Hexham vs Morpeth

Session today was the Progressive Tempo and there was a cast of thousands already assembled by the time I showed up (late). All the familiar faces were there - Wildman, Young Timmy, hot to trot Durante, Enda, Quentin, Bartles, JF, Dicky H, Pete W, Jason, JC, Rob, Sam, etc. Tucks was there but only to show us he could do the same session by himself and didn't need us. Timmy rocks up with a girl with a familiar accent who happens to be from Morpeth. Now, those not familiar with the English county of Northumberland will not realise that there there are only two towns of any note in it - Hexham (from where I came) and Morpeth (from where Sian, Timmy's friend came). The rivalry between them was similar to that between Sydney and Melbourne. I Googled a couple of pictures of the towns so that you can see which is Sydney and which is Melbourne:


Hexham



Morpeth


Anyway, a lovely girl nonetheless.

Perfect conditions today. Great session to do as you can chat for the first half before things get serious in the second. Judging by the km splits, it was a perfectly judged progressive tempo:

4:03, 4:01, 3:57, 3:51, 3:48, 3:43, 3:37, 3:25, 3:23, 3:21, 3:32, 3:28

The last 2kms blow out a bit coming up the hills.

Ran with a big group up front including Wildman, Bartles, JF, Jason, Dicky H and Quentin. After the turn (just past 6km under the first bridge on Hickson Rd), the pace stepped up again and from there it just wound up trying to drop people from the front group. Stevie really increased the pace around Farm Cove and dropped the rest of us. I tried to push on up the hills and thought I'd dropped the rest before Quentin reappeared with a sprint so I finished with him.

Nice session. Got back in 44:19 so well under, with the final Gate to Gate in under 10mins. 12.02km averaging 3:41's.

1km jog there and 2km warmdown for 15km all up.

Home run

Ran home. Saw Fats. Felt tired. I trust that at some point all this training will come together.

Lap of the Lake STaR

Took advantage of the end of Nipper season and the clocks going back to turn up to Dee Why for the new Lap of the Lake STaR. Flakey, Steve Hume, Georgie, new chap called Richard Banks, Mark F, Jo C etc were there for the 6.20am group. Very easy pace and enjoyable run as a result. Ran short of time towards the end in order to get Bec to soccer so cut short and sped up a bit. Total of 29.05km in 2:17:14 (4:43's).

Interesting looking at my post on April 7th 2007 - the last time I ran Six Foot then followed up with the April Striders 10km. Almost exactly the same time and same sentiments as yesterday. Just hope I can improve this month the same way I did back then.

Striders Lane Cove - 9th in 34:14

Felt pretty good about this race. Got up early, did a 3km jog, a few run throughs, had a chat and was off.

Here's a start line photo standing next to Young Timmy, Tucks, Dave Criniti and Pete Walker:



Didn't want to go too quickly off the line so held back a bit then pushed on after 500m to catch Tucks. Went through 1km in 3:19 and 2km in 6:41. Then ran up the hill to Scribbly Gums where it all started to go wrong. Tucks pulled ahead on the way back down and Brendan Davies and Jonathan Bleasel caught me between 3 and 4km. Stayed with them up the hills until the turn where we were closing on Tucks slightly. Felt OK on the way back down but then had a shocker between 6km and 8km where I just let them get away without really putting any effort in, as if I just wanted an easy ride. Chap behind (Craig) caught me at 8km which spurred me into action. Finished with a 3:12 final km to hold him off (photo conveniently taken when running relatively quickly).



Pretty disappointed with the run. Finished the race without feeling spent. I think I just need to race more and get used to the feeling of being under pressure etc. Plenty of races coming up.

Easy peasy

5km after work very slow around and about. Looking forward to the race tomorrow.

Big brother Alec is visiting but too lazy to come and watch me race. Tells me he was chatting to a bloke at work today whose son was apparently a handy runner. I asked what his name was and he said dunno, but his Dad's surname is Gregson.

92kms for the week.

Panadol and whisky

Defeat. Humiliation. Embarassment. Last of the HuRTS Boys. Chicked. Beaten by Young Timmy. Where to from here? Well, as Yazz famously said, the only way is up.

Rocked up to register and was given number 13. I had an inkling at that stage that things may not fare well for me. Met up with Wildman, Durante, Young Timmy and Enda with everyone looking a bit nervous, not least because we'd all taken our tops off. I started trying to make Stevie nervous by telling him that the double knots in his laces would cost him 2 seconds in transition and that he should go to a single bow like me. Enda told us we were both amateurs and that we should have elastic laces like him. We told him he was gay.

So we set off and I hang back a bit trying not to go lactic up the hill then push ahead to the front next to Stevie feeling good and, what do you know, my lace comes undone. Stop at Mrs Macs Chair to do it up and everyone comes streaming past. Do it up then start trying to chase people, overtaking a heavily gasping Timmy first of all. Run past Kanser and Tucks spectating who abuse me for letting a half fit Durante and Enda be in front. Catch Durante and Enda by the hill before the Freeway bridge and, what do you know, the lace comes undone again. So stop and do it up at the turn, giving them another 10 seconds. Still feeling good so start chasing them again. Run past Kanser and Tucks at the point where I happen to be the same distance behind Enda and Durante as I was first time I passed them. Then my other shoelace comes undone. I think, f**k this, the thing can come off for all I care now. Running angry I catch Durante and Enda just before the end to get to the pool in second place, with Stevie now about 40s in front. Despite only have one shoelace to undo, I still manage to transition slower than Enda and Durante, probably because I stood on the edge of the pool thinking how the hell am I going to manage this. Managed about 30m of freestyle before reverting the breaststroke. Blokes are flying past me at this stage, but not Timmy yet. Reach the final length and see Timmy 10m behind me. Make a half arsed attempt at freestyle to hold him off but in truth it was about 3 strokes, then give up. Then Greta comes past on the inside with 5m to go. I pull myself out of the pool a shattered man and just stand there waiting for the ribbing to begin.

Lovely few beers in the Wolloommoolloo Bay Hotel after, telling stories and cracking jokes. I thought Wildman was coming out to play for a moment when Stevie made an inappropriate remark about the organiser having sex with an old lady just as the room fell silent, but he soon disappeared after getting a phone call from the wife. Timmy was beaming like a Cheshire cat all night. Tucks had one for the road 5 times. Kanser's changed. Talking about bikes and stuff. Not cool. Enda told us he could have been a contender if Ireland had swimming pools. Durante told us Tiger was a pretender and that he could beat him over every distance from 800m to the marathon. Greta was lovely, couldn't have been beaten by a nicer lady.

Check out Timmy's blog for the photos. Might have to start calling him Tummy.

Results:

Stevie/Wildman: 18:08 (2nd)
Enda: 18:20 (4th)
Durante: 18:28 (5th)
Young Timmy: 19:43 (7th)
Greta: 19:47 (8th)
Me: 19:48 (9th)

Sore

Woke up and did a 4km Cliff Young special to Carl's. Told him I was too tired and sore for plyometrics so did lower body stretching and upper body strength. Achilles sore afterwards. At lunch did 6km very easy with Jules from work. Then Tiger for a massage (check out the new blog link and marvel at the mileage) then a few beers.

Not confident about the biathlon tomorrow. Body feels pretty knackered.

HuRTS 14 x 3mins

The boys are getting fit. That's all I can say.

Found a new venue to do one of the toughest sessions on the calendar trying to avoid the crowds of Farm Cove. The venue was our spiritual home (Hickson Road) but veering off into Paul Keating's spiritual home (Barangaroo) for the second half. Rocked up to find JF half way through the session. With him warmed up, it meant the first rep was run at a pretty quick clip - I had it at 3:18 (JF had it a bit quicker on his Garmin). We basically then ran all of the reps at a consistent pace - reaching the same point (the big blue sign on Barangaroo) and getting back every rep. So about 3:18 to 3:19 pace. The final two reps were quicker at about 3:10 pace.

What was surprising was how many of the lads were up there at that pace. Wildman was leading but JF and Enda were up with him, Tucks and Rich too, Ray on every other rep, Clyde for the first 8-10, even Smolly on some. My legs felt like they'd been injected with lead - I was really struggling. Not sure whether it is a Six Foot hangover or just because I've had quite a strenuous previous 5 days. The lads would get away from me in the first half of each rep and I'd spend the second half trying to reel them in. Only came good on rep 10 (and I'd nearly pulled out before that) when you're pretty much running on reserves in any case.

2km jog there and back for 18km all up, a big session.

Funday Monday

Usual route. MC, Indrajeet, a large crowd of others from UBS, Craig, new chap Glen from Minters but then Richie H, Durante, Rob C and Big Mikey H join in after the start for good measure. The usual drop off after CQ with only Rob and Glen finishing with me. 35:20 on the way out (4:29's) and 33:58 for the way back (4:18's) for 1:09:08 for the 15.76km (4:23's). Felt tired again for first 4km then got into it.

Apparently poor Young Timmy has rolled one of his feminine ankles and is crying out of Thursday's gargantuan challenge. The news was received very poorly on today's run. Thursday night is shaping up for one of the highlight races of the year.

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.