17 days

Wildman Thurston once said to me that if he could put together 17 days straight, he knew he was back on the wagon and starting to get fit.  I raised this with him a few years later and he claimed he had no idea what I was talking about and shouldn't listen to the crap he made up on the spot to start a conversation.  But it's always stuck with me as I realise how infrequently I put together 17 days straight.  Just done so, for the first time since July or August I reckon.  

It was an easy wharves run with a big crowd.  Spoke to (variously) Elle, Renee, Enda, Hoey, Bruce, Brendan and finished off the 18km with just Big Brother Kev and a good chat to him.  Also did my prescribed 4 x hills and I'll try to stick to Gary's training schedule from here on.  Not sure why I've been paying him for the past 2 months as what I've been doing hasn't looked anything like what Training Peaks told me I should be doing.

Watched this with the family this evening.  Bloody brilliant.  5 popcorns.

 

Last day of hols

Different crowd this morning with Barts spending time at his second home in Palm Beach, Scotty out on the piss, Macca still nursing a broken body and Lewis deciding to run 30 hilly kms at sub 4min kms.

Dragged myself out of bed and bumped into Darren, Erika, the Cap'n, Ben and Craig already running 4:30's due to Darren having started 20mins earlier.  So that lopped a minute of my average pace for the 2nd km.  OCD went through the roof when Toby (who we picked up at Dee Why - not many people often say that) took us in a detour around Long Reef and the lovely houses of Collaroy Basin.

From Narrabeen lake Toby and Darren started picking up the pace and by Cromer we were running 4min kms.  Toby peeled off at Brooky Oval so finished off solo.  28km in 4:22's.  Bloody knackered but the ocean was perfect.

Parkrun - 1st in 16:34

Well, it was better than Christmas Day.  Looking after myself a bit better this week but on the other hand just finished my first 100km+ week since early October.  

Had Benny pushing me hard in the first km with him determined to get there first and me determined to deny him.  I pushed a bit ahead and got there in 3:10 but could still hear him on my shoulder at 2km (6:30).  Could it really be him?  Determined not to look over my shoulder but he's still there during the third km and it's starting to hurt.  3:30 for that one.  Struggled up the hill but with "Ben" dropped I eased off and starting blowing hard.  3:40 for the 4th km which is a shocker. I normally pick up again for that one.  Came home a bit quicker (2:02 from the bridge) for 16:34 official (16:37 on my watch). 

Plus points are there is a load of time to pick up in that 4th km.  Minus points are it's still a crap time when pushing hard.  But it's where I'm at.

2km warm up and 3km warm down bringing Maggsy home.  She, like Darren who ran very even splits but missed his PB by 2s, needs to attack more from the start.

Recovery day

8km very easy (4:53's) to Shelly Beach and back with a dip in the ocean at Queensie.  Heart rate averaged 127's which is the lowest I've got it.

101km this week and 3 days off the booze - both records since early October.

75 continuous

Just did this solo. 15mins jog via the golf course to Passmore, 20mins fartlek (2mins on, 1min off) on my usual Nolans/Passmore/Riverview loop, 5min jog, 20mins tempo, 15mins jog reversing the first jog.  Warm conditions (Garmin connect says 24C) but a decent amount of shade for the hard bits.

Intended on just getting it done but it went better than that.  Was pleased to see the fartlek averaging 3:35's and even more chuffed for the tempo to average 3:31's.   Make no mistake, at peak last year I would be averaging 6 to 7 seconds quicker per km but for the time of year and shape I thought I was in it was pretty good.  Main thing was to keep the times consistent.

18.9km all up averaging 3:58's.

Now on to watching Season 3 of The Fall.  Best TV series since Game of Thrones.  It's brilliant.

Easy hour Wed

Back from Jamberoo in the afternoon so headed out in the evening for an easy hour. Planned to meet Kirst at Freshie ocean pool but it's being cleaned.  4:32's trying to keep the heart rate down (137 average but was 131 average until I hit the Queensie hill).

Short sess Tuesday

Met Sammy and Ben very early doors for 8x800m on Graham's Reserve.  Was probably a bit longer than 800m but nothing too quick this morning.  Short warm up and down for 11km all up.

Then headed to Jamberoo with the family where bizarrely we saw Macca and family and then TKS with family.  It was the HuRTs day to be at the world's greatest water park.

Local long

Craig came around at 6.30am and met Darren and Lewis 5mins later at the lagoon.  Very sore first 10km having just woken up and the achilles not being too happy.  Body warmed up by 10km though and the final 15km went well with Craig pushing the pace a bit over the final 3 or 4km to finish averaging 4:30's.  Just happy to get it done though before catching up with neighbour Jase and Sammy in the Grumporio.  Highlight of the morning was the barista in The G knowing my name.  It's only taken 3 years of daily visits.

New Year's Day

12.4km running to Craig's to pick up the car after last night's revelries. Hot, humid, overcast and still.  The sort of day where everyone is short tempered.  Horrible run and my left achilles was sore.  4:33's.

2016 in Review

Well, it was a good year.  Having trained all through December 2015 with a view to London marathon in April, I started in pretty good form.  Ran a good Sun Run in tough conditions (headwind the whole way) and it's a tricky run in the best conditions.  Went on to win Striders in March in a good time and all was looking good leading in to London.  Then I got sick 3 days prior.  I was disappointed to say the least, but at the time felt so crap I just wanted to get better.

Came back and was sick for a couple of weeks before starting up again obviously with a really solid base.  Ran a windy Striders at North Head in June and was beaten by The Vonk but knew things were coming together well and Gary's speed work was paying dividends (shown via a good run at the City Mile Dash).  Then ran the Gold Coast 10km and was stoked with a big PB.

Went on holiday to Florida, where didn't do much but I think the stinking hot weather helped keep the fitness up.  Can back in great form in training and it came

together well for a big PB at City to Surf.  Won the Striders 10km just ahead of Scotty in September but by then I sensed I was on a bit of a downhill and losing my mojo after a long season.  Dragged myself through the Melbourne Half in crappy conditions and with a cold but by then it was just a case of holding on for the JPMorgan.  That went OK, frustrating not to get the win in the easiest year ever but you've gotta take your chances and I missed mine.

Top 3 races:

1. Gold Coast 10km:  31s PB.

2. City to Surf:  43s PB.

3. Sun Run.

Top 3 HuRTS Nights Out:

1. City to Surf

2. Awards Night

3. 4 Pines Curry Night.

Worse 3 races:

1. Melbourne Half

2. Striders North Head June

3. Every single Parkrun

Looking back on this, have realised I raced pretty sparingly.  Would like to do more next year.

Things I learned:

1. Cumulative impact of an uninjured training block is priceless.

2. I respond well to high mileage and long tempos.  If I can do three consecutive 20km sessions/runs feeling OK it has great effect.

3. Sessions in Perth and Melbourne work quite well.  Not so much Brisbane.

So on to 2017.  Berlin Marathon in September is the main aim. Would like to run X-C if I can fit it in with kids sport commitments.  Race more.

New Year's Eve

Had 45mins spare before heading up to the McCredie's for NYE so headed out intending to do 10km.  Got a cricket ball into my glutes last night which really released them (not sure why I haven't done this in 3 months) and as a result felt great.  Turned into into a progressive tempo as a result trying to fit in 11km in the time available.

Hot, hot, hot but finished in 42mins for 3:49 average, high-fiving Sammy at the lagoon.  God confidence booster as it felt great.

Friday with kids

8km nice and easy with the kids on their bikes.  Finishing at Queensie for a swim.

Thursday

Losing track of the days of the week.  Lewis and The Vonk organised a 60min tempo session this morning up at North Head which attracted Barts, Scotty, Toby, Anthony Martin, Lewis, Ben and even Sam.  I arrived 30s late having ran 5km to get there to see them disappear off into the distance.  

Joined them after 3.5km and hung on for 10 brutal kms in the heat (36:22) before stopping.  Was very hot and 37C out there now.  

5km cool down with Lewis (including a beautiful dip in the ocean at Queensie) for 20+km all up.

Wednesday

Easy 11km in the late afternoon after watching Rogue One. Really enjoyed it (although very poignant seeing Carrie Fisher at the very end following the news of the day before).  I would rank it 3.5 popcorns on the Timmy scale.

Nolans 1km reps

Great turn out with Barts, Darren, Erika, Elle, Toby, The Vonk, Lewis, Ben, Paul H and even Jamie showing up at 7am for some Nolans 1km reps.  Did a decent 5km warm up and set up the cones.

The Vonk was flying doing just 5 reps whil Lewis, Barts and I formed the second group.  Averaged 3:13's which wasn't bad on that surface.  Last 2 reps were quicker when I took my shoes off.  Interesting data on the new watch shows just how much the cadence increases when running barefoot. Angus will be excited by this:

 

Cool down to Queensie, quick dip in the ocean and then brekkie at Emporio.

Caught up with Big Sam in the evening, great to see him again:

 

Finally, my mates from school had their annual get-together back in Hexham and sent me a special photo message:

 

Christmas Day

Dragged the family out to the now traditional Christmas Day Parkrun.  Pleased that after the initial protestations that actually all enjoyed it.  Even better was the dip in the ocean pool at Freshie afterwards on a cracker of a morning.

I did 17:17 and felt crap the whole way.  Reaching a whole new nadir of lack of fitness.  But very happy with my Christmas present:

 

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: