Saturday Tighe session

Wanted a tough session today so planned for the hardest one I do - 5km hard, 8 x 250m hill then 5km hard. Dickyboy agreed to join in but had Cameron in the pram so was just running at 4min kms, cutting short a couple of sections to give me something to chase.

I ran 17:10 then 17:24. Not quite as good as the week post State 10km (where I did 17:17 and 17:15) but I just couldn't keep it up on the second 5km - in June I felt good on the final lap, today I was just holding on running 3:30's before putting in a final sprint. Still, it was consistent and it is done.

A few more recent photos for the family:

Run in

Met up with Dickyboy in Fairlight and ran to work with him. Was intending on a nice easy pace but Dicky starts with a 4:10 and keeps the pace up the whole way, clocking sub4 mins kms along Military Road. I was trying to chat but was gasping for breath mid-sentence.

Ended up with 54:46 after 26:15 at Spit Junction. Dicky goes a slightly different route through Neutral Bay and once off the bridge but I don't think it affects the overall tuime too much. Turns out he tries to beat his time to run in each time he does it.

82km for the week.

Couple of photos from holiday:

Kids on the beach:



Highs and Highnams:

HuRTS Pyramid

Really small crowd today. Tucks showed up at the Art Gallery but sporting an iPod and just heading off for a jog before he attempts to cement his position as King of the Trails in the Fitzroy Falls Fire Trail Marathon on Saturday. Bartles, New Dad J-Fen, Todd, Ray, Hamish and Killa were men there for the real session.

Bit nervous beforehand, haven't done any speed in weeks (and nothing since pulling out of SMH) so set of gingerly but felt quite comfortable. Reps went as follows:

82
2:47
4:12
5:38
4:11
2:42
75

Ran them all bludging off Bartles until the final lap of each rep where I'd take the wind. Times were comparable to what I did back in May but without feeling absolutely shattered. Uncomfortable running 3min kms again mind. Took my shoes off half way through and ran the back reps barefoot. Interestingly it felt easier doing so. I could be on to something here. I've discovered a new running technique I'm going to reveal to the world...

Home again

10km in shoes both yesterday and this morning. Then a 10 hour drive back to Sydney. Slow yesterday, steady this morning (4 min kms). Stiff and sore now. Need to get back into the regime again.

Attempt at a longer one

Did 5.5km along the roads (seeing Charlie D drive past in the process) then hit Tallows beach running the length from Broken Head to Byron Bay lighthouse and back. I'd bandaged my blistered toes but the tide was high and I was running on the soft sand and in the sea when I couldn't avoid the waves. Before I hit the lighthouse the bandages were flapping off. 2km later the toes were shredded. Felt a bit sick with the pain at the end, but finished up with 20.78km in 1:35:10.

Mr Sand Man

Yesterday was a very easy 8km barefoot on the sand again with the blistered toes feeling very sore. Averaged about 4:17's.

Today I had 30mins to fit a run in before LF Charlie was turning up with family to watch the mighty Sea Eagles win the Grand Final. This place has become a HuRT Squad northern base over the past week. With only 30mins to spare I went hard from the beginning, feeling great before turning after 15mins only to discover I'd been running with the benefit of a strong Southerly. Finished up with 8.04km in 31:04 averaging 3:51's. Again, on the sand barefoot. Feel as though all this barefoot sand running has done great things for my PF and achilles, with no issues from them whatsoever.

Great Grand Final to watch, even for the impartial observer with Glenn Stewart, Will Hopoate and Shaun Johnston showing some lovely bits of magic. LF Charlie managed to remain suitable muted, but at least his eldest son showed some allegiance.

Good results from Homebush yesterday. Tucks beat my Homebush PB by 13 seconds so will be hard to beat from here on. Timmy is on his summer decline and Kanser is slowly progressing. Thought JF would go quicker though. But then I remembered he's probably only had 3 hours unbroken sleep for the past 2 weeks so fair play..

More of the same

12km today up and down the beach. Tide was out so ran on the hard sand, so much quicker (50:57 with a slow first and final km beating my way through the bush behind the beach). Fantastic day, blue skies and 23C but no Ursula Andress today.

Back out again

Sydney half was a shocker. Set out feeling very good, going through 3km in 10:00 with Bleasel before my hammy started tightening up at 5km. Tried to stretch it out by lengthening my stride until it tightened up to the point of limping at 8km. So I pulled out. My first ever dnf. It stiffened up massively as soon as I stopped and I hobbled around for the next couple of days.

Had a conference up in the Gold Coast last Wed/Thurs and tried a short run on the Thurs but my hammy was still sore. Incidentally, we had a big night out on the Wed where one of the fellow attendees at Shooters was Clive Cooper, who Tucks will remember as the Sydney University runner who bolted away from us in the State 3000m in 2008 before we crawled our way back to him on the final lap. He went out similarly hard on the vodka red bulls, but this time I matched him stride for stride from the gun.

Ran to work on Tuesday before pulling up stumps at Cremorne and catching the bus with the hammy tightening slightly. Drove up to Byron Bay yesterday for a week's holiday. Ran along Broken Head beach this morning - 5km up then back. Highlight was reaching 4km to see a lady emerging from the waves in her birthday suit. I was too prudish to take a closer look but she didn't strike me as your traditional nudist (teutonic, overweight). I'll be heading out at a similar time tomorrow morning.

Finally, had Richie High over for a BBQ this evening. He's holidaying up here too. Plenty of slagging off of Young Timmy which was fun. His kid Ben is a future AFL/soccer star. Either that or my kids are very average. Mmmmm.

Even easier Saturday

6km around and about with 4 sprints. Achilles a bit sore which is a pain in the ass. Well, the heel.

Very easy Friday

Very easy jog with MC, Marty and Russell around and about in my new Mizuno Wave Elixir 6's. Ordered them for A$106 on Tuesday and they arrive this morning - how good is that! Feeling much less tired than the last couple of days so hopefully will be well rested by Sunday.

10.2km in 48:06 (4:42's). 86km for the week.

HuRTS 10 x 400m

Woke up this morning feeling knackered and dragged myself to work. Not sure why I'm feeling so tired as I'm not doing any more volume or intensity than normal. Also had a raging thirst last night and remember Kanser saying a while back that he'd read that this was a sign of over-training.

So decided just to take it easy today. Jogged over to Rushcutters with JC, Tucks, Clyde, Kaley and a few others and met Timmy there who had neatly laid out his cones, while watching J-Fen do his own thing and TB showing up late. I cruised around the first rep at the back in 80 seconds. A groundsmen then appeared telling us to get off but Hardman gave him a hard stare and TB (aka Drago) puffed out his chest which was sufficient for the groundsman to retreat back to his shed to finish his cup of tea. I'm pretty sure Timmy was last seen after the session heading over to join him.

Did all my reps in 79-80 from the back other than reps 3, 6 and 10 which I pushed hard in 65, 66 and 63. Jogged back and felt better for having got out there.

Very Easy Wed

Ran home in 58:29. Very easy, slowing myself down, which wasn't hard as the legs (particularly bottom of glutes) were tired again after yesterday's session. Also a bit tender after a Tiger massage this arvo. The Tiger has gone bearish on Young Timmy, betting me $50 he won't break 77 mins at the weekend. I jumped at that offer, particularly after Timmy himself sent me a text telling me he would smash that time. So Timmy, over to you.

HuRTS 45mins Fartlek

With the Irishmen opting for an easy session earlier this morning, only the hardcore (and Timmy) fronted up for one of the toughest sessions in the calendar. Hardman was there, rounding up the troups. The King of Trails, despite an exhausting weekend, didn't shy away. Even Timmy was there, last seen walking around Farm Cove looking pale.

I wanted to take this one out quite hard so set off with no-one following me, then at Mrs Macs Chair J-Fen appears stage left. I thought he'd settled back with the rest of the pack but just sticks to my tail, slightly behind on the fast sections (1 min on) but catching up again on the easy sections (30 seconds off). We turned well down Hickson Road, opposite the steps beside the Lend Lease building, which is as far as we've gotten before, particularly considering the detour we have to take around the Park Hyatt. J-Fen is still there. I try to push the pace around the Opera House and can see Dicky H and Macca, but still J-Fen holds on. We run past a walking Timmy and no change. Only coming up the hills at the end, when I'm pretty much at 100%, does he drop off, and then only a little, finishing 3-4 seconds behind. I got back in 45:02 which I was chuffed with given the fast start.

Total stats were 12.9km in 45:02 (3:29 pace). The Garmin 610 seems much more accurate than the 405, no funny readings around Circular Quay. And I love the shakes it gives. But story of the day was the form of J-Fen. The rest seems to have done him good.

Easy Monday

Run home in 54:37. Felt fantastic, the difference with last Monday couldn't be more marked.

Now to deal with the dead rat by the pool.

Taper Sunday

Friday was an easy 12km with 2 JB's and Kanser. 92km for the week.

Friday night was some joint birthday drinks with Richie H and Sonya which resulted in a slightly dusty Saturday so took another day off.

Today out at 6.30am on a glorious day with Paul Macca, Ben and Scott for an easy 25.4km in 1:52:59 (4:27 pace) up to Narrabeen Lake and back along the beaches.

HuRTS Yasso 800's

Small but merry band today. Young Timmy, LF Charlie, Tucks, Kanser, Jason, J-Fen, Paul Mc, King James, Christian, new girl Orla and a few others jogged over to Rushcutters for 10 x 800m off 90s rest. Wasn't feeling up to it on the jog over but felt fine as soon as we got going. Tucks was taking it easy again so I was out front alone for the most part. Reps went as follows:

2:26
2:25
2:23
2:23
2:23
2:23
2:22
2:20
2:22
2:18

Felt pretty comfortable for the first 5. J-Fen pushed one of the later reps and Tucks pushed rep 8 which helped quicken them up a bit. I reckon they are about 5 seconds short of a full 800m.

Big news of the day though was the return to form of Kanser. Our Irish friend stuck on Young Timmy's shoulder for all the reps which caused a growing look of consternation on Timmy's face as he tried to shake him. Then on the final rep Young Timmy was Kaned. Usually full of banter, our self-styled teller of tales and trash hopped straight onto his bike and refused to speak to anyone before peddling back (legs full of lactic) to Erskineville. We were gobsmacked and hardly knew what to say as we jogged back to the city.

About 13km all up.

A few links

This bloke really annoys me.

Almost as much as this bloke.

Check out the final standings in the Runnerstribe tipping comp.

Today was the 4 x 10mins HuRTS session. I had a call at 12.15pm which I took, half knowing it would make me late for the session. So rocked up at St Mary's to join in the final 3 reps. Legs still knackered. Just couldn't seem to turn them over. Anything under 3:30 pace was a real struggle. Bartles and Stuart were well ahead. Tucks and Richie H seemed to be struggling with me. Jason kept me honest on my second rep (his third). Had a chat with a few of the boys and Laura though so nice to catch up.

About 11km all up.

Slow Monday

Very easy run home. Was even slower than it felt. 59:21. Very tired, may listen to the body and take a couple of days rest. Will see in the morning.

Long Sunday

Thanks for all the comments for yesterday. Brought back down to earth today with a very tired and sore long run. Dropped Bec off at a party at Queenscliff so set off from there for a loop around Narrabeen Lake via Cromer each way, but up Pittwater Road and back via the beaches. 29.01km in 2:06:10 (4:20's). Left PF very sore all the way.

Go Mo!

Striders North Head - 1st in 32:24

Didn't think I'd ever be writing that title for a post. Woke up feeling pretty good for once. Took my new pre-race concoction of Endura Optimizer and drove up to North Head, bumping into Kanser and Timmy in the car park. Timmy was his usual self and Kanser had more excuses than you could even contemplate. Saw Truscott, the Horne and Thamal warming up, then was greeted by Robbie Neill at registration so there was a decent crowd. Bleasel and Hew were also on the start line so I knew it'd be a decent race. My plan from the start was just to stick to CT for as long as possible.

CT went straight to the front for those 2 annoying little loops of the car park then heading out on the first big lap it was a group of CT, Robbie and myself in front with Thamal just behind. Then at 2km Robbie suddenly puts in this burst of speed, CT goes with him and they gap me by about 10m. I'm thinking, WTF, is this what proper racing is all about? Then on the slight rise after the roundabout I start to catch them again. We're altogether coming back to the roundabout so put some pressure on up the hill and Robbie dropped off. It's now just a race between me and CT. Basically, CT puts in a series of surges which I gradually claw back, usually on a hill. Coming up to 9km I'm waiting for him to go again and thinking that I can't let him gap me this time. Sure enough, he does and I go with him then pass him and suddenly I've got a gap. Can't believe my luck. I was dreading the dogfight of a final sprint. Just keep the speed up for the final loop and turn the corner to the finish to see 32:18 or thereabouts on the clock and I'm ecstatic. First win since pre-injury at the age of 16 and a decent PB to boot over the distance I run most often.

No idea about the splits. I ran without a watch again because I wanted to race it. Robbie said he went through 5km in about 16:05 and we were about 10s in front.

Some great runs out there today, none more so than Timmy who clocked another big PB in running 34:27 and almost beating Richie again. Richie overtook him with 20m to go! Sounds like those 2 had a good tussle with Paul McClarnon the whole way. Eoin had a good run in the low 35's and Kanser is getting back with a 36:40 (before running another 21km back home). JC ran an inaugural 10km in 36:36. The one down point of the day was seeing Anna looking as though she suffered another attack at the 3km mark, hope she's OK.