SMH Half

83:23.

Ran with Timmy.  Aimed for 38:30, 39:30 10km splits.  Always hard with the Garmin measuring short.  We did 38:50 then 40:15.  Managed to get a good group together between 10km and 15km.  Timmy struggled up the hills but made good ground on the downs.  To be honest, he held on better than I thought for a 1:25 positive split on a tough course with the hills back ended.  Great to run with Champ and some other appreciative blokes too.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.

28km all up.  Good weekend's training.

Hoey had a fab run upfront and seeing him made me want to race again.

Saturday Hilly Hour to Clontarf

Took Billy to Turamurra for his morning soccer game and as such drive up Allambie Hill.  Decided it was time I ran it again.  4km straight up hill.  Kirst was meeting friends at Clontarf beach so worked out perfectly. 

Felt great - seem to be going through one good day, one bad day at the moment.  14.6km in 4:16's with plenty of hills in there.

Friday meander

10km with Jimmy at lunchtime talking crap.  Legs sore.  Decided to pace Timmy at SMH Half on Sunday so entered today.

Now watching Billy play soccer (Barker v Knox so a grudge match).  Found a nice cafe in Turramurra..

HuRTS 400's and tempo

So the comeback slog continues.  7x400m plus 3km tempo today and I was scared.  Small but select crew including Barts, Timmy, Birchy, Jerome, Jeet, Darren M, JFen and co.  400's started at 71's and finished at 68's.  Tempo was easier at 3:37's.

Done and dusted. 13km for the day after a longer warm down.

Legs tired.  Amazing how the legs soften with 3 weeks off.

MLR at steady pace

I've decided that "Steady" means being aware of your Strava split times while not going balls out.

Fancied a run around Centennial today (having slept through my alarm this morning) and after Timmy turned me down due to "work commitments" (later to be seen on Facebook canoodling with the boys taking selfies in the ABC Pool) I decided to go solo.  Always run a bit quicker going solo, mainly because I get bored and want to get it over and done with.  That logic doesn't quite work when the session is "75 mins" but there you go.

Nice run. Long time since I've been in Centennial and enjoyed it on a beautiful day.  18.1km in 75:00 (4:09's).

Toying whether to run SMH Half, only because today felt quite good and I need to start racing again at some stage.  Asked for a late entry but no response yet so decision may be out of my hands.

A session!

6 x 800m (rolling 4 mins) along the seafront from North Steyne with Lewis, Quentin, Darren and Skins.  Holy crap, had forgotten how hard speedwork is and how quickly you lose it.  Was way behind Lewis.  Gradually crept closer to Quentin each rep (about 2:37's I think) until the final 2 when I finally got some zip back, finishing with a 2:30.

Long warm down for 13km all up.

Monday easy

Out with the HuRT Squad around the City, chatting to Kanser, Elle, Renee and Co.  13km in an hour I think. 

Longish Sunday

First longish run in 4 weeks.  Managed to get out in the arvo and fortunately Erika was also keen.  So did 105 minutes with her.

You name me one Indian distance runner.  In history.  It's not possible, despite the world's second largest population.  I now know why.  It's impossible to do an effective long run after a vindaloo.

Sat Parkrun with kids

So Parkrun was Maggie and Charlie's long run.  I ran with them for 200m, realised no one was running away out the front so decided to push ahead to the front.  Felt pretty comfortable running 17:20, just for the win.  Then jogged back to the 4km mark and saw a battle Royale between Charlie and Maggie, the former making a late charge but Maggie seeing him at the last minute and doing just enough to hold him off.

5km warm down for 10km all up.

Then out to the Troubador, Ashiana's and the Steyne with a huge Manly HuRTS crowd for evening curry.

Maggie and the Cap'n

I found this note on Maggie's bedroom floor yesterday:

Those in Facebook will have seen it.  So felt compelled to take her training this morning.  We did a 1km warm up, then 6x Mackellar hills concentrating on lifting the knees and powering up.  Basically, fast track strength training.  Then a 1km warm down.  She was motivated by the sight of another 8yr old girl doing sprints with her Dad on Nolans while on our warm up.

Then did an extra 8km bumping into the Cap'n near Shelley Beach and finishing off with him.  Another beautiful morning.  About 11km all up.

The important things in life

Well, that was disappointing.  After feeling  everything was coming together, I came down with a fever on the Friday before London, which turned to a bad cold and then sinusitis.  Still on the heavy duty antibiotics now.  Wasn't going to stop me watching Barts, Macca and Sammy though and doing so made me vow to come back.  The crowd support was huge and the atmosphere electric.  Barts did us all proud with a fantastic run in 2:29:18.  He approached it perfectly in a very controlled fashion.  The man accused of a heart of flint even shed a tear at the end, as did I.

12 days off and, despite still being bunged up and blowing stuff out of my nose that scares the kids, I ventured out this morning for an easy 10km.  Beautiful morning along Manly Beach and I just soaked it up enjoying what I've been missing out on. 

Was very upset about missing London after 6 months injury and sickness free but in the end there's always another race and the real reason I do it is morning s like these and the camaraderie I enjoyed with Barts, Macca and Sammy in London.

Black bogeys

After 5 days in London I've fallen foul to the London black bogey syndrome.

Last proper run yesterday was 41mins continuous - 15min warm up plod to Southwark Park (when I'm tapering for a big race I seem to be unable to run quicker than 5min kms) then 6 x 1min on, 1 mins off around the park and then plodded back.  One other runner in Southwark Park as I was darting around - Scott Overall (top British marathoner and no doubt running on Sunday).

All set now, just have to mentally prepare myself.

Caught up with Barts in the evening and the poor fella's a bundle of nerves.  But he's in good shape.

South Bank Saunter

Just an easy 8km over Tower Bridge and along the South Bank before breakfast.  Not sure I managed to get under 5min kms.  Breakfast consisted of a bacon & egg brioche roll, croissant filled with chopped banana and flat white all from Pret a Manger.  Which is conveniently at the bottom of my serviced apartment building.  Best. Breakfast. Ever.

Leg stretcher

Just 10km but included 5 x 3min strides. Finally feeling as though the legs are going well again after nearly a week of jet-lag.

Monday Bow Bells

Early morning jog to Victoria Park, run around and back.  Impressed myself by getting there without getting lost.  Even more impressed by Victoria Park and the surrounding canals. A beaut of a morning if fecking freezing.

14km in 4:40's.

Sunday in London

Arrived in London on Saturday and had a rest day as I met the extended family for lunch with a couple of beers.

So Sunday was the 5km tempo.  Jogged to Southwark park (along the route for next week - eek!) then got into it.  Well the legs are still jet lagged and buggered.  I thought I was running 3:15's.  First km split was 3:27.  Then the next was 3:30.  WTF?!  Then suddenly it seemed to come together - 3:20, 3:21 and 3:05.  Thank god.

3km jog back along the marathon route getting excited.

Last day in Berlin

Friday was 14km in Berlin, finally finding a decent route through the gardens and along the river.  98% of the run was fantastic, but then I failed to outrun a massive storm (hail and all) and got drenched in the final 2 minutes.  

14km in the hour.

Tiergarten session

Out at 7.30am and it's freezing and raining.  This is why I don't live in Europe anymore.  You can go and stick your fancy buildings and ancient culture up your ass.

3km warm up finding a route around the Tiergarten and then into the 3km tempo. Gary said keep it controlled and don't overdo it.  I ran 3:25's and honestly don't think my jet lagged legs could have gone any quicker.

Then a short rest and into the 10 x 400m.  Again, controlled but would have hated to have had to push any harder.  They were done at about 74/75 pace.

14.25km all up. 

Berlin jet lagged rust buster

After a 29 hour journey due to delayed flights, I finally arrived in Berlin.  Definitely still grittier than the rest of Germany that I've seen but more interesting as a result.

Had a meeting straightaway then headed out to stretch the legs.  The hotel is right next to the Tiergartens so I just ran around them, getting lost every now and then.  Planned on an hour but let's just say that running is the best cure for jet-lag constipation.  10km all up in 4:34's with the legs feeling like cactus.

Tuesday Half HuRTS

Couldn't get out in the am, found a gap at lunch before my flight so went down to HuRTS where the session was 4 x 10mins.  Certainly wasn't going to do that so settled on half the session.  After much toing and froing on the route we settled on the original and were off.  With me only doing half the session I was out ahead solo.  Reached the gates in 9:40.  On the return I was soon running with Andy who pushed the pace on.  I then had the whole squad to overtake and hey all seemed to appear on the hills.  Ended up with 9:36 - a PB for me over that much run segment.  But who the hell is Michael Bath?

Short jog after and that was me done.