There's truth in the old sayings

I've been rolling through the 32km Sunday runs quite easily recently. But they say that 32km is only the half way mark in a marathon and anything over 32km is a struggle. That was proved this morning. Caught up with Sam at 6am and we did the 36km Narrabeen circuit, without gels again (taking a leaf out of Fats' book).

The first 20km felt great - a beautiful cool morning, chatting away. Sam pushed on a bit after the water stop at Narrabeen SLSC as usual but still felt fine until Cromer golf course. From then the pace got consciously quicker trying to run Sub4 min kms. Felt OK until Dee Why but then the Griffin Street hill punished me a bit and I just tried to drag myself home from there. By now it was 8am (9am in real money due to the clocks going back) and pretty warm in the high 20's. All up 35.8km in 2:31:24 (4:13's).

Sam's looking good for the London Marathon. Every time I'd thought I'd finally broken him he'd pop up in front again pushing the pace. I'm predicting a 2:44.

Finally, congrats to the Tiger last night in running 1:59:08 (still not quite good enough to save himself from owing me $200) and Macca running a great PB of 33:31 in the 10,000m knocking 30 odd seconds off his old mark.

Monstered

Haven't felt this weary in 2 years. Legs just dead today. Crawled around 13.1km with Timmy, Tucks, Kanser and new chap Joel in an hour, wishing at every moment that the run was over. Yesterday really took it out of me. Good news though is that the body feels better than ever, no aches or pains to speak of.

124km for the week including 3 big sessions so canny pleased with that like. Would be 138km if I counted junk miles with the kids.

The Mongrel

First up, took Bec and Billy out this morning for their usual Thursday speed session. I told them it was "hot laps" (3 x 500m) but secretly intended to add a 4th after they thought they had finished. Well, they weren't too pleased. Both started crying. Billy downright refused to do anymore. I said, fine, you needn't do it if you want to be a quitter. I wasn't favourite (or exemplary) Dad at this point, but what the hell. Billy then proceeds to tear off in a fit of rage and does the 500m in 1:59, a new record. So there is some mongrel in him!

Having done 4km with the kids and quiet at work I did the Rushcutters pyramid session intending to take it easy but with Jason I and new foppish haired chap Darien pushing the pace (with me unable to resist) I ran 89, 2:54, 4:24, 5:50, 4:16, 2:42 and 81 for the laps (averaging around 3:08's).

Then turned up in my running kit for the third time in the day unannounced to the final biathlon in the Thursday nighttime series with the sole intention of beating Young Timmy. This is understandable given the amount of crap he gives out on my swimming. Well, suffice to say Timmy was beaten by a breastroker. See pic attached. Many enjoyable beers followed. I felt crap on the run but did 12:59 for the 4km then did my standard 6mins breastroke for the 300m for a 19:26 PB.

Wednesday MLR

Usual route with Mr Ace, King James, JW and Big Sam. Felt very weary in the legs to start with, suffering the after effects of yesterday. Nice easy pace though and body had adjusted by the end. 18.5km in 1:27:17 (4:42's).

Laid another bet with the Tiger this morning after massage. He's keen on a head to head so I foolishly agreed to give him a 7 minute headstart at SMH Half. This was after he persuaded me that he'd struggle to run sub 80mins. But with a PB in the 75's, I think I've been duped.

HuRTS 45min Fartlek

Huge crowd today and with MC on the physio table I tried to bark out some instructions but just gave up and set off. Hardly anyone ever completes this session in any case.

Tucks, Bartles, J-Fen, Macca and JB were all running upfront, and with a big gap until the next group, I decided to go with them rather than do my more recent Tuesday thing of taking it cautiously to start with. It was a very consistent session with all the km splits with 3secs either side of 3:30 per km. JB gapped us on the way out but ran with us coming back until we splintered a bit towards the end with J-Fen and Macca stopping at 10km. Was pleased to feel good coming back up the hills in the final 2km to just miss getting back in time - doing 45:06. 12.8km all up doing 3:30's on the way out and 3:31's on the way back. We were doing the floats in 4:00's so I'll leave you to do the maths to work out what the fast sections were run at.

Warm out there today so a good session. Did a 2km warm down with J-Fen and Andy for 15km all up.

Easy Monday

Out with the Monday crew including the MBL women's team (Aine, Laura and Emma), Springer, JB, Jason I, Tim C, Marty and loads more. 15.8km in 1:09:42 (4:24's). Legs very weary from the weekend to start with but felt much better by the end. Plenty of talk about the Melbourne IM and the amazing times being recorded. The conclusion we all reached was that the course was short. Those Victorians have form.

Beautiful Sydney day out there. Gotta love Autumn.

Sunday solo

Struggle running long alone but with most of the lads running the Sri Chinmoy half in Centennial today I was up at 5.30am to pound the streets alone. Just did the same route as last week to avoid having to think. Rolled through the kms fine in the end. Spotted a couple of familiar figures at around 22km and, sure enough, ran past the Hamburglar and Paul shortly afterwards. picked up the pace again towards the end doing the final 10km in just under 40mins. All up 31.3km in 2:12:42 (4:14's).

Saturday tempo in Manly

Just too busy at work on Thursday and Friday to get out. Not often it happens. Coincided with drinking lots too.

Today was one of those perfect days where everything just feels magic, probably aided by 2 days rest. 14.1km tempo with Billy on his bike in 49:52 (3:32's). Billy earned himself a pair of Skins this morning after I said I'd buy them for him if he could do the 5km from Queenscliff to Shelley and back in under 26mins. He managed 24:58 so fair play to him.

Wednesday MLR at pace

Missed the squad setting off by 10mins so tried to catch them up. Was running sub-4's from the bottom of Ocean St onwards until I eventually caught them (MC, Russell, Geoffrey), coming back down Ocean St at the 15km mark. Then took a much needed breather for the final 4km home. Copped some abuse from a hooligan in a car in Centennial but just tried to ignore it and not respond.

All up 1:18:05 which is 4:10's despite the easy final 4km. Buggered now. I need an easy day.

Interesting stat:

Countries With Olympic "A" Qualifiers In Men's 10,000 - Sub-27:45.00

Kenya - 33
Ethiopia - 5
USA - 4
JPN - 3
GBR - 2
ERI - 2
AUS - 1
MEX - 1
FRA - 1
ECU - 1
ITA - 1

And yet Kenya haven't won Olympic gold in the 10,000m since 1968. Also puts Benny St in lofty company (ex Kenya).

HuRTS 2 x 20mins

Good crowd but down on the usual numbers. Young Timmy missing again - he seems to have given up on HuRTS since his form dropped rapidly. No Kanser and no J-Fen. Good to see Emma back though and plenty up front with Tucks, Bartles, Fats and Macca. I was holding on to them on the way out pushing ahead of Macca and Fats towards the end. Bartles was way out in front with Tucks about 20m in front of me. The watches seemed all over the place but I think I averaged about 3:27's. I ran with Tucks on the way back - he pushed ahead coming around Farm Cove and on the first hill but caught him on the final hill with him clutching his side in pain. Looked like a twanged heart muscle to me. Must be going to the same Doctor as Timmy and MC. Speaking of twanging, Fats' hamstring seemed to do the same thing around the Park Hyatt. All I could think of was the Tigers' dry needles. Hope you're alright mate.

Got back in 20:03 but started further back from where I finished the first rep so I think I averaged 3:26's. Felt good until Farm Cove and then had to put some real effort in from there to get home.

Note another new Blog is on the scene from JB - we can no longer accuse him of sekrit training!

Same again Monday

Run home after a very nice client lunch at Felix (Prawn Cocktail, Steak Frites and Alaskan Bombe downed with a glass of NZ Pinot).

56:29 after 30:21 at Toyota Garage. I'm planning on buying a car from the oft mentioned Toyota Garage to replace our rust bucket. Felt surprisingly good today after the hearty lunch and yesterday's hefty run.

Sunday accelerating

Out with Macca at 5.30am with Big Sam on the sidelines nursing an Achilles issue. Very slow first km in the pitch black (5:40) before we started to get moving. We did the usual route up to Narrabeen caravan park but came back through Cromer and then stayed on Pittwater Road until returning via Campbell Pde and Manly Golf club with Macca keen to avoid the hills to protect his own Achilles. We'd been running 4:10's to 4:20's most of the way and I was feeling comfortable when, at 22km, Paul suddenly puts his foot down. The last 10km was run in 37:30. Not sure where that came from. I guess it combined a missed tempo session from yesterday with a long run. Paul looking as strong as ever.

All up 31.4km in 2:09:30 (4:07's).

Part 2

13km on the treadmill in 50:28.

65.9kg.

100km for the week.

Grand Hyatt Melbourne

12km on the treadmill in 44:40. BORED!

Wednesday MLR

Massage with the Tiger this morning then straight into the usual Wednesday 19km with MC, Todd, Mr Ace, Mark M and Shane. Very easy pace today which suited me as I was tired from yesterday and ruffled up from the massage. 1:26:26. Warm again. Stopped at many a bubbler in the second half.

We saw Lara T (the nemesis) running just in front of us in Centennial. Remarked that she could have been going to London this year with a bit of concentration on the Marathon - particularly when you consider that Jessica Trengrove has just provisionally qualified with a 2:31.

HuRTS 45mins tempo

Still feeling a bit weary so didn't want to push the pace early on today. Especially so given it was 27C. A resurgent Tucks, J-Fen, Bartles and Fats went straight to the front at a pace I wasn't keen on sticking to, so I ran with Andy for the first 3km. He then slowed a bit so I pushed on by myself.

Ran past Fats who looked as though he was dry hurling opposite the STC before reaching the first speed bump along Hickson Road at the turn on 22.5mins (6.2km - averaging 3:37's). Bartles and Tucks were some way in the distance with J-Fen a bit behind them. Started to feel pretty good on the way back and when I passed Fats again he started to run with me which kept the pace honest. Got into a good rythmn here and hit a couple of kms at 3:26 pace. Pushed my way back up the hills to finish in 44:34 (3:33 pace for the return). Nice session. I'm trying to do these Tuesday's without leaving myself absolutely rooted at the end. I'll push the VO2 sessions on Thursdays.

Tucks and J-Fen cut short with Bartles finishing the whole thing strongly in 45:06. Timmy and Kanser will be pleased to hear that MC looked rooted on what is his new favourite session - may have gone out a bit too quick in the heat. Another huge crowd but far fewer finished than started.

Couple of kms warmdown with J-Fen for 15km all up.

Downloaded a new app for the iPad - Skitch (it's free). Just what I've been looking for - dead easy functionality for drawing and writing on Maps and pictures...

Homeward Bound

Very easy run home. Couldn't even be arsed to push the hills. Legs weary from weekend. 57:29 after 30:07 at T Garage.

Not the Six Foot Track

So it was cancelled. Wasn't hugely disappointed, still had a weekend away and it'll probably mean I'll be able to run better in the State 10km on the track at the end of the month.

Tucked into a few beers on Friday night with Timmy, Kanser, Tucks and families and then we headed out at 7.30am on Saturday morning to run from Megalong Road to Caves Road. Dave decided to pack provisions for a 4 day hike into his backpack so he had about 12kg on his back. We reached the first stream after about 250m and all took our shoes and socks off to tip toe across - taking about 10 minutes to do so. Later on, we'd realise how pointless this was. Very gentle and enjoyable run down to Cox's where we saw the strength of the river and realised it was a fair call to cancel the race. At this point, Dave hands me the backpack with rocks in and tells me it's my turn to carry it - just before the hills start. Also caught up with Jonathan W here.

I struggled up to Mini-Mini about 10m behind Kanser, Tucks, Jonathan W and a resurgent Timmy who was powering ahead. I was struggling with the weight of the backpack and was sweating loads, worried about how I was going to fare later on. Those sharp hills are definitely the toughest, particularly towards the top after you cross the open field. Then we head down to Alum Creek, cross rivers bigger than Cox's normally is, help a young bloke stuck in his Landcruiser and head up to Pluvi. I felt better here having drunk most of the water in the backpack and ran/walked these hills behind Kanser with Timmy and Jonathan taking it more slowly further back. Meanwhile, Tucks was just taking photos.

Black Range went on forever as usual (and is much hillier than I remembered) but the temps were cool up here and we were trotting along pretty well, at least until we hit a soft mud patch the size of a football pitch. Finally we were at Deviation and keenly waited for our lift home. 3 hours later and after about another 10km of walking, we got it. Timmy had lost it. Dave was swearing. I was going doolally. Tucks just took more photos. Here are some...

Timmy on Black Range - check out the sky:



Timmy, Tom and Dave, top of Pluvi:



Tom and Timmy on top of the World:



Tucks and Timmy having a "Richie High" moment:

Manly steady

12.2km around Manly in about 51mins. Beautiful day for a change. Bumped into Macca and ran the final 2km with him. Heading up to Blue Mountains now.

89km for week.

HuRTS Hickson Road Reps

It started to become clear towards lunchtime that Colin was going to cancel Six Foot, so I chanced it and decided on doing the Hickson Rd reps hard, knowing I'll need some speedwork before State 10km later this month. Almost missed the start after being cut off by a huge flood at the bottom of the steps linking George St and Hickson Rd, but arrived just in time to hand Amjam the coveted HuRTS Six Foot singlet for Fats.

A bit windy on the odd numbered reps, I struggled to hold on to Bartles on the first. Always struggle with the pace on the first rep at Hickson Rd and today was no exception. They got easier after that, although the 4th was almost a disaster when my watch strap suddenly broke sending my Garmin 610 flying across the road. Happy enough in the end running them all holding on to Bartles other than the 2nd which he did in super quick time. I ran:

3:38
3:34
3:37
3:39 (watch breakage costing me about 5 secs)
3:38

Interesting to see Ray putting in some effort today. I emailed him after Tuesday talking about the original Hickson Rd session and pointed out the times we did. After running a 3:50 first rep, he obviously wanted to prove that age hadn't wearied him so ran the rest all 3:45 or quicker. MC also had a good session running them in 3:48's. Kanser and Timmy beware.

Great to see Benny picked for the Olympics. He has started blogging.

Wednesday MLR

Usual run with MC, Mr Ace, Jonathan W, King James, the Kilted Scot and a couple of others but just MC, Jonathan and I doing the whole thing. Ran in the new trail shoes and they hurt my feet a bit and made my calves stiff - I think mainly due to the very stiff sole. Very good over little rocks though. I'm in two minds as to whether to wear them on Sat.

Jonathan W was talking a good game. It's a head to head on Sat with the loser to buy beers. Fats has been prevaricating on the 15min headstart so I'll go with JW having the pleasure of buying my beers in Caves House.

HuRTS 14 x 3mins

Massive crowd today, but marked by the rare attendance of each of the 4 original HuRT Squad members - Ray, Chris G, Tim C and myself. All doing Six Foot on Saturday morning other than Ray. Chris is injured, Tim ran 50km+ on Sunday morning so we'll see how we all fare.

I just planned to cruise the sessions today without hurting myself. I was running mid-pack with MC and Nick Marval but still found myself running 3:25's for all the reps, with a couple at 3:28 and a couple at 3:20. Weather was a lot cooler which I'm guessing speeded everyone up. No wonder we all run quicker over 10km in June - September. Most of the guys running Six Foot were taking it easy, running only a few intervals or just resting. Tucks doesn't look good for Saturday - gets his blood test results this arvo so good luck mate. Worst comes to worst he'll be able to make sure the beer is on ice and get some practice on the green baize before pairing with Timmy to take on Kanser and myself.

Got all the gear now for Saturday morning. First up is a pair of trail shoes I've bought - partly off Fats' recommendation and partly because they're Mizuno's which I love:



Even more exciting is the official HuRT Squad singlet for this year's race. They didn't change the lettering as requested but still looks good:

Fitting it in

Meeting at lunch today and client entertainment this evening so only managed to fit in an easy 7km late afternoon. Still weary.

Easy with the kids

Just an easy 12km late afternoon with Bec, Billy and Charlie on their bikes. Maggie was in tears when I said she couldn't come because she wasn't fast enough. I'm fuelling the passion for exercise beautifully.

Untimed but legs were still very weary after yesterday's race.

North Head 10km - 33:41

It's fair to say I was pretty psyched up for this race. Jogged down to Manly Wharf and met up with Macca and Big Sam and by the time we reached North Head we'd picked up Bartles and MC too. Did a bit of a warm up, plenty of chat on the start line with almost all the HuRT Squad in attendance (even a sick Kanser and a broken Timmy wearing strange socks) and we were off on the new course for the fastest first 200m known to man. Bartles went off with the leaders and I settled into a group with Scotty, JB (where did his sudden form come from?) and Bleasel. We then all worked together to pick up Bartles running with the Horne and from then our group of 6 ran together - just what I was hoping for. JB looked really strong - gapping us around 4km but running by himself I thought it was a brave move.

At the turn at 5km we were all back together (Macca too was just with us, running a stormer). Had a quick look behind to see J-Fen about 20m behind. I was starting to really struggle here but knew that I would and knew that the longer I could stick with the group - perhaps holding out until the loop at North Head - the better I'd go. If I was spat out, J-Fen and Macca would pick me up in no time. So I dug in, really hurting, with JB, the Horne and Scotty pushing the pace. They gapped us a bit so I just hung on to Bartles, Bleasel and another chap who'd fallen back from the front runners. Bartles would push ahead on the flats and I'd catch back up on the hills. Then at 8km JB suddenly looked as though he was blowing hard with Scotty and the Horne pushing on. Bartles and I went past him just before 9km and I started to feel OK heading back down to the Stone Arch. Turned that with Bartles on my heels and tried to push the slight rise over the final 500m, but he was still there. The Highnam cheer squad (kids, Kirst, Alec, Gill, nephew, niece and Dad) were screaming at me so it was down to the final 75m steep uphill. Bloody hell, what a finish. Glutes were screaming, cut Bartles off, stuck my arm out and managed to cross the line just in front of him. It wasn't pretty, it was probably illegal, but what the hell. That's racing.

It was a good race and we ran a good second half - getting closer to both Criniti and CT after the second lap but they'd obviously put in a very quick first 5km. MC had a good race to take out Timmy and get within 10s of Big Sam. Plainly the tempo sessions are paying off. Macca showed how to put it on the line in a race by finishing just behind J-Fen in the low 34's. Scotty showed that he's a class act by finishing just in front of the Horne. If that guy did some long runs he'd be very dangerous. Good to see Richie P, Eoin, Ray, Christian, Todd, Laura (3rd female) and Pete W. As I said, the HuRT Squad were out in force.

Now a game of Golf this arvo with Alec and Dad on his 70th and a taper for Six Foot. Happy days.

Post script:

Holy cow. Hadn't considered the possibility of Six Foot being cancelled until I saw this...

Scary freakin river

Easy stuff

Set off by myself for a very easy 10km in the pouring rain. Bumped into Marty and ran with him for a bit chatting about Six Foot, then bumped into Andy, Clyde, Louis and Mr Ace and ran with them for a bit. All up about 11km in 49mins. Nervous about tomorrow.

Managed to catch Gregson on Bigpond TV winning the 1500m in the Aussie champs in a tactically astute race. He's got class, always turns it on for the big occasion.

102km for the week.

Rushcutters Sprints

Had a client lunch on today so Tucks and I headed down to Rushcutters the long way to run some 200m sprints. Originally planned to do 10 of them around the oval - i.e. sprinting half then going straight into a jog for half. We marked out what we thought was half way but turned out to be longer so they were about 250m sprints followed by 200m jogs. After 4 of them I was starting to struggle so we (well, I) decided only to do 8.

Tucks timed them as follows:

41, 42, 41, 41, 40, 40, 39, 39.

He was dipping his toe in the water after recent struggles following the virus so ran the inside line, but by reps 7 and 8 I was struggling to stay with him on the outside line.

Much harder than I was expecting. It's not easy running fast. I would have struggled to run any more at that pace. Even though we were just slow jogging the 200m before starting the next rep we were still averaging 3:45 per/km all up. Feel fine now though.

Plenty of chat about Six Foot. Tucks reckons Fats will smash me by well over 20mins and that I'm being way too generous offering only 15mins.

10km all up.

Mr Average

Just a run home this evening. 56:32. Pissing with rain but I seemed to have a tailwind the whole way which made it pretty enjoyable. Decided not to attack the hills as the Tiger told me I had a fat ass during massage this afternoon. We finally agreed on a bet with me offering him $50 if he could get under 2 mins for 800m on Saturday.

Been getting a bit worried about Six Foot, particularly how tired I always feel along Black Range. Every time I've done it I'm always expecting a load of people to overtake me on that section, wondering how anyone could be running slower than I am. So checked some stats from last year which made for interesting reading (to me at least). I was:

1. 10th to Cox's;
2. 9th fastest in KOM;
3. 9th fastest from Pluvi to the end; and
4. 9th overall.

That all sounds like it makes perfect sense, but there's a lot of variation in how people run Six Foot. For example, last year's winner Andrew Lee was:

1. 1st to Cox's;
2. 2nd fastest in KOM;
3. 7th fastest from Pluvi to the end; and
4. 1st overall.

And Tucks was:

1. 12th to Cox's;
2. 4th fastest in KOM;
3. 2nd fastest from Pluvi to the end; and
4. 5th overall.

Which leads me to conclude that I'm Mr Average.

HuRTS 4 x 10mins

Today was brutal.

Hottest day of the summer (33C but we had no shade) and one of the toughest sessions we do. The usual front group of Bartles, J-Fen, Scotty, Tucks and Fats with Fast Charlie also around. Went through the first km in 3:17 and I was pretty much red-lining. Finished at the gates in exactly 10:00. On the second rep Scotty, J-Fen and Bartles pushed a bit harder to finish a few seconds in front while I ran 9:49, with me trying to save something for the third. However, I grabbed some water, jogged back for the start of the third rep and seriously contemplated uppnig stumps there and then. Decided to run it easy, then saw that everyone else was doing the same and somehow drifted to the front. I then felt pretty good on the hills but the pace was slower and we ended the 10mins at the lamppost before the Robbie Burns statue, this time just with Bartles, J-Fen and Scotty. Not sure what happened to Fats, but Fast Charlie stopped after 2 reps and Tucks did the same, remarking that he couldn't even summon the energy to run back to the office.

Not sure what happened to me after that, but I certainly couldn't summon the energy to run with the front 3 back on the final rep so just ran through it at 4:00 pace in 11:07. But even that was a struggle. I was wandering all over the place after I finished but was lucky enough to jump into the harbour with the rest of the squad to get the core temperature down. Feel like crap now, nauseous and light-headed.

Run home

Bloody tired due to lack of sleep over the past few days. Was pretty useless at work today. Had a lunch on so ran home which I prefer to do on Mondays in any case. Pushed the hills holding the core, wouldn't say I attacked them. Got the heart pumping though and otherwise felt pretty comfortable. It's great to be running pain free with no injury niggles at all at the moment.

29:25 at Toyota Garage and 55:35 all up.

Looking forward to Saturday's race on the new course. I reckon it's slightly slower due to the longer drag turning at the Stone Arch - done 3 times now. It'll be a tough finish coming up there in the final 500m. Big bro Alec and his family are coming for the weekend (it's Dad's 70th) and I'm trying persuade my sister-in-law to race. She's pretty handy and it'll be good to see two Highnams in the results.

Sunday trails

Timmy rocked up at 6:10am and we were off at 6:30am picking up Dicky Green and Justin before meeting the Hamburglar, Jonathan W, Jamie, Paul, John Bowe and Jonathan's mate at Manly Dam. Very easy pace throughout. Felt fine on all the trails but poor Young Timmy is an urban dweller and started to feel it at 15km. We were originally talking about handicap times for Six Foot bets and Timmy was umming and ahhing over 10mins, but by 20km I'd already offered him 20mins based on his form on the hills. Could be a deliberate ruse mind. Maybe he's sharking me. If so, he put in a performance Streep would be proud of as at 23km I was forced to run straight home as fast as I could to pick up the car and come back to pick the poor fella up.

Strange old run. Plenty of trails around Red Hill, going all the way down to Narrabeen Lagoon, doing a 100m sprint on the synthetic track (Hamburglar's got some serious speed) before heading up the hills again to the highest point on the Northern Beaches. Felt comfortable today which was encouraging, albeit was panting a bit at the end due to a quick final 8km. Just short of 30km all up.

Kirst home tonight. Yippeeeeeeeeee!

Old Manly route

Out last night until 2am drinking JJ's finest red wine to see him off to the UK. Managed my first win at poker and came home with $450. So I woke up today feeling very average. Dad then gave me a timeslot of 2pm to do my run - in the heat of the day. I'd planned on the 7.5km route fast but with a throbbing head and red wine legs I stood outside in the heat wondering what the hell I was doing. Plodded through a 2km warm up then just went for it telling myself it was character building stuff.

First kms in 3:28 and 3:23 then started to struggle on the hills and through the crowds. Picked it up again near Queenscliff to finish in 26:53 (3:36's). Pleased to get under 27 in the circumstances but it's 90s down on my PB from post C2S last year. Followed it with a 2km warmdown

Haven't felt my achilles at all in the past 3 weeks so I ran without my heel raises. Feels so much better doing so. I'll gradually introduce this during shorter runs from now.

Easy Friday

Just John Bowe and Russell today. Headed over to Cremorne in the beautiful weather for an easy 13km. Forgot my watch again, don't know what's going on with my brain. Doesn't bode well for poker night tonight.

Feeling better every day. Could be on for a bit of a jump forward soon - just two more weeks...

59kms for week.

HuRTS 8 x 800m

Rocked up at the Art Gallery just past 12.25pm to find Mikey had marched the troops off already. I've been a bit busy at work and feeling a bit doozy, plus I didn't have my watch on, so wondered for most of the jog down to Rushcutters whether I had the right session or not, feeling a bit depressed about the prospect of doing a speed session solo. So I did cartwheels when I saw the crowd assembled on the perfect Rushcutters surface. Big discussion on what constituted 800m and we were off, on a rolling cycle of 4 minutes.

The usual crowd upfront of Bartles, Scotty, Tucks and J-Fen. I felt great on the first 4 reps and then things generally went downhill. Hopefully just residual effects of the bug. Tucks seemed to have the same problem, sitting out a couple of reps. All done around 2:24-2:26 pace but who knows whether it's 800m or 750m. Bloody annoying not be able to run barefoot, at times I felt like I was running in a pair of high heels.

Absolutely rooted running home, even had to walk up the stairs. It was hot out there today and my singlet was drenched.

Wednesday MLR

Had to get out today. Joints in shoulders and arms still feeling achey but couldn't stand being stuck in my office for another lunchtime. Was late for the start so spent the first 3km trying to catch everyone up. Did so at Rushcutters, where I joined MC, Kanser, Jonathan W, BW, Indrajeet, Russel and the Kilted Scot with Rob C joining us later. Lots of chatting. Kanser believes Timmy is weak pschologically in no longer wanting to join in any of the tough HuRTS sessions.

Easy pace the whole way. Legs felt great after all the rest. Upper body still aching.

At the end while stretching, Bartles runs by after some sekrit training. We then chat and he proceeds to tell me how he, J-Fen and Scotty were flying yesterday, are all running North Head and will smash me. First run back and bent double, I had to agree with him.

Not good

Set out on my hilly North Head/Tania Park 27km route with the intention of attacking all the hills. Attacked the first hill for about 20m and was just listless with no energy. Lasted 5km before hauling my ass back home. Need to shake this bug.

Fitting it in

With Kirst in the UK and 4 kids to look after, the only way I could do a run was to go down to Campbell Pde, get Bec running her 7 laps and Maggie & Charlie going around on their bikes. So I did 10km doing loops of Campbell Pde. As boring as a Lindop extended anecdote but got it done. Never felt comfortable despite feeling heaps better this morning from the Sinusitis. Ran 39:33 doing the first 5km in 20:40. Feeling pretty weak now so I've not kicked it completely yet.

Tim A, I'm relying on the antibiotics rather than your Granny's special remedies. Is this some trick to get me even more crook for Six Foot? Take it you're running again this year? If so, see you atop Pluviometer as per usual!

Sicknote

Sinusitis again. Got the drugs in early this time though.

93km for week.

Tiring MLR

Dropped all work and headed out at lunchtime for the usual route. MC, Gus MacGillivray, his mate, Marty and a few others were there. Very slow to start with. Then half way around Centennial MC says he's only doing 1 lap so I push on with Gus and his mate. We then bump into Kanser, Gus and his mate disappear (you have to ask questions about that sort of behaviour in Centennial) so I complete another lap with Kanser and he accompanies me up to Woollahra Gates. We pushed the pace a bit when running together which I kept up all the way home. Thing is, it was getting pretty warm by 1.30pm and that must have taken a bit out of me as I've been feeling crap all afternoon.

All up 18.66km in 1:23:50 (4:28's).

HuRTS 2 x 20mins

Only the 2nd time we've done this session and I was feeling up for it this morning. Been feeling strong over the last few days so decided to push it today. Seems like everyone else decided to do the same thing as by 3km I wasn't feeling so strong anymore.

I ran in the front group with J-Fen, Bartles, Tucks and Scottyo. Bartles and I did most of the work until the Opera House when J-Fen pushed the pace. At the OPT, Scottyo joined him and I was holding on, not relishing the return journey. I finished with Tucks and Bartles at 5.88km (3:24's) with J-Fen and Scotty about 10m in front.

I was expecting to be holding on on the return (after a 3 minute rest) but found myself running at the front again. Scotty took the front running under the Harbour Bridge but didn't really push on. Then Tucks took over at the Opera House and did. From then I basically ran with Bartles all the way back, feeling better on the hills. Finished up with 5.83km (3:25's) which was much better than I expected. Surprised to see J-Fen and Scotty drop off the pace given how strong they've been recently. But the big news is that Tucks has come into form very nicely, pulling away with ease today to finish 25m in front of us. All very timely for Six Foot Track.

Varying the run home

Ran home late after work but decided to attack all the hills to try and get the heart rate up. Realised when I was doing this that I just don't get my heart rate up often enough with all this longer distance easy running I've been doing. Bloody hard work. I think it's time I concentrated on more aerobic work.

29:21 at Toyota Garage and 55:32 all up. Quicker as a result of the faster hills and there are plenty of them. Got a good shout from Clive Cooper driving by along Sydney Rd towards the end.

Feel good Sunday

Nippers Carnival up at Narrabeen all morning (where the kids excelled in mediocrity) so headed out late this afternoon for the usual route to Shelley Beach with Billy and Charlie on their bikes. Charlie has just upgraded to a bigger bike and is much faster as a result. I was feeling great so we bounced along at 4min kms the whole way. 11.5km in 46:00. Said hello to Mike Baird at Queenscliff. Good confidence booster after yesterday's long one.

Long Saturday

Out at 6am with Macca and Big Sam for the usual Narrabeen route but completing the lap of the lake. Great morning, time passed quickly with plenty of chat, at least until 26km when Sam remarked on how good he was feeling when suddenly the pace increased and the talk decreased. We ran the next 7km pretty quick averaging sub4's.

All up 35.7km in 2:39 something (about 4:28's). Felt stronger today so maybe it's starting to come together.

It was close, but I made it through

Sunday tipped me over the edge. I picked up a case of Endaitis* on Sunday and by Monday was struggling big time. Went through 1.5 toilet rolls in my office in blowing my nose. It was effective at keeping people from bothering me but resulted in me having to suffer alone. Tuesday was even worse, Wednesday was slightly better (probably equivalent to a normal person's pneumonia) but Thursday was markedly better. Ventured out for an easy 10km along the flat route from work in 42:13.

Today I joined the depleted Friday squad (MC is ignoring all HuRT Squad etiquette in advertising a Friday swim squad, in between trying to make a buck in selling some dodgy musical theatre tickets) for the normal Monday route. The two JB's, King James, the Kilted Scot, Russell and Clyde were there along with others. Turned over 13.27km in 59:13 (4:27's). Felt great running it, the three days rest doing wonders for the legs but feel very tired and depleted now, probably with some lingering remnants of the virus at play. I've got 36km planned with Big Sam and Macca in the morning so I'm hoping it's gone by then. The tiredness may have something to do with joining in with Laser Zone at Billy's party along eight other 9 year olds this afternoon. I kicked their ass. You were given a great printout after the game showing loads of statistics (number of kills, % hit rate, number of times you were killed etc.) which I thought of photocopying for the blog but in the end my modesty determined it wouldn't be appropriate.

72km for the week.




*A particularly virulent strain of manflu, brought on by overtraining, drinking to excess and constant texting from Young Timmy.

Long Sunday getting faster

Trotted down to the ABC Pool after waiting a few minutes for Kanser and immediately felt good today. Caught up with Big Sam and, with Kanser nowhere to be seen, we headed off. Probably a good job he didn't join us today as I think the pace may have been a little too hot for him.

We took it easy for the first 12kms up to Narrabeen then, after stopping for our usual first water and Gu, Big Sam decided to put the foot down. I think he was running angry after yesterday's performance and I felt similar. Anyway, from then on it was a good pace all the way home feeling great, even pushing the Griffin St hill. Glorious morning made for a great run. The splits tell the story:

5:11, 4:28, 4:43, 4:28, 4:24, 4:24, 4:12, 4:15, 4:20, 4:03, 4:14, 4:13, 3:57, 4:00, 4:07, 4:00, 4:14, 4:01, 4:03, 4:08, 4:02, 3:56, 3:53, 3:51, 4:00, 4:02, 3:52, 4:15, 5:16, 4:00, 4:15.

All up 31.02km in 2:11:05 (4:13's). Somewhere in all that Sam probably ran a 10km faster than he did at Homebush yesterday.

I then did 4.54km with the elder kids down to Queenscliff in 25:10 (5:33's).

Striders 10km Homebush - 11th in 34:32

Well, not the start to the season I was hoping for but it's under the belt.

Caught a lift with Ben and Big Sam and arrived with plenty of time for some run throughs to get the heart rate up. Big crowd at the start with some very good runners fronting up - Tom do Canto, Uncle Dave, CT, Farrugia, the Horne, Tucks etc. I lined up in the second row (behind Timmy, I think he was racing EJ to the first corner - and lost) and set off pretty hard (at least I thought it was). However, before 1km was reached the front group of 6 had already gapped Tucks and I by about 20m. At the top of the hills on to the footpath and crowd behind of Tongey, Bleasel, Dean Degan, Brendan Davies and an Asian chap I didn't recognise had caught Tucks and I. I struggled around the very wet horsetrack and was gapped by Tucks and the Asian chap. At 5km (16:52) they had about 20m on me. The time at 5km depressed me a bit and I immediately lost concentration and started to drift. Bleasel then came past followed by Tongey and I was running with Dean and Brendan. It stayed that way until the end, with me pulling ahead of them in the final km.

Legs felt heavy the whole way. I thought I was turning them over OK but apparently not. Pretty ugly negative split. But it's in the bag and the training continues. The body feels great with no niggles.

Cooled down with Tucks, Timmy, Kanser, and Big Sam. We all struggled today. My head to heads looks a bit lop-sided but at least I got Timmy on the handicap system.

Couple of photos:

50m to the finish...



Me gurning, Tucks, Kanser looking fucked, Young Timmy and Big Sam...

Friday fitting it in

Ran 5.9km to Lime St for a massage with the Tiger then ran 3.7km back. 4:07 pace there, 5:07 pace back. Bumped into Fast Charlie and Warwick on the way back so ran with them.

Tiger diagnosed my knee issue then set to work on it and it turned out a treat.

Just back from a 4 hour boozy client lunch which isn't ideal prep for tomorrow but I'll try my best.

105km for the week.

Not Hickson Road HuRTS

Had a few too many Coopers Pale Ale after the swim carnival last night and only a few hours sleep so it was a very easy session today. Jogged down late to Hickson Road and met the squad coming back on their second rep. Joined in with the second group for reps 3, 4 and 5 doing 3:39's, 3:32's and 3:25's (per km, not total time) feeling OK. Then jogged back with Tucks, MC, Todd and Big Sam. All up 10.27km in 43:50 (4:16's).

Wednesday MLR

Just MC and King James today with James peeling off at Fox Studios on the 2nd lap. Very easy chatting all the way. Took the concrete path around Centennial due to the rain so a bit longer. 18.69km in 1:27:02 (4:39's).

Excitement is mounting in the office for the annual swim carnival this evening. Here are a couple of photos showing the glorious AAR banking team and their captain..

HuRTS Tempo

Lower crowd than usual with Kanser leading a small band of breakaways at Rushcutters. Had a quick chat to LF Charlie, Tucks, Bartles and Durante before the start, with each of them admiring my spray-on tan, and then we were off. Tucks was heading the front group which included Scooty O, Bartles, Jase and Macca. Just as he was pushing us all into discomfort, he pulled up under the Harbour Bridge complaining of a bad stitch. I think this injury is related to the "tweaked heartstring" which MC and Young Timmy are often prone to.

We turned at 6.27km and Scotty started to push the pace. We then swapped pacing duties all the way back with Bartles perennially on the shoulder. Scotty pushed ahead in a final run in at the Art Gallery and I finished back in 44:44 with Bartles, running strongly today, a stride or two behind.

Garmin said 12.55km at 3:33 pace but I was wearing the 405 today, not the 610, and the 405 measures short under Circular Quay for some reason. G-Maps suggests 12.4km so about 3:36 pace all up. Pretty pleased with that in the humid conditions.

Needless to say I sweated so much my spray-on tan ended up on my cotton singlet.