Getting longer Sunday

Straight up the beaches for 52:30 then turned around but quicker on the way back, finishing 23.12km in 1:42:27 (4:25's). Really struggled for the first 7km having set off after waking from a lunchtime nap and with yesterday's tempo in my legs. Then started to feel ok. Ran in my new Brooks Infiniti. Went into Northside Runners yesterday and said I wanted something similar to the Infiniti (given the line is now discontinued). He made me try on 4 different pairs - Nikes, Mizunos and Brooks Nervana or something. I quite liked the Nervanas but they didn't have a size 10, to which he then said; "I've got a pair of the Inifiniti in size 10".

Relieved not to have run the State 10km last night as there's a real risk Keith would have lapped me after he ran an amazing 31:51! Vlad and Dave also had great runs going under 31mins for the first time. Nice to see two Striders going top 3 in the State.

Saturday tempo

Kirsten told me my blog was boring so I'll stick to the facts. 10km tempo on the flat Manly 10km route. Bit of a southerly but not too bad. Much cooler than yesterday so they will be running quick times in the State 10km tonight.

34:59. Very happy. Splits as follows: 3:27, 3:32, 3:35, 3:32, 3:33, 3:29, 3:24, 3:27, 3:31, 3:29

1.5km warm up and down for 13km all up.

Au revoir DS Trainers

Tuesday I ran in my racing flats, Wednesday was a rest and Thursday again in my flats. Walk to work this morning with my achilles feeling great. Then run in my DS Trainers and it starts to feel sore again. I check out the heel and look at it! The shoes are only 8 weeks old but the heel fitting must be rubbing against my bursar so much it's worn away a big hole. So the DS Trainers are the problem. Didn't have any issues with the Brooks Infiniti so I'm going to try a Brooks replacement tomorrow.



Today's run was the usual route but with a ship in. Big crowd including MC, JF, JC, Clyde, Brendan, LF Charlie, Craig, Indrajeet, Laura, laura's mate etc. Very slow on the way out but picking the pace up a bit on the way back. 15.2km in 1:09:03 (4:33's).

86km for the week.

Tempo run in

Missed a run yesterday because I was busy at lunch then wasn't feeling great in the evening - sore throat, aching limbs. Think I overdid it on Tuesday but there are a lot of colds going around the office. Just being a lazy arse really though as I was in two minds.

Got a lunch on today so decided to punish myself with a tempo run in. I hate pushing it in the morning. I'm never fully warmed up and so it feels painful all the way as a result. Decided to try and mitigate this with a 2km easy jog before starting the run. Set off OK, running the first 2kms slightly up hill in 3:40 and 3:46. Got a shout from Dom on his bike at the bottom of Parriwi Rd then a pat on the back from Richard (Work) at the top. Ran 4:11 for the solid Parriwi uphill km. 23:09 at Spit Junction and was going well. 3:40 along Military Rd then started to lose concentration as I got into Neutral Bay. Struggled up the hills in Kirribilli and felt rotten for the drag of a hill over the Harbour Bridge but then suddenly got my second wind as I crested the bridge. Finished all up in 49:20. I think that's my third fastest over the disstance (PB is 48:45 set just before the City to Surf in 2008) but fastest run to work as opposed to home. Really pleased with that as I was hoping for something sub 51.

15km all up.

HuRTS 45mins Fartlek

On February 24th I said I probably had 2 more weeks until Wildman overtook us. I was a bit premature as it took him 4 but I don't think he'll be looking back now.

After all the rain of the past few days today was bright and sunny but very humid (for Flakey, it was 28C and 89% humidity). The session was bound to be tough as a result. Good crowd of the old timers today including Dicky H, Pete W, Young Timmy, MC, JF, Enda, Rob, JC, Bartles, Wildman, Tucks etc. Young Timmy made a dash to the front that EJ would have been proud of before calming down. I was in the front group with Tucks, Wildman and Bartles. Stayed this way until Circular Quay on the way out when Bartles dropped off - we were pushing the pace quite quick though. Turned just before the second speed bump on Hickson Road which wasn't bad given the detour at the Opera House. At this stage, we were averaging 3:31's. I managed to hold the pace until running under the Harbour Bridge when I started to struggle. Tucks had just dropped off and Stevie was pushing on so it was just a question of hanging on by myself and not letting the elastic snap too hard. Ran through 10km in 35:40 but really struggled around Farm Cove and up the hills with Stevie pulling further ahead. At this stage I was really dragging my feet on the 30s jogs. Finished the 45mins at 12.45km (3:36 average) and jogged back to the gates in 46:23. Caked in sweat and knackered but at least everyone struggled. Tucks cut short by missing out the Opera House, Bartles hit the wall badly. Only Stevie was strong out there today. Km splits show how the humidity affected us. As Richard H pointed out though, it will help us in Singapore.

3:25, 3:24, 3:36, 3:30, 3:29, 3:34, 3:38, 3:29, 3:41, 3:46, 3:45, 3:50 - final 450m at 4:10 pace.

Bit wet

It's been pretty wet recently. 130mm on Sunday, huge downpours again today. Had a meeting at lunch so ran home from work in a torrential shower. Could barely see for water getting in my eyes. Saw only one runner mad enough to be out there in those conditions - Fats!

Pretty easy run home in 58:44 (splits of 16:38, 30:38 and 49:49) but with the last 2km very slow trying not to fizz up a bottle of Diet Coke I bought for Kirst from the BP garage. I'm a good husband.

Weekend around and about

Sunday

20.3km in about 1:28 (4:24's) up to Seaforth Oval, along Wakehurst Parkway trail, down Alambie Rd then back through Manly. Nice run but heel a bit stiff.

Saturday

Finally feeling a bit better but seem to have muscle memory resulting in me collapsing at the sight of a hill. 10.5km around and about at 4:17 pace ending up the hills at Balgowlah Heights to pick up the car. Tried to at least not shuffle up the hills.

Run in

Ran to work. Felt good at times, felt dead at times. 27:27 at Spit Junction and 58:25 all up (sounds like a slow second half but didn't feel that way?). Hills still scare me.

70km for the week.

Lazy arse

Enjoying this post marathon recovery malarkey. 4km jog to Carl's this morning and a very easy workout with him plus Tiger massage this arvo. Eating the house down and enjoying a few beers.

Walking like Elvis

Quads are still shot. I feel like someone has taken to them with a hammer. Just an 8km jog today with Quentin, Dickyboy and Jason. Tried to do some heel kicks to stretch the thighs but it just made me cry.

Couple of photos added from Six Foot. I tried very hard not to mince my way across the river but it looks as though I failed again.

Six Foot Track - 9th in 3:49:57

Approached the race feeling pretty good. Training had gone well, tapered well, no illnesses and was feeling pretty good. Nothing to complain about which is rare for me. Rocked up to face the longest toilet queue in the world, stood there panicking a bit then finally joined Wave 1 next to Tucks and Quentin. Decided to push the start a bit quicker so as not to get stuck going down Nellies Glen, Quentin jumped ahead of the two guys in front of me who proceeded to take it very gingerly allowing Quentin to gap them significantly. The girl behind me (Anna Frost) was getting a bit impatient behind so we let her through.

Picked the pace up with the two Gramps Army runners in front, one of whom was David Hosking, who I'd end up running quite a bit with. Pace was quick along here, with km splits of 3:34, 3:49, 3:50 and 3:52. Always love this bit of the race before the pain begins. Followed David all the way to Cox's (overtaking a few on the way, including Anna). Launched myself into the deep river so as not to look like a mincer and proceeded to overtake David and another chap in the process. Crossed the Cox's mat in 1:08:50. Then the hills begin. The hills to Mini-Mini are the worst. Ran them all until I heard a familiar voice just before the open field and sure enough Tucks comes past. Ran with him until the bugger of a hill to the top of Mini-Mini where I started to walk. I was plodding so slowly that I was starting to cramp up, so figured I might as well walk the very steep bits. Tucks of course kept on running and started to gap me. Going up Pluvi I ran by Timmy Ashby but was overtaken by David Hosking and Anthony Scott (who went on to finish 4th!). Reached Pluvi in 2:14:55 (I think). From then on, it was a pretty lonely experience. Had very black thoughts along Black Range (where did those extra hills come from?). Got very worried about being "chicked" as very time I went past an aid station I'd get a cheer then 30seconds later would here a cheer twice as loud. After crossing Caves Road I put a real effort in to get some low 4min kms. Massively relieved to finally see the finish and got all emotional as usual. Shame Dad and the kids were still doing a Jenolan Caves tour so went for a massage instead.

First PB for 2 years which is a bit of a relief. I was worrying about getting old. Having said that, this does seem to be a gnarly old man's race.

Great result by Quentin to run 3:44 on debut. Tucks is a machine, running 3:41 after being just out of sight at Pluvi. He must hammer the Black Range. Nice couple of bees with Eoin, King James, Marc, Dickyboy and Rob after.

Body a bit beaten up. Hip flexors are very sore and Achilles not great. I'll take it very easy this week.

Thanks for the SMS's - sorry i couldn't respond until now as there's no coverage at Caves House.

Here and there

Jog around Hyde Park, Mrs Macs Chair and Macquarie St prior to catching the Fast Ferry. 8kms in 35 mins. Bumped into people doing the ABC Biathlon. Would have been a good day to do it judging by the pace of the leaders of the first wave.

Aims for Six Foot:

1. Don't die
2. Avoid requiring oxygen at end a la Dicky H
3. Enjoy myself
4. Beat Timmy Ashby
5. Run 3:49:19

We'll see.

Lots on

Terrible night's sleep last night. Claudia starts screaming at 3.30am and stops 2.5 hours later. Then up at 6.30m for conference speaking duties this morning. Sandbagged all day but manage a run home. Feel very average for the first half then it all comes together. 55:41 all up after splits of 15:52, 29:45 and 48:21. Need a couple of good nights sleep before Sat.

Run home

58:35. I'd normally say easy run to upset Young Timmy but after a last minute massage last night and not drinking enough water today my legs felt like lead the whole way.

Achilles much better though after some TLC over the past couple of days. Relieved as I was getting worried for a while. Not sure Saturday morning will do it much good mind.

Some very fast times on Saturday morning up at North Head. Vlad and Unc in particular smashing their PB's with low 31's, Bleasel and Bartles with sub 34's, Eoin running a PB and even Young Timmy getting back under 36. Spoke to Quentin on the ferry this morning who sounded a bit disappointed with his 33:27 saying he felt tired most of the way. Could be a lesson there if I cared to listen.

Usual Monday

15.8km in 70:23. Very easy on the way out and picking up a bit on the way back. Decent size crowd today with Luke, King James, Craig, Brendan, Laura, Ray etc. and, wait for it, Durante!! Couldn't Adam and Eve it when I got an email from Tigger asking if I was running today. He cut short for a meeting after circling the Opera House on the way back but we were well ahead of the others by that stage so I plodded home alone.

Manly 15km

Burnt Bridge Creek, Queenscliff, Shelly, Osbourne Road, Fairlight Pool and back via Willyama. Felt fine but achilles sore again. 15km in 64:22.

Cooler Brissy

Out again along the river but stayed on the river this time. Turned at 7km at the University of Queensland then came back the same way. Felt great after a couple of days easy. 14km in 58:54 (4:12's) but the splits tell the real story:
4:40, 4:58, 4:35, 4:19, 4:13, 4:18, 4:09, 4:03, 4:07, 3:58, 3:47, 3:45, 3:57, 3:58

105kms for the week.

Viva BrisVegas!

Couldn't fit in Hurt Squad in rushing to get to the airport (which I was secretly relieved about as I was feeling a bit tired and sore this morning) so arrived at the Sofitel in Brisbane, got Maps out on the iPad and searched for a run route. Remembered someone mentioning Mt Coot-tha on a thread on Coolrunning once so decided to get down to the river, stick to it and then head up to Mt Coot-tha. Worked perfectly. But bloody he'll, Brissy is humid. It's like Sydney on steroids. My vest has never been more sodden than when I got back. All up 14.3km in about 65mins (4:29's).

Wahey Benny!

How good is that! Way beyond all expectations! That is world class.

MLR Wednesday

4km this morning to Carl's doing the same session as last week but avoiding the calf raises with weights which my achilles didn't appreciate.

Lunch met up with Timmy, Wildman and Rob for the usual 18.8km route around Centennial. 10C cooler than yesterday and as a result the pace was relatively quick compared to recent weeks. 1:20:43 all up (4:18's).

HuRTS Progressive tempo

Chowed down some Voltaren last night. Bursar immediately better. Rocked up today feeling very lethargic in the 33C heat but encouraged by a big crowd including Tucks, Quentin, Bartles, Wildman, JB, Ray, Andy, Wildman, Jason, Pete W - basically you name it and they were there. Other than MC and Young Timmy, no doubt enjoying some swim time.

Set off and felt comfortable running 4:05's chatting to Bartles. Dropped the pace every 10 mins but then coming around CQ Tucks hit the front and were found ourselves running a 3:36. And we hadn't even turned around yet. I made an executive decision to turn at 23:15 as opposed to 23:30 given how fast we had run on the out leg and how warm it was - meaning we'd struggle towards the end. We reached the turn on exactly 6km. Still had a decent sized group at this stage so I decided to push the pace a bit to whittle it down. Tucks, Quentin and Bartles stayed with me all the way until Mrs Mac's Chair when I put in a bit of effort going up the hills and they were obviously saving themselves for the North Head 10km race on Saturday morning. Got back in 44:30 so averaged 3:52's on the way out and 3:32's on the way back. Actual splits on the Garmin went as follows (the dodgy one is under CQ on the return):

4:00, 4:04, 3:56, 3:41, 3:36, 3:41, 3:34, 3:36, 2:56(?), 3:24, 3:26, 3:35, 55s (3:23 pace).

Good confidence booster. One more tough session to go before Six Foot.