage it. Still, 12.65km in 44:54 (3:32 average) was good considering that's 80km in 4 days. Felt heavy all the way but breathing was fine, but strong on the hills at the end which was good. 10:11 for the final gate to gate. Barts continues to go from strength to strength - elongating the session to a 60min tempo and still averaged 3:27's.

Different Monday

Shock! We ran an alternative Monday route, continuing on around Pyrmont Wharves but finishing straight up from CQ. 16.5km very easy with Barts, MC, Ray, Slapstick, Laura and others dropping off along the way.

Dad's booked his hotel room for Berlin so I will have a cheer squad!

Getting longer Sunday

Out with Macca at 5.45am for 33km on our usual Northern Beaches route but avoiding the section to the Narrabeen track. I did an extra loop of the golf course at the end (saying hello to a very speedy Gus McGillavry powering up Kenneth Road).

2:31:45 (4:35's). Felt ok today despite yesterday's race. Nice to have no specific aches or pains (touch wood).

Bec, warming up for Brookvale FC game. Hopefully she can avoid 2 weekends in a row of all my kids being smashed at soccer.

Sydney10: 23rd in 33:02

Well, in the end it was pretty much exactly what I expected. Kanser would accuse me of falling prey to the central governor.

Turned up pretty early after a good week of sleep and off the booze. Did about 3km warm up then some sprints and was feeling pretty good on the start line, albeit very nervous. Had a good few chats with all the crowd and it was a huge HuRTS turnout. Biggest disappointment was the absence of Andy who texted last night to say he'd fallen victim to the stomach bug he'd been trying to avoid all week. Just the worst luck as he was flying in training. I was in this position last year so know how he feels.

Gun went and it was the usual mad, slightly downhill, sprint. Conditions were perfect (cool and still) so knew it was going to be quick. I'd decided not to wear a watch though as I'd knew there would always be plenty of people to chase so no need to chase the clock. By 1km I'd settled in behind Barts with Tucks just behind. There were plenty of others around though, with CT and Nick Bellemore just ahead and some ranga chap I didn't recognise. Plan before the race was to stick to Barts for as long as possible, knowing the 3km to 5km section (slightly uphill) would be the biggest test. Sure enough, after the hairpin at 3.2km he starts to chase a few guys up ahead and I couldn't respond. At this point Tucks came past so I latched on to him instead. Stayed this way until the hairpin at 5km which we reached in 16:22. Renaud took this photo shortly after:



I fell off a bit here, then rallied at 6km and told myself to keep the effort up. Went past the group you can see above just after 7km with only Tucks coming with me. At this stage, Barts was about 50m up the road but was stranded so I thought we may have a chance of catching him if he started to fade. But at the hairpin at 8.2km Tucks started piling the pressure on and was inching ahead. I was just holding on at this stage, aware of some footsteps behind starting to catch. Tried to rally at the end, especially coming into the final straight when I saw the clock and desperately tried to get under 33, but it wasn't to be. Another photo from Renaud in the final straight:



Bit disappointed immediately after in not dipping under 33 and being 27s behind Barts, CT and Robbie, but in retrospect I think they all had great runs (when you see how close to Liam Ridings, Mark Warren et al they got) and I still managed to beat some very good runners in Hamish M, Kevin Robertson, Sam Walker etc. Timmy will no doubt take the piss for finishing just behind Tucks YET again but in truth I think he brings the best out of me in races and I'd have been slower if he hadn't been there.

Some great runs out there - Barts (a 1s PB with 32:35), Anna (big PB in 37:05 and taking Laura's scalp in the process), Richie P in a great PB despite being well the wrong side of 40 with a 34:24 but run of the day for me was Mr Ace running 36:00. Also dead chuffed to see my Sunday run buddy Macca defy all the doubters and prove once again that racing is very different to training in running 35:13. He'll be on a steep upward curve from here.

Nice warmdown after with a bubbly MC, J-Fen, Mr Ace and others. The estimated times were pretty accurate - actual results next to the predicted times in yesterday's post. A bit controversial, but I reckon this course is longer than in previous years. The 5km hairpin is closer down Olympic Boulevard, but the 3.2km hairpin was placed much further down the road - the difference being that you run the longer 3.2km hairpin twice but the shorter 5km hairpin only once. That said, I reckon it's an accurate 10km now - despite everyone's Garmin readings.

Taper time

Very easy 6km jog with MC, BW and Chris Shaw. All the talk was on tomorrow's race. It's the biggest 10km of the year and, after City to Surf and JPMorgan, one of the biggest on the HuRTS calendar. We should have a very large turnout. As a result, I thought I'd post my random selection of predicted times:

CT: 32:35 (Actual 32:33)
Robdog: 32:40 (Actual 32:37)
Barts: 32:45 (Actual 32:35)
Tucks: 32:55 (Actual 32:59)
Andy: 33:15 (Absent)
Fats: 33:23 (Actual 33:43)
Jonny B: 33:30 (Actual 34:21)
J-Fen: 33:45 (Actual 34:05)
T-Bell: 33:47 (Absent)
Kenny: 33:59 (Actual 34:49)
Ray: 34:20 (Actual 35:27)
Enda: 34:23 (Actual 35:09)
Dicky H: 34:25 (Actual 34:41)
Tiger: 35:05 (Actual 35:32)
Macca: 35:40 (Actual 35:13)
MC: 35:45 (Actual 35:50)
Laura: 36:20 (Actual 37:27)
Timmy: 36:49 (Actual 37:44)
Anna: 37:20 (Actual 37:06)
Aidan: 37:20 (Actual 37:31)
Kilted Scot: 38:20 (Absent)
Elle: 39:32 (Actual 39:47 very impressive!)

Some fast times there but I think the boys (and girls) are running well.

Harry Summers will win the race in 29:10 (Yep, 1st, Actual 29:36) and Celia Sullohern will be first female in 34:40 (Actual 35:13 but only 2nd).

Crocodile man

Easy 9km today with 8 100m sprints thrown in. Felt good in my new Musha 5's. MC, John Doe, Slapstick, Mr Ace, LF Charlie, Laura, Mermaid and Elle the Belle were all along for the ride.

Had to include a picture of Khotso Mokoena jumping over crocodiles. I love these man versus nature/machine media opportunities (like Bolt races a horse or Guzzo beating a car to the City from Epping):

Vitamin B12

Strength with Carl this morning. Massage with the Tiger this arvo. Followed by 11km around Pyrmont very easy. Going hard on the vitamins, protein powder, Juice Plus, you name it. These are the final acts of a desperate man.

Super proud of Kirst who ran a 7km time trial in 35:12 this morning (finishing up the monster hill that is Condamine St). Her running coach plainly knows a lot more about running than I do.

HuRTS 3min reps

Good crowd out today for the first HuRTS session I've done in a while. Wanted to push it a bit to see how I was feeling and the answer was clear. Not so good.

Vlad and Barts were way ahead. I was puffing running 3:20's (although they may have quickened a bit later on) with the legs just not used to turning over at that pace at the moment. Managed 12 reps. I think I'll take it very easy for the rest of the week for the chance of feeling fresh on Saturday. Andy and Fats continue to run well, J-Fen is coming back into form and big news of the day is that Tucks is back in town and running on Saturday too. So Timmy has me down as odds-on HuRTS no.6 at this stage. At least it trumps his current HuRTS no.74.

Apart from that it was business as usual. Fats let us know what he had for breakfast via a combined fist pump and bottom pump. Ray didn't stop talking. Macca was breathing hard. Everybody gave their words of wisdom to Laura.

Nice to see TB back in town. Hope he's running on Sat too.

Longish Monday

Having missed the long weekend run I tried to squeeze one in today but work got the better of me. Only managed 23km in 1:40 (4:20's). Still feeling average after Saturday night.

Fantastic run by Benny to win the Payton Jordan Invitational 10km in Stanford this afternoon in 27:37 thereby booking his ticket to the World Champs in Moscow. Few peak better for the races that matter than Ben. That's a super time for someone beaten to 3rd in a domestic 10km road race in Tassie only a few weeks ago.

Scaramanga!

Well, last night turned into a very large one at Jon and Jane's for the former's 50th birthday. I've been in bed all day long. Kirst said I had a licence to kill with my breath this morning. Should i have run today? The answer would have been clear had I asked a doctor. No.

I may have died last night and you only live twice so out I went in the late afternoon. A quantum of solace was that it was perfect weather again - managed 8km before deciding I'll die another day.

For your eyes only:

Striders 10km handicap

I was the back-marker for this along with Thamal. At least with Thamal there I'd have someone to chase as we were 1:30 behind the next runner (Tongey). Timmy was a bit in front going off 37:30 with Anna and Anna on 38:00 and quite a few more dotted around.

I felt pretty confident going into this having been feeling really good in training this last week and confident of a 33:xx but that all went out of the window after 300m. My legs were just dead and I was blowing like a steam train. Tried to hold on to Thamal but as soon as we climbed up Scribbly he pulled ahead. We did the first 2km in 3:12 and 3:18. Coming down Scribbly I caught him again and this turned into a common theme - he'd pull ahead on the flats and uphills and I'd catch him on the downhills. 5km in 17:08 and my legs still felt terrible, it's the worst I've felt in a race for ages.

We passed Timmy at 6km then on the hill before 7km Thamal pulled ahead with a 5s gap. Timmy said that from behind it looked as though I just sat up. By now we were catching a load of other runners and by the final km it became very busy. Over the final 2km I could see Thamal was slowing and I finally started to feel vaguely OK. Dodged through the crowds in the final 500m to get within a couple of seconds of Thamal and finish in 34:07. At least it was a negative split (16:59).

I'm guessing I felt so crap because of the flight 24hours earlier but I'll need to improve a lot over the next 7 days to run well at State 10km.

Home sweet home

Flight overnight arriving 5.45am. Straight to office and out at lunch feeling very sleepy with Ray and Aidan. 15km nice and easy on a beautiful day in 65 something (4:26's).

Durante's organising a team for City Mile Dash - me, him, Wildman and Barts. I'm nervous just thinking about it.

91km for the week.

Singers Part 2

Manic day. Didn't end up attending any of the conference as I just dealt with deals all day. Out in the late arvo finding a beautiful, flat and traffic free path around the marina and along the river - largely following the Singapore JPM race. Bloody hot and humid again. 12km in 51:32 (4:18's).

Now for some Tiger Beers.

View from hotel window:

In Singapore

With a lovely view of the Marina Bay Sands. Ahh, fond memories.

Bloody busy so just squeezed in 10km on the hotel gym treadmill in 38:54. Hate those damn things. Sweated like a pig.

Holiday summary

Wednesday was 14km of mostly beach running including 4km barefoot. As a result my knee was buggered (usual problem of the tendon below the kneecap) and I hobbled around on Thursday unable to put any weight on it. Love the idea of barefoot running but my body just can't cope.

Loaded up on Voltaren and hammered my thighs on the hard ribbed foam roller so that I could manage 10km very easy on Friday. Saturday was 15km with a fast final 5km feeling good. Sunday was an easy 10km to Yagon and back.

Watched the London Marathon last night and loved it. I've heard some comments about how the times failed to live up to expectations given the quality of the field but I think that misses the point. It was the equivalent of an Olympic final and so we saw a proper race. Nothing quite like seeing quality runners falling apart and looking like the rest of us in the final 2km of a major race.

Off to Singapore tomorrow so needed to get a quality session in today so decided to push the pace a bit on my long run. Did 16.5km to Shelley Beach and back adding a loop of Manly Golf Course then ran to work. 29.7km in 2:00:34 (4:03's). 54:44 for the run to work bit but that included an extra loop around Anderson Park in Kiribilli in order make up some distance. Very happy with that. Running sub4's finally felt relatively comfortable so a big confidence booster.

Update

Sat was 5km very easy.

Sunday was 10km tempo in 37:19 on the Yagon route plus 2km warmdown.

Monday was 30km all the way down Yagon beach (middle of nowhere) and back. Got scared shitless after 7km running down the beach only to hear footsteps behind me. Turned around to see 3 dingoes pursuing me. If they'd approached at 27km I'd have been toast, but was still relatively fresh after 7km. Running back up the beech after turning I could see from the tracks they'd followed me for about 4km. Soft sand for 20km so legs were knackered at the end even only managing 4:56's.

Rest today. At Taree Hospital now after Claudia was bitten on the foot but an in identified Australian critter.

Jared West

Massively busy day trying to wrap things up before going on holiday. Going on holiday is almost not worth the stress.

Nice run at lunch with Chris Shaw form AMP. 15km easy. That's 131km for the week. Really good 4 weeks of raining, gradually increasing the mileage each week. I'll ease up next week on holidays and hopefully see some jump start in the fitness. Not sure where anonymous from yesterday's post is coming from. Check out what I used to do in training in 2008.

Very impressed with Jared West's result in the 800m prelims at the Aussie Champs. A PB of 1:47:99 to make the final. I've only met the chap once (after City Mile Dash last year where we shared a couple of beers) and he was dead humble. He trains around Manly and always says hello. Wish him every luck in the final tomorrow and hope he can podium. Jeff Riseley will be the man to beat.

Can't cope

Had a work call at lunch I couldn't avoid so the 800's were out. Contemplated doing them solo but, to be honest, I'm knackered and I'd be flogging a dead horse. So just did a very easy 12km up to Centennial bumping into Barts and Andy, the men in form, on the way.

More beers tonight. Will the form ever return?!

Wednesday MLR

Strength with Carl this morning avec hangover then usual Wednesday route with JW and Mr Ace in about 1:25. Feeling very sluggish but a nice run with the boys on a beautiful day with no one pushing the pace.

Forgot to give a massive congratulatory shout to Craig Mc who ran 2:29:17 in Paris on the weekend. Wowsers, that's raised the bar. And he's only 4 days younger than me.

HuRTS 4 x 10mins

Well, the boys were flying today while I continued winding my way down struggle street. Reached just shy of Robbie Burns on the first rep, back in 9:45, then 10 seconds beyond Rabbie on the third rep and back in 10:00. Just can't turn the legs over any quicker but at least the breathing was fine.

Amazed at how quickly the lads are running. On the third rep I think I was 8th with Barts, Fats, Andy, J-Fen, Clyde and some new random dude all putting plenty of distance into me. Andy in particular was flying. The times they are 'a changin'.

Good to see Timmy back out.

Out in the evening for a few Hooergaarden's and plenty of red wine.

These days I check my phone and always find some random photos on it. Damn kids. So I'm going to start publishing them.

Early doors

Beautiful day so got out early doors for 14km to Shelly Beach and back. Felt uncomfortable the whole way. Legs tired and sore.

East Side Sunday

With Macca flying to the States and Dicky and Sam still on the injury bench, I was left with the option of flying solo or venturing over the Bridge to Centennial. I was knackered from yesterday so didn't fancy the idea of 30kms feeling sorry for myself and Kirst gave me the early morning off so off to Cenetennial it was to meet up with Kanser, Enda, Clyde, Wildman, CT, J-Fen, Ronan and even Young Timmy for 30kms. Time flew chatting away and felt Ok by the end. Pace was quick mind - those East Side Boys don't hang around. They all slow down on the hills though as they have soft legs.

30km averaging 4:25's.

Now off to watch Bec play U12's soccer at the bottom of the hill for new club Brookvale. Hopefully she can reverse a weekend of shocking defeats.

Striders 10km Homebush - 4th in 34:05

5km warm-up with Macca and Barts for a bit then quickly into the congregation for the start. Didn't see any guns on the start line other than some unknown chap wearing a English athletics team top. Well the gun went off and so did he. Briefly saw him on the switchbacks as he whizzed past us.

Neil Pearson went off pretty hard with Barts and I next. Going up the hills at Scribbly Gums Barts started to pull ahead (hills always show who's feeling strongest) and he'd gapped me by the top and was pulling ahead. So from then on I was running solo. By the top of the hill at 5.3km Barts was with Neil and they had about a 20-30s lead, but Neil looked to be fading and rounding the hut at the bottom I could see him ahead so just concentrated on catching him. Worked my arse off to do so (which helped me run a good negative split) and caught him just after the hill at 8.5km but he immediately put an effort in and got 10m on me soon after. Then rounding the penultimate corner I gave it one final go and got on his shoulder before he responded once again. I pussied out at this stage, telling myself I'd tried hard enough. But in short, crap first half when I just couldn't get going but more encouraging second half.

Tedious fact #1: I ran exactly the same time today as I did on the same course in November. Andy almost did too.

Great run by Barts who was strong the whole way and continues his good form - he ended up with 33:43. Enda also had a great run in 35:12 and will undoubtedly PB at the Sydney10 next month if he continues this run of form. Anna won the ladies dipping under 38mins (and thanks for the top Anna - Bec loves it!) but run of the day was Laura's fellow Macquarie employee Ella who has run almost every HuRTS session over the past 2 months and improved her 10km time from 43:xx at North Head last month to 40:36 today!

Ran a warmdown with Enda and Andy afterwards before heading out for a couple of km with Barts and Darren Deed - the English gun we saw on the startline who is over here for 10 days for his mates wedding. Turns out he's a 29:40 10km runner and debuted in the marathon last year in 2:18 - knocking on the door of Commonwealth Games selection. He won today in 31:03.

21.5km all up.

Plod town

9km jog bumping into Ray. At one point Kanser ran past us running 3 min kms so I guess he's not racing tomorrow.

115km for the week.

HuRTS Pyramid

Plenty of rain. And cold. What a difference a week makes.

Big crowd today but we were thrown off the oval by a grumpy groundsman. So after a bit of dithering we settled on loops of the concrete path surrounding the oval. GMaps has it at 500m. Maybe a bit shorter. We split into a few groups with Barts, Andy C, Kenny, Ray, J-Fen, some big chap and me in the first group. Basically, I just sat on Barts for the whole session. Felt pretty good today with plenty of running in the legs. Reps (1 lap, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1 with a rest of half the time of the previous rep) went as follows:

1:33, 3:08; 4:44, 6:20, 4:39, 3:03, 1:30

That's pretty quick if it is 500m so must be a bit shorter. Still, all going well. 2km jog there and 4km jog home for about 14km all up.

Wednesday MLR

Strength with Carl this morning then 19km easy with Mikey, Andy's H and C, JW and the Kilted Scot. 4 Englishmen, a Scot and an Aussie.

Going OK.

Good news today with Neil Pearson (40+) joining Striders ranks for the ANSW winter events and Dicky H getting in touch to do the same. Sutherland will be tough to beat with Andy C joining them but should make for some great races in the O35's, especially relays.

HuRTS 45mins Fartlek

Great crowd today in the Autumn sunshine. Barts, Fats, J-Fen and Andy's H and C all running upfront with a big group including Ray, Macca, MC, Enda etc in support. Hell, even Durante was there. I planned on holding back a little as I've done in the past few Tuesday's but that went out the window on the very first 60s on. I think it was because I was feeling refreshed after a very easy run yesterday. Barts was taking it easy no doubt saving himself to smash me on Saturday so we had a good group of 5 of us running together on the way out.

Reached the second speed bump on the way out, still feeling fine (at least breathing OK - legs are always tired these days) and then tried to get home. Andy Cross left us at the turn, Fats upped stumps at CQ and J-Fen cut short half way around Farm Cove with Barts pulling ahead of me at that stage so ran up the hills alone but with the squad to overtake in order to get back under 45mins. Just managed it with a final gate to gate of 10:15. All up 12.67km in 44:57 (3:33's). Put a lot more effort into that though than I have in any recent Tuesday sessions.

Jog around the gardens to finish for 15km all up.

Monday meander

Very slow 11km around Manly with Maggsie on her bike. Had a chat with Hamish M. That was about it. Tired.

Easter Sunday

Out with Macca early doors for some flat stuff around Manly. Perfect morning being a bit cooler than recently. Time passed quickly. Macca stopped after 23km so finished it off solo. Felt Ok at end for first time in a while. 30km in 2:13:50 (4:28's).

Selfie with the kids pre-world's toughest Easter egg hunt.

Manly hilly tempo

Same as last week. Went out a bit harder but then settled into similar km splits. Started to hurt like hell through Balgowlah Heights and thought I was cactus but recovered a bit towards the end. Glutes tired though as I struggled on any sort of hill.

Total time of 50:54 and v happy with that. Splits (last week in brackets):

3:25 (3:33), 3:43 (3:46), 3:50 (3:55), 4:03 (4:04), 3:38 (3:45), 3:54 (3:50), 3:59 (3:54), 3:39 (3:42), 3:56 (3:57), 4:46 (5:07), 4:34 (4:14), 4:27 (4:25), 3:01 (3:23) [910m].

Easy does it

Few too many Asahi's with Wildman, Durante, Kanser, Fast Charlie and Patrick Hodgens last night but they were going down beautifully.

Got out this arvo for 9km easy with the eldest 3 kids on their bikes. Ran to Ben & Jerry's, bought a tub (Maple Tree Hugger for the fans) and ran home. It was the only way I could persuade Bec to come out with us.

110km for the week.

8 x 800m

Rocked up looking forward to the session after Mikey was spruiking it to me yesterday. But it's all quiet despite me being a bit early. Hung around a bit then thought Mikey must have left early like he's prone to so I slog my ass over to Rushcutters to find it deserted. Wrong session. So I've got to run 8 x 800m solo. In the heat with no shade. Brilliant.

Did 2 reps and felt like shite. I was suffering from yesterday's hammy strength session and just felt dead flat. Battled not to give up there and then and eventually got through all 8. Times were crap but one good thing was a little fortitude of mind learned in persuading myself to do the lot. Legs finally felt better over the final 3 reps. Times (off a 2min rest) were:

2:35, 2:33, 2:34, 2:34, 2:33, 2:33, 2:30, 2:27

11km all up.

Wednesday SLR

Out with MC, Ben O'B and Andy Cross (who, it turns out, is almost a Geordie) for the usual Wednesday route but cut short after 1 lap. 15km in 70mins.

Good strength session with Carl this morning concentrating on hamstrings and core.

HuRTS 8 x 5mins

Very warm again. Turnout getting better. Mikey back, Barts way out front again. Ran with Andy for most reps with Ben O'B and the AMP lads hovering around. Averaged between 3:30 and 3:36 for each rep. Kept them consistent without getting excited.

Lovely dip in the harbour for afters. 14km all up.

Usual Monday

Another beautiful day and still hot for this time of year.

15km with Mikey, Barts, Andy, Kanser, KiltedScot and plenty of others including a new girl who looked like she had great form.

More good news on the Berlin Marathon tour is that TB is now on-board. That makes 15 of us. Will have to organise the tour singlets shortly.

Long Manly route

Did my old 27.5km route via Burnt Bridge Creek, Campbell Pde, Queenscliff, Shelly, North Head, Little Collins and Manly to Spit coming back from Tania Park.

Tired after yesterday and ran in the heat of the day at 4pm. I'll suffer for this tomorrow. 2:03:37 (4:30's).

Hilly tempo

51:34. Better than I thought I'd go but still a minute down on 6 weeks ago. Felt good through Seaforth and the Heights but lost it in final 3km.

2km warm up and down for 17km all up. Humid.

Tired Friday

Easy 10km with John Bowe until half way.

Bumped into Enda on the way back. Strange experience. First he told me he was trialling a new running style, which I listened to with a raised eyebrow seeing as I'd only originally recognized him 100m ahead based on his old running style. Then he pulled his pants down and showed me his arse telling me he'd finished 2nd in a near naked race in the morning.

Certainly distracted me from how crap I'd been feeling plodding around 10km.

104km for the week.

HuRTS 10 x 400m

It's all about the glutes. Gary freed them up yesterday and I felt like a different man today.

All reps were 67/68 (although I reckon we were maybe 10m short) with a final one at 65, finishing just behind Barts each time.

Did a longer jog back home with Barts for 11.5km all up.

James E went very well, leading us out on 2 or 3. Good to see plenty of girls in attendance too, with HuRTS #2 showing HuRTS #1 a clean pair of heels over the sprints.

Wednesday getting better

Usual Wednesday route (showing 18.48km on current Garmin - old one used to say 18.75km - I know Durante appreciates the accuracy) in a fairly sprightly 82:10 with Jonathan, Anna and AMP chap, the latter two cutting short. Must have been sprightly as JW was dropping at the end and he usually pushes the Wed runs.

Anna looks to be running very well - she was the one pushing the 4:10's around Centennial looking very easy.

Then a good massage from the Tiger concentrating on the still dodgy hammie with more needles in the ass.

HuRTS 45mins tempo

Strength with Carl this morning (first in a long time - need to get back into this and massage regularly).

Small crowd for HuRTS today. Not sure where everyone has gone. Barts ran off waaaay into the distance leaving me running temporarily with Enda and then all alone. Didn't push too hard. Tried to keep the average under 3:40's but just failed. Pleased to get back in under 45mins though. 12.24km in 44:49 (10:40 for the final gate to gate) for a 3:40 average. Turned about 100m down Hickson Road after the bridges (but before the first speed hump).

Achilles slightly swollen after whacking it while going down Mach 5 at Wet 'n Wild on Sunday, which then gave me a nasty blister. Hammie still not quite right but working on the exercises and need some dry needling with the Tiger tomorrow.

Run home

Did just that. Untimed, but it wasn't too shabby. Not the same eye candy as Main Beach, Queensland.


Was following through a link on Fats' blog and saw the website for the Blaydon Race. Tis is a big road race on the North East calendar which always attracts a good field. The current race record holder is none other than Patrick Makau. Anyway, check out who won the Vets race (a big thing in the North East - referred to as "Gadgies" in this race that celebrates all things Geordie) - back in 1984:

Blaydon Race Results

Longish at Surfers

Out at 7am but it was still warm then. Just ran down the coast to the end of Broadbeach park then back. Stopped at 20km as I'd got into quite a quick rhythm and was getting tired. 20km in 1:24:53 (4:15's). Dead flat the whole way and just a gentle Northerly. Then did a 4.5km warm down up to the end of the spit and back. Sweated buckets but I need to as I've piled on the pounds in the past 4 weeks.

Main Beach Park Run - 1st in 17:12

Woke. Jogged from Sea World resort to Southport SLSC. Ran the parkrun with out 150 others, but was all alone. Felt pretty average to be honest. Then jogged back. Then jumped in pool. Perfect morning and a great place to run.

55mins

..around Centennial from the Sheraton. Hungover. No up in Gold Coast. May do Parkrun tomorrow.

HuRTS Hickson Rd

Headed down for my first session in donks to meet a small crowd of Barts, Jeet, LF Charlie (hooray!), Andy, LJ and a few others. Barts disappeared off into the distance and I largely ran with Andy. Did 3:44, 3:37, 3:43, 3:41 and 3:49.

Hurt like hell but these sessions always do after a break. Lungs still not fully right but coming good.

Begin again

Finally resurfaced for air after one of the busiest 2 week periods of work for me in a long time.

Out for 13km around Centennial with Jeet, Jonathan and Ben D'Cruz y'all. Nice and easy. Chest still tight, hammie needs strengthening but back on track.

Pre-teen Steps

10 point something km averaging just over 4:30's on a different around Manly going via Little Collins beach up to North Head. I'll slowly build up but lacking confidence at the moment.

Fantastic result by Fats to win Six Foot. He demolished what had been hyped as one of the strongest fields in years. No one better on the hills and no one you would rely on more.

Toddler steps

Ran to work but pulled stumps at Neutral Bay for 9km. Have had this chronic fatigue for 2 weeks now but today was the first day I've felt vaguely normal.

Good luck to all the boys and girls at Six Foot tomorrow. Very envious I'm not there. It's an event like no other.

Baby steps

Been hammered on a deal recently and haven't seen the light of day for a week, which made me more ill, so no running.

Deal closed today and was spurred back into running action by meeting Holt Hardy in a meeting on a new deal this morning. Holt is a former 1:47/3:38 guy and a great bloke and asked how my running was going. So I wandered out for 10km this evening in beautiful conditions and it was great just to be out there.

More of the same Thursday

Run to work again feeling marginally better but only just - 59:24. Sick to death of this illness. Have canned the idea of racing Sat night given how I feel plus will be working all weekend. Have also canned Six Foot based on my hammie post Equaliser. All in all not happy at the moment. So busy at work today I eventually changed out of my running kit after running in at 4:15pm.

Sick boy

Can't shake this cold/flu thing. In retrospect I shouldn't have pushed the weekend so hard.

Rested yesterday. Ran to work this morning feeling dreadful. Not helped by work being manic at the moment. Haven't done a 14 hour day in a while.

Monday recovery

Usual 16km route feeling tired with Barts, MC, Andy, Ray, Elvis etc. can't shake the cold, seems to have come back when I thought I'd shaken it.

This is interesting. Plotted my 5km time into MacMillan and it predicts a 10km time bang on my PB. I said to myself in January that to run sub 2:30 I'd need to run a sub 32 10km and a low 1:11 Half. MacMillan agrees entirely:

Equaliser - 2nd in 58:09

Drove up with Dicky and we did a 4.5km warm up with Ben and Justin - Dicky intent on getting our feet drenched and sandy before the race started. A few quick hellos - great to see Richie H show up looking lean and fit.

Set off pretty quick with Fats and I was feeling great. Ran the first 3 km following Fats closely and even entertained thoughts of tracking him all the way with a sprint to glory, but that was until the first hill appeared. This was after the creek crossing which I managed to aquaplane across on my chest. Jonny B was just behind at this stage and kept me honest up the hills. I pulled ahead of JB on the roads of St Ives (Fats being a good 200m ahead at this stage) but when we were back in the bush I came out onto one fire trail without a clue which way to go. Waited for JB who suggested right was the best option (which it was). Then pulled ahead a bit before losing my footing coming down a steep hill. Thought I'd caught my fall with 3 wild strides before hitting the deck. At this point, I decided to run with JB instead of attempting to push the pace with the aim of putting an effort in over the final km.

Felt OK on the final big hill so worked that pretty well to build up a gap. Then cruised home. Surprised to see the next guy behind me wasn't JB so he must have struggled up the final hill. Time was 58:09 or thereabouts. Good hard hit out and it was warm and humid today. In fact, we did a 10km warmdown and I was struggling for fluids at the end.

29km all up and tired.

Getting better

20km this morning over the hilly Tania Park route. 1:23:40 (4:11's). Wet and windy but warm so quite nice to run in. Lungs still full of crap but haven't felt that good doing a run in ages.

Variety

11km late afternoon. Lungs full of crap about 50% capacity but legs felt great.

95km for week.

HuRTS Pyramid

Man Flu.

Tis all I'll say.

Jogged over and ran at the back with a couple of nice girls which was very pleasant.

Timmy AWOL yet again. News around the traps is that Franky Dearn is enquiring about odds.

HuRTS 2 x 20mins

Got a rotten cold now. Took it easy today running with Hamish Mountford, Pete W and Smolly. 3:52's on the way out and 3:45's on the return.

13km all up after a warmdown with Barts.

Monday recovery

Very easy 11km with a big crowd at lunch. Getting a sore throat. Knew the weekend would catch up with me in some way. Hammie feels great though.

Photo below is from Saturday night - me with the two youngsters (Bryce Coles-Sinclair and Jordan Gusman). The latter won the NSW U20 800m last week in 1:51. The former was 3rd in the 1500m in 3:59. Both less than half my age. Bryce went on to gap me by 10s by the end with Jordan dropping off badly.

Super long Sunday

A few hours sleep then out this morning with Fats, Macca and Ray for what we thought would be 36km. Pace was fairly solid from the start and I felt surprisingly OK.

Then at Cromer Golf Course, after jumping the fence, some grumpy golfers turned us back telling us there was no through path, so we had to retrace our steps to Narrabeen. Pace picked up to sub4's from there but to be honest I was holding on the whole way. Eventually at Campbell Pde (36km) I persuaded Fats and Macca I needed water and would only jog home. Thankfully, they agreed.

All up 38.5km in 2:45:42 (4:19's). Absolutely shafted now.

State 5000m

Great crowd of HuRT Squad runners with Barts, Andy, Kanser, Ray and Laura all running. Watched a really good tussle between Andy, Kanser and Ray in the C race as Barts and I warmed up. Got dead nervous then we were off.

Hammie had been feeling fine courtesy of some Voltaren (I think the issue is some deep tissue swelling in the glute) and was feeling very bouncy after plenty of rest so decided to commit early on. Followed Cale Bowd and Bryce Courtenay Pierce Brosnan Coles Sinclair for a couple of laps before they eased ahead when a couple of other chaps came past, so tagged onto them. Went through 1km in about 3:01, 2km in 6:06 and 3km in 9:15 so knew a good time was on but that the pace was generally slowing. My brain is a bit mushy as to what happened after that but I figured I needed a strong last lap and was lucky enough to have Jim Perrett just in front of me with a lap to go. Went past him on the back straight and had a really good tussle the whole way home with him edging ahead on the line.

Very happy with the time. Always good to get a PB after many years of racing and a nice touch to have my Dad lap counting for me on a night when I equalled (but did not beat) his PB. I ended up with 15:36:57. Unfortunately they only had hand-timing back in them days and Dad doesn't remember the decimal (I'm guessing because it was .9) so we have to call it a draw for now.

Laura looked very strong on the women's A race in setting a 20s PB and great to watch the men's A race with my pick (Dave Byrne) being edged on the line by James Connor.

Now 6hours sleep after a party before the long run with the boys.

Friday ramble

11km around the city with Ben O'B, John Bowe and a couple of other tri blokes. Dead easy. Hammie fine but I'd taken Voltaren.

Oscar Pistorius

Easy 7km jog to the Toyota Garage before getting a cab the rest of the way home. Super sensitive as to the hammie so couldn't really tell whether all good or not. Still planning on racing tomorrow night.

Tell Charles I'm on my way

Joined Macca, Barts, Fats and CT for the 6.30am group for the Mosman Reversed STaR but from the start my hammy was restricted and got tighter along the hilly route. I was also struggling to stay with the boys so pulled the pin at 13km and got a taxi home.

Then slept for another 3 hours this morning and an hour this afternoon. I think my body is telling me something. Gonna take it easy to sort out the hammy before it deteriorates.

Hungover Saturday

Too many beers last night to do anything more than a gentle 10km this arvo in 44:03.

Not too bad

Gentle run to work. Actually felt OK. Left hammy sore though and restricted full range of movement.

116km for the week but some good quality stuff in there.

Forgot to mention about my warmdown with Barts last night. A couple months ago we were doing a long run through Castlecrag when Barts casually mutters "snake" while pointing to this long-toothed yellow thing curled in the middle of the road that I was about to step on. Well, last night we did a loop of the horse-track at Homebush when this rat runs out in front of us. Well, I've never heard Barts squeal so high-pitched or leap about so madly. It was like jogging with a 3yr old girl. Wish I'd had my camera.

Great photo I was sent yesterday. Love the look of the old school cyclists. Not sure about the chap on the corner getting a bit too excited.

2km Time Trial

Out for the haul over to Homebush in rush hour with Barts. Traffic meant we were half an hour late but Tiger was being generous and allowed us a good warm up. Did about 3km including a few strides then we were into it. Megsy was to take us through 800m in 2:20 and Gary to carry on at the same pace after for as long as he could be arsed.

It was pretty windy down the back straight and on he second lap I felt it was getting too comfortable so pushed ahead with Gary coming past in the home straight and Barts just behind. Gary then gapped me a bit and I struggled through the next 600m (with the lap splits showing). He stepped off the track at 1400m and Barts was about 2s back at this stage so I was solo for the final 600m. Had a good last lap though (67.x) to bring a bit of respectability to the time. Finished in 5:53.1. Was secretly hoping for 5:48 but I didn't have the confidence to go with Gary at 800m. Barts also had a good last lap to finish in 5:57.

Lap splits went:

1:10, 2:20, 3:33, 4:45, 5:53.

Still think the fitness is there as it's been a very big week.

7km warmdown with Barts for 12km all up. Thanks to Barts (who was even more nervous than me beforehand), Gary and Megsy for joining in. Megsy looks a class act running at pace.

Dropping like flies

Top of left hammy was stiff for the last 3 reps yesterday. Got worse in the evening and was very sore this morning. Did strength with Carl this morning but all upper body and core to avoid any pressure on the hammy. Just did a 7km plod at lunchtime to avoid having to buy CT a bottle of Moet and hammy a bit better after. Then saw the Tiger who abused me with needles like a voodoo doll and have to say it's feeling a lot better now. So the 2km TT tomorrow is still on.

Timmy threatening to drop out of Six Foot. We're dropping like flies.

HuRTS 14 x 3 mins

EaMo will have to start watching his back. Sounds like Timmy is going to do a Richard 3rd on him after the latest attempt of the Irish to steal back the Churchill/Sands trophy. Poor Sammy ended up in Manly hospital today after 2 reps (photo below). Good luck on the recovery mate.

Big crowd, C.T. showing us how it's done. Ran with Barts most of the way. Felt heavy-legged to start with but rolled through fine by the end basically averaging gate to gates (910m) for the 3mins. Great to see Durante out there. Also very impressed by Bart's (the apostrophe is key) final rep where we ran toe to toe at 3:10 pace. This from a guy who claims he couldn't run quicker than 5min kms 12 months ago. Could be an early call for HuRTS Improver of the Year.

Maggsie's Monday

Usual route with a big crowd. 16km untimed. Stiff and sore from the weekend.

Maggie's first day at school today. 4 down, one to go. She was pumped.

Centennial Sunday

Drove Macca over to Kanser's and we started the run from there. Met Timmy, Ray, Laura, Enda, C.T. and Fats at the kiosk before doing a couple of loops of the park, then headed down to Coogee and did a great run along the coast to Bronte before climbing back to Queens Park. purple of loops of the park bumping into Ray and J-Fen (who upped the pace) then back to Dave's for some top bacon & egg sarnies, tea, melon, fizzy lime juice, the works.

32.6km all up. Quick final few kms. 4:30 average all up.

Strider 10km Homebush - 5th in 33:52

Got up early to pick Dicky up as we planned on doing a longer warm up (5km). It was pissing with rain and had been for 24 hours but very cool temps for February. The course was sodden with huge puddles around the horse track which meant diverting onto the soft gravel or wading through the ankle deep water. Really appreciated the warm up though as I'd ironed out all the aches and stiffness before the start.

Good crowd with Dave Criniti, Robin Whitelely, CT, Fats, Craig Mc, Sam Walker, the Horne and Brendan Davies all in attendance. Had a good chat with the lads (Timmy looking very nervous) and off we went. Funny start as everyone stormed off and I was we'll back but then picked up a lot of places in the second km to be running alongside Robin and Sam. I think the long warm up avoided the excitable start with inevitable 2km slowdown.

CT and Dave jumped ahead at the start and Sam and Robin had closed the gap by 2km and pulled ahead of me by 30m in the process. I think Brendan was right behind at this stage but I was basically running solo from here on. At 5km on the switchbacks I could see that Brendan and Fats were about 60m behind and was worried as I knew those 2 would be competitive and push each other along - so I made a concerted effort to go hard until the top of the hill. From here I was just concentrating on getting under 34mins and knew it would be close. Used CT up ahead as someone to chase and pleased to come in with a few seconds to spare. Felt great in the second half. Splits went: 3:12, 3:19, 3:19, 3:25, 3:29, 3:18, 3:26, 3:21, 3:23, 3:23 (18s - measured 10.1km).

Some great battles out there. Timmy did enough to hold off Laura and Elvis but obviously made a real effort in doing so but fair play to him. Kanser missed the start by 20s (surprise surprise). Macca ran as solid as ever and has been given some impetus for Six Foot by an ill conceived goading from Elvis, who seems to be specialising in this.

A good morning was topped off by winning the spot prize which I swapped with Timmy for my $20 bet.

5km warm up and down 20km all up.

Plod

7.5km plod around Manly early doors with a few strides once I'd got out of shuffle mode.

Bloody humid. If it's like this tomorrow the rust buster at Homebush will be brutal.

65.0kg after brekkie this morning.

Ahh, just reliving one of the happiest days of my life...

HuRTS 10 x 400m

Or, the Return of Inside Lane Kane.

But to be fair to the big fella, he was flying today and seems to have hit a rich seam of form.

Big turnout on a lovely day, if a bit humid. But for this sort of session and bit of heat and humidity is actually beneficial as it loosens the legs. Vlad, Barts, Kanser, J-Fen, Big Blue John, MC, Enda, Timmy, Killa (last session before emigration) and Dicky G all in attendance. I led the first two, tucked in behind Vlad and Barts on the third (when I thought - here we go again) but they quickened the pace a bit and it was much easier following. I should do it more. We took turns like this for the rest of the session with Kanser and Big Blue John also sharing the pace. Times were:

69, 68, 67, 68, 67, 68, 67, 67, 66, 66.

All off a rolling 2 minutes. MC told everyone off for running too fast after the second rep, which gave us all a good giggle. It's not like anyone (including himself) slowed down.

Long warmdown to Darling Point and back with Barts after. Planning a 2km time trial for next week.

Also 4km with Billy very easy this morning for 15km all up today.

Ran in my new Elixir 8's which I'm disappointed with. Aggravated my left achilles. Over the past 12 months I've gone from Elixir 6's, through 7's to 8's. why do they mess around with a good formula?

Wednesday MLR

Strength with Carl early doors this morning. Legs a'wobbly again.

18.6km usual Wednesday route nice and easy with MC, JW, French Ben, Jeet, Glenn and Elvis. Had some pest loitering around us when circling Centennial and I was ready to call the cops but MC said not to bother as he reckoned we'd all easily outrun him if things got dicey.

Bianca massage late arvo. Forgotten how good she is. Brought tears to the eyes.

Now working late to catch up...

HuRTS 4 x 10mins

Typical Sydney turn-out in a damp day. Irony was most of those missing were English or Irish.

Didn't want to go full-bore on a Tuesday again and Fats, Macca and Barts obviously had the same plan. Ran with James E on rep 1 to the footpath short of Rabbie (3:38's). Back in 9:25 (3:29's). Bit further going past Rabbie with Barts on rep 3 (3:33's) and back in 9:52 (3:30's).

3km warm down for 15km all up.

And the heavens opened

Pissed down in the Blue Mountains so we came back early. Headed out for a large loop around Manly before picking up chocolate, milk and bread in the Fairlight shops (we feed our kids well). Quietest I've ever seen Manly seafront on a public holiday. But although teeming with rain, it was quite warm and pleasant enough to run in. Felt great today. 13km in 54:50 (4:13's). Finished by running up Sydney Road.

Fascinating fact #1, I've never run up Sydney Rd from Manly until today.

More exciting news tomorrow.

Slowest run ever

Ran out to Evans Lookout then realised there was a cliff top route from there to Govett's Leap and beyond to Popes Glen Track which lead straight back to our campsite. Hadn't reckoned on it being steps the whole way and creek crossings which, given all the overnight rain, had turned into torrents. Nearly got swept off into the Grose Valley 500m below. After a few 8min kms I ended back at the campsite and did the same again, but turning back the way I came from Evans Lookout and avoiding the bush bash.

25 kms in 2:12. Beautiful weather for running - cool, still and damp.

Australia Day

8km plod early doors before heading up to them there mount'ns.

Not the Friday Swim Squad

Out for the usual harbourside route with Big Sam, KiltedScot (on Burns Day, although he was unaware he runs past Rabbie at least 6 times a week), Aidan, Serious Simon and Indrajeet. Very easy pace on a warm and humid day until the final 4km when Aidan picked the pace up.

Big Sam and I had a great laugh running by the ABC Pool on the way out. We saw the legendary Friday swim squad alright - all standing around in the shallow end of the pool having a chat and admiring the boys sunning themselves on the side!

16km all up and 123km for the week. Handled the mileage much better this week - helped in large part by easing off on Tuesday.

HuRTS 8 x 800m

Not sure what was going on today. I'm usually the world's most boring runner. Pretty much know what pace I'm going to be going at and tend to be very consistent and not vary the pace much. Well, that wasn't the case today. Felt fantastic on the first three reps and breezed through them running with Vlad or just in front - Barts saying I was looking very bouncy. Then on the 4th my legs felt dead, Barts and Vlad were 4s in front and I couldn't do anything about it. Was ready to pull out but told myself to HTFU and make sure none on the next 4 were any slower than that one. Toiled away after that and achieved the aim but it wasn't pretty and felt nothing like I did on the first 3. Times were:

2:25, 2:24, 2:26, 2:29, 2:28, 2:27, 2:28, 2:22

Not sure why I bonked on rep 4. Maybe it was doing squats with weights yesterday. Maybe it was the Tiger's needles. Maybe I got carried away running with Vlad the Superstar on the first 3 reps.

Not a bad session in the end. The most positive thing is that I'm hoping that when I ease off the heavy training load sessions like this will feel like the first 3 reps but all the way through.

Good crowd out today on a warm one. Rests were 90s off MC's time. Rare showing by Enda who's very presence seemed to mess with Young Timmy's head. Great to watch MrAce and Elvis going eyeball to eyeball on the final rep.

Sense prevails

Well, I'm pleased to say that despite the efforts of Mr Neutral and Timmy's Chinese spy, Yu Wort Mei, the young fella finally agreed to the 3 min bet. I've been conned but it's a season starter.

Did an hour strength training with Carl this morning - loads of weights which had my legs trembling all morning. Headed out with MC, Big Sam, Rob C, the KiltedScot and Serious Simon for the usual Wednesday route. Was knackered the whole way but nice run with the lads nonetheless.

Saw the Tiger this arvo who stuck some more needles in my ass. Never look forward to that bit. Only consolation was him acknowledging (in flagrant breach of the Hypocratic Oath) that I handle the needles much better than Kanser, who in turn handles the needles better than the ultimate needle pussy - Fats. I held back the sobs after hearing that. Who'd have known it. I am the hard man after all.

The shame of Young Timmy

Today was the 45min tempo. Still tired from the weekend so took it easier. Ran with MC, Ben O'B and Macca on the way out and Macca and the chap from AMP(?) who always finishes fast on the way back. 11.81km in 44:12 (3:45's).

I'm very disappointed to say that last night Young Timmy brought shame upon himself. We were having the usual banter about bets on the 10km race at Homebush in 10 days and remarking on how close our bets usually are. Now I have traditionally offered him 80s and we normally finish within a few seconds of that mark so that's where I started my offer last night. He went though a list of excuses as long as his arm and, dare I say it, sounded right like a whingeing pom. So, to end the conversation and move on I relented and agreed to give him a 3 minute(!) headstart. And now he won't even take that!!!!

Just to lay down a few stats:

1. My training this month is almost identical to Jan 2012 (check the blog) - running every day, building a base, getting tired but knowing it's for benefit in 3-4 months.

2. Timmy tried to train through Xmas this year (albeit not with great success) but certainly more successful than last year (check his blog).

3. In the Feb Homebush race last year I ran 34:33 and Timmy 36:53. (Just noticed that Michael Ho - who was just behind me in training today - smashed me in the Feb race last year)

4. Look at my post from Feb 26th last year. Timmy had his bad turn trying to do a Sunday run on the trails and had his Elvis moment with me forced to pick him up in the car. Yet 3 weeks earlier (with 3 weeks less training in the bank) he was able to run 36:53. So any claim of his that he'll only run 38:xx next week needs to be evaluated in that light.

So I will open it to the court of public opinion. If you think I'm being unfair offering 3 minutes, let me know and why.

Timmy, yesterday:

Manic Monday

Very slow jog into work. The first 3km were agony. But 'tis done.