Intention was to run to work this morning. Woke up feeling knackered, so quickly changed plans for a lunchtime run. Started walking to work and realised how misty it was - a quick call to 131 500 confirmed suspicions that all ferry services were cancelled due to fog. Checked out the bus queues and they were a mile long. If ever there was an appropriate day to run in, it was today. Walked back home, got changed, ran to work. One of the crappiest runs of all time. Still very fatigued in the legs following last Thursday's session. Reached Spit Junction in a very plodding 28 mins and tried to up the pace to save myself further embarrasment. Reached work in 58:45. Not easy enough to be a recovery run but not quick enough to do any benefit.
At least it's done.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Sunday amble
Sunday
Very easy 18/19 km over lunchtime in about 80:30. North Steyne, North Head (stone arch turn off in 47:00) Fairlight Pool (63 mins) but cutting off Tania Park and turning back after going around Crescent St just off North Harbour Reserve. Kept it short not wanting to overstretch this week in the lead up to the SMH Half. Felt easy the whole way but still a bit of fatigue in the legs after the past 2 weeks' efforts.
Saturday
Rest.
Very easy 18/19 km over lunchtime in about 80:30. North Steyne, North Head (stone arch turn off in 47:00) Fairlight Pool (63 mins) but cutting off Tania Park and turning back after going around Crescent St just off North Harbour Reserve. Kept it short not wanting to overstretch this week in the lead up to the SMH Half. Felt easy the whole way but still a bit of fatigue in the legs after the past 2 weeks' efforts.
Saturday
Rest.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Recovery run
Very easy 14km recovery run home from work. Legs pretty tired and sore after yesterday's massage and interval session.
32:30 at Toyota Garage and 61:15 all up.
32:30 at Toyota Garage and 61:15 all up.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Back to Hickson Road
Just for old times' sake. Thought it appropriate in having to run it 3 times next week for the SMH Half. 5 x 1.2km with 2 minute recoveries. Times went:
3:36; 3:32; 3:37; 3:33; 3:37
Easily the best session I've done on this route. Good crowd with Ray, Serg, Durante, Mike and Anthony (Serg's mate from work). Ran them all with Serg and would pull ahead only in the final 100m. On the final rep I felt gone (was about 15m down on Serg and Durante at the final speed hump) but put in a final burst to keep the times consistent.
Had a massage before which made the legs feel like jelly on the first rep. Warm up and down made for about 12km all up.
3:36; 3:32; 3:37; 3:33; 3:37
Easily the best session I've done on this route. Good crowd with Ray, Serg, Durante, Mike and Anthony (Serg's mate from work). Ran them all with Serg and would pull ahead only in the final 100m. On the final rep I felt gone (was about 15m down on Serg and Durante at the final speed hump) but put in a final burst to keep the times consistent.
Had a massage before which made the legs feel like jelly on the first rep. Warm up and down made for about 12km all up.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
More of the same
14km run home from work with some marathon pace stretches over the bridge, along Military Road and along Sydney Road. Faster pace not as quick as yesterday but the jogging in-between must have been.
28:58 at Toyota Garage and 55:50 all up.
28:58 at Toyota Garage and 55:50 all up.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
No Pain
14km run into work with the usual 3 marathon pace sessions. Tough up Parriwi Road (Spit Junction in 26:12?) meaning the second and third stretches were more of a struggle. Just tried to concentrate on relaxing and avoiding the lactic but easier said than done.
56:15 all up.
56:15 all up.
Monday, May 07, 2007
A bit clammy
Monday
Very easy 14km around Balls Head reserve loop with Richard P, Kanser, Ray, Mike and Kanser's mate. Struggled on the hills with a bit of the illness still in the legs but pleased to be up and running again.
Sunday
Rest. In bed. Succumbed to gastro bug the rest of the family had. Disappointed as it was a beautiful day and I was keen to back up with a long one after Saturday's race. Felt terrible though. On days like this I wonder how those people who don't miss a day's training in 30 years or whatever manage it.
Very easy 14km around Balls Head reserve loop with Richard P, Kanser, Ray, Mike and Kanser's mate. Struggled on the hills with a bit of the illness still in the legs but pleased to be up and running again.
Sunday
Rest. In bed. Succumbed to gastro bug the rest of the family had. Disappointed as it was a beautiful day and I was keen to back up with a long one after Saturday's race. Felt terrible though. On days like this I wonder how those people who don't miss a day's training in 30 years or whatever manage it.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Striders 10km North Head
2nd in 33:26.
Absolutely stoked with the run. 25 second PB. Only downside was missing out on a win by 3 seconds.
None of the top runners were there with the NSW 10km road champs on this afternoon and Dave Criniti out with an injury. Still, there was a large crowd of people I'm normally competitive with - Andrew Tuckey, Tim Ashby, Richard High, Ray, Guy Doulman etc. Set off pretty conservatively - Ray took the lead but it felt very comfortable. This was confirmed when he shouted at the time at the first km marker as 3:24. We immediately speeded up - Guy taking the lead. By 2km (6:42) I was in a group with Ray, Andrew and Tim just sitting behind them. The plan was to try and relax over the first big lap and really push the first half of the second lap. 3km went by in 10:02. I wasn't worried about Ray pushing on as I knew he was dropping out at 5km - just wanted to keep within striking distance of Andrew and Tim. Sure enough, Ray pushed on between 4 and 5km taking Andrew with him (we reached 5km in 16:45) . However, by the start/finish turn Tim and I had caught Andrew again. He immediately seemed to push on again up the slight rise heading away from the start line and I could feel Tim dropping off the pace. However, from the roundabout Andrew was just pulling ahead and despite the pre-race plan I couldn't stick with him.
Tim had caught me by the car park loop and together we started to make slow in-roads on Andrew. I hit 8km and tried to push on again but the dragging hill really hurt. At 9km, Tim came past very quickly (he said afterwards it was to try and break me and that I was looking spent!) but called out the time as he did (30:23). I realised I needed a 3:28 final km for the PB so just gave it everything I had. Caught Tim just past the roundabout (almost identical position to that when I overtook him at the last race at North Head in September '06) and started really sprinting. Felt I might have gone too early as there always seems to be one extra speed bump on the run in. At one point I thought I might even catch Andrew but he was too far ahead and held on for a 3 second win.
Perfect conditions today - clear skies, cool and not a breath of wind. Lots had great runs. Richard is getting back to fitness knocking another 40 seconds off last month's time to run 34:40. Durante knocked 2 minutes off his Homebush time to run 35:30. He'll be winning these races soon. Ray must have gone through 5km in under 16:40.
[Just looked back over Blog and compared last September's race at North Head when I ran 33:51. Apparently went through 3km in 9:50 and 5km in 16:36 that day which suggests much more sensible pacing today! Can put that down to Andrew - Mr Even Pace.]
Absolutely stoked with the run. 25 second PB. Only downside was missing out on a win by 3 seconds.
None of the top runners were there with the NSW 10km road champs on this afternoon and Dave Criniti out with an injury. Still, there was a large crowd of people I'm normally competitive with - Andrew Tuckey, Tim Ashby, Richard High, Ray, Guy Doulman etc. Set off pretty conservatively - Ray took the lead but it felt very comfortable. This was confirmed when he shouted at the time at the first km marker as 3:24. We immediately speeded up - Guy taking the lead. By 2km (6:42) I was in a group with Ray, Andrew and Tim just sitting behind them. The plan was to try and relax over the first big lap and really push the first half of the second lap. 3km went by in 10:02. I wasn't worried about Ray pushing on as I knew he was dropping out at 5km - just wanted to keep within striking distance of Andrew and Tim. Sure enough, Ray pushed on between 4 and 5km taking Andrew with him (we reached 5km in 16:45) . However, by the start/finish turn Tim and I had caught Andrew again. He immediately seemed to push on again up the slight rise heading away from the start line and I could feel Tim dropping off the pace. However, from the roundabout Andrew was just pulling ahead and despite the pre-race plan I couldn't stick with him.
Tim had caught me by the car park loop and together we started to make slow in-roads on Andrew. I hit 8km and tried to push on again but the dragging hill really hurt. At 9km, Tim came past very quickly (he said afterwards it was to try and break me and that I was looking spent!) but called out the time as he did (30:23). I realised I needed a 3:28 final km for the PB so just gave it everything I had. Caught Tim just past the roundabout (almost identical position to that when I overtook him at the last race at North Head in September '06) and started really sprinting. Felt I might have gone too early as there always seems to be one extra speed bump on the run in. At one point I thought I might even catch Andrew but he was too far ahead and held on for a 3 second win.
Perfect conditions today - clear skies, cool and not a breath of wind. Lots had great runs. Richard is getting back to fitness knocking another 40 seconds off last month's time to run 34:40. Durante knocked 2 minutes off his Homebush time to run 35:30. He'll be winning these races soon. Ray must have gone through 5km in under 16:40.
[Just looked back over Blog and compared last September's race at North Head when I ran 33:51. Apparently went through 3km in 9:50 and 5km in 16:36 that day which suggests much more sensible pacing today! Can put that down to Andrew - Mr Even Pace.]
Friday, May 04, 2007
Looking after a sick family
14km easy run to work. Lovely morning. 28:10 at Spit Junction and 59:41 all up.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Could do with some sleep
Very easy run home. 14km. 31:45 at Toyota Garage and 60:23 all up. Just switched off. Well, actually I was planning tactics for Saturday's race. Not sure why. Whenever I do race I just tend to feel terrible and try to fight the mental demons ("I can't keep this up.....I'm going to stop soon") all the way.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Good Pain
3.5km warm up, 6km Pain plus 1km warm down. 10km all up.
Big crowd today, including Richard H, Durante, Ray, Chris G, Serg and Andrew Tuckey. They all really pushed the reps hard - but probably with slightly more rest in between - the way it should be. Not bad all up time of 25:50 though. Fast over the 709m rep (1:56) chasing Durante who ran 1:54.
Andrew's running North Head which will make it interesting, particularly after his win in the Bathurst Half at the weekend.
That ends a big week - over 100km including two speed sessions and one race.
Big crowd today, including Richard H, Durante, Ray, Chris G, Serg and Andrew Tuckey. They all really pushed the reps hard - but probably with slightly more rest in between - the way it should be. Not bad all up time of 25:50 though. Fast over the 709m rep (1:56) chasing Durante who ran 1:54.
Andrew's running North Head which will make it interesting, particularly after his win in the Bathurst Half at the weekend.
That ends a big week - over 100km including two speed sessions and one race.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Easy Monday
Easy 14km around Balls Head with Kanser, Richard P, Ray and Mike Conway(?) who might be joining our Thursday group soon.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Long tired Sunday
28km over Spit Junction, North Head long route. Just churned the legs over after yesterday's race and a couple of bottles of decent red last night. Felt fine until the last 30 minutes when I really struggled. 2:06:22. Took a split over the North Head final 2km just to see what pace I take these long runs and clocked 8:35. That's on flattish road so the average pace will be slower.
Feeling knackered now. I'm off for a lie-down.
Here are a couple of photo's taken by Vat from yesterday's race. The first is in the glory moments at about 4km and the second in the home straight....
Saturday, April 28, 2007
NSW Novice 10km
Fantastic event. Forgotten how much I enjoy cross-country - must be 14 years since I've done one. Especially nice fast one's with no hills.
5th in 33:21.
Ran a big loop (3km) warm up with Serg and Chris Truscott (meeting for the first time) then caught up with Superflake who had to be persuaded that we actually ran two big loops during the race and not one.
Set off with Ray and Keith and immediately found oursleves in a large group of 8 at the front. This continued for the whole of the first lap - I'd occasionally hit the front (was thinking Beaky would be proud!) but was surprised to be there given the quality of the runners I knew were there. This continued all the way through the first lap - Ray then hit the front at the start of the second and I dropped to about 6th. I realised at that stage that a few in that front group were pretty serious given they were just hovering behind whatever change of pace the leader decided to make whereas I was struggling as soon as the pace changed. Notwithstanding that, I managed to get in front and try to push the pace halfway through the second big lap. However, at the bridge on the second lap the front group of 5 plus Keith (hanging off the back) started to break away. I managed to keep in touch with Keith but the first 5 appeared gone. I was hurting at this stage - only really pushing on because I didn't want Keith to build up a gap. Towards the end of the first small loop Keith and I started to close on Adam Laughlin-Bowlby who had dropped off the leaders. Overtook him at the start of the the final small loop and from then on was trying just to hang on to 5th. Put in a big effort over the final KM as I could hear either Adam or Keith catching.
Loved the atmosphere - reminded me of North Eastern Cross Country league races as a teenager. Pleased with the result too. Keith finished 7th in 33:28 and Ray 8th in 33:43. Great to have Kirst and the kids there too - you can't underestimate the lift you get from your 4 and 5 year old kids telling you you're doing great.
5th in 33:21.
Ran a big loop (3km) warm up with Serg and Chris Truscott (meeting for the first time) then caught up with Superflake who had to be persuaded that we actually ran two big loops during the race and not one.
Set off with Ray and Keith and immediately found oursleves in a large group of 8 at the front. This continued for the whole of the first lap - I'd occasionally hit the front (was thinking Beaky would be proud!) but was surprised to be there given the quality of the runners I knew were there. This continued all the way through the first lap - Ray then hit the front at the start of the second and I dropped to about 6th. I realised at that stage that a few in that front group were pretty serious given they were just hovering behind whatever change of pace the leader decided to make whereas I was struggling as soon as the pace changed. Notwithstanding that, I managed to get in front and try to push the pace halfway through the second big lap. However, at the bridge on the second lap the front group of 5 plus Keith (hanging off the back) started to break away. I managed to keep in touch with Keith but the first 5 appeared gone. I was hurting at this stage - only really pushing on because I didn't want Keith to build up a gap. Towards the end of the first small loop Keith and I started to close on Adam Laughlin-Bowlby who had dropped off the leaders. Overtook him at the start of the the final small loop and from then on was trying just to hang on to 5th. Put in a big effort over the final KM as I could hear either Adam or Keith catching.
Loved the atmosphere - reminded me of North Eastern Cross Country league races as a teenager. Pleased with the result too. Keith finished 7th in 33:28 and Ray 8th in 33:43. Great to have Kirst and the kids there too - you can't underestimate the lift you get from your 4 and 5 year old kids telling you you're doing great.
Friday, April 27, 2007
It's busier at 6.15am
Easy 14km jog to work early in the morning. 28:40 at Spit Junction, 61:30 all up after meeting a Strider, Steve Urwin, in Neutral Bay and running the rest of the way with him. Turns out Allens is his biggest client so we had quite a bit to talk about.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Thursday Hills
Hills in the Domain. 3 x 5 x 185m hill. Jog downhill between each one and 1km jog between each set. About 33-34 seconds each.
Good crowd with Ray, Richard High, Bill, Serge and Durante showing up. Richard is getting stronger really pushing the final set. Intended to take it easy with Novice 10km at the weekend but as usual that was thrown out of the window with some competition about.
2km warm up and down for about 11km all up.
Good crowd with Ray, Richard High, Bill, Serge and Durante showing up. Richard is getting stronger really pushing the final set. Intended to take it easy with Novice 10km at the weekend but as usual that was thrown out of the window with some competition about.
2km warm up and down for about 11km all up.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Anzac Day
Wednesday
12km in the late afternoon. North Head via North Steyne cutting out Shelley Beach and Fairfax track and back the same way. About 47 minutes. Brisk run with two fast patches - the final 2km of the Striders North Head route (6:32 - 3:22 for first km up the hill and 3:10 for the second) and the second from Manly SLC to North Steyne. Felt great. No doubt due to the number of days off recently.
Tuesday
Rest. Too busy at work with a last minute meeting over lunch.
12km in the late afternoon. North Head via North Steyne cutting out Shelley Beach and Fairfax track and back the same way. About 47 minutes. Brisk run with two fast patches - the final 2km of the Striders North Head route (6:32 - 3:22 for first km up the hill and 3:10 for the second) and the second from Manly SLC to North Steyne. Felt great. No doubt due to the number of days off recently.
Tuesday
Rest. Too busy at work with a last minute meeting over lunch.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Pounding the Western Plains
Monday
10km along the cycle paths of Dubbo with a couple of marathon pace stretches.
Sunday
Rest.
Saturday
Brisk 9km along the cycle paths of Dubbo.
Friday
4km running part of the way home.
10km along the cycle paths of Dubbo with a couple of marathon pace stretches.
Sunday
Rest.
Saturday
Brisk 9km along the cycle paths of Dubbo.
Friday
4km running part of the way home.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Thursday variations
Met up earlier than usual with Richard P, Kanser, Durante, Chris and one of Durante's workmates for a 2 x 3km lactic threshold session around Mrs Macquaries Point. First rep was 2.85km (on the Garmin) and second 2.92km starting and finishing at the gates. 2 minute interval between the two (although it was closer to 3 mins).
Ran the first with Durante in 9:30. Second by myself chasing Chris in 9:37. Pleased that second was faster taking into account the extra distance. Felt pretty comfortable the whole way - bit of lactic at the end of the second rep trying to bring it home quickly.
1km warm up and down for 8km all up. Rushed back for a client lunch. I'll try to fit in a jog this evening to make up the kms.
Ran the first with Durante in 9:30. Second by myself chasing Chris in 9:37. Pleased that second was faster taking into account the extra distance. Felt pretty comfortable the whole way - bit of lactic at the end of the second rep trying to bring it home quickly.
1km warm up and down for 8km all up. Rushed back for a client lunch. I'll try to fit in a jog this evening to make up the kms.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Into work
14km run into work. Marathon pace stretches up Parriwi Road (always a killer), along Military Road (managed to reach Neutral Bay this time) and across the Harbour Bridge. Probably not taken as quickly as last time as I felt pretty solid throughout. Beautiful Sydney morning - crystal clear, cool and no wind.
27:25 at Spit Junction and 56:53 all up.
27:25 at Spit Junction and 56:53 all up.
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