Monday plod

Started to run home. Decided it was too much on my fragile achilles so did 7km around flat Barangaroo, was last man sprinting on to the ferry then 3km from the wharf home.  10km in 4:57's.  Just what the doctor ordered.

I've decided that success in life is about the quality of your distribution networks.

Longer Sunday

Got out at lunch with Darren and the Captain.  Did the same route as last week but adding to the lagoon and back and a loop of Fairfax.

Achilles surprisingly ok and got into the running after 5km.  Which was handy given that Darren had decided to punish his less fit running companions by pushing the hills.

All up 27km on a beaut of a day in exactly 2 hours (4:27's).

Then up to Narrabeen to ride the BMX next to Maggie as she ran 5km around the lake.  Legs shafted after that.

Saturday test

Was in Port Moresby Thursday and Friday with no chance to run.  Couple of days rest was probably what I needed in any case.

Headed out in the late afternoon to do another 5km tempo test.  3 weeks ago I ran 17:46 (adjusted to 17:39 on Strava) for the 2 lapper of Manly Golf Course starting from the corner of Kenneth and Quirk.  Ben Streck had run a 17:08 PB at Parkrun in the am so ambitiously set that as my target.

Went out hard over the undulating first km and was pleased to see 3:22.  A 3:26 followed and through the first lap in 8:32.  The tough 3rd km was 3:32 then consolidated with a 3:28.  Final km in 3:23 for a 17:11.  Strava seems to knock off 7s on the double loop as it gave me 17:04, finally knocking off Banksy's segment record.  Second loop was 8:39 so was happy not to drop off too much.

35s improvement in 3 weeks.  Next up sub17.

8km warm up and down for 13km all up.  Achilles sore in the evening.  6 hours of flying yesterday and the day before won't have helped.

Port Moresby:

 

MLR with Timmy

Out at lunch for what is becoming a regular MLR with Timmy. Chatted about everything from Rory Delap to Port Moresby and a few sidebars along the way.  15km around Centennial and back in 4:50's.

ANZAC Day

Kicked out of the house with the kids by Kirst, I ventured to the dark side to warn them of the perils of going astray. Venturing from Circular Quay to Watsons Bay, we encountered drug dealers (see pic below - my son pretending to pimp out his sister), latte sippers and beards galore.

Once home I got back to basics with a lovely 17km run around North Head with Charlie (the person, not the Eastern Suburbs drug of choice) and the Cap'n.  4:34's.

 

Monday

Still feeling ok (6 days in a row) and it was a beautiful day so joined HuRTs for 10-11km easy.  Chatted to Biggsy and Jac mainly.  Starting to feel more confident.  So much that I've got a bet with Timmy I'll run sub 2:34 in Berlin.  $50.

Sunday

Still can't run early with the Achilles being too stiff before lunchtime but got out at noon and Angus was keen to run at that time.  Did 25km with an extended route up around North Head. Great to have some company and kick off my first official long run post-injury.

Angus was remarking how I seemed to say hello to everyone in Manly before he stopped to say hello to Tony Abbott at Queensie on the way back.  I didn't.

Not the Novice

Down to Scarborough Park in the early afternoon. Wasn't up to running the Novice 10km but Maggie was doing the Under 12's 2km and Charlie decided to take part too as we travelled down there. Great running by both. They were knackered as they fell over the line. Mags ran a great 8:13 for 15th girl. Hard to tell how she did for her age as she has another 2 years in Under 12's.  Charlie was about 30s back.

Got home and, inspired, I ran loops of Nolan's and Passmore on the grass high-fiving the kids on the basketball court as I ran by. Felt great and as if I was moving properly again.  10km in 4:20's.

Friday with Jerome

Just me and the friendly Frenchman today.  But had a great chat with Jerome all the way round, a nicer bloke you will not meet.

12.5km in 4:34's.

Watched another 3 episodes of Thirteen Reasons Why tonight.  Holy crap it's heavy but gripping stuff.  Although I do wish he'd just listen to the tapes a bit more quickly.

Thursday with HuRTs

Jogged over the Rushcutters with the crowd to find Greta having diligently laid out some cones.  Set the group off on the Quarters session and then proceeded to just run it easy myself at the back.  Longer jog back with Q, Scotty and a new bloke called Jake.

11.5km

Wednesday MLR

Missed Timmy due to the worst meeting of my life. Got out eventually and ran to Centennial Park via Ocean St and, still angry, decided on a white fence tempo to see if I could beat last week's time.

First km - 3:32 (same), second km - 3:37 (2s quicker), third km - 3:34 (6s quicker), final 600m - 2:01 (6s quicker).  So all made up in the back half and that's how it felt too.

Achilles a bit sore after but ok this evening. Have a massage with big David Morgan Smith (who sounds and looks like a rugby player) in the am so will take it easy tomorrow.

Back home Monday

Back home and did a loop of North Head in the afternoon. Bumped into Erika on Manly beachfront and ran with her to Shelley.  Gradually increased the pace the whole way ending with a couple of sub 4's for just over 16km in 4:27's.

Achilles a bit sore after so rested Tuesday.

Easter Sunday

Well yesterday was a monster walk doing the 18km from Bundeena to Garie Beach.  I was shagged at the end (and the achilles a bit sore walking in the 4mm drop Sauconys).  Got home and fell fast asleep on the sofa.  I'm turning into an old man.

Woke up this morning though feeling pretty good and with the achilles feeling good again.  Best thing is it seems to heal a bit every night now.  Did my first 20km'er with the first 5km very slow with Maggie, then hitting some hills which kept the pace slow and finally opening up a bit in the final 7 or 8km.  Great to get through this run.  Has been an awesome weekend down here in the Royal National Park.

Red belly black snake:

Good Friday

Staying down in Bundeena and doing the Coastal Walk over 2 days.  Shorter day today doing Otford to Garie Beach.  Just stunning on a beautiful day.  With the whole family and Dad and Liz.  Everyone loved it, with Claudia walking the whole way.  Couple of photos below.

Got back fairly fatigued but got out for an hour around Bundeena in the early evening.  13km feeling pretty good after a great massage yesterday.

70km for the week!

Another Timmy MLR

As per last week, but a bit longer this time circling the park and retracing our steps from the top of Ocean Street.  Plus we added a Mini Timmy Tempo (his request) around the white fence.  15km in 4:42's.

Nice chat, couldn't get "House of Fun" out of my head after Timmy told me he was going to see a Madness concert.  Good to get another MLR in the legs. In fact they're feeling nicely fatigued right now. Might rest tomorrow and run Friday.

White Fence Tempo

Missed HuRTs due to meetings but probably a good thing as I'm nowhere near fit enough to join them yet.  Plan at the moment is just to get some miles in and gradually increase the pace of doing them.  Natural pace is currently 4:40's.  So to get it down I threw in a tempo of the white fence at Centennial yesterday.  Hurt a bit into the wind in the second half as the splits showed (3:32, 3:39, 3:40).  But did the trick with 4:26's all up for the 15km.

Up early this morning for Maggie's session.  She hates the 500's but they're good for her.  2:04, 2:01, 1:55 and 1:59 this morning.  She's pumped to be running for Rejoov at Scarborough Park a week Saturday.

Furthest yet

Well, the achilles was a bit sore, but I've discovered that if I stop every 20mins and stretch the legs then it all seems to hold together ok.  So today I pushed out to 16km.  Would have gone further but ran out of time.  4:41's.

3 youngest on a walk with Kirst this am:

 

Saturday test

Decided to test myself yesterday so did a 3km warm up then two loops of Manly Golf Course (5km).  Decided 18mins was the target - 3:36's.  Well, it was horrible.  Felt like I was carrying 15kg on my back, it's the only way to describe the breathing and leg weakness of being out of form.

Pushed on through and the one saving grace was that the pace was relatively consistent - 3:32, 3:32, 3:38, 3:33, 3:31.  Strava got 17:39 for the 2 looper from corner of Quirk/Kenneth - missed Banksy's record by 5s!

3km warm down for 11km all up. Achilles a bit sore this morning but hopefully ok for a run this arvo.

Huge congrats to Benny (78:50) and Darren (2:50:00) down in Canberra. Awesome times on a tough course. The boys are in form.

Big news today was Mags finally nailed her no-handed cartwheel:

Commute

A month ago we had "National Walk to Work" day and I remember thinking how far away I was from being able to commute in by running.  Yesterday, managed to do that. Had a lunch on so knew it was the morning or never.  Contemplated a run around Manly but decided to try running in with the ability to catch a bus of it got too tough.

Had left my Brooks' at work so it was back to the Mizunos.  Noticed that:

(a) they are much lighter; and

(b) my OP aches returned as soon as I wore them.

But the achilles was ok despite all the hills.  Top of every hill I'd stretch the legs which made a big difference.

1:09:32.  Massive confidence booster.

55km for the week.

Wednesday MLR

Just me and Timmy for a late start loop of Centennial via Ocean Street.  Plenty of banter passed the time quickly.  Achilles a bit sore to be honest, but feels immediately better after I stop and stretch.  It's the tight legs that are pulling on it.

12.5km in 4:50's.

Timmy's tempo (but not hills)

Well, after a blazing argument with Barts we settled on the Domain hills and tempo with me running laps of the Domain car park before the tempo took off.  Took the laps very easy and the tempo more seriously (running with Jeet) and in the end an enjoyable session.

3:56's for the tempo.

Boozy night at the ISDA dinner in O Bar and Grill. Beautiful views of this amazing city. Should come back to this place more often.

Feel like I'm running more normally again rather than like a cripple.

Weekend roundup

The Saturday:  8km to Shelley and back. Decided to push the pace on the way back and run a couple of sub4's.  Lost so much fitness that that spiked my heart rate to 182 and had me breathing hard.  Achilles felt much better for it though. It prefers running fast than slow.  4:19's.

Then followed a huge night at the Harbord Hilton, Shandar Tandoori and Stowaway.  Huge crowd of Manly runners plus some ring-ins from the Inner West.  Great fun.

Sunday:  Achilles felt good enough to go for the trifecta. 10km in 4:34's.  First run that has felt effortless. 

Some photos from last night:

Finally, spent a lot of time with Claudie today and had to post her work list:

An hour

Well, despite Wednesday's new found enthusiasm, I failed to get out yesterday as it was just too wet and windy.  Checked in today with poor Mikey Conway (not many people have ever called him that) but fortunately he lives up high and has avoided the flooding.

Today with the achilles feeling ever better I got our for 13km in just over an hour (4:47's), coincidentally meeting Barts just as we were both about to set off.  Had a good yarn with him for 40mins then upped the pace a bit when he headed back to the office (tapering for Lane Cove 10km tomorrow).  Another run done in one piece.

Nice response Sammy.  Good to have some intelligent banter on these pages rather than the drivel you find on rival blogs.  Come home soon mate.  Big Manly Hardcore Curry Night planned for tomorrow starting in the Harbord Hilton, you would love it.

Starting up again

So, I'm going to start posting more regularly in the hope of kick-starting a more regular training regime. 

The achilles is sore for 24 hours after each run but I'm able to progressively run further and faster each time before it affects my form.  I think it's at the stage where running is not detrimental to it but just needs to be managed.  I'm doing 120 eccentric loading heel drops per day and more rolling out than Macca on a Sunday morning.  

Yesterday was 10km in 45mins.  Had to work hard to maintain 4:30's, such has been my drop off in form.  I've put on a load of weight but not bothered by that. Just want to run free again.

News of the day was Britain's formal invocation of Article 50 to trigger Brexit.  To be honest, I don't know enough about the economic fundamentals to have a real feel on the sensibility of the decision.  It feels wrong and I was sympathetic to a Labour politician on ABC24 asking people to remember what Britain was like economically before 1973 when they joined.  But then Britain wasn't much better in the late 70's in the era of national strikes, high inflation and the 3 day week.

So you have to do a straw poll. In 5 years time, will:

(a) the pound be stronger against the Euro than it is now?

(b) the FTSE have risen by a greater percentage than the DAX?

I'll guess no to both.

Update

Well, it's a whole month later.  Maggie's training continues to go well.  We did the 2 x Passmore reps again this morning (coincidentally after last post) and she ran 2:28 (3:47 pace) then 2:31 (3:52 pace).  Getting stronger by the week.  She has inherited her Mum's Garmin FR 25 and is becoming obsessed with it.  A true runner in the making.  Followed by 6 x 60m sprints.

I've been trying everything with the achilles but became pretty depressed after having a whole fortnight off running (which included a trip to New York where I couldn't have fit it in anyway) but came back with the achilles more sore than before.  It has still been sore just to walk.  So on Monday I decided to try everything.  Been doing a lot more on the plantar with a cricket ball which provides a lot of relief, increased the heel drops to 120 per day but, more importantly, booked an appointment with Dr Isaacs in North Sydney (on Ben Streck's recommendation) who specialises in laser therapy and dry needling.

Well, I don't know about the laser therapy but he did dry needling all the way from my mid-back to my heel and every section produced a huge release spasm from the relevant muscle.  I walked out of the room high-kicking like John Cleese and virtually pain free.

Have also invested in a new pair of trainers (Brooks Transcend 4) and in-soles.  Did my longest run in 2 months today - 10km with Pete, Bruce and Brendan.  Only marginal pain from the achilles which, for the first time, eased as the run went on.

Further update

Still sore to walk.  Getting better each day though.  Hope to jog on grass by the weekend.

Maggie training this morning.  1.3km warm up and down.  2 x Passmore Oval reps in 2:32 and 2:38.  She was upset not to get the second under 2:36 (4min kms), but going well.

Update

Wednesday was 12km around Centennial with Brendan, Ray, Andy and Mark B.  Achilles sore the whole way.

Thursday did Maggie's session in the morning: 3 x 500m on the Nolans path (so it's accurate). She ran much quicker than I expected doing 1:52, 1:53 and 1:56.  At the same age Billy and Bec would run low 2:00's.  That was it for the day for me.

Friday was 9km to Redleaf with Barts enjoying a dip with the wealthy Eastern suburbs socialites.

Saturday did Parkrun with Mags but ran around in about 4min kms with Elle.  Nice to see Robbie turn up for the win.  Achilles was really sore after though and only did 6km without even pushing.  Going to have to rest it for a while and stray from scratch.  Pretty depressing.

Still sore Tuesday

Started to run home after work. Achilles sore (down the sides of heel, not the bursar which is no longer swollen due to the Voltaren) and wasn't getting any less painful so pulled the pin in Cremorne and caught the 179 to Balgowlah Fish Cafe for dinner with Mrs H.

This may take a while.

Did 5km mind. Not very quickly.

Sore Sunday

Leg numb from the V but promised Maggie a run so did two loops of Nolans/Passmore with her in the heat of the arvo.  She's starting to look very comfortable jogging 5km.

 

SunRun

Easy jog to the start with Darren, Erika and Dicky.  Felt tentative the whole way worrying about my achilles which had been sore since Tuesday night and which I was hiding with Voltaren.  Decided to race in my Wave Rider 20's as I was too worried about putting more pressure on it wearing flats.

Good field in the end with a couple of top triathletes, Vlad (looking very fit), Ben Liddy, Sean Bowes, Barts, Scotty, Rowan Walker, James Tunbridge, Alex R and others all toeing the line.  Took it steadyish up the monster hill off the start line with Barts, Scotty, Toby and Alex just in front then opened up back down the hill.  3:27 first km including the monster climb but by now my achilles was already hurting.  Then Rowan Walker went to the front of the second group and started pushing the pace (3:12 next km) and I was falling off the back and not running freely.  Sean Bowes came past, the achilles got worse so I pulled the pin at 3km.

There was a big gap until Gary Mullins, Dicky and Darren came past while I was walking.  Then Erika came by with 3 girls (Bec Lowe and 2 I didn't recognise) and I shouted out to her that she was in the lead before she disappeared off. Hell, Erika's winning the SunRun!  I'm still tossing up whether to just walk home but decide it's un-Australian, plus Dad will be waiting at Queenscliff, so start running. See the girls 100m ahead so decide to try and catch Erika to help her up the killer hill by the Harbord Hilton.  If she's going to win this, she'll do it using her strength on the hills. 

Well, outside my old house on Charles St in Freshie (about 6.5km) there was about 30m separating the first 4 girls.  By 8km Erika has a 150m lead.

Buggered my achilles further in finishing off the run (38:42 for the record).  Hobble home to discover Dad is in hospital with a dislocated shoulder after taking a tumble while coming to watch me and Scotty is in the bed opposite him having collapsed at the Novotel.

What a day.

Bought some more Voltaren.

HuRTS Thursday

Mona Fartlek. Barts promised he'd be there. Apparently got confused and turned up at Rushcutters. WTF? Worst excuse ever. Plainly he's lost it and Scotty's got to him.

Ran with Quentin; JFen and Moyle.  Did 5.84km averaging 3:26's.  Felt buggered and left achilles was very sore.

12km all up. Worried about the achilles for Saturday's race. Worst race possible for a sore achilles.

Day 40

Out at lunchtime with Barts, JFen and Brendan for 15.6km.  After 15mins of discussing where to go, we headed to Centennial via Oxford Street and did 2 laps. Plenty of chat along the way with Barts starting to obsess about how Scotty is going to beat him (for the first time apparently) at the Sun Run.

Was very sore this am but better for the run.

4:38's.

Tuesday's my worst day

AM: Just 6.5km to Shelly but finishing at Emporio for coffee with Kirst. Seemed to high-five half of Manly on the way. Near Shelly I was staring at this lady because she looked familiar and eventually realised it was Asher Keddie. She smiled at me so I think I'm in.

PM: Turned up at ES Marks already feeling tired but told myself to push through this one.  6 x 1km off a rolling 4:30 followed by 6 x 200m off a 200m jog.  Ran with Alex, Damien and Neil. Kevin and Matt miles ahead off rolling 4mins.

Reps went 3:01, 3:03, 3:05, 3:04, 3:06, 3:05.  Much quicker than last week and makes a huge difference having a standing rest.  Alex was in fine form about 2s ahead and taking the wind on each rep.  200m reps were awful, with Neil schooling me after I jokingly told him it would be a comp between us as to who didn't finish last on each one.

Broke down with cramps afterwards (had also had them at work during the day) and am shattered now.

4km warm up and 3km down for 16km all up and 22.5km for the day.

Run home

Knackered today and it was still 28C when I set off at 7pm so started very gingerly not worrying about pace at all.  Gradually got into it and was moving OK by the end.  Average HR 134 so it's getting better.  14 and a bit km (came home via Burnt Bridge Creek deviation) in 67:51.

Change in the Long Run!!

Darren and Erika were restless this morning. I could sense something amiss immediately.  Within 100m I had Erika in my ear suggesting a different route to that which we have done for the past 4 years without change.  Mutiny was in the air.  We picked up Hamish (Ben and Lewis also there) and headed to Dee Why to pick up Toby.  Then at Fitness First we looped down Harbord Road and immediately up Headland Rd (a killer) to satisfy the Jordans. A loop around Dee Why headland and back along Curl Curl beach and the beautiful coast track before following the Sun Run course to scare those taking part next week.  Dutifully scared, we headed to Shelly where we farewelled Toby and Lewis but something was nagging at me.  Then it dawned.  We'd forgotten that we'd arranged to meet the Cap'n at Narrabeen Lake. Poor fella would be devo.

Finished with a loop of North Head and back to Queenscliff.  Darren, who is in great form, was pushing all the hills (properly pushing) and I was working hard to stay with him.  He is going to surprise a few when he races something more than Parkrun. I much preferred the hilly route though and it suits me better having done a lot of hill work recently.  The standard Sunday route had started to depress me and I wasn't enjoying it.

All up 27km in 4:40's.  No takers for Emporio after the ocean dip so I headed home to find the family heading out to Rosebery Cafe.  They serve a great brekkie there so may need to start to incorporate it.  Saw Emma C and Amy S there with Emma looking over her pregnancy as she's due next week.  Good luck!!!

Great pic from yesterday's Parkrun with Maggie finishing strongly:

Parkrun

So I got up early this morning to fit in a 4km warm up knowing I was taking Maggsy to Parkrun so couldn't do it there.  Did a loop via the ABC Pool passing Darren and Erika on the way.  They were running 10m apart so must have had an early morning tiff.

Picked up Mags and off we went. I was pumped knowing Scotty was running and someone to try to hold on to for as long as possible.  Got there, did a few strides, calmed Mags down, said hello to Ben, Cap'n, Darren and Eoin but no Scotty.  Stood up.  Half relieved, half disappointed. 

Dragged my ass around the course with Eoin keeping me company for the first km then solo.  Legs felt like they were wading through treacle.  Finished in 16:42.  Starting to get a bit worried about the lack of form.  It's either the load with no rest days, impatience or getting old.

Darren ran a stormer to PB in 17:31.  But run for the day goes to Maggie who smashed her PB by 43s and ran 25:30.  Watch out sub5 min kms.  She was stoked.

15km all up including w/u and c/d.

Rounding it out

Just a lunchtime run to Redleaf with Barts, including a dip in the pool with a bunch of over-privileged 16yr olds.

10km.

120km for the week and a solid one at that.

RunCrew Centennial Set

Well, an evening kick off in Centennial at least kept me off the beers during Australia Day.  Had to play backyard cricket with no excuse of "holding a beer can" for why I dropped the catches.

Smaller crowd with Gary, Benny St, Matt H and Dave Byrne leading the 6 x 800m with Alex and I working together behind.  Admitttedly, Alex taking the outside line so probably running an extra 10m than me.  Straight into a jog 400m "recovery" and, while it slows the reps down a bit, I prefer the constant moving and think it gets me fitter.  They were all 2:35 to 2:37.  I'm sure Tiger's 800's are longer than HuRTs ones.

Short recovery then Alex and I went into a tempo.  I did 1 lap of the white fence, he did 2.  I ran 12:18 although may have finished in the wrong place (all over the place at the end).  Was probably more a 12:25.  Anyway, 3:26 pace.

Happy with that.  Feel as though I've got a bit of strength there but totally lacking in speed at the moment.

17km all up with w/u and w/d.

Wed plod

Jogged to work. Forgot how hilly it is. Legs a bit leaden but have been worse. 1:06:57 (4:45's).

Tough Twin Tuesday

AM: 40mins very easy fortunately bumping into Lewis along the way.  Ran past the Cap'n now looking like Jon Bon Jovi courtesy of a new haircut.  4:54's.

PM:  Jogged to ESMarks with Renee and Erika. The latter could hardly control her excitement at her first ever track session.  They were joining Greta while I did my first RunCrew session since pre-JPMorgan.  Session was 3 x 4 x 400m with a 200m jog between reps and 600m jog between sets.  

The crew has changed a bit in my absence with some seriously fast blokes.  The first group was Matt Hudson, Kevin Batt, Keith Mc, Liam Ridings and wonderkid Jackson someone (16yr old who has run 3:50 for 1500m).  Second group was me, Alex, Neil and Damien Simpson, much improved chap from Dee Why.  We split up over the second set and I was well behind Damien at the end.  Fastest 400m was 72s (WTF? I normally average 67/68) and slowest was 75s.  Very windy but still.

Jogged back to the office after for 18km all up and 26km for the day.

Back home (again) - Monday

Very easy 11km route to Shelly Beach trying to keep the heart rate under 130bpm.  Failed with it averaging 133bpm.  I blame the wind along the beachfront.

4:38's.

Mollymook - Sunday

Similar loop to yesterday but including a run along Narrawalee beach each time.  Got the tides wrong having to run in soft sand.  Bloody hill and bloody hard.  I was seriously depleted after 2 hours (26.5km - 4:31's) and almost collapsed when I got back into the room.  Had to have a Coke - my first in 3 years.

Mollymook - Saturday

Out again in the late afternoon around the streets of Mollymook.  Schedule was a hilly 60minutes so I interpreted this as run hard.  Was also keen to test myself.  Planned on trying to get the average pace under 4min kms (i.e. 15km).

First (hilly) km in 3:52 so knew I was going ok. Felt great today so just kept on ploughing through.  Hills started to get to me towards the end with one monster at 15km.  The Garmin Connect pace graph gives an indication of how up and down it is:

 

Managed 16km all up (3:45's).  A great session.  Bizarrely I heard someone shouting my name out half way through - turns out Sam Towill was staying down here (looked like he was on a surf trip).  You can't hide from the tentacles of HuRTs.

Followed by a massive dinner at Bannisters which was awesome.

Rare selfie:

 

Mollymook - Friday

Kirst and I drove down early after dropping the girls at the airport. Stunning place.  Got out for an easy 40mins (although plenty of hills) before dinner.  Starting to feel stronger in my running.

View from our balcony.

 

108km for the week.

Back home

Touched down at 8am and straight to work on a busy day.  Farked now.  Got out at lunch and trundled around at the back of HuRTs for 10km, in awe at Enda's new found form.  That boy is going to smash it in Tokyo.  Good chat with Kanser who seems to be running 140km weeks.  I go away for 3 days and the world goes topsy turvy.

Bonkers

10km on the treadmill in 42:37 in the am.  Thighs smashed after coming down from The Peak yesterday. Jumped in the pool afterwards.

About to hit Lan Kwai Fong:

 

Honkers

AM:  Run to the Peak.  Hilliest run known to man.  I have to admit I walked Old Peak Road in parts.  The locals were coming down backwards.  Short and extremely slow but got the heart rate going (and buggered my achilles).  27mins up and 15mins down for 7km.

PM:  Managed to squeeze in a treadmill session.  8km in 32mins.  Wanted to get the legs moving after this am.

2 different sessions but I reckon it does the world of good to mix it up.  Staying in a fantastic hotel (The Landmark Mandarin Oriental).  The amenities put Australia to shame.  Weighed myself on their fancy scales in the gym and was 66.5kg.  Heaviest I've been in 18months. No wonder the long runs feel so hard.

Getting it done

Heading off to Honkers this arvo so only option was another 6am start.  Almost rolled over this morning but the thought of the satisfaction on CT's face was enough to get me out the door.  Met with Lewis and Darren after yet another PW first km (5:48 this time).  In truth, it was a cracker of a morning and actually felt pretty good by the end - good enough to do the 4x hills at Queensie.

15.6km and 4:40's.  The fact that Lewis and Darren average 4:30's and 4:32's when we do 90% of the run together show the impact of my first and last kms solo!

Slog

29km with the Hardcore. Tried a fast finished. Failed after 2km. Thanks Lewis for bringing me home.

4:23's.

Hot, hot, hot

AM:  Parkrun with Mags in just over 27mins.  Doesn't work me running with her. She just slows down so I end up running 10m in front the whole way.

Lunchtime:  31C so I decide to do my hilly route around Manly dam.  Extended it around Nolans to make up 15km.  Legs moving well (still a touch of OP) but too hot to do anything other than get around. 1:10:17 (4:42's).

Resting this arvo in the heat watching How I Met Your Mother.  Claudia knows not what she does: