Long local Sunday

2 x 10km route in Manly plus to South Steyne and back. 27.5km in 2:03:22. Caught up with the Tiger for the first 2 laps (47:30 and 44:50) then by myself. Beautiful morning, cool and sunny.

NSW State 10km Road - 20th in 32:37

Had been pretty nervous about this one, and felt very much so travelling out to Homebush. Nerves were eased after a quick chat with SilverFox and Tucks then headed out jogging the course with Kanser, MC and Durante. The course looked fantastic - nice and flat with long straights just to put your head down and run. Conditions were also perfect - cool and no wind.

Lined up next to Uncle Dave and Chris Truscott (pushing Chadi back into the second row, felt a bit guilty about that as he's a much better runner). Set off very quickly. I'd heeded Serg and Pete's advice and wanted to make a very positive start. Followed just behind Chadi in 3:02 for the first km. Wasn't feeling completely shot so was quite pleased. Missed the 2km mark and went through 3km in 9:33. At this point, Robbie Neale went past so I decided just to try to stick with him as I knew he would run well. This is basically how the rest of the race went. Felt good in parts, just tried to hang on in others but it was basically a good hard race, never at all comfortable. Robbie and I picked up others as we went so that for the last 3km there was a good group of five of us, including Mark Warren and Richie Roberts. 5km was reached in 16:09, 8km in 26:07 and 9km in 29:25. At that stage I was just hanging on. Even though we were all in a group I had nothing left for a sprint to try and pick up any more places.

Stoked with the race and the big PB (as well as knocking off another of Dad's PBs). A load of great performances out there. Keith and Fats running 33:20s (Fats will go quicker at North Head without a cold), Kanser back under 35, Uncle Dave back under 32 and SilverFox setting a very low-key PB!

Thanks for all the comments and encouragement. Amanda - sorry for very confused conversation! Not sure my brain was working probably on account of being so knackered.

I can now lock-in the Half at Gold Coast.

Easy plod

Very easy run around and about in the Botanical Gardens with Ray and Tim C. 10kms in about 50 mins.

Disappointed to hear that Tucks is now a no-show for tomorrow after pulling his hammy again. Further, Fats has come down with a cold. Neither of which does much good to our Striders team (or my bet).

Thanks for the comments Pete (over ambitious as usual) and good luck Greg and everyone else for tomorrow.

Farm Cove intervals

Instead of 8 x 800m we did the pre-race gate to gate Farm Cove reps (909m) - 7 of them running the odd ones fast and the even ones as floats. Rep times went as follows:

2:42
3:00
2:38
3:01
2:43 (had to stop because of a large bunch of schoolgirls)
3:03
2:37

Charlie, Tim C, Ray, Springer, Greg, RMR, Kill Michael Kill, Dicky H and Steve showed up, with Durante and Kanser dropping by on easier runs. Wasn't going to push the last one but KMK got competitive and I'm not mature enough to resist. Felt great today. Hope I haven't peaked two days early.

Medium Long Wednesday

Centennial Park route with Tim C. Beautiful day for running - cool and crystal clear. Went a bit quicker than I had intended - 63:40 for the 15km. But that's running with Tim C for you. It's like running with a Kenyan, he suddenly puts in these surges of speed and twice dropped me going around Centennial.

Injuries have cleared up nicely (even top of left glute) but feeling a bit sore around the shoulders so hope I haven't got a virus coming on. Whinge, moan, whine etc...

3 x 3km

Originally 4 x 3km was scheduled but decided to drop down to 3 to avoid killing ourselves before Saturday. 4 x 3km is probably the hardest session we do. Had planned to take them easy but with Fats and Tucks around that was never likely. Other attendees were MC, Tim C, Adam, Pete W, Enda and the Irish contingent. Notable absentees were Kanser and Durante, putting in some secret training tomorrow instead.

Fats ensured the pace was honest from the start, with Tucks and I just behind him. We ended the first 3km rep at the lamppost just short of the stone gates (i.e. further than ever before) but given we were only doing 3 I thought that would be OK. Probably averaged about 3:28s. On the way back, he picked up the pace even more so that we returned to the Opera House gates in 9:21. Averaging sub 3:20s. Having been conditioned to that pace we just continued on in the same way on the third. I pushed the hills near the Boy Charlton and then up to the Art Gallery. Fats finalled dropped off on that second hill, leaving Tucks and I to go beyond the stone gates to just short of the road outside St Mary's. That's as far as we've reached in our best Mona Fartlek session.

A real confidence booster before Saturday as I didn't feel so shattered that I couldn't have done a fourth. Tucks looked like he was cruising as always but Fats is plainly in sparkling form and I'm likely to be running with him on Saturday. MC also seemed comfortable and is getting back into form.

About 14km all up.

Have added some photos from Seal Rocks.

Medium Long Run

Decided against 2 hours today in light of a mini-taper for Saturday instead doing 1.5 hours. Ran Serg's Centennial Park route in about 63 mins (picking it up in the second half in order to get back in time to catch up with Kanser) than ran about 5.5km around the Opera House with Kanser in 25 mins, bumping into Durante on the way around.

Back from Smiths Lake

Headed up on Thursday evening in the pouring rain. The rain didn't stop until Saturday when it turned out pretty nice and had a great time in the Lake and in the surf at Seal Rocks and Blueys. Managed 11km in the pouring rain on Thursday feeling great and running quickly over a hilly course - 44:42 (measured it in the car). Ran the same route in the sun the next day but turned around sooner as I was struggling - 44:12 for about 10.5km. Rested today.

Some interesting results from Novice. Times look about a minute slower than where I expected people to be so the ground must have been pretty tough on the legs. Will be interesting to see how people pull up next week.

Mona Fartlek

Caught up with the HuRTS squad to run 90, 60, 30s on the usual route. Crowd included Kanser, Serg, the Judge, Fats, MC, Durante, Greg, Phil W, RMR and Clement. A few were taking it easy with Novice on Saturday, so found myself in a small group with Serg, the Judge and Fats after the first 90. Serg and the Judge then really pushed the second 90 and I was just trying to hang on to Fats. Really struggled up the hills - felt lots of beer in my legs after last night. Turned 20 yards short of the Stone Arch (closest I've got to it other than the reps prior to JPM) and about 15 yards behind Serg and the Judge. Immediately Fats started to drop me on the 3rd and 4th 60s and Serg and the Judge caught me. Then we hit the 30s and I seemed to get a new lease of life. Caught up with the other three and then dropped Serg and the Judge coming around Farm Cove with Fats just holding on. Finished the final fast rep at the Opera House gates and the session half way around the Opera House.

Fats is in great form. My bet with the Tiger is safe at this rate. Serg is also coming back into form (again). Off to Smiths Lake tonight so good luck to Kanser, Durante, MC et al running Novice on Saturday.

Long Wednesday

Headed out at lunchtime with Serg and MC for 18km around Centennial Park. It's been really wet over the last few days (including this morning when we set off) so there were puddles galore. Got soaked. Had to run on the road around Centennial due to the puddles. Did the 18.2km in 1:22:49 averaging just over 4:30 per km so nice and easy. Had a discussion half way around about what constituted a "good runner". MC seemed to get quite upset when Serg said it was anyone who could run under 32 mins for 10km. The only consensus from this question seemed to be someone who could run about as fast as our own PB for the distance.

Mentioned to Serg that I quite fancied pushing tomorrow's session. He suggested this wouldn't be wise after the last three days running. I've been out with Ken, John, Phil and Craig this evening, entering my favourite pub (the Boatshed) at about 9pm. Ken mentioned then that we rarely leave the Boatshed before 2am once we enter. I've just about beaten that but not by much. Serg's advice now sounds wise.

Had a magnificent run on the pool table in the Boatshed - 6 games unbeaten before we started doubles again. I'm the king of pool. I challenge you all....

Sunday long run on Tuesday

Becoming a little obsessed with fitting a long run in each week so today it was. Ran the North Head route (Pacific Parade and Fairfax Track) then straight down Darley, left onto Ashburner, along Manly to Spit walk but cut up through Balgowlah Heights then into work. About 27-28km. Started too quick for a 2 hour run, not on purpose just feeling good and probably with a little enthusiasm from last night still in the legs. 47:11 at the Stone Arch (4:14 and 4:09 for the last 2kms of the North Head route), 1:28:10 at Spit Junction and 1:59:30 all up. Struggled a bit from Parriwi onwards paying for the faster early pace and no doubt with last night's run in the legs.

Disappointed to be missing HuRTS today due to a bloody client lunch. Why do people organise work lunches? Just means you sit at your desk all afternoon feeling bloated and knackered. Only worth doing if you can sit in the pub for the rest of the afternoon. Then they're great.

Niggle count: Back of right knee (particularly on the uphills (of which there were plenty this morning)), top of left glute and, worryingly, muscle coming around the left hip.

Tempo run home

Training schedule is all over the place at the moment with being busy at work and holidays. Planned a long run today but couldn't get out all day and felt it was too late at 7.30pm when I finally left for the evening. So decided to do a tempo run home (about 14km) and will do 2 hours running in tomorrow (client lunch so am missing HuRTS) .

Looked back in my blog to see what my PB for this route was and saw that I ran 50:47 nearly a year ago (June 7th) shortly before setting my 10km PB at Gold Coast. Surprised I haven't done this run more often as I think the long tempo runs are pretty useful. Given I think I'm now in better shape, I psyched myself up to set a PB. Really pushed the pace from go to whoa. 25:18 at the Toyota Garage (1:17 ahead of the red line) and 48:51 all up - a 1:56 PB. Chuffed to bits with the time. Still think there's more to come as I eased off a little from Spit Junction to Spit Bridge. Having said that, I really pushed the uphills.

Flake - I'm back up to Smiths Lake on Thursday night so will be missing Novice. My money's on Harry Summers. Expect a big improvement from Dave Kane too. Given his recent Hickson Road rep times and the fact that he's equally as competitive as those gun 18yr olds, I'm predicting he'll run 34:27 and kick himself for not getting a PB before agonising over whether it's a full 10km or not. I'm just throwing everything at the State 10km. Saw a recent thread on Coolrunning which suggested DrJH would be running. To beat him would be the dream scenario.

Running and camping..

..don't mix. Had a fantastic time at Seal Rocks (at Smiths Lake now having just dropped Kirst and the kids off) but sleep has been hard to come by - Charlie doesn't like the "flapping" noise a tent makes. As a result, I've woken up stiff every morning and felt like c**p when trying to run. Beautiful surrounds though. Rested Thursday, ran for an hour on Friday and Saturday and 45 minutes this morning. Had to dodge a pack of dingoes yesterday (if you can call more than one a "pack") which got the heart rate up at least.

Stiff as a board now. Can't wait to sleep in a bed again. Will download some photos soon.

Niggle count: top of left glute, back of right knee, hamstrings, back in general, achilles a bit sensitive.

Medium long Wednesday

18km around Centennial (including an extra internal loop) but cutting short back down the steps from Macleay St. Ran with Serg and Tim C. 1:18:03, average pace 4:20. Very easy to start with but picked up the pace a little from 7km onwards.

Niggle count: Top of left glute. Outside of right foot.

45 mins Fartlek

The inner child inside me still stifles a chortle when I write the word "fartlek".

Great crowd today including the Judge, Serg, Phil Dove, Kanser, MC, Durante, Tim C, Enda, Richard G, Richard M (first time in a while), Clement, Greg, Stephen C etc. Set off at quite a quick pace with the Judge, Serg and Phil. We all stayed together until just before the turnaround point when Serg dropped off. Phil then stopped (only to reappear later) at the turnaround point leaving me to try and stick to the Judge. Turned at the top of the steep short hill just before the Art Gallery. The Judge helped me catch up with some of the pack before he dropped out worrying about a leg injury. Picked up the pace a bit coming home running with the rest of the crowd again.

Fast sections were probably between 3:10 - 3:15 per km and averaged close to 3:30 per km for the whole thing. 1.5km there and 2.5km back for about 17km all up.

Recovery Monday

Serg's 15km Centennial Park route run with Serg. 66:11. Slightly quicker than I'd normally do a recovery run (I was running with Serg after all) but nice nonetheless. Managed to run out a few aches around the left glute I'd had from the weekend. Perfect running conditions - cool and rainy. Some people were complaining about the cold running in the Canberra marathon yesterday. I didn't realise it could be too cold for running. They should try running the North East Cross Country Harrier league at Prudhoe in January.

Congrats to Tim L for his 2:47 in the London marathon yesterday - great run mate.

Long Sunday run

Caught up with Fats and the Tiger in Centennial and basically meandered about - a couple of laps around the outside and a few more in the middle. Ran parts with Dimitri and Caleb. 2 quickish inside loops at the end. About 30km in 2:13:34. Beautiful morning.

Some great preliminary results from Canberra - Uncle Dave second in 2:27:40 and Tucks 3rd (beating Jeremey Horne) in early 2:29. I think my days of being competitive with Tucks are over.

Campbell Parade stuff

Was planning on the usual 7.5km tempo run but needed to get the kids out so took them down to Campbell Parade with their bikes. I ran 13 loops of the 650m circuit, one float then one fast etc. Map is here: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1784328 Loops went as follows:

2:26; 2:12; 2:21; 2:10; 2:23; 2:09; 2:21; 2:07; 2:21; 2:04; 2:22; 2:05; 2:21

Works out at averaging about 3:36 per km for the floats and 3:15 per km for the fast sections. Overall average of 3:29 per km for the 8.45km. Great session in the end - felt as though I got more out of it than the usual tempo run. Interesting how the faster sections get faster but the floats remain consistent.

Billy did 13 loops on his razor (over 5 miles) and was complaining at the end that his leg was sore. He only ever stands on his right leg. I've got high hopes for him.

Good luck to Tucks, Springer, Superflake, TJA, Uncle Dave, Chris G and all the others running Canberra tomorrow and Tim L in London.

Sore recovery

14km North Head route early in the morning. Felt very stiff and sore so very slow, especially to start with. 49:26 at Stone Arch and 62:48 all up. Top of glute very sore this morning. Nice and cool and great views from the Fairfax Walking Track.

400s

Caught up with Tim C, MC, Fats, Dickyboy (first timer), Clement, Pete, Stephen Cox, Greg and one other and headed over to the Reg Bartley oval for the usual 400s going off every 2 mins (ie about 50 seconds rest). 12 this time rather than 10. Ran the first 7 with Tony then he headed back to the office which is when the times started to suffer. Then managed to pull them back together, with Tim C putting up a fight on the final rep. Times went:

70, 70, 70, 70, 70, 70, 70, 71, 72, 70, 70, 67.

Compares favourably with December 20th and March 13th (the other times we ran them over this measured section - times before were over a shorter section). Beautiful day and a nice session. 3km there and back for about 11km all up.

Back to marathon pace

AM: Run to work from Redlands House incorporating the usual 3 marathon pace stretches. Cool and wet, felt great this morning. 53:50 all up (24:19 at Spit Junction). Might try and fit in an easy 10km over lunch.

Lunchtime: Very easy 7.5km run around the Opera House with Kanser in 32:10.

8 x 5mins

Crowd today included Serg, Muz, MC, Kanser, the Judge, Tim C, Enda, Durante, Mike Race, Greg and Phil Woods, with Springer appearing after the first 2. Usual session of 8 x 5mins off 90 seconds rest, although only Tim C and I actually did 8. Lots stopped after 6 and MC, Enda and Muz did 7.

Felt really good today. The judge was pushing ahead as usual (running 3:10s looking like he was going for a jog in the park) while Anthony and I were probably averaging just under 3:20s. Still felt comfortable after the final rep. I think I need more speedwork at the moment. Kanser and Durante would wait until Muz and I caught them on each rep (starting from behind) and then run off so they must have upped the pace midway through. Kanser seems to have taken another leap forward recently.

Rest yesterday. Had a client lunch then just couldn't be bothered. That's probably why I was feeling fresh today.

PB - great to hear you're making plans for races in the not so distant future. Don't get injured. Try and organise a race in Sydney when you're about 80% fit and I might have a chance...

Couple of photos added from the weekend.

Long Bay run

Caught up with the Tiger and ran three extended 9km loops of the Bay Run. Times went 43:00, 41:30 and 41:51 for 2:06:21, plus 1km warm up for 28km all up. Lovely cool and still morning. Good chat with the Tiger in between him saying hello to virtually every runner going around the Bay.

Striders 10km Lane Cove - 7th in 33:16

Picked up Richard Green on the way (shortly to become a Dad - good luck mate) and caught up early on with Tim C who I ran a 3km warm up with. Then did some quick strides to get the heart rate up and feel less shocked when starting the race. My worries about no-one turning up were quickly dismissed on seeing Tom Crasti, Colin Johnston, Robin Whiteley, Guz, Chris T et al. Quick chat with Tucks, Kanser, Timinerko, Darren and Pete and then we were off. Or at least the front crowd were. The first 8 shot off like rabbits. I ran through 1km with Guz and Ray (who was just on a run from home but decided to join in the race) in 3:14, 2km in 6:30, 3km in 9:49. At that point I was by myself, with James Swadling and some visiting runner from Belgrave Harriers about 80m in front. I could see James was slowing so just tried to reel him in. 4km was 13:19 and 5km (when I caught James) 16:46. From then on I was by myself and just trying to push as hard as possible to get close to 33 mins. I think 6km was 20:08, 7km 23:30, 8km 26:48 and 9km 30:08.

Felt great all the way back - the kms were just ticking by. Probably more suited to a half than a 10km at the moment though as I need more speed in the legs. Finished with a 3:08 final km in 7th in 33:16.

Good to Kanser back on track, running a 35:19 despite still recovering from a cold that has sidelined him for the past few days. Good runs also from Pete W, Darren and Timinerko. Chris T is obviously in great form running 31:52.

Friday meander

Very easy jog around the flat 10km route but finishing straight back to the office from the Art Gallery. 8km in 36:29. Much cooler over the last couple of days so should be good conditions tomorrow provided the wind stays down. Back still sore but I've always got to have something to moan about.

Sounds like Tucks and Chris Truscott are running (although Tucks claims to be only going for a 35min - we'll see after the race starts - he's even more of a competitive bugger than Kanser).

Dave - Lane Cove is hilly and am very flattered by your predicted times but feel they are a bit ambitious...

Looking forward to my pre-race junk food loading tonight.

8 x 909m

Originally planned 8 x 800m at Rushcutters Bay but the lack of interest and my workload resulted in a last minute change to 8 gate to gates around Farm Cove, off 2 minutes. I did the odd ones fast and the even ones easy. It was the founding members of HuRTS (Tim C, Ray, Chris G and myself) plus Durante for the first 4, Pete W and Tucks (jogging) for the last 3 and Mike Race, Dave Le Banh and Stephen from JPM.

Reps went:

2:54; 3:02; 2:45; 3:04; 2:46; 3:01; 2:43; 3:02

Felt good running the quick ones. Almost harder work running the "easy" ones. Works out at an average of 3:00 per km for the quick ones and 3:20 per km for the easy ones.

Back still sore and doesn't seem to be improving.

Easy run home

No suit at work so couldn't run in. Busy day at work, couldn't get out all day so ran home when I eventually finished at 10.30pm. Nice way to unwind. 31:05 at Toyota Garage and 58:27 all up. Things still OK for the weekend:
(a) chaffed groins have healed;
(b) seem to have avoided (to date) all the colds/flu going around at work and home; but
(c) back is still sore on the downhills.

4 x 3km

Perhaps it should be retitled; "Getting used to running 3:25s".

Really good crowd (to start with) today, including Fats, Ray, Kanser, Durante, MC, Springer, the Judge, Anthony, Tim L, Mike Race, Enda, Darren and Pete W. Started off with a big crowd staying towards the front and ran through reaching the second lamp post short of the Stone Gates in the 10 minutes. This involved a detour up to Art Gallery Road as the open air cinema section of Farm Cove was blocked off. Picked up the pace on the way back running with Charlie, the Judge, Tony and Fats in 9:21 (about 3:23's). Pace picked up again on the third rep with Fats really pushing on such that we reached the Stone Gates. Then on the final rep the Judge took it out and pulled me around - dropping me while coming around Farm Cove. Still managed 9:23 over the longer distance.

Chuffed with the session. When we last did this 4 weeks ago I was shattered on the last rep. Felt great out there today.

Fats is looking in great shape, as is the Judge who plainly took it easy to start with so he could finish the session strong. Tim L also looked good again, peaking at just the right time for London. A few are crook or coming down with colds, including MC, Kanser and Durante.

Monday recovery run

Very easy 14km around Balls Head with Ray, Kanser and Springer in 64:39. Legs tired from the weekend's efforts, but cool conditions and a beautiful day. Springer is trying to hose down his Canberra expectations, but Kanser has predicted a 2:44 and the Tiger and myself both independently predicted a 2:43. If Cameron Arnold can run 2:44 at Canberra, Springer can go quicker on his current form...

Confused long Sunday

Planned on running the Vaucluse Variation STaR but got confused with the clocks going back and assumed it happened last night. Was driving through Bellevue Hill and saw a load of Striders when my mistake dawned on me. Quick call to Kanser meant I switched plans and met up with him, MC, Enda, Terence, Timinerko and Ger(?) for their usual Sunday run. Covered 26.4km in about 1:56 so averaging under 4:30 per km. We started very easy (around 4:40s to 4:50) but the legs still felt tired after yesterday's efforts. Gradually started to feel better and we gradually speeded up. The last 8km averaged under 4 mins per km, ending with 4 x 1km strides in the centre of the Park speeding up each time until the last was run in about 3:23. Tim was running well and hope he has a great run in London. Kanser was with me on the quick reps right to the very end - he's certainly got the strength on the long runs. That's nine 2 hour runs for me in the last 10 weeks and the strength is really showing - I'd have been all over the road at the end of that run 2 months ago.

Great to catch up with the crowd on a beautiful day.

Saturday tempo - PB!

Headed out in the late afternoon in good conditions (about 23C) for the usual 7.5km Manly route. Felt strong even though the back is a bit sore, the groin chaffing is bad and my thighs were stiff after yesterday's cycle. I think the strength came from not running on Thursday and the cooler weather. 7:22 at Fairlight pool, 19:39 at Queenscliff (5:36 for the Manly mile into a slight headwind) and 26:34 all up. A 5 second PB from 28 July last year when I was really going for it. Very pleased with the run as I was cautious on the downhills because of my back so there is a few more seconds in it. Particularly pleased with the way I finished - 32 seconds quicker over the final 2km than last week.

When I set the PB last year I went on to run 33:31 at Lane Cove the following week which should give me some indication as to where I'm at for next Saturday.

Pete - good to hear from you and hope the uninjured running can continue. I'll be expecting a trip down to Sydney in the next few months for you to test things out...

Easy running and mad cycling

Very easy 13km around the Centennial Park route with Serg, Kanser and Springer in 56:47.

Then I headed down to Martin Place as part of the Allens team in "Spin for a Cure" in aid of the Junior Diabetes Research Foundation. It involved each team member peddling as fast as they could for 8 minutes. It reminded me why I'm a runner and not a cyclist. And also why cyclists wear lycra. I wore my running shorts and my groin was almost bleeding by the end. Still, I was off last and the only female member of our team had posted the furthest distance until then so that was the obvious target. Managed 4.87kms and pipped her by 0.03kms. So my male ego remained intact. She's just joined the firm and turns out she's a good runner - has a marathon PB of 3:29 and is running Canberra in 2 weeks time...

Painful recovery run

Woke up this morning feeling pretty good and intended to run in with a couple of marathon pace stretches. Walking Billy to school I realised my back was playing up - I'd pulled a muscle at the bottom left hand side doing my exercises yesterday morning. Started jogging in from Redlands House and it was pretty painful. So discarded any ideas of marathon pace stretches and just dragged myself into work. 27:00 at Spit Junction (equivalent of 29:20) and 60:37 (equivalent of 62:57!) all up. Thought I'd never make it at certain points. Fortunately have an Easy Tiger massage booked in for this arvo.

Greg - I apologise. For the record, I would like everyone to know that Greg and Mike also ran 14 reps yesterday. In fact, Greg even threw in a 3:30 rep half way through. So plainly he's not trying hard enough at other times.

14 x 3mins

Big crowd including Charlie, Serg, Fats, Phil Dove (making his annual appearance), Kanser, MC, Timinerko, Durante (looking very lean after secret warm weather training), Anthony, Springer, Ray, Greg, Mike Race and a couple of others. Intended to take make sure I didn't go off too quickly too early so we shared the pacing around making sure no-one sat on the shoulder of the pacemaker. It worked really well. We banged out the first 10 at almost spot on 3:30 per/km pace. The pace then increased over the last 4 so that the last one was done at almost 3:10 pace. Just Serg, Fats, Charlie, Phil and I ran all 14. Fats looked to be in great shape. Note sure how Phil does it but he was still right at the front at the end despite running reps 2-6 much quicker than us intending at that stage only to run 6.

I felt fine until the last 4 then put the effort in. Not as shattered as the last time I did 14 - the easier pace early on makes a big difference.

Attached a couple of photos Gerry took of the HuRT squad last Thursday.

Recovery run

Same North Head route as Friday. Started very easily and gradually speeded up but run much slower than Friday. 4:14 and 4:06 for the final 2kms of the North Head 10km route. 47:48 at the Stone Arch and 60:24 all up. Warmer this afternoon - about 26C.

Easter Sunday

Met up with Springer, 26 Miles and SilverFox and ran a makeshift STaR - the Tourist Trot. This was after going out on Emma's birthday last night in Manly and only leaving the pool table in The Boatshed at 1:15am. For the first 40 minutes I could barely manage conversation and seriously contemplated giving up. Then things started to feel better and turned into a nice run. Saw loads in Centennial, including Fats, the Tank and Tim L.

About 30km in 2:18:36.

Saturday tempo

Manly 7.5km route. Lacked motivation early on but put the effort in from Manly SLSC onwards. 28:00 (despite desperately trying to get under 28 from Manly SLSC). 20:33 at Queenscliff. 5:39 for the Manly mile.

Good Friday

13km around Manly - Pacific Parade, North Head (inc. Fairfax Track) then straight back home up Fairlight St. 57:00.

Took it easy to start with but gradually speeded up, helped by much cooler weather today and light rain. Felt great. 3:44 and 3:33 for the final 2km's of the North Head Striders route. 45:15 at the Stone Arch.

Running's going very well at the moment.

Hickson Road

Back to where it all began - 5 x 1.2km reps along Hickson Road off 2 minutes. Haven't done these in a while and on the first rep it showed. A good crowd (it must have been as a result of Springer turning up with his camera) including Serg, Ray, Muz, Charlie, Richard H, Kanser, MC, Darren etc.

Reps went:

3:47, 3:33; 3:35; 3:39; 3:36

Started off on the first rep thinking I was travelling quickly. I was out in front but with a big group just behind. Was shocked at how slow it was. I'd forgotten that if you want to run these reps quickly you really have to dig in and push from the very start. That's why they hurt so much. Serg pushed the pace on the second, Ray pushed on the 3rd, Serg again on the 4th then Ray and Richard H on the final rep. I just latched on to whoever was pushing on each rep. Pleased with the reps other than the first but most pleased that I felt fine afterwards. May have been because the first was relatively easy but I used to feel spent after this session.

Hot today but not too much wind.

Richard H is looking very fit - hope he goes well in his Half IM.

Recovery run in

Dropped Billy off at Redlands House then ran in. Very easy today, although the legs were still tired from the sessions of the last 2 days. 26:36 at Spit Junction (equivalent of 28:56) and 58:36 all up (equivalent of 60:56). 13km.

Fartlek

45 minutes Fartlek - 1 min on, 30 seconds off. Average pace overall was 3:40 so covered about 12.3km. I guess the fast stretches were close to 3:20 and the slow stretches 4:20. Set off with a group of myself, Charlie, Serg, Anthony and Gerry. The Judge immediately disappeared off into the distance as he was only doing 30 mins. Didn't see the rest of the crowd - it's a pretty anti-social session - but Kanser, MC (back after a month off running), Enda, Greg and a whole bunch of others were there so not sure how they fared.

Our crowd stayed together until 22.5 mins when the confusion arose. I think the last time HuRTS did this session they turned around at half way and ran back. I missed that session so was basing it off the last two times I did it where we do a loop of the Domain then started heading back, albeit finishing on 45 mins. Gerry dropped off at 22.5 mins. I really started to struggle from about 25 mins when fatigue from last night's run set in. Serg and Charlie were pushing on at this stage, with Anthony and I just behind. Serg and Anthony stopped at 35 minutes leaving me to struggle behind Charlie for the final 10 mins. Finished half way around the small park after the Park Hyatt - about 20 seconds short of when we did this session on 13th December. However, today we added a section doubling back to the bubbler near the toilets in the Domain so would work out at approximately the same distance covered.

Warm.

Long run Monday

Managed to squeeze in the long run at the end of a stressful day. Ran the loop of Centennial that I did with Kanser last Monday (57:18) then ran home. About 26-27km all up in 1:57:13. Took it very easy trying to conserve some energy for tomorrow's session, but there's only so much energy you can conserve when running for 2 hours. Felt really comfortable until the hill after Spit Bridge and struggled home from there.

59:02 for the section I time when running to work (equivalent of 31:00 at the Toyota Garage) so I wasn't plodding.

Weekend at Lake Macquarie

After getting back from Melbourne on Friday we drove straight up to Lake Macquarie for Richard Palmer's surprise 40th on the Saturday evening. Had a great weekend (see the pictures) but no running. Managed to squeeze in a 10.1km Manly route (clockwise) when we got back this afternoon in 44:40. Felt very lethargic, although it was quite warm (28C). Will fit the 2 hour run in tomorrow lunchtime after I've got the ISDA talk out of the way which has been weighing on my shoulders all weekend.

Easy local trundle

Flying down to Melbourne today for a lunch so just an easy early morning trundle around the Manly 7.5km route. 33:35. Lovely morning for it.

400s

Originally it was to be 14 x 400m, then thought that would frighten off too many people so sent out the email for 12 x 400m, but when we arrived at Rushcutters:
(a) there was a cricket match going on and the spectators were not happy with us running around the oval;
(b) the course was long - Garmin's had it at between 410m and 425m; and
(c) I reached rep number 3 and was knackered,
so it became 10 x 400m.

Reps went:

73, 72, 72, 72, 72, 72, 71, 71, 71, 67

Could have done two more at the end if I hadn't blasted the final rep but it's mentally tough at the rep 3/4 stage when the decision was made.

Ran them all with Serg with Anthony taking it easy for the Corporate Games 10km on Sat. Kanser followed running 74s with Luke, Clement, Greg and Chris G (showing no signs of his 6ft efforts) also showing up.

Warm and humid conditions.

MLR Wednesday

19km run to work (Queenscliff lagoon, Manly beach then in) but without the 4 marathon pace stretches. Not strong enough to do those yet, particularly after yesterday's session. Legs felt tired but breathing was fine. Watch said 83 mins but given I was 68mins odd at the bottom of Ben Boyd I think I forgot to run it between the bubbler in the park and the bubbler before the bridge at Milsons Point.

Looking back at when I ran this route regularly in August and September last year with the marathon pace stretches, I think I was a lot fitter....

8 x 5mins

Getting stronger. 8 x 5mins off 90 seconds rest. Run in the sun and heat at lunchtime with a big crowd including Ray, Tucks, Anthony, Kanser, Springer, the Judge, Phil W, Timinerko, Greg, Darren, Enda, Adam C, Pete W and others.

Tried not to push too hard for the first few reps. A big crowd ran easily on the first rep then the Judge with Tucks following were slightly ahead from reps 2 to 6. I tended to run with Anthony and Ray. The reps were gradually increasing in pace from 3:25 to closer to 3:20 per km. A lot dropped out after 6 so that only Ray, Tucks, Enda, Adam and I completed rep 7 with Gerry, Greg and Tim L stopping after 4 mins. Enda and Adam dropped out after 7. Ran with Tucks all the way on reps 7 and 8 feeling very good. Not nearly as spent as last week and the strongest I've felt after doing that session. This is a GMap of the final rep which suggests it was run at 3:13 per km....
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1689559

The Judge was looking strong and didn't tail off on his final rep. Will be very interesting to see what he can do at the NSW Road 10km. I might open a book on the Judge vs Tucks. Any takers?

Recovery run

Very easy 13km with Kanser to Centennial via Garden Island and Ocean Street but straight back from the Randwick Gates via Surry Hills. 59:00. Felt great today - first time I have done so following a long Sunday run so perhaps things are on the up. They need to be. I've got a new aim for the season following this post on Kanser's blog (9th March)....http://www.kanesmarathon.blogspot.com/

Long Sunday run

Same as 2 weeks ago - 5km around Burnt Bridge Creek deviation before hooking up with TJA and running 2 loops of the 10km route. Tim wanted to do more marathon pace work so it was quick for a long run. First 10km loop in 40:13 then the second in 39:46 bringing up a nice 79:59 for the 20km. I was then knackered and gestured to Tim not to hang around for me as I struggled over the last 2km home. Tim was looking strong today.

Beautiful morning with mist on Campbell Parade park as we started and watching the sun rise running down Manly beach for the first of 4 times. Cool to start with but warmed up when the sun rose.

27km.

Saturday tempo

Manly 7.5km route ran at a decent pace but without killing myself. 27:46 (20:22 at Queenscliff). Had a bottle of red wine yesterday and for some reason red wine always drains any strength from my body so felt very tired, and lacking in motivation, all the way.