Wed MLR

The C2S recon MLR with Timmy but with added females!  We had Jac, Elle, Renee and Jay Z Pringle along for the ride too.

Felt quite bouncy as a result of the rest day on Tuesday so took out the polka dot jersey on the Heartbreak Hill Fast section and the killer hill up to Ocean St on the return.

All up 18km in 4:46's.

Long run Monday

Hungover in the am, got out at 1pm with the Cap'n for an hour before he upped sticks so continued on for 30km up the path to Seaforth Oval and back via White St and the Fairlight path. Picked the pace up a bit conscious the achilles goes better and for the first time in a long time felt like I was moving properly today. 

4:39's.  

Then went to watch Wonder Woman with the family. 2 popcorns out of 5 for the film, 5 out of 5 for Wonder Woman herself.

Sunday abort

Plan was for 30km consisting of 5km easy then 5km tempo x 3.  Managed 12km before deciding achilles was getting worse. But finding that running quickly causes less damage than slowly.

Then onto Paddington for the end of season footy tipping drinks. Top night but drank too much.

Parkrun

4km warm up. Wasn't sure whether to run as achilles still felt a bit sore. Arrived and thought what the hell. Especially seeing Kirst and Mags were waiting. So set off with the plan to try to stick to Lewis, Benny and 'Darren', knowing they were all in sub17 shape.

1km in 3:16 and I'm holding on. 2km in 6:39 and I'm just holding on. I do a wide turn through a big puddle on the grass by the netball courts shortly after and start to lose touch. Lewis is pushing ahead, followed by Ben and then 'Darren' with me further back. Same up the Harbord Rd hill then over the top and I'm starting to close in on 'Darren'.  High five Mags who is just behind Elle, then go past Darren at 4km and turn to have a word only to discover it's not Darren - it's a chap called Jody Wall. I wouldn't have tried so hard if I'd known that. 

Hit the bridge at 15:04 and realise a sub17 is possible. Start pushing and suddenly I'm closing on Benny. This is an added bonus. Get past Benny just before the dog leg and home in 17:04.

Great to be back in it again but the achilles is very sore after.  Running hard early doors is not good.

10km all up.

Friday HuRTs

Pretty big Friday turnout by HuRTs standards, with Andy, Brendan W, Renaud and a host of others joining in. Despite that, still saw Barts, Scotty and Jerome off doom their own thing.  Too slow for those boys these days.

Kept on running today and ended up doing 17.25km with Andy doing the whole thing with me.  Achilles ok. Felt fine over the distance. Need to start stretching the legs a bit more.  Will start tomorrow with a Parkrun effort.

1 step forward, 2 steps back

Planned longer, only managed 8km around the City. Too sore after an early morning massage.  That said, was feeling better at the end after picking the pace up, so much so that I nearly headed out again.  But curbed my enthusiasm thinking of the long game. Nice to run with Barts and Scotty on their cool down for the middle part.

Maybe I'm just a bit grumpy but finding a number of identities very annoying at the moment. In no particular order:

1. Piers Morgan (self important short arsed twat)

2. Bloke from Mt Hotham on the Qantas safety briefing (annoyingly upbeat)

3. Trump (obvious)

4. Tom Piotrowski (what's with the beard, you're an analyst, not a model)

5. Hamish and Andy (you're not students anymore, grow up)

Better to get that off my chest.

Yarra Trail

Started using Jack's massage stick on the calves last night and it seemed to do a load of good. Woke up with the achilles not as bad as I expected. So went to Rebel and bought one for myself, as well as some small gel-like heel raises.

The result was 14.5km along the Yarra Trail with the achilles not too bad. Groin/glute another matter.  Finished with some hills, just because I feel my form is crap at the moment and hills normally sort me out.

Still not 100%.

Oh bejaysus

Tuesday (having missed Sunday and Monday). Can't catch a trick at the moment. Laid out again by this low level bug. Start to get a headache, aching and shivery as soon as I get tired.  So didn't until Tuesday.  Down in Melbourne and after a day of meetings I ran to Alec & Gill's from the Grand Hyatt.  Went a route that meant I wouldn't get lost - St Kilda Rd, Nepean Highway and North Rd which wasn't the most picturesque. But 14.5km done in 4:46's when I thought it would be another day off.

That said, achilles, knee and groin/gluten were sore.

Hill tempo

Too tired from the Perth trip to do Striders so headed out for my favourite loop of Manly Dam in the afternoon and decided to push the pace a bit.  That's all fine but unfortunately I'd had a cronut not more than an hour beforehand and it sat on my stomach uncomfortably for the first 5km up Allambie Hill.  

After that was fine.  Averaged just under 4min kms and a good tester, although achilles was sore after.  Too much red wine at Craig's house later with Macca and his family had me feeling very average all day Sunday so will run long tomorrow.

Check out “Hilly tempo” on Relive!

https://www.relive.cc/view/1018435886

Perth tempo

Swapped my planned Mona Fartlek to a long tempo, partly listening to the Tiger and partly listening to my body.  

Did a short warm up due to time constraints then straight out along the river to the end of the path at Dalkeith then returned. Came out at exactly 8km out and return.  Did tempo pace which I thought would be 3:50's but became 3:55's - just off the plane so perhaps that was the reason. But a beautiful day (much warmer than Sydney) and I love the path with no roads to cross and the river by your side the whole way.  Bit of wind on the way out but made the return easier.

Very even pacing around 3:55's.  Breathing fine at end but achilles and knee sore in the evening.  Many beers (they drink pints over here) with the sociable Perth lawyers made the body feel a lot better.

And awesome news!  Turns out we've hired a Grad lawyer over here called Kate Fitzsimons who represented Aus at the World Uni Games and runs 16:15 for 5000m.  Guess who's gonna be doing work experience in Sydney in November for JPMorgan!

106km for the week.

Timmy MLR

Met Timmy and Renaud for a different MLR. The former is keen on starting his C2S training so we headed out to Heartbreak Hill. Renaud turned after 5km, then Timmy started his traditional effort up the hill.  I held back but picked the pace up a bit, but coming past Kambala could see him up ahead to put an effort in to catch him before the top.  

Was sore (mainly knee, but achilles a bit too) before the run having neglected evening roll-outs of late, but actually felt better after the hill effort.  It's like teaching your legs how to move properly again.

Turned at 9km and retraced our steps for a healthy 18km.  Timmy talked shite the whole way.

HuRTs Continuous

Tried to do a 15min jog warm up but only managed about 8.  Joined a good crowd at the Stone Gates and barked out a few instructions.  Then off into the 20mins Fartlek, 5min jog and 20min tempo. I like this session.

Barts, Crossy, Lewis and Andy disappeared off ahead with me running with Jeet, Jerome, Mikey Lichtwark, Enda, Brendan and with Gus and Timmy just behind.  Reached just past the entrance to Barangaroo at 22.5mins, so just behind where I reached 2 weeks ago when doing 45min Fartlek. The difference was the return.  Chasing the J&J show, with Jeet in particular throwing in some 3:30's around Farm Cove, managed to get back in 44:29 - whereas 2 weeks ago it took me a minute longer.

Total was 11.8km in 3:46's.

3km warmdown with Barts and Andy for 16.5km all up.

Monday

Ran home from work. Had to go along Cahill EWay to avoid Vivid crowds. Slow and tired from Sunday.  5:00min kms.  14.5km.

Sunday laps again

Could only get out in the afternoon and Craig answered a call to arms.  He dropped Chelsea and Thomas off at ours to play with the kids while we ran loops of Nolans and Passmore - same as two weeks ago.

The kids were great, handing us bottles of water after every lap then picking them up as we chucked them on the ground.  14 laps and 30km done.  Same impact as last week - bloody tough on the glutes and hamstrings.  4:49's.

Back from the Brink

Saturday was ANSW XC relays in Miranda.  Was still feeling average in the morning so didn't intend to run, but was taking Maggie down after her morning ballet eisteddfod.  Got there, saw the awesome set up, saw the crowd and decided to give it a go.  But first Maggie's race.  She was fantastic, running 17:46 just 3 seconds behind (an admittedly very pregnant) Elle.  Here she is:

Then I was up first leg in the Open mens.  Well, I had only one aim.  Stay ahead of Enda.  Ran with him for the first 200m then pushed ahead a bit.  Could see I had about 5m after 1km and then got through the first lap in 6:50.  Then my legs started going dead.  Not sure whether it was lack of fitness, antibiotics or getting over the manflu, but every corner involved an increasingly desperate look over my shoulder to see where he was.  I told myself I owed this to poor Timmy who has been ostracised by Enda of late.  And so I got there.  14:10.  Better than I thought and something to work from.

Scotty had a great run in 13:11 mixing with the big boys.  Barts ran a great second leg in 13:26 but JFen was run of the day as he beat both CT and me to run 14:01.

Great turnout by Rejoov so here we are (at least the blokes and Mags):

Monday recovery

Good news is that the achilles is feeling better and better (despite a real test on Sunday) and I ran home Monday evening with the stated aim of going dead slow but just felt comfortable the whole way.  69:55 (4:53's).

Bad news is the bug I've been struggling with started to hit me again when I got home and I'm off work sick today with a temperature.  FFS.

Long run including SMH Half

Headed in with the in-form Benny, Erika and Tim and got to the office after a few City diversions which had Benny's heart rate up in the 160's before we'd even started running.  Met LJ and then into the office for a change before heading out for a few pre-race kms.  Only managed 3.2km at 5:00 pace around MMC before being the last person to join the race from the front.  Headed a few rows back and then we were off.

Plan was to run 4min kms all the way.  But after Saturday's effort I wasn't too confident, worrying whether this little bug would hit me in the legs later on.  So by some bizarre logic I decided I needed to run a bit quicker to get some time in the bank.  Met JFen on the detour up Grosvenor Street and we ran together for the rest of the way, generally chatting (except on the hills).  We averaged about 3:50's going through half way in 40:41.  More effort required in the second half up the hills and noticeable how people were coming back to us.  Finished in 82:11 with a confidence boost given it felt comfortably hard.

Some super performances out there today.  Hoey was the pick, knocking off my PB from 2015 by 9s to run 71:04 leaving Barts and Scotty in his wake.  A typical strong second half performance from him.  Bruce ran a strong 76 on a tough course and Benny likewise only 4s shy of his Canberra PB on a much more difficult course (78:55).  Jeet is returning to form with a low 79 and he needs to belt up about his injury now.

Another 5km cool down with car gang at 5:20 pace for 29km all up.

Benny, Erika, LJ and me.  Thumbs are the new Dab.

Saturday tempo abort

3 weeks since the previous 5km TT around the golf club so tried it again.  Fail.  Just felt crap.  Think I've had a low level bug for a week which explained Thursday but that could just be an excuse, I just can't seem to get firing.  3:24 then 3:30 then jogged out the rest.  12km.

Brisbane Friday

Felt very average on Thursday so took my kit to BrisVegas and snuck in 14km over lunchtime in 4:30's along the river.  Need to stop over striding. Found that when I relaxed and increased the cadence I ran quicker and more easily.

103km for the week.

Wednesday MLR

Well it was the usual Wednesday MLR route I've been doing for the past few weeks with Timmy but without Timmy.  Instead, Jeet, Jack the Lad and Irish Dave did the whole thing (actually I added a km at the end solo) while Jac, Elle, Renee and Bruce joined us to the top of Ocean St.

16km nice and easy.  4:52's.  296m of elevation.  Starting to feel as though I am moving properly again.

HuRTS Fartlek

1 km warm-up then into the 45mins fartlek (5 x 9mins of 3,2,1 each with a minute break).  Had ambitions of trying to stay with Bruce and Jerome but they fell apart coming around the Opera House.  From then on it was Gidon and Big Kev.  Turned at Barangaroo averaging 3:42's.  G and Big K didn't seem to turn very well so I was on my own on the way back.  Andy and JFen came flying by at CQ with Toby following shortly after.  Lots stopped at 30mins with SMH Half on this weekend and Toby kindly slowed to get me up the hills at the end.

Finished 39s over for 12.1km (3:46's).  Time not flash but at least feel as though I'm moving properly again.  3km cool down for 16km all up.

New of the day for a proud Dad was Maggie smashing all in her school XC win.  Charlie finished a credible 10th in his after falling at the start and someone standing on his ear.  Bec finished 12th in Zone.  God knows what the competition is like for that as she barely moves from her bedroom.

Monday recovery

Did 13km with the squad, running with BW, Bruce, JW, Eoin, Liam & Co.  Then finished with some hills (4) in the Bot Gardens.  To be honest, this is the first run I've done where I felt everything was moving properly and started to flow again.  Coincides with managing to do 8x single leg pivots in the shower this morning.  Also coincides with my starting on high strength turmeric tablets for their anti-inflammatory powers.  They seem to work!  Bursar on my heel hasn't been as shrunken in ages.  Make your farts smell though.

4:43's.

Easy recovery

Just an easy 13km in the late arvo to Shelley and about.  Legs were buggered to be honest.  4:45's.

Just finished re-watching "Lion" and "La La Land" over the past two nights with Kirst. Both great films for different reasons and I had a lump in my throat watching each. Young Saroo is the star of the first and Emma Stone rose in my estimations for the latter. Great actress.

Tommy: 1 Nolans/Passmore: 0

Thursday and Friday were off sick with this cold bug doing the rounds.  Billy has been diagnosed with whooping cough.

Wanted to go long on Sat due to Mothers Day on Sunday, plus had a chance to get out.  Only problem was I had to keep an eye on Claudia.  So hatched a plan to run around Nolans and Passmore while she was out playing on the fields.  She would high five me every time I ran past.  She kept a pen and paper to log the number of high fives.  131 was the final tally.  13 laps of Passmore and Nolans plus one final loop of Nolans made up the 30km in 2:18 (4:37's).

Hardest thing wasn't the boredom of running the same loop (I actually like running on Nolans, less so Passmore) but the lack of variation in gradient, pace and terrain which results in sore muscles.

Wednesday in Melbourne

Well Tuesday was a write off. Up at 4:30am for the flight to Melbourne then an all day meeting finishing at 8pm put paid to any run, let alone a session.

Woke early on Wednesday morning and, realising it was my only chance and with the Achilles feeling good, I did the Yarra Trail for 16km.  Lovely.  Just can't run at 4:30's at he moment though.  Struggled to get it there.

Monday meander

13km in the late afternoon around the City. Had a shout out from Robin Whiteley. That was about it.  4:47's. Don't seem to be able to run any quicker these days.

Back to 30km

Managed to persuade Benny, Macca, Hamish and the Cap'n to do the lunchtime long run.  Macca is playing injury Wac-a-Mole but did 10km with us, with Hamish and the Cap'n lasting until Addiscombe on the return.  Only Benny did the full 30 with me, with him doing 34km now preparing for GCM after his great PB yesterday.

I struggled over the final 5km but did it with the achilles feeling relatively ok.  4:47's.  Not quick, but enough at the moment.

Alien in my calf:

A significant day in running

It started this am at Curl Curl Parkrun. Forgive my fatherly pride, but Maggie ran a stormer. 3 weeks ago she knocked 90s off her PB to run 23:24.  This morning, she knocked another 90s off to run 21:56. In doing so, she achieved the highest Age/Gender score at Curl Curl this am:

 

I told her to give it a crack with 10 days to go before her school XC and she duly responded.

Then the Sydney 10 results came filtering through. It looked tactical upfront but Barts lived up to his billing as HuRTs #1 with a 32:05, followed by Scotty (who was with him until 8.5km) and Nick in 32:27 and Binfield running a great race to dip under 33.  Toby pipped CT in 33:17 and other great PBs went to Bruce (34:07) and particularly Benny in 34:55.  Sub35 is a special thing.  Timmy claimed my $20 with a 37:15 and gave me something to aim for in my tempo in the afternoon.

Then Kipchoge's sub2 attempt (let's not pretend the other 2 were doing anything but making up the numbers).  It was a much more professional set-up than I'd anticipated and really interesting to watch.  The bloke is amazing.  So smooth with virtually no wasted energy. It's like watching Tucks.  He smashed everyone's expectations in getting with 25s and proving that it's possible.

Then I got out for a run - feeling inspired.  Decided against a hard 5km having watched the marathon so settled on 10km steady tempo.  Tried to keep the pace manageable throughout and that equated to 3:45's.  Felt in control which was good and ended with 37:17 (just outside Timmy's time this am). 

14km all up.

Thursday HuRTs

Over to Rushcutters but a small crowd in light of Saturday's Sydney 10.  And no cones.  Session was the pyramid of 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1 laps.  Decided to push it a bit but still incapable of hurting myself.

Quentin and Jake out front with Big Kev a bit in front of me.  Averaged about 3:21's throughout.

Longer cool down for 15km all up.

90km for the week.

Wed MLR

Out with Timmy again but joined this time by young Jack Maxwell and a chap we called Irish Dave.  Young Jack kept the pace a bit more honest so that we averaged 4:43's.  Same route of Centennial loop via Ocean St both ways. 15km.

Some reps

Ok.  Been procrastinating on this one.  Partly worried about the achilles, partly worried about lack of fitness. Finally joined HuRTs for 8 x 1km around Bangers.  Decided to settle on about 3:25 pace. After the first at 3:30 they were all around 3:22 to 3:23.  Variously ran with Jeet, Brendan, Timmy, The Bearded One, Biggsy etc. There's quite a pack at that pace.

Well, for the first time since January I wasn't even thinking of the achilles when running that pace. But then on the 6th rep it started to tighten a little.  Started the 7th rep before my head told me to cut it at that, and live to fight another day.  So stopped after 50m and jogged back to the office.

10km all up.  Achilles good this evening.  Sorry it's boring, but exciting for me.

Dinner tonight at the BFC before Dad and Liz head back to Blighty tomorrow:

 

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.