Losing track

I think last Tuesday I was with the squad doing fartlek easily.
Wed was a rest.
Thursday was 8km easy.
Friday was department Christmas party.
Sat was a hungover 8km.
Sunday was a lively 8km.
Monday was a rest.
Tuesday an 8km run home before getting a taxi at Spit Junction.
Wednesday was over 8km at home at 4min km pace.
Today I joined the squad for the first proper session in weeks. 4 x 2km. Planned from the start just to run with MC doing 7mins per rep but unfortunately he's improved a bit so it was 6:50, 6:50, 6:50 and 6:48. Struggled through it lacking both pace and stamina, but survived and the achilles is OK. Kanser and Andy H have both hit form. Clyde did his usual burglar activity and Tucks was wondering why everyone was running so fast. Plainly he's been out on the trails for too long. I won't even mention Timmy.
Fingers crossed for Billy tomorrow.

Piling it on

..the weight that is, not the training.

Wednesday was a rest and too wet to ride in.

Thursday was an easy 7km joining in a few of the Gate to Gates at the back. No bike though as too wet again.

Friday was recovery from our client Christmas party.

Saturday was 6km picking the car up from the International Hotel Management School after another function (it's silly season) and 10 mins sweating it out on the spin bike doing a minute resistance and minute spin.

Sunday was another easy 6km and 20 mins on the spin bike doing 2 mins resistance, 2 mins spin.

Today was a very easy 8km with the HuRT Squad including MC, Kanser, Clyde, Mat K, Craig, James V, Indrajeet, Laura etc. Rode in and out too. Finally the weather is perfect again.

Have gained 4kg in 3 weeks and now weigh 70.3kg. My singlets feel snug. But good news is that the achilles feels heaps better. Swelling right down, no pain, have increased the weight on my back doing the eccentric loading and booked in to see the Butcher of Bondi tomorrow. So things are looking up.

Big shout to my eldest brother Jamie for running 2:49 in the Florence Marathon yesterday. Fantastic result. Plainly he's been listening to the wise counsel of his little brother.

The rot sets in

Saturday was a rest. Sunday was fulflling my duty as the ANSW rep (Mens) for the Striders at the ANSW Relays out at Homebush. After fiddling around with the teams for a week I found myself down to run in the 4 x 800m (160+) with Mat Kaley, Ray and Anna. Mat ran a great first leg in 2:09, Ray backed up with a 2:12, Anna got us into 2nd place with a 2:30 (first ever track race!) and I took over the last leg with Michael Doggett right behind me. I was a pussy from the start, running it like a 3000m race trying to conserve some energy. Doggett came past at 200m and just ran away from me. Eventually finished in 2:13 with my tail between my legs (and swollen achilles). At least we got a bronze medal. Jogged 6km in the 34C heat as a "warmdown".

Monday rode to work and back feeling good but didn't run as the achilles was sensitive. Took Voltaren last night just to try and blast away the swelling (it's already a lot more supple). Rode to work this morning then showed up to the HuRTS session today (45min fartlek) and just ran 6.75km very easy with Pete W, Sonya, Emma and James V. Will ride home in the rain shortly. I might become a cyclist. There's not enough gear to buy with just running.

Friday repeat

Same again. Run in 24:48. Saw Mark Green again - just after Clyde and just before Kanser. The HuRT Squad is keeping them in business. He said that runners shouldn't worry about climbing out of the saddle so happily did so on the way home.

Tosh.O

Funniest show on TV.

Same as yesterday, ride in, 6km at lunch concentrating on technique (24:32) and a ride home. Bloody wet.

It's worse than childbirth

I don't know of any female who has returned to see Jean Pierre after a first visit. And yet women more often than not have more than one baby. Therefore seeing JP must be more painful. My calf is now pulp and swollen to twice its normal size. But I survived.

Rode to work in 39:41, did 6km easy at lunch then rode home very carefully in the rain. My tyres are almost slicks and I took a deep breath at every corner and going over every white line.

On ya Bike

Saw The Body Mechanic yesterday. Got to take it easy on the running for a while. Go back on Friday to get a plan. In the meantime I've booked in to see the Butcher of Bondi tomorrow. I'll take a leather strap to bite on and some tissues to wipe away the tears.

Today was a very easy 6km on grass wearing flats with heel raises. Concentrated on running technique which made time pass very slowly. Then rode home on The Orb this evening, feeling much stronger on the bike than I expected (managed to get up Battle Boulevard at a good pace without getting out of the saddle). I'll suffer tomorrow but will use the bike to commute to keep the weight off. Used our funky new scales to weight myself this evening - 66.6kg. Very appropriate.

Nipper overload

There was no Part 2. Achilles issues and business put paid to that. Going to see a specialist on Wednesday morning.

Today was an easy 11.5km in 49:07 (4:17's) on the Manly 14km route cutting straight back from Queenscliff. Achilles was OK but aware of it the whole way.

Hong Kong Part 1

Met up with the lovely Aine (who true to form was off the back of consecutive 12 hour benders) and her work colleague Nick for one of the most interesting training runs I've ever done. Hong Kong is nuts. We ran through the busiest metropolis in the world, up the steepest longest path I've ever seen, through rainforest seeing fireflies, along a ridge with the most spectacular views, once around Happy Valley Racecourse and back to Wan Chai. 1:21 but very slow. Fantastic run though.

Lane Cove 10km - 3rd in 33:40

Got picked up by Ben, Dickyboy and the Hamburglar and arrived at 6.30am to park next to Andy with his personalised number plated BMW X3 and walked over to meet a beaming Timmy. CT was getting the excuses in early, something about Greta making him clean the apartment this week. Thamal was looking confident and the Horne was looking mean.

Set off and I felt great for the first 2km, just tracking whoever took the lead. CT took some of the pace, then the Horne (who seemed to have splashed a fair bit of Old Spice on this morning) and then Thamal. Then we hit Scribbly Gum. Pushed quite hard going up it to stick with Thamal but then coming back down my legs were struggling and Thamal and the Horne gapped me. They were about 3 seconds ahead at 3km but over the next 2km up the hills they must have turned it into 20s. I was on my own from here. CT was about 10s back so it was a time trial. Occasionally I'd feel I was slowing so would try and count to 100 to keep the pace up. But otherwise it was a bit dull. A bit like an Ultra to be honest, just running through the bush with only myself for company. Tried to keep the pace honest but was a bit disappointed to cross in 33:40. I was expecting something sub 33 today and had the runners who did that (the Horne won with Thamal second, both just under 33) but I just didn't have it in the legs. Sole consolation was beating CT, but given he had an off day it's a bit of a hollow victory.

Perhaps it's a lesson that if you want to run a good 10km you've really got to be putting in the mileage and the big Sunday runs. I seem to do best over 10km when I'm doing the big Sunday run and backing up with a tough Wednesday run. The speedwork is great for the shorter stuff. Interestingly, I ran a very similar time at Lane Cove in November 2008 before backing up 4 days later with 17:23 at the JPMorgan CC, again off the back of more speedwork.

Timmy took $20 off me nudging under 36 with a gutsy 35:45. Binfield ran pretty well for 5th place but otherwise the times weren't great. Conditions were perfect at the start but pretty warm by the time we finished.

Not a bad day for a run

Very easy 10.5km today with MC, King James, Craig, Brendan and a few others. About 4:40 pace. Perfect running conditions. Hope it stays like this for tomorrow. Photo taken from office window just now. Looks like a bit of a jam going into Wooloommooloo.

Bummin' about

Rocked up late to the 4 x 2kms, bumped into them half way down Hickson Road so ran back with Clyde and Andy. They were going a bit quick for my liking so did the next rep with MC in 7:00, then ran the final rep with Clyde and Andy pretty quickly in 6:28. Took some Nurofen Forte this morning for my burned throat which left me feeling a bit lethargic. About 10km all up.

Cup Hangover

It bit hard.

Managed to get out this evening for a lazy 12.5km in 55:53 (4:28's) feeling pretty good by the end. Usual Wednesday route but cutting back to the office from Fox Studios gates. Looking forward to Saturday.

The Race that stops a Nation!

..and I lost out on $1,250 by 1mm. Red Cadeaux was in front before the line and after the line, but got his head dip wrong.

Was stuck in a meeting in North Sydney when the boys were doing 400's, and still when the rest of the squad were doing a progressive tempo, but managed to sneak in a quick run just before the Melbourne Cup. Decided a 10km tempo was the best way to complete a decent run in the time available so did my measured route from the office. After a slow first 1km (3:52) I basically gave it full effort. Ran in the Brooks T-6's with orthotics in as my achilles has been giving me gyp. Reached 5km in 17:37, was expecting to run back up the hills in 18:00 but managed to finish in 34:59. The negative split was mainly due to a 3:10 final km trying to get under 35mins.

Easy Monday

Took Friday off with a sore achilles and hangover. Was heading to Centennial for Sean's session on Sat morning when I got called back home due to a home intruder. Trawled the streets of Fairlight looking for her then had to deal with CSI. I'd come down with a cold anyway so didn't feel like going running. Sunday still felt crap so another day's rest.

So today I was well rested for the usual 15.8km route. Very easy pace and felt full of energy. 1:11:15. Durante was there, bouncing around as usual.

HuRTS 8 x 800m

Over to Rushcutters again and off with the shoes for 8 x 800m going off a rolling 4 minutes. Good crowd seeing as MC allowed me to change the official session so Tucks, Kanser, Timmy, J-Fen, Richie H, Big Sam, Pete W, Vicky Joe, MC himself, Laura, Emma and a heap of others were in attendance. I had Tucks alongside for the first couple and leading the final rep and Vicky Joe blasting out rep number 5 otherwise I was leading. Reps went as follows:

2:22
2:21
2:23
2:22
2:22
2:21
2:21
2:14

Felt comfortable again barefoot but I'll pay the price with my achilles tomorrow. Kanser took a step forward today, running the reps with J-Fen in the 2:27 - 2:28 range before a quick final one. Poor little Timmy seems to be a bit out-classed these days. Rumour is he's shying away from my Lane Cove bet. So that'll be $20 please young sir.

11km all up.

Mid week wanderings

Massage this morning with the Tiger which worked wonders then rocked up at lunchtime with Kanser, Big Sam, RMR, King James, John Bowe and the Whores for the Centennial route. I was planning on cutting back at Fox Studios and only doing 12km but felt good today so continued on for 15km with the rest of the group.

1:06:42 (4:27's).

HuRTS 14 x 3mins

Somehow managed to find some time in the day to get down to HuRTS. Felt tired from the off. Arrived to find a massive crowd gathered (JPMorgan aka the HuRTS Squad Champs are around the corner). We started with a very easy rep in about 3:26 pace and then Bartles, Richie H and Vicky Joe took turns to face the wind while Ray, Tucks, J-Fen, Jason, TB and I bludged. Richie in particular was running very strongly. I was finishing mid pack (Tucks was even behind) and just felt fatigued. However, looking at my watch we were averaging 3:15 to 3:18 pace per rep so I wasn't too bothered. A few pulled out after 10. A few more after 12 and then I suddenly felt really good running the final 2 reps in 3:06 and 3:02 pace. A few days rest and I'm confident things will come together.

16km all up.

Long run in

Summer has arrived. I had forgotten how hard the long run can get in the heat. Ran my 14km Manly route (Shelley and back) in 60:15 (4:17's) after turning at Shelley in 30:24. Then drank some Endura, brushed my teeth, picked my bag up and ran into work (57:38). Running to work was bloody hard, every hill was a real struggle and it was as much as I could do just to keep on turning the legs over.

All up 27km. Struggling with fatigue at the moment but hoping it's just a phase I'll pull through.

Easy Sunday

11.76km in the late afternoon with the elder 2 kids riding their bikes alongside. 52:03 (4:25's). Very tired after yesterday's session and achilles very sore.

More Centennial Stuff

Session this morning was 6km tempo followed by 10 hills. Long warm up, chatting to Keith, Wildman and CT then straight into it. The big guns went off like hares (Benny and Harry went through 5km in 13:59 and did the 6km in 16:40) while I found myself alone as usual - it was a real tempo. CT had gone off hard and hung on well today running 18:35. I did the kms in 3:07, 6:20, 9:35, 12:52, 16:08 and finishing in 19:16. Barefoot again.

Quick chat and jog over to a 100m fairly gentle slope for the hills. These were pretty hard as they were run quick (about 21/22s) with a quick jog back down between each. Then finished with another easy internal loop of the white fence with Wildman, CT and a fast chap called Tony.

CT definitely favourite for the $20 off today's performance.

16km all up.

HuRTS 10 x 400m

Hardcore band of merry men today, strictly for the current form 35min 10km runner. Timmy was nowhere to be seen. Tucks, TB, Richie H, Vicky Joe, J-Fen, Ray and Richies mate fronted on a beautiful day. Check out the shot from my phone on my (very late) commute into work this morning:



We marked out 400m around the Oval - 410m on my Garmin but 400m on others (I don't cut the corners - at least when marking out the lap). The grass was in fantastic condition so I went barefoot again and started the session - each rep run off a rolling 2 minutes. Times were:

68
67
66
67
68
66
66
67
66
62

I was in front on each, had Tucks on my shoulder for most (with him in the lead for the first half on a few) and had to work hard to reel in Vicky Joe on the last. But once again loved the barefoot running. Not the same fatigue on the final 3 reps that I usually get.

10km all up.

Even better than the view from the boat this morning were the views down in Circular Quay at lunchtime where one of my spies took this pic:



Go Cat!

Stuffaroo'd

Manic at work. Managed to sneak out for an 8km jog at 7.30pm before back to the office. Knackered from running anyway.

HuRTS 45mins Fartlek

Lovely day. The usual healthy crowd with a good core group of 5 of us (J-Fen, Bartles, Dicky High, Gus McGillivray and myself) upfront. After last month's effort, I decided just to sit in and bludge off everyone until the final 3km (Opera House gates). That's basically how it went. Felt quite comfortable (physically, not mentally) bludging. We reached halfway opposite the Lend Lease steps so a good effort, the pace then dropped with no-one wanting to do any work into the wind. Running alongside the Toaster I realised we were unlikely to get back in time unless we upped the pace a lot so I started pushing the fast sections hard. This damn near killed me with just Bartles clinging on. Got a slight gap coming up the hills which he closed on the last easy 30 second section. Finished in 44:56 so judged it well. The Garmin measured it accurately at 12.8km averaging 3:30's.

Had stomach cramps all afternoon. I took Voltaren last night and this morning as my achilles was swollen and so I could hammer the eccentric loading. It's disagreed with me (other than for the achilles).

15km all up.

Long Monday

Did 8km by myself struggling and feeling tired, then joined the usual HuRTS squad Monday run and immediately felt good chatting away. Huge crowd but I was chatting mainly to MC, Tucks, TB, Big Sam and Jonathon W. Of the huge crowd, only those guys (less JW), plus the King and Brendan ran the whole thing. I then tagged on a couple of extra km to make it up to 26km. Beautiful day and perfect temp for running.

26.2km in 1:55:48 (4:25's).

Steady Sunday

Hungover this morning after drowning my Welsh glory sorrows in The Steyne last night so only managed a steady 11.5km this afternoon. Despite having spent the whole weekend on my feet I felt great today. 45:50 (3:59s). Seem to have hit a bit of a purple patch. Will try to squeeze a long one in tomorrow.

Wallabies beaten by the better team. That Dagg fella was my man of the match.

Bejaysus! Just seen the results from Burnie 10. Wildman just missing the win but running sub 30 and beating this years City to Surf winner!

Tempo 10km

Over to Centennial this morning to join Sean's group for a tempo 10km. It was pissing with rain and as I sat in the car at 7:25am I seriously contemplated driving straight home. HTFU'd and joined in the 4km warm up chatting to Anna F who was making a first time appearance with Sean.

CT, Huw Williams, Benny St and a couple of other fast guys turned up and we were off in the pouring rain. Made a last minute decision to run barefoot as were on the 1km loop of the playing fields. The corners were a bit slippery but otherwise it was a great choice. Benny disappeared off into the distance and I settled into a group with Huw, Sean, CT and 2 others. They pulled ahead on the 3rd lap but given I was doing km splits of 3:13 or thereabouts I wasn't fussed. Went through 5 laps (5.1km on my Garmin) in 16:28. Caught CT at 7.5km. Pushed on to finish in 32:51 (16:23 second 5km) but feeling great. There really is something in this barefoot running stuff. I notice my stride being shorter but the cadence being higher and seem to suffer fewer aches or fatigue. Although the Garmin said 10.2km, CT reckons it's 9.8km. Still pleased with the time. He finished in 33:50 bludging the last 2 laps and claiming we need to renegotiate the bet. But he's a wily old fella and I can tell he's trying to rort me in some fashion.

Friday run in

Ran in. Holey moley. Small girls on trikes were overtaking me this morning. Not sure of time as my watch ran out of juice half way, very shortly before I did. 27:45 at Spit Junction so I'm guessing high 58's all up.

Been thinking about last night and I'm just proud to have competed with those chaps. Timmy really is an awesome swimmer.

115km for the week.

Biathlon bollx

I needed a minute! I only had 52 seconds and the wily old bugger beat me by 5 seconds. Set off quick tracking CT before he pushed ahead up the hills. Stuck with Fast Charlie until 1.5km when he started catching CT. I was then on my own, but closed in a bit in the final 500m. Finished the 4km run in 12:48. Then spent what felt like a frickin' age trying to get my trainers off before I dived in and before I knew it, Dicky H was coming past. Then Jamie Stewart, then Enda, then Pete W. I think that's it, before I hear Kanser screaming at me from the end of lane 4 telling me Timmy's just behind. Reach the end of lane 5 still ahead and thinking I had a chance. Then inexorably Timmy comes past with 20m to go. Managed to stay ahead of Eoin and Christian so at least I wasn't last placed HuRTs man.

Finished in 19:23, a new PB but $30 poorer. Enjoyable beers after handing over the money to Timmy with Enda, Kanser, CT and Greta in attendance. Fantastic news to hear that Greta is pregnant, no doubt that kid will be able to run. CT was kind enough to offer me a bet for Lane Cove - $20 with him giving me a 20s start. Got something to work towards now.

HuRTS Hickson Road

Woke up feeling very tired again and sore. This will be a 115km week, stepping up from 80km and 15km over the previous 2 weeks so it's probably no surprise. Have got the biathlon on this evening and wanted to stretch the legs a bit so headed down to the HuRTs session on Hickson Road and just ran easily in the second group. Pace was between 3:40 and 3:55 (per/km - 4:15 to 4:25 overall) for each of the reps. Big crowd with J-Fen running from the front but Kanser and Clyde looked very pleased at the end describing in detail how they pulled him in on the final rep.

Have $30 on a head to head with Timmy tonight. He tends to swim 5:00 - 5:15 for the 300m and I'm very consistent on 6:00 with my breastroke, so I reckon I need a minute over the 4km run to be safe. CT and Fast Charlie will no doubt take it out very quick so I'll just try to stick behind them for as long as possible. The tension is mounting.

Wednesday MLR

Out with Jonathan Wors, Big Sam (yay!), John Bowe and Keith for the usual Wednesday route. However, they all peeled off after one lap of Centennial leaving me to run the second half alone. I think John Bowe did after I gave him a whole load of grief for his handicapping for the Striders Internal Half on Sunday. Me giving Tucks a minute headstart - are you joking? Giving Timmy 6 minutes - is he having a laugh? JB 6 minutes!!!!

Easy pace run (1:22:23 - 4:26's for the 18.6km). Heel a bit sore as is my swollen toe, but no-one wants to hear about that. Saw the Tiger for a massage this morning. I blame him for pulling my toes out of their toe sockets in his obsession with deal with plantar fascia issues.

HuRTS 4 x 3km

Massive crowd today and the temperature is rising. Dicky High was sweating before we'd even started but seemed to calm down once he realised Timmy hadn't shown up.

I was tired from the current heavy training load so the plan was just to try and stick in for as long as possible. The group upfront was Bartles, Fast Charlie, J-Fen, Dicky H, Enda and Vicky Joe on the first rep, with Bartles pushing on and the rest of us chasing. Gangsta Jason appeared on the 3rd and 4th reps running very well. The third was interesting as Fast Charlie, Gangsta Jason and Bartles opened up a big gap ahead of J-Fen and myself before we crawled our way back to them by the Art Gallery. This was after I had a head on collision with some doofus just after Mrs Mac's Chair. Times were as follows:

9:55
9:28
9:57
9:32

So very similar to August 2nd. Don't feel as rodgered back in the office as I obviously did back then judging by the report I wrote.

Run home

Felt very sore all day. Had a huge lasagne and chips for lunch, followed by a big Tiramisu and still felt bloated at 7.30pm. Ran home in any case. Bumped into Martin Thomas in the city and ran to Military Road with him. Nice easy run as a result and legs feeling better this evening. 59:16.

Longish Sunday

Out with Dickyboy, Ben and Tim Peel for plenty of bush and hills. Ran to Dee Why hugging the coastline (include the very technical trail in front of the Windy Drop Down estate) then up the longest and steepest hill in the world to the top of Red Hill. Back via Manly Dam trails then around Queenscliff and Manly. 26.01km in 2:06:14 (4:51's). Soles of feet now very sore due to all the rock hopping.

Some great results from Melbourne with TB running 2:37:05, Macca 2:37:50, JB 2:39:15 and JC dipping under 2:50 - fantastic for someone who ran many marathons trying to get under 3 hours. Also congrats to Tucks for taking out the Fitzroy Falls Fire Trail marathon on Saturday in 2:47 against good competition. Undoubtedly King of the Trails.

Saturday Tighe session

Wanted a tough session today so planned for the hardest one I do - 5km hard, 8 x 250m hill then 5km hard. Dickyboy agreed to join in but had Cameron in the pram so was just running at 4min kms, cutting short a couple of sections to give me something to chase.

I ran 17:10 then 17:24. Not quite as good as the week post State 10km (where I did 17:17 and 17:15) but I just couldn't keep it up on the second 5km - in June I felt good on the final lap, today I was just holding on running 3:30's before putting in a final sprint. Still, it was consistent and it is done.

A few more recent photos for the family:

Run in

Met up with Dickyboy in Fairlight and ran to work with him. Was intending on a nice easy pace but Dicky starts with a 4:10 and keeps the pace up the whole way, clocking sub4 mins kms along Military Road. I was trying to chat but was gasping for breath mid-sentence.

Ended up with 54:46 after 26:15 at Spit Junction. Dicky goes a slightly different route through Neutral Bay and once off the bridge but I don't think it affects the overall tuime too much. Turns out he tries to beat his time to run in each time he does it.

82km for the week.

Couple of photos from holiday:

Kids on the beach:



Highs and Highnams:

HuRTS Pyramid

Really small crowd today. Tucks showed up at the Art Gallery but sporting an iPod and just heading off for a jog before he attempts to cement his position as King of the Trails in the Fitzroy Falls Fire Trail Marathon on Saturday. Bartles, New Dad J-Fen, Todd, Ray, Hamish and Killa were men there for the real session.

Bit nervous beforehand, haven't done any speed in weeks (and nothing since pulling out of SMH) so set of gingerly but felt quite comfortable. Reps went as follows:

82
2:47
4:12
5:38
4:11
2:42
75

Ran them all bludging off Bartles until the final lap of each rep where I'd take the wind. Times were comparable to what I did back in May but without feeling absolutely shattered. Uncomfortable running 3min kms again mind. Took my shoes off half way through and ran the back reps barefoot. Interestingly it felt easier doing so. I could be on to something here. I've discovered a new running technique I'm going to reveal to the world...

Home again

10km in shoes both yesterday and this morning. Then a 10 hour drive back to Sydney. Slow yesterday, steady this morning (4 min kms). Stiff and sore now. Need to get back into the regime again.

Attempt at a longer one

Did 5.5km along the roads (seeing Charlie D drive past in the process) then hit Tallows beach running the length from Broken Head to Byron Bay lighthouse and back. I'd bandaged my blistered toes but the tide was high and I was running on the soft sand and in the sea when I couldn't avoid the waves. Before I hit the lighthouse the bandages were flapping off. 2km later the toes were shredded. Felt a bit sick with the pain at the end, but finished up with 20.78km in 1:35:10.

Mr Sand Man

Yesterday was a very easy 8km barefoot on the sand again with the blistered toes feeling very sore. Averaged about 4:17's.

Today I had 30mins to fit a run in before LF Charlie was turning up with family to watch the mighty Sea Eagles win the Grand Final. This place has become a HuRT Squad northern base over the past week. With only 30mins to spare I went hard from the beginning, feeling great before turning after 15mins only to discover I'd been running with the benefit of a strong Southerly. Finished up with 8.04km in 31:04 averaging 3:51's. Again, on the sand barefoot. Feel as though all this barefoot sand running has done great things for my PF and achilles, with no issues from them whatsoever.

Great Grand Final to watch, even for the impartial observer with Glenn Stewart, Will Hopoate and Shaun Johnston showing some lovely bits of magic. LF Charlie managed to remain suitable muted, but at least his eldest son showed some allegiance.

Good results from Homebush yesterday. Tucks beat my Homebush PB by 13 seconds so will be hard to beat from here on. Timmy is on his summer decline and Kanser is slowly progressing. Thought JF would go quicker though. But then I remembered he's probably only had 3 hours unbroken sleep for the past 2 weeks so fair play..

More of the same

12km today up and down the beach. Tide was out so ran on the hard sand, so much quicker (50:57 with a slow first and final km beating my way through the bush behind the beach). Fantastic day, blue skies and 23C but no Ursula Andress today.

Back out again

Sydney half was a shocker. Set out feeling very good, going through 3km in 10:00 with Bleasel before my hammy started tightening up at 5km. Tried to stretch it out by lengthening my stride until it tightened up to the point of limping at 8km. So I pulled out. My first ever dnf. It stiffened up massively as soon as I stopped and I hobbled around for the next couple of days.

Had a conference up in the Gold Coast last Wed/Thurs and tried a short run on the Thurs but my hammy was still sore. Incidentally, we had a big night out on the Wed where one of the fellow attendees at Shooters was Clive Cooper, who Tucks will remember as the Sydney University runner who bolted away from us in the State 3000m in 2008 before we crawled our way back to him on the final lap. He went out similarly hard on the vodka red bulls, but this time I matched him stride for stride from the gun.

Ran to work on Tuesday before pulling up stumps at Cremorne and catching the bus with the hammy tightening slightly. Drove up to Byron Bay yesterday for a week's holiday. Ran along Broken Head beach this morning - 5km up then back. Highlight was reaching 4km to see a lady emerging from the waves in her birthday suit. I was too prudish to take a closer look but she didn't strike me as your traditional nudist (teutonic, overweight). I'll be heading out at a similar time tomorrow morning.

Finally, had Richie High over for a BBQ this evening. He's holidaying up here too. Plenty of slagging off of Young Timmy which was fun. His kid Ben is a future AFL/soccer star. Either that or my kids are very average. Mmmmm.

Even easier Saturday

6km around and about with 4 sprints. Achilles a bit sore which is a pain in the ass. Well, the heel.

Very easy Friday

Very easy jog with MC, Marty and Russell around and about in my new Mizuno Wave Elixir 6's. Ordered them for A$106 on Tuesday and they arrive this morning - how good is that! Feeling much less tired than the last couple of days so hopefully will be well rested by Sunday.

10.2km in 48:06 (4:42's). 86km for the week.

HuRTS 10 x 400m

Woke up this morning feeling knackered and dragged myself to work. Not sure why I'm feeling so tired as I'm not doing any more volume or intensity than normal. Also had a raging thirst last night and remember Kanser saying a while back that he'd read that this was a sign of over-training.

So decided just to take it easy today. Jogged over to Rushcutters with JC, Tucks, Clyde, Kaley and a few others and met Timmy there who had neatly laid out his cones, while watching J-Fen do his own thing and TB showing up late. I cruised around the first rep at the back in 80 seconds. A groundsmen then appeared telling us to get off but Hardman gave him a hard stare and TB (aka Drago) puffed out his chest which was sufficient for the groundsman to retreat back to his shed to finish his cup of tea. I'm pretty sure Timmy was last seen after the session heading over to join him.

Did all my reps in 79-80 from the back other than reps 3, 6 and 10 which I pushed hard in 65, 66 and 63. Jogged back and felt better for having got out there.

Very Easy Wed

Ran home in 58:29. Very easy, slowing myself down, which wasn't hard as the legs (particularly bottom of glutes) were tired again after yesterday's session. Also a bit tender after a Tiger massage this arvo. The Tiger has gone bearish on Young Timmy, betting me $50 he won't break 77 mins at the weekend. I jumped at that offer, particularly after Timmy himself sent me a text telling me he would smash that time. So Timmy, over to you.

HuRTS 45mins Fartlek

With the Irishmen opting for an easy session earlier this morning, only the hardcore (and Timmy) fronted up for one of the toughest sessions in the calendar. Hardman was there, rounding up the troups. The King of Trails, despite an exhausting weekend, didn't shy away. Even Timmy was there, last seen walking around Farm Cove looking pale.

I wanted to take this one out quite hard so set off with no-one following me, then at Mrs Macs Chair J-Fen appears stage left. I thought he'd settled back with the rest of the pack but just sticks to my tail, slightly behind on the fast sections (1 min on) but catching up again on the easy sections (30 seconds off). We turned well down Hickson Road, opposite the steps beside the Lend Lease building, which is as far as we've gotten before, particularly considering the detour we have to take around the Park Hyatt. J-Fen is still there. I try to push the pace around the Opera House and can see Dicky H and Macca, but still J-Fen holds on. We run past a walking Timmy and no change. Only coming up the hills at the end, when I'm pretty much at 100%, does he drop off, and then only a little, finishing 3-4 seconds behind. I got back in 45:02 which I was chuffed with given the fast start.

Total stats were 12.9km in 45:02 (3:29 pace). The Garmin 610 seems much more accurate than the 405, no funny readings around Circular Quay. And I love the shakes it gives. But story of the day was the form of J-Fen. The rest seems to have done him good.

Easy Monday

Run home in 54:37. Felt fantastic, the difference with last Monday couldn't be more marked.

Now to deal with the dead rat by the pool.

Taper Sunday

Friday was an easy 12km with 2 JB's and Kanser. 92km for the week.

Friday night was some joint birthday drinks with Richie H and Sonya which resulted in a slightly dusty Saturday so took another day off.

Today out at 6.30am on a glorious day with Paul Macca, Ben and Scott for an easy 25.4km in 1:52:59 (4:27 pace) up to Narrabeen Lake and back along the beaches.

HuRTS Yasso 800's

Small but merry band today. Young Timmy, LF Charlie, Tucks, Kanser, Jason, J-Fen, Paul Mc, King James, Christian, new girl Orla and a few others jogged over to Rushcutters for 10 x 800m off 90s rest. Wasn't feeling up to it on the jog over but felt fine as soon as we got going. Tucks was taking it easy again so I was out front alone for the most part. Reps went as follows:

2:26
2:25
2:23
2:23
2:23
2:23
2:22
2:20
2:22
2:18

Felt pretty comfortable for the first 5. J-Fen pushed one of the later reps and Tucks pushed rep 8 which helped quicken them up a bit. I reckon they are about 5 seconds short of a full 800m.

Big news of the day though was the return to form of Kanser. Our Irish friend stuck on Young Timmy's shoulder for all the reps which caused a growing look of consternation on Timmy's face as he tried to shake him. Then on the final rep Young Timmy was Kaned. Usually full of banter, our self-styled teller of tales and trash hopped straight onto his bike and refused to speak to anyone before peddling back (legs full of lactic) to Erskineville. We were gobsmacked and hardly knew what to say as we jogged back to the city.

About 13km all up.