Long Sunday

Took the last 3 days off due to a combination of two big Christmas Parties on Wednesday and Thursday night and continuing problems with my achilles. The latter is being looked at by Tara tomorrow and after a few days rest and strengthening exercises was beginning to feel better. So with that confidence I headed out for 25km this morning. Ran the North Head/Balgowlah Heights/Campbell Parade route in 1:56:08. Set off at an easy pace but picked it up far too much going around North Head as a result of joining the Warringah Triathlon Club during their run leg. Also bumped into TJA on the way back. 4:15 and 3:58 for the final 2kms of the North Head 10km route and 46:08 at the Stone Arch.

Started to feel good coming along the Burnt Bridge Creek deviation to finish quite stronlgy (other than the final km). Have a few aches and pains now though. The back of the right knee was stiff up the hills and the left hip flexor is tight.

RunSweeney - those are very impressive times for a 46yr old. Keith Bateman will have to keep an eye out on a few of his Masters records in 4 years time (although you have the disadvantage of only being one year older than Mona!). You seem to get better as the distance gets longer. I will run the NSW State 5km and 10km at the end of Jan and start of Feb but the idea is to take it easy until the New Year after a long season and a few niggles having developed. Would be good to cross paths again soon though.

Run to work

14km in 57:47. Spit Junction in 28:40 so must have picked up in the second half. Felt as though I was trying quite hard coming over the bridge. Pretty tired (certainly in the first half) with only 11 hours rest after last night's run. Ideal weather, clear but cooler than recently.

Need to go and see Tara about the achilles and knee. The achilles is always sore for the first 5km, and the back of the knee always gets stiff when pushing uphill. I'm sure they're related.

Around Centennial

Missed Pain due to another manic day at work (typing at my desk now and likely to be here for another few hours yet). Set off at 7pm for a steady medium length run and headed out towards Rushcutters, up through Paddo, got lost as usual trying to get to Centennial Park (ended up skirting Sydney Showgrounds for what seemed like hours) then finally found it and did one lap of Grand Drive and back home along Anzac Parade and through Surry Hills. Good steady pace, picking up quite quickly around Centennial. Felt pretty lousy to begin with but improved throughout so that I was quite enjoying it by the end. There's nothing like a run on a cool evening to wash away the woes of the day. Bumped into Chis Truscott in Centennial and saw Sean Williams training the stars of tomorrow.

About 15km in 63:28.

IHS/TJA - more details of the Highnam Handicap will be posted when Dad starts to sort it out. He's a notoriously poor handicapper so random results normally ensue. I've been known to start after the first person has already finished. It's likely to start at the car park on the clifftop in front of the Harbord Diggers and involve a route to the end of Curl Curl beach and back.

Flake - SMH Half couldn't have been my best race. TJA beat me in that one.

Balls Head again

14km around Balls Head with Ray, Kanser, Springer, Dave Dreverman and MC. Bit quicker today for some reason (61:13) and didn't feel wholly comfortable. Felt as though I either wanted to speed up or slow down (although probably more the latter). Feels as though 17km the day before is starting to take it out of me. Missing the long Sunday run at the moment.
Weather was cooler than yesterday which was a relief but still quite humid.

Given I'm done with racing for the year (apart from the fiercely competitive Highnam Handicap which has been pencilled in for 31st December - allcomers welcome) my brief summary for the year follows:

Best 3 races:

1. State 3km (mainly for the time, slightly disappointed I didn't win the "C" Race)
2. Sydney Half Marathon (again for the time)
3. Lane Cove 10km November (mainly for managing to beat Tucks and the time for a hilly course)

Just missing out on the top 3 spots are the Long Course Cross Country in late June, the Gold Coast 10km in early July, Novice 10km and Homebush 10km in October. I think I hit form in late June/early July and then again in mid-later October to early November.

Most disappointing 3 races is easy:

1. City to Surf - still don't know what went wrong. I'll try not to get so obsessed about it next year. Racing regularly helps, as will more aerobic conditioning for one of the toughest races around.
2. Short Course X-Country Relays - I'll blame the sore back.
3. Homebush 10km in March - a shocking time in tough conditions.

Medium Sunday

17km around Queenscliff and North Head. Felt pretty good after yesterday's rest - 71:30 all up. Timed the final 2km of the Striders North Head route at 4:13 and 4:00 which was typical of the pace on the flat bits at least. Pretty hot so quite drained at the end.

Shortened Balls Head

To Waverton Bowling Club and back with Kanser and a huge hangover. One of the toughest runs of the year as a result. Running up hills was bad. About 10km in about 45 minutes.

Hickson Road

5 x 1.2km with 2 minute rests.

Fair crowd today with Charlie, Anthony, Richard H, MC, Toby, Bill, Hamish, Adam and even the Hamburglar making a first time appearance. Intention was to take them all easy around the 3:45 pace, but with no-one taking up the running (everyone seems to be in take-it-easy mode) I pushed on. Reps went:

3:48; 3:35; 3:40; 3:35; 3:38

I was running by myself at the front for the first 4. Charlie and Anthony charged ahead on the last one. Felt very comfortable on the first two and still not flat out for the final 3.

Looking forward to the beers at James Squires with this crowd this evening.

Run home

13km run home from work. 30:30 at Toyota Garage and 57:25 all up. Gentle pace but didn't feel very comfortable today, perhaps because of my "executive health check" over lunchtime. Came out pretty well - height 182cm, weight 64.2kg (possibly underweight, but the Doc told me not to worry) producing a BMI of 18.8, good cholesterol at 1.7 and bad at 2.8 (above and below normal respectively), blood pressure at 118/80 and resting pulse of 46. The fitness evaluation was a bit of a joke - I was strapped up to an ECG and then made to walk on a treadmill with the gradient increasing every minute. The idea is to stop when your pulse reaches 80% of max (220 minus your age). We pulled the plug after 25 minutes because I had to get back to work. My only downside was stress. 4 kids, 2 mortgages and my job was viewed badly.

Good news today was that we've been officially confirmed as the 2nd mixed team from the JPMorgan race last week so I'll be jetting off to NYC next October along with Serg, Anthony, Charlie Low, Jeremey Horne and others.

Fitting it in

No time to get out during the day and had to rush home for dinner before heading out to the pub quiz with Dad so ran to the Toyota Garage and caught a cab from there. Quick run - 27:22.

Balls Head

Balls Head loop with Serg, Kanser, Ray and MC. Very easy until Balls Head then quickened as Kanser needed to get back early. 61:42 for the 14km. Beautiful day, cool breeze on the bridge but pretty warm out of the wind. Enjoying this easier stuff.

Short Sunday

Still not getting up early enough to fit a long one in due to disrupted nights sleeping so 10.2km route ran anticlockwise late afternoon. I'd been out in the sun all day so felt pretty lethargic today. 42:31 after 19:47 at Manly SLSC.

Jamie - looking good for our trip to NY. I think we've secured second place, but results are still unofficial while they check eligibility. Here's the link...http://www.jpmorganchasecc.com/results.php?city_id=16&type=men&year=2008

Burglar - missed you at Fairlight beach. No doubt I had my head down gasping for air by that stage.

Easy Sat

10.2km route run clockwise. Nice and easy in 42:13. Nothing else to report, so I'll add a few recent photos. First is a recent one of Charlie, then Bec holding Maggie and finally one of me finishing the JPMorgan race on Wed night.

Around Balls again

Balls Head loop with Kanser, Springer, Eammon, Kate and one of Kanser's workmates. Very easy 67:36. Nice warm day. Still absolutely stuffed at work. Averaged about 4 hours sleep over the last 3 nights.

JPMorgan Chase CC

Had the worst day at work of all time. Was doubtful to even compete until late afternoon but then organised a couple of conference calls after the race to ensure I could compete. The race wasn't great as a result but I shouldn't blame that on the result. Tucks ran 17:36 in finishing 3rd. Based on Saturday's race, that is what I was expecting but I ran 17:54 in 7th. Ben StL ran off the front leading a pack consisting of Jeremey Horne, Tucks, Charlie Low, Anthony, Dave Dreverman and me following from 2 km after Serg and Richard H fell off. I was the first to fall off, followed by Dave Dreverman. I was running by myself from 3km onwards, trying to catch Dave but just failed. I didn't feel as though I'd really pushed myself at the end though - probably as a result of running by myself for too long and not being pushed.

Great runs by Tucks and Athony and also by Richard H who is really returning to form in beating Ray. Serg is just full of guts.

Had a manic night of conference calls after the race (meaning I missed my night of glory on the stage) but great to catch of for a few beers with Hamburglar and InHisshadow afterwards in the LightBrigade...

Easy Pain

Just jogged around Pain with Ray, TimC and Dave and Michael from MBL. 26:23.

Short run home

Ran home after a long and stressful day at work following a bad night's sleep. Felt pretty average. Stopped at the Toyota Garage and hailed a cab for the remainder of the journey. 31:13 for about 7km. 2 days to recover.

Medium Long Run

18km in 78:27. North Head (inc. Fairfax track) via Campbell Parade and home straight up from Fairlight Pool. Easy run but slightly quicker than normal feeling pretty good after the short run yesterday. Lovely day, pretty warm.

State 3km Champs

2nd (in the "C" race) in 8:53:14.

Chuffed to bits with the time - one more of Dad's PBs gone, and probably his toughest one to boot. Started off just tracking Tucks for the first 2.5 laps at the front of the main group. There was one bloke from Sydney Uni who had set off like a hare (he must have run a 65 second first lap to our 69). Went through 800m in 2:22 and I think Tucks must have upped the pace in the third lap so that it was the two of us chasing the Syd Uni bloke and splitting the main group behind us. Did get any more splits after that until 2km which we went through in 5:58. I knew at that stage a sub-9 was still on so I think I pushed ahead for half a lap (it's all a bit of a blur now) before Tucks took on the chase of the leader with 2 laps to go. I knew I just had to hang on to be dragged around to a good time and that if the elastic broke it would all go to pot. Tucks overtook the leader at the bell and I overtook him down the back straight. I was feeling lactic at this stage but knew I still had a bit of a sprint so just tried to claw back the gap between us before kicking again down the home straight. I got to his shoulder at about 50m to go and was convinced I was going to win but he had enough to respond and beat me by a yard.

Great runs by a load of people. Durante ran 9:03 in the B race and I'm sure would have gone under 9 if he'd been able to run in the pack in the C race. Ray ran 9:07, Keith ran new >50 Australian record in 9:09 and Richard H ran 9:12.

Now for Wednesday night.

Balls Head

Very easy 13km around Balls Head with Springer, Kanser, Dave Dreverman, Kate from Macquarie and Ray (later on). Messed up the watch so didn't get a time. Will be interesting to see how Dave goes next Wednesday. Definitely another one to watch out for. Looking forward to the 3km tomorrow night.

Mona Fartlek

Met up with Serg, Anthony, Tucks, Richard H, Mike, Peter, Enda, Dylan, Christian and Luke and told Serg at the start that I really wanted to push the first half to try and reach the Stone Gates. So we did. The floats were quicker than usual but, given how far we got (all the way to the road outside St Mary's) so must have been the fast spells. Serg started to drop off after about 8mins, leaving Anthony and Tucks just behind and Richard and Dylan reaching the stone gates. Felt great on the way out - particularly pushing the floats, but struggled over the final 3 30s where Anthony was pushing ahead strongly and Tucks was in between.

Still, a great session. Over 6km in 20 mins (see G-Map here...http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1438934) so averaging 3:19 per km. The fast stretches must have been under 3 mins per km. Great news for JPMorgan next Wednesday is that Dylan is running so well. He should easily go under 19 minutes based on today's run. Richard H is also running very well. Anthony is the man to beat though.