Melbourne Cup

Well, had originally planned 400's at 11.30am.  But with work manic and Jamie offering an alternative session in my backyard, I couldn't turn it down.  Only probably was that it started at 5.40am.  I've never tried to run fast at 5.40am, other than when I haven't actually been in bed beforehand and have challenged someone to a drunken race.

So, Jamie, Quentin, Macca, Amy, Erika and I met at Nolans for 6 x 1km reps on the grass off a 2min rest.  Marked out a rough track (which was closer to 1.1km) and straight into it.  The way each rep would go would be Q would go off fast, I would catch him at about the half way point then take the lead, then he would come back at me in the final 100m.  Times for each 1km mark were:

3:16 (bit of a heart-starter)
3:08
3:06
3:05
3:05
3:03

Had woken up by then.  Finished with a 5km warmdown and was home by 6:40am.  But still managed to be late for work.

Monday long 'un

So Sunday was my first day off in 3 weeks.  Kirst was away.  Legs were fairly smashed from the 10km the day before so enjoyed the morning watching Maggie kick ass at Nippers, breakfast at Splat!, some gentle house-tidying then rode over to Erskineville on my good bike for Timmy's BBQ.  Beautiful day and a great spread put on by Timmy.

So did the long run this morning.  Basically did a loop to Shelly Beach and back then ran to Erskineville to pick up the bike a ride back to work.  28km all up in 2:03 something.  Averaged 4:26's.  Actually felt great after a day's rest.  But hard work coming through the City with all the stop starts which slowed things down.  Caught John Bowe at the top of Spit Hill and ran with him for a bit.  Passed Hugh Williams going the other way on the Harbour Bridge.  Then Timmy laid on a cup of tea and a warm spicy chicken roll to top the morning off.

Striders Lane Cove - 2nd in 33:28

So with Kirst away this weekend, I leaned on Barts' wife Sam to look after the younger kids so I could race.  Rocked up to his place on a weirdly hot morning.  Everyone looked a bit apprehensive in the "warm-up", realising it was going to be a tough day in the office with temperatures at about 25C at 7am on the start line.  Great crowd in attendance with Neil, Quentin, Barts, Dave C, Fats, Enda, Macca, Timmy, Ben, Banksy, Erika, Elle, the Tiger and Amy.  Enda once a gained regaled us with all his illness woes and we groaned accordingly.

My plan was to tuck in early and not do any work until at least 4km and the hill that follows.

So off we went.  No-one seemed to want to lead so Neil drifted to the front.  The pace felt fine but it was never comfortable thanks to the weather.  Up Scribbly Gums (they seem to place the turn around cone higher up the hill each time) then back down and Dave and Neil get about 4 or 5 yards on Barts, Q and I.  Could see that Enda was just in front of Fats going quite well.  Timmy also travelling OK.  

I'm really struggling between 3 and 4km, hating the conditions and just wanting to drop out.  But then Neil comes back to us and Barts drops off on the hills up to 5km, so I push on with just Q coming along.  Work the downhill around the top corner and feel like I'm getting a bit of a gap but Q always fights back.  Stays this way until 8km when he tries to push ahead so I wait until the final hill and push on from the top of it.  Suddenly I've got a proper gap and concentrate on Dave in front.  Feel average the whole way but happy with the result and time in the conditions.  

Barts struggled in the heat and Q went better post Marathon than I was expecting, but then he always gives 100%.  Watch the finishers come in and wonder where Enda is?  Macca comes in, then Timmy and Ben.  But still no Enda.  We even do a warmdown and can't see him.  Eventually find this wreck lying on the grass at the finish line.  Turns out he blacked out at 8km, rolled down a hill into a bush and was out cold for a few minutes with the runners behind unaware and running on past.  Far out!  He's got blood, a dirty face, and everything.  For all his moaning, this was a genuine "give it all" performance.  He couldn't have scripted it better!

Great run by Lewis Ingram who gets better each race.  Also good to see Erika on the podium although she wasn't happy with her time.  But no one was today.

The squad:

Barts, Neil, Erika, Macca, Elle, Timmy, Enda, Paulie Hanley, Me, Brendan and Birchy.

Very easy

Very easy 10km with TKS, Pommy Paul and Sonya around the wharves on a stunning day.

So battle resumes tomorrow at the Lane Cove 10km with Barts and Neil, with Quentin being thrown in for good measure.  Looks like Hoey is out though.    Tactics will be very different to Wednesday night.  Hang on and hope basically.

Running with Champs

So I turned up late to the Rushcutters 6 x 1km set which I was just going to jog in any case.  Latched onto Elle for the first (2nd) rep seeing Wildman pushing upfront with some chap on his shoulder.  Who could this be?  Quentin was 20m further back.  Barts also taking it easy?  I was confused.  Finished the rep to say hello to Holt Hardy!  Where has this fitness suddenly come from?

For the younger members of the audience, Holt and Steve were both pushing for Australian selection at the Sydney 2000 Olympics - Holt in the 1500m (he's a 3:38 man at his best) and Stevie in the 3000m Steeplechase.  Both narrowly missed out, but are class acts and both getting some form back.  Thurston's we knew about.  Holt's was a surprise.  Turns out he's aiming for the JPMorgan race.  Who would have thunk it?  Gary Howard take note.  This isn't the cowboy race you always claim it to be.

Jogged around chatting to Barts and Charlie.  Nice and easy 10 all up.  A few beers with Charlie tonight with Durante promising a show but failing to deliver.  Old habits are creeping back in.  Maybe Timmy still has a chance.

Good to see LJ back out there again.  And Happy Birthday to TKS.  

Rozza 5000m TT

And so, I decided that the answer to the conundrum in the last post was to wind it up with 2 laps to go and hope for the best.

And that's how it went.

Turned up tonight the usual bag of nerves.  Not sure why I rev myself up so much for these track time trials.  Conditions were pretty good, a bit of wind but temperatures were about 18C.  The only issue was the big group doing 800's at about 4:15 pace which we would have to navigate our way through after their coach refused to ask them to run in lane 2.

Barts, Neil, Jason and Rich Mullaney all showed up, so it was a small but quick group.  Not sure why it's not more popular.  I still think a quick 5km does wonders for your fitness (and confidence).  Paulie Hannell and Greek George kindly showed to timekeep so i wouldn't be making the mistake I made against Quentin last time out.

Off we went and Barts goes to the front.  First lap - 72s.  Second lap - 72s.  Third lap (according to George) - 72s.  Even in my oxygen depleted state I figure he's reading the top line of his iPhone for lap times which is just repeating the first lap! Sure enough, it wasn't until lap 6 that we deviated from 72s according to George!  Having said that, we did go through 1km quickly in 3:01.  I overtook Barts at this stage and led from then, but with Barts right on my heels the whole way.  Going into 3km, I'm aware of two people behind, have a quick look and, sure enough, Jason is still hanging on.  All doubts go through your head at this stage - I'm doing all the work, they're both cruising, I'm going to blow and they're going to sail by.  But at some stage Barts shouts out "how many to go?".  I've got no idea, and tell him so, but start to think he's finding this uncomfortable.  I knew nothing would happen until 2 laps to go.  So with 1km to go I start to think about picking it up.  With 2 to go I start to make a concerted effort. With 600m to go I'm aware a small gap is created, so hit a lap to go and really start to push, especially down the back straight.  Knowing Barts has a great kick finish, all I'm thinking is that I want to make him work really hard for this.  Barts often talks about just closing his eyes and going all out towards the end of a race, so with 150m to go, and still with a gap, I do the same.  The legs are wobbly but I hold on.  There may even have been a fist pump.  15:26:15 to Barts' 15:26:80.

Stoked with the time and PB.  You must always celebrate PBs.  Jason held on very well for a 15:48 and looks so smooth running 3min kms. Neil ran a PB less than 2 weeks after a 2:27!  Rich M is heading the right way with a 16:45.

Here's the splits:

And here's the squad:

By the way, there's a new Blog on the block, and it's good.  Check out Hoey's. 2:35 man and low 34 10km with plenty more to come as he has youth on his side.

Easy HuRTS

Tuesday

Turned up just to jog the 2 x 20mins in prep for time trial tonight.  All up about 12km including 2km warm down, chatting all the way.

So CT is out of tonight's 5000m TT.  So far, just Barts, Jason, Rich Mullaney and TKS are confirmed but we'll see who turns up.  I'm guessing Barts will employ very similar tactics to our State 10,000m race back in March.  So how do you beat a guy:

(a)  who is in good form;
(b)  who has a better sprint finish; and
(c)  who is likely to stick to your back the entire race?

More 400's

Well Timmy bailed.  Despite all his good intentions and even mentioning on his own blog post yesterday, he comes up with; "you could have given me more notice!" this morning when I text him.  I'm almost willing to put the house on Durante now.  This made me think as I was running over that we refer to people as a "soft cock" or a "hard ass", but we never use the opposing adjective to the same noun.

So I wandered over to Rushcutters solo.  Marked out a rough loop, which was probably about 2s longer than last Thursday's.  Then threw myself into it.  Plan was not to kill myself on the reps today because:
(a)  running solo, I couldn't be arsed; and
(b)  wanted to feel in control and concentrate on form.
Reps were mostly 78s (i'm guessing 70/71 for the 400m) with one 77 and a couple of 79s.  All of a rolling 2 mins.  Felt pretty good at the end.

11km all up.  Right knee a touch sore but I see the Tiger tomorrow am.

Easy Sunday

10km around Nolans then up to Fairlight to pick up the car from where we'd left it last night before going to a wine tasting party.

I picked the Reds but didn't know my Rieslings from my Semillons or my Sauvignon Blancs.

Kirst has come down very rapidly with suspected pneumonia.  Straight up.

And again...

Same 30km Saturday route, this time with Barts, Justin and Craig.  Very tired early on, couldn't get the kms under 4:30.  Legs still sore from Thursday and it was humid with the temperature rising this morning.  

Picked it up from Narrabeen bridge and actually felt more comfortable running 4min kms than 4:30's.  All up 2:11 something with the final 10km about 39:30.  Had some mad chick beeping her horn at us both on the way out and back.  Turns out it was Elle.

Then watched Charlie play cricket but had no time for brekkie.  Got home and bonked on the sofa.  Far out, I was gone.  I was brought around by Bec's pancakes with lemon and sugar.  I was like Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction, suddenly had energy to do my chores.

Might break the sugar fast tonight and take tomorrow off.

Sore, sore, sore

My groin.  Not from the double up running session yesterday, but from frog kicks doing frantic breaststroke.  Got out today with Jeet, Big Kev, TKS and Bruce for 10km around the wharves.  Big Kev is getting fit and no longer runs easy, so Jeet and I dropped off when he started running 4:15's.  I was going to up stumps at 5km, but gradually felt better and got through the 10km.

Beers on the ferry home and a couple at Manly Wharf on a beautiful Friday evening.  Charlie D was regaling us of Barts' drunken stories from a Morgan Stanley client drinks last night.  Apparently, Barts is really a 2:21 marathon man but hasn't had the opportunity to prove it.  Unfortunately I have the task of trying to keep up with this prodigious talent tomorrow for 30km.

Manly in the evening:

111km for the week.

400's and a Biathlon

Oh happy days.

Keen not to miss my key 400's session in the build up to JPM, I turned up at lunch to a big crowd (must have been 40+) for the changed session of 400's at Rushcutters. Reg Bartley Oval was being guarded like Fort Knox, so we congregated on the football pitches adjacent and marked out our 400m circuit.  This involved 2 recce's, not least because of the sunbather at the 180m mark.

So eventually we marked out at 440m circuit (don't ask, I was flustered) and we're off.  Barts pushed the pace early.  I pushed the pace towards the end.  All done around 72/73 (probably 66's/67's for 400m) with Quentin blasting the last for a 69/70.  Solid session. Lengthy warmdown with Barts and J-Fen for 14km all up.

Then tonight it was the biathlon.  I'm busy at work.  I was tired from the lunch session.  But I couldn't face the abuse I'd get from Timmy for a no-show so I front up with 'Lil Jimmy, Sonya, Angus, Paulie H and Sam J for the torture fest of 4km running then a 300m swim.  Got boxed in early, then opened up with one random fella joining me.  He stuck with me until 3km then dropped.  I did 12:36 (near path loop) with 6:31 at halfway.  Then jumped in the pool.  Did first 50m freestyle then reverted to breastbroke.  1, 2, 3 blokes come past (one being Angus) but where is Timmy and 'Lil Jim?  I'm getting desperate, but make the final turn and have a quick look to see clear water behind me.  Oh Happy Days!  Try 3 strokes of freestyle, realise it's hopeless so revert to breaststroke and finish on the slightly annoying time of 19:00.

Then beers in my favourite pub (The Tilbury) with the boys and overall female winner Sonya before heading home.  Great night.

The transaction:

Wednesday with some talent

Rocked up today to quite a sizeable group for a Wednesday, with Jeet, Big Kev, JW, Clarkey, Saffer Jonathan and others and a random American girl.  Turns out she's a client of Jamie Palmer's who he recommended to run with us today.  Angela someone.  She ran 2:46 at Chicago last week chasing a 2:43 qualifier for the U.S. Olympic trials.  Let's just say she looked like she could run.  Through halfway in 80:11 holy cow.

So we all speeded up to try to impress her.  Ended up doing 14.5km way too quick. 

HuRTS 1km reps

So the usual session is 14 x 3mins but with JPMorgan approaching a few of the lads were keen on changing the session to 10 x 3mins (off the usual 60s rest) and pushing them harder.  This basically works out as almost 10 x 1km.  

Well it was a who's who of the HuRT Squad today with Wildman, Tucks, Barts, CT, Quentin, Muz, Crossy, Ollie Lord, Jason R, Big Mikey H, Hoey, Enda, MC, Timmy to name but a few.  I was feeling pretty fresh having run long on Saturday and having an extra day's rest.  But best of all the new Mizuno Wave Riders had arrived in the post and, jeez, I felt bouncy for a change.  Made me realise how hard the old trainers had got after 3500km.

Wildman went off hard on the first rep and tried to keep him vaguely within reach with Barts tucking in behind me.  From there it was hard to tell how everyone was faring as we were all starting and finishing at different spots.  I knew I was travelling quickly though and by 8 I was cooked so just ran the last 2 through.  I was just about reaching 1km for each rep.  Average pace for them went as follows:

3:03, 3:01, 3:02, 3:04, 3:01, 3:02, 3:00, 3:04, 3:26, 3:22

Very happy with that.  Will continue to work on the speed as the base is there.

Long warmdown with Tucks, Quentin, Barts, CT and Slapstick for 15km all up.

Old school

Monday route but around wharves to avoid the increasingly dangerous Hickson Rd.  Ran with Andy, MC, Clarkey, JW, Renee, Elle, Ray and a host of others including, wait for it, Durante!  He only went and ran 15km.  But most impressive of all was his athleticism shortly after the turn when he hurdled a boom gate.  I kid you not.  It was the most athletic thing I've seen since Wildman threw a pool ball on a tin roof and leapt up a staircase 4 at a time.  I doubt I could have high jumped this boom gate with a squishy mat on the other side.

I immediately backed him to beat Timmy at JPMorgan.  Form is temporary.  Class is forever.

Oh, the 15km averaged 4:22's as I spent the first 2km at sub4 pace catching the group.

Finally, for the record, those on the HuRTS distribution list will have seen Timmy giving it out yet again claiming I'll be flapping about in the pool in the biathlon on Thuraday trying to avoid being chicked.  Well, to prove the hypocrisy of the man, here is a text I get from him not 24 hours previously claiming I have to give HIM a handicap!

Cream Crackered

Had a few beers and curry last night with the Manly running boys (and girl) so was a bit ropey this morning.  But no rest for the wicked as its Maggsy's birthday today so I had to prepare for a gaggle of 7yr old girls to entertain.  Managed to squeeze in 10km around Nolans and Passmore at lunch, bumping into Macca as I did.  Favour was returned as I then bumped into him on his run 2 hours later.  Actually felt pretty good today after the first couple of km.  45mins. 

Thank God this day is almost nigh.

Same again Saturday

Out with Craig Mc for the same run as a fortnight ago.  Great running conditions this morning, cool, cloudy but no breeze. Felt great today - pace very comfortable chatting until 20km then increased the pace a bit to close to 4min kms for the final 10km.

All up 30km in 2:09 - 4:19's.  Macca would be happy.  He doesn't like doing his long runs over 4:20 pace.

Early doors

Ran to work, first time from new house.  It's exactly 2km further than the old house, which is interesting to no-one but me.  Ran with Dicky but bumped into Ryan early on.  This meant we were going way quicker than I'd planned even before I met Dicky.  I've worked out that Dicky and I are incompatible because we both like to lead.  This means the pace just gets quicker and quicker.

All up 15km on an even hillier route than before in 66:59.

100km for the week and hard fought given work and travel.  Happy.

Desperately waiting for my new Wave Rider 17's to arrive.  I bought these bad boys on Feb 2nd, so I've done around 3500km in them.  They're looking a little worse for wear (check where my dodgy achilles' rubs) but have lasted incredibly well. I normally get 1000km in trainers before having to replace.

400's

Missed the HuRTs session due to work so took myself out at 2pm and did it solo.  No room on the pitches next to Reg Bartley Oval (which is closed for maintenance) with kids playing school sport so ran around the track on the outside of Reg Bartley, jogging to close the loop and start the next rep each rolling 2 mins. 

Felt a bit long and GMap has it at 425m:  Reg Bartley Track

Reps went:  72.4, 73.1, 72.9, 73.3, 73.2, 72.4, 73.6, 72.4, 72.4, 71.5

So that's averaging 68's which is about what I expected first up.  Will be easier when I can run with people.

Long warm-up and warm-down for 14.5km all up.

Wednesday SLR

A bit over 14km today with Crossy, Kanser (yes, you read that correctly), Big Kev and JW.  As usual on a Wednesday, Crossy and JW were not hanging around and after a couple of 4:10's early on, I begged them to slow down.  Poor old Kanser didn't know what had hit him.  My legs were shattered again and had the short choppy stride going on.  Ended up doing a bit over 14km around the wharves averaging 4:16's, so we didn't slow down that much.

Continuing the theme of Melbourne Marathon stories, I received an email forwarded this morning which shows correspondence between Beaches Ben and Striders President Joe.  I'm guessing Joe was reaching out to Ben to thank him for helping one of the older Striders runners to the finish at Melbourne.  It's a great read and shows the true camaraderie of the Marathon:

"I blew up at 24km aiming for a 2.52. A training partner ran past at around 27km and tried to encourage me to stick with her [Ed:  this is Erika]. I told her that I was done; my rubber band was stretched. Thankfully she went on, ran her PB and to her race goal of 2:58. My plan B was sub 3hrs and that went at around 29km; my rubber band had snapped.  I was in a world of hurt along St Kilda Road and thought about jumping in front of a tram to end it a couple of times.  I may have even been delusional as I swear I spoke to Craig Mottram as he ran passed me pacing a buddy of his.  I walked through one of the last aid stations along there and was given some support by another fellow runner with a friendly tap on the shoulder keep at it.  Plan C came into effect which was to finish what I had started, just finish and I told myself that time did not matter.  It was around 37km just before the rise of the Tan that I then decided to take with me anyone else who I could convince that the clock did not matter anymore.  So if I saw someone walking or standing I went up to them and told them that they were coming with us and that I'd be there by their side and we would finish this together.  I would tell the group that "time didn't matter, concentrate on form and let's keep going together".  I think I picked up about 4 or 5 people and Graham would have been one of these.  I ended in 3:14:48 my second slowest marathon from 9 attempts, only slower than my debut in 2005.  Funnily I ran 17 seconds faster in Canberra in March this year pacing 3:15.  I'm ecstatic to hear that Graham achieved a Boston qualifier with a small amount of encouragement from me when I was broken, well and truly broken.

Please pass on my contact details to Graham and congratulate him on his stellar debut Melbourne marathon and Boston qualifier."