Easy Friday

Easy 12km around the Botanical Gardens with Springer, Serg and Kanser. Picked it up a bit doing the last 3km by myself around Mrs Macquarie's Chair. Beautiful day out there. 56:09 all up.

HuRTS 12 x 400m

It's was commonly accepted today that, of all the sessions we do, this is one of the toughest. Probably a close run thing with Hickson Road. Strange as it is also the shortest session we do. The reps involve you going partially lactic from the first rep onwards, but the toughest element is how mentally difficult it is, particularly between reps 4 - 8 when you are hurting and yet feel as though you still have so much to do.

Really good crowd today (people are getting keen) including Ray, Kanser, Serg, Muz, Durante, MC, Tim C, KMK, RMR, Greg, Fats, Stephen, Pete W etc. Reps went off every 2 minutes as follows:

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

Huge improvement from 10th April, mainly due to having a big crowd around. Serg and Durante were pushing each rep (in particular Durante in the second half) so that we were finishing them all together. I was pretty stuffed on the final 2 - tried to increase the pace to catch KMK and Durante on the final rep but the legs said no.

Great session though.

Post script: Got SMH Half number and chip in the post today - No. 28. Pleased with that.

Medium Long Wednesday

Ran flat 10km route extended around Opera House to the Overseas Passenger terminal then back with Springer, then added a 3km loop of Mrs Macquarie's Chair to bring it up to 16km. 69:11. Nice and easy although Springer was feeling good and trying to push the pace beyond easy comfort level at times. Beautiful day and plenty of people out.

HuRTS 5min reps

8 x 5mins off 90 seconds. Big HuRTS crowd today including Charlie, Serg, Durante, Kanser, Muz, Springer, MC, Enda, Greg, Tim C, Ray, Dicky H, RMR. In fact, easier to identify people by their absence, the notable absentees being Tucks and the Judge.

We were flying today. We started off pretty quick and then ramped it up. This was mainly because Serg and Durante were putting some effort in. How Durante only managed to run 34:17 on Saturday, God only knows. The bloke must be the world's softest racer. I think Kanser needs to have words and explain that it's supposed to hurt when you run a race. Serg leaped forwards today, getting back to form. He completed the session (for once) and had 30 yards on me on the final rep before I clawed it back just before we finished. I had us running over 1.6km over the final rep which is well under 3:10 per km. http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1689559

Warm up and warm down for about 15km all up.

Long local Sunday

2 x 10km route in Manly plus to South Steyne and back. 27.5km in 2:03:22. Caught up with the Tiger for the first 2 laps (47:30 and 44:50) then by myself. Beautiful morning, cool and sunny.

NSW State 10km Road - 20th in 32:37

Had been pretty nervous about this one, and felt very much so travelling out to Homebush. Nerves were eased after a quick chat with SilverFox and Tucks then headed out jogging the course with Kanser, MC and Durante. The course looked fantastic - nice and flat with long straights just to put your head down and run. Conditions were also perfect - cool and no wind.

Lined up next to Uncle Dave and Chris Truscott (pushing Chadi back into the second row, felt a bit guilty about that as he's a much better runner). Set off very quickly. I'd heeded Serg and Pete's advice and wanted to make a very positive start. Followed just behind Chadi in 3:02 for the first km. Wasn't feeling completely shot so was quite pleased. Missed the 2km mark and went through 3km in 9:33. At this point, Robbie Neale went past so I decided just to try to stick with him as I knew he would run well. This is basically how the rest of the race went. Felt good in parts, just tried to hang on in others but it was basically a good hard race, never at all comfortable. Robbie and I picked up others as we went so that for the last 3km there was a good group of five of us, including Mark Warren and Richie Roberts. 5km was reached in 16:09, 8km in 26:07 and 9km in 29:25. At that stage I was just hanging on. Even though we were all in a group I had nothing left for a sprint to try and pick up any more places.

Stoked with the race and the big PB (as well as knocking off another of Dad's PBs). A load of great performances out there. Keith and Fats running 33:20s (Fats will go quicker at North Head without a cold), Kanser back under 35, Uncle Dave back under 32 and SilverFox setting a very low-key PB!

Thanks for all the comments and encouragement. Amanda - sorry for very confused conversation! Not sure my brain was working probably on account of being so knackered.

I can now lock-in the Half at Gold Coast.

Easy plod

Very easy run around and about in the Botanical Gardens with Ray and Tim C. 10kms in about 50 mins.

Disappointed to hear that Tucks is now a no-show for tomorrow after pulling his hammy again. Further, Fats has come down with a cold. Neither of which does much good to our Striders team (or my bet).

Thanks for the comments Pete (over ambitious as usual) and good luck Greg and everyone else for tomorrow.

Farm Cove intervals

Instead of 8 x 800m we did the pre-race gate to gate Farm Cove reps (909m) - 7 of them running the odd ones fast and the even ones as floats. Rep times went as follows:

2:42
3:00
2:38
3:01
2:43 (had to stop because of a large bunch of schoolgirls)
3:03
2:37

Charlie, Tim C, Ray, Springer, Greg, RMR, Kill Michael Kill, Dicky H and Steve showed up, with Durante and Kanser dropping by on easier runs. Wasn't going to push the last one but KMK got competitive and I'm not mature enough to resist. Felt great today. Hope I haven't peaked two days early.

Medium Long Wednesday

Centennial Park route with Tim C. Beautiful day for running - cool and crystal clear. Went a bit quicker than I had intended - 63:40 for the 15km. But that's running with Tim C for you. It's like running with a Kenyan, he suddenly puts in these surges of speed and twice dropped me going around Centennial.

Injuries have cleared up nicely (even top of left glute) but feeling a bit sore around the shoulders so hope I haven't got a virus coming on. Whinge, moan, whine etc...

3 x 3km

Originally 4 x 3km was scheduled but decided to drop down to 3 to avoid killing ourselves before Saturday. 4 x 3km is probably the hardest session we do. Had planned to take them easy but with Fats and Tucks around that was never likely. Other attendees were MC, Tim C, Adam, Pete W, Enda and the Irish contingent. Notable absentees were Kanser and Durante, putting in some secret training tomorrow instead.

Fats ensured the pace was honest from the start, with Tucks and I just behind him. We ended the first 3km rep at the lamppost just short of the stone gates (i.e. further than ever before) but given we were only doing 3 I thought that would be OK. Probably averaged about 3:28s. On the way back, he picked up the pace even more so that we returned to the Opera House gates in 9:21. Averaging sub 3:20s. Having been conditioned to that pace we just continued on in the same way on the third. I pushed the hills near the Boy Charlton and then up to the Art Gallery. Fats finalled dropped off on that second hill, leaving Tucks and I to go beyond the stone gates to just short of the road outside St Mary's. That's as far as we've reached in our best Mona Fartlek session.

A real confidence booster before Saturday as I didn't feel so shattered that I couldn't have done a fourth. Tucks looked like he was cruising as always but Fats is plainly in sparkling form and I'm likely to be running with him on Saturday. MC also seemed comfortable and is getting back into form.

About 14km all up.

Have added some photos from Seal Rocks.

Medium Long Run

Decided against 2 hours today in light of a mini-taper for Saturday instead doing 1.5 hours. Ran Serg's Centennial Park route in about 63 mins (picking it up in the second half in order to get back in time to catch up with Kanser) than ran about 5.5km around the Opera House with Kanser in 25 mins, bumping into Durante on the way around.

Back from Smiths Lake

Headed up on Thursday evening in the pouring rain. The rain didn't stop until Saturday when it turned out pretty nice and had a great time in the Lake and in the surf at Seal Rocks and Blueys. Managed 11km in the pouring rain on Thursday feeling great and running quickly over a hilly course - 44:42 (measured it in the car). Ran the same route in the sun the next day but turned around sooner as I was struggling - 44:12 for about 10.5km. Rested today.

Some interesting results from Novice. Times look about a minute slower than where I expected people to be so the ground must have been pretty tough on the legs. Will be interesting to see how people pull up next week.

Mona Fartlek

Caught up with the HuRTS squad to run 90, 60, 30s on the usual route. Crowd included Kanser, Serg, the Judge, Fats, MC, Durante, Greg, Phil W, RMR and Clement. A few were taking it easy with Novice on Saturday, so found myself in a small group with Serg, the Judge and Fats after the first 90. Serg and the Judge then really pushed the second 90 and I was just trying to hang on to Fats. Really struggled up the hills - felt lots of beer in my legs after last night. Turned 20 yards short of the Stone Arch (closest I've got to it other than the reps prior to JPM) and about 15 yards behind Serg and the Judge. Immediately Fats started to drop me on the 3rd and 4th 60s and Serg and the Judge caught me. Then we hit the 30s and I seemed to get a new lease of life. Caught up with the other three and then dropped Serg and the Judge coming around Farm Cove with Fats just holding on. Finished the final fast rep at the Opera House gates and the session half way around the Opera House.

Fats is in great form. My bet with the Tiger is safe at this rate. Serg is also coming back into form (again). Off to Smiths Lake tonight so good luck to Kanser, Durante, MC et al running Novice on Saturday.

Long Wednesday

Headed out at lunchtime with Serg and MC for 18km around Centennial Park. It's been really wet over the last few days (including this morning when we set off) so there were puddles galore. Got soaked. Had to run on the road around Centennial due to the puddles. Did the 18.2km in 1:22:49 averaging just over 4:30 per km so nice and easy. Had a discussion half way around about what constituted a "good runner". MC seemed to get quite upset when Serg said it was anyone who could run under 32 mins for 10km. The only consensus from this question seemed to be someone who could run about as fast as our own PB for the distance.

Mentioned to Serg that I quite fancied pushing tomorrow's session. He suggested this wouldn't be wise after the last three days running. I've been out with Ken, John, Phil and Craig this evening, entering my favourite pub (the Boatshed) at about 9pm. Ken mentioned then that we rarely leave the Boatshed before 2am once we enter. I've just about beaten that but not by much. Serg's advice now sounds wise.

Had a magnificent run on the pool table in the Boatshed - 6 games unbeaten before we started doubles again. I'm the king of pool. I challenge you all....

Sunday long run on Tuesday

Becoming a little obsessed with fitting a long run in each week so today it was. Ran the North Head route (Pacific Parade and Fairfax Track) then straight down Darley, left onto Ashburner, along Manly to Spit walk but cut up through Balgowlah Heights then into work. About 27-28km. Started too quick for a 2 hour run, not on purpose just feeling good and probably with a little enthusiasm from last night still in the legs. 47:11 at the Stone Arch (4:14 and 4:09 for the last 2kms of the North Head route), 1:28:10 at Spit Junction and 1:59:30 all up. Struggled a bit from Parriwi onwards paying for the faster early pace and no doubt with last night's run in the legs.

Disappointed to be missing HuRTS today due to a bloody client lunch. Why do people organise work lunches? Just means you sit at your desk all afternoon feeling bloated and knackered. Only worth doing if you can sit in the pub for the rest of the afternoon. Then they're great.

Niggle count: Back of right knee (particularly on the uphills (of which there were plenty this morning)), top of left glute and, worryingly, muscle coming around the left hip.

Tempo run home

Training schedule is all over the place at the moment with being busy at work and holidays. Planned a long run today but couldn't get out all day and felt it was too late at 7.30pm when I finally left for the evening. So decided to do a tempo run home (about 14km) and will do 2 hours running in tomorrow (client lunch so am missing HuRTS) .

Looked back in my blog to see what my PB for this route was and saw that I ran 50:47 nearly a year ago (June 7th) shortly before setting my 10km PB at Gold Coast. Surprised I haven't done this run more often as I think the long tempo runs are pretty useful. Given I think I'm now in better shape, I psyched myself up to set a PB. Really pushed the pace from go to whoa. 25:18 at the Toyota Garage (1:17 ahead of the red line) and 48:51 all up - a 1:56 PB. Chuffed to bits with the time. Still think there's more to come as I eased off a little from Spit Junction to Spit Bridge. Having said that, I really pushed the uphills.

Flake - I'm back up to Smiths Lake on Thursday night so will be missing Novice. My money's on Harry Summers. Expect a big improvement from Dave Kane too. Given his recent Hickson Road rep times and the fact that he's equally as competitive as those gun 18yr olds, I'm predicting he'll run 34:27 and kick himself for not getting a PB before agonising over whether it's a full 10km or not. I'm just throwing everything at the State 10km. Saw a recent thread on Coolrunning which suggested DrJH would be running. To beat him would be the dream scenario.

Running and camping..

..don't mix. Had a fantastic time at Seal Rocks (at Smiths Lake now having just dropped Kirst and the kids off) but sleep has been hard to come by - Charlie doesn't like the "flapping" noise a tent makes. As a result, I've woken up stiff every morning and felt like c**p when trying to run. Beautiful surrounds though. Rested Thursday, ran for an hour on Friday and Saturday and 45 minutes this morning. Had to dodge a pack of dingoes yesterday (if you can call more than one a "pack") which got the heart rate up at least.

Stiff as a board now. Can't wait to sleep in a bed again. Will download some photos soon.

Niggle count: top of left glute, back of right knee, hamstrings, back in general, achilles a bit sensitive.

Medium long Wednesday

18km around Centennial (including an extra internal loop) but cutting short back down the steps from Macleay St. Ran with Serg and Tim C. 1:18:03, average pace 4:20. Very easy to start with but picked up the pace a little from 7km onwards.

Niggle count: Top of left glute. Outside of right foot.

45 mins Fartlek

The inner child inside me still stifles a chortle when I write the word "fartlek".

Great crowd today including the Judge, Serg, Phil Dove, Kanser, MC, Durante, Tim C, Enda, Richard G, Richard M (first time in a while), Clement, Greg, Stephen C etc. Set off at quite a quick pace with the Judge, Serg and Phil. We all stayed together until just before the turnaround point when Serg dropped off. Phil then stopped (only to reappear later) at the turnaround point leaving me to try and stick to the Judge. Turned at the top of the steep short hill just before the Art Gallery. The Judge helped me catch up with some of the pack before he dropped out worrying about a leg injury. Picked up the pace a bit coming home running with the rest of the crowd again.

Fast sections were probably between 3:10 - 3:15 per km and averaged close to 3:30 per km for the whole thing. 1.5km there and 2.5km back for about 17km all up.

Recovery Monday

Serg's 15km Centennial Park route run with Serg. 66:11. Slightly quicker than I'd normally do a recovery run (I was running with Serg after all) but nice nonetheless. Managed to run out a few aches around the left glute I'd had from the weekend. Perfect running conditions - cool and rainy. Some people were complaining about the cold running in the Canberra marathon yesterday. I didn't realise it could be too cold for running. They should try running the North East Cross Country Harrier league at Prudhoe in January.

Congrats to Tim L for his 2:47 in the London marathon yesterday - great run mate.