Thursday heat

AM:  7km along the beach in warm and muggy conditions.

Lunch:  38C (and humid with it) but the session had to be done.  Turned up at Rushcutters with Scotty, Crossy, Darren Moyle, Little Tom, Paul H, Erika and a small band of other nutcases to find Timmy had laid out the track via his famous cones on a perfect Rushcutters surface and had even brought an Esky full of bottle of cold water for us.  Really above and beyond the call of duty.  So we had to do the session.  It was a lesson in heart rate control.  Knew that if I pushed too hard I would blow or feel sick.  Erika had a cold sweat half way through the session so had to ease off completely.  By rep 6 I knew I'd get through OK so pushed harder on the last 2.  Times were:

2:31, 2:30, 2:30, 2:32, 2:31, 2:31, 2:28, 2:24

Scotty was 1-2s ahead on each of them other than reps 6 and 7 where I was ahead, but plainly he was saving himself for the last where he blasted me away.

We didn't get under 6:30 m/km on the jog back to the office.  Despite doing the session topless, my singlet was dripping wet.  Horrific conditions but pleased to get through unscathed.

Wednesday MLR with hills

Out with Emma, Erika, Quentin and Dicky this morning for the usual North Head route plus 4x hills beside Mackellar.  The others left me comin back down Darley to solo for the final 8km.  Ran past Jenny Whickham and Lewis then, neither of whom know how to run slow.  Was tired today after yesterday's efforts.

My thoughts for today:

1. I'm jack of Telstra.

2. RBS tell me I have to sell everything.  What do you do if all you own is mortgaged property and running shoes?

3. Hills are good for me.

4. Where can you buy a standard TV aerial lead these days?

5. Pop up bars are the way forward.

Double Tuesday

AM:  8km to Shelley and back very easy in 4:39's after failing to get up for the tempo at 6am due a bad nights sleep.

PM:  45min progressive tempo.  Tried to replicate the planned 6km tempo by taking it easyish on the way out and coming home strong.  But was hampered by the heat (felt like I'd explode 30mins in) and the headwind on the return.  Hoey put 15s into me from the Opera House revelling in the conditions.  I put similar time into Nick R who has been on fire recently so was pretty chuffed with the session.  Got back in 44:53.  12.36km and 3:38's all up after a number of 3:54's to start.

25km for the day including warm up and down.

Got home this evening, had a hot flush and started sweating profusely.  Almost fainted.  Tough day.

More kms

17km at lunch in the heat with the squad.  Loads out there including Hoey, Jerome, Bruce, Erika, Darren, JW, Gerry and I think I even saw LJ at some stage?

Finished off with 4 x 80m hills on the Domain but without the usual better feeling I get after each one.

4:35 average.  

Sunday with crowds

11 of us this morning - Ben, Macca, Quentin, Craig, Jamie, Tim P, the Cap'n, Andy, Banksy and, after missing us at the start and chasing us all the way to Narrabeen before catching up, Elle.

Usual easy pace to start before pushing ahead in the final 6km.  I was chasing Macca and Craig after thy skipped the final water stop so it was close to 3:30's.  30km all up in 2:09:29 (4:19's).  Beautiful dip in perfect waters at Quennscliff before a controversial decision to skip the crowds at Grumporio and test the quieter Troubadour for breakie.  Well, it didn't disappoint with a perfect Burrito Brekky wrap and a coffee with a fizzy water shot.  Unique.  But Barts's OCD would have been playing havoc.

Easy

14km in just under an hour (4:15's) in the late arvo.  3am in bed last night so that was the earliest I was capable of getting out.

Nice time by Robin Vonk (16:18) at Curl Curl Parkrun this am.  He'll be beating his coach at this rate.

Streak run

Made a ridiculous $50 bet with CT over who could maintain the longest running streak.  Having watched Liverpool Legends with Jeet, Andy, Enda, Timmy, Ronan and Kanser last night and enjoying a number of ales at the time, the streak was all that got me out today.  Particularly given coach had it as a rest.

Did the bare minimum - 7.5km in 33+mins.  But it brought up 125km for the week.

Hills

Alarm went off at 5.30am.  Got to the bathroom, looked in the mirror and decided I needed more sleep.  Erika, Darren, Jamie and Quentin would have the pleasure of my absence.  My Garmin Connect told me I then got another 1 hour of deep sleep before getting up at 7.30am.  Then ran the 6.5km to the Snake at North Head where I randomly bumped into Macca running his first hill session in 2 years!

I was doing 10x1min.  Went quite hard but tried to maintain form.  It really brings out every niggle in your body.  Got home and stretched religiously.  18km after running home with Macca and a solid session.

More rain

Out into the wind and rain yet again for another North Head loop.  16.75km in 1:11:49 (4:17's) feeling great.  All this rest being on holiday does me wonders.

Today Mr Garmin believes I live in Harbord.  Doesn't he know it was officially changed to Freshwater?  And that I don't live there?  At least it's not Manly Vale.

Getting bored of North Head.

Tough Tempo

Wandered outside at 6.15am and its raining and windy.  Why the hell do we do this I ask myself.  And I've got to get to North Head before I even start the session. 

But, dressed in my Eurotrash Gilet, I ventured up there to find Darren, Erika, Jamie, Macca and Ben waiting.  Quite a turnout on a hideous morning.  Erika informed us that you only felt the full brunt of the wind once you got beyond the roundabout.  Jamie said his instructions were to do only 20mins and to hold on to me, so at least I'd have company to start with.  My session was 60mins tempo.  I'd normally aim to hold 3:30's for that but would have to reassess with the conditions.

Set out with Jamie on my shoulder which kept the pace honest.  16:10 for the first lap averaging 3:32's but it was a lap of two halves - struggling to get under 3:40's into the wind then enjoying the tailwind on the return.  Jamie stops just over a km later and I'm running solo and immediately slow.  16:36 for the second lap but stabilise to do 16:42 for the third.  Then a shortened final lap for 16.72km all up (3:35's).

Very happy with that in the conditions even if the coach wasn't.  I could see the looks on the faces of everyone else running into the wind so knew they were all struggling too - Macca managed 3:54's for his 60mins.

4km warm up and warm down for 25km(!) all up.

Then a few good beers with Macca, Darren, Erika and families over a BBQ in the late afternoon rain at Macca's.

Stair rods

Went out at 1.30pm just as it starts coming down in stair rods.  After I got drenched it was an enjoyable run.  Felt good again (helped by all the sleep and rest I'm getting - up to Episode 13 of "World War 2 in Colour" on Netflix).  Queensie to Shelley was deserted.

Downloaded Garmin Connect after instructed by Craig and it looks great.  More stats than the Enigma Code.  Today:

Very upset that it believes I live in Manly Vale though.

Exciting news for the day is that there is a new blog in town.  Given it belongs to good mate and fierce rival Chris Truscott, I'll be paying it close attention.  Link is now added.  BTW, his targets for the year pretty much match mine.  Although I'll struggle to run a decent Half with SMH  coming shortly after London and being in The States during Gold Coast.

More grey running

16.5km in 67:57 (4:08's) up around North Head.  Second half much quicker than the first after pushing the Darley Rd hill.  Frankly, legs felt cactus in the first 4km so that put paid to the 60min tempo on the program.  Need some new shoes I think.

Then out today to Patonga Beach on the Palm Beach ferry with Craig, one of his mates and families.  It pissed with rain so we just started drinking at the Patonga Beach Pub at noon.  So that put paid to the rest of my day.

Long Saturday

Out with Barts, Macca and Craig for the usual Sunday 28km.  Still feeling under the weather with a sore throat so was happy to find the three lads feeling the same.  So the pace was nice and easy all the way ending up averaging 4:29's.  I was automoton mode just trying to turn the legs over to get around.

Beautiful dip in the ocean with the water temp perfect at the moment.  Then on to the Grumporio with the boys getting increasingly adventurous in their choices of breakfast, with Craig going for Eggs Benedict, me going for the Grumporio Big Breakfast and Barts choosing a feminine concoction involving a side of avocado.

Curl Curl Parkrun - 1st in 16:30

Promised myself I'd do this to start off 2016 on the right foot.  But in truth I wasn't feeling crash hot.  Had a slightly sore throat the night before which had deteriorated overnight.  Went out quite hard in the first km to shake off any opposition but my legs weren't enjoying it.  Struggled through for a 16:30 and jogged home feeling sorry for myself.

Out with the boys for a long run tomorrow so will get an early night and hope for the best.

104km for the week.  

Year in Review

Well, it started with a Parkrun win in Merimbula in a PW.  I'm in better form coming into the start of 2016.  But from there things improved.  A slow start but solid finish in the Sun Run in early Feb showed I was coming into some form and had a good 32:46 in the Striders at North Head in March after a PB over 5000m on the track.  I reckon my Dad would say that was my best run of the season.  I then joined Coach Tiger who mixed up the sessions but more than anything prepped me well for the big races.  A good New York Half on a tough windy day followed in April and a PB (just) at the Sydney 10.  I went into the SMH Half feeling tired but had my run of the season with a PB and a solid win over my usual rivals.  

Caught a bad cold just before Launceston but ran an equal PB nonetheless but was disappointed to let Barts drift past me just before the line.  Got a bit sick just before the GC marathon and tried to squeeze in my last big run too late which I think caught up with me on the day.  It was easily my toughest ever race and was physically drained afterwards but happy to have pushed through.  Then overdid it too soon and paid with a hamstring injury just before C2S.  There was only one race left in my books after that, being the JPMorgan, and was very happy with the way Tiger got me into good form off a limited training period to run a 17:16.  And so here we are.

Best 3 performances:

1. SMH Half

2. State 5000m

3. JPMorgan 

Sydney 10 and Launnie don't make it as I felt I should have gone sub32.

Most disappointing - GC Marathon, although there are always positives you can take from every race and for me it was not giving up.

Biggest regret - not doing more ANSW races.

New Year's Eve

More dinner and drinks last night so could only squeeze the run in during the heat of the day.  Felt good from the off though today and did an elongated route up to North Head but finished at Queensie for a dip in the ocean (where I almost lost my shorts in the big waves) followed by a jog home.  15km in 4:06 pace (grey running) followed by 1.5km jog.

Wednesday

Out early with Ben and Jamie for a loop around North Head finishing with a coffee at Grumporio.  Beautiful morning for it.  Nice easy pace (4:42's).  16km.

Making it up as I go along

Ok, it would be fair to say that over this recent period I haven't been following coach Tiger's program to to dot.  Too much going on, need for sleep, wanting to spend time with the family when on break etc.  So didn't show up to the special training session this morning and only managed to get out for a run at 5pm this evening.  Planned on 14km up to North Head.  Got up there and thought might as well do 17km including the Fairfax Walking Track.  Then on way back from North Head (including the hill just past the North Fort cafe) I ran a 3:49km split feeling great.  So decided to tempo it home from there.  Final 7kms went 3:30, 3:21, 3:32, 3:26, 3:26, 3:20, 3:18 feeling marvellous.

All up 17km in 1:07:17 (3:57's).

Sunday with some class

So LJ has steadily been getting back into her running post injury, slowly increasing the distance and getting fitter.  And with limited time this morning she couldn't afford the usual 27 water stops.  So she decided it was time to take the step up from Centennial and join the Northern Beaches crew.

Ben, Elle, Erika and myself joined the Shire Starlet.  I was knackered and managed a measly 15km at a gentle pace before retiring to prepare the house for a few guests.  It's fair to say that LJ ran with a broad grin on her face with infrequent utterances such as "this is amazing!" and "I can't believe you have access to this all the time!".  I think she may be back.  And she didn't even get to the Grumporio.

Boxing Day

This may go down as run of the year.  Big Christmas Day with Jon, Jane and Wilf over as well as Dad and Katie.  Crawled into bed at 11.30pm after way too many wines, beers and Calvados.  So a long run and the alarm set for 5:45am was always going to be a challenge.

First few km were torture but at least Macca was feeling the same.  Tim P, Barts and Craig were also there.  Then after Narrabeen I started to feel ok.  Macca made a cheeky manoeuvre to avoid the 3rd and final standard water stop to gain a lead so Barts and I hunted him down through the mean streets of Dee Why.  Ended up running the last 10km in 39:04 and the final 5km in 18:03 (all stats courtesy of my new Garmin Forerunner 25 from Santa) to average 4:22's for the 28km.

Grumporio was back to form with Italian style eggs after a beautiful dip in the ocean at Queensie to wash off the booze oozing out of my pores.