Easy Wednesday

Just the 15km Centennial route with MC, DC5 and Scott Curtis (Scott dropping off early). Total distance of 14.83km in 1:06:25 (4:28s). Followed by an ET massage. Feeling a bit crap today - sore shoulders and slight headache so hope I'm not coming down with something.

MC showed me a new trick on the 405 to measure km times. Today's were as follows:

1. 4:44
2. 4:49
3. 4:46
4. 4:46
5. 4:19
6. 4:04
7. 4:06
8. 4:20
9. 4:28
10. 4:18
11. 4:12
12. 4:16
13. 5:01
14. 4:06
15. 4:53

HuRTS 4 x 3km

The usual 4 x 10 minutes session with Charlie, DC5, KMK, Kanser, English Andy, MC, Richard H, Enda, Stephen etc. Very windy today - the water in Farm Cove was being blown through all of the holes onto the path - a couple of metres in in places. Also very busy on the eastern side where they are setting up the open air cinema. Combined with Pain in the Domain disrupted the reps significantly at times.

Took it easy today running with MC, Enda and English Andy and also KMK for the first 2 reps. Kanser was holding on to to Charlie and DC5 up ahead. Covered 2.72km for the first rep (3:40s), back in 9:41 on the second (3:33s), covered 2.82km for the third rep trying to catch Kanser (3:32s) and back in 9:53 on the fourth (3:30s). I say I took it easy but it's still not comfortable running that distance at that pace, particularly with the heavy wind. Was able to tuck behind KMK on the first 2 reps but was exposed on the 3rd and 4th.

HuRTS Awards Night has been set for 4th December. We have 3 categories, best performance, most improved and the Sergio Carvalho trophy for most rested on laurels. I think Kanser wants to introduce some more categories so that he can win a prize.

Congrats to Stevie on his 3:52 for 1500m at the weekend. Rumour has it he may be leaving us for the dark side.

Easy Monday

Very easy run home after work. 30:29 at Toyota Garage and 57:37 all up. Heel feels a lot better running in the evening than in the morning.

Base Maintenance

Out early and so bored with my current Sunday runs that I just headed up the beaches for an hour then turned around and came back. So ran to Queenscliff then over the headland to Freshie, along Freshie, along Curl Curl, along Dee Why, up the headland but had had enough of beaches by Collaroy so ran along the path. Reached just short of the corner shop near Tourmaline St by one hour so turned around and retraced my steps. 26:09km in 2:01:34 all up (4:40s). Slow because of the number of hills and soft sand. Sand was much softer with the tide coming in on the way home which is why the time was slower. All the sand and hills did no good to my bursar which is very sore today. Whacked it going sailing this afternoon and it's now agony.

Very easy

Very easy 6.65km in 29:36 with Kanser - 4.27 per km. Chatting about Wednesday's race, injuries and marathons. Dave's already gearing up for his next race in January (10km in Dubai). He's even more obsessed then me.

JPMorgan Chase CC - 5th in 17:23

The best race of my season is thanks to Mr Durante. Was completely psyched for this race - couldn't concentrate on work all day. Bussed the large AAR crowd to Centennial Park and caught up with Muz, Serg, Durante and Steve beforehand for a warm up. Drifted off by myself to collect my thoughts then started the strides in front of the start line with what looked like a HuRTS reunion gathering. Lined up on the start line and, with about 10 seconds to go, the whole crowd gave a large cheer to Kanser who sprinted to the start line just in time.

My plan was not to kill myself on the first hill, so settled in gently to find Durante just in front of me with DC5 about 5 yards ahead. Stevie had set off like a hare and seemed to have the race won in the first 400m. The group just behind him was Charlie, the Horne, CT and Crasti with Muz just a little further back. From then on it was just a race between me and Durante. We dropped DC5 at about 3km and could see Muz maintaining about the same distance in front of us. Whenever I eased up Durante would force the pace and vice versa. As a result, we slowly closed in on Muz and a fading CT. We caught CT just before the Fox Studios gate. By this stage I was just hanging on, telling myself that I'd have done well to stick to Durante until 3km, then again even better until 4km, when we caught CT I was telling myself I'd just have to hold on for my first ever win over him. We caught Muz just after the Fox Studios gate just before 5km and Durante seemed to surge a bit which made me think it was all over. Just told myself to stick to them for as long as possible. We hit 5km - the three of us running side by side having dropped CT - and I knew I'd lose in a sprint finish so put on a surge just to be able to say that at least I'd tried my best. After all the hype before the race I couldn't believe that this was the way it was playing out - couldn't have scripted it better. Neither Muz nor Durante went with me and immediately thought I'd gone too early as my legs were starting to buckle but just kept on pushing to give it my best shot. Heard Timmy L shouting from the sidelines which urged me on and just kept on trying to sprint in desperation for the line. Was absolutely stoked at the end. Almost collapsed but turned around to see Durante being helped over the line having collapsed. He was whisked off to the medical tent and put on a drip for an hour. It was pretty warm and he'd taken Panadol earlier in the day which must have affected him (as well as his recent cold/flu). He was the sole reason I had a good race though - I'd have never got back to Muz if I hadn't been tussling with Durante and forcing myself to stick to him the whole way.

Got the following splits:

1km: 3:07
2km: 6:15
3km: 9:16
4km: 12:21
5km: Too busy worrying about Durante and Muz but about 15:30

I reckon the KM were pretty accurate. The first 2km involve a couple of hills whereas the third KM is all flat/downhill which explains the fast split.

Great race by Stevie to win it. Charlie did his customary sprint past the Horne to take second with Crasti 4th. KMK just pipped DC5 with both going under 18 minutes. Serg ran 18:30 to hold off Robin Whiteley. Kanser ran through his knee injury for something just over 19 to hand Macquarie the team victory (seemingly). Great to catch up with Richard P, Tim and the boys after and thanks to Flakey and the Tiger for the shouts while running.

Rest now before building up to GCM next year. Dicky High is a new recruit.

Toyota Garage

Very gentle run half way home in new shoes.

Very easy

Gentle 11km with Steve, Eamonn and MC. Heel still a bit sore, could barely walk on it yesterday but popped 4 Voltaren to get the inflammation down. Just trying to hold my body together for one last hurrah on Wednesday night.

State 3000m Champs - 4th (C Race) in 8:51:06

Have been struggling for form recently and before this race I'd basically given up and told myself that I'd race myself into form at some stage. Love running on the track and love running in the evening. Races were put back an hour which just heightened the tension and knew it would be fast with Earl O'Brien and Chadi in the C Race. I was secretly hoping for something under 9 minutes, telling myself that I'd be OK for JPMorgan on Wednesday if I did that. Farted around on the start line trying to tell the official that Jason Harrison wasn't turning up because he'd gone to the Rihanna concert (really shouldn't have got into that). Unbelievable how much more tense the start of track races are compared to road races. I was bricking myself. Tried not to go too quick to start off with but we still went through 200m in 31 seconds and the first 400 in 66. Chadi and Earl were leading the charge with a chap from Bankstown (Jason Hall). I was in a group trying to hold on to James Swadling.

Don't remember much else other than falling behind James during the middle km but then slowly catching his group over the final km. Caught James with 800m to go, got caught behind a chap for 100m trying to decide whether or not to go past him before just having a go. Was lactic with 300m to go and lost all form trying to sprint it home but chuffed to bits with the time. Got the following splits:

400m - 66
800m - 2:15
1km - 2:50 (was scared at this point)
2km - 5:53
2.2km - 6:30
2.6km - 7:40
3km - 8:51:06

In the overall times I finished 1 spot (and 1 second) behind CT. Closest I've ever got to him.

Roff looked very good for the A race win in 7:57 but run of the night for me was Josh Johnson winning the B race in 8:18 and he's only 16. Big Mikey H looked great taking the lead in the first km but struggled towards the end for an 8:38 - I think he can run a lot quicker. Likewise for Stevie T - he lead the pack in the A race for the first km looking very comfortable but then struggled. Bit more base and he'll be right back in it again.

Left heel is very sore today. Will take it easy until Wednesday, give it everything then take a bit of a rest before starting anew in January. Had a load of beers at Enda's 30th after the race where there was a lot of trash talking but it looks as though Gold Coast will be the showdown next year. Don't remember much else about the evening other than a vague recollection of beating Kanser's Irish ass at pool and thinking that, for however drunk I was, Timmy L was more so.

Hurts Progressive tempo

But only 30 minutes today. Told everyone 16 minutes out then 14 minutes back, forgetting that we normally aim for a 1 minutes negative split rather than a 2 minute. Realised this about 2 minutes into the run. Took it very easy in the first half running with Kanser (who dropped out with a niggling back of knee pain) and Travis. Then started to push it just a bit on the way back. Guess we averaged 4:10s on the way out and 3:40's on the way back. Still nice and comfortable by the end.

Beautiful day and warm. Good crowd (plenty of newer faces) including Charlie's (x2), Muz and Enda (looking strong), MC etc. Bumped into Stevie T and Durante doing secret training. Disappointed to see Durante and Kanser out of the State 3km but should guarantee a great race next Wednesday.

Easy run home

Just an easy run home after work. Like doing this run now, especially on beautiful cool spring evenings like today. 30:00 at Toyota Garage and 56:19 all up (4:20's for the 12.98km although I've had a different distance on the Garmin every time I've run it). Easy Tiger massage at lunch made the legs feel a bit better.

Pussy 400s

Melbourne Cup today so met at 8am at Rushcutters for 400s. Except the Jet Cat was cancelled so I turned up 20 minutes late, by which time KMK, Kanser, Rob Dog and Chris G were on rep number 7. Ran the last 3 with them, then the rest by myself but with Rob Dog and KMK helping out on the occasional rep. See if you can work out which one's they assisted on:

68, 69, 69, 74, 73, 74, 68, 74, 67, 68

I'm obviously mentally a pussy. Quite a bit of wind out there this morning. Was knackered on the way in (fell asleep on the ferry) and really didn't feel like running the 400s but got into it by the end and pleased I did.

Great to see Rob Dog out again, still looking strong. KMK is in great shape too after his 15:58 at the weekend.

Jamie - it's not Dad. He would never have advocated a day's rest - "just get out there Tom and stop being so soft".

Recovery run

Not quite slow enough. Headed out on the usual out and back Monday route with Durante, Kanser, Serg, Muz, Steve, Enda and Aus in hot conditions. Struggled to feel comfortable all the way in the heat and after a tough weekend. 14.58km in 1:02:03 averaging 4:15s.

Who put the anonymous second comment on Saturday? You're probably right.

Old Manly Sunday

Out at 2pm today as I was too tired this morning after a night out. Felt pretty comfortable all the way and only just shy of my PB (set on May 25th) in running 2:01:37. Garmin clocked it at 27.60km today though (4:24s) - although the boardwalk at OceanWorld was blocked so had to run a detour around the road so that probably explains the difference. I obviously judged my taper a day late. First 10km in 42:13, the next in 43:59.

Tim - good to hear from you. How is the ankle repairing?

Striders 10km Lane Cove - 10th in 33:42

Mr Durante will be kicking himself that he wasn't well this week. All started very well. Through the first 1km nice and quick but feeling OK running with Muz and Jeremey Horne after Uncle Dave had set off like a rocket. They then pulled ahead and I settled into a group of 3 with James Swadling and Saxon Moseley. We ran together with me doing most of the front running duties until 6km when my legs just felt dead. It was pretty humid out there today, but I think falling off at 6km was a result of lack of endurance rather than the effects of the weather. Certainly didn't affect James. It was exactly what I had told myself not to do before the race - falling off after all the hard work had been done. I was in no-mans land after that and ran slowly for the next 3km before picking it up again over the final KM. The annoying thing was that had I stuck with James and Saxon they would have dragged me back to Muz - James pipped him on the line.

KMs went as follows:

3:07
6:24 (3:17)
9:48 (3:24)
13:10 (3:22)
16:47 (3:37)
Don't know
Don't care
27:00
30:26
33:42

So until 5km I was ahead of where I was when I ran this course in April (when I did 33:16) and 10 seconds ahead of where I was last November (when I did 33:17). So I need to start banging out those mid-week long runs again. Or perhaps not, really depends on what I'm aiming for now. I guess in the long run it's the marathon next July.

Pretty disappointing runs by the rest of the HuRTS squad too - it's interesting that we all seem to run poorly on the same occassions - must have something to do with our training patterns. Steve was beaten into 3rd (just over 32mins) by Colin and Jeremey and Kanser was about 2 minutes slower than what I expected him to do, plainly still feeling the effects of the marathon. Muz ran a good time but given his time at 5km on this course (16:31) and the way he has been going in training, I expected him to be comfortably under 33.

Great run by Unc though - despite the furious first km he went on to run 32:30, beat CT and take out the Striders 10km series. Well done mate.

HuRTS Gate to Gate

Did a very easy 5km warm-up in 22:23 then 7 x Gate to Gates. Ran the first 300m quick then jogged the rest of the way finishing each one in about 3:20. Did them all with Kanser with Serg joining in the final couple. The first 300m were run pretty quick, Kanser showing a good turn of pace. Perhaps he read my last report and was showing the final run-in on Saturday morning will be no foregone conclusion. Muz, DC5, KMK and the Judge were running the reps in the normal way - Muz looking very good.

Saturday should be fascinating with plenty turning up and a few good battles - Uncle Dave and CT, Muz and Durante, me and Kanser and Flakey trying to stay in front of DickyBoy as the 40 minute pacer - I'm picking up DickyBoy on the way there so we'll have a good chat about Superflake encouragement talk.

HuRTS Hickson Road

Crowd today upfront included Stevie T, Kanser, DC5, Muz, Enda, Rich H, English Andy plus a large crowd of others. Notable absentees were Durante, MC and Serg - all secret training. Reps went:

3:34, 3:30, 3:33, 3:31, 3:32

So nice and consistent. I thought that was one of my quickest sessions but looking back on times done in May to August when I was at my best it's pretty average. Just a little quicker than I ran in September. Ran with Muz for all of them with DC5 and Kanser just behind. It was quite humid today so that could have slowed them a little. Saturday's 10km is more about speed endurance though and I've no idea where I'm at on that. Felt good on the last rep though and was able to respond when Muz pushed ahead in the final 300m.

Progression of my 10km races at Lane Cove (most recent first): 33:16, 33:17, 33:31, 34:06, 34:14. Would love to keep that going but not so sure.

Recovery Monday

Out for a very easy 10km jog (46:50) with Kanser, Serg, Muz and Stevie T. Hot today. Kanser's looking strong again and I reckon he could give his PB a shake on Saturday. Will be doing well to stay in front of him. I reckon I've got him in a sprint finish though. The Muz/Durante battle will be one to watch and hope to see Stevie T dip under 31mins. I'll be presenting him with an honorary HuRTS T-Shirt tomorrow on the basis he wears it when collecting his prize on Saturday morning.

Photo attached was taken secretly by a friend of Steve's wife who snapped us on today's run. The photo had reached Steve's in-box before he even returned from the run. It's like Big Brother out there. From left to right it is Muz, me, Steve, Kanser and Serg.

Was checking out this link this evening to Cram's top 5 which I know my Dad will appreciate: http://www.runnerstribe.com/CramsTop5.php

Cram was the local hero when I was just starting running, but I'd forgotten just how good he was in 1985. What's fantastic is that he runs all these races, rewriting the record books, in his local Jarrow AC vest. Jarrow was a pretty small club (much smaller than Striders) but had the benefit of a great synthetic track (albeit only 6 lanes) which I raced on a number of times.

Long Sunday

Usual Manly 10km loops - did 3 but cut short the third by not going around Campbell Parade as I had to get back to get the kids to Nippers. 28.7km in 2:02:43 (4:17 per km). Legs still heavy - have just lost all bounce since Tuesday when I was feeling great. The heel is feeling good today though. Beautiful morning and great to run along Manly beach at 6am (although not so good by 8am). The usual cheery hello from Jenny Wickham as she sped by in the opposite direction at about 18km. She seems to do her Sunday runs at race pace.

CR 5km

Jogged 3km beforehand trying to get the legs moving then took over the time calling duties before setting off with Muz and WildCoyote. They both set off at an incredible pace before WildCoyte dropped off at about 800m. Clocked the first km in 3:00 and Muz already had about 20 yards on me. At this point my legs just went dead - the effects of Thursday's session still inside them. Tried to turn them over quicker but to no effect and with Muz pulling ahead rapidly I was on my own the whole way. 2km in 6:19, 3km in 9:37, missed 4km then 16:16 all up. Pretty disappointed with the time (at least the km's were consistent after the first!) but still a beautiful morning (perfect conditions) and fun to be out there. I'll just treat it as a good speed session and concentrate on getting things right for the 10km next week. All this short stuff is just too painful.

Muz finished in a fantastic 15:42 - he'll run a great 10km at Lane Cove. If I can keep the gap at 34 seconds there I'll be doing well. Jogged back to the start with Muz for 13km all up - 100km for the week.

Recovery

Very easy 10km by myself at lunchtime in 44:00.

10 x 400m

Headed out after work with Durante, Stevie T and Serg to ES Marks to run some 400's on a proper track. Bit daunting at first - plenty of professional types hanging around the track, although given the quality of the guys I was running with, we (or they) were pretty much in that category. Reps were run going straight into a 200m jog then straight off again. They went:

66, 67, 67, 68, 68, 70, 69, 69, 69, 68

Steve was running 62's. Durante ran a fantastic session running 65's finishing with a 64. He'd have the 3 seconds on me by the first 200m. I ran them all with Serg, who despite threatening to pull out all the way through still finished strongly pipping me on the last. Durante will thrash me over 3000m if this is anything to go by, and the 10km at Lane Cove will be shaky. My only excuse is that I was drinking until 2.30am last night (after taking out the Jackpot at Durty Nelly's by knowing what the second deepest lake in the world was). I couldn't have run at lunch so this session was ideal.

We finished up with four 150's - cruising the bend then sprinting. I don't know how to sprint. I tried to move my arms faster to make the legs go quicker but ended up almost falling over myself. Nice beer in the Doncaster afterwards to round out a great evening.

Huge congrats to Tucks and family on the birth of Nia Tuckey. Hope to see you out soon mate.

Easy 15km

Legs felt very tired today. Set out a bit late with Durante to do the usual Wednesday route but after the first marathon pace stretch up to Woolhara Gates my legs were feeling very tired so just decided to do one loop then head back. Garmin got a bad initial reception then cut out but it was about 15km in 1:05. Decided it was better to feel fresher for speed tomorrow than slog out another tough mid-week run. Yeah yeah, I'm just a pussy.

HuRTS - 45mins Fartlek

Flakey - anything but! Good crowd today for probably the toughest session we do. 60 seconds fast, 30 seconds easy for 45 mins. Set off with Stevie T, Serg and Durante feeling pretty good and relaxed into the fast sections. Turned at Mrs Macquarie's Chair and realised we'd had the wind behind and life was going to be a bit tougher. Stevie T had long since disappeared off into the distance (he and Durante are running the 5000m at ES Marks on Saturday so will be fascinated to see what they can do) leaving Serg, Durante and myself to share the pacing duties. We turned further down Hickson Rd than usual (opposite the end of the nicely renovated building) and tried to get home. Passed through 10km in about 33:53 and Serg and Durante pulled up stumps shortly after on 36 minutes. I could see Kanser about 30 yards ahead at that stage so concentrated on trying to catch him. Turned into the now headwind at Mrs Macquarie's and really struggled - there didn't seem to be much difference between the fast and slow sections. However, managed to finish at the statue on 45mins so only 120yards short of the starting point.

Feeling really good in training at the moment. No idea why as the training schedule is all over the place with work and holidays. Perhaps it's biorythmns or something - I hit a purple patch in October last year too.

Followed up with an Easy Tiger massage. I need to keep on feeding him money as he'll shortly be owing me $300. He's bet me $100 on breaking each of 1:55 for 800m, 4:00 for 1500m and 9:00 for 3000m this season. I think he believes he's Peter Pan.

Doubling up

14km very easy with MC, Serg, Muz, Stevie T, Durante and Mike from Nike at lunchtime. Run at about 4:30s. Then ran home. Didn't get the time but felt good so pace was probably about the same as Friday. I could get into this twice-a-day malarkey (probably will need to if I'm serious about GCM next year). Running home is quite enjoyable at the moment - have loosened up by the end of the day and it's good to get all the stresses of the day out before I get home. So 27km all up today.

No Long Run

Weekend from hell on the work front. Had to work all weekend getting to bed at 2.30am Friday night/Sat morning and 1am last night. Just squeezed in 12km today run at 4:30 pace and that felt like a struggle. This hard work is killing me (and my fitness).

Very easy Friday

Plod home from work in the evening after a horrendous day starting at 5.30am. 31:15 at Toyota Garage and 58:28 all up. Felt surprisingly good.

HuRTS Mona Fartlek

Smaller crowd than usual - Muz, Kanser (looking pale after getting off a 24 hour flight last night), the Judge, Adam, Luke, Chris's G and E and a few Macquarie boys (but no DC5 or KMK). Muz the Judge and I ran in the front group with Kanser just behind. Same story as usual, pushed on the way out to finish just beyond the Stone Gates (reached with 9 seconds to spare), not quite as quick as we used to on the way back (I nearly took a tumble trying to avoid 4 Mums spread across the thin harbour path). The Judge dropped off just coming into Farm Cove and Muz and I ran the whole thing together. Finished just past the bubbler on 5.93km (averaging 3:23s). Warm but not too hot and no wind to speak of.

The Judge is ominously getting fitter.

Not good news for Serg who looks to have picked up a nasty knee injury. Hope you can sort it out mate.

Back to long Wednesday

Back to work today. Joy. Caught up with MC, Ben, new Charlie and Clyde Ros for the usual 19km Centennial session. All but Clyde caught short after one lap of Centennial. Took it very easy today - 12.35 for the lap of Centennial although into a strong wind so it didn't feel comfortable. Lost coverage on the watch after then but I was 51:41 at that stage so slow. Felt very hungry and energy depleted by the end but a good chat to Clyde and pleased to have done it.

At home

15km around home - same as last time but through the playpark at the end rather than up Suwarrow. 15.13km in 59:23 (3:56 pace). Ran the first 11km bang on 4:00 pace all the way then picked it up over the final 4km. Nice run feeling comfortable. Bit concerned about my weight after the holiday though - 67.2kg this morning - about 4kg over ideal race weight. Too many meals out and beers.

NYC and Kangaroo Valley

Just back from a fantastic break in New York then Kangaroo Valley.

New York was great. Was worn out when we arrived from a torrid time at work and the long flight, so decided to recover by going out on a big night in the Big Apple. The stayers were Muz, Ben and Chris (from UBS) after Serg fell asleep in the corner at the first bar. Eventually got in at about 3am but woke up from my sleep on the bathroom toilet at about 5am, so then crawled into bed. Spent the next day trying not to empty the contents of my stomach whilst looking at a few Jackson Pollocks in the MOMA. He's not the best artist to look at while trying to do this. We then had the cocktail reception in the evening where I stuck to mineral water while watching Charlie glug down glass after glass of red wine and thinking my bet that Jeremey would beat him was safe. We (the UBS and Allens teams) had a quick pasta meal before going to bed early hoping to finally catch up on some sleep. The sleep never came. Kept my eyes closed until about 3am while listening to Ash snoring and New York at night but not sleeping. Then turned on the TV for a couple of hours before trying more closed eye stuff. I think I got about 30 minutes before the alarm went off at 7am.

Did my usual pre-race routine and wasn't feeling that bad despite the lack of sleep - at least the hangover had gone and I wasn't drowsy from deep slumber. Did a few sprints and started to feel a bit more confident. The talk before the race was of Stevie T's win in the Striders 10km at Homebush which I picked up on my Blackberry in the morning. He'd been looking in sensational form in training but to convert it into a win over Colin Johnston (the State 10km bronze medallist) in his first competitive race in ages was something. Be sure to say hello to us when you're famous, mate.

The plan from the start had been just to try to stick to Muz and Serg for as long as possible. Got a great start in the middle of the road (you can see from the pictures in the link below) and found myself quite far forward after 500m with slower starters overtaking me. Muz inevitably came past shortly after the first turn so increased the pace slight just to stick to him. Serg came by just before Grand Central Station (shortly before the first mile) and we started to form a group of about 6 of us largely led by Serg. Went through 1 mile in 5:01 which I worked out was 17:33 pace overall but couldn't do the maths when the body was hurting to calculate was 3:06 pace. Most of the next mile was slightly downhill running to 29th St and we just stayed in the same group - Serg, Muz and I at the front. Muz was showing a bit of bravado at the turn by cheering on Charlie and Jeremey running the other way (I was too knackered to manage more than a grunt). After the turn, it's a slight uphill back to Grand Central Station. At this point, I was starting to hurt and hang off the back of the group. Serg was still leading (and looking strong) with a chap from General Electric and Muz was about 3 yards in front of me. Just tried to concentrate at this stage - all the negative thoughts were running through my head but also felt that if I could hold on until the final 600m then I'd have a chance because of more kms in the legs. We came out of Grand Central as a strung out group of 6 and at this point I could see the red cones in the distance where the final turn is. Suddenly felt as though I had a bit of energy so put in a bit of effort to overtake Muz and put some pressure on Serg to see how he'd react. I honestly believe that if he'd put one more effort in at that stage then I'd just have given up but instead I went past and all I heard was him shouting "go with him Muz" or words to that effect. So I knew he was gone but that Muz wasn't, and he's a tenacious bugger. Went round the cones and looked up to see the finish line what seemed miles away (about 600m). Two blokes came past (spirits lifted when I saw Muz wasn't one of them) so I decided just to stick to them and try and let them drag me in to the line. One of them was a pain in the ass as he kept on accelerating past then slowing down and then accelerating again (he got me on the line). Eventually crossed the line with my legs like jelly. Results are below....

http://www.jpmorganchasecc.com/results.php?city_id=18&type=topmale&year=2008

Amazing how much more you remember the shorter the race. I'm sure my 10km write-ups aren't this long. Great night out on Saturday evening capped off watching Manly win the Grand Final in the only Australian pub in Manhattan. Got a bit emotional at this stage so went home to bed.

Arrived home after sleeping for about 24 hours to go on holiday to Kangaroo Valley. Had a brilliant time. Perfect weather, great house, completely relaxing and haven't turned my mobile on in a week. Did 4 runs - three 10kms (38:41, 37:50 and 36:45) and 25km at 4:18 pace yesterday. Heel was a bit sore on the long run but have loaded up on Voltaren and it's better now. Just felt great while running the 10kms which is why they were quick. I'd generally go out in about 4:00 pace and then increase the pace all the way. The 36:45 was a 19:15/17:30 split. Eventually found a 10km out and back route that didn't involve running into herds of cows. The owner of our house told me they were harmless but I'm sure one of them that was staring me down on my first run had no udder.

Attached a few photos taken on 7 mile beach on Saturday.

Big Apple Beckons

Well, I've had to work past midnight every night this week, had about 5 hours sleep each night, I'm still stuck in the office and will be jumping on a 24 hour flight to NYC in about 12 hours. Managed to get out for a 30 minute plod this evening but benefited more from the stretch afterwards than anything else. Sitting in a chair does no good to the muscles.

HuRTS 4 x 3km

Lovely day, good crowd, didn't kill myself during the session, good chat about New York, everything running should be about. Reps went as follows:

9:54; 9:38; 9:50; 9:49.

Ran with Serg, Muz and Durante for the first and second (the Judge joining us on the second) and just Serg and Muz on the 3rd and 4th. Stevie T was so far ahead we lost sight of him - we clocked him at the Stone Gates in under 9mins for the first rep. Reps all felt pretty comfortable although I did push the third when feeling good.

Just easy until Saturday now.

Old Manly Sunday

Ran the old route via Burnt Bridge Creek, Queenscliff, North Head and Tania Park (attached). Took it very easy today - partly because I tend to run my Sunday runs too quick and partly because I was knackered after yesterday. Was averaging 4:30s until 20km but then slowed over the technical hilly bit through the bush at the end. Lovely day and nice run. All up it's 27.29km which I did in 2:05:20 (4:36s).

Just been on the Berlin Marathon website trying to see Kanser finish. Saw from 2:19 to 2:43 but no sign of him - coverage over the finish line was pretty sporadic though. Nice run by Gebrsellassie.

Saturday scared of speedwork

So I ran a steadyish quick tempo instead - route above. Started fairly quick at 4:03s then slowed down loads going along Wood St and through Manly Cove and up the hill to North Head. Reached 6km in 26:20. Ran the Striders marked 2km of North Head quickly (3:26 and 3:20) into a headwind and then contined on with the quicker pace - albeit into a headwind all the way along Manly Beach. Aim then was to get back home averaging under 4:00mins per km which I just did - 15.67km in 1:02:25 (3:59s).

Nice run on a beautiful day but worried about ever having the balls to do a speed session by myself again.

Good luck to Kanser in Berlin tomorrow. He's capable of smashing 2:40 and running sub 2:38.

Blinkin' Nora

Been stuffed at work hence no Blog updates.

Thursday was a tempo run to work - 51:04 after 24:40 (approx) at Spit Junction. Garmin had it as 12.83 this time which is averaging 3:59s. It's a tough run in with all the hills.

Friday was a run at lunch with Serg and Muz. Straight up to Centennial, one loop then straight back. 12.15kms in 47:38. Serg kept the pace honest from the start so that we averaged 3:55s overall but still a nice run on a beautiful day.

Wednesday marathon stuff

Stuffed at work yesterday sat in a meeting looking out at everyone running over lunchtime. Found a small gap in the diary to get out today so met up with MC, Charlie and Ben for the usual Wednesday session. Just cruised it today - feeling great after yesterday's rest. Up to Centennial in 22:03, 12:30 for the quick internal lap finishing on 49:55 but then much quicker coming back home to finish in 1:16:20, including 2:32 over the final quick stretch.

So, almost a PB for the total distance but once again the Garmin tells me it's shorter than I thought - only 18:26km so averaging 4:11s. It'll be interesting to see how it plots the route through Kings Cross though when I get back to put it on SportsTracks this evening. MC going well again.

Easy Monday

The usual Monday route with Serg, MC and Ray. Bumped into a few others including Sparkie (first time I've ever seen him out in the City), DC5 and the Tank. 14:51km in 65:39 so averaged 4:31s. Felt very easy although it was pretty warm again and I was very thirsty and hungry at the end. Feeling a bit faint this afternoon - hope I'm not coming down with something.

Long Sunday

3 x 10km route. Set out with the intention of taking it very easy the whole way - particularly after having friends over for dinner last night and sinking 3 bottles of red between the three of us drinking. First lap was just spent trying to conserve as much energy - went through 10km in about 43:50 having been on 4:30's for the first few km. Felt great at the start of the second lap and just put my head down and churned out the kms in great running conditions. Started to tire during the final lap but still kept the pace at about 4:18's. Ended up with a total of 30.64km in 2:11:30 (4:17 average).

Heel is now sore. It doesn't like long distances. Will apply plenty of ice today and take the voltaren in the hope of keeping the inflammation down.

Mentally weak

Plan for today was the Campbell Road session - 13 x 660m alternating floats and fast. However, things started to conspire against me. I'm not as fit as I was, I could only get out in the middle of the day when it was stinking hot (32C), had to run in trainers and not flats and wasn't in the right frame of mind. The reps went:

2:21; 2:08; 2:28; 2:10; 2:30; 2:10; 2:31; 2:12 - then I pulled the plug. It's probably only the second time ever I've not finished a session. But I was slowing down and really struggling in the heat so decided against flogging a dead horse. Have to say it's also part of the attempt to keep on enjoying my running.

Feel for those running the marathon tomorrow if conditions don't change overnight. Good luck to all.

It can't be true!

Moment of truth this morning. Ran into work with the Garmin and measured the distance. I'd previously plotted it on GMap at just over 13km (http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=206274) and the Garmin has been almost identical to GMaps so was expecting something similar.

Started off at a good pace and was aiming to maintain 4:10kms all the way. Struggled with all the hills in the first half getting to Spit Juntion (5.91km) in 25:18 - 4:16 per km. I usually reach Spit Junction in 27-28mins so this was pretty quick. Picked up the pace along Military Road, struggled over the bridge and got to work in 53:22. Probably my quickest run to/from work that was not run as a tempo session. However, the Garmin said it was only 12.73km(!) meaning an average pace of 4:12 p/km. It might have lost a bit in the undercover steps that go back and forth on each other at the end of the Harbour Bridge but not 300m. I think I'll stick with the GMap calculation for now...

HuRTS Mona Fartlek

Beautiful day, bit of wind about and almost recovered from a 36 hours hangover. Usual Mona Fartlek today. Smaller crowd than normal with the Sydney Running Festival this weekend but still lots of quality with Stevie T, Serg, Muz, the Judge (making a welcome return), Tri Ry, MC (bringing a female with him, God forbid), Gareth, Pete W and others.

Steve pretended he was running with us for the first 90 sec rep then disappeared off into the distance, leaving Serg, Muz and I to run together the whole way. Serg is obviously trying to play mind games before New York by telling Muz and I that he thought he'd take it easy today and "just run with us" but I heard that heavy breathing towards the end so I'm not so sure. Pushed the first two 60 second reps to reach the Stone Gates with 10 seconds to spare. Struggled as usual over the 3rd and 4th 60 second reps before pushing the 30s. Finished the 20 minutes having covered 5.94km (3:22 pace).

HuRTS 45mins Fartlek

Beautiful day, cooler than yesterday but still clear. We'd thought the wind had dropped too until we turned the first corner and realised it had been behind us for the first 2km.Crowd up fron was Stevie T, Serg, Muz, new bloke Tri Ry, Durante (still struggling with injury) and myself with Kanser joining in half way around Farm Cove. Kanser, Stevie, Serg and Tri Ry pulled ahead slightly getting towards Hickson Rd before Serg and Tri Ry dropped back to join us just before the turn. Reached the turn (22.30 mins) at 6.49km (3:28 pace). Very quickly caught by Kanser (going great guns) and Stevie then Tri Ry dropped off at the Toaster. Reached 10km in 34:45 when Serg stopped, leaving Muz and I to finish it off (Stevie having long since disappeared off into the distance). Finished just beyond the stone gates for 12.86km in the 45mins (3:30 pace).

If the slow sections were 4:10, the fast sections averaged 3:14. If they were 4:00, the fast sections were 3:17. They felt slower than 4:00 per km but then they also feel slow compared to the fast sections.

Good crowd at HuRTS including Chris G, Springer, MC (cutting short), Enda (back from injury), Adam and English Andy. Sitting here in the office with stomach cramps - just like I used to get when doing hard sessions coming back from injury in March/April.

Starting to show

Lack of recent training is starting to show. Been looking after the kids all weekend so no run until today. Ran the long route in to work - 18.56km in 1:23:00 - average of 4:28. Felt very lethargic at the start, as if the legs had gone soft. One thing about running lots of kms in training is that your legs tend to just become numb when you'd otherwise just want to give up. Didn't feel that way today, just wanted to give up.

Wasn't helped in having to carry a rucksack with files and shoes in, which was rubbing on my shoulders all the way (now red raw). Also 32c today. No idea where this hot weather has suddenly come from but it had me longing for a bit of Winter when running up Parriwi Rd.

Heel a bit tender this evening. It doesn't like anything long or hilly.

Home Truths

The Manly mile is only 1.59km long.

Kirst is away for the weekend so took today off to look after the kids. Due to complications over work I had booked Michelle to look after the kids for 4 hours but my meeting was cancelled so took advantage and went for a run (and lazy lunch). Run was a new variation of an old route - 15.34km in 1:03:49 (4:10 per km) - picture attached. The picture is saved from SportTracks - the new software I've downloaded. Haven't got a clue how it works but it just seemed to pick up all my runs from my Garmin, save them on a very handy and well laid out Calendar and then show pictures of where you actually ran. Then, when you hovver the mouse over any spot on your run, it tells you the exact distance at that point and the elapsed time. How good is that? It's amazing.

Steady run, not wholly comfortable as I'm too busy trying to keep the pace up for the watch. Calves are very sore. Tara indicated this would happen - I've got a new stretch which loosens the lower part of the calf (which was causing the bursitis) but it means I'm now using the upper part of my calves more hence them being so sore, particularly after yesterday's session.

BTW, was looking over the SMH results yesterday in responding to Dave Sweeney and noticed that the bloke I outsprinted at the end of that race was exactly the same as the bloke I outstprinted at the end of City to Surf (Richard Gardiner). Must be annoying for him, but indicates that perhaps my SMH Half wasn't as bad as I thought it was, given how pleased I was with C2S.

HuRTS Hickson Road

Back to Hickson Road. Good crowd including Serg, Muz, MC, Durante, DC5, Stevie T, KMK, Ben, Hamish (getting back into some good form), English Andy etc. Was late for the first rep - saw the group getting ready to set off just as I was getting to the bottom of the steps. I guess I was about 5 or 6 seconds behind. Just failed to catch Muz and Durante who ran a 3:40 so I'm guessing I did a 3:45. The new Garmin was still trying to pick out some satellites at this stage. It doesn't seem to like searching for them when you're not standing still.

It found the satellites seconds before the second rep. From then, the reps were:

3:31 (3:33 on the Garmin but having problems with the stop button - you need to press it without a finger on the bezel which is not my style) - 2:59 per/km
3:32 (2:59 per km) trying to keep up with Muz and Durante who put a quick one in.
3:34 (3:02 per km) trying to catch Muz after getting caught in traffic at the start.
3:35 (3:03 per km) trying to pull ahead of Muz.

DC5 was just ahead on each (although fading towards the end of each). Special mention to Stevie T who is starting to show his class. After running them all from the front in well under 3:30, he ran a 3:13 on the final rep beating KMK running his usual cowboy final rep. New course record for Hickson Road.

Will try to download the data tonight.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Lovely morning, crap day, great evening.

Received all the presents that any bloke could possibly want: a Garmin Forerunner 405, a lawn strimmer and 2 pairs of pants.

Only had 25 minutes to test out the 405, ran about 5km after eventually picking up the first satellite signal (hope subsequent ones aren't so slow). Averaged 4:18per km on the way out and 4:08 on the way back. I can see an obsession emerging here.

Finished up today with a trip to Cirque du Soleil. Some of the positions those gymnasts get into didn't quite remind me of the Tiger massage earlier this afternoon. But ate a load of junk food and had a great time. Have put on 1.5kgs in my almost 2 weeks off.

HuRTS 5min reps

Nice day produced a few more than usual but not the size crowd we were getting 4 or 5 months ago. Front group was Charlie, Steve T, Durante, Kanser, Muz and Serg. I ran the first six very consistently with MC reaching the first of the big 3 trees each time and then returning just past the start point (lamppost beside the drain) - the slight extra distance due to the steep downhill beside Mrs Macs Chair. MC (along with Serg, Durante and Kanser - soft buggers) dropped out after six so had to run the last two with Steve, Charlie and Muz. Kept up with Steve and Charlie on rep 7 (reaching Mrs Macs Chair 20 seconds quicker than the previous reps) and then was dropped by them all on rep 8 before Muz and Charlie faded over the final 500m. Very quick for those two.

No reaction from the heel but lets see how it is tomorrow (Birthday! - hoping for that Garmin 405!)

Easy Sunday

Easy 10km around flat route - bit quicker then Friday. 41:43. Heel still fine although thought I could feel it slightly at times while running today.

Volunteering

No run today but volunteering in appalling conditions at North Head this morning. Couldn't even press the lap counter on the stopwatch at the end my hands were so cold and wet.

Watched Bec in her first appearance on stage last night. She's not hard to spot. Her family members will also be able to hear her quite clearly too. Excitement is a bit of an understatement.....