Saturday, August 16, 2008

Quickish 16km

Campbell Parade (but back to Kenneth due to bridge still being repaired), Queenscliff, Shelly Beach, North Head and straight home. 65:24. Probably a bit over 16km as I was averaging under 4mins per km. Started off quick, got tired climbing up to North Head (tried to push the hills), 3:57, 3:48 and 3:43 for the measured 3kms around North Head, pretty tired by Manly but pushed Fairlight Rd hill.

Pleased with the run. Beautiful day. Won't predict Spring having arrived yet but it was at least 3-4 degrees warmer than last weekend.

Predict Usain Bolt will win tonight - he's looked awesome in qualifying. Dibaba last night was incredible. She looked as though she was barely puffed running a 60 second final lap to go under 30mins. I reckon she'd be competitive in the 800m on that form. GO PAULA!!!!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Back to it

Caught a vicious Man Cold after City to Surf on Sunday and have been feeling feverish all week until today. Still totally bunged up but felt good enough to venture out today. Caught up with MC and happened upon Kanser half way through. 10km in just over 45 mins.

The good thing about complete rest is how well the body feels. No achilles issues over the last two days and feel great when running for the Jet Cat (as I always end up doing) in the morning. If only I could feel like this all the time. Corollary of complete rest and Man Flu is that I've eaten a bucketload and put on a kilo. But it's been fun, especially sprawled out on the sofa watching the Olympics. I think I may finally be ready for Aussie citizenship after getting genuinely upset over Libby Trickett failing to hold on for 100m Freestyle Gold today. Having said that, Rebecca Adlington looks great for the 800m tomorrow and I'll be screaming her on.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

City to Surf - 37th in 46:34!

46:29 chip time.

Finally done this race justice after years of trying! Plan from the start was to attack the hills, both ups and downs, and it really paid off. Caught up with Tucks, Tim C, KMK and Ray beforehand then met all the other HuRT Squad on the start line. Also caught up with Dave Sweeney which added to the nerves as I was keen for revenge from Gold Coast. I was still chatting with Robbie and Mark Warren when the gun went which seemed to surprise everyone. Ran down the hill startled more than anything else, felt breathless up to the tunnel as usual, pushed the downhill to Edgecliff then tried to push up the Edgecliff hill. At this stage I was running with Tucks and Charlie. Felt OK for the first time ever in Edgecliff which gave me a lot of confidence. Pushed the hill down to Double Bay to edge ahead of a group containing Charlie and Tucks but struggled a bit up the hill from Double Bay to Rose Bay. Tucks and Charlie edged ahead here and I didn't have the legs to go with them. Clocked 5km through Rose Bay in 16:02 (a PB). I was struggling on the flat sections (opposite to normal) until I could find a rhythm - eventually did just before the start of Heartbreak Hill. I was running with Nick Bennett at this stage. Again tried to push Heartbreak but was a bit crestfallen when Chadi came flying by - he ran a stormer up the hill. Some bloke on a bike seemed to be shouting instructions to Nick - first to latch on to Chadi but when he disappeared to latch on to me. This actually gave me a bit of confidence as I've never been someone who anyone should think of latching on to up a hill - it's a bit like drafting a toddler on a trike.

From here I was just trying to keep pace with Richard Gardiner and Peter Mitchelmore. We went through 10km in 33:43 so I knew a sub-47 was on the cards. They both pulled ahead slightly on the long downhill to Bondi then, out of the blue, so did DrJH (Jamie Harrison). At the bottom, Jamie had about 15 yards on me and Mitchelmore about 25. Richard Gardiner pushed the slight rise over the bridge so I just tried to stick to him. Rounded the corner on Campbell Parade and thought, this is it, let's just put on a sprint to see if I can catch DrJH. I did with about 100 yards to go and continued the sprint to pip Richard as well (although the results would suggest not Peter as I had originally thought).

Good to catch up with DrJH afterwards - nice to have one of Australia's great distance runners tell you he had his eyes on you the whole race and then to outkick him. OK, he may not be the same runner he was 20 years ago but still a tough bugger. Dave Sweeney ran low 47's which I'm sure he'll be disappointed with but he'll bounce back when he sorts his knees out. Fantastic run by Tucks - 45:46, just behind Tom Crasti (a low 31 10km runner) and beating Chris Truscott (45:5X). Charlie is getting back to top form with a 45:36 and Chadi clocked 46:00. The other great runs were Rob Lansdown with a 47:10 and Kanser pulling a great run out of the bag to clock 47:51 despite being sidelined with a heavy cold all week. Shows he's developed some great strength which will serve him well in Berlin.

Nice chat with all the HuRT Squad after - there's quite a few of us. Congrats to Rich P on impending fatherhood - joining the 4 kid club!

Love this event. Another beautiful day. And the achilles' aren't too sore! For now.

Friday, August 08, 2008

Easy stuff

Very easy 10km running to Glebe to get my IPod fixed then back via Hickson Road. 42:48. Woke up with a sore throat and feeling slightly under but I think I'm beating as I'm feeling a lot better after a hearty lunch.

Thursday, August 07, 2008

HuRTS Hickson Road

Smaller crowd today with a lot of people resting up for C2S. At the front end it included Muz, KMK, MC, Ben, Derek and a few others. Decided only to push 3 of them and run through the final 2 so reps went as follows:

3:38; 3:33; 3:31; 3:55; 3:49

Remembered after the first that you have to run flat out to record fast times on Hickson Road. Felt quick but with only Muz keeping up before dropping off slightly towards the end the times were down on last month. KMK did his usual thing of starting off easily then running a blinder on the 5th - 3:22. He has a huge stride in full flow.

Caught up with Gerry outside the changing rooms and he posed an interesting question - who will be the first HuRT squad member home on Sunday. If we discount the prentender Big Mikey H (who I think would be first), I reckon it's a toss-up between Charlie, Tucks and Robbie. Charlie ran a good 10km at the start of July but was off for 10 days after. Tucks has had a couple of niggles from the marathon as well as coming to the end of a training pattern culminating in the marathon so my money is on Robbie. I expect KMK and Kanser will have strong runs too as the course will suit them.

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Steady 10km

Flat 10km from work run at a steady pace. 39:17. 19:45 at 5km.

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Attack the Hills!

No HuRTS at lunch due to a date with Penny Wong so ran home instead. Decided to attack the hills (both ups and downs). Given the topography of my run home, that's basically a tempo. 27:49 at the Toyota Garage and 51:49 all up. Again felt great.

Achilles was fine all day until I started my run (opposite of yesterday) but then eased up half way through.

Monday, August 04, 2008

Quickish Monday

Flat 10km route from work. Aimed to run consistent 4min kms but I've got no idea about pacing. Thought that 4 min kms would be slightly less than comfortable running. Reached the 5km turn in 18:58 and given I was ahead of schedule I just maintained the same pace back but increased the pace over the final 2km to finish in 37:38. Felt good today concentrating again on the core.

Only concern is that the left achilles has been sore since Saturday's race (I need heel raises for my flats) even when walking. The only time it's not sore is when resting or when I'm running.

Bumped into a load of people out there today - Muz, Charlie, Travis, Dave le Banh and Scott to name a few.

Sunday, August 03, 2008

State Relays and Sunday MLR

Sunday

Intended on running the usual Sunday Manly route but got to about an hour and was feeling a bit fatigued so decided to cut it short. 91:06 for about 21kms. 3:54 and 3:45 for the North Head route kms - I was concentrating on pushing all the hills.

Saturday

State 4km relays at Wollongong. Ran first leg with Jeremey Horne second, Rob Lansdown 3rd and KMK final. The usual top crowd - my leg included Tim Rowe, Russell Chin, Ryan Gregson etc. Set off quick as usual then struggled into quite a headwind heading out to the stadium. Managed to form a group with Richie Roberts and Brad Milosovic. Basically, we then stuck together all the way around - Ritchie pushing ahead slightly towards the end and with me just outsprinting Brad. The legs felt very wobbly in the final 300m so it was a solid performance. 12:19 after a 6:03 first lap. 1 second behind Ritchie and 9 behind Robin Whiteley. Jeremey ran 12:15 so I was pleased with the time - haven't lost as much speed as I had thought. KMK ran a great last leg to clock 12:25 by himself and bring the Striders home to 4th overall.

BTW - top run by Durante to run 33:01 at Lane Cove this morning. Grave doubts as to whether I would have bettered that. Also huge congrats to Tucks and Big Mikey H for being selected to run for NSW in the National X-Country - Tim Rowe and Benny St L are only reserves!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Strange day

Caught up with Big Mikey H to run the 19km Centennial route with the usual 3 marathon pace stretches. Reached Woollhara gates in 21.25, then ran the second loop of Centennial in 12:08 (i.e. much quicker than usual) struggling to stay with BMH who was about 10 seconds in front. Finished that at 47:58 feeling again as though I'm struggling with pace at the moment. It seems that what I've gained in strength and endurance I've lost in pace. Felt strong towards the end finishing in 1:14:43 - 3:55 per km pace overall.

Good to get another strong session in before C2S but I'm feeling very tired so will rest for the next couple of days then concentrate more on speed.

Followed up with a Tiger massage - left achilles has been getting stiffer and he certainly worked on that.

Then walked back to the office to find York Street cut off by police tape. A jumper was standing on the top of one of the tall buildings. Quite a crowd were watching but when he started to shuffle closer to the edge I had to turn and walk away. 10 seconds later I heard numerous sharp intakes of breath and a loud thud. Quite shaken up by it.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

HuRTS 14 x 3mins

Very select group at HuRTS today. Everyone is either secret training (Kanser), resting (Tucks), injured (Muz, KMK) or just getting fat (our Portuguese friend). So turnout was Durante, MC, Richard H, Springer, Tim's L and C and a few of the Macquarie boys. Didn't know what to expect today - half intended to take it easy as part of the Arthur Taper but then knew as soon as people started racing off I wouldn't be able to restrain myself.

Ran the first with Durante then he pulled away by between 3-5 seconds on each rep, only intending to run 8-10. He did 10 in the end and still looked very comfortable - will be fascinated to see what he runs at Lane Cove on the weekend. My legs felt very heavy from the first rep. Really struggled to overtake everyone and the whole thing just felt laborious. Haven't felt like this in ages. Gradually it felt easier as the session went on (i.e. when you just feel tired as you always do). Hadn't got a clue what pace we were running as we were starting from an earlier lamp post to the one we normally start at - so decided to run the final rep at the same pace over the Action marked KM. Ran it in 3:11. So to put it all in context:

(a) the reps were quick (Durante must have been running 3:05-3:08's);
(b) there was a lot of wind;
(c) have run 160km over the last 9 days; and
(d) can't think of any more excuses.

Ran the last 2 reps by myself - I was the only one to complete 14. Most did 10 with only Tim L and MC running 12.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Recovery run

14km on the flat around the foreshore with Springer, Ray, MC, Rich H, Christian and Holt Hardy. A very easy 66:13 but the legs were tired from yesterday. I'm going to practice the Paul Arthur taper by resting Thursday and running very easy Friday.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Tourist Trot STaR

A call to arms by Chris Truscott during the week brought out a good group for the STaR today starting inCentennial. 3 Truscotts, Fats, Keith, Kanser, Durante, Steve Hume, Cameron Arnold, Steve Jackson meant we started at about 4:30's and got quicker all the way. Ended up averaging about 4:13s after running the last 10km in under 40 minutes. Lovely morning and a good group.

Good to hear Tucks having another great run in the Cities Marathon, finishing 6th in 2:30.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Quick Hills

Short of time today so just ran 10 hills outside the front door. Nice hill as it starts flat but gently gets steeper all the way. About 330m. Reps went:

59, 58, 57, 57, 57, 57, 57, 57, 56, 55.

Short jog after for about 8km all up.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Easy Friday

Easy 15km dodging the puddles around Centennial with Ray, MC, Muz and Holt Hardy. 66:15.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Tempo run home - PB time!

Shocking day at work - eventually got out at 9.30pm so did my tempo run home. Wasn't expecting much after a big week's training, staying up watching the Tour and stresses at work. But kept the pace honest from the word go despite always feeling tired. Reached Toyota Garage in 26:00 (42 seconds down from when I set the PB in late April). Really pushed the downhill to Spit Bridge as:
(a) I remember writing in my blog that I'd eased off on this section last time;
(b) had in my mind that Cadel said it was as important to practice the downs as much as the ups; and
(c) good practice for C2S where there are plenty of steep downs.
Then pushed the Spit Hill to Sydney Road. Felt really strong on this - hill strength and endurance is coming through. Pushed again along Sydney Road to run 6:43 for the final 2kms. Finished up in 48:45 - a 6 second PB. Real confidence booster feeling so strong in the second half.
Bring on C2S!
Why do I set myself up for a fall every year?

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

MLR with marathon pace stretches

19km Centennial Park route with the 3 marathon pace stretches from 2 weeks ago. Ran up until Woolhara Gates (including the first quick stretch) with KMK, then on my own. Ran past Tim Rowe twice in Centennial - he looks very smooth when running. 12:45 for the Centennial Loop (finishing at 49mins on the dot), 2:45 for final stretch (starting at 70 mins on the dot) and all up in 1:15:54 (averaging just under 4:00 per km).

Feeling strong at the moment and confidence is up. Just concentrated on getting through this bout of heavy training rather than worrying about any races for the moment. Convinced this session is becoming my most important of the week.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

HuRTS 4 x 3km

Cool and sunny today but quite breezy - more of a headwind for the uphill reps (1 and 3). Not a huge crowd.

Reps went: 9:55; 9:21; 9:44; 9:12.

Started off in a group with Durante, KMK and DC5 with Muz joining us half way through. Kanser (after 12kms this morning) was next behind us with Tim and MC running well today too. My legs were very tired from yesterday's long run - I knew it would hurt early on so just settled into a steady pace and watched the 3 others disappear off into the distance. They ran about 9:40. Again on the second rep I ran with Muz as the other 3 sped off, however I started to come good about half way through. Picked up KMK who was dying quickly and finished just behind Durante. Ran the third rep with Durante all the way. Again DC5 was comfortably ahead and we passed a fading KMK just before the ABC Pool. Durante pushed all the way on this one and we were catching DC5 by the end. Final rep I ran by myself after Durante said he was going to coast through in 10mins. Was watching DC5 all the way - Kanser went with him for a while before deciding the big fella was just too quick. Failed to catch him by a few seconds after Tim L gave me a great lead up to a sprint finish. Tim L is peaking just at the right time for C2S.

Good session (at least in the light of yesterday's run) was spoiled by a thief stealing my new Mizuno top after I took it off to run in a vest following the second rep.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Long Sunday on Monday

Top of glute felt better today so risked a run at lunch. Still slightly sore for the first 5km then it disappeared so just hoping it doesn't reappear with a vengeance. Felt great today, very bouncy. Amazing what a day's rest does. Ran the flat 10km route, then continued along 45 min fartlek course, then over Darling Harbour bridge, over Anzac Bridge, over Iron Cove Bridge until half way up the hill following it when I reached 63 minutes. Plan was to run 28kms in 2:06. Turn around and ran back. Picked up the pace on the way back to finish in 2:04:13. I think I was averaging just under 4:20s (clocked the 1km around Farm Cove in 4:10 on the way out and 4:00 on the way back) so probably works out at about 29km.

I've gone on record as saying I'm going to run the Gold Coast Marathon next year. Gives me a chance to run 6ft Track properly too. At some point I'm going to have to wander into post 31km territory. That scares me a little.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Injured

Top of left glute worsened after yesterday's session. Had trouble sleeping until I popped 2 Voltaren. Took another 2 Voltaren before heading out today but lasted 90 seconds before realising I was running holding my breath to manage to pain. Pretty sure it just needs a couple of days rest (and no more steep hills).