The Bet

Training this morning with Carl and massage with Gary this afternoon (for which I got paid $23 after cleaning up on two $50 bets recently). So another bet had to be laid and Serg was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Caught up with Benny and Clyde, Serg, MC and Durante for the usual Centennial route but I cut short at the Fox Studios gates for a gentle 12km. Just before peeling off, the conversation turned to Benny's great 5km run where we were working out splits per lap. Turns out it's about 65 seconds per lap, to which Serg says he could stay on board for about 1500m on the basis his PB for 1500m was 4:05. However, he went on to say that that mark was "pretty crap" and that it should be well under 4:00. With my PB being a good 19 seconds slower, I challenged him that he'd never get under 4:00 for the rest of his life. Serg immediately grasped my hand like he was settling the takeover of Rio Tinto and said "how much?". I said $200. He said $500. I said you're on. He quite gracefully offered up a time limit of 3 years. Clyde said we should index to CPI. I agree. So watch out 11th March 2012. I think Serg will be somewhere in his 40's by then so should be interesting. If he and Gary find a race to pace each other I may have to go and speak to Westpac.

Of course I have huge respect for Serg as a runner, but a 3:59 1500m is very different to a 68minute Half....

Further banter yesterday between Serg and Muz has led me to introduce a head to head table on the blog for 2009. I've added CT just because I know a runner of my inferior ability comparing himself to him will piss him off. DNF's count as win's in my book. Let me know if you want to be added to the list...

HuRTS - 6 x 5mins

Training is following a familiar pattern at the moment. Haul myself out of my office chair at 12.10pm. Limp with sports bag to the lift. Get changed in changing rooms feeling sore in both achilles and the legs. Start jogging to the rendezvous point at about 8 mins p/km wondering how I'm ever going to do the session. Meet the lads. Quick chat. Everyone looks fitter and more keen than me. Set off. Feel terrible. Barely able to move legs and struggling at 3:40 per/km pace. Feels hot and humid - is it hot and humid? Second rep - not much better. How come everyone has suddenly gotten so quick? Where has Durante's weight gone? When did John Binfield become so fit? Ah, at least Serg looks as though he's struggling. 3rd, same. 4th rep, starting to feel OK. Have we slowed down? Check watch. No, we're actually running quicker. 5th rep, feels good. I'm at the front! Pace is quicker again yet feels easier. Oh, here's a hill and there go Durante and John. I can't run hills. How am I going to be able to cope with Six Foot? At least my singlet looks good. 6th rep. All feels great now. Only doing 6 today so let's speed it up and see how I feel. Feels great - 3:17 pace. Stop for water. Have a short rest. Legs seize up. Start trying to jog. More painful than running quickly. When will I ever feel good again?

And then there were two....

Big crowd started for the usual Monday run today - new Dad Kanser, Serg, Muz, Dicky H, Mat K, Wildman, Springer and Dave Casey. Various drop outs along the way resulted in only Wildman and me finishing. 63:59. Felt very average for the first half struggling in the humidity but gradually felt better during the second half. Good stretch afterwards eased the heel - the nerve stretch for my hamstring (leg straight out in front of me but pulling the toes towards me) seems to work really well.

Getting excited about Six Foot now. Plenty of talk about it today. Muz is looking very sharp.

Medium Sunday

Just two laps of the 10km route today before Six Foot next week. I think my bioryhtmns are one day out as I felt great today, very bouncy and barely breathing. First loop in 42:06 and second loop in 39:57. The heavens opened on the second loop which made running down Manly Beach a dream (the tourists were in the pub) but the shoes got very heavy. Good practice for next week.

21km all up.

Striders 10km North Head - 5th in 33:22

Was secretly hoping for a sub-33 after some big weeks recently and a decent taper. But it wasn't to be. A good crowd showed up this morning and in the first 1km there was a breakaway group of 6 of us - Jeremey, CT, Trent Wood, Jan-Willem Schaar and Darren Moyle. We stayed together until 3km going through 1km in 3:10, 2km in 3:24 and 3km in 9:32. I was feeling good at this stage, but at the turn at the stone arch (much closer to the stone arch than the old turn was) I suddenly started to struggle. There's a long drag of a hill here and my legs suddenly went dead. Darren Moyle dropped off the back soon after and I quickly passed him but was in no-man's land from then on.

Went through 4km in 13:02 (a 3:30 which showed how much I had dropped off) but 5km in 16:20 so was still hopeful of a sub-33. However, 6km in 19:48 (a 3:28 which incorporated the hill opposite the fort museum) put paid to that. 7km was 23:07, 8km in 26:38 (again, that bloody drag of a hill) and 9km in 30:05.

Lesson learned was not to go out too quick. Some really slow kms in the second half. Wasn't helped by being by myself though. I thought the course was not as quick as the old course. Seemed to be hills all the time and in the wrong places. Most people had pretty average positive splits other than Tucks who ran even splits despite taking it easy in the first half. Weather was good - no wind but maybe a bit humid.

Some good runs out there. Timmy L is getting right back into it running a 35:50, only just ahead of Eoin who ran a 1 minute PB to finish in 35:55. Tim Cochrane was catching me towards the end and must have got under 34. Good to chat to Rich P and Dimitry afterwards.

Need to race more (as Dad said) - very hard to run fast times just off interval training.

HuRTS 10 x 400m

Woke up this morning feeling good for the first time in about 3 weeks. Heel was very sore after trying to do eccentric loading on it (will have to have a word to the Tiger about that) but actually felt as though I had some energy for once. May have something to do with ditching Kirst's plan for dinner and eating a load of carbs - I think I haven't been eating enough after upping the mileage. Probably has more to do with the easing up in training finally taking effect.

Headed out today to Rushcutters for 400s with Durante, MC, LF Charlie, Tucks, Dom, RMR, Stephen and a couple of others. Muz showed up late then went off to run hills. The Oval was closed for a match so we made an ad hoc route around the grass field adjacent (measured on the Garmin). I just did strides in around 76 secs per rep putting in 2 or 3 quicker ones. Durante was flying running 65/66's and MC was also going well just behind Tucks. Nice view at around the 100m mark which made a pleasant change from looking at Durante's ass.

Beautiful day today (clear as a bell and not too hot) but I hear the weather in Melbourne is not so good which is a shame for tonight's race. Good luck to Steve, Ben and Tim. I was wrong on the pacing job, Steve's racing so all the best mate.

More easy stuff

Easy 14km around Centennial once and cutting down the steps on the way back with MC, Serg, Wildman (who cut short), Clyde and Andy. About 4:35 pace. Saw Carl this morning and Gary just after so the legs have been stretched and pummelled. Back of left knee slightly sore on hills. Left heel slightly sore.

Non-HuRTS

Missed HuRTS lecturing at UNSW so ran home instead. Fairly easy although faster than normal. Would guess at 56 mins but I buggered up pressing the start button on my watch.

Post Script: Huge congrats to Kanser and Olivia on the birth of Cara Lily. Expect to see many duels between Cara Kane, Nia Tuckey and Maggie Highnam in the future.

Easy Monday

Usual Monday route with MC, Muz, Serg, Wildman, English Andy and Gerry. Felt very easy today after yesterday's rest. Wildman and I found ourselves alone out front after about 2kms as the group fractured. Ran all the way with him. 1:03:26 for the 14.36km (4:25's). Will be interesting to see if he gets the pacing gig for Thursday evening at the Melbourne Track meet. Should be a great race. Birmingham should win it (of the Aussies) but will be interesting to see if Gregson takes him on.

Edit: Just heard that he got it so will have to set the recorder for Channel 10 when it's broadcast.

Saturday long tempo

Missed Friday due to forgetting to take my running kit to work so Saturday's planned short tempo was replaced with a long tempo. Jogged down to the Roundhouse and planned on running 7 laps of the 2.5km circuit keeping all the kms under 4:00 per km. Worked out fine. Km times were as follows:

3:57; 3:55; 3:56; 3:55; 3:56; 3:54; 3:57; 3:55; 3:53; 3:52; 3:51; 3:52; 3:51; 3:51; 3:49; 3:43; 3:44; 3:37 (pace for 0.5km).

Overall average of 3:52 (17.53km in 1:07:47). So all nice and consistent and felt pretty comfortable until about 14km when the pace picked up slightly knowing I was approaching the final lap. Felt pretty worn out afterwards mind. 117km for the week (again).

No run today. Was at Ken and Emma's 40th party last night and hit the lemon and lime daquiris pretty hard only getting in at 3am. So today is a write off. Happy to ease down this week in any case.

HuRTS Hickson Road

Powerco sale settled yesterday after months of negotiations so went out and celebrated with the banks, not getting back home until 2am. As a result, I wasn't in the best shape for this session although it was useful for sweating out some more booze. Relatively small crowd today with MC, Tucks, Kanser, Durante, Enda, Phil W, English Andy and even Serg but not many more. Felt bloody awful on the first rep running with Andy and Enda but then gradually felt better each rep I ran. Suddenly on the 4th it all felt easy again so gave that one a blast tussling with Durante all the way until he put on a burst at the end. Pleased with the time for that one considering I cruised the first 200m. Times went:

3:50; 3:35; 3:43; 3:22; 3:43

Kanser was flying before pulling up on rep 3 with a calf injury. Hope it's alright mate. Durante was looking easy and Tucks' inexorable rise continues...

PM: Easy run home. 30:50 at Toyota Garage, 58:24 all up. Felt great (much better than lunchtime) but heel is sore so have taken Voltaren.

Wednesday MLR

Session with Carl first thing doing a lot of stretches and work on the legs.

Good turnout today of the Chairman, the Saint, Wildman, Durante, Kanser, MC, Clyde, LF Charlie and Kaley. A few cut short along the way leaving only Clyde, MC, the Saint and myself to finish in 1:20:29 (4:24's). Nice run. Knee no problem but bursar was a pain the whole way - mainly due to the calves being so tight following Carl's work this morning.

HuRTS 45mins Fartlek

I reckon this is my best session. Was feeling good after yesterday's run so decided to push it today. The weather didn't help though - bloody hot and no wind or cloud cover. I set off with Tucks on the first rep and we looked over our shoulders at 45 seconds to see that no-one had come with us. The Chairman (fresh from his Hussky Tri victory) caught up heading past the ABC Pool and we ran with him until halfway along Hickson Road. Reached the turnaround point much shorter than usual (just before the speed trap) having averaged 3:31's. Tucks told me to push on when under the Harbour Bridge on the way back so from then on I was by myself and couldn't see anyone in front to chase. Reached the 10km point in 35:20 (3:32's) then struggled around Farm Cove with the fast sections getting noticeably slower. Saw Terence and Kanser in front from Mrs Macquarie's chair but I didn't have enough energy to try to catch them. Finished the 45mins at 12.54km (3:35 average pace). Felt good on the fast stretches but it was the heat that got me on the way back. No-one got back to the gates in the allotted time today.

Knee is a lot better. Heel same as ever. Pleased to have a bit of energy back. Will double up on Thursday after the dreaded Hickson Rd. Just want to get through this second 120km week now and ease back next week.

Easy Monday

Usual Monday route with Kanser, Wildman and Serg - MC, Ray and Springer were behind although Springer ran back with us. Easy pace and the first run that I've enjoyed since last Tuesday. Knee felt better after rubbing Voltaren gel in beforehand (although could still feel it on any hill) and heel wasn't too bad. Hot though. 64:21 for the 14.77km (4:21s).

Great performances over the weekend. The Chairman won the Huskisson Long Course Triathlon with a time that would probably have placed him 3rd in the professionals. We know how good he is at running but his swim and bike times are even better. Ray won the Equaliser.

Different Sunday

Late night at Ken and Emma's last night only getting to bed at 1.30am and I was kicked out of bed at 7.30am and told to go and pick up the car. So did 2 flat 10km loops plus 7km up to Balgowlah Heights. Felt bloody awful for the first 7km, sore knee, sore heel, tired plus huge hangover. Sot into some sort of rythmn from 7km to 20km where the average pace was brought down to 4:24's before struggling from then on particularly up the hills in Balgowlah Heights. 27km in 2:02 for 4:31's average. One of those runs where you're just pleased to have done it, although I'm saying that frequently about my running at the moment.

Nice afternoon in Vaucluse at Kanser and Olivia's pre-baby get together. We was robbed at Volleyball.

Manly 15km

Plan was for a steady run, starting easy then increasing the pace to try to get down to 4mins per km. Just about went to plan. Started very slowly but felt terrible and incapable of going any quicker. Tendon under left knee was sore, heel wasn't great, cold is lingering on my chest and I felt knackered. Then after about 3km I got into a rythmn and the run got better from then on. Km splits went as follows:

4:38; 4:25; 4:07; 4:08; 4:10; 4:08; 3:57; 3:49; 3:46; 4:13; 3:54; 3:42; 3:36; 3:41; 4:13.

You can spot the hills at 10km and at the end.

All up 14.70km in 59:11 (4:02's). 117km for the week. Struggling to get over 120km (was too busy yesterday but grateful for the rest). I guess it's my body imposing the 10% rule on me.

HuRTS Pyramid session

Small crowd today of Tucks, Durante, MC, Pete W, Ray, Chris G, Dom and a few others. The lower insider of my knee was sore - something that came on towards the end of yesterday's run. And I'm just generally very tired - increased mileage is definitely paying its price. Struggled to a 82, 2:49, 4:11; 5:48; 4:19; 2:52 and 82. The legs were just dead. Durante was drifting off in front and Tucks was struggling like me just behind. Pretty hot too. Probably about the same pace as January 15th but then I was deliberately taking it easy and had more than enough energy for two quick reps at the end. That was very far from the case today.

Heel still fine but inside of knee giving me jip when I lift it.

MLR

Usual Wednesday route but with a bigger crowd than usual of Wildman, the Chairman, Clyde, the Saint and Serg. Started very easy (top of Ocean St in 22:30 - 4:35's) but we started running sub-4's all around Centennial to bring it home in 1:18:05 (4:17's). I was pretty stuffed towards the end but it's not surprising having run about 47kms in 24 hours. Sun came out which made it pretty humid with all the rain we've had.

HuRTS 14 x 3mins

Huge crowd today, as big as I've known it. Everyone there other than MC and Serg. Had a really good session. Front group was myself, Tucks and Kanser with Fast Charlie and the Chairman just behind (other than for the final reps) taking it easy before the Huskisson Tri on the weekend.

We banged out the first 10km at a very consistent pace - none slower than 3:20 p/k and none quicker than 3:18. All felt comfortable until the legs started to feel a bit dead from rep 10 onwards. The final 4 reps were run in 3:15; 3:14; 3:14 and 3:09 per km each. Tried to stretch the left leg between all the reps - took 4 Voltaren yesterday to get the inflammation down as it had started to become permanently painful.

Tucks is looking strong again maintaining the pace the whole way. Kanser also looked strong although the poor lad was almost vomitting with the effort of trying to keep up at the end. Good to see Mike Race back out there again.

PM: Easy run home. Felt great. I love Voltaren. 30:48 at Toyota Garage and 58:17 all up.

Monday recovery run

Big crowd today for some rare sunshine. Wildman, Durante, MC, Kanser, Serg, Springer, Ray and Clyde all fronted up. Ran with Wildman and Clyde for the first half then circled back and ran with MC, Ray, Springer and Durante on the way back. 4:13's on the way out and 4:23's on the way back. Felt very easy although I seem to be developing a high cadence, stunted stride length running style. Perhaps all marathon runners end up running like Jeremey Horne. Albeit not quite so quick.