MLR

Easy 17km with Darren (4:47's).  Tired after last night's efforts but the pace was easy.

Arrived home to find Maggot and Claudie fully decked out in running kit ready for their session.  Their enthusiasm can be explained by the fact I said we'd be doing hills, and that each time they beat the time I set for them, they would get a lolly (had to run by Woolies on my earlier run to pick up the favoured Starburst).

So Mags and I jogged to the BP Garage while Claudie rode her bike, then Maggie did 8 X 80m hills while Claudie managed 4.  Mags got 5 lollies and Claudie got 4. Plainly I need to be stricter on Claudia's target times (17s for Mags, 25s for Claudia). Then a jog back.  Mags looking good. Aiming for a sub 25min Parkrun on Sat.

Bit of Track

AM:  8km with the Cap'n in 4:56's.  Had to avoid the Shelley path of destruction.

PM:  ES Marks - 4 x 1km hard, 300m jog, 300m hard.  All off a rolling 8mins.

Kanser and Biggsy were there but doing 800's off 4mins.  Just Matt Hudson and Keith McPherson doing my set so I was bringing up the rear.  Did all the kms in 2:57 and all the 300's in 53 with a 52 to end.  So nice and consistent.  

13km all up.

Run home

Exactly that, very easy - 4:40's (70mins exactly via Boy Charlton) with some strides at the end.  Felt better (particularly achilles) at end than start.

Mental as Anything

SO Kirst and I were all fancy at a black tie charity event last night (check out the photo below) which turned out to have a FREE BAR so the chances of me making a 6.15am start were lower than nought.  Having said that, I woke at 5.50am feeling OK and temporarily thought of it before I heard the wind and rain and turned over under the duvet.

Got out at 2.30pm when the water was at it's highest point (coming around the front of the house) and I was a bit nervous it would be deluged by the time I returned.  Met Erika at Queenscliff where the wind was so strong I was blasted by sand.  We headed up to North Head picking up Q and Robbie along the way.  Watch in awe at the surf conditions between the Heads and along Manly Beach.  Quite simply the biggest I've ever seen in 16 years in Australia.

Got back after 27km to find the water levels having receded a bit.  Having said that, typing this at 9.15pm, it's back to the back gate.  Could be a long night as the police have already been around once and said next time they come it will be a mandatory evacuation.

Pace easy at 4:43's (2:07:24).

2pm, back to this level at 9pm:

Striders North Head - 3rd in 33:52

When I was 11 I won my first "big" road race.  It was the Chester-le-Street Minor Colts Road Race - 2 miles against all the kids from the running clubs in the North East.  I remember turning the final corner with about 400m to go, amazed that I was still in the running and thinking I might as well go for this just to prove to Dad I gave it my best shot.  I just sprinted for the line and ended up winning by about 5 seconds.  What it proved to me was that race wins (in competitive races) are never handed to you on a plate, you have to do something about it.

Today, I forgot all that.

Turned up this morning knowing it would be a competitive race with Quentin, Scotty and Robin all showing up, despite the forecast showing horrendous conditions.  Did a 3km warm up and said hello to Alex Rogers - another to throw into the mix.  Conditions seemed OK at that stage - damp but not too windy.  Set off and it was the usual suspects at the front plus one other chap that people on the sidelines were cheering on as "Rory". Turned out it was Ruiradh McDonald - super talented young fella.

I pushed the pace with Q in the first few km going through in 3:15, 3:16 and 3:12 and then the race turned ugly.  Just as we climbed the hill by the cafe a storm cell came through and turning on to the long straight we had a gale force headwind and torrential rain.  My lenses got soggy and I could barely see.  Poor Alex was in the lead and giving the rest of us a bit of a wind break. But the pace slowed dramatically such that we were all treading on each other's heels.

Through 5km in 16:42 (urgh) and we're all together but Robin puts a surge in and it looks as though we're breaking up a bit.  This was the theme for the next 3km - Robin would put a surge in, Ruiradh would immediately follow him, Scotty would go next and I would spend 200m bridging the gap, knowing I had to be in a group when we hit the wind at 8km or I was toast.

Get to the headwind at 8km and it's just me, Robin and Ruiradh.  Robin steps aside and waves his arm for us to take the lead.  I chuckle to myself and just tuck in behind him again.  Pace gradually picks up and I'm just biding my time without doing anything positive.  Then with 600m to go Robin jumps ahead with Ruiradh tracking him, they have the gap and I'm gone.  Trudge back up the hill for 3rd in 33:52.

Great running by Robin and unlucky to be pipped on the line but that kid has talent.  Everyone else was just happy to finish I think. Timmy was probably pick of the bunch only 80s behind Macca with a 38:05 performing pretty well in tough conditions.

Poor show from the Manly Hardcore disappearing off home without brekky.  It was left to the HuRTS Establishment to chow down a Deluxe B&E Roll in Manly's finest breakfast establishment.  Timmy couldn't resist the coffee there ordering 3!

So form is coming back but plenty more work to do. Great just to be out there racing again though.

Brissy

10km through the Bot Gardens and along the river.  Nice and easy and included a few strides.  Legs were sore before the the shakeout did the world of good.

Perth easy score

Wide awake at 5.30am (still on Sydney time) and first meeting wasn't until 8.30am so I headed out on my usual 20km route.  Pitch black until half way and then a beautiful sunrise (deep red in the morning over here as the desert's in the East) to bring me back home.  Unfortunately I had a pretty strong tail wind on the way out (thought it felt easy) so had to put my head down on the return.

Legs a bit sore by the end and I was hunting out every bit of grass I could find.  But not surprising as it's 40km in less than 24 hours since stepping off the plane.

4:36's.

My little Maggot!

Apologies for the super proud Dad post (I had to resist posting anything on Facebook given my reaction when others do the same) but was so chuffed for Maggie finishing 3rd in the District Cross Country this morning.  On to Regionals and if she can get through that, to State.  Once again came through the field after being in about 11th or 12th at half way and beaten by 2 much bigger girls.  Kirst said she had gritted teeth in the home straight so I think she's got the attitude for this.

So I arrived in Perth to this news and set out with renewed enthusiasm.  Decided on Gary's 79 continuous - 15mins warm up, 22mins Fartlek (1min, 2min, 3min, 4min, 3min, 2min, 1min off 1 min float), 5mins jog, 22mins tempo, 15mins warm down.  Along the perfect Perth footpath past Nedlands to Dalkeith.  Session went well.  Fartlek's average 3:29 pace (but realised I had a slight tailwind when I turned) and the Tempo also averaged 3:29's, working a bit harder into the wind.  So not quite the 3:26's I got to last year but getting there and overall felt OK at the end (20.3km all up in 3:54's).

Now will slink into a bar in Perth CBD to watch the Origin.  All by myself.  But happy due to kid no.4.

Tuesday cop out

AM:  8km to Shelley and back with Ben and the Cap'n.  Nice and easy chatting about bollocks.

Lunch:  Headed out to the HuRTs session just as a torrential downpour started in the freezing temps we're suddenly suffering.  Took shelter, felt cold, legs were still sore from Sunday, had a meeting at 2pm so made the rare (if not first time ever?) decision to ditch the session and head back to the office.

Still feel guilty about it 24 hours later.  No doubt I'll punish myself tomorrow as a result.

Long sore Monday

Holy crap.  Quads smashed after that downhill running to Jenolan Caves yesterday.  

Ran to work via North Head.  No watch, about 26-27km I think.  Legs buggered.  But achilles starting to feel better after all the plantar rolling.

A few photos from Kanangra Walls yesterday.  Magic spot.

Jenolan Caves

So I left Caves House this morning thinking, there's no way I'm heading up that bloody Caves Rd hill back towards Katoomba.  I've been down it and it's a killer.  So let's head the other way towards Oberon...

I swear it's 4km straight up the steepest hill I've ever run.  Eventually turned after 8km and running past a sign saying "Great Dividing Range - 1365m above sea level".  So 615m of vertical climb.  

Came back pretty quick though.

16km in 4:53's.

Fitting it in

Another solid day at work so missed the opportunity to join the squad for MC's last session.

Only option was to run home post work.  Have been feeling great this week (other than the achilles) and full of running so decided to run home solidly at sub 4's, knowing that's tough because of all the hills.  Did a 4km warm up around Mrs Macs then did the usual route but along the Cahill Expressway to avoid the stairs in the Rocks and then around Anderson Park to make up 20km.

Basically ran the flats and downs in a comfortable rhythm but had to work the hills (of which there are plenty) to keep the pace on track.  Due to the warm up I was always well behind averaging sub4 until I got to Balgowlah and could open up a bit.  

Really is a solid run and puts a load of strength in your legs.  All up 20km in 1:19:02 (3:57's).  No chicks overtook me today.

Make hay

In Melbourne again.  Headed out around the Tan with a couple of my Melbourne partners (they're fitter than my Sydney partners given we were running 4:20's).  Then headed out along the Yarra Trail to add some kms and was feeling so good (thank you Mr Voltaren) that I just kept on running.  Ended up running 21kms at about 4:22's.

Shock of the day occurred when running along the Yarra at a decent enough clip (km split had just shown 4:17) when I hear footsteps behind me.  Sure enough, 400m later someone overtakes me.  And it's a girl!  Or I should say woman.  Running 4:00's as a training run.  She looked pretty handy.  I need to get on Strava to see who it was but unfortunately my watch battery died.

Melbourne - 80 continuous

Supposed to double today but:

(a) in Melbourne; and

(b) achilles is too sore.

So I just did Thursday's session instead - 80 continuous.  Consists of 20min jog, 20min Fartlek (2min on, 1min off), 5min jog, 20min tempo then 15min warm down jog.  Quite a bit by the end (20.2km so 3:57 average) with the tempo averaging 3:27's.  Happy with that as I felt in control the whole way through.  If only my bloody achilles would improve I'd be starting to feel more confident.

Doing all the 1%'ers on the heel now in an attempt to nip this in the bud.

Monday meander

16.4km around the wharves with a decent sized crew including Eoin, Kanser,  Renee, Jerome, Hoey et al.  Achilles sore.

4:34's.

Sunday long relatively

2 weeks before London 28km felt like a day off.  Today I was just tired and sore.

Great crowd though with Barts, Lewis, Heydo, Erika, Emma, Hamish, Toby and Macca.  4:38's.  Lewis said it was his slowest ever long run.  That fella hasn't lived.

Enjoyed watching the Highgate Night of 10000m on internet (UK Olympic qualifiers).  Tom Bedford knows how to put on a track meet.  Beer tent on the back straight is ingenious.  

Another high quality 10km was on the same day - the Great Manchester Run.  Great to see my favourite ever female runner Tirunesh Dibaba taking the win in 31:16.  Good form for a final Olympic appearance to cement her reputation as the GOAT.  In the men's, Dave McNeil had a great run to get on the podium with 2 legends.  He'll no doubt cherish this photo:

Saturday Parkrun

Jogged there with 30s to spare.  Enough time to say hello to Pete W, Heydo and Marc A.  Ran off with purpose.  Quickly felt shit.  Had a kid on my shoulder for 1.5km (Bryn - last week's winner) then finally shifted him.  3:11, 3:16, 3:24, 3:24, 3:19 for 16:35 all up.  About the slowest I could have predicted so pretty disappointed given I worked pretty hard for it.

Body is just sore at the moment and everything is a struggle.  I think I'll ditch Launnie and trying to push when I'm not ready.  Instead, just build consistency and confidence.

5km warm down with the ever cheerful Heydo.

Thursday double

AM:  8km to Shelley and back on yet another picture perfect morning.  What is with the weather at the moment?  Too good to be true.

Lunch:  8x800m at Rushcutters with the old timers.  Mikey led the session and did it with aplomb, encouraging everyone over the line.  Barts, Enda, Muz, LJ, Mr Selfie and numerous other old-timers out in force.  The only man missing was Timmy, who was at home deliberating on what shirt to wear tonight.  I'll post his ill-decision later.  Good session run with Barts upfront and Nick R just behind with Hoey floating around all over the place.  Off a rolling 4mins I ran:

2:27, 2:29, 2:28, 2:28, 2:29, 2:28, 2:26, 2:19

Last one chasing Hoey home only to have my boyfriend Jerome come floating by looking like Rudisha.

5km warm down for 14km all up.

Wednesday MLR

Big crowd for a Wednesday MLR meeting Hoey, 2 Brendans, Pete W, Champ, Charlie and others AND supposedly Kanser, but after 5 minutes of waiting we were off.

Nice easy run up the old route to Centennial, then of course met Kanser at Fox Studio Gates so did another lap with him and Renee.  All up 16.8km in about 80mins.

Big news in the Highnam household today was Maggie winning her school x-country and taking down Octavia in the process.  She was in 4th after the first lap and managed to overhaul the top 3 for the win.  Very proud.  Charlie also did really well coming 8th (2nd reserve for District) running against boys a year older.

HuRTS 4x1km, 4x500m

Too many kids duties this morning so went out at lunch and managed to persuade Timmy to change the HuRTS session to my scheduled session.  Really big crowd (holding it down at Barangaroo helps) and with Crossy, Nick R and the bearded chap to chase there was plenty of support upfront.

Went out hard as I was keen to test myself for the first time since London.  Crossy did the same thing and I only inched ahead in the final 100m.  Similar story for rep 2 where I had to work bloody hard to get past him.  Rep 3 and he slowed as did my time as the legs were getting lactic.  Managed to hold it together for rep 4.  Times went:

2:56, 2:54, 3:00, 2:59.

All off a rolling 5mins.  That's very quick and I wonder about the accuracy of the distance.  But all the GPS watches had it on the km and we weren't running in circles.

Then the 500m reps off a rolling 3mins.  I struggled on the first to turn the legs over with Crossy gapping me quite a bit (having sat out of the final km rep).  Better on the second rep finishing well.  Struggled on 3rd then same again running solo on the last.  Times were:

1:30, 1:26, 1:30, 1:25

My legs are now absolutely buggered.  I gave it all today and have been pretty rooted all afternoon.

Great to see Andy back in the thick of things and there's a few fresh faces who are starting to get pretty quick.

4km warmdown with Macca for 13.5km all up.

Monday run home

Had 40mins on the program.  Intended to run home for 40mins (too busy at work to get out) then catch a cab but there were no cabs at 40mins as I was on Parriwi Rd and then they were all going the wrong direction.  So just ran home all the way.  Pace very easy (4:43's).

Bloody annoying that the Passmore/Nolans Bridge is out of action, that added an extra 500m.

SMH Half

83:23.

Ran with Timmy.  Aimed for 38:30, 39:30 10km splits.  Always hard with the Garmin measuring short.  We did 38:50 then 40:15.  Managed to get a good group together between 10km and 15km.  Timmy struggled up the hills but made good ground on the downs.  To be honest, he held on better than I thought for a 1:25 positive split on a tough course with the hills back ended.  Great to run with Champ and some other appreciative blokes too.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.

28km all up.  Good weekend's training.

Hoey had a fab run upfront and seeing him made me want to race again.

Saturday Hilly Hour to Clontarf

Took Billy to Turamurra for his morning soccer game and as such drive up Allambie Hill.  Decided it was time I ran it again.  4km straight up hill.  Kirst was meeting friends at Clontarf beach so worked out perfectly. 

Felt great - seem to be going through one good day, one bad day at the moment.  14.6km in 4:16's with plenty of hills in there.

Friday meander

10km with Jimmy at lunchtime talking crap.  Legs sore.  Decided to pace Timmy at SMH Half on Sunday so entered today.

Now watching Billy play soccer (Barker v Knox so a grudge match).  Found a nice cafe in Turramurra..

HuRTS 400's and tempo

So the comeback slog continues.  7x400m plus 3km tempo today and I was scared.  Small but select crew including Barts, Timmy, Birchy, Jerome, Jeet, Darren M, JFen and co.  400's started at 71's and finished at 68's.  Tempo was easier at 3:37's.

Done and dusted. 13km for the day after a longer warm down.

Legs tired.  Amazing how the legs soften with 3 weeks off.

MLR at steady pace

I've decided that "Steady" means being aware of your Strava split times while not going balls out.

Fancied a run around Centennial today (having slept through my alarm this morning) and after Timmy turned me down due to "work commitments" (later to be seen on Facebook canoodling with the boys taking selfies in the ABC Pool) I decided to go solo.  Always run a bit quicker going solo, mainly because I get bored and want to get it over and done with.  That logic doesn't quite work when the session is "75 mins" but there you go.

Nice run. Long time since I've been in Centennial and enjoyed it on a beautiful day.  18.1km in 75:00 (4:09's).

Toying whether to run SMH Half, only because today felt quite good and I need to start racing again at some stage.  Asked for a late entry but no response yet so decision may be out of my hands.

A session!

6 x 800m (rolling 4 mins) along the seafront from North Steyne with Lewis, Quentin, Darren and Skins.  Holy crap, had forgotten how hard speedwork is and how quickly you lose it.  Was way behind Lewis.  Gradually crept closer to Quentin each rep (about 2:37's I think) until the final 2 when I finally got some zip back, finishing with a 2:30.

Long warm down for 13km all up.

Monday easy

Out with the HuRT Squad around the City, chatting to Kanser, Elle, Renee and Co.  13km in an hour I think. 

Longish Sunday

First longish run in 4 weeks.  Managed to get out in the arvo and fortunately Erika was also keen.  So did 105 minutes with her.

You name me one Indian distance runner.  In history.  It's not possible, despite the world's second largest population.  I now know why.  It's impossible to do an effective long run after a vindaloo.

Sat Parkrun with kids

So Parkrun was Maggie and Charlie's long run.  I ran with them for 200m, realised no one was running away out the front so decided to push ahead to the front.  Felt pretty comfortable running 17:20, just for the win.  Then jogged back to the 4km mark and saw a battle Royale between Charlie and Maggie, the former making a late charge but Maggie seeing him at the last minute and doing just enough to hold him off.

5km warm down for 10km all up.

Then out to the Troubador, Ashiana's and the Steyne with a huge Manly HuRTS crowd for evening curry.

Maggie and the Cap'n

I found this note on Maggie's bedroom floor yesterday:

Those in Facebook will have seen it.  So felt compelled to take her training this morning.  We did a 1km warm up, then 6x Mackellar hills concentrating on lifting the knees and powering up.  Basically, fast track strength training.  Then a 1km warm down.  She was motivated by the sight of another 8yr old girl doing sprints with her Dad on Nolans while on our warm up.

Then did an extra 8km bumping into the Cap'n near Shelley Beach and finishing off with him.  Another beautiful morning.  About 11km all up.

The important things in life

Well, that was disappointing.  After feeling  everything was coming together, I came down with a fever on the Friday before London, which turned to a bad cold and then sinusitis.  Still on the heavy duty antibiotics now.  Wasn't going to stop me watching Barts, Macca and Sammy though and doing so made me vow to come back.  The crowd support was huge and the atmosphere electric.  Barts did us all proud with a fantastic run in 2:29:18.  He approached it perfectly in a very controlled fashion.  The man accused of a heart of flint even shed a tear at the end, as did I.

12 days off and, despite still being bunged up and blowing stuff out of my nose that scares the kids, I ventured out this morning for an easy 10km.  Beautiful morning along Manly Beach and I just soaked it up enjoying what I've been missing out on. 

Was very upset about missing London after 6 months injury and sickness free but in the end there's always another race and the real reason I do it is morning s like these and the camaraderie I enjoyed with Barts, Macca and Sammy in London.

Black bogeys

After 5 days in London I've fallen foul to the London black bogey syndrome.

Last proper run yesterday was 41mins continuous - 15min warm up plod to Southwark Park (when I'm tapering for a big race I seem to be unable to run quicker than 5min kms) then 6 x 1min on, 1 mins off around the park and then plodded back.  One other runner in Southwark Park as I was darting around - Scott Overall (top British marathoner and no doubt running on Sunday).

All set now, just have to mentally prepare myself.

Caught up with Barts in the evening and the poor fella's a bundle of nerves.  But he's in good shape.

South Bank Saunter

Just an easy 8km over Tower Bridge and along the South Bank before breakfast.  Not sure I managed to get under 5min kms.  Breakfast consisted of a bacon & egg brioche roll, croissant filled with chopped banana and flat white all from Pret a Manger.  Which is conveniently at the bottom of my serviced apartment building.  Best. Breakfast. Ever.

Leg stretcher

Just 10km but included 5 x 3min strides. Finally feeling as though the legs are going well again after nearly a week of jet-lag.

Monday Bow Bells

Early morning jog to Victoria Park, run around and back.  Impressed myself by getting there without getting lost.  Even more impressed by Victoria Park and the surrounding canals. A beaut of a morning if fecking freezing.

14km in 4:40's.

Sunday in London

Arrived in London on Saturday and had a rest day as I met the extended family for lunch with a couple of beers.

So Sunday was the 5km tempo.  Jogged to Southwark park (along the route for next week - eek!) then got into it.  Well the legs are still jet lagged and buggered.  I thought I was running 3:15's.  First km split was 3:27.  Then the next was 3:30.  WTF?!  Then suddenly it seemed to come together - 3:20, 3:21 and 3:05.  Thank god.

3km jog back along the marathon route getting excited.

Last day in Berlin

Friday was 14km in Berlin, finally finding a decent route through the gardens and along the river.  98% of the run was fantastic, but then I failed to outrun a massive storm (hail and all) and got drenched in the final 2 minutes.  

14km in the hour.

Tiergarten session

Out at 7.30am and it's freezing and raining.  This is why I don't live in Europe anymore.  You can go and stick your fancy buildings and ancient culture up your ass.

3km warm up finding a route around the Tiergarten and then into the 3km tempo. Gary said keep it controlled and don't overdo it.  I ran 3:25's and honestly don't think my jet lagged legs could have gone any quicker.

Then a short rest and into the 10 x 400m.  Again, controlled but would have hated to have had to push any harder.  They were done at about 74/75 pace.

14.25km all up. 

Berlin jet lagged rust buster

After a 29 hour journey due to delayed flights, I finally arrived in Berlin.  Definitely still grittier than the rest of Germany that I've seen but more interesting as a result.

Had a meeting straightaway then headed out to stretch the legs.  The hotel is right next to the Tiergartens so I just ran around them, getting lost every now and then.  Planned on an hour but let's just say that running is the best cure for jet-lag constipation.  10km all up in 4:34's with the legs feeling like cactus.

Tuesday Half HuRTS

Couldn't get out in the am, found a gap at lunch before my flight so went down to HuRTS where the session was 4 x 10mins.  Certainly wasn't going to do that so settled on half the session.  After much toing and froing on the route we settled on the original and were off.  With me only doing half the session I was out ahead solo.  Reached the gates in 9:40.  On the return I was soon running with Andy who pushed the pace on.  I then had the whole squad to overtake and hey all seemed to appear on the hills.  Ended up with 9:36 - a PB for me over that much run segment.  But who the hell is Michael Bath?

Short jog after and that was me done.

Monday morning

10.3km very easy with Lewis at 6am.  Much cooler this morning - Autumn has arrived.  But stunning along the beachfront.  4:37's.  Amazed by a woman doing a complex yoga position on the beach.  It was quite something.

Last long(ish) Sunday

Out with Barts, Lewis and Ben at 6.15am (no early morning extras today thank God) but picking up Emma, Tim and Toby along the way.  Just the standard route and cutting across the Narrabeen Caravan Park which made it mentally much easier at 27.5km than the recent 38km monsters.  But it's still 2 hours of running.  

Beautiful morning chatting the whole way and Barts and I shook each other's hand at the end remarking that our work was done.  Obviously forgetting Tuesday's double session and sprints on Thursday. 

Then cycled to Queensie for a dip before retiring to Emporio to pore over the results from Canberra.  A brilliant run from Hoey to take 2nd just behind Rowan Walker in 2:29:15.  He really has a knack for the marathon.  Other great runs included Jeet's PB in high 78 in the half - he's running PBs every race at the moment.  CT battled for the lead inthe half before having to settle for 3rd.  Craig sounded a bit disappointed with his 5th place in the 50km.  I think he suits (and copes very well with) a higher mileage than he's been doing of late.  Looked like a great weekend and I'll try to get down there next year.

Broken 5km plus Fartlek

Was supposed to be done at Parkrun but with 5 kids sports commitments starting at 7.30am that was never feasible.

Session was 2km hard, 1km easy, 2km hard.  Then a brief recovery before 10 x 1min on, 1min off.

Did a 2km jog to the golf course loop then started running clockwise (interestingly, nearly all Strava records are measured anti-clockwise) for the first 2km hard.  Times went 3:10 then 3:11.  Jog was a 4:05 before doing 3:06 and 3;09 for the second 2km.  Stoked with the times as I was expecting the 2nd 2km to be slower given I didn't feel brilliant to start with.

Then an 800m jog before starting the Fartlek. Wanted to run these controlled and did so but was stoked to see I was doing kms in 3:38's including the easy sections. 

Probably my most encouraging session of the year so confidence is high.  One more session on Tuesday before I fly out.

15km all up averaging 3:51's.  

Best of luck to Hoey and Vonky in the marathon in Canberra tomorrow.  Would love to see Hoey take out some big names.  And especially to Craig in the 50km'er.  He knows what he needs to do.

60min tempo

Bumped into Kanser as I was about to start warming up so we jogged together talking about his sickness but how he'll still smash Timmy in the Canberra Half on Sunday. Then straight into the tempo.  

Not much to report.  Started at 3:25's but settled into 3:29/3:30's for the first half.  Had a couple of aberrations around the wharves on the return where the Garmin reckoned I was Jesus and spat out a 3:43 and a 3:40 but then back to 3:32's.  Pushed the hills on the way back as I felt full of running today.  All up 17.1km in the hour (3:31's) despite the errant middle couple of kms.  All set.

Warmdown for 20km all up.

Wednesday SLR

60mins very easy on another beaut of a morning with Erika, Darren, Robbie and Lewis.  13km.  Seemed to spend the 2nd half of the run high-fiving people (Joel, Cap'n, Skins) - just one of those days I guess.  

Can't believe how busy Manly beach is at 6am in the morning.  People need to have more sex.

Double Tuesday

AM:  up early but not early enough as by the time I arrived at Graham's Reserve (for the 6 x 1km off a rolling 5mins) Darren, Erika, Lewis, Quentin, Jamie, Justin, Ben, Emma, Burkey and Charlie (amazing crowd!) had started their first rep.  3km warm up then joined them on their second.

Was very glad Quentin was there to keep Lewis company as I wasn't feeling up to the task.  Sure enough, each rep Q and L would dart off leaving me 5m behind.  I would sense their pace drop at the 400m mark and go past them, only for Lewis to respond and come past me with 200m to go.  Kept me honest though.  Garmin always reads funny when running in circles and sure enough the clockwise reps averaged 2:54 while the anti-clockwise reps averaged 3:05.  3:05 felt about right.

Beautiful morning and great to see everyone out.  5km warm down for 15km all up.

PM:  7km very easy with Erika around the city.

Last double day pre-London but I'm fairly accustomed them now.

Last long one

Took 3 lots of Maltodextrin yesterday then had a huge meal at Toby and Alex's last night.  Just felt so much better today. Much brighter the whole way.  

We had a huge crowd today - the Manly Sunday Hardcore really is becoming the place to be seen.  Barts, Tim P, Toby H, Macca, Craig, Erika, Darren, Lucy (Erika's mate), Lewis, Scotty and Even Benny boy.  Only Special Q and the Cap'n were missing.  Pace started pick up coming around Narrabeen Lake and the last 15km was under 4min pace.  But a nice confidence booster finishing the 38km with a 3:25 with Barts.

A few more sessions (Thursday's hour tempo is looming) but otherwise the work has been done so now time to try and get myself in the right mental state.

Saturday

17km squeezing it in mid-afternoon after driving kids all morning to various sporting commitments.  1:15 finishing at Pace Athletic to pick up some socks and gels and Billy's BMX.  Jamie wasn't impressed by it.

Friday

Had a couple of beers with Gleeso Thursday night.  After our wives failed to chase us, it turned into a few more.  And then karaoke in The Ivanhoe.  One of those random nights you can't predict, but a great laugh. 

So Friday lunch with a great crowd of Enda, Erika, Burkey, Jeet, Birchy et al I managed 5km before needing to spew.  Toughest 5km of the year.  My secretary told me I was still emitting beer sweats in the mid-afternoon.

140km for the week.

Double Thursday

AM:  9km run to the wharf, picking up my backpack after 6km.  Actually quite nice way of getting to work.  Commuter on the ferry didn't appreciate my pheromones though.

Lunch:  79 Continuous.  Tough bloody set this one.  Hard to work out the average pace but I think I was close to 3:20 for the tempo (much faster than usual) and 3:29 for the Fartlek (about usual).  Ran solo but feeling the fitness at the moment - despite starting every session tired I come alright by the end.

29+km for the day.  Monster monster.

Wednesday MLR

You know you're in marathon training when a 20km MLR feels like a recovery run.  Out in the dark once again (can't wait for daylight saving to end on Saturday night) for 20km with Erika, Darren and Lewis.  Avoided the hills.  Moaned about our coach.  4:42's.

Tuesday double

AM:  out at sparrows fart in the pitch black to meet Lewis, Erika, Darren, Jamie, Emma (she's back!) and Dicky for a short sharp session of 5mins, 4mins, 3mins, 2mins, 1min off 2 mins rest.  Given the shortness of the session and length of the breaks it was meant to be run "hard", which pretty much means all out effort.

I wasn't looking forward to it.  Particularly in my marathon training state of constant fatigue.

Told Lewis I wasn't going to be keeping him company and let him go off at the start of the first rep but kept him in sight and gradually worked my way back during the course of the rep.  This is the way each of the reps went.  Average pace for each (on my watch) was:

3:06, 3:04, 3:04, 3:01, 2:53

Legs lactic at end of each rep.  Wouldn't have got within 5s of those times without Lewis to chase.

3km warm up and 5km warm down for 13km all up.

PM:  wandered out at lunchtime and ran with Kanser and Hoey alongside the HuRT Squad doing 5min reps.  9km averaging 4:30's.  Hoey sounds ambivalent about doing Canberra given a couple of issues recently.  Hope he makes the start line.  I'm relying on him!

Easy Easter Monday

Easy hour in the afternoon before watching Maggie's soccer.  Felt a gazillion times better than yesterday.  Took Voltaren last night which obviously helped.

4:21's. 

Super long

38.4km with Macca, Lewis and Hamish.  Felt sore from the off and it was a real struggle today.  I think yesterday's hard 5km slightly dehydrated was the issue.  Didn't enjoy a step of it and Achilles was very tight at the end (after 2:50+ of running).  

I wasn't much company this morning labouring under every step.  The best I felt was actually from 30km to the end when the kms finally got down to 4:10's.  

4:31 average.  Will take a bit ton recover from that.

Hungover Saturday

Had a few too many red wines at the neighbours last night so Parkrun was out of the picture.  Got out mid-afternoon and didn't have long so ran a 3.5km warm up to Manly Golf Course then two loops (5km) hard and then the same jog home.  

Wasn't feeling keen for the session (itself a shortened version of Tiger's scheduled session) and struggled throughout, it felt tough.  8:08 for the first lap and 8:09 for the second so nice and consistent,  but the Garmin was measuring short so I ran the extra 50m to hit 5km on the watch in 16:29.  Last time I did this session (30 Jan) it was 2 laps in 16:51 - so not too bad in the circumstances.  At least I did something.

Good Friday

8km very easy in the am to Shelley Beach before meeting the family for some brekkie.

123km for the week.

In!

Managed to schedule a time with Barts for today for 5km, 3km, 1km with 500m jog between (i.e. 10km all up).  Actually discovered it was supposed to be a 1km jog between the 5km and 3km which may explain how dodgy I felt all afternoon.

3km warm up then into it.  Felt OK on the 5km trying to find a rhythm (16:43) but was desperately clock-watching on the 3km (9:55).  Managed to raise a bit for the 1km in 3:10.  All up 10km in 34:13 - in the heat wearing a black T-Shirt.  

To be honest this afternoon I felt crap.  Very dodgy stomach which took a couple of Coopers Pale Ales to calm down.  Can't tell whether it's a low lying bug (which the kids have have had recently) or just overdoing it.  But Barts said he felt similarly rooted.  We ran the whole thing together.

16km all up.

Top news this evening with my London Marathon entry finally being confirmed:

Mellow Melbourne

Well, I thought Perth was good.  Melbourne was even better.  Given I had another 20km on the plan and didn't want to run laps of the Tan I just followed the Yarra Trail up the river from my hotel on Collins Street.  Got beyond Hawthorn at 10km where the tow path was incredibly picturesque (I think I would like to live in Kew/Hawthorn if I moved to Melbourne - but maybe that's like saying I would like to live in Vaucluse if I moved to Sydney).  Turned and returned.

If I thought I saw plenty of cyclists by the Swan River, I saw even more by the Yarra.  Some of them looked like Strava Psychos - gunning around corners not giving a toss about who might be coming the other direction.

Quicker again for the 20km today at 4:13's and I think the legs are returning to normal.

Perfect Perth

The three hour time difference makes it very easy to wake up at 5am so I was on the road by 6am.  Or I should say on the path.  Hit a cycle/walkway on the Swan River and headed to the coast.  Passed a gazillion cyclists but it was perfect, flat running on a beautiful early morning.

Legs still tired to start with but eased into the run and picked up the pace towards the end feeling great.  All up 20km averaging 4:16's.

Monday morning longish

Sunday was a rest.  Mentioned to Gary on Sunday that the pace on Saturday was fine but needed some more mileage to address the stiffening legs towards the end.  He responded with 2 hours scheduled for this morning.

26km running to work with North Head thrown in.  Plenty of hills and my legs were smashed for the final 10km.  4:47 average so very easy.

Saturday long tempo

Ok, this was the big session pre-London.  Drove up to find a good crowd of Barts, Neil, Robin Vonk, Scotty, Macca, Eoin and the Cap'n all killing about.  Did a 3km warm up and then (eventually) into it.  Everyone was doing something different - Neil was doing 3 x 7.5km, Scotty as long as he could last, Robin 20km, Macca and Eoin 25km with just Barts and me doing the full 27km. Jamie also jumped into for a solid 10km and did his bit at the front.

First 10km was fine averaging 3:33's.  Middle 7km picked up a but averaging 3:30's.  Barts was strong at this point (4th lap of 6) really pushing on and barking orders at me to keep up.  Definitely had to concentrate in order to do so but managed ok.  Last 10km averaged 3:27's and could feel my legs stiffening a bit towards the end.  But very happy to average 3:30's on an undulating course.

3km warm up and down for 33km all up.

Friday jog

8km early doors to Shelly Beach and back.  Very easy, contemplating the session tomorrow.

111km for week.

Nice recovery

10km very easy around the City with Renaud, Jerome and Steve.  Great blokes all.  

Felt better after than before.  4:47's.

Chafing

Well I told Quentin and Lewis on the run today that when I'm on the start line in London I'll remember runs like this morning as the ones which get you over the line.  Pissing down with rain and pitch black until we got up to North Head.  Was mighty relieved to have their company.

All up 20km in 4:27's.  Felt pretty good this morning.  But the rain made my short sodden and resulted in some nasty inner thigh chafing.  Put some cream on post-bath which looked like pure animal fat. Nice.

79 continuous with Barts in the Rain

15 easy, 22 hard, 5 easy, 22 Fartlek (1,2,3,4,3,2,1) and 15 easy.

Was supposed to do it at 6am with Lewis but I was still in my beauty sleep at that time.  Did the 15 before HuRTS start time (well, a bit late but Timmy was nice enough hold the crowd for me) then we were off.  Was lucky enough to have Barts in the group who was happy to do my session.  

Tempo felt arduous (3:27's) and the Fartlek felt better (3:28's).  Barts a support throughout. 

All up 20.15km in the 79mins (3:55's).  Solid.

Had a full house in the evening for B&B where the gossip was in full flow and Birchy showed his true colours.

 

Easy Monday

13.5km very easy around the wharves with Elle, Jacqueline, TKS, Jerome et al but finished off running the final few km with an Irishman called Jim who I've not met before.  Nice chap.  Makes a change.

Great Ocean Walk

First, congrats to all who completed Six Foot Track.  You're more brave than me.  It's a beast of a race and must have been even tougher in the heat and humidity of yesterday.  Run of the day goes to Erika for taking out second place in 4:20.  I still think she's got the talent to win it though.  Mike Lichwark surprised all to be first HuRTS home in a great 3:42 but my other top performance goes to Darren running a big PB in 4:17.  He's been struggling injury and, to be first home from his household was feat enough!

Inspired by the performances in the mountains (and not knowing any other routes to follow), I ran the Great Ocean Walk from Apollo Bay.  I had 2:10 on the schedule and thought I'd squeeze in 30km in that time.  I didn't realise how nuts the Great Ocean Walk is.  Rock hopping, sand running and running up massive hills on trail over headland is not my forte (and did my achilles no good) but it was very beautiful surrounds.

I turned after 13km (70mins) dreading the hills on the way back.  Took a wrong turn at 19km and found myself in a car park.  My brain started working telling me that where there were cars, there must be nice hard bitumen.  So I followed that and eventually got back with 26km done. Not far but I was buggered so it must be the equivalent of a 30+km run.

Checked out my Strava splits and saw that I got a record up the final fire trail hill between 12 and 13km in ahead of some notable trail runners - perhaps Six Foot next year could be on the cards!

Stopped for lunch near Lorne and Kirst and I sampled another craft beer shown here:

It too was shite.

Birregura

Woke up in country Victoria in a town that, in my basic translation skills, means Beer War.  Parkrun was down on the schedule, but the nearest one was in Geelong about an hour's drive away.  So ran out the door down a long straight road, turned at 5km and ran back hard, then did 3km easy to warmdown.  5km hard was about 16:50. Session done.

Drove down to the Great Ocean Road, passing through a town called Forrest.  Now this is my nickname at work (I'm sure it's the same for many runners) so I couldn't resist the photo op:

 

Settled into our second overnight place and, having been inspired by the write-ups on CT's blog, I sampled some local craft beers.  And half a bottle of a local red wine.  Here were the craft beers:

They were all shite and I'd have traded all 6 for 1 bottle of Coopers Pale Ale.

60min tempo

Marathon training on a daily basis goes a bit like this:

Knackered, knackered, knackered, climbing stairs at work is tough, ooh - feel slightly ok, hard session, knackered, knackered, doubting why the hell im doing this, legs feel slightly better today, hard session, knackered, I seem to shuffle everywhere, knackered, bit better, hard session, knackered.

Today was a hard session after finally feeling vaguely ok post-weekend last night.  Jogged to North Head, met Lewis and Justin.  Justin set off, I asked Lewis for a moment to compose myself, then we were off a minute later.

Felt OK when we got going and 3:30's were doable.  In fact, we were remarkably consistent, with my Garmin recording every km between 3:28 and 3:32.  Lewis was a massive assistance so many thanks mate.  All up 17.25km in the 60mins averaging 3:29's.

27km all up!!

I then had the delight of meeting LJ for mid-morning brunch to chew the fat on running and babies.  Great to hear she's back running again, such a champ.

Wednesday getting it done

Work is manic.  Got out early feeling half asleep for the first km.  But a great Manly Hardcore crowd of Erika, Emma, Darren, Lewis and Robbie Begg made for a great run chatting all the way.  

But hell it was sweaty.  What's with this weather?  I never used to sweat much but my tops are drenched at the moment.

Tuesday non-session

Boss said no to any session on account of the big weekend and ongoing achilles issues so just did 90mins.  Hurts were doing 14x3km so joined them around Farm Cove for a few easy ones.  That increased the pace a bit which meant the overall run ended up as a Half Marathon - 21.1km in 1:28 (4:12's).  Felt OK.

Easy Monday

10km with the squad around the city.  Spent most of the time chatting races with Hoey and beach sprints with JC.  4:46's.  Achilles much better today after a lot of rolling out last night.

Long Sunday

37km with Barts, Macca, Craig, Lewis, Toby and the Cap'n.  Tired from the word go, fuckadoodled by the end.  Like really tired.  Like end of Marathon tired.  But the ocean was amazing.  

4:27's.

Striders North Head - 1st in 32:26

Slept overnight in the Four Seasons - not because of any family rift but the Partners conference which was wrapping up at noon today.  But enough time to nip out for the Striders 10km.  With Barts, CT, Hoey, Lewis, Robin V, Scotty and Neil all due to race I wasn't going to miss this one.  Only Q out of the usual rivals was missing.  Unfortunately it turned out that Hoey was struggling with a niggle so couldn't make it.

Got a lift with Jackie O and Birchy after nearly being punched out by a homeless person at 6am.  At least it got the adrenalin flowing and ensured dump #4 of the morning was a dead cert.

Did a warm up with Hamish and then lined up.  I drifted to the front with Barts from the gun with a decent sized group jumping on the back and forming a significant gap early on to Macca and Jamie.  That group included Neil, CT, Lewis, Robin, Scotty and Gary Mullins.  At 5km (reached in 16:08 on my watch) we were still altogether but for Gary a short distance behind.  Here we are:

So half way through the race and we're all together, I immediately start to feel very average on the slight incline that follows this and I'm thinking I may struggle to finish top 5 here.  But I tell myself we're travelling quick and if I can just maintain pace there's no way every one will hold on.  And gradually the group sounds as though it's beginning to thin.  Here's CT starting to drop off between 5Km and 6km - he'll later retake Lewis:

All the way until 7km I'm feeling very average and just hoping for the group to thin so that I can get a podium.  By the car park loop though I sense that it's just me and Barts (I never dare look around) and suddenly around the loop I get a 3m lead and sense he's struggling.  I'm also knackered but have to at least give it a go or he'll never respect me.  Keep on trying to force the pace but not making any huge gap.  Then at the top of the hill after 8km I feel I've made some ground so just try to consolidate it.  This is really hurting now but know that I need sufficient gap at the Stone Arch or he'll hunt me down in the final 500m.  I really keep on pushing and round the Stone Arch, here Ben give a shout and see that I have maybe 8 seconds.  That should be enough but I have to put a massive effort in just after the arch so that he doesn't feel as though he has a sniff.  Here I am absolutely buggered with 200m to go:

Finish and I'm farked.  Barts comes in 7s later followed by a jubilant Robin dipping under 33mins.  Next up is Neil, then CT and Lewis before Gary M who is equally happy running 33:50.  Jamie does well for a 35:18 closely followed by Macca in 35:30.  Run of the day for me is Jeet in 36:18 (a full course PB).  Here he is:

Then Craig (who will be looking for his big mileage to sink in soon), Burkey (finally an appearance) and the Cap'n.

Kanser will also be looking for his mileage to sink in soon in 39:12, Birchy had his mind on Oxford St this evening while Jimmy won't want to speak of his effort.  But at least he turned up.  #wherewasTimmy.

Birchy:

Super Elle:

Jimmy:

Splits were consistent - good final km:

Friday

At our Partner conference.  8km around the wharves super slow at 6.30am with my fellow partners.  At least it kept me off the booze the night prior.

HuRTS 400's + 3km tempo

Achilles was too sore for hills this morning despite taking Voltaren last night.  Ventured out at luncthime in the heat with the HuRTS crew.  We were banned from Reg Bartley so Rushcutters Bay it was.  No nude ladies this time.

Did the 400's feeling tired in the legs.  Didn't push them and averaged 70/71's for whatever distance it actually was.  Then a short rest and into the 3km tempo where it was a completely different story.  Cruised around in 3:15's feeling fantastic.

Had Tom Middleton join us today for the first time.  But it was Quentin leading the charge on the 400's with little Tom, Tom M and Toby in pursuit.  Nicely organised once again by Timmy and good to see Enda back.  Ensured the banter was in full flow.  Cop out of the day goes to JFen who did the 3km tempo with the slow pack despite running 3:25's.

13km all up.

Wednesday easy

Ran to work.  Not much more to add.  14.5km in 4:44's.  Left achilles was sore.

1km reps

AM:

Marked out the usual 1km loop on Nolans in the dark at 6am (1st day of Autumn and these sessions will become progressively more difficult to stage).  Had Tim, Erika, Darren and Jamie this morning but joined also by Lewis for his first official Manly RunCrew session.  The grass was dry and had recently been cut so wasn't the usual wading through treacle that you can feel running on this surface.

Reps went 3:11, 3:06, 3:06, 3:05, 3:03 and 2:55.  Not sure about that last rep.  Felt as though I pushed harder but I think it's a misreading as it wasn't that much quicker.  No idea about the accuracy in general as we all seemed to be reading different distances.  I was just running the same distance each time so at least each rep can be compared against the others.

Ran them all with Lewis.  Felt as though I was holding him back at least for the first 4 reps as he was reluctant to take the lead.  But that's probably good for him.  I much prefer feeling controlled in sessions rather than venturing into the lactic when trying to race people.

3km warm up and 5+km warm down for 15km all up.

PM:

40mins very easy bumping into Hoey and Jeet finishing their HuRTS set.  8+km.

Getting longer Sunday

Out earlier than usual with Craig, Macca and Barts at 5.50am for a few extra km before meeting the crowd (Lewis, Tim and the Cap'n) at 6.15am.  Psychologically it feels easier to tag the extra kms on to the start of the run rather than the end.

Felt very flat today after yesterday's efforts.  Just dragged my ass around listening (without contributing too much) to all the banter.  Picked up the pace at the end trying to catch Macca and it was nice to stride out a bit.  The ocean was magic afterwards, cooler than of late with a southerly swell and pounding surf.  All topped off by the Brekkie Burrito Wrap in Troubador which even came within 15mins after Barts started eyeballing the waiter.

35km done in 4:28's.

Park and Fart

4km jog to the start of Parkrun.  First km was an all time slow but then legs started to feel ok albeit achilles was a bit tight.  Took my Saucony Fasttwiches but only intending to run in them if legs felt OK.

Met Macca and Jamie (with pram) and some young fast looking kids at the start.   On seeing the kids, decided to wear the racing flats.  Set off and the kids sprinted off as you'd expect.  Gave me a good pace to chase early on though.  I was solo from 300m in.  First km in 3:05, then 3:11.  Told myself at the start that you make or break this course in the 3rd km so pushed hard and was happy with a 3:15. Then a 3:13 and finished with a 3:04 after crossing the bridge in 14:00 and knowing a sub16 was on the cards.  Official time was 15:53, equaling my PB but easily my quickest run solo.

Watched Macca come in 2nd just over 17mins and just ahead of Toby who made a wrong turn.  Both ahead of the young guns.  Jamie ran a super quick 17:52 with pram.

Few mins rest, then a 1km jog with Jamie before starting the 19min fartlek (1min on, 1min off) before jogging home.

18km all up.

  

Easy hour chasing the gang

Out at sparrows fart but unfortunately 3 or 4 minutes too late.  Erika and Justin (who were later to sweep up Burkey and Lewis) had given up waiting so I tracked their route hoping to bump into them on the way back up Manly Beach.  Charlie D was staring soulfully out at the ocean with his daughter and informed me they were only 300m ahead.

But they never appeared.  Strava had them running back past me between Manly and Shelley but bizarrely missed them.  I think they hid.

Got up to North Head and eventually bumped into them on the Bower.  All up 12.5km in the hour (4:49's).

Need to change my shoes more often after recent achilles issues so will start by chucking all the old ones out.

123km for the week.

Thursday double heat trouble

AM:  8km easy to Shelley and back.

PM:  HuRTS 800's at Rushcutters.  In 33C temps.  

Had decided with Gary to cruise these.  In truth, having taken Voltaren the night beforehand, I couldn't feel my Achilles.  Been bouncing around all day which makes me realise I've been feeling the Achilles in the background for quite a while.

Cruised the 800's in 2:38/2:39 until rep 7 in 2:31 and final rep in 2:22 (course was a bit over 800m).  Timmy did a fantastic job marking out the route on the perfect Rushcutters surface and providing an Esky full of cold water - really above and beyond the call of duty.

Barts was out front with Hoey not stopping between reps - both looking in great form.

5km warm down with Barts including a dip in the harbour at the CYC - perfect.

22km for the day.

Wednesday MLR

Woke at 5.30am.  Got to bathroom.  Looked into mirror.  Saw two piss-holes in the snow staring back at me.  Went back to bed for another much-appreciated 90mins of sleep.

Left achilles has been sore so was tentative for today's run.  Sneaked out at lunch and ran with Kanser and Hoey for 20km.  Achilles managed OK but I think I need some new shoes as current ones are rock hard.

Other than the achilles I felt great today, one of the easiest 20kms I can remember.  Will ditch the hills tomorrow and cruise some 800's at Rushcutters with Timmy instead. 

Tired double

AM:  Met Jamie, Darren and Burkey early doors for 16 x 400m off a rolling 2:15.  Marked out a straight(ish) 400m on dewy Nolans grass and off we went.  Well, we headed in what we thought was the right direction as there was this Dickensian low level mist covering the field which meant we had no idea where the finish line cones were.  Just had to follow precious footprints in the grass on subsequent reps.  Here we are emerging:

Mangled 74/75's for the first 10 (I think it was a bit long) then took my shoes off and did 72/71's for the final 6.  Burkey on fire as ever for these shorter reps although he stopped to take photos for the final 2.  This is us finishing off:

Amazing light this morning helped by a huge full moon.

3km warm up and 5+km warm down for 16km all up.

PM:  8km easy from work in 4:32's.

To the Tiger

Ran to Lime Street from home for a massage, my first in months.  Felt much better for it, particularly my left glute/hammy.

15.2km in 4:38's so nice easy start to the week.  Still had Saturday's tempo in the legs though.

90min tempo

So Friday was a rest day but, given a lighter week, I felt great all day and was itching to get out.  But I restrained myself and took $20 out of the atm to hand over to CT.

Saturday morning rocked up and after numerous emails and an elaborate route setting, I was dead chuffed to see the elites of HuRTS and Striders all out in force.  Barts, CT, Quentin, Hoey, Neil, Robin Vonk and myself were all doing up to 90mins.  Jamie was doing 30mins and Macca and Eoin were doing 4x5km.  Route started at the Passmore bridge and took in a loop of the golf course via the lagoon track, then returned (5km) plus a loop around North Manly Bowlo for 6.15km (via Mapmyrun) but I read exactly 6km on my Garmin.

Great group together bowling along and it really made it so much easier to do with plenty of banter (at least on the first lap).  Occasionally the pace would ease through lack of concentration but someone would soon pick it up to get us back on track.  It never feels wholly comfortable but 3:40's was certainly much more manageable than 3:30's and I was getting through the laps ok.  Her we are at the end of lap 3:

I'd managed to persuade the kids to stand on the bridge and hand out water on each lap.  To their credit they did a sterling job, shouting encouragement too.

Going into the final lap I was feeling good so decided to up the pace to see what we could sustain while still not redlining. That turned out to be 3:30's for that final lap with CT starting to look strong and obviously coming into form.  All up 25km in 1:30:55 (3:38's).

Warm up and down for 30km all up.  Dip in the ocean then Emporio for breaky.  Certainly quick service now all the fickle ex-customers are queueing over the road at Ruby Lane.

Then out in the evening with Macca, the Cap'n, Darren, Erika and Injured Andy for a few pints at the 4 Pines then curry at the Last Train to Bombay.  The Cap'n and I even kicked on to have a hipster cocktail out of a jam jar in some back lane bar.

Rest day Sunday too. That session on Saturday needs to be respected.

Day 52

500m, 2km, 500m, 2km, 500m, 2km, 500m.  Up at Sparrow's Fart for this unorthodox set.  Each rep has a 500m jog recovery so it's 11km all up.

Met Jamie and Macca at QSLSC. Reps all along the beach to Shelley and back.  First one felt a struggle, middle reps mentally the hardest and I felt best towards the end.  Looked at the watch at 8km before the final 2km rep and realised I needed a 6:37 to get under 36mins for 10km, so that became the goal and pleased to run 3:20 then 3:14.  Ended up averaging 3:36's for the 11km including floats.

Nice shouts from Burkey, Erika and Darren all out on a beautiful morning.

1.5km warm up and 4km warm down for 16.5km all up.

Today is day 52 of my streak. Tomorrow it ends.

Easy short Wed

Elongated loop to the ferry wharf in the am.  Big fan of the easy early morning run.  Especially when it isn't to be followed by a hard afternoon session.

8.8km in 4:30's.

79 Continuous

Super early start agreeing to meet Quentin, Jamie and Dicky at 5:50am.  This sort of start time is so "not me".  And as such I was 5mins late so the boys had already started.  

Session is 15mins easy, 22mins tempo, 5mins jog, 22mins fartlek (1,2,3,4,3,2,1 off 1min float), 15mins easy.  Simple huh! Sounds complicated but I did this session a number of times early on last year (particularly before SMH Half) and it got me really fit.  Back then I would do the tempo in 3:26's and the fartlek in 3:28's average at my best.  Today it was 3:28's for the tempo and 3:31's for the farts.  A bit off.  Legs felt tired although the breathing was ok.  No Mao-style "Great Leap Forward" is imminent.  I think I need rest to absorb the work.

20km all up.  

Thoughts for today:

1.  I'm getting more into David Bowie.  Unfortunately it took his demise for me to appreciate him more.

2.  Why does everyone call 150 Lashes 50 Lashes?

3.  People must cheat in Pub Quizzes.  Tonight we were in the bottom 6 of 24 teams despite feeling "we did well".  Australian 80's music questions don't help mind.  Working out the anagram of Canasta Scoring Fins was the highlight.  Try naming the last 5 Aussie blokes to win a tennis major though.  Or how many pairs of shoes Imelda Marcos left when she fled.

4.  Where is my Opal Card?

5.  Did Donald Trump really just say that?

Easy eve Monday

9km solo around the city in the late eve.  Easy at 4:33's.  This week looks like a combo of tough sessions and very easy (and short) recoveries.

Sunday morning

Not huge amount of sleep as were over at the neighbours for dinner.  Usual route (31km this morning in 4:24's) with Macca, Justin, Quentin, Lewis and Toby H.  

Will have a rest day or two next week on instructions from the boss so CT will win his $20.

Saturday

Hungover.  7km around the back fields at 5pm.  Slow.

Easy commute

Very easy jog into work at 6.30am.  First km was little faster than a walk.  14.8km in 1:11:21 (4:49's).

143km for the week.

Tempo time

Hour tempo on the cards and Barts bailed saying he was "too tired".  Not sure what that means.  I think it's code for secret training as I saw him at the 3km mark of my tempo with Super Coach Timmy Lindop.

Felt tired from the start and after a 3:30 heading downhill feeling as though I was putting plenty of effort in the signs weren't good.  Gradually got into it.  29:00 at the turn at Barangaroo and back to the start in 57:47 so happy to negative split.  Finished with 16.87km (3:33's) which I was pretty chuffed with in the conditions.

3km warm up and warm down for 23km all up.

Only way i'm getting through this bigger workload at the moment is to constantly focus on the next session and not dwell on what you've just done.  Seems to work.

MLR with friends

Too tired to get out in the am so headed out at lunch to find no-one at the usual start spot.  Resigned myself to 90 mins of tedium running solo before bumping into Timmy, Pete W, Champ and Jackie at the OH.  From then on we were joined by Sonya, Asian Dave, Jamie (briefly) and Jerome among others.  Time flew and before I knew it I'd done the 4x hills (withJerome  even joining me for those) and 20+km.

Very tired most of the way though and was head nodding at the theatre tonight despite seeing an excellent play (The Secret River).

Two State Tuesday

AM:  Met Jamie and Dicky for 2km solid then 10 x 300m.  2km around Passmore (although the Garmin was measuring it at less than 650m running anti-clockwise?) in 6:24.  Then 300m in a straight line on Nolans.  300m feels remarkably far when running in a straight line.  It was a case of before and after when running in shoes and then barefoot.  55, 55, 54, 54, 54 (then shoes off), 52, 52, 51, 50, 49.

12km including warm up and down.  Then rushed for a flight to Melbourne.

PM (lunchtime):  8.2km around the Tan in Melbourne in 4:30's.

Monday Morning

Out with Lewis for a loop of North Head followed by 4x Oliver St hills.  Took a while to get the legs moving this am.  Going to be a busy week at work so just hoping to squeeze the sessions in.

17.5km in 4:24's.

Sunday slog

Well, fortunately those who fronted this morning had either raced yesterday (Macca, Justin, Craig, Lewis), had done a hard tempo late in the day (Barts) or had no inclination to run quickly (Tim P).  So we had a relaxing run the whole way averaging mid 4:30's complaining about how knackered we were and taking the piss out of my wardrobe malfunction yesterday.

Beaut of a morning to end in the surf and then on to Troubador after 32.2km.

Can't resist posting this photo of Kirst with Ken.  I think they're in love.

Sun Run - 5th in 33:27

Woke at 5.30am with all of the previous evening's positive attitude out of the window.  Why am I doing this?  I'm knackered.  How can I run fast in 75mins time?

Met Lewis, Jamie and Charlie at Bike Addiction then Rochey in Freshwater.  We walked the Oliver St hill, trying in vain to keep ourselves fresh.  Jamie was full of fake positivity - an example being "But at least this strong headwind is blowing the humidity away!".  Jogged on.  Walked a bit of the Griffin St hill thinking WTF.  Got to Dee Why, said hello to a few familiar faces (Nick Roberts, Vlad, Tom do Canto, Elle, CT, Scotty) then did a few run throughs.  And suddenly I'm feeling ok and quite bouncy.  Line up and tell myself to stay in touch up the hill this year and not back off too much.  

The gun goes and Tom DC, Vlad and Courtney Atkinson quickly form a lead pack of 3 up the hill who crest only about 20m ahead of a large pack including CT, Lewis, Tom Middleton, Mitch Dean, Scotty, the 2 lead girls (Danielle Allen and Vic Mitchell), myself and a few others.  Then off the top Scotty kicks hard so I follow him, but he keeps on kicking to catch the leaders and I'm thinking this is madness.  So I settle down and CT comes past.  By the bottom, CT, Mitch, Lewis, Tom M and I have formed a group and we get into a good pace.  3:21 first km including the monster hill, 3:06 next km.  Now we're on Parkrun territory and I head the pack for a 3:15 then a 3:13.  We get back on Griffin Rd and straight into the wind so I settle in behind Mitch.  This will become a common theme throughout the remainder of the race.  We hit South Curly and it feels slow so I jump ahead up the hill to the Diggers and try to get a gap.  But there's a reason it felt slow - I've hit a wall of wind and it's a solid effort to maintain pace.  Mitch comes past but it looks as though at least the pack has split.

Do the switchback at Freshie and realise we have split.  We're only 20s behind Vlad and Courtney (TDC is now well ahead) and there's a similar gap to CT and Tom Middleton.  Shout out to CT.  But where is Lewis and Scotty?  

Up the nastiest hill on the course by my old house on Charles St and it's still me and Mitch.  Sweep down to Queensie and I'm still tucked behind him into the headwind.  It feels slow but resist the urge to push ahead.  Was this a mistake?  Who knows.  Wait until I can see the line with 500m to go and kick hard to get a gap.  But sense I haven't dropped him as the picture below shows.  And so repeats the situation of last year.  50m to the line and he drifts past with me having nothing to respond.

Approach Mitch post-race and apologise for drafting behind him into the wind most of the way.  He barely acknowledges me, says "that's racing", and moves on. I think, yep, you're right.  More motivation for the next race.

33:27 is 3s slower than last year but a solid effort in the conditions.  CT is next home and I have to drag him off the road.  I think he's getting his mojo back and he'll be putting the pressure on next time.  Vic Mitchell looked good in Olympic Year to beat Danielle convincingly.  Scotty limps home after pulling his calf early on. Charlie finally makes some effort after Elle (looking in fantastic condition post baby) gives him a scare.

Join Burkey, Charlie and their mate Youngy in Belgrave Cartel for some Mafia Eggs.  Then crash for the day as I'm farked.  Couldn't even mow the lawn.

100m to go:

Not sure what happened to my singlet, but is NOT a crop top:

CT in next:

Jamie has a tough day in the office but always smiling:

Last but by no means least, Kirst chooses the toughest course on the toughest day to run her first 10km post cancer.  Runs just over an hour.  Then turns up to her Sat morning running group thinking they are celebrating the Sun Run with breakfast only to have to do another hour's training session.  Very proud of her.  We'll sleep soundly tonight.