Pre-race trot

Very easy 6km with Wildman, MC and Clyde. Hot out there. Bumped into Springer afterwards - another recruit for GCM. He's even booked flights.

HuRTS 14 x 3mins

Farm Cove is too busy so 16 of us headed over to Rushcutters to run it around the Oval. For the front group, 3 minutes is almost exactly 2 laps (at 3:20 pace). With the race in 2 days I only ran 8 and with MC at 3:30 (or a nudge under) pace. Felt comfortable. Getting nervous. Hot out there? Not enough water? Got ulcer. Perhaps a sign of peaking? God knows. Not raced in 2 months - can't be good. 3km race was off the back of a good build up. All the negative thoughts are flowing...

Dave Clarke was smashing the reps out today, with Muz and Durante next up running together looking strong.

Anonymous #1 and Anonymous #2, agree. You're right. Should just race it. But I've been through this dilemma a million times before. My problem tends to be I assume I'm going too fast when I don't have a watch and so slow down. Whereas when I wear one and check it, I realise I'm only running 75's or whatever and just dig in and get on with it. Ultimately I'm not really fussed with the time, more interested in who I can beat.

Easy Monday

Usual Monday route with Durante, MC, the Chairman, Terence and Tucks. Very easy (although there's something about running during a taper where you feel as though you just can't be arsed) running the 14.66km in 1:04:044 (4:22's).

Got my Adidas watch fixed for Thursday night (Garmin is too heavy). Getting excited now. Timmy L has agreed to do the lap counting so I think I'm all sorted. Just need to ease the pain on the heel which is slowly deteriorating.

Shortened Sunday

Couldn't get out of bed this morning after Wildman's engagement party last night so headed out at 3pm for 20km easy. Was going to run the usual 10km loops but Manly Beach was packed so headed up to North Head and then retraced my steps but back via Campbell Parade. 20.11km in 1:26:33 (4:18s). Felt really good today after yesterday's rest.

Good chatting to Ben and Tim last night (the latter obviously looking forward to the 5km on Thursday night) and met Sean Williams and his wife for the first time. Durante was batting his eyelids at Sean so I had to have a word and remind him where his loyalties lie. HuRT Squad will shortly be me and Kanser at this rate.

Easy Friday

Cremorne again with MC, Tim C, Clyde and Muz. 14kms averaging 4:44's. Felt great today but the heel was sore.

Big congrats to Kanser for his 2:41 in Dubai in not ideal conditions. A 5 minute PB plus feeling strong in the last 10km means there's plenty more to come. Hopefully he'll run Gold Coast if the missus allows.

HuRTS Pyramid session

Too darn hot. Another couple of degrees hotter than yesterday, although as I write the storm has come in and lightning is striking all around.

With it being so hot, me being pretty jaded and the heel being a bit sore, I decided not to kill myself today. Rolled around the session with Durante and Muz averaging 3:10's (compared to 3:00's last time) feeling pretty comfortable all the way. Put a bit more effort into the final two reps, running a 69 last lap (equivalent of a 62 second 400m) only to be overtaken by a charging stallion in the last 50m. The Chairman was pushing all the reps hard out front, with Dicky H, Terence and Kaley making up the remainder of the first group. Split into 3 groups today even though numbers were down with the heat.

Wednesday MLR

Out with Muz and the Saint for the usual 19km Wednesday route. 1:23:23 (4:33's). Me and Muz were trying to push it along but Ben kept on dragging us back - he really needs to work on his endurance.

Very hot today (30C+) and I was wilting in the sun by the end.

HuRTS Hickson Road

Some sessions just hurt more than others. I think I've settled into a comfortable regime with some of the HuRTS sessions recently. You can't do that with Hickson Rd. Every one of the reps hurts. Event the rests hurt - mental torture at the prospect of the next rep. I suppose it must be doing a load of good in raising the lactate threshold. Does that mean the other sessions are pointless? I guess you have to mix them all up as we'd all break down if we ran Hickson Rd twice a week every week. Great 5km training though. Just worried it may all be a bit too late and that I've not squeezed enough speed sessions in.

We split into two groups again this week - Durante, Muz, Dicky H and myself in the first group with Mike leading others including Terence, Tucks, Tim C, Pete W, Enda and Adam etc in the second. I really wanted to give the session a crack this week but first disappointment was realising that I'd left my adizeros at home so had to run in my heavy trainers. Still, set off at the front on the first rep and tried to make it quick. Groaned with disappointment at the end on looking at the time but they got better with more competition for the following reps. Durante was running strongly again pushing each of them just in front of Muz. After the first one, I tried to nudge the second half of each of the reps after tucking in for the first half. Times went as follows:

3:36; 3:33; 3:28; 3:33; 3:30

Quite a bit of wind on reps 2 and (particularly) 4 which slowed them down. It was hot too which didn't help. Exactly the same average time as for when I last ran this session at the end of October.

Nice jog back catching up with Kanser. Had a bit of a discussion on who is going to win Six Foot. He's convinced Uncle Dave will have it wrapped up but, great runner that he is, I still think it's a specialists event and that Fats will win again provided he's fit. Hope Amanda appreciates my loyalty.

Good luck to Kanser for Friday.

PM: Run home. Felt much better than last week - 59:03 but still feeling as though I was taking it very easy. I'll double up on Tuesdays from now on - Mondays are too close to the long Sunday run and doubling up on Tuesdays means the earlier speed session is more meaningful.

No double up

Usual easy Monday route with a good group including Wildman, Durante (before he headed off to tone his pecs), Tucks, Muz, Serg, Clyde, MC and Kanser towards the end. 65 something. Planned to run home but got caught in a meeting from 4.30pm until 10.30pm by which time I'd lost the inclination. Will double up later in the week.

Bobbin Head STaR

Headed over to Wahroonga for the Bobbin Head STaR. Picked up Dicky H on the way and runners in the 6.20am group included Tim C, John Binfield, Dennis and Mark F. Beautiful morning for a run and a fantastic route - plenty of bush and loads of hills. 4km straight up from Bobbin Head where Richard and I pushed ahead. Slow to start with (we were averaging 5:05's by Bobbin Head 17kms in due to the hills and bush) but we brought it down to 4:44's by the end with the customary quick finish. Felt very good from the top of the Bobbin Head hill onwards. Total of 30.81km in 2:25:49.

Picture taken yesterday just before Bec's party.

Easy Friday

Very easy run with MC, Durante, Tim C, Clyde, LF Charlie and Ray. 13.85km around Cremorne Point. 1:05:16 (4:43s). Heel sore.

Kids current favourite songs:

Bec: Hot and Cold by Katy Perry
Charlie: Poker Face ("Bubba Face") by Lady Gaga
Billy: Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi

Guess which one takes after me.

PB time!

Missed HuRTS 400s today due to the world's longest meeting so ran home after work as a tempo but secretly hoping to have a crack at my PB. Put the effort in from the word go and didn't let up all the way. Bottom of Ben Boyd in 13:00, Toyota Garage in 24:30 (1:30 up from when I set my last PB) and finished in 46:21. A 2:24 PB, which was last set on 24th July, just before City to Surf. Pleased that the second half was still quicker than last time, when I was running hills well. Have got the metallic taste in my mouth now so I must have got the lungs burning pushing those hills.

Obviously hit a bit of form so looking forward to the next couple of races. I'm still convinced half of it is due to the adizero LT's. If you haven't tried them, do so.

Easy MLR

Usual 18.5km Centennial route with MC, Dicky H, Tim C, the Chairman and (wait for it) Tucks. Hot again so the pace was easy. Garmin ran out of batteries by the end but it was showing 4:28 average pace before it did so. Pretty fatigued but pleased with the way the week has gone.

HuRTS 8 x 800m

HuRTS was splintered today, with Wildman leading a group of renegades on a 3 x 2km session off 4 minutes rest. Sounded a bit easy to me so the rest of us (MC, Kanser, Durante, the Chairman, English Andy, Tim C, Terence (scarily showing great form after running 2:44 in Hobart 2 days ago), Pete W and others) set off for Rushcutters for 800s off 90 seconds rest. Reps went as follows:

2:22; 2:22; 2:21; 2:21; 2:18; 2:22; 2:22; 2:20

Was chasing Kanser on the first 6. He was flying today. Got close on reps 4 and 5 . He was only doing 6 as a taper for Dubai so by myself for the final 2. The Chairman was taking it easy doing 10 and Durante is still recovering from sunburn. Felt pretty comfortable - I find the 800s much easier than 10 x 400m (planned for Thursday).

Stinking hot such that we were searching for cover in between the reps. Very pleased with the session after the past couple of days training.

Doubling up

Lunch: Out with MC, Kanser, Wildman, Durante, LF Charlie, the Chairman, Ray and English Andy for the usual Monday route. Very easy today - 14.86km (slight detour due to erecting the outdoor cinema at Farm Cove) in 1:07:30 (4:30 p/km). Hot at around 30C although about 5C cooler than out West due to the sea breezes.

Evening: Run home. More like a slog. Very tired. 60:19. Would have been a lot slower but picked it up over the final 2km. One hour will be the benchmark for Monday nights over the coming months.

Plan is to try to double up one day a week in Jan, 2 in Feb and 3 in March in lead up to Six Foot. Will sort out the marathon schedule after that (14 weeks) as I should have a decent base by then.

Dee Why Dash

Sometimes everything just works perfectly. Headed over to Dee Why for the Striders STaR and caught up with Dicky H. The others in the 6.20am group included Peter and Jenny Truscott, John Binfield and Dennis Wylie. Very easy pace to start with but there are some monster hills to clim to get up to Belrose so was happy with the slow pace. Started to speed up a bit on the way back down and put in 5km in about 20 mins heading around Queenscliff. Was just Richard and I left at this stage and we struggled up the Griffin Road hills to round out the 29.40km in 2:13:48 (4:33 pace). Not bad considering the early pace and the size of those hills. Made me realise how much tougher it is to do the long runs with hills though as I was struggling towards the end.

Beautiful day with a gentle cooling breeze made for perfect conditions to jump into the surf at Dee Why afterwards. Headed over to Queenscliff for Nippers afterwards to see Bec win the Flags and the surf paddle. Just got to get her out on the bike more - she'll be a champion triathlete.

More easy stuff

Back to the old 10km route. Cool again but a little tired after yesterday's efforts. 42:25.

Big congratulations to Kanser for a great 10km last night. Going under 33 mins I think makes him a "very good runner" according to the official Sergio classification.

10km tempo

Caught up with Tim and ran a 10km tempo - 4 loops of a near exact 2.5km circuit not more than 200m from my house. Tim had it at 10.04km on his Garmin which is exactly what G-Maps has it at....http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2463994

He set off pretty quick going through the first km in just over 3:20. I then pushed on towards the end of the first lap, built a little gap on the second and gradually pulled ahead for the reminaining laps. Lap times went as follows:

8:28; 8:38; 8:34; 8:18.

Total time of 33:58. Tim came in at 35:11. Felt relaxed all the way through but it's never really comfortable at that pace. Very pleased with the final lap as I could see that a sub-34 was on the cards so put the effort in to get it.

Much better conditions than recently. Cool at about 23C with a bit of a breeze.

Getting bored

..of doing the same route, so did it in reverse. Went out at 2pm and it was a scorcher (the temperature, not my run) - about 32C. 40:35. Not too bad considering the conditions but didn't feel as though I was taking it easy. Seems to be the problem with running the same route everyday - you find it hard to take it easy. I can see how Dave Sweeney gets fit on his daily dose of "Roo and Lake".

24 little hours

It all got better today. Plan was to start easy and increase the pace (I was feeling better) but I was up on yesterday even without trying. 20:22 at South Steyne (5:38 for the Manly Mile) and 36:53 all up. Would have been pleased with that on the flat 10km route let alone the hilly version. Wearing the Adizero's was obviously the difference - christened them at JPMorgan and don't think I've run a bad session in them since.

Good to have Hamburglar's company for 200m around Queenscliff. Good luck for tomorrow mate.

Farewell '08. Hope you all have a great 2009.