SMH Half - 22nd in 1:12:38

Woke at the ungodly hour of 5am to catch a cab in with Sam, Dickyboy and Ben. It was blinking freezin'. And dark. Wondered what the he'll I was doing. A few stretches at work and a very short jog before being called to the start line very early. Stood around having a chat with Tucks, Steve Jackson and Keith. Everyone seemed to be there -particularly from th HuRT Squad. This really is a runner's race.

Gun went and got myself a clear path through and immediately felt pretty good. No idea about km splits as I'd decided to run without a watch again. Soon found myself in a group with Tucks, Jonathan Bleasel, Quentin, Quentin's friend from the USA and another chap who I think was called Geoff judging by the shouts from the side of the road. Speaking of which, that was the best thing about this race. Lots of loops back where you passed runners from behind going the other direction and got loads of shouts which was always a lift.

Went through 5km in 16:43 with Keith a good 30s in front and Tongey about 10s in front, having gone off fast once again. Our group was just sticking together though working really well - pretty rare in shorter races. Nikki Chapple, the first girl, was just in front and remained there from 5km to 15km, working by herself rather than in the group of 7 which couldnt have helped her. At 10km (34:03) we caught Tongey who I thought might immediately drop off but he raised the pace to stay with us. Had dark thoughts coming back along Hickson Road but worked the hill up to Kent Street well (i seemed to run the hills well today) to regain touch. We caught Nikki coming into Art Gallery road and I hit the front of our group with a rash surge of confidence only to have Tucks come past soon after. Still kept touch with him coming around Mrs Macs chair where we caught Keith (who suddenly stepped aside? - i'll claim the win in any case). However, Quentin and Tongey then came past at the ABC Pool going strong and gapped me. Legs were tiring rapidly and just held on from there holding off Jonathan and pipping Quentin's mate in the run in.

Chuffed to bits with the time. I was hoping for a sub74 so to run my second fastest on a tough course (and I'm still dubious of the accuracy of the Blackmores Half when i set my pb) was great. Bit disappointed not to challenge Tucks and Tongey in the run in. How come I manage to finish 5 seconds behind Tucks whatever the race distance? Plainly a psychological issue there.

Great to catch up with everyone after. Amazing run by the Chairman to run 70:45, the bloke's a machine. JF suffered over the distance to run just over 76. Same with Bartles who started strongly. Enda came good for a mid 76. Clyde ran mid 74 off little training. Even Kanser and Durante were out for a run. Other good runs out there. General consensus seemed to be that it was a tough but fair course. Even achilles OK so happy days.

Another one squeezed in

Friday was 11km late in the evening, this time through Darling Harbour, Glebe, Camperdown and back along Parramatta Rd to the office. About 11km very easy, feeling much better about SMH Half tomorrow than I was on Tuesday.

101km for the week.

Squeezing it in

12 hour meeting in Melbourne yesterday put paid to any running. Knackered again today but took some time out of work at 8pm for a run. Headed up to Bondi Junction via Garden Island but got lost and ended up going all the way around Queens Park and back. About 17km all up so a bit further than I wanted. Felt surprisingly OK though, that's what a day's rest and perfect cool conditions do for you.

HuRTS Progressive Tempo

Crowd of thousands today, we even had 4 girls (Ainee, Emma and Laura from MBL and Anna) but some more usual faces like Rich, LF Charlie, JF, Terence, MC, Tucks, Andy, Wildman, Sam and the Chairman. Tucks, Wildman and the Chairman immediately went to the front and I started running with TB. I just had no energy to go with the front boys, the weekend's efforts having caught up on me. Turned under the second bridge still with TB and immediately put some effort in. Caught JF, Rich and Andy at CQ at the same time that Tucks, Wildman and the Chairman caught me. They were flying. From then on I ran with Rich all the way back. Final gate to gate in 10:09 and got back in 44:54 (12.6km). Average pace of 3:33's but I was running tired. Think I'll take tomorrow easy rather than the 19km marathon stretches and try to recover.

Easy peasy

Very easy run home. Would have been enjoyable but for the fact it was freezing cold and pissing with rain. 59:47. Some pictures from Saturday's race:


Look - Stevie does a spastic hand like me!




Just to prove the point, here's mine.




Young Timmy; "Now if I just close my eyes, perhaps I can just pretend the clock says 34 something..."

Long run with the Manly boys

Out with Quentin and Sam for exactly the same as last week (including my 5km "get the legs moving" extra bit at the start). Stunning morning this morning - perfection conditions again and some beautiful views. The boys kept the pace very honest but still chatting all the way. Did an extra bit to Shelley Beach and back at the end (bumping into Jamie along the way) which upped the kms a bit. All up 33.58km in 2:21:31 (4:12's). Felt really good today. Took gels (Powerbar gel) at 50 mins and 1:40 which made a big difference.

Sam's going well - looked very strong today. Expect he'll make some big improvements soon.

Homebush Striders 7th in 33:29

I thought it was in the bag. 1:45 headstart for Timmy, had been feeling good, finally record a good time and I turn around after finishing to see Timmy crossing the line within 10 seconds of his PB! Hats off to the fella, things are obviously a bit tough at home to put so much effort into getting $20 off me. Tucks did question whether he'd hidden behind a tree and avoided the final loop of the horse track but I've got more faith in him - Timmy's an honest grafter. So he gets the cash by running 1:42 behind. Amazing how close we manage to make it though. Last time it was an 80 second start and he finished 80 seconds behind. I put it down to two consistent performers who know how to get the best out of themselves. Others may put it down to two old buggers who are scared to get out of their comfort zone.

I was chuffed with my race. Told myself beforehand that I wanted to push hard for 5km then hold on. Even ditched the watch as well as i just wanted to race it and not worry about times. Plan was to stick to Tongey who always seems to go out hard. That plan went out the window after 50m when Tongey didn't go out hard, so stuck to Tucks (as ever) instead. He was generally in front other than for short periods when the pace dropped a bit and I'd take a turn. Went through 5km in 16:30 and realized going round the car park that we were in front of the Horne which was a bonus. Tucks was pushing on between 5-7km and I was just hanging on but the hill killed me and I had a shocker km between 7 and 8km where Tucks gained about 10 seconds and sure enough I hear the quickfootstpes of the Horne approaching. I tried to hold on to him when he went past just after 8km to let him drag me around which worked to a certain extent but then I hear Tongey approaching too. Desperately tried to lift the pace past 9km to avoid a sprint finish with Tongey but to no avail. Started sprinting over the bridge and start catching the Horne at the same time. Too short though. Finish in 33:29, a NEW COURSE PB! Haven't said that for a while so very chuffed.

Did a warmdown with Tucks and Wildman, who turned up to collect his $50 from Timmy (he had to get under 34 mins) and ended up giving Dave Criniti a run for himself money finishing second in 32:15. You could sense he was disappointed not to get the win. That's the difference between champions and us also rans.

Beautiful day - cool, sunny and no wind.

Very easy Friday

6km jog to work (before hopping on a bus) at a very easy pace. Achilles sore though. Had a 9.5 hour meeting today which isn't great race prep but mustn't grumble, the bet with Timmy stands.

93km for the week.

HuRTS Mona Fartlek

Smallish crowd today but with Wildman, Tucks and Bartles fronting up it was never going to be easy. Some familiar faces showing up as well with Luke, Geoff, Sam, Dickyboy and Ray all there.

Had decided I wanted to push today's session from the start in order to make the Stone Gates. Given how many times we've done this session, it gives a pretty accurate guide as to where you're at with training. Set off hard with the boys behind and kept the floats honest such that we cruised the first gate to gate in 2:53 (ie. 3:10 pace including half of that as float). The hills were tough and we had a bit of a headwind but managed to get into the virtuous circle of running the hills on the floats. Stevie helped out heading into the 60s efforts and we reached the Stone Gates with 20s to spare. This equals our fastest ever from June 19 2008. Struggled a bit on 3rd and 4th 60s when Stevie gapped us but recovered again on the 30's. Ran with Tucks all the way back with Bartles just a bit behind. It's a solid session. Hurts like hell when running it but feel fine shortly after. Pleased to have the confidence back to go out hard though, i'm going to try the same on Saturday morning.

Jog down after for 11km all up.

Marathon pace Wednesday

Usual Centennial route with Andy and Rich with the usual marathon pace stretches. Overall time was 1:19:50 which was slightly down on last week despite being quicker (22:45) to the top of Ocean Street. I think the quick sections were quicker but the runs in between were slightly slower. Richie kept the quick pace very honest. Felt very fresh after yesterday's rest day (enforced through work which is hell at the moment).

Australian 10,000m Record!

Go Benny Saint! Fantastic result in Stanford last night with Ben running 27:24 to beat the Aussie record by 5 seconds. What a champ!

Easy run home tonight, but tired to start with. Felt better as the run went on in perfect cool conditions to finish up with 56:40. Feel as though I'm turning a corner...

Long run with the Bloggers

Tiger arrived at 6am limping so we hobbled 5.5km together before joining up with Dicky Green, Young Timmy, the Burglar, Sam, Quentin and Jamie at North Steyne. Dicky had a fairly flat route planned going up Pittwater Road, via Narrabeen Lake, back to Dee Why Beach and home. Because it was fairly flat, the boys seemed to think it would be a good idea to run at about 4:10 to 4:15 pace. Felt pretty good today though even with the quicker pace which is good after yesterday's race.

Timmy and the Tiger came around for bacon and egg rolls and a few cups of tea after which was good on the first sunny Sydney day in weeks. Tiger even showed us his trampolining skills. I gave it a go after and only managed to split Billy's lip and make him cry.

All up 30:02km in 2:13:08 (4:26 pace - the average slowed by a couple of very slow kms over the cliff at Queenscliff at the end and a slow start). Took a gel (Hi5 Isogel) at 15km which worked well but I reckon I needed another one just before 26km so perhaps every 45mins? I'll try that next week.

Revelation of the day was Hamburglar's fitness - he'll smash 3 hours at Gold Coast at this rate.

Novice 10km X-Country

10th in 34:53.

It was either a mud bath or a swimming pool. A few clear sections to add some pace but otherwise a slog. Treated it as another hard tempo and didn't get too excited beforehand (also a bugger of a day yesterday with meetings all day down in Melbourne). Having said that, at 3km with David Tonge and Thamal pulling ahead and a bloke from behind catching me, I decided it was time to either give up or make something of the race. Had a good second half after that, closing on David and Thamal (and thinking I was going to get David) before they lifted their game in the final km. Thamal finished in 34:34 and David 34:39.

Massive downpour half way through and got home feeling fluey. Hope to be ok for the morning to host the boys on a long run.

One Rep Wonder

Wowsers. Rocked up to one of the biggest HuRTS turnouts ever, at least for a Thursday, for the Gate to Gates off 5 mins. We were graced with the presence of CT, and with Bartles, Clyde, Fast Charlie, Dicky H, JF, Andy, Young Timmy, Ray and others backing up, there were plenty in support. Nick from Singapore showed up as well as Manly runners Dicky G and Sam.

With the race on Saturday, a bad head cold and 3 days of decent runs behind me, I didn't want to push hard today. So I sat in the middle of the pack staring at Young Timmy's unfortunately bare back and knocked out each rep between 2:55 and 2:57 (3:13 to 3:15 pace) feeling pretty comfortable. Got a bit excited on the final rep and tried to keep CT honest only to have Ray come flying by me and steal my thunder. Legs started to buckle a bit in the middle but managed to hold it together to finish the rep in 2:35 (2:51 pace).

Jog down after for 11kms all up.

Back to marathon pace

The usual Wednesday Centennial Route with Richard High including the 3 marathon pace stretches. Started with MC and Louis aswell but left them when we started the first marathon pace stretch at Rushcutters. Got through the run nicely and felt good around Centennial. Ran on the wide concrete path instead of the white fence due to all the recent rain.

Total of 18.69km in 1:19:34 (4:15 pace). Average pace would have been much lower but for the first few kms:

5:01, 5:14, 4:40, 4:03, 3:48, 4:13, 4:13, 4:15, 4:08, 3:31, 3:30, 3:34, 4:18, 4:31, 4:10, 4:24, 4:55, 3:35, 3:21 (4:52 pace).

Dicky went well.

15km Easy Hard

Something Tiger mentioned in his blog a couple of weeks ago resonated - trying to increase the average pace of the weekly mileage. Every time I run slow my achilles feels worse, so I'm going to try to include a bit of quality into every session I do.

Today was the 15km route running alternate kms easy and hard. Turned out to be an easyish session as you obviously spend longer running easy than hard, yet it was a good way to cover 15km relatively quickly. The easy kms end up being quicker than normal as you never fully slow down but they still feel like a recovery. Splits were as follows:

4:30, 3:39, 4:09, 3:23, 4:09, 3:30, 4:12, 3:32, 4:09, 3:48, 4:29, 3:25, 4:25, 3:34, 4:10, 1:11 (3:40 pace).

All up 15.33km in 1:00:23 (3:56 pace). The outlying 3:48 was up the hill at the back of Shelley Beach.

World's most tired man

Got back from Singas the world's most tired man.way too tired to run Saturday and intended to go out yesterday but fell asleep on the sofa instead. So was determined to fit my long run in today. Got a call from Dicky G last night suggesting a 20km fartlek session at 6.30am and that fitted the bill so set off in the pouring rain at 6.30am with him and Ben. We did 5 mins on and 5 mins off on a route up to Seaforth Oval, across to Tania Park, around there twice and then retraced our steps. For me, the fast sections got progressively quicker and the slow sections progressively slower as I'd circled back to regroup with Dicky and Ben. Still felt fresh at the end of the 20km (bottom of Suwarrow St) so just tagged on my standard flat 10km route which I knocked out in kms between 4:05 and 4:15. Felt tired at the end but a great way to get through the 30km.

All up 30.03km in 2:08:07 (4:16's).

Ran in my new Brooks Infiniti ordered over the net. Achilles feels great but plantar fascia very sore.

Couple of photos added from Singapore:

Early doors:




Blue Steel:

JPMorgan Chase Champs

21st in 18:16.

Hot, hot, hot. If we thought Sydney got hot and humid in summer, this was something else. Spent the whole day trying to hide in air conditioning but they arranged to bus us to the start area almost 3 hours before the race just to heat us up. I think I drank 5 bottles of Gatorade in the lead up. What this translated to was a scorching pace to start with but a question of holding on for afters.

Sprinted off and everyone was flying. After 500m Charlie starts pulling ahead and I couldn't go. He got into a nice bunch while as usual I found myself alone. Went through 1km in 3:02 then at 2km Travis comes alongside which spurred me into action a bit. 3km in 9:31 so still a quick pace but then the humidity started to take effect. A long drag of a hill between 3.5km and 5km and I was just concentrating on the back of the chap 20m in front and desperately looking for the km markers. 5km in 16:24 so a shocking 2km split but I was just hanging on with the longest finishing straight you've ever seen about to face us.

Jonno finished strongly and must have closed over the final 2km to record 18:26 as when I saw him at the turn he was running with Richie, Enda and Trav. Charlie had a great race to run 17:38. Many, many beers consumed after in a great night of celebrations. Will post pictures soon.

Four floors

10km on the treadmill trying to sweat out a hangover. 40:59 feeling ok in the circumstances. No doubt it will hit me tomorrow.

Recovery

Very easy 9km around the City in the evening in 42 mins, feeling relatively OK. Achilles has recoverd well after yesterday's long hilly run. Fly out to Singapore in the morning.