Hot and easy

Hot today (35C apparently although didn't feel that high) so the run was the long route to Redleaf pool, bit of a paddle then run home.  13.5km with MC, Jonathan L, Hoey, Charlie meeting 'Lil Jimmy, Smolly and Champ at the pool.  Very easy pace (5min km+) which suited me perfectly.  Apart from beers on the ferry home, it was the best part of the day.

JPMorgan CC - 4th in 17:05

So the big event rolled around once again.  But for once I had no excuses.  Managed to put together a great training block from mid-September after recovering from man-flu and, with a good 5km TT and hit out at Lane Cove, was feeling confident and in good form.  But then the day rolls around, I get incredibly nervous and doubts start creeping into your head.  So just concentrated on the plan.  I knew there'd be a big group of us - Alex Rogers, Quentin, Barts, CT, Crossy, Muz, Clarkey, Tucks and Brett Halls all fighting it out while the superstars (Dent, Hunt and Thurston) raced off ahead.  I guessed we'd still all be together at 4km, so the plan was to take it relatively easy up the first hill so as not to blow too early, then just to nail myself from Fox Studios Gates onwards to see what anyone had left.  Nice and simple.

Arrived with about 30mins to go, did a bit of a warm-up with Hoey and Jeet, just in time to get in the annual HuRT Squad photo:

Got nervous on the start line.  Then we're off.  Quick start but deliberately take it relatively easy up the hill as per the plan.  But round the Paddo Gates corner just behind Alex with Q, CT and Barts all around.  We seem to form a little group already.  I catch Alex's heels and apologise on the way up to Woollahra Gates, and notice people are working a bit on that little uphill section so am encouraged.  This is the group (Alex, me, CT, Barts and Quentin) rounding the Woollahra Gates corner:

Then holey moley!  To borrow from David Coleman, Alex just opens his legs and shows his class!  He flies down the hill, with CT following him.  I literally just can't keep up.  But as we gather back on Grand Drive, CT falls back into the group leaving Alex about 10m ahead of us.  As we hit 3km, I start to think that this race is really quite short, we're over half way through and unless we make an effort to catch Alex he's just going to drift ahead and it's going to be too late.  So I make a real effort to bridge the gap - secretly also thinking that if I catch Alex we will work together and it will give me a chance to break from Barts, CT and Q.  I catch Alex at about 3.5km and he looks quite surprised.  Then something happens that decides the race for me.  Anna FitzGerald is standing on the side of the road.  Now I'm a big fan of Anna, so I wait for a friendly "Go on lads!" or a "Well done Alex, well done Tom!", but instead I hear; "Go on Alex, don't let him get away".  Anna!  What happened?  I'm angry now!  We go through 4km and I can see Fox Studios Gates ahead and the slight incline that goes with it.  Here it is:

So the plan was always to nail myself from here, and that's what I do.  Is Alex dropping?  I can't tell.  Maybe he is?  He's bound to be quicker in a sprint, so I have to keep on piling on the pressure.  Through the 5km marker.  Christ, when will this gap in the fence ever appear?  I can't hear him now.  Through the gap in the fence.  Careful not to slip on the gravel.  Hit the grass then start sprinting for the line.  Can't let anyone come past now.  Cross the line and do 6 above the head fist pumps.  Barts and I had discussed this beforehand.  Whoever won between us was going to do some sort of celebration.  I was thinking pistols before hand, but in the heat of the moment it was skyward fist pumps. 

Then turn around to watch everyone come in.  Quentin pips Barts on the line for 6th place.  You'd normally back Barts in a sprint finish, but I've learned to my cost not to leave it too late against Q.  CT faded in the final 2km for 9th.  First woman (Lucy Starrat) comes in then guess who pops up for 2nd?  LJ's secret training has paid off.  Only just back from injury and she almost runs a PB for second place.  Fantastic stuff.  If anyone loves this event more than me it's LJ.  There's PB's galore (and the inevitable questioning of distance) but having done this race so many times and knowing where they always place the start and finish lines I don't think there was any significant change.  Maybe the finish line was a bit further up but it wouldn't make more than 5s difference.  I think people ran fast because it was unseasonably cool. 

Great to see Erika smash it in 20:23 for 4th place girl and getting a win over Greta into the bargain.  Standout performances from Jeet (19:16) and Charlie D (21:26) and a good comeback run for J-Fen in 18:47.  Also shouldn't forget Wildman's 16:35.  That's as quick as he ran when he won it, yet his comeback this time has been much shorter.  Great to see him battling it out with the likes of Marty Dent and Jeff Hunt.

Then we at some burgers and drank lots of beer and talked crap.  Here's some photos of us doing that:

It's getting rowdy.

 Barts, Wildman, Kanser, Durante and Jeff Hunt.

This fella dreaming of winning Coast to Kosci.

Big Bill Batt.

More strides

10km including 6 x 45s strides with the HuRT Squad.

200's

Rushcutters 8 x 200's (strides) with a longer jog home.  11km.  Left hammy a bit sore.

Catch up

Friday

10km very easy including massage.

Sunday

21.1km in 1:41 with Craig, Q, Justin and Erika.

HuRTS 4 x 2km

Legs smashed from sprinting with the young 'uns yesterday.  Turned up to HuRTS just to cruise through so ran with Erika.  7:21, 7:20, 7:20, 7:11

11km all up.

Had to pull out of State 3km.  A surprise 40th has been sprung on me.  Also coming down with a sore throat.  Arggghhhhh!

Training with Junior Striders

Caroline Yarnell asked if I'd like to help out with training the Junior Striders.  Given they meet at Passmore Reserve (effectively my backyard) and it's something I've been keen to get into, I jumped at the chance.  Also this week it fits into my plan of dropping the mileage and increasing the quality.

So turned up after a 2km warmup and we did what Caroline called "1km pickups".  The route was the path around Passmore Reserve, so 1km is 1.5 laps.  You get into teams of 3.  First guy runs half a lap and is joined by the second guy.  They both run half a lap together and you're then joined by the third guy.  All three run half a lap together where the first guy drops out, etc.  Effectively it means you're doing 1km reps with the rest between being the time it takes one of the guys to run a full lap.  In practice, as you're picking up and dropping your teammates as you go, the pace is kept pretty constant.

I was with the 2 fastest juniors - Luke and Kieran.  My first couple of reps were pretty manic (2:57 pace) as Luke and Kieran were showing the bravado (and speed) of youth.  As the reps went on, their enthusiasm and pace waned a bit and it felt increasingly easier.  My pace times went 2:57, 2:57, 3:03, 3:03, 3:09, 3:03.  Then we did some relays (3 x 250m) and some run-throughs.

Was good fun and had a good chat with some of the kids later on.  About 9km all up.

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.