Saturday Parkrun - 2nd in 16:12

5km warm up, quick chat to Jamie, Darrell, Jake, Mrs Heyden and Sonia from Liverpool - an old friend of mine from Uni days who is over in Oz for a few weeks.  Jake asked what my plans and we agreed to share the pace.

Went off hard along with Jake.  Watch beeped at 1km and it was 3:09 and my heart sank a bit - it felt closer to 3:00!  So put more effort in as the plan was to get to 2km in 6:20.  Got to 2km in 6:20.  Then a 3:21 across the fiddly grass bit and Jake and I are still together going up the hill on Harbord Rd.  But he starts to pull ahead towards the top and eases ahead from there.  I finished with a 3:13 and a 3:08 (+10s for the extra 60m as the COURSE IS LONG).  Hardly shabby but Jake managed to put 22s into me over the final 1.8km - he must have run sub 3's to finish.

Turned around to see a big smile on Jamie's face as he finally went under 17mins in running 16:52.  Well done mate.  Also had a chat with Andrew McFarlane who I haven't seen in ages.  Then jogged back around the course with Jake to find Sonia (who's local Parkrun is the same as Big Sam's in Bromley) who ran 30mins.

3km warm down for 13km all up.  Good rust buster.  Now need to freshen up for the big dance next Sunday so that the first km doesn't feel so tough.

Thursday

AM:  6km dead easy.

Lunch:  8 x 800m off a rolling 4mins.

2:28, 2:26, 2:25, 2:24, 2:25, 2:23, 2:24, 2:23

Legs felt dead.  Struggled today.  13km all up.

Wednesday MLR

Out for the usual Wednesday route but missed Dicky and the Cap'n due to my

newly discovered slow running pace.  Bumped into the Cap'n near North Head and ran back with him, on the receiving end of one of his legendary sprays.

Saw Lewis along Manly beach as usual and told him to slow down.

15.2km in 1:14 something (just under 5mim kms).

Latest bets for C2S, I must be mad:

1.  Barts $100 head to head.  I've already provisioned for that.  Made a while back when drunk.  What a goose.

2.  $25 with Timmy on LJ to beat him head to head.  She just has to show up uninjured and healthy I reckon.  One of my more sensible bets.

3.  $20 with Timmy with me giving him a 7 minute headstart.  This should be close.  Always a fair spread agreed on for our head to heads.

4.  $10 with Danielle (Kirsten's close friend) with me giving her a 24 minute headstart.

5.  $20 with Enda with me giving him a 2:30 headstart.  I've been rorted here.  But that's almost the definition of any bet with Enda.

Very disappointed in CT refusing to accept a head to head (which he should romp away with given his current training form).

Back into it Tuesday

AM:  8km very easy to Shelley and back.  Bumped into the Cap'n and chatted to him a bit.  Otherwise just a thoroughly enjoyable plod on a cold but beautiful morning.

Lunch:  45mins progressive tempo for the Squad but Tiger changed this for me to 20mins solid, 5 mins easy, 10mins hard, 5 mins easy, 5mins kamikaze.  Went very well, feeling up for each fast section by the end of each easy section.  Felt comfortable on the solid section (averaging 3:30's), pushed the hard session (averaging 3:20's) and then 3:30's on the final 5mins but given it's pretty much all uphill the effort was there.  Turned on 22.5mins at the main entrance to Barangaroo and finished on 44:58 which was good.  Had Tucks to chase on the final section after Barts and CT had gone past previously running very quickly.

12.75km total (3:31 average) followed by 4.5km warmdown with Barts and Jeet.

Easy peasy Monday

Very gentle 14+km run with Mikey, Timmy, Nathan and James at 5min km pace.  We were even joined by Hoey fresh from his 2:33:12 at M7 yesterday which picked him up a tidy $2.5k.  Although did he offer to buy us one of his fancy brunches?  Did he hell.

Right hip flexor a bit sore.

Sunday long

First long run in 5 weeks (ignoring the marathon). Caught up with Jamie, Erika and Ben for the usual route.  Tired after yesterday's session and just pulled myself through.  Poor young Erika was struggling with recent volume too but will go well if she avoids injury.  Spent the whole run bitching about our coach.

30km in 2:20 (4:40's).

Saturday speedwork

Session was 3 x (1km hard, 1 min rest, 500m hard) with 5 mins jog between each set.  Marked out the 500m and 1km on the path through Nolans so flat and straight.  And I could pretend I was babysitting too.  Times went:

2:59.7
1:29.6
2:59.7
1:29.1
2:58.8
1:29.1

How about that for consistency!  Felt great today - bouncy and full of running.  First time since GCM.

Long warm up and down for 14km all up.

Friday

Very easy 10km with Kanser - back finally from the emerald isle.

HuRTs Hills

Out with the HuRTS Squad at lunch for Argyle Hill reps running solidly back down so no real rest.  More like a hilly tempo. 

Good turnout with Tucks, Tongey, CT, Barts, Crossy, JFen, Andy, Timmy, Boydy, Jeet, Erika, Rich M, TKS and even Wildman putting in an appearance.  AND JAMIE WAS THERE.  Didn't know what to expect for my first Tuesday HuRTS appearance in a long time.  What I was dished out with was a taste of reality.

CT and Barts quickly imposed themselves on the session with me a distant 3rd.  Was aware of someone behind me and thought it was Tucks but found Tongey coming past me on the 4th rep.  You can see from the times below I slowed on the 3rd, made an attempt to stick to Tongey on the 4th then gave up on the 5th and 6th.  To be honest, I was a bit of a soft cock on those reps.  However, I saw Tongey was not gapping me further so made an attempt to catch him on the final 2 reps.  Came past him on the final downhill.

Barts was a good 50s ahead at the end and is in fine form.  Here's his C2S cash.

I ended up with 35:24 for 9.86km (3:35's) but there's a lot of switchbacks so it will measure long.  One positive was finishing  relatively strongly.

Uphills: 2:15, 2:13, 2:18, 2:15, 2:19, 2:18, 2:15, 2:15

Downhills:  2:03 (shorter route), 2:09, 2:11, 2:12, 2:12, 2:11, 2:08, 2:01

5km warm down with a gradually thinning crowd for 16km all up.

MLR Wed

Very easy 17km this morning back up around North Head with Justin and Erika.  Plenty of chat with the conversation including everything from vomiting to testicles to how hot Sara Hall is.  I think sometimes I forget Erika is a lady.

4:41's.  Luminous orange snot diminishing.

Easy morning

12km along the beach.  Easy pace with the sinusitis still hanging around.  Bumped into Justin and ran with him for a bit - interestingly he's had exactly the same symptoms as me.

6C this morning but at least the sun was shining.  I'm sick of winter.  I didn't travel half way across the world for this.

In other news, I watched the final of House Rules last night to discover Steve and Tiana won and had their mortgage paid off.  This made me feel a little jealous.  That result needs some serious auditing.  First, the judges (whose scores amount to 50% of the result) award them 19 points versus Ben and Danielle's 17 points.  The remaining 50% of the result is made up by the audience voting either "NSW" or "QLD" via text.  So how do they calibrate that over 17 and 19 points?  We are not told.  We just have Johanna Griggs (whose chest seems to grow by the week) read out the winners.  Secondly, my guess is that Steve in his 50's has a considerably smaller mortgage than first house buyers Ben & Danielle.  My guess is that the opacity in the voting allowed Channel 7 to save themselves a couple of hundred $.  This upset me with my strong lawyerly sense of fairness.

Back to basics

Sunday felt crook again so no running.

Read an article recently that Benny St did for a magazine where he said that when he doesn't feel great, he applies a 10min rule.  Which means he gets out to run for 10mins then reassesses whether to carry on or give up.  I did that today.  Got to 10mins, felt pretty good so carried on.  Did 22km in the end around the wharves. 

Going to stop chasing the fitness, get myself 100% healthwise and just enjoy running in the meantime.  I'll hand Barts his $100 for C2S at some stage this week.  At least I'll get 25% of it back from Timmy.  Caught up with the squad for a few km on my run and was chatting to LJ who ran high 38 at the Sutho to Surf yesterday.  She tells me Timmy is trying to back out of the bet.  Which means he's mentally shot.  Which means we're 80% there...

Saturday

Friday was a rest that I needed.  Saturday still felt under the weather but got out in the later arvo for 10km.  Felt surprisingly good when I was actually running so did some fast patches - 2 to 3km (3:20 into the wind down Manly beach), 5 to 6km (3:14 in opposite direction) and 3:15 for final km along Pittwater Rd.  Ended up with 40:40 for the 10km which is quick for me.

Farked

AM:  8km (Shelley) very easy bumping into form man Lewis half way around and finishing with him.  38:16.

PM:  HuRTs 4 x 2km.  I think we turned early in the first rep so more consistent than it looks.  Barts was flying upfront running his final rep in 6:03.  I've got a lot of work to do until I smash him at C2S. I ran with (variously) J-Fen (in good form off this showing), Andy, Colin and Tongey.  Times were:

6:20

6:25

6:23

6:22

4.25km warm down with Barts and Timmy for 13.5km all up.

Got back to the office shaking due to low blood sugar, ate some lunch then promptly fell asleep at my desk.

Wednesday MLR

Out with Timmy, Crossy, Jerome, Worswick, Hoey and Gleeso for 8.5km up the C2S course then a return.  Very easy pace which was tickety boo.

Brass monkeys.  

Got a bet out of Timmy for $25 him head to head with LJ at C2S.  Go you good girl.

First tester

AM: Very easy 8km to Shelley Beach and back in 38:15.

PM:  Jogged to ES Marks (6km).  Then 3 x 1200m off a rolling 6:30 followed by 6 x 400m off a rolling 2:30.  Wasn't expecting much post marathon but held on better than I thought.

1200's went 3:40, 3:38 and 3:38 (71, 75 then 74/72 for each).

400's went 71, 69, 70, 68, 68, 68.

Chasing Alex on all reps with Benny St shouting the lap times.  Alex running freakishly well - 4s ahead on some of the 400m reps running in lane 4 on the last.  Davina would keep me company for the first lap of the 1200's and the first half of the 400's, which was pleasant.  Good to see Anna back out running well.

2km warmdown.

New blog linked with Big Sam posting thoughts from London.  Worth a read if only for the anti-Stoke humour!

Back home

Easy 11.2km around Manly feeling almost back to normal.  Still a bit of a shuffle but a faster shuffle now.  Averaged 4:16's this morning (47:59).  Still glad I wasn't racing this morning and bet Barts was too, suffering after last week's Half.  Lewis fared a bit better but neither can expect to back up after big Half PB's on an unrelenting course the week before.

Scott's Head

30mins very easy in the morning from the AirBnB place we stayed in at Scott's Head.  Great spot - log house built by the owner and fully sustainable with views of the ocean.  Felt better than yesterday and a few hills thrown in today.

Byron Bay

Friday - very easy 30mins along the beach at Byron Bay with Craig.  Just over 6km.  Bit of a shuffle and felt pretty tight around the groin area.

Gold Coast Marathon - 26th in 2:33:09

Well, that was hard.

Enjoyed an easy start to the morning.  Craig and I found out way to the elite athlete area.  This was a very nice set up with grandstand views of the finish line and we just saw 70 minutes tick over before Eloise came through (wow, what a run) before Barts, Alex and Lewis then came through in quick succession.

Then off to the start line.  Few hellos to Andy, Hoey et al and we were off.  Settled into the first km with Craig trying not to go too quick.  Rowan Wker comes past with a big group but let them drift ahead.  Another group including the first female being paced by Jackson Elliott comes past at about 5km so I ask what pace they're aiming for - he says 3:28's so again I let them go.  Craig drops off somewhere around 7km and I'm now running with the second female but the 3:30's still feel very comfortable.

Just concentrating on reaching the 15km turn at this stage.  At dinner the night before, Tom Buckley said something about knowing how well the race will go at 15km.  Well, I turned at 15km, saw Hoey was fairly close behind but Craig appeared to be having a bad day.  And then suddenly trying to run 3:30's became a whole lot harder.  I managed to just about hold them to half way but I realised then that it was going to be a massive struggle to get home.  The splits show that:

Hoey comes past at 23km bouncing along and I wave him on telling him he's looking great.  I'm now running 3:35's and it's hurting.  Gary appears on his bike, asks how I'm feeling and I tell him I feel like crap.  I can tell he thinks I look like crap too.  He's a great fella Gary, but not very good at hiding his true feelings.

Huge shouts from Clyde at Surfers and then LJ, Jeet (who had a fab sub80 run in the Half) and crew at Main Beach and then Angus on the Broadwater side of Main Beach.  Here's a photo from Angus at 28km:

At this point, Hoey (who's still only about 30m in front) takes a wrong turn due to some dopey traffic warden looking the wrong way, but quickly gets back on track.  Heading back into the crowds at the start finish area and I'm now really hurting and trying to hold 3:45's.  Barts offers some coke but I wave him away, being very ungrateful.  Can't concentrate on anything other than getting to the finish line.  The final 7km is just a world of hurt, trying different running positions to get a bit more pace into the legs and just keep the turnover going.  A Japanese fella overtakes me at 40km (I'd overtaken him earlier while he was running 4:30's!) but I don't care.  Turn back onto the main road and can see the final turn but it's so far away.  Eventually get there, turn the final corner, see the clock ticking over in the 2:32's but don't even bother to try to get under 2:33, I just want to stop.  And then, finally I can.

Have a chat to Dean and Julia then wait to see Craig come in on 2:36 having had an off day.  Then Andy and Matt Gibson race in on 2:37 with Andy having had a great run and negative split.  Next is Macca on 2:43 having also had an off day.  Maybe Hogs Breath Cafe the night before wasn't the great idea we thought it was at the time.

But run of the day goes to Hoey.  A low 2:30 in those conditions was sensational and the way he ran the race was perfect.

Then for some trash talk and beers in the beautiful surrounds of the Southport SLSC hearing about Barts eventually hauling in Lewis, how much of the work Neil did, how CT did exactly what we predicted and how LJ "jogged" around for 82mins. Wasn't she supposed to "jog" with Clyde, who himself managed to beat Enda?  The latter needs to retire after yet another underperformance.

And now back at the ranch for a bit of R&R.

Would I have rather run the Half with such a good pack?  Maybe.  But there's something very satisfying about doing the marathon even if you don't quite do what you wanted.  Anyone who finished that yesterday is deserving of huge respect - Birchy, Sonya, Jacquie, TKS - all suffered but got through.

Final run

Shelley Beach and back (8km) but run as 10min warm up, 8 x 1min fast, 1 min float, then 10min warm down.

Brass monkeys this morning.  In fact, stepped out with a singlet and t-shirt on, stepped straight back in and changed the singlet for Timmy's favourite Milk Tray top.

3 days to go.

Short, easy Wed

8km along the beachfront and including 4 x 100m hills next to MacKellar.  Didn't feel like running faster than 4:30's but bouncing along fine.  Saw Mrs Bromley and Lewis running the other way, the latter doing his 3:50's as usual.

8 years at Gold Coast:

2007:  10km in 33:02

2008:  Half in 1:13:09 (windy)

2009:  Spectator with achilles injury

2010:  10km in 33:21 (injury comeback)

2011:  Marathon in 2:36:40

2012:  Marathon in 2:34:00

2013:  Half in 1:11:16

2014:  Missed as in Europe

4 days to go. 

7, 5, 3

Down to HuRTs at the OH gates but not the 14 x 3mins for me or a few others running Gold Coast at the weekend.  We did 7, 5 and 3 mins off a 3 min rest.  

Went off quite hard on the first rep with no one with me - 3:09 for the first km, 3:17 for the second (up the hills) and average 3:12 at the end.  Ran with Barts and Tongey for the 5mins averaging 3:05 back down the hills then 3:07 for the final rep.

Short, sharp and session done.  4km warmdown with Enda, JC, J-Fen, Heet and Barts.

Massive crowd today doing the longer session, with those mentioned plus Timmy, CT, Q, Macca, Andy (the boy's found some form), Skins and a whole host more.  Fewer of the ladies in attendance with wannabe HuRTS #1 Renee fronting up whilst erstwhile #1 LJ decides the pressure of the squad is too much so has joined CanToo.  But she is promising an appearance at Goldie if the worlds tightest hamstrings can climb the JetStar steps.  The news just gets better and better for TKS.

5 days to go.

Taper time

14km around Nieth Head in 59:53.  Felt very lethargic and with a few niggles in the first 5km then much better later on.

Heard this booming voice at Queenscliff Playpark to see Barts rushing over ignoring his kids.  Then Jamie with his family about 100m further on.  

All enjoying God's Country.

7 days to go.

Not Parkrun

Couldn't get out for Parkrun due to Charlie's soccer (plus friends coming over last night) so emailed Jamie knowing he'd missed it too and suggested a 5km hard at noon.  Did two laps of the golf course which I've measured at 2.5km on Mapmyrun and the Suunto measured it at exactly 5km too.  Which probably means it's short.

First lap in 8:02 and second in 8:18 for 16:20.  Struggled on the hills a bit on the second loop.  Warm down with Jamie (who ran 17:44) for 15km all up.

Still coughing up crap and chest a bit tight.

8 days to go.

RunCrew 1km efforts

Up at sparrow's fart to meet Quentin, Jamie, Macca and Amy at 6.10am for 6 x 1km off a rolling 5mins.  It was still pitch black at 6.10am so we had to do them around Passmore where we had at least the tiniest bit of light.  Mainly from the toilet block which I had frequented in my usual fashion.

Ran the first rep with all my extra layers on not feeling at all up for it.  Then eased into them but to be honest never felt particularly comfortable this morning.  1km was just over 1.5loops of Passmore and I'd just concentrate on getting a loop done before pushing home the final half a lap.  Ran them all sharing the lead with Quentin who kept me honest.  Was pretty rooted on the final rep.  Times were:

3:20
3:09
3:06
3:04
3:07
3:03

Long warmdown with Macca for 12km all up.

10 days to go...

Wed easy

16km solo around Centennial with a loop of MMC thrown in.  Then did 4 x 100m hills as per coache's orders.  Felt better at end than I did at beginning.

11 days to go.

HuRTS 4 x 10mins

Nice turnout today with CT, Barts, Enda, Colin Hunt, Hoey, Fats and Andy all running upfront and the likes of Timmy, Jimmy and others making welcome returns.

Plan was to run within myself a bit quicker than marathon pace.  Did the gate to gate reps (starting from St Mary's Gates) in:

9:52
9:52
9:40
9:51

So nice and consistent although I had to work hard up the hills on the last rep to keep the time the same.  Long warmdown with Barts after for 18km all up.

Still coughing up the lingering effects of the cold.  But Bec now has a secondary flu type thing (off school today with a temperature and the shakes) so I'm avoiding kid contact as much as possible.

12 days to go...

Easy recovery

Turned up for a Monday HuRTS run for the first time in ages.  But they were too quick for me so Jacquie, new chap Andy and I dropped off the back.  Then around the STC wharves I saw Mr Ace and MC running the opposite direction so ran back with them.  

10km slow.  Back of left knee a bit sore.

Long run

Out in the arvo for various reasons.  Quentin and Justin thankfully joining in.  36km on the cards with some sort of fast finish.  But because it wasn't 6am we were pretty quick from the start.  Q dropped off  after 17km and Justin and I picked up the pace too early (at around 20km).  We'd been around North Head, up to Fitness First then back around the golf club.  Did 2 loops of the golf course averaging mid 3:30's, but having been doing a few mid 3:40's before that it was enough for me.

Eased off for the final 5km around Nolans and the blood sugar levels got very low in the final km. 

Final 18km (when Q gave me his watch after mine bombed) averaging 4:00.  All up 36km I guess in 4:10's.  Solid but worried about bonking in the marathon.  Nutrition will be key.

Curl Curl Parkrun - 1st in 16:44

Woke up at 6:45am having slept through my alarm.  Was touch and go to get there so jumped in the car.  Arrived with 2mins to spare.  Just Jamie there to keep company this morning.  Felt average in the first km, struggled through the mud after the recent relentless rain so just tempo'ed it through to the end.

Then a short break before Jamie and I ran the course again doing a 10 min effort and a 5 min effort off 3 mins rest.  Averaged about 3:30's.  Still not feeling magic.  But session done.  11km all up due to a lack of warmup.

Great to see Elle out there running again!

It was touch and go

Sick with a cold Wednesday and Thursday.  Ventured out Friday lunchtime and did a lap of Centennial looking a bit like this:

12.5km in 55:30.

Easy from home

Worked from home today helping Kirst out and still not feeling 100%.  Felt well enough to head out around North Head in the late arvo.  16.5km averaging 4:20's.

Forgot that I put a bet on against Barts head to head at C2S for $100.  Never betted against him before.  Should be interesting.

Launceston 10km - 18th in 32:06

Crap night sleep on Saturday night.  Coughing all night and felt as if I barely slept.  At 5am I decided I wasn't going to race.  Then got up later and felt a bit better.  Also realised that I wouldn't be able to enjoy a few beers later if I hadn't run so decided to do it.

Freezing morning - 2C at 10am.  Did a warm up with the boys with a few run throughs and we were lining up.  Church clock struck 10am and we were off.  Had decided that I wouldn't sprint out of the blocks preferring to work my way in.  Bart's had the same plan.  Dozens were in front of us but we still went through the first km in 3:07.  Started moving through the field here and suddenly it was just me, Barts and some young chap.  Dave C was about 50m in front.  Overtook Master Sweeney at about 2km so he'd gone out very quickly.  We just shared the pace until 5km (15:50) where we caught a couple of other chaps.  Turning back for home realised that we had a bit of a headwind.  The 2 young fellas we'd caught were a bit annoying as one of them kept on clipping my heels as I tried to tuck in behind Barts into the wind.  So I'd get frustrated and try to push the pace on, before Barts would then resume.  Couldn't drop them though.

Between 6 and 8km we slowed a bit to 3:16kms which basically cost us the sub 32.  Coming past Macca's and at 9km there's only 4 of us.  We hit the little bridge over the river and I realise everyone must be hurting as the pace drops on the little rise.  So I wait until we turn the final corner and then just kick past for home.  I seem to be clear!  Could it be this easy?  I see the clock ticking towards 32mins and realise I'm going to just miss.  But he comes the line and at least I've beaten Barts. But oh no, who is this white ghost drifting past me with 10m to go?  Noooooooooo!!!

So a little disappointing but with a final km of 3:07 the strength was there so all good for GCM still.  

Then we went in search of brekkie.  Wandered into what looked like a Nighclub where the lady greeted us by saying they didn't have a breakfast menu and could only serve us a stack made up of hash browns, bacon, eggs, beans and some healthy stuff.  Duh.  'Twas magnificent.  This photo is for Hoey:

Matching socks and shoes:

Then we did a Boags Brewery tour where somehow LJ got a special hi-vis singlet:

And we ran into Master Sweeney!:

Dave:

Didn't realise he was so close:

The Blog's Most Valuable Reader:

Jeet:

Birchy:

Sat - arrive in Launnie

Very easy 6km with Dave Criniti on arriving at our luxurious accommodation.

No pop culture refs for this session

Shortened session today with Sunday's race in mind.  Up early and down to the beachfront as it was too dark around Nolan's .

Session was 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1 off a 1min float recovery.  Hard to get going this morning and was counting the seconds down on the 3's and 4.  All up managed 6.38km in the 22mins (3:27's).

RunCrew Northern Beaches Chapter all over the place this morning running variously past Erika and Amy going quickly in the opposite direction.  Then bumped into Macca at the end so did the final 3km warmdown with him and Sweden bound Erika.

Just over 13km all up.

Easy peasy

10km easy in the late evening from the office including 4 x 100m fast strides towards the end.

2km TT with RunCrew

Out of work early and down to ES Marks.  Bit of a warm up and then some strides (actually, quite a few) before toeing the line for the TT.  A rolling start with Benny St Lawrence at the front, then me and Alex R sharing the pace with Tom do Canto (running 3 x 2km) behind us, then Gary, Lucy Starrat, Nick Walker and the other girls.

Went off way too quick following Benny who looks like he's jogging.  Through 200m in 31s (almost a PB) before easing up a bit.  Then stand aside for Alex and he pushes the pace again.  He starts to step aside at 650m so I go through but Tom DC immediately jumps in front.  So I just jump in behind him.  He drags me around until (running very wide on the final corner) I sprint down the final 100m.

Happy with 5:50.3 (not even in the home straight when Ben finished in 5:32).  Had enough for a sprint on the final lap after almost going lactic at 200m.  But, as Gary says, it's the benefit it does for you that is most important.  

Then did 5 x 300m - upping stumps after 5 instead of 10 like everyone else - as I was starting to labour them.  All between 50s and 52s (other than an easier first one).

Long warmdown chatting to the friendly squad for 14km all up (which somehow takes 100 mins?).

Longish run, hard finish

Out with Macca, Craig and the Cap'n this morning for the usual loop.  I had a hard finish scheduled, but only the last 6km.  Pace was thankfully nice and easy to start with as I was feeling the effects of yesterday's session.

Picked the pace up at 24km (just before the top of the hill at Dee Why so nicely timed) and ran 3:24, 3:28, 3:25, 3:29, 3:27 and 3:21 feeling pretty good finishing halfway between North Steyne and the Corso, then jogged back to Emporio for breakfast to finish with 31.25km in 2:16:20 (4:21's).

Parkrun

Coach said no Striders because of Launnie next week, so Parkrun followed by some 1min reps.  Met Quentin early doors to jog over.  Was pretty impressed with myself for getting up and if Q hadn't arranged to meet me I reckon I'd have rolled over and told myself I'd do the session in the afternoon.

Arrived to find Barts and J-Fen also there so a quality line up for a Parkrun particularly with North Head Striders on the same day.  Did some warm up strides and noticed quite an Easterly headwind.

Ran with Barts and Q until 2.5km when Q fell off.  Barts pulled ahead gradually from 4km but I felt good today - in control and not scared by the pace.  Was pleased to end in 15:56 - second fastest ever and a good sign for next week.  Bart's won in 15:50 with Q in 16:20 and J-Fen running well solo on his Parkrun debut for a 17:07.

Then did a 3km jog back around the course before starting the 10 x 1min reps off 1min recovery.  Did them around the fields next to Parkrun start/finish with Barts and Q, being replaced by J-Fen after rep 3.  Then a jog home.  So about 20km all up for a solid session.

Easy Friday

12km very easy along the beachfront and around the golf course.  Randomly bumped into Macca at 5km and finished the rest off with him chatting about the dirty scoundrel Salazar but how Mo has sailed through unblemished and should ditch his coach.

55mins or so.  Heel getting better after spreading on the Betadine.

Tan session

Out of the hotel and 3.5km warm up before starting the Manfred Mann session  (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) off 2 min float recovery.  Managed 6.48km (3:35's) but struggled to get going at the start.  Better by the end.

4km warm down for 14km all up and a beaut start for the day on a clear, crisp Melbourne morning.

Only problem is the blisters sustained on my heel post tempo session on Sunday.  Ouch:

In Melbourne

10km on the treadmill this evening after a super early start and arduous day.  Added a bit of gradient to make it feel more comfortable.  44mins.

20km easy

Turned up to HuRTS to amble around towards the back just for some company for my 20km.  Ended up running roughly with Pete Walkers group - I'd catch them on the offs while they pulled ahead on the ons.  After that did another 8k and was fortunate enough to bump into Barts and we ran and chatted the whole way.

20km in 85:00 and feeling fine although calves still stiff.

Marathon tempo

Over to the Bay for the marathon tempo. Alex R and Barts would be running 20km with me (well, Barts originally said 18km but I knew we'd be able to guilt him into 20) and then I had to do the final 7km lap solo.  Gary was riding his bike alongside (Benny St was doing the same to a couple of others in RunCrew doing a similar session) handing out water and gels.

Plan was to hold 3:30's the whole way.  That's pretty much what we did - a bit faster a times and marginally slower on the hills at the end of each lap.  Felt pretty good early on and only started to feel my legs tightening a bit near 20km when Barts and Alex seemed to lift the pace marginally.  Had to dig deep running solo on the last lap but all in all I was pretty happy.  27km in 1:33:54.

Concern is how much longer I could hold that pace before it would all fall apart.  I remember Tim Rowe running an effortless 30km time trial a few years back before the Canberra Marathon but it all going wrong when the big day came around.

With warm up and down it was 31km.  Massive thanks to Alex and Barts.

Sat

3 dead easy with a few strides.

HuRTS 1km reps

A call to arms and a good crowd at Rushcutters with Timmy back in the country, Barts, Tucks, Jono, Andy and (pause for breath) even Hoey making an appearance for a speed session.  The girls were well represented with #1 LJ, Erikakaka, Renee and a new chick also in attendance.

Timmy laid out the cones and we did 6 reps of 1km off a rolling 5mins.  Started each conservatively to even split the laps but felt good before the last so took it out aggressively. Ran:

3:05, 3:06, 3:05, 3:02, 3:00, 2:53

Took my shoes off half way through.

Felt good today but got a cold coming on.  Barts took it easy feeling more fluey. Contrary to popular opinion, Hoey has plenty of speed.

Long warmdown with Barts and Heydo boring them with my work stresses for 13km all up and 104km for the week (with 2 rest days).

Wednesday MLR

17km early this morning around North Head with Macca, Erika and the Cap'n.  Not sure I even looked at the watch but it was slow and my legs barely got beyond shuffle mode.  Was supposed to do 4 x hills after but I had to rush to work so that got canned.  Did some glute work in the shower instead.

Passed Lewis running the other way down Manly Beach.  That bloke needs to learn how to run slower.  I'm guessing he was running 3:45's.

Fartlek, Tempo

15mins warmup, 22mins fartlek (1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1) with a 1min float recovery, 5min jog then 22mins tempo, then 15mins warm down.

Set the alarm to meet Erika down on the beachfront to run it but was too tired at 5.15am so set off an hour later.  The floats were a bit too much like jogs for the first few reps of the fartlek (running 3:29 and 3:28) but picked it up to average 3:26's by the end (6.41km).  

Tempo felt much better picking the pace up the whole way to do 6.50km (3:23's). All around Nolan's and Passmore.  Almost 20km all up.

Long 'un

Out at 5.45am to meet Macca, the Cap'n, Andy, Johnny B, Jamie and Erika. 36km on the cards and I felt every step of it.  Was tired after yesterday afternoon's session (and the week in general) and just dragged my ass around.  No food as usual and I was feeling very depleted at the end.  Hoovered down the b&e roll after and Cap'n's half eaten almond croissant.

2:46:10 (4:36's).