Run home

It's 14.7km, think that's the shortest route I've found.  Ran without orthotics and felt great albeit very easy pace (4:38's).  Did 4 x 100m strides at end.

Long Sunday

So no let up from the coach and straight into a 33km run this morning.  The success of the NOBS is drawing more people to the runs - 9 of us this morning with Barts, Macca, Craig, Quentin, Andy, Johnny Binfield, Erika and Darren all showing up.  

Route was Narrabeen and back via the Western lake path, with a loop around Queensie to make up the 33km.  Nice gentle pace all the way for 2:29 (4:31's).  First time over 30km in a long while but felt fine until the final km when the lure of coffee and a b&e roll made my legs a bit weak.

The Toon are tumbling down the table and have to be favourites to join Burnley and QPR now.  I can only dream about mid table mediocrity.  Go Pacquiao!

Sydney 10 - 26th in 32:07

So, I picked up Captain Grumpy and Ireland's Undisputed No.1 at 6am for the drive over.  A few nerves in the car.  Macca was musing over how to take Jamie down and get under 34mins.  Justin was musing over how to broach the issue of turning the radio off.

Arrived to find the longest queue of all time to pick up our numbers.  WTF?  Why an issue this year? Never has been previously.  Eventually picked it up and did the warm up with Macca.  More nerves here with everyone seemingly in their own headspace to warm up.  But the HuRT Squad were there in force.  Enda, Timmy, CT, Barts, Quentin, Erika, Darren, Birchy, TKS, Jeet, Angus, Bruce, Craig Mc, Hoey, LJ (pacing) to name just a few.  Being an ANSW event all the other big names were there too and there was no risk of being stranded.  Just puts even more pressure on - no excuse to ease off.

We stood on the line for an eternity being introduced to an endless list of "favourites".  I was about 3 rows back and standing beside Milly Clark who, surprisingly, was not mentioned among the favourites, despite being 2nd in the C2S for the past 2 years.  I mentioned this to her and she laughed it off.  She wasn't laughing 20 seconds later when, in the sprint from the line, I accidentally stood on her heel and nearly pulled her shoe off.  Hope it didn't affect her.  I felt dead guilty.  But she still ran a sub35.  I'll apologise when we run past her around Narrabeen Lake tomorrow.

Felt magic in the first 2km.  2:58 for the first km and 9:20 at 3km.  We had formed a good little group of me, Barts, Alex R and others with 2 guys ahead (Matt Cole and Kieran Roche) to chase.  At 3km I started to feel a bit tired and struggled up the drag past 4km but towards the top the pace seemed to drop so I pushed on again.  5km in 15:47 and I'm trying just to relax.  At 6km we start to catch Matt Cole starts to push on so I just try to hang on to him.  Stays this way until 8km with the group just me, Barts, Matt and Kieran.  Then on the drag towards 9km I'm really digging deep and hear a shout from behind saying "3:30 and you'll get the record and bonus!", which can only mean the first chick is right behind me!  Holy Crap!  Now I really dig deep up the hill but Barts has 15m on me.  Into the Stadium and I manage what I can of a sprint to hold off Gwen Jorgensen.  Down the home straight and I see 31:5# on the clock - is it possible?!  No.  Clock was 5s quick and it had ticked over in any case.  32:07 behind Barts' 32:03.  Match my PB so I'm generally chuffed but tinged with a bit of disappointment not to get under 32.  I lost it from 8km really.  Just shows that to run a PB you really can't let up at any point.

Turn around to see people coming in - first Alex and Kevin Robertson in mid 32's and then Lewis, Hoey, Quentin and Eloise in the high 32's - big PB for Lewis which couldn't happen to a more deserving chap.  Was always on the cards.  Then Craig Mc with a PB in high 33's, Jamie running a minute PB to finish just over 34 but just in front of Macca.  Great runs by all three.  Enda will be disappointed with his mid 34 (basically with Macca and Jamie ahead of him) but good to see Bruce and Angus getting close to 35.  The NOBS smashed the SOBS today.  Darren ran a huge PB in 36:50 and Erika posted a great comeback run time in 38:40ish.  But where's Timmy?  Well, to be honest I expected to lose $20 today with Timmy having to run 36:47 or quicker but he only managed a 37:29. He was understandably a bit disappointed but there's no issue with his speed, he just needs to start putting the long runs in regularly and easing off the Saturday night booze.  Has worked for Darren.

Then who should appear all sheepish carry a 40min pacing flag?  LJ bounced up telling us how much fun she had pacing until we asked her what time she ran.  40:20!!!  Let's just say I count 11 people calling for her head including an Olympic finalist - and that's after she sprinted around the track finishing like Mo Farah in order to make up time!

Easy cool down with Barts and Jamie to cap off a good morning.  Then had to go to work so no ritual coffee and B&E roll unfortunately.  But, despite the registration blunder, this is a great event and a must do.

Erika, me, Jamie and Darren.

NOBS all.

Love this photo too.  Probably the two guys I've fought most closely with (usually unsuccessfully) over the past 18 months.

Primer

Just Jamie and I this morning at 6.10am for 1, 2, 3, 4, 1 min efforts off a 1 min jog recovery.  Did a 4km warm up, into it then a 5km warm down.  Throat a bit better but legs a bit lethargic so another easy day tomorrow will definitely be needed.

13km all up.  Jamie going well.  Could be a sub34 chance.

Rest and worry

A rest day for me today plus worried about a sore throat.

But had to be a proud Dad and post a picture of Maggie finishing her school x-country.  She's in Yr 2, but running against Yr 3's and some younger Yr 4's managed to finish 6th and get through to District.  Nice form and determination:

Charlie (in Yr 3 so Maggie's equivalent race for boys) was happy with his 15th as he beat his mates.  Billy slipped in a puddle after 1.5km while 8th and ended up in sick bay with ice on his ankle.

So my girls are both through to District while the boys can concentrate on their XBox skills.

Monday

Missed Monday post - 12km running home but getting a cab from Condamine.  Very slow.

2km TT

Over to ES Marks this evening for a 2km TT with some 200m's to follow which I had to miss in order to pick up Charlie.

Warmed up with Coach and his crew but had to start earlier than the rest as a result of running out of time.  One of the fast girls called Davina was to pace me through 800m in 2:20 and then I had to hold on for another 3 laps.  Felt great in the warm up and strides and conditions were cool with a bit of wind down the back straight. Main issue was a very busy track meaning a bit of weaving required.

Davina went off hard and we were though 200m in 32s.  800m in 2:18, 1km in 2:52 and finished in 5:49.7.

New PB for me today and felt able to push hard on the final lap.  Probably eased off a bit too much on lap 3.

Only time for a short warm down before jumping in the car.  

Fighting off a sore throat.  But this was a confidence booster if I can keep it at bay.

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Schedule had an hour.  So I set off later and ran the usual Sunday route in reverse expecting to bump into the lads after 30 mins for the second half.

But they never showed?  Kept on running all the way to Narrabeen Lake but still no sign.  So jogged back slowly having gone further than scheduled.  Eventually turning into Pittwater Rd with only 3km to go I see Macca and Justin storming from behind and with a km to go Macca catches me. Ran with him at the end to do 19km in 4:35's.

Nice breaky with Craig, Macca, Justin and Charlie before catching up again in the evening to watch the London Marathon.  Chuffed to see the classy Kipchoge take it out.  He's under-rated but joins the likes of Bekele, Gebreselllasie and Zatopek as someone who has won world titles at 5000m and won the most competitive marathon.  Bit disappointed by Shelley's 2:11:19.  It's an argument against negative splitting (which Shelley did).  On a course with a downhill first half, a negative split is a wasted opportunity and excessively conservative.

Saturday sess

Only got out at 4.30pm and managed to time it perfectly with the arrival of a late afternoon storm.  We avoided the hail in Manly bit still a downpour that drenched me on my 10min and 8min reps.

Session was 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 with 2min jogs inbetween - same as a couple of Tuesday's ago.  Felt better this time around.  Coach said to push the later reps and put effort in in the middle of each.  

All went well.  Ended up doing 10.98km in the 38mins and went through 10km in 34:32 (3:27's).  Faster reps were at 3:15 pace.  Ran flat loops around Nolan's, Passmore and Lakeside Crescent (3.1km loop).

3km warm up and down for 17km all up.

Easy

Flew back to Sydney in the arvo and got out for a very easy 30mins in the evening before heading to the theatre with Billy.  

Only 83km for the week having been badly disrupted by freakish weather and travel.  But managed to get the key sessions in.

Fartlekking the Tan

Flew from Perth to Melbourne early Thursday morning.  Checked into hotel and immediately changed into running clothes to get out to do the session.

Jogged 15mins from my hotel to the top of the hill of the Tan and started 20mins of fartlek (2mins on, 1min off).  Ran anti-clockwise which seemed to be the opposite to everyone else.  Felt very lethargic to start with with the legs not wanting to play ball, but eased my way into the session from 3km onwards.  Very happy with the distance on 20mins - 5.88km (3:24 pace average).

Then 5mins jog followed by 20mins tempo.  Ran clockwise this time, to get the hill over in one go and have a gentle downslope for 2.5km to follow.  Again struggled in first km then it came together.  Km splits were 3:26, 3:21, 3:39, 3:17, 3:14, 3:17 (pace) for 5.92km and a 3:22 average all up.  Clocked my lap of the Tan split at 12:59.

Then 15mins jog back to the hotel for 19km all up.  Very happy with that session given all the flying of the previous 48 hours.  Feel like I'm hitting some good form.

Wild West

So last night was spent watching the water around us rise.  Headed to Jason's next door, along with fellow neighbours John, Rob, Geoff and Tomas and a fair few crew from the Manly Daily and Daily Telegraph.  John brought around a lovely St. Hugo Shiraz and we were having a great time.  But the water kept on rising - particularly on the road in front of the house.  Headed into the house at midnight.  Kept a lookout until 2.30am when it finally started receding, but at that stage my garage was flooded and it was within 3 inches of coming into the house.  Definitely a brown pants moment, particularly as every other family in the street had sent their kids off to friends whilst mine (and my wife) slept soundly in bed oblivious to what was going on.

Went to bed, then got up at 5.30am and the water was a full metre lower than 3 hours earlier.  Got a taxi to the airport, flew to Perth.  Arrived in balmy warm and sunny conditions so ran 12.3km along lovely paths by the river in 52:29 (4:16's) before heading to the office to work out what they do over here.

Very chilled city and with the ability to run for miles without crossing a road, I like it.

Now knackered and going to bed after an eventful 24 hours.

Wild Sydney

Session was 12 x 1mim reps run hard with a rest between.  But Sydney is in the middle of a storm cell and Nolan's looked like this:

So much so, that even my youngest, Claudia, was nervous.  See figure 2:

So decided to get up to North Head (why?) and run my reps there.  Queenscliff lagoon was almost un-runnable, but eventually got there and started the reps, into the wind, from the Stone Arch.  Needless to say the first few into the wind were a farce (about 300m each), but on the return I felt like Mo Farah (350m).

Jog back for 19km all up.

Similar Sunday

1:45 on the plan for today.  Met Justin, Craig, Macca, Jamie and Quentin on Pittwater Rd (with them having done a few km beforehand) and because they were warmed up the pace was pretty solid (low 4:20's) from the off for me.

Ran to Narrabeen Lake via Cromer, did a lap of the lake then back the same way.  25km in 1:45 something (4:12's) with a 1km slow jog after to warm down.  Macca picked the pace up from the dirt track at Narrabeen Lake (just after running past recent years C2S bridesmaid Milly Clark) with just Justin and I following in his wake.

Felt great today after yesterday's rest day.  But did feel guilty at the fact everyone else was running 30km+.  In coach I trust...

60mins tempo

In Seal Rocks.  Waited until the late arvo, did a 1km warm up (not least to get the initial big hill out of the way).  Then nervously got under way.

Basically ran to Yagon on the unsealed road (4km) and back, twice then plus some.  First km is a gradual uphill the whole way and did it in 3:42 thinking hokey cow, this isn't near the 3:30's coach was expecting. But that was the slowest km.  Averaged 3:36's for the first 30mins then 3:30's for the second 30mins.  Ended up doing 17km in 60:21 (3:33's).  

Bloody tough over the undulating hills.  Felt a bit nauseous afterwards but got a lot out of it.

2km warmdown for 20km all up and 114km for the week.

Swaps

Supposed to do the hour tempo Thursday morning but too tired and slept through alarm so swapped for Fridays run and just did 30mins easy along the beach.  Beautiful morning.  6.8km.

Busy day then drove up to Seal Rocks at 7pm.  Worst night sleep ever being attacked by a gazillion mozzies.  Woke up with one eye so swollen from a mozzie bite that I could barely open it so I now look like The Elephant Man.

Easy Wed

Rolled over when the alarm went off at 5.30am.  Out at 6.45am and bumped into Justin, Macca, Darren and Erika towards the end of their run near Shelley Beach.

Ran with Macca for the rest of my 12km around the golf course and finished with 4 x 100m hills on the road leading down to Passmore.

Done but tired this morning.  Pace would have been just under 4:40's.

10, 8, 6, 4, 2

Turned up to the HuRTS session (on one fine day) where they were doing 2 x 20mins.  If you were to analyse that, my session didn't quite fit, but set off with them nonetheless (starting with marathon man Fats) and ran the same route.  Session was 10mins, 8mins, 6mins, 4mins, 2mins all with a 2 minute rest between, so a bit like a Mona Fartlek.  Most of my endurance sessions have a hard running time of 40mins, and most of my speed sessions have a hard running time of 20mins, so at 30mins this was an inbetweener.

No guidance from Coach Carter on pace so I just ran as hard as felt comfortable which turned out at 3:15 to 3:20 pace.  After the first rep the session was about to get hard.  Struggled on the 6mins and 4mins but raised something on the 2mins to almost catch Timmy.  Solid session.

Warmed down with running man Jimmy (who was keen to stop for water when he saw a pretty woman at the Farm Cove bubbler) and Jono the kite (surf) runner.  16km all up.

First Double

30mins easy to Shelley finishing at Ground Zero for some breakie. 6.5km without orthotics feeling good.  4:36's.

Bumped into Andrew Daddo at Shelley on his run - keeping the weight off post I'm a Celebrity GMOOH.

Run home

Ran home with 'Lil Jimmy showing him the way.  16.64km (went via Manly) with 4 x 100m strides towards the end.  1:20 something (4:48's).

Then settled down with Jimmy to watch Game of Thrones (woo-hoo!) then the Premier League wrap up show over pizza.  Perfect.