Taper time

Very easy 6km jog with MC, BW and Chris Shaw. All the talk was on tomorrow's race. It's the biggest 10km of the year and, after City to Surf and JPMorgan, one of the biggest on the HuRTS calendar. We should have a very large turnout. As a result, I thought I'd post my random selection of predicted times:

CT: 32:35 (Actual 32:33)
Robdog: 32:40 (Actual 32:37)
Barts: 32:45 (Actual 32:35)
Tucks: 32:55 (Actual 32:59)
Andy: 33:15 (Absent)
Fats: 33:23 (Actual 33:43)
Jonny B: 33:30 (Actual 34:21)
J-Fen: 33:45 (Actual 34:05)
T-Bell: 33:47 (Absent)
Kenny: 33:59 (Actual 34:49)
Ray: 34:20 (Actual 35:27)
Enda: 34:23 (Actual 35:09)
Dicky H: 34:25 (Actual 34:41)
Tiger: 35:05 (Actual 35:32)
Macca: 35:40 (Actual 35:13)
MC: 35:45 (Actual 35:50)
Laura: 36:20 (Actual 37:27)
Timmy: 36:49 (Actual 37:44)
Anna: 37:20 (Actual 37:06)
Aidan: 37:20 (Actual 37:31)
Kilted Scot: 38:20 (Absent)
Elle: 39:32 (Actual 39:47 very impressive!)

Some fast times there but I think the boys (and girls) are running well.

Harry Summers will win the race in 29:10 (Yep, 1st, Actual 29:36) and Celia Sullohern will be first female in 34:40 (Actual 35:13 but only 2nd).

Crocodile man

Easy 9km today with 8 100m sprints thrown in. Felt good in my new Musha 5's. MC, John Doe, Slapstick, Mr Ace, LF Charlie, Laura, Mermaid and Elle the Belle were all along for the ride.

Had to include a picture of Khotso Mokoena jumping over crocodiles. I love these man versus nature/machine media opportunities (like Bolt races a horse or Guzzo beating a car to the City from Epping):

Vitamin B12

Strength with Carl this morning. Massage with the Tiger this arvo. Followed by 11km around Pyrmont very easy. Going hard on the vitamins, protein powder, Juice Plus, you name it. These are the final acts of a desperate man.

Super proud of Kirst who ran a 7km time trial in 35:12 this morning (finishing up the monster hill that is Condamine St). Her running coach plainly knows a lot more about running than I do.

HuRTS 3min reps

Good crowd out today for the first HuRTS session I've done in a while. Wanted to push it a bit to see how I was feeling and the answer was clear. Not so good.

Vlad and Barts were way ahead. I was puffing running 3:20's (although they may have quickened a bit later on) with the legs just not used to turning over at that pace at the moment. Managed 12 reps. I think I'll take it very easy for the rest of the week for the chance of feeling fresh on Saturday. Andy and Fats continue to run well, J-Fen is coming back into form and big news of the day is that Tucks is back in town and running on Saturday too. So Timmy has me down as odds-on HuRTS no.6 at this stage. At least it trumps his current HuRTS no.74.

Apart from that it was business as usual. Fats let us know what he had for breakfast via a combined fist pump and bottom pump. Ray didn't stop talking. Macca was breathing hard. Everybody gave their words of wisdom to Laura.

Nice to see TB back in town. Hope he's running on Sat too.

Longish Monday

Having missed the long weekend run I tried to squeeze one in today but work got the better of me. Only managed 23km in 1:40 (4:20's). Still feeling average after Saturday night.

Fantastic run by Benny to win the Payton Jordan Invitational 10km in Stanford this afternoon in 27:37 thereby booking his ticket to the World Champs in Moscow. Few peak better for the races that matter than Ben. That's a super time for someone beaten to 3rd in a domestic 10km road race in Tassie only a few weeks ago.

Scaramanga!

Well, last night turned into a very large one at Jon and Jane's for the former's 50th birthday. I've been in bed all day long. Kirst said I had a licence to kill with my breath this morning. Should i have run today? The answer would have been clear had I asked a doctor. No.

I may have died last night and you only live twice so out I went in the late afternoon. A quantum of solace was that it was perfect weather again - managed 8km before deciding I'll die another day.

For your eyes only:

Striders 10km handicap

I was the back-marker for this along with Thamal. At least with Thamal there I'd have someone to chase as we were 1:30 behind the next runner (Tongey). Timmy was a bit in front going off 37:30 with Anna and Anna on 38:00 and quite a few more dotted around.

I felt pretty confident going into this having been feeling really good in training this last week and confident of a 33:xx but that all went out of the window after 300m. My legs were just dead and I was blowing like a steam train. Tried to hold on to Thamal but as soon as we climbed up Scribbly he pulled ahead. We did the first 2km in 3:12 and 3:18. Coming down Scribbly I caught him again and this turned into a common theme - he'd pull ahead on the flats and uphills and I'd catch him on the downhills. 5km in 17:08 and my legs still felt terrible, it's the worst I've felt in a race for ages.

We passed Timmy at 6km then on the hill before 7km Thamal pulled ahead with a 5s gap. Timmy said that from behind it looked as though I just sat up. By now we were catching a load of other runners and by the final km it became very busy. Over the final 2km I could see Thamal was slowing and I finally started to feel vaguely OK. Dodged through the crowds in the final 500m to get within a couple of seconds of Thamal and finish in 34:07. At least it was a negative split (16:59).

I'm guessing I felt so crap because of the flight 24hours earlier but I'll need to improve a lot over the next 7 days to run well at State 10km.

Home sweet home

Flight overnight arriving 5.45am. Straight to office and out at lunch feeling very sleepy with Ray and Aidan. 15km nice and easy on a beautiful day in 65 something (4:26's).

Durante's organising a team for City Mile Dash - me, him, Wildman and Barts. I'm nervous just thinking about it.

91km for the week.

Singers Part 2

Manic day. Didn't end up attending any of the conference as I just dealt with deals all day. Out in the late arvo finding a beautiful, flat and traffic free path around the marina and along the river - largely following the Singapore JPM race. Bloody hot and humid again. 12km in 51:32 (4:18's).

Now for some Tiger Beers.

View from hotel window:

In Singapore

With a lovely view of the Marina Bay Sands. Ahh, fond memories.

Bloody busy so just squeezed in 10km on the hotel gym treadmill in 38:54. Hate those damn things. Sweated like a pig.

Holiday summary

Wednesday was 14km of mostly beach running including 4km barefoot. As a result my knee was buggered (usual problem of the tendon below the kneecap) and I hobbled around on Thursday unable to put any weight on it. Love the idea of barefoot running but my body just can't cope.

Loaded up on Voltaren and hammered my thighs on the hard ribbed foam roller so that I could manage 10km very easy on Friday. Saturday was 15km with a fast final 5km feeling good. Sunday was an easy 10km to Yagon and back.

Watched the London Marathon last night and loved it. I've heard some comments about how the times failed to live up to expectations given the quality of the field but I think that misses the point. It was the equivalent of an Olympic final and so we saw a proper race. Nothing quite like seeing quality runners falling apart and looking like the rest of us in the final 2km of a major race.

Off to Singapore tomorrow so needed to get a quality session in today so decided to push the pace a bit on my long run. Did 16.5km to Shelley Beach and back adding a loop of Manly Golf Course then ran to work. 29.7km in 2:00:34 (4:03's). 54:44 for the run to work bit but that included an extra loop around Anderson Park in Kiribilli in order make up some distance. Very happy with that. Running sub4's finally felt relatively comfortable so a big confidence booster.

Update

Sat was 5km very easy.

Sunday was 10km tempo in 37:19 on the Yagon route plus 2km warmdown.

Monday was 30km all the way down Yagon beach (middle of nowhere) and back. Got scared shitless after 7km running down the beach only to hear footsteps behind me. Turned around to see 3 dingoes pursuing me. If they'd approached at 27km I'd have been toast, but was still relatively fresh after 7km. Running back up the beech after turning I could see from the tracks they'd followed me for about 4km. Soft sand for 20km so legs were knackered at the end even only managing 4:56's.

Rest today. At Taree Hospital now after Claudia was bitten on the foot but an in identified Australian critter.

Jared West

Massively busy day trying to wrap things up before going on holiday. Going on holiday is almost not worth the stress.

Nice run at lunch with Chris Shaw form AMP. 15km easy. That's 131km for the week. Really good 4 weeks of raining, gradually increasing the mileage each week. I'll ease up next week on holidays and hopefully see some jump start in the fitness. Not sure where anonymous from yesterday's post is coming from. Check out what I used to do in training in 2008.

Very impressed with Jared West's result in the 800m prelims at the Aussie Champs. A PB of 1:47:99 to make the final. I've only met the chap once (after City Mile Dash last year where we shared a couple of beers) and he was dead humble. He trains around Manly and always says hello. Wish him every luck in the final tomorrow and hope he can podium. Jeff Riseley will be the man to beat.

Can't cope

Had a work call at lunch I couldn't avoid so the 800's were out. Contemplated doing them solo but, to be honest, I'm knackered and I'd be flogging a dead horse. So just did a very easy 12km up to Centennial bumping into Barts and Andy, the men in form, on the way.

More beers tonight. Will the form ever return?!

Wednesday MLR

Strength with Carl this morning avec hangover then usual Wednesday route with JW and Mr Ace in about 1:25. Feeling very sluggish but a nice run with the boys on a beautiful day with no one pushing the pace.

Forgot to give a massive congratulatory shout to Craig Mc who ran 2:29:17 in Paris on the weekend. Wowsers, that's raised the bar. And he's only 4 days younger than me.

HuRTS 4 x 10mins

Well, the boys were flying today while I continued winding my way down struggle street. Reached just shy of Robbie Burns on the first rep, back in 9:45, then 10 seconds beyond Rabbie on the third rep and back in 10:00. Just can't turn the legs over any quicker but at least the breathing was fine.

Amazed at how quickly the lads are running. On the third rep I think I was 8th with Barts, Fats, Andy, J-Fen, Clyde and some new random dude all putting plenty of distance into me. Andy in particular was flying. The times they are 'a changin'.

Good to see Timmy back out.

Out in the evening for a few Hooergaarden's and plenty of red wine.

These days I check my phone and always find some random photos on it. Damn kids. So I'm going to start publishing them.

Early doors

Beautiful day so got out early doors for 14km to Shelly Beach and back. Felt uncomfortable the whole way. Legs tired and sore.

East Side Sunday

With Macca flying to the States and Dicky and Sam still on the injury bench, I was left with the option of flying solo or venturing over the Bridge to Centennial. I was knackered from yesterday so didn't fancy the idea of 30kms feeling sorry for myself and Kirst gave me the early morning off so off to Cenetennial it was to meet up with Kanser, Enda, Clyde, Wildman, CT, J-Fen, Ronan and even Young Timmy for 30kms. Time flew chatting away and felt Ok by the end. Pace was quick mind - those East Side Boys don't hang around. They all slow down on the hills though as they have soft legs.

30km averaging 4:25's.

Now off to watch Bec play U12's soccer at the bottom of the hill for new club Brookvale. Hopefully she can reverse a weekend of shocking defeats.

Striders 10km Homebush - 4th in 34:05

5km warm-up with Macca and Barts for a bit then quickly into the congregation for the start. Didn't see any guns on the start line other than some unknown chap wearing a English athletics team top. Well the gun went off and so did he. Briefly saw him on the switchbacks as he whizzed past us.

Neil Pearson went off pretty hard with Barts and I next. Going up the hills at Scribbly Gums Barts started to pull ahead (hills always show who's feeling strongest) and he'd gapped me by the top and was pulling ahead. So from then on I was running solo. By the top of the hill at 5.3km Barts was with Neil and they had about a 20-30s lead, but Neil looked to be fading and rounding the hut at the bottom I could see him ahead so just concentrated on catching him. Worked my arse off to do so (which helped me run a good negative split) and caught him just after the hill at 8.5km but he immediately put an effort in and got 10m on me soon after. Then rounding the penultimate corner I gave it one final go and got on his shoulder before he responded once again. I pussied out at this stage, telling myself I'd tried hard enough. But in short, crap first half when I just couldn't get going but more encouraging second half.

Tedious fact #1: I ran exactly the same time today as I did on the same course in November. Andy almost did too.

Great run by Barts who was strong the whole way and continues his good form - he ended up with 33:43. Enda also had a great run in 35:12 and will undoubtedly PB at the Sydney10 next month if he continues this run of form. Anna won the ladies dipping under 38mins (and thanks for the top Anna - Bec loves it!) but run of the day was Laura's fellow Macquarie employee Ella who has run almost every HuRTS session over the past 2 months and improved her 10km time from 43:xx at North Head last month to 40:36 today!

Ran a warmdown with Enda and Andy afterwards before heading out for a couple of km with Barts and Darren Deed - the English gun we saw on the startline who is over here for 10 days for his mates wedding. Turns out he's a 29:40 10km runner and debuted in the marathon last year in 2:18 - knocking on the door of Commonwealth Games selection. He won today in 31:03.

21.5km all up.

Plod town

9km jog bumping into Ray. At one point Kanser ran past us running 3 min kms so I guess he's not racing tomorrow.

115km for the week.

HuRTS Pyramid

Plenty of rain. And cold. What a difference a week makes.

Big crowd today but we were thrown off the oval by a grumpy groundsman. So after a bit of dithering we settled on loops of the concrete path surrounding the oval. GMaps has it at 500m. Maybe a bit shorter. We split into a few groups with Barts, Andy C, Kenny, Ray, J-Fen, some big chap and me in the first group. Basically, I just sat on Barts for the whole session. Felt pretty good today with plenty of running in the legs. Reps (1 lap, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1 with a rest of half the time of the previous rep) went as follows:

1:33, 3:08; 4:44, 6:20, 4:39, 3:03, 1:30

That's pretty quick if it is 500m so must be a bit shorter. Still, all going well. 2km jog there and 4km jog home for about 14km all up.

Wednesday MLR

Strength with Carl this morning then 19km easy with Mikey, Andy's H and C, JW and the Kilted Scot. 4 Englishmen, a Scot and an Aussie.

Going OK.

Good news today with Neil Pearson (40+) joining Striders ranks for the ANSW winter events and Dicky H getting in touch to do the same. Sutherland will be tough to beat with Andy C joining them but should make for some great races in the O35's, especially relays.

HuRTS 45mins Fartlek

Great crowd today in the Autumn sunshine. Barts, Fats, J-Fen and Andy's H and C all running upfront with a big group including Ray, Macca, MC, Enda etc in support. Hell, even Durante was there. I planned on holding back a little as I've done in the past few Tuesday's but that went out the window on the very first 60s on. I think it was because I was feeling refreshed after a very easy run yesterday. Barts was taking it easy no doubt saving himself to smash me on Saturday so we had a good group of 5 of us running together on the way out.

Reached the second speed bump on the way out, still feeling fine (at least breathing OK - legs are always tired these days) and then tried to get home. Andy Cross left us at the turn, Fats upped stumps at CQ and J-Fen cut short half way around Farm Cove with Barts pulling ahead of me at that stage so ran up the hills alone but with the squad to overtake in order to get back under 45mins. Just managed it with a final gate to gate of 10:15. All up 12.67km in 44:57 (3:33's). Put a lot more effort into that though than I have in any recent Tuesday sessions.

Jog around the gardens to finish for 15km all up.

Monday meander

Very slow 11km around Manly with Maggsie on her bike. Had a chat with Hamish M. That was about it. Tired.

Easter Sunday

Out with Macca early doors for some flat stuff around Manly. Perfect morning being a bit cooler than recently. Time passed quickly. Macca stopped after 23km so finished it off solo. Felt Ok at end for first time in a while. 30km in 2:13:50 (4:28's).

Selfie with the kids pre-world's toughest Easter egg hunt.

Manly hilly tempo

Same as last week. Went out a bit harder but then settled into similar km splits. Started to hurt like hell through Balgowlah Heights and thought I was cactus but recovered a bit towards the end. Glutes tired though as I struggled on any sort of hill.

Total time of 50:54 and v happy with that. Splits (last week in brackets):

3:25 (3:33), 3:43 (3:46), 3:50 (3:55), 4:03 (4:04), 3:38 (3:45), 3:54 (3:50), 3:59 (3:54), 3:39 (3:42), 3:56 (3:57), 4:46 (5:07), 4:34 (4:14), 4:27 (4:25), 3:01 (3:23) [910m].

Easy does it

Few too many Asahi's with Wildman, Durante, Kanser, Fast Charlie and Patrick Hodgens last night but they were going down beautifully.

Got out this arvo for 9km easy with the eldest 3 kids on their bikes. Ran to Ben & Jerry's, bought a tub (Maple Tree Hugger for the fans) and ran home. It was the only way I could persuade Bec to come out with us.

110km for the week.

8 x 800m

Rocked up looking forward to the session after Mikey was spruiking it to me yesterday. But it's all quiet despite me being a bit early. Hung around a bit then thought Mikey must have left early like he's prone to so I slog my ass over to Rushcutters to find it deserted. Wrong session. So I've got to run 8 x 800m solo. In the heat with no shade. Brilliant.

Did 2 reps and felt like shite. I was suffering from yesterday's hammy strength session and just felt dead flat. Battled not to give up there and then and eventually got through all 8. Times were crap but one good thing was a little fortitude of mind learned in persuading myself to do the lot. Legs finally felt better over the final 3 reps. Times (off a 2min rest) were:

2:35, 2:33, 2:34, 2:34, 2:33, 2:33, 2:30, 2:27

11km all up.

Wednesday SLR

Out with MC, Ben O'B and Andy Cross (who, it turns out, is almost a Geordie) for the usual Wednesday route but cut short after 1 lap. 15km in 70mins.

Good strength session with Carl this morning concentrating on hamstrings and core.

HuRTS 8 x 5mins

Very warm again. Turnout getting better. Mikey back, Barts way out front again. Ran with Andy for most reps with Ben O'B and the AMP lads hovering around. Averaged between 3:30 and 3:36 for each rep. Kept them consistent without getting excited.

Lovely dip in the harbour for afters. 14km all up.

Usual Monday

Another beautiful day and still hot for this time of year.

15km with Mikey, Barts, Andy, Kanser, KiltedScot and plenty of others including a new girl who looked like she had great form.

More good news on the Berlin Marathon tour is that TB is now on-board. That makes 15 of us. Will have to organise the tour singlets shortly.

Long Manly route

Did my old 27.5km route via Burnt Bridge Creek, Campbell Pde, Queenscliff, Shelly, North Head, Little Collins and Manly to Spit coming back from Tania Park.

Tired after yesterday and ran in the heat of the day at 4pm. I'll suffer for this tomorrow. 2:03:37 (4:30's).

Hilly tempo

51:34. Better than I thought I'd go but still a minute down on 6 weeks ago. Felt good through Seaforth and the Heights but lost it in final 3km.

2km warm up and down for 17km all up. Humid.

Tired Friday

Easy 10km with John Bowe until half way.

Bumped into Enda on the way back. Strange experience. First he told me he was trialling a new running style, which I listened to with a raised eyebrow seeing as I'd only originally recognized him 100m ahead based on his old running style. Then he pulled his pants down and showed me his arse telling me he'd finished 2nd in a near naked race in the morning.

Certainly distracted me from how crap I'd been feeling plodding around 10km.

104km for the week.

HuRTS 10 x 400m

It's all about the glutes. Gary freed them up yesterday and I felt like a different man today.

All reps were 67/68 (although I reckon we were maybe 10m short) with a final one at 65, finishing just behind Barts each time.

Did a longer jog back home with Barts for 11.5km all up.

James E went very well, leading us out on 2 or 3. Good to see plenty of girls in attendance too, with HuRTS #2 showing HuRTS #1 a clean pair of heels over the sprints.

Wednesday getting better

Usual Wednesday route (showing 18.48km on current Garmin - old one used to say 18.75km - I know Durante appreciates the accuracy) in a fairly sprightly 82:10 with Jonathan, Anna and AMP chap, the latter two cutting short. Must have been sprightly as JW was dropping at the end and he usually pushes the Wed runs.

Anna looks to be running very well - she was the one pushing the 4:10's around Centennial looking very easy.

Then a good massage from the Tiger concentrating on the still dodgy hammie with more needles in the ass.

HuRTS 45mins tempo

Strength with Carl this morning (first in a long time - need to get back into this and massage regularly).

Small crowd for HuRTS today. Not sure where everyone has gone. Barts ran off waaaay into the distance leaving me running temporarily with Enda and then all alone. Didn't push too hard. Tried to keep the average under 3:40's but just failed. Pleased to get back in under 45mins though. 12.24km in 44:49 (10:40 for the final gate to gate) for a 3:40 average. Turned about 100m down Hickson Road after the bridges (but before the first speed hump).

Achilles slightly swollen after whacking it while going down Mach 5 at Wet 'n Wild on Sunday, which then gave me a nasty blister. Hammie still not quite right but working on the exercises and need some dry needling with the Tiger tomorrow.

Run home

Did just that. Untimed, but it wasn't too shabby. Not the same eye candy as Main Beach, Queensland.


Was following through a link on Fats' blog and saw the website for the Blaydon Race. Tis is a big road race on the North East calendar which always attracts a good field. The current race record holder is none other than Patrick Makau. Anyway, check out who won the Vets race (a big thing in the North East - referred to as "Gadgies" in this race that celebrates all things Geordie) - back in 1984:

Blaydon Race Results

Longish at Surfers

Out at 7am but it was still warm then. Just ran down the coast to the end of Broadbeach park then back. Stopped at 20km as I'd got into quite a quick rhythm and was getting tired. 20km in 1:24:53 (4:15's). Dead flat the whole way and just a gentle Northerly. Then did a 4.5km warm down up to the end of the spit and back. Sweated buckets but I need to as I've piled on the pounds in the past 4 weeks.

Main Beach Park Run - 1st in 17:12

Woke. Jogged from Sea World resort to Southport SLSC. Ran the parkrun with out 150 others, but was all alone. Felt pretty average to be honest. Then jogged back. Then jumped in pool. Perfect morning and a great place to run.

55mins

..around Centennial from the Sheraton. Hungover. No up in Gold Coast. May do Parkrun tomorrow.

HuRTS Hickson Rd

Headed down for my first session in donks to meet a small crowd of Barts, Jeet, LF Charlie (hooray!), Andy, LJ and a few others. Barts disappeared off into the distance and I largely ran with Andy. Did 3:44, 3:37, 3:43, 3:41 and 3:49.

Hurt like hell but these sessions always do after a break. Lungs still not fully right but coming good.

Begin again

Finally resurfaced for air after one of the busiest 2 week periods of work for me in a long time.

Out for 13km around Centennial with Jeet, Jonathan and Ben D'Cruz y'all. Nice and easy. Chest still tight, hammie needs strengthening but back on track.

Pre-teen Steps

10 point something km averaging just over 4:30's on a different around Manly going via Little Collins beach up to North Head. I'll slowly build up but lacking confidence at the moment.

Fantastic result by Fats to win Six Foot. He demolished what had been hyped as one of the strongest fields in years. No one better on the hills and no one you would rely on more.

Toddler steps

Ran to work but pulled stumps at Neutral Bay for 9km. Have had this chronic fatigue for 2 weeks now but today was the first day I've felt vaguely normal.

Good luck to all the boys and girls at Six Foot tomorrow. Very envious I'm not there. It's an event like no other.

Baby steps

Been hammered on a deal recently and haven't seen the light of day for a week, which made me more ill, so no running.

Deal closed today and was spurred back into running action by meeting Holt Hardy in a meeting on a new deal this morning. Holt is a former 1:47/3:38 guy and a great bloke and asked how my running was going. So I wandered out for 10km this evening in beautiful conditions and it was great just to be out there.

More of the same Thursday

Run to work again feeling marginally better but only just - 59:24. Sick to death of this illness. Have canned the idea of racing Sat night given how I feel plus will be working all weekend. Have also canned Six Foot based on my hammie post Equaliser. All in all not happy at the moment. So busy at work today I eventually changed out of my running kit after running in at 4:15pm.

Sick boy

Can't shake this cold/flu thing. In retrospect I shouldn't have pushed the weekend so hard.

Rested yesterday. Ran to work this morning feeling dreadful. Not helped by work being manic at the moment. Haven't done a 14 hour day in a while.

Monday recovery

Usual 16km route feeling tired with Barts, MC, Andy, Ray, Elvis etc. can't shake the cold, seems to have come back when I thought I'd shaken it.

This is interesting. Plotted my 5km time into MacMillan and it predicts a 10km time bang on my PB. I said to myself in January that to run sub 2:30 I'd need to run a sub 32 10km and a low 1:11 Half. MacMillan agrees entirely:

Equaliser - 2nd in 58:09

Drove up with Dicky and we did a 4.5km warm up with Ben and Justin - Dicky intent on getting our feet drenched and sandy before the race started. A few quick hellos - great to see Richie H show up looking lean and fit.

Set off pretty quick with Fats and I was feeling great. Ran the first 3 km following Fats closely and even entertained thoughts of tracking him all the way with a sprint to glory, but that was until the first hill appeared. This was after the creek crossing which I managed to aquaplane across on my chest. Jonny B was just behind at this stage and kept me honest up the hills. I pulled ahead of JB on the roads of St Ives (Fats being a good 200m ahead at this stage) but when we were back in the bush I came out onto one fire trail without a clue which way to go. Waited for JB who suggested right was the best option (which it was). Then pulled ahead a bit before losing my footing coming down a steep hill. Thought I'd caught my fall with 3 wild strides before hitting the deck. At this point, I decided to run with JB instead of attempting to push the pace with the aim of putting an effort in over the final km.

Felt OK on the final big hill so worked that pretty well to build up a gap. Then cruised home. Surprised to see the next guy behind me wasn't JB so he must have struggled up the final hill. Time was 58:09 or thereabouts. Good hard hit out and it was warm and humid today. In fact, we did a 10km warmdown and I was struggling for fluids at the end.

29km all up and tired.