Boxing Day

Just my standard 11km route which, having got a Garmin FR 235 from Santa, I now realise is 12km.  Dip in the ocean at Queensie with 1km to go.  Am determined to get in the ocean everyday while on holidays.  52:30 (4:21's).

Average heart rate of 141bpm (which was higher than I thought given my resting heart rate is 42) and average cadence of 171 (don't know what that means).  Loving the new watch.

HuRTs Moaning Fartlek

Well if Tuesday was my first session in a while, Thursday was the first real speed.  And I was left wanting yet again.  Started out with Enda, Andy, Fats and a few others with CT and the Vonk darting off into the distance and Mikey L stranded in between. Haven't done this session in ages and it doesn't ease off.

Started to push on in the second half and finished it off OK covering about 5.9km in the 20mins.  Longer cool down for 11km all up.

Hills and Trail #2

WTF I hear you say.  Met up with Sammy at Queensie at 6.15am and he drew a big crowd with Q, Banksy, Darren, Lewis and the Cap'n all joining in.  Headed to Shelley Beach then a detour through St Patricks and onto some trails I'd never seen before eventually popping out at North Head.  Made our way back to Manly and home seeing Sam head off for some extra.

About 15km all up, 50% more than I was intending.

HuRTs 4 x 10mins

31C today.  Sensibly, I decided to wear an all black outfit.  

Arrived a bit late and with JFen in attendance there would be no hanging around.  So found myself straight into the first rep chasing the pack who were about 30s ahead.  Caught some back-markers by the end.  Second rep ran with Jeet who was pushing the pace the whole way.  That fella doesn't like anyone running in front of him.  3rd I went with the leaders (albeit Nick R, Crossy and The Vonk seemed to back off) so it was me, CT, Fats and The World's Least Sensible Runner. Final rep back and I eased off a bit running with TWLSR.

Felt a little better on each rep.  Hard coming back into the tougher sessions as the mental prep falls to pieces with a couple of weeks off.

Nice cool down with Enda and Jeet.  15km all up.

Just noticed this on the fridge door.  Only in Australia:

Hills and Trail

Got up at 6am, put my running kit on, wandered outside, turned around, took my kit off and went back to bed.  Too bloody tired after a big week and another party last night.

Headed out on the afternoon up Allanbie Hill, down Wakehurst Parkway, down to Seaforth, then Tania Park, then Spit to Manly path (much more manicured than the last time I ran it) to South Steyne then home.  Still no Garmin (pls Santa!) but I doubt it was more than 23km in the 1:50 due to all the hills and trail.  But it was enough for me as I was rogered at the end.

Wave Rider 20

Tested the new shoes and first impressions are they are great.  Ran with the kids on their bikes to Queensie, then left them and ran on to Manly Hospital before retracing steps and joining them for a dip in the ocean followed by Salty Rooster.  Magic.

Some snaps from yesterday's Super Series lunch, although none of us are feeling particularly super at the moment:

 

 

 

  

Perth #2

Another stunning day in Perth.  I don't think I've ever seen a cloud when I've come to this place.

Out at 6.30am with Jamie from the Allens Perth office.  Same route as yesterday, but a bit faster this time.  I think Jamie was getting competitive as he waved me on when we approached Elizabeth Quay. Felt great this morning.  Finally found a decent hotel to stay in over here too - Best Western Premier Terrace.  It's a bit like going into your granny's house finding the room, but once in they are awesome.

Perth

Flew to Perth from Melbourne this morning. Watched a fantastic documentary on the way: "Free to Run (Libres de courir)".  Made me cry.  Thoroughly recommend it (especially for the girls and the old sooks like me).

Headed out in the later afternoon for a run between the bridges via South Perth with TKS.  Lovely to have some company and try a new route rather than my usual 'Dalkeith 'n back'.

 

Monday sweats

No time at lunch (again) so out early with Lewis knowing I couldn't miss a day with plenty of travel this week.  A nice 10km chatting with him meant the time passed quickly and feeling almost quite good at the end.  Top start to a lovely Summer's day with a cooling breeze along the seafront.

Thoughts for the day:

1. Who is this Martin Odegaard fella? Some silky skills.

2. As I get older, old conservative people annoy me more and more.

3. Need to sit down and talk with my lawyers more.

4. I've become obsessed with a large glass of water with lemon in it first thing in the am.

5. Some people are born pleasers and others not. 3 of my kids are pleasers, 2 definitely not. 99% of lawyers are pleasers.

6. Sell and rent or reno now. You read it here first.

Sunday

So finally felt well enough to head out on Sunday but was still pretty tentative so decided on 90 mins turning around at the fire station.  Had Ben, Erika and the Cap'n for company with only Lewis and Scotty doing the usual loop.

Tried to speed up to get to Narrabeen quicker for a pit stop (a feature of the virus) but only managed Collaroy before nature called.  Tough old run (at 4:37 pace) but happy to get something done at least.  Hanging on 'till Xmas.

Wed 7th

Couldn't get out to Redleaf due to work so did 10km solo around the wharves.

Then went to client Xmas party in the evening and ended up getting sick with some virus for the next 3 days.  Probably had it coming trying to burn the candle at both ends.

HuRTs 6 x 5mins

So after a bit of rolling out I'm starting to feel a bit less in pain when running so decided to test myself out with 6 x 5mins today with the HuRTs crowd. First rep and I'm puffing and panting around Farm Cove mid-pack trying to stay with HuRTs Most Improved Brendan.  Christ this is hard.  Same on the way back.  3rd rep we detour up the hill to avoid the crowds and, having called for the detour, feel compelled the lead the way.  That nearly killed me.  Repeat for another 3 reps.  

Great to run with the Squad and love the banter but a bit of an eye-opener after a few weeks taking it easy.  When did Jerome and Brendan get so good?  How come I'm struggling to overtake Elle?

Cool down with Timmy and Elle for 13km all up.  

Thoughts out to LJ who is injured again.  Do what you need to do to get back LJ (I know she's the most avid reader of this blog - and refuses to click into Timmy's mumbo jumbo).  We miss you.

 

LJ hydrating.

Sweat box

Out in the hot and humid conditions for a 10km sweat with Renee, Jac, Elle, Hoey, JC, Brendan, Toby, Worswick and others.  There was talk of going to Redleaf until we caught sight of Worswick whereupon everyone went silent in fear of the repercussions.  We will go Wed and Fri though.

Today's photo is of my youngest who was sent home from school for having a tick in her head. We were hoping it might have scared off some of the nits but, alas, it was not to be.  After poisoning her head she proceeded to be pampered while shopping at (the new and jazzy) Warringah Mall - apparently for my Chrissie presents.  Her best day ever.  I can see her rolling about on Nolans more often.

 

Catch up

Busy time at the moment.

Thursday night was the biathlon and it was a case of mission accomplished taking Timmy out by 25s (but he failed to offer me a head to head bet) and TKS by well over the minute offered.  Here is the happy snap:

Then on for a few beers catching up with Wildman at The Bell (strange place that one - not too sure about the clientele).  Wildman was on good wild man form:

Friday was frantic but included our department Xmas lunch so no chance to squeeze a run in.  

Saturday could only squeeze in 5km between various kid duties.

Out for the usual long run on Sunday catching up with Craig for the first time in months, also including Darren, Scotty, Lewis, Toby, Banksy, the Vonk and Elle.  Easy pace (4:37's I think) but struggling quite a bit with the groin stiffness, OP like pain which got worse during the run.  Did some rolling out for the first time in donks last night and feels a bit better this morning.  Can't forget the 1%'ers.

I am a winner!

So say the Berlin Marathon organisers, with entry confirmed for next year!

 

Should be a great crowd with Darren, Erika, Jeet, Taffy and Jac also confirmed.  More no doubt to come.

8km to Shelley Beach and back this am.  Biathlon test this evening to come..

Redleaf

A run to Redleaf and back with Ninja Warrior Crossy, all new Cap'n Grumpy Worswick, Renee, Elle, Renaud, Bruce and others.  Nice and easy.  Jumped into the pool just to remind myself how to swim (it's been a year) before tomorrow's big showdown at the ABC.

Morning sess

Off to Melbourne today so had to squeeze a run in this morning.  Darren was doing 90s reps starting at 6am at LM Grahams so decided to join him.  Off course I was late and he (with Erika) was already half way through so only managed 6 in the end.  Nice to get the legs moving and the surface was perfect.  Here's a photo Erika took on the final rep:

 

Finished with a long cool down to South Steyne then home where I seemed to bump into half of Manly.  'Twas packed.

Long run

Haven't run long in a month so I was a bit apprehensive, particularly as I've been suffering from a bit of OP recently.  Massive crowd though (Barts, The Cap'n, Lewis, Scotty, Jerome, Eoin, Toby, Elle, Erika, Darren and graced with the presence of the Shire's finest with LJ marking her Hardcore debut.  Hell, even Jeet appeared from some bushes at some stage telling us he'd just seen a large snake.  We didn't explore that conversation any further).

Did about 28.5km in about 4:25's or thereabouts.  Survived.  Almost didn't survive the bodysurfing at Queensie when I got tumbled and ended up on top of Darren with my shorts around my knees.  

Nice lunch at J-Fens yesterday and old mate Quentin went out of his way to honour our C2S head to head.  Top bloke:

 

 

HuRTs Beer Mile

Fast becoming the most popular event on the HuRTs Calendar, this was the third running.  And we've now had 3 different winners.  Which proves what a leveller this race really is.  I think about 33 people showed for this one.  In the mid-afternoon some big money came in on Barts at 12 to 1, so after a brief discussion, seasoned bookies Timmy and myself decided to take the bet.  So the rest of the afternoon was spent worrying about whether we had misjudged Barts' poor drinking skills and would find ourselves $1200 poorer by 6.30pm.  Fortunately, 10s into the first beer Timmy and I knew that our money was safe.  He took even longer to finish his first beer than me.

Leaders (in a close race) at this stage were Fast Charlie, the Cap'n, Toby, Renaud and Killa.  The latter would go on to win it based on drinking time alone.  My dark horse Toby lived up to expectations finishing 2nd, with Fast Charlie, the Cap'n and Renaud rounding out the top 5.  Meanwhile, back in the mediocre pack I was having a head to head contest with Fats having dropped Barts early on.  Finishing the last beer and getting my burps out of the way, I could see Brendan and Darren up ahead and decided to try to sprint them down.  Darren turns around after 200m and starts laughing saying "ooh, here comes Tommy!" in a mocking tone so it was all on from there.  I think I ran my fastest 200m in 30 years but edged out by Brendan on the line.

Spent the next 5mins on all fours.  Then started abusing the officials during the presentation (plainly the alcohol was kicking in).  Then a great night at O'Malley's ensued.  

Hats off to the girls relay teams who showed us how to drink.  The Irish plainly can't hold their booze with Enda and Jac both having to run penalty laps.

The winners:

 

The Participants:

 

Taking sweet winnings:

 

Telling one of my funny jokes:

 

Richie High!!

 

HuRTs 1km reps

Had an unexpected lull in work today so jumped at the opportunity for a run in perfect weather conditions.  And the surface at Rushcutters was perfect too.

A good crowd including Enda, Brendan, Hipster Mitch, Branagan #2, LJ, Elle, Erika, Renee, Darien, Jerome and quite a few faces I don't quite recognise (but do my best to introduce myself to).  I'm just crap with names.  Always too concerned about telling people my name.

Schedule was 8 x 1km reps but I called for 6 followed by 4 x 200m.  Took the first 4 easy running with Enda then pushed ahead with Darien on the last 2 running barefoot.  Then got schooled in the 200m reps with the younger blokes puffing their chests out and flying ahead.

Great session on a beautiful day in a lovely spot.  Only downside was the realisation that I would be back here in just over 24 hours facing the prospect of downing 4 beers and running a mile in the space of less than 8 minutes.

News on the home front - my eldest is now in gainful employment having secured a job at Maccas at Manly Wharf.  1 down, 4 to go.  Then I retire.