Short again

Just the Manly route again today, but feeling sprightly after a rest yesterday. Will go long on Wednesday. 28:15 today. Km times were as follows:

4:28, 3:54, 4:01, 3:46, 3:30, 3:27, 3:33, 4:35 (for the 400m up the hill).

Manly Saturday

Just the Manly route, easy to start with but then started to pick up the pace from South Steyne. Really picked it up in the frinal 2km to run 29:56. Felt great today and achilles is much better.

Then Billy wanted to go for a run so we jogged to the playpark and he ran two loops of the bike track - first in 48:60 and second in 48:74. He's consistent.

Friday early

Run in to work. 27:21 at Spit Junction and 58:31 all up. Felt quite good to start with but then tired more and more as the run went on. Mixing it up yesterday obviously had an effect.

Saw 'Animal Kingdom" last night, brilliant fim, one of the best I've seen in ages. The tension was maintained the whole way through and I came out with indigestion having eaten a bag of Maltesers.

HuRTS 10 x 400m

Took yesterday off as my achilles was sore after Tuesday and the recent increase in weekly kms. Felt much better this morning and was keen to do this session. Beautiful day, clear as a bell but cool, though warm in the sun.

Fairly small crowd of me, Thurston (again!), Kaley, Dom, JF, Ray (just jogging), Todd, James, Derek, Racey Mike and others. Surprise of the day was Dom who was with me on the first 3 reps and a couple of seconds behind for the rest other than the final one when he blew. Thurston was just behind for the first 5 then dropped out having done enough for the week. Reps went as follows:

66, 67, 66, 69, 69, 68, 68, 68, 68, 63. Run off a rolling 2mins. I reckon they were 390m even though Kaley measured 400m on his Garmin, so you can add 1.5 - 2 secs for each rep. Still quite pleased for the first session this year. Derek was the burglar on the final rep.

HuRTS 45mins Fartlek

Lower crowd than usual for this popular session despite fantastic weather, cold but clear with no breeze. Set off with Wildman (that's right) hoping to take it easy so that I could get back in the 45mins - was joined by Fats at Lady Macs Chair. Wildman dropped off panting like a dog just before the Opera House and Fats and I continued on together. We turned half way down Hickson Road just before the traffic calming bumps (way beyond what I've done recently) and tried to get back. Fats dropped off at Circular Quay as he had Corp Cup tomorrow so was on my own from then. Got back in 45:09, just short. NEED MORE SPEED. Endurance is fine. Going to start myself some 400s and 800s soon.

Got a call from Kirst to say that Bec had finished 12th in her District X-Country this morning (i.e. against most of the Northern Beaches schools). She was in 8th coming into the home straight so clearly has my finishing kick. Great result for her as she was about 40th last year. She obviously paid heed to my wise advice this morning ("Just sprint at the start and don't walk the hills").

Monday meandering

Very easy 15.8km route in about 74:10 (4:41 pace). Good crowd though - Nick F, Dougall and I were the only ones to do the whole thing (take note Charlie) but MC, Kanser, Dom, James etc. variously joined us for part of the way.

Homebush Hustle

Headed out to the STaR at Homebush. Big crowd in the 6.20am group including CT, PT, JB, Timmy, Chris Dwyer, Dennis, Damo Tancred etc. Started at a very easy pace which I appreciated given yesterday's race and the early hour. Pace picked up from about 14km onwards though. 5 of us did the whole thing - me, Timmy, Damo, CT and JB. I pushed on with the latter two over the final 3km when we were running 3:40's. All up 30.08km in 2:12:08 (4:24 pace) although that included a number of toilet stops. Probably 4:22 pace for when I was actually running.

Bloody cold but clear.

Striders North Head - 6th in 34:13

Cool this morning but thank God the rain stopped. Wasn't windy outside the house but North Head is pretty exposed so there was a bit of a breeze along the long straight sections. Caught up with Tucks, MC and the rest of the HuRT Squad then did a warm up with Timmy. He was looking pretty confident about staying within 80 seconds and taking $50 from me and I was feeling pretty lethargic. Plenty there this morning, with CT, Thamal and Cale Dowd up front.

Set off pretty conservatively allowing the front group to run off and found myself running with Andrew Wilson for the first couple of km. Fats suddenly caught us at the turn near the hospital and we ran together until about 6km. I was trying to put in efforts to break them but with no luck, however, it kept the pace honest. On the hill at around 6km they suddenly seemed to drop off so I put in more of an effort to try and create a decent gap. Turned at the hospital for the 2nd time and saw that there was a group of 4 still within 30m of me so once again put an effort in up the long drag. Saw my split at 9km and decided to try and get under 34:20 with a fast finish. Good to finish strong.

Splits were as follows:

2km: 6:48
4km: 13:37
5km: 17:05
7km: 23:57
9km: 30:57

You'll notice that there are no 1km or 3km splits. You can thank Hamburglar for that! Pleased to pretty much even split it. Backs up my theory of having the endurance but not the speed at the moment.

Some great runs out there. Richard P ran 35:01 which is an amazing effort given his injury problems. Timmy L ran 35:34 (81 seconds back! - but we'll wait on the official results), the Tiger was 35:4X, MC pulled up with an injury but good to see Kanser back out there with a 38:40.

Some great views up at North Head. Timmy, Kanser and I were appreciating them at the refreshments area post race.

HuRTS Hickson Road

Not really. Fronted up with a large crowd (after passing Kanser heading in the opposite direction on the way down) but just strolled through them putting in a 30 second quick burst on each rep. Felt really good so quietly confident for Saturday.

Wednesday MLR

Very easy 19km run over the Wednesday route to Kincoppal and back with MC, Marty, King James, Russel, Louis and others. I think it was 1:28:45 (4:40's). Training with Carl this morning and massage with the Tiger this arvo. Achilles feeling a bit stiff after a couple of big weeks.

HuRTS 4 x 3km

Bit breezy but the rain stayed away. Ran with Dicky H and Fats with Jonathan, MC, Todd, JB and others next up. Even Kanser showed up for 3 today. Reps went as follows:

Final lamp post in 10mins (2.88km) - 3:28 per km
Back in 9:43 starting at Stone Gates - 3:19 per km
5m short of final lamp post (2.87km) - 3:29 per km
Back in 9:34 - 3:16 per km

So getting back towards the pace we used to do these in, although not the crazy pace that some of these sessions were run in. Check out June 24 2008.

I ran the first with Rich with Fats just behind - drawing level with us going past the Art Gallery. On the second rep I was chasing them both. They must have finished 7secs in front of me. On the third I was running a few yards behind them when Rich's calf went going up by the ABC Pool. Hope it's OK but judging by the swearing it didn't sound good. I closed in on Tony towards the end but he finished about 5m ahead. On the final rep I was again chasing Tony (thinking I'll struggle to get close to him on Saturday morning) when suddenly he started to fade a bit coming into the wind around Farm Cove. So I pushed on past from there and finished strongly.

Another confidence booster before North Head at the weekend but still think I'm struggling a bit for speed, although the endurance is starting to show. Fats will be a good gauge. Rich would have been - just hope his calf is OK.

HuRTS Monday

The usual (new) route via Barangaroo. Big crowd today with the inter-squad rivalries to the fore: LF Charlie and Nick F; MC and anyone who runs. Kanser joined in just before the Opera House, claiming to have missed the Striders Dinner on Friday due to illness.

Nice and easy pace the whole way, picking up a little towards the end. 15.7km in 1:08:24 (4:21's).

Going Long, Feeling Strong

Before I got flu in early April I was struggling with all my long runs. I'd reach 20km and fall apart and struggle to average under 4:35's. For the past 3 weeks since coming back from flu, it's been the complete opposite. Stride feels pretty short but the leg cadence just seems so much easier. A large part of it may be not running them after one of Sean's sessions on the Saturday which leaves the legs feeling dead.

Today was the Burnt Bridge Creek deviation, Queenscliff, North Head route but coming back down via Shelley and one lap of the 2.5km route finishing up at the Mola's for a few drinks this arvo. Felt pretty average in the first km (2 day hangover) but then just rolled out the kms with the average time coming down all the time. Ended up running 26.47km in 1:49:33 (4:08's). Splits went as follows:

4:36, 4:29, 4:13, 4:12, 4:17, 4:13, 4:10, 4:15, 4:06, 4:28 (hill at Shelley), 4:21 (hill up to North Head), 4:21, 4:04, 3:59, 4:08, 3:59, 3:56, 4:06, 4:07, 4:09, 4:03, 3:56, 3:57, 3:59, 3:53, 3:48, 3:55.

Real confidence booster before next week's 10km at North Head (where everyone looks to be turning up for). Like to feel strong on the long run.

Bumped into Hamburglar at 2km and Eoin Reville at 20km. Good to get a shout.

More easy stuff

Dicky H, Mona, Richard P, Timmy L and yours truly. Timmy and I look like extras from the Twilight movies.

Just the Manly route again today but doing anything after the wall of booze during and after last night's Striders dinner was a bonus. Not sure Wildman will remember his $50 bet on a head to head at North Head next week. Dicky H and I did our usual burn bright to start with and fade quickly on the pool table.

Squeezing it in

Got a boozy lunch on and Striders dinner tonight (tomorrow may be a struggle) so headed out early on the Manly route. Toiled to get the legs moving to start with but then was running 4:00 pace from Manly Wharf onwards. 31:10 all up (4:15 pace). How did I ever run 26 over this course?

Nice stuff

Missed lunchtime due to work commitments so ran home instead. Felt strong after yesterday's rest but it wasn't as quick as I thought it would have been. 29:45 at Toyota Garage and 55:02 all up. 7:10 for the final 2km.

HuRTS 5min reps

8 of them off 90s rest. Cold and wet so a lower than usual crowd of MC, Fast Charlie, Dicky H, Jonathan, Timmy C (about to head off to Comrades), Dom, Derek, Brendan, Nick Fairfax (LF Charlie should be getting worried), Fats and others. I ran them all trying to hold on to Richard H and Charlie just ahead of Fats and Jonathan. Distances (and average pace) were as follows:

1.39km (3:36)
1.43km (3:30)
1.45km (3:28)
1.46km (3:26)
1.47km (3:25)
1.47km (3:25)
1.49km (3:22)
1.53km (3:17)

Last one was flat out over the final 300m after Richard came past. Nice to get them progressively quicker (particularly after the last couple of days) and just to be trying to get comfortable at running at that sort of pace again, which is what this session is all about.

Feeling stronger

Headed out for a solo 10km at lunch mainly around the Botanical Gardens in 43:00 (4:20's) then joined the rest of the squad (MC, Enda, Rob, LF Charlie, Springer, Kanser, Indrajeet, Andy, Nick Fairfax, new chap Russell and a few others) for the usual Monday route but via Barangaroo instead which lengthened it a bit. That was 15.71km in 1:07:12 (4:16's). The pace picked up the whole way and people started peeling off throughout such that only MC, Russell and myself did the whole thing. Last km in 3:47 with a couple around the 4:05 mark coming up the hills. MC is looking strong at the moment.

So all up 25.71km in 1:50:12 (4:17's). Easily the quickest long run I've done since coming back from injury and it felt great.

Manly 10km Fun Run

Showed up not expecting much but the organisation was pretty good. We had timing chips and somewhere to drop your stuff. Well marshalled and a nice big blue inflatable finish line so that you felt a bit special at the end. 800 were registered for the 10km and 300 for the 5km. We were all setting off together so that was over a 1000 thundering down the esplanade towards the thin path around to Shelley Beach. Having said that, I think the weather kept quite a few away. The pollies were there - saw Tony Abbott and had a quick chat with Mike Baird. Then caught up with Pete W for a jog and had a quick chat with Jasper, Dickyboy and Jenny Whickham on the start line.

Set off at the front to avoid the melee. Went through the first 2 km's in 3:30's feeling comfortable. By the time we hit the hill at Shelley there was 4 of us up front - me, Dickyboy, Lee from the Manly Running shop and another chap who peeled off a few hundred metres later as he was only doing the 5km. Climbing up through St Patricks was a bugger. It was bloody steep and very slippery after all the rain. By the time we hit Darley Road Richard had dropped off so that it was only me and Lee. It stayed this way until the turn off through St Patricks on the way back, I kept on trying to put in surges to drop Lee but he kept on hanging on. I then missed the gate on the turn off back into St Patricks and lost 20 yards on Lee. He was also braver coming back down the steep grassy hills. So I just cruised home for 2nd knowing he was too far ahead with 1.5km to go to catch in a sprint.

Bit annoyed not to win it. It never felt too quick, more like a really hard training run. The time was 35:44 which wasn't too bad given the hills and conditions. But it certainly wasn't 10.2km as advertised. Richard came in for 3rd. Had our photos taken so you never know, we may even make the Manly Daily. Doesn't get any better than that!

Scouting the course

Decided to run the 10km Manly Fun Run tomorrow morning so ran to Queenscliff then along to South Steyne to see whether they'd set up the course. Nothing. It will be a shambles (unless the rain continues and few show up) but I'll give it a go in any case as my local. Very easy run of 5.3km in just under 25mins - managed to hit the rain showers full on. I've no idea how I'll go tomorrow - I'm guessing mid 35 pace. DickyBoy is likely to run so I'll probably just try and stick with him.

Hangover city

Run home. Felt great after getting rid of an aching stitch which I felt was due to my liver being pickled. Probably around 57:30 ish. Have taken to not timing my runs and just enjoying it.

Aussie Tom

Easy run home last night (untimed but I guess about 57:30). Became an Australian citizen this morning. Nice lunch at South Curlie then a gentle run to work (I'm guessing 60mins+).

Monday meandering

Arrived a bit late with LF Charlie coming soon after so we headed off together for the usual Monday route. Charlie seemed keen on keeping the pace honest but I was feeling pretty good again so it was comfortable. Eventually bumped into MC, Clyde and Kanser along Hickson Road so turned around and ran back with them. 13.58km in 58:15 (4:17's).

More confident

Yesterday was an easy 7.5km untimed around the Manly route. Today was 20.52km (Burnt Bridge deviation, Queenscliff, Shelly, North Head (inc. track), Ashburner and Pac Parade) in 1:26:57 (4:14's) feeling fantastic. Went out easy but gradually picked up the pace the whole way. Felt guilty not running the SMH Half this morning but until yesterday I'd still been feeling crook.

Perfect for running

Wednesday was a rest as I got too busy. Thursday I had a day of work as I was playing in the Manly West Golf Comp so did my Manly 7.5km route in the morning in 29:50. Felt comfortable to start with but started getting fatigued and the chest was tightening towards Queenscliff. Today headed out with MC, Clyde, Derek and a couple of Dominoes for 14km around Cremorne Point. Very easy and feeling much better. About 66mins.

Back again

Very easy 8km run at 4:30 pace. Beautiful day. Ran into Hamburglar 3 times and crossed paths with the HuRT Squad. Chest still tight but feeling much better.

Farewell Serg

Caught up with Serg, CT, Knoxy and others to farewell the Portuguese fella. Had continued on since a client lunch so was worse for wear. Told Knoxy he was too good to give up running and tried to entice him back to competition by betting him $100 I'd beat him at the Blackmores Half. He appeared to look on me with pity...

More time out

Saw a doc. Have chest infection. On Aunty Botics for a week and no running.

HuRTS 45mins Fartlek

Still very sore in the legs (although achilles still great after increasing the weight recently for the eccentric loading) but slightly better than yesterday so headed out to what is usually my favourite session feeling pretty confident. Massive crowd today, perhaps the biggest ever, including Wildman and Durante, the Chairman, Fast Charlie, JB, Dicky High, some fast Triathlete dude, MC, Fats, LF Charlie, Dom, Todd, Indrajeet and a whole host of others. I set off at the front feeling pretty comfortable until about 5mins in when suddenly I felt pretty average. Held on to the front group of Dicky H, JB, Triathlete dude, the Chairman and Fast Charlie until the Opera House (averaging 3:37's so no quicker than when I did this a month ago) when the wheels started to fall off big time. Fats came past at the OPT and tried to stay with him but he started to gap me on Hickson Road.

Turned on 22.5mins at exactly 6km (3:45's) with Fats a little in front and MC and Todd about 50m behind. That gap between me and MC remained exactly the same all the way back. Was swamped by the front group by the OPT and it was just a question of dragging myself back. Wanted to drop out but refused to do so, telling myself the pain and ignominy would serve me well. Finished up with 11.72km (i.e. more than 700m less than last time) averaging 3:51's. Then proceeded to cough up a lung.

Need a rest. Pointless flogging myself (97kms in the past week) with the lingering effects of the flu - I think I'm only prolonging it. I'd wanted to try and get some good fitness back before SMH Half but I'd rather just run healthy again. Just counting my blessings that I'm still injury free.

Off to see JLP tonight. Given how stiff my legs are, it's going to be hell.

Easy recovery

Had a great night's sleep last night and felt much better today but the legs were still very stiff, particularly the thighs, calves and behind the left knee. Decided to go for an easy 6km at lunch. Caught up with the King, Brendan, Rob Deek and a couple of others then bumped into the Judge and Kanser who both joined in for part of the way. Was feeling much looser after 2km so continued on for 11km. Good to get out and feeling much better now. Averaged around 4:30 per/km.

Long in Centennial

Caught up with Timmy at 6.15am then Durante and Kanser at 7am, with Damo Tancred joining us a little later. I was really sore and tired after yesterday's session. Thighs felt like I'd just run the 6ft Track. Not surprising to be still tired after the session last night but I'm sure the lingering effects of the flu are playing a part too. However, that is feeling a bit better every day. Just plodded through the kms. Nearly got dropped on one of the runs up the Woolhara hill. Ended up running 25kms in 1:56 - about 4:39 per km.

Good to be out with the boys again and see them running injury free.

Not the NSW State 10km

Some great results from the State 10km. Keith ran a blinder to knock off another of my pb's - 32:32. Amazing for someone turning 55 next week. Vlad and Chadi went under 32 for the first time running 31:40's. Thamal ran 32:22 and even Cameron Arnold ran 33:10. Interesting that Binfield ran 33:28. I reckon he would have been quicker but for Ironman a few weeks ago. Timmy did me proud by beating MC by 15s and earning me $50.

Felt better this afternoon so ran a 15km steadyish tempo on the newly paved 2.5km route along Kenneth and Balgowlah Rds (6 laps). First 4 laps felt comfortable then had to put some effort in to maintain the pace. Intention was to keep all the kms under 4:00 which I only just achieved:

3:54, 3:57, 3:55, 3:52, 3:54, 3:49, 3:58, 3:57, 3:57, 3:54, 3:55, 3:55, 3:53, 3:59, 3:51

15:03km in 58:53.

Slightly better

11km run at lunch with Enda, Timmy C and Geoff Cooper. Feeling slightly better again but still not right. Averaged just under 4:30's.

Big one tomorrow. Hoping Timmy L can come through and nip past MC in the final km to win me $50. Timmy L is a fighter so I have every confidence.

Still not right

Easy jog home in 59:18. Still feel like I'm sucking through a straw when I'm running and coughed so hard I nearly vomitted when I got home. Other than that, it was fine.

Sort of getting back

Cor Blimey. Nasty bloody bug. Was feeling slightly better by last Wednesday so boarded the plane to San Francisco for the conference I was supposed to be attending. The 14 hour flight did nothing for my wellbeing. Spent 3 days at the conference trying to hold it together. Flew back. Sunday was the first day I got through without having to take Nurofen and Panadol every 4 hours. Bad chesty cough since then. Tentatively ventured out today hoping for the best. Ran 8.5km (10km route continuing around the Opera House and back but cutting home opposite Art Gallery) with my chest feeling very tight. Then proceeded to cough up a lung for the rest of the afternoon.

Nice to be running again though, especially on a beautiful day. Good thing was that the rest meant I had no aches and pains at all (other than the chest). Won't run Saturday but will concentrate on getting things back together for the SMH Half. Plenty of races to test myself in the upcoming months.

Sick as a Dog

Have been sick as a dog since Friday - high fever and bed ridden. Still no improvement today.

Fantastic result by Ben to win the Australian 5000m champs on Saturday night and book his ticket to Dehli. Tiger said he ran the final 2000m in 5:03, i.e. just over 60s a lap. To put it in context, that pace would almost have won him the 1500m title.

Finally downloaded some photos from our camping trip...

Been checking out some You Tube footage of Olympic track races today and came across the Munich 800m final. This is how to run an 800M... Munich 1972. Interesting to compare it to 1988. Can't believe how Paul Ereng managed to recover from his crazy first 200m.

HuRTS 4 x 2km

Had a pretty big night with the HuRT Squad last night at Hurricane's in Bondi as a farewell to Serg. Plenty of trash talk going on. I bet MC $50 that Timmy L would beat him in the State 10km and he leaped up to shake my hand on it. I have full confidence in young Timmy though. No-one rises to a challenge like him and you know you'll always get 100%. Ate a full rack of Pork Ribs and fries topped off with a sticky date pudding and plenty of beer. I could barely move this morning and didn't fancy today's session. But, as Woody Allen said, 80% of success is just showing up so that's what I did.

Times went as follows:

6:35
6:35
6:32
6:33

So nice and consistent. Strict 2 minute rest (Sean's gave us 3mins). Ran the first with Fats with Tucks about 12s in front. Fats dropped off during the second so I was chasing Tucks and Binfield (who decided to join us upfront), a little closer to Tucks this time. Third was same as the second, again getting closer. Final rep I felt lactic after 500m but just concentrated on Binfield's back and then (after overtaking JB) Tucks'. Must remember that tactic. If just just concentrate on someon's back, it seems to get closer to you and gives you something to divert your mind from how crap you feel.

Knackered at the end but a good session.

Timmy - MC ran 7:03; 6:59; 7:03; 7:03 but looked well spent. Doesn't compare to your hilly 7:06's run yesterday.

Wednesday MLR

Another perfect running day. Termperatures now down in the low 20's but clear skies and no humidity makes for a huge relief from the past few months. Especially when you're coming from a zero fitness base.

Today was the old Centennial Park route with Louis and KPMG Rob. Very easy pace although it picked up a bit towards the end. Achilles a bit stiff after strength training this morning with Carl. 18.57km in 1:27:55 (4:44's).

Hurts Progressive tempo

Big crowd today including Tucks, Clyde, Binfield, MC, English Andy, Fast Charlie, LF Charlie, Indrajeet, Dom etc. Set off conservatively with Tucks with just Fast Charlie a few steps behind. Stayed this way all the way until the hills after Mrs Macs Chair on the return when Tucks pulled ahead. He ended up back at the start on 44:47, me on 45:03. Fast Charlie pulled out opposite the ABC Pool. I pushed the pace down beneath 3:30's as soon as we turned knowing that that is the only way to get back in 45 mins when you turn on 23.5. A 2 minute negative split is a lot. Km splits went as follows:

3:55, 4:03, 3:51, 3:49, 3:53, 3:45, 3:28, 3:38, 3:22, 3:26, 3:30, 3:45, 3:14 (for 206m).

Total of 12.21km in 45:03 (3:42 per/km). 10:18 for the final gate to gate.

Felt good today. Nice and cool but quite a bit of a breeze. Saw a load of people out there including Kanser, the Chairman and Hamburglar.

Easy Monday

Very easy 13.5km in 1:01:10 (4:32's). Nobody waiting so went off by myself. Bumped into Kanser and Eamo half way around so ran with them for the rest of the way. Also saw Binfield and the Chairman (in a rare outing). Beautiful day today, clear as a bell but much cooler than yesterday.

Seal Rocks and Narrabeen Sunday

Returned from a great camping trip at Seal Rocks last night. Missed a run on the Friday on the way up. The rest of the week went as follows:

Sat: 12km easy
Sunday: 23km picking up the pace all the way averaging 4:24's by the end.
Monday: 10km starting easy (5km in 21:30) but picking up the pace to finish in 40:19
Tuesday: Rest. Achilles sore due to lack of stretching and exercises.
Wed: 13km very easy.
Thurs: 13km easy.
Friday: 10km tempo in 37:33. Aimed to pick up the pace the whole way. Worked other than my usual soft cock 6th km. Splits went 3:58, 3:53, 3:49; 3:46; 3:46; 3:49; 3:43; 3:43; 3:33; 3:32
Sat: 13km easy.

All run over an undulating unsealed road from Seal Rocks to Yagon campsite plus some beach on the longer runs.

Today was my route up to Narrabeen and back but ran along Dee Why beach this time as the tide was out. Felt great on the way out running sub-4:20's with ease but struggled back up to Long Reef and until Curl Curl against the wind. Can't seem to do this run without hitting a wall at around Dee Why. Recovered again towards the end. Turned at 13.5km averaging 4:30's and finished the 27km in 2:02:26 (4:32's). Not helped by running at Noon on a pretty warm day - 29C.

Not quite HuRTS Time Trial

MC is scared of doing the time trial so he set it up for today knowing that he wasn't running due to Saturday's race. So I front up despite having drunk a truckload of beer last night. It was good that I did - I sweated out a bit of the hangover and it's such a fantastic day out there today, much cooler at about 23C but clear as a bell.

4 others showed up, and one of those (Chris Graham) was late. The others were Mat Kaley, Dom and strange accent Will. I just wanted to cruise around so set off with SA Will. Actually felt OK when I was running apart from a period of about 5 minutes around Farm Cove when I thought my internal organs were going to pack up. Ran 26:19 (4:03's). Other results were:

Mat: 24:35
Chris G: 25:18
Dom: 25:18
SA Will: 26:53

Off camping to Seal Rocks tomorrow so this will be the last post for a while.

Wednesday MLR

Same as last week but just with Luke. Being Luke, the last few km were pretty quick all averaging around the 4:05 per/km pace. Achilles is pretty sore. Need a rest and to work on it.

HuRTS 45mins Fartlek

Cooler (24C) and wet today which meant a low turnout. These are Sydneysiders we are dealing with. Just Tucks, Clyde, Fats, TimC, Pete W, the King, Phil Woods, Clement and a couple of others. Set off in the front group with Tucks, Clyde and Fats fully expecting them to pull ahead around Farm Cove. Felt good today though so just kept on pushing the fast stretches and keeping pace. Fats was complaining of wind and pulled off at Circular Quay for a pit stop. We reached the first speed hump on Hickson Rd at the half way mark - 6.25km which was way further than I've done recently. The pace then picked up on the way back with the km splits hitting around 3:32 (which included the floats). Went through 10km in 35:46 and just got back to the gates in 44:53 with Tucks having pulled ahead on the penultimate rep and Clyde slightly dropping off.

Really pleased with the session - 12.48km all up averaging 3:35s. More pleased with the fact I made it back to the gates for once so have a bit more strength in the legs.

Ran past Sparkie (who I haven't seen in a long while) and Action along the way.

Recovery Monday

Out with MC, LF Charlie, Clyde and Luke for the usual Monday 14.8km. Felt very easy on the way out (I think the first km was around 5:20). Bumped into Kanser along Hickson Rd and he joined us until the Opera House. We must have upped the pace all the way through as we finished in 67 mins (4:31's average). Felt much better in the second half.

Iron Cove Bolter STaR

Set off with the 6.20am group not knowing whether CT was going to show for a 6.30am start. Very easy to start with but it was just what I needed - legs were still shot from yesterday. Group included Flakey, Shaun A, Nick B, Jo Cowan etc. Fats joined us at about 3km. We continued on together until about 15km when Fats and I drifted off the front. Caught CT coming back over the Gladesville Bridge and ran with him until 3km to go. No idea of the pace as I left my Garmin at home but I'm guessing it was 5min+ kms to start with but around 4:20's from when Fats and I pushed on. Finished in about 2:18. Guide reckons it is 29.9km but I reckon whatever route we took was a bit less, probably 29km.

Left achilles is now sore (not on the insertion but further up). Was the same story last time I did yesterday's session with Sean.

Centennial 8km

Warm and humid and boggy underfoot. However, was hoping to stick to Sean today given how much better I've been feeling in running recently. However, it wasn't to be. He pulled away at the end of the first laps and put about a minute into me by the end. Laps went as follows:

6:53
7:09
7:17
7:09

28:26 all up. Only 1s quicker than last month with very similar time distribution over the 4 laps. I was hoping to get under 28mins today so was pretty disappointed. Not sure of the reason - probably just tired after the recent step up in training. However that third lap is just pathetic. Need to do some more tempo running to stop this mid-race tail off. I'm much stronger over intervals. Will do some quicker tempo 10kms when on holiday.

Followed by the usual 10 hills which I did consistently in 21s. 14km all up.

The effort of pants

Very easy 5km over lunch with Clyde, the King and a chick called Anne. Clyde reckoned 5km wasn't even worth the effort of changing pants. I've become slightly obsessed about running every day though. Don't seem to get sore when I do.

Easy Thursday

Very tired from the week's training and still can't shake a cold that I've picked up so skipped HuRTS and ran a very easy 13km instead. Crossed paths with Pete W and Clyde and caught Hamish Bell with 2km to go so ran back with him.

Wednesday MLR

Easy run at lunch with MC, Tim C, Tucks, King James V and Indrajeet. Usual route out beyond Rose Bay turning after 45mins. Managed 9.4km before we turned (just before the top of Heartbreak Hill). Quicker on the way back to finish 18.76km in 1:27:11 (4:38's). Tired by the end despite the easy pace - it's been a big 3 days (60km) and did strength with Carl this morning so the legs were weary.