Non-HuRTS

Missed HuRTS lecturing at UNSW so ran home instead. Fairly easy although faster than normal. Would guess at 56 mins but I buggered up pressing the start button on my watch.

Post Script: Huge congrats to Kanser and Olivia on the birth of Cara Lily. Expect to see many duels between Cara Kane, Nia Tuckey and Maggie Highnam in the future.

Easy Monday

Usual Monday route with MC, Muz, Serg, Wildman, English Andy and Gerry. Felt very easy today after yesterday's rest. Wildman and I found ourselves alone out front after about 2kms as the group fractured. Ran all the way with him. 1:03:26 for the 14.36km (4:25's). Will be interesting to see if he gets the pacing gig for Thursday evening at the Melbourne Track meet. Should be a great race. Birmingham should win it (of the Aussies) but will be interesting to see if Gregson takes him on.

Edit: Just heard that he got it so will have to set the recorder for Channel 10 when it's broadcast.

Saturday long tempo

Missed Friday due to forgetting to take my running kit to work so Saturday's planned short tempo was replaced with a long tempo. Jogged down to the Roundhouse and planned on running 7 laps of the 2.5km circuit keeping all the kms under 4:00 per km. Worked out fine. Km times were as follows:

3:57; 3:55; 3:56; 3:55; 3:56; 3:54; 3:57; 3:55; 3:53; 3:52; 3:51; 3:52; 3:51; 3:51; 3:49; 3:43; 3:44; 3:37 (pace for 0.5km).

Overall average of 3:52 (17.53km in 1:07:47). So all nice and consistent and felt pretty comfortable until about 14km when the pace picked up slightly knowing I was approaching the final lap. Felt pretty worn out afterwards mind. 117km for the week (again).

No run today. Was at Ken and Emma's 40th party last night and hit the lemon and lime daquiris pretty hard only getting in at 3am. So today is a write off. Happy to ease down this week in any case.

HuRTS Hickson Road

Powerco sale settled yesterday after months of negotiations so went out and celebrated with the banks, not getting back home until 2am. As a result, I wasn't in the best shape for this session although it was useful for sweating out some more booze. Relatively small crowd today with MC, Tucks, Kanser, Durante, Enda, Phil W, English Andy and even Serg but not many more. Felt bloody awful on the first rep running with Andy and Enda but then gradually felt better each rep I ran. Suddenly on the 4th it all felt easy again so gave that one a blast tussling with Durante all the way until he put on a burst at the end. Pleased with the time for that one considering I cruised the first 200m. Times went:

3:50; 3:35; 3:43; 3:22; 3:43

Kanser was flying before pulling up on rep 3 with a calf injury. Hope it's alright mate. Durante was looking easy and Tucks' inexorable rise continues...

PM: Easy run home. 30:50 at Toyota Garage, 58:24 all up. Felt great (much better than lunchtime) but heel is sore so have taken Voltaren.

Wednesday MLR

Session with Carl first thing doing a lot of stretches and work on the legs.

Good turnout today of the Chairman, the Saint, Wildman, Durante, Kanser, MC, Clyde, LF Charlie and Kaley. A few cut short along the way leaving only Clyde, MC, the Saint and myself to finish in 1:20:29 (4:24's). Nice run. Knee no problem but bursar was a pain the whole way - mainly due to the calves being so tight following Carl's work this morning.

HuRTS 45mins Fartlek

I reckon this is my best session. Was feeling good after yesterday's run so decided to push it today. The weather didn't help though - bloody hot and no wind or cloud cover. I set off with Tucks on the first rep and we looked over our shoulders at 45 seconds to see that no-one had come with us. The Chairman (fresh from his Hussky Tri victory) caught up heading past the ABC Pool and we ran with him until halfway along Hickson Road. Reached the turnaround point much shorter than usual (just before the speed trap) having averaged 3:31's. Tucks told me to push on when under the Harbour Bridge on the way back so from then on I was by myself and couldn't see anyone in front to chase. Reached the 10km point in 35:20 (3:32's) then struggled around Farm Cove with the fast sections getting noticeably slower. Saw Terence and Kanser in front from Mrs Macquarie's chair but I didn't have enough energy to try to catch them. Finished the 45mins at 12.54km (3:35 average pace). Felt good on the fast stretches but it was the heat that got me on the way back. No-one got back to the gates in the allotted time today.

Knee is a lot better. Heel same as ever. Pleased to have a bit of energy back. Will double up on Thursday after the dreaded Hickson Rd. Just want to get through this second 120km week now and ease back next week.

Easy Monday

Usual Monday route with Kanser, Wildman and Serg - MC, Ray and Springer were behind although Springer ran back with us. Easy pace and the first run that I've enjoyed since last Tuesday. Knee felt better after rubbing Voltaren gel in beforehand (although could still feel it on any hill) and heel wasn't too bad. Hot though. 64:21 for the 14.77km (4:21s).

Great performances over the weekend. The Chairman won the Huskisson Long Course Triathlon with a time that would probably have placed him 3rd in the professionals. We know how good he is at running but his swim and bike times are even better. Ray won the Equaliser.

Different Sunday

Late night at Ken and Emma's last night only getting to bed at 1.30am and I was kicked out of bed at 7.30am and told to go and pick up the car. So did 2 flat 10km loops plus 7km up to Balgowlah Heights. Felt bloody awful for the first 7km, sore knee, sore heel, tired plus huge hangover. Sot into some sort of rythmn from 7km to 20km where the average pace was brought down to 4:24's before struggling from then on particularly up the hills in Balgowlah Heights. 27km in 2:02 for 4:31's average. One of those runs where you're just pleased to have done it, although I'm saying that frequently about my running at the moment.

Nice afternoon in Vaucluse at Kanser and Olivia's pre-baby get together. We was robbed at Volleyball.

Manly 15km

Plan was for a steady run, starting easy then increasing the pace to try to get down to 4mins per km. Just about went to plan. Started very slowly but felt terrible and incapable of going any quicker. Tendon under left knee was sore, heel wasn't great, cold is lingering on my chest and I felt knackered. Then after about 3km I got into a rythmn and the run got better from then on. Km splits went as follows:

4:38; 4:25; 4:07; 4:08; 4:10; 4:08; 3:57; 3:49; 3:46; 4:13; 3:54; 3:42; 3:36; 3:41; 4:13.

You can spot the hills at 10km and at the end.

All up 14.70km in 59:11 (4:02's). 117km for the week. Struggling to get over 120km (was too busy yesterday but grateful for the rest). I guess it's my body imposing the 10% rule on me.

HuRTS Pyramid session

Small crowd today of Tucks, Durante, MC, Pete W, Ray, Chris G, Dom and a few others. The lower insider of my knee was sore - something that came on towards the end of yesterday's run. And I'm just generally very tired - increased mileage is definitely paying its price. Struggled to a 82, 2:49, 4:11; 5:48; 4:19; 2:52 and 82. The legs were just dead. Durante was drifting off in front and Tucks was struggling like me just behind. Pretty hot too. Probably about the same pace as January 15th but then I was deliberately taking it easy and had more than enough energy for two quick reps at the end. That was very far from the case today.

Heel still fine but inside of knee giving me jip when I lift it.

MLR

Usual Wednesday route but with a bigger crowd than usual of Wildman, the Chairman, Clyde, the Saint and Serg. Started very easy (top of Ocean St in 22:30 - 4:35's) but we started running sub-4's all around Centennial to bring it home in 1:18:05 (4:17's). I was pretty stuffed towards the end but it's not surprising having run about 47kms in 24 hours. Sun came out which made it pretty humid with all the rain we've had.

HuRTS 14 x 3mins

Huge crowd today, as big as I've known it. Everyone there other than MC and Serg. Had a really good session. Front group was myself, Tucks and Kanser with Fast Charlie and the Chairman just behind (other than for the final reps) taking it easy before the Huskisson Tri on the weekend.

We banged out the first 10km at a very consistent pace - none slower than 3:20 p/k and none quicker than 3:18. All felt comfortable until the legs started to feel a bit dead from rep 10 onwards. The final 4 reps were run in 3:15; 3:14; 3:14 and 3:09 per km each. Tried to stretch the left leg between all the reps - took 4 Voltaren yesterday to get the inflammation down as it had started to become permanently painful.

Tucks is looking strong again maintaining the pace the whole way. Kanser also looked strong although the poor lad was almost vomitting with the effort of trying to keep up at the end. Good to see Mike Race back out there again.

PM: Easy run home. Felt great. I love Voltaren. 30:48 at Toyota Garage and 58:17 all up.

Monday recovery run

Big crowd today for some rare sunshine. Wildman, Durante, MC, Kanser, Serg, Springer, Ray and Clyde all fronted up. Ran with Wildman and Clyde for the first half then circled back and ran with MC, Ray, Springer and Durante on the way back. 4:13's on the way out and 4:23's on the way back. Felt very easy although I seem to be developing a high cadence, stunted stride length running style. Perhaps all marathon runners end up running like Jeremey Horne. Albeit not quite so quick.

Same Sunday again

Very frustrated about missing out last night. Conditions looked perfect and the times were great. DrJH running 31:43, Earl (who I beat in the 5km) running 32:03 and Ray having a great run to clock 33:18. Woke up this morning feeling a lot better and after a lazy morning headed out at 2pm for the same route as the past 2 weeks. Intended to take it very easy being careful about the cold but was chugging along nicely with no effort - probably due to the 4 day taper and cool (but wet) conditions. It bucketed down about 3 times during the run but the only problem with this was making my trainers very heavy which put some more pressure on the achilles, both of which were sore.

Reached the Stone Arch in 70:00 still feeling fresh so I knew I was on for a quick one. Bumped into Mat Kaley on the Fairlight path so he turned around and we ran the final 7km together (Mat pulling me along for the final 2km). Finished in 1:59:20, a 2 minute PB. Just planning a heavy block of training for the next 3 weeks with no distractions.

Sick

Got Man Flu. Won't be running tomorrow.

HuRTS Gate to Gates

Wednesday - early morning strength training with Carl but no run as too busy for the rest of the day. Considered running home but I'm feeling pretty tired and flat so thought it best to rest up before Saturday.

Thursday - jog down to Farm Cove for Gate to Gates (8 x 909m off a 2 minute rest). Good crowd with Kanser showing some speed up front with Tucks, just ahead of the Chairman and the Judge. I milled around at the back running through them in 3:20-3:30's. But to be honest, didn't feel capable of running much quicker. Still feeling very flat and worried about Saturday. Also have a niggly cough that's started. Blah blah blah.

HuRTS 4 x 3km

Look at June 24th 2008 and July 22nd 2008. How on earth did we manage to run those times for this session? OK, it was a lot cooler and we had a big group upfront, but that's a mammoth difference. Today, 10 minutes was reached about 15 seconds short, then 9:47 from the Stone Gates back to the Opera House Gates, then reached 5 seconds short, then 9:36 for the final rep. It was me, Charlie and Tucks up front with Dicky H just behind and a number of others missing. Bit worried about the weekend given the huge gap in training times. However, console myself with the fact that on July 24th 2008 I ran a hard tempo run home which was a pb at the time and which was almost 2 minutes slower than I ran last month. Perhaps I don't push the HuRTS reps as hard these days - I certainly don't feel as though I want to spew with stomach cramps which was quite frequent last year. Perhaps I'm just tired from the weekend. Did feel pretty heavy legged today and lacking all bounce. The first rep in particular was a real struggle. I'll take it easy for the rest of the week.

Tucks is getting right back. He was with Charlie and I all the way on the first two reps and only fell off slightly on reps 3 and 4. Charlie was flying on the final rep. John Binfield is also getting very strong.

Recovery Monday

Southerly change brought much cooler weather today (down to a chilly 22C) and much nicer running conditions. Out for the usual Monday route with Kanser, Springer and Ray. Very easy 1:06:26 (4:30's). Need some sleep.

Long Sunday run

Too tired and hungover again to go out early so headed out in the heat over lunchtime. Same course as last week (Seaforth, North Head, Tania Park). Temperature was 32C but there was already a decent sea breeze so it never felt oppressive. Felt great today (although still wilted in the heat and hills towards the end) and the time showed - 2:02:26 (4:30 per/km) which is almost a pb for this course.

Some great results over the weekend - good to see Benny StL (hopefully) pick up a place for the World XC finishing 5th. I think the first 4 do so and Dent (who won) has ruled himself out. Also good to see KMK winning the B Race last night in the 1500m at the Allcomers finishing in 4:02 ahead of Chamkaur in 4:03 and DrJH in 4:07. Hoping to stay ahead of the latter 2 in the 10km next week but I'd never get close to their times over 1500m.

Photo above is taken from the Manly West swimming carnival this week. Check out the professional dive from a 7 yr old. I won't mention where Bec finished. Suffice to say the Manly West Carnival under 7's race would rival the English National under 7's race.

Striders Lane Cove - 7th in 34:53

Acted as the 35 minute pacer which I was pretty pleased about as I didn't fancy trying to race it given the heat, the big week and going out for the last 2 nights. Good crowd from the HuRT squad including Durante, Kanser, Dicky H, TB, Mat Kaley and Timmy L all set off together with Jeremey Horne hitting the front and Tim's Ashby and Cochrane, Dimitry and Darren Moyle also amongst them.

Went through the first 2kms in 3:24 and 6:48, then 3km in 10:21 after the Scribbly Gum hill. Was feeling great at this stage just rolling through comfortably. Durante, the Tims and Kanser were in front and I was in a group with Dicky H, Mat Kaley and TB. Went through 5km in 17:38 - just right as the negative split is about 20 seconds. However, didn't count for the conditions. The heat and humidity was starting to sap people's strength and Richard then TB fell off. We needed 3:23's from 7km onwards and Mat was holding on but was hurt by the hill around 8km. So I was then on my own closing in on the Tims and Kanser. Hit 9km in 31:40 so picked up the pace to make sure I got under 35. Great tempo run in the end and a confidence booster for next week. Good to see Durnate pick up 3rd spot and congrats to Dimitry on a great time in those conditions.

Missed Thursday evening and yesterday's run due to client commitments so only 112km for the week - was hoping for over 120km.

HuRTS Mona Fartlek

Smaller crowd on a hot and sunny day. Fast Charlie, Durante, Tucks, Terence, Kaley and Travis were the ones upfront with a bigger crowd further back. Set off in the front and could hear Charlie behind me for the first 2 reps before he held back on the 60's. Turned at the stone monument (100m short of the Gates) quite far ahead and then chased people all the way back. Short of the gates because of the heat and no-one to run against. The speed of the floats were what cost the distance - the fast sections were as quick as normal.

Jogged back over the route afterwards with Durante, Kaley and Tucks for about 10km all up.

After a call from Barbara I've agreed to act as the 35 minute pacer for the Striders 10km on Saturday morning. It's forecast to be 42C on Sat (and 44C on Sunday) so I'm now worrying about whether I can actually run 35 over a hilly course in those conditions...

Easy MLR

Run home but went via Cremorne Point, Mosman, Taronga Zoo and Balmoral to add some kms. 17.5km all up in a very leaisurely 1:24. Slow because of all the steps and hills in Mosman. Not as hot as recently but very humid - my shorts and vest were saturated by the time I got home. Ran in my new AdiStar Salvations - new version of the Controls. Bloody stupid name but they feel great.

Went out this evening to watch Slumdog Millionaire - great film.

HuRTS 5min reps

AM: Went to see Carl to chat about program. Will begin core work on Wednesday am's.

Lunch: HuRT Squad 8 x 5mins off 90 seconds rest. Big crowd, just like old times with the likes of Springer, the Judge, Tucks, Fast Charlie, Kanser, Durante, Dicky H, Ray etc all in town. Started very easily at 3:42 average per km but quickly brought that down to 3:30 then from 4 onwards they averaged 3:20's with the last 2 at 3:18 and 3:17. Felt very comfortable all the way through - great session. Big crowd of us sharing the lead upfront but many dropped out after 6 so that I was running with Fast Charlie for the final 2.

PM: Run home. Breathing fine, definitely easier doing this on Tuesdays. 31:15 at Toyota Garage and 59:26 all up. Felt good following the aches and pains subsiding after 2km. Legs started to stiffen up over the final 2km which made the heel a bit sore.

Big news on Six Foot is that Ray has entered! After years of vowing he'd never do it again, he's gone and entered again. It's just like women and childbirth. HuRT squad team now comprises:

Terence, Tucks, Dicky H, Muz, Chris G, Richard G, English Andy, Ray, Less Fast Charlie, Matthew Hook and myself. I reckon we're shoe-in for team winners.

Supposed Recovery

Usual Monday route with Wildman, Durante, Kanser and Kaley to start with, also picking up Springer for a while on the way back. Hot again (getting bored of reporting this - and it's forecast to get even hotter this week) so easy to start with but then the pace increased on the way back. Durnate blamed this on me but I thought it was Kanser's fault. He's getting far too excited about trying to beat me that he turns every training run into a race.

14.59km in 1:00:36 (4:09's) after averaging over 4:20's for the first half.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen

Kirst was swimming this morning so my slot was at 12.30pm - height of the day and 31C. As such, just took it easy with no intentions to speed up over the final 10km - just hoping to survive. Ran the Burnt Bridge Creek, North Head, Tania Park route (27.30km) in 2:04:40 (4:34s). Breathing was fine but struggled in the heat towards the end. Heel sore, have iced and Votarened this evening.

Queenscliff Nippers Champs this morning, Bec was 6th in flags and 3rd in the ocean run/wade. Billy was 6th in flags. Not quite the glory I was hoping for but good nonetheless.

Thoughts for the day:

1. The Brand Power girl has changed - first time in 9 years since we moved to Oz. Times they are a changin'.
2. Dead Poets Society is 20 years old.

Tempo Manly 7.5km

Had a night out in Manly last night and another steaming hot day meant my heart wasn't in this today. Managed 28:04 (3:48s) in the end not puffing too hard but the legs were tired.

Post Script: Congrats to Keith on a fantastic new Australian M50 record in the 3000m this evening - 8:59!

Easy again

Easy Monday route with Serg, Wildman, Kanser, Ray, MC and Durante in parts. 14.73km in 1:05:20 (4:26s). Hot (again).

Recovery run

Very easy 10.46km around and about. Felt terrible to start with and was worried about the effects of yesterday but then gradually started to feel better until the end when all was well with the world. 45.54 for 4.23s. Still bloody hot.

MLR with marathon stretches

Burnt Bridge Creek, Queenscliff, Shelly, North Head then straight home. Included three 2km marathon pace stretches along Burnt Bridge Creek, Manly Beach and the final 2km of the Striders North Head route. Fast stretches times were 3:29, 3:29, 3:27, 3:27, 3:37, 3:29. Overall 18.52km in 1:17:40 for 4:12 per km.

Went out in the heat of the day (32C) and suffered as a result. Was fine until 10km then really tailed off. Pushed the final 2km fast stretch but it meant I crawled home from Manly (had to walk part way up the hill) and the pace dropped from 4:05 to 4:12 in that final 2km with a couple of 5:XX. Suffered from heat exhaustion at home feeling nauseous and light headed.

Need to do this session more though. The sort of session that makes you hate training.

Holiday time

Heel was agony and hugely swollen after the State 5000m so took Friday and Saturday off and took Voltaren. Dread to think of what it will be like after the 10000m. Fine by Sunday so ste off midday from Seal Rocks towards Yagon campsit on an undulating unsealed road. Hit the beach after about 25 minutes and then ran straight along it, into a headwind, until I reached the end. Pretty tough going in softish sand. Elapsed time was 1:05 so turned around and ran home. Tail wind all along the beach and was easily running sub-4's all the way. All up 27.4km in 2:02:40 (4:24's). http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2518730

Monday, legs were tired so ran to Yagon campsite and back. 19:00 (4:18's) on the way out, 16:10 (3:39's) on the way back pushing the hills and stretching in between.

Tuesday, back in Manly. Hilly 10km route feeling great in 37:22 (20:42 at South Steyne).

State 5000m - 15:39:07

Rocked up to see myself in the B Race, AthleticsNSW having split the competitors into 4 races. The A race was basically Australian representatives whilst the B Race was recent ex-Australian representatives and some gifted juniors. Plus me. The C race was the people I normally run against.

It was hot. I was sweating just sitting on the train to get out there. Not only that but the wind had picked up and was strong coming around the 200m bend. Having said that, I was protected for most of the way from the wind by tucking behind a good group I was running with and actually found it a bit of a relief to step out into it every now and then to cool down.

Did a bit of a warm up (not that that was necessary) with Ray before nervously heading over the the start line. Saw Keith Bateman, Paul Arthur, the Tiger and others flying around in the C Race and thought what the hell am I doing in the B Race lining up with the likes of the Shepster (see comments of 2 days ago), Nick Cope, Caleb Wegener, Liam Ridings et al, all sub-15 runners. Quick chat with DrJH and Truscott before picking up my lane number (no.13, which about summed it up) and we were on the start line. Waited for what felt like an eternity before we were off. I settled into a comfortable position (last) but at least I was running right on the inside of the track. All I could think of during the first km was that it was typical that the one race Kirst comes to see me run, I'm going to finish last.

Actually felt pretty comfortable for the first km going through in 3:04 so pushed ahead of the small group of 3 I was in to catch the next group which comprised Chamkaur, DrJH and Brad White(?). We were running well as a group - stretching out with the wind then feeling as though I was treading on their heels while tucked in behind going into it. At 2km I was starting to feel as though this race was going on forever, the heat just seemed to sap all bounce from your legs. Then at 2.2km DrJH just stepped off the track. I couldn't believe it! How could he do that? It's almost un-Australian. Then as soon as he did it, I wanted to do it! Really struggled then as I'd lost my game plan and all these negative thoughts were running through my head. It was just like Lane Cove in November when all the boys told me 2 minutes before the race that Durante wasn't showing up! However, just dug in, got to 2.5km and thought, ok, halfway. Just count the number of metres I've run. 3km in 9:22. I got so involved in working out whether I was at 3400m or 3800m that suddenly I realised I only had 3 laps to go. Looked up and we seemed to be getting closer to a few of the runners ahead. Then at 3.8km, or was it 4.2km, don't know, Truscott suddenly seems as though he's only 30m ahead but then he too steps off the track! What's going on? I'll take that as a win I thought.

2 laps to go and people are being chewed off and spat out left right and centre. Caught 3 more over the final 2 laps, including Earl O'Brien (winner of my State 3km race in November) to finish in 15:39. Pleased with the time in the conditions. More pleased just to have completed finishing relatively strongly. Things are on track. Dad's PB remains for another day.

Great to watch the A Race. Steve put in a really gutsy performance to finish 6th in 14:20. I reckon he would have been close to 14:00 in good conditions. Amazing performance by Nipperess to outkick Jeff Hunt for the win (beating the likes of Tim Rowe and Westcott). He's really stepped up. If you look at my post on April 29, 2007, you'll see a picture of me leading Nipper half way through the Novice X-Country (he's the one in the St George red and white singlet on the right). That's how much he's improved.

Good to catch up with Timmy L, Tucks (and Nia!), Flakey and the others afterwards and thanks for the shouts. Timmy should have some splits to input tomorrow.

http://www.nswathletics.org.au/answ/live/

Just uploaded the splits. Looks like my km times went 3:05, 3:05; 3:10; 3:12; 3:07

Pre-race trot

Very easy 6km with Wildman, MC and Clyde. Hot out there. Bumped into Springer afterwards - another recruit for GCM. He's even booked flights.

HuRTS 14 x 3mins

Farm Cove is too busy so 16 of us headed over to Rushcutters to run it around the Oval. For the front group, 3 minutes is almost exactly 2 laps (at 3:20 pace). With the race in 2 days I only ran 8 and with MC at 3:30 (or a nudge under) pace. Felt comfortable. Getting nervous. Hot out there? Not enough water? Got ulcer. Perhaps a sign of peaking? God knows. Not raced in 2 months - can't be good. 3km race was off the back of a good build up. All the negative thoughts are flowing...

Dave Clarke was smashing the reps out today, with Muz and Durante next up running together looking strong.

Anonymous #1 and Anonymous #2, agree. You're right. Should just race it. But I've been through this dilemma a million times before. My problem tends to be I assume I'm going too fast when I don't have a watch and so slow down. Whereas when I wear one and check it, I realise I'm only running 75's or whatever and just dig in and get on with it. Ultimately I'm not really fussed with the time, more interested in who I can beat.

Easy Monday

Usual Monday route with Durante, MC, the Chairman, Terence and Tucks. Very easy (although there's something about running during a taper where you feel as though you just can't be arsed) running the 14.66km in 1:04:044 (4:22's).

Got my Adidas watch fixed for Thursday night (Garmin is too heavy). Getting excited now. Timmy L has agreed to do the lap counting so I think I'm all sorted. Just need to ease the pain on the heel which is slowly deteriorating.

Shortened Sunday

Couldn't get out of bed this morning after Wildman's engagement party last night so headed out at 3pm for 20km easy. Was going to run the usual 10km loops but Manly Beach was packed so headed up to North Head and then retraced my steps but back via Campbell Parade. 20.11km in 1:26:33 (4:18s). Felt really good today after yesterday's rest.

Good chatting to Ben and Tim last night (the latter obviously looking forward to the 5km on Thursday night) and met Sean Williams and his wife for the first time. Durante was batting his eyelids at Sean so I had to have a word and remind him where his loyalties lie. HuRT Squad will shortly be me and Kanser at this rate.

Easy Friday

Cremorne again with MC, Tim C, Clyde and Muz. 14kms averaging 4:44's. Felt great today but the heel was sore.

Big congrats to Kanser for his 2:41 in Dubai in not ideal conditions. A 5 minute PB plus feeling strong in the last 10km means there's plenty more to come. Hopefully he'll run Gold Coast if the missus allows.

HuRTS Pyramid session

Too darn hot. Another couple of degrees hotter than yesterday, although as I write the storm has come in and lightning is striking all around.

With it being so hot, me being pretty jaded and the heel being a bit sore, I decided not to kill myself today. Rolled around the session with Durante and Muz averaging 3:10's (compared to 3:00's last time) feeling pretty comfortable all the way. Put a bit more effort into the final two reps, running a 69 last lap (equivalent of a 62 second 400m) only to be overtaken by a charging stallion in the last 50m. The Chairman was pushing all the reps hard out front, with Dicky H, Terence and Kaley making up the remainder of the first group. Split into 3 groups today even though numbers were down with the heat.

Wednesday MLR

Out with Muz and the Saint for the usual 19km Wednesday route. 1:23:23 (4:33's). Me and Muz were trying to push it along but Ben kept on dragging us back - he really needs to work on his endurance.

Very hot today (30C+) and I was wilting in the sun by the end.

HuRTS Hickson Road

Some sessions just hurt more than others. I think I've settled into a comfortable regime with some of the HuRTS sessions recently. You can't do that with Hickson Rd. Every one of the reps hurts. Event the rests hurt - mental torture at the prospect of the next rep. I suppose it must be doing a load of good in raising the lactate threshold. Does that mean the other sessions are pointless? I guess you have to mix them all up as we'd all break down if we ran Hickson Rd twice a week every week. Great 5km training though. Just worried it may all be a bit too late and that I've not squeezed enough speed sessions in.

We split into two groups again this week - Durante, Muz, Dicky H and myself in the first group with Mike leading others including Terence, Tucks, Tim C, Pete W, Enda and Adam etc in the second. I really wanted to give the session a crack this week but first disappointment was realising that I'd left my adizeros at home so had to run in my heavy trainers. Still, set off at the front on the first rep and tried to make it quick. Groaned with disappointment at the end on looking at the time but they got better with more competition for the following reps. Durante was running strongly again pushing each of them just in front of Muz. After the first one, I tried to nudge the second half of each of the reps after tucking in for the first half. Times went as follows:

3:36; 3:33; 3:28; 3:33; 3:30

Quite a bit of wind on reps 2 and (particularly) 4 which slowed them down. It was hot too which didn't help. Exactly the same average time as for when I last ran this session at the end of October.

Nice jog back catching up with Kanser. Had a bit of a discussion on who is going to win Six Foot. He's convinced Uncle Dave will have it wrapped up but, great runner that he is, I still think it's a specialists event and that Fats will win again provided he's fit. Hope Amanda appreciates my loyalty.

Good luck to Kanser for Friday.

PM: Run home. Felt much better than last week - 59:03 but still feeling as though I was taking it very easy. I'll double up on Tuesdays from now on - Mondays are too close to the long Sunday run and doubling up on Tuesdays means the earlier speed session is more meaningful.

No double up

Usual easy Monday route with a good group including Wildman, Durante (before he headed off to tone his pecs), Tucks, Muz, Serg, Clyde, MC and Kanser towards the end. 65 something. Planned to run home but got caught in a meeting from 4.30pm until 10.30pm by which time I'd lost the inclination. Will double up later in the week.

Bobbin Head STaR

Headed over to Wahroonga for the Bobbin Head STaR. Picked up Dicky H on the way and runners in the 6.20am group included Tim C, John Binfield, Dennis and Mark F. Beautiful morning for a run and a fantastic route - plenty of bush and loads of hills. 4km straight up from Bobbin Head where Richard and I pushed ahead. Slow to start with (we were averaging 5:05's by Bobbin Head 17kms in due to the hills and bush) but we brought it down to 4:44's by the end with the customary quick finish. Felt very good from the top of the Bobbin Head hill onwards. Total of 30.81km in 2:25:49.

Picture taken yesterday just before Bec's party.

Easy Friday

Very easy run with MC, Durante, Tim C, Clyde, LF Charlie and Ray. 13.85km around Cremorne Point. 1:05:16 (4:43s). Heel sore.

Kids current favourite songs:

Bec: Hot and Cold by Katy Perry
Charlie: Poker Face ("Bubba Face") by Lady Gaga
Billy: Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi

Guess which one takes after me.

PB time!

Missed HuRTS 400s today due to the world's longest meeting so ran home after work as a tempo but secretly hoping to have a crack at my PB. Put the effort in from the word go and didn't let up all the way. Bottom of Ben Boyd in 13:00, Toyota Garage in 24:30 (1:30 up from when I set my last PB) and finished in 46:21. A 2:24 PB, which was last set on 24th July, just before City to Surf. Pleased that the second half was still quicker than last time, when I was running hills well. Have got the metallic taste in my mouth now so I must have got the lungs burning pushing those hills.

Obviously hit a bit of form so looking forward to the next couple of races. I'm still convinced half of it is due to the adizero LT's. If you haven't tried them, do so.

Easy MLR

Usual 18.5km Centennial route with MC, Dicky H, Tim C, the Chairman and (wait for it) Tucks. Hot again so the pace was easy. Garmin ran out of batteries by the end but it was showing 4:28 average pace before it did so. Pretty fatigued but pleased with the way the week has gone.

HuRTS 8 x 800m

HuRTS was splintered today, with Wildman leading a group of renegades on a 3 x 2km session off 4 minutes rest. Sounded a bit easy to me so the rest of us (MC, Kanser, Durante, the Chairman, English Andy, Tim C, Terence (scarily showing great form after running 2:44 in Hobart 2 days ago), Pete W and others) set off for Rushcutters for 800s off 90 seconds rest. Reps went as follows:

2:22; 2:22; 2:21; 2:21; 2:18; 2:22; 2:22; 2:20

Was chasing Kanser on the first 6. He was flying today. Got close on reps 4 and 5 . He was only doing 6 as a taper for Dubai so by myself for the final 2. The Chairman was taking it easy doing 10 and Durante is still recovering from sunburn. Felt pretty comfortable - I find the 800s much easier than 10 x 400m (planned for Thursday).

Stinking hot such that we were searching for cover in between the reps. Very pleased with the session after the past couple of days training.

Doubling up

Lunch: Out with MC, Kanser, Wildman, Durante, LF Charlie, the Chairman, Ray and English Andy for the usual Monday route. Very easy today - 14.86km (slight detour due to erecting the outdoor cinema at Farm Cove) in 1:07:30 (4:30 p/km). Hot at around 30C although about 5C cooler than out West due to the sea breezes.

Evening: Run home. More like a slog. Very tired. 60:19. Would have been a lot slower but picked it up over the final 2km. One hour will be the benchmark for Monday nights over the coming months.

Plan is to try to double up one day a week in Jan, 2 in Feb and 3 in March in lead up to Six Foot. Will sort out the marathon schedule after that (14 weeks) as I should have a decent base by then.

Dee Why Dash

Sometimes everything just works perfectly. Headed over to Dee Why for the Striders STaR and caught up with Dicky H. The others in the 6.20am group included Peter and Jenny Truscott, John Binfield and Dennis Wylie. Very easy pace to start with but there are some monster hills to clim to get up to Belrose so was happy with the slow pace. Started to speed up a bit on the way back down and put in 5km in about 20 mins heading around Queenscliff. Was just Richard and I left at this stage and we struggled up the Griffin Road hills to round out the 29.40km in 2:13:48 (4:33 pace). Not bad considering the early pace and the size of those hills. Made me realise how much tougher it is to do the long runs with hills though as I was struggling towards the end.

Beautiful day with a gentle cooling breeze made for perfect conditions to jump into the surf at Dee Why afterwards. Headed over to Queenscliff for Nippers afterwards to see Bec win the Flags and the surf paddle. Just got to get her out on the bike more - she'll be a champion triathlete.

More easy stuff

Back to the old 10km route. Cool again but a little tired after yesterday's efforts. 42:25.

Big congratulations to Kanser for a great 10km last night. Going under 33 mins I think makes him a "very good runner" according to the official Sergio classification.

10km tempo

Caught up with Tim and ran a 10km tempo - 4 loops of a near exact 2.5km circuit not more than 200m from my house. Tim had it at 10.04km on his Garmin which is exactly what G-Maps has it at....http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2463994

He set off pretty quick going through the first km in just over 3:20. I then pushed on towards the end of the first lap, built a little gap on the second and gradually pulled ahead for the reminaining laps. Lap times went as follows:

8:28; 8:38; 8:34; 8:18.

Total time of 33:58. Tim came in at 35:11. Felt relaxed all the way through but it's never really comfortable at that pace. Very pleased with the final lap as I could see that a sub-34 was on the cards so put the effort in to get it.

Much better conditions than recently. Cool at about 23C with a bit of a breeze.

Getting bored

..of doing the same route, so did it in reverse. Went out at 2pm and it was a scorcher (the temperature, not my run) - about 32C. 40:35. Not too bad considering the conditions but didn't feel as though I was taking it easy. Seems to be the problem with running the same route everyday - you find it hard to take it easy. I can see how Dave Sweeney gets fit on his daily dose of "Roo and Lake".