Moving around

Saturday 16th was a 12km where I picked up the pace and ended up doing 4:15's which was pretty encouraging. Feel as though I have the cardio with the bike work but no running legs at the moment.

Sunday and Monday were travelling to Menorca.  Arrived stiff and sore and immediately hired a bike on Monday afternoon.  Got out for ~55km rides each morning (Tues, Wed and Thurs) since. Brilliant country roads to ride along and wonderful way to see the Island.  Have absolutely loved it. All at a good pace (30kmh+) and feel as though the riding is going well.

Been doing some new exercises for the achilles which is giving me some new hope. Will try a run in Berlin tomorrow.

Progress

Thursday was another missed lunchtime session so got out at 5pm and did the 12.5km loop of Centennial via the Cross and Ocean St.  Sick of the wharves and love getting out to the Park.  Even the prospect of all the hills didn't put me off.  Also feeling really upbeat with the achilles starting to feel better.  I'm still as slow as.  It's like the increased strength of cycling muscles just doesn't allow me to run freely very well.  Either that or I'm just crap at running due to lack of training.  Anyway, it was an enjoyable 4:45's.

This morning was a response to a call to arms from Timmy.  6am bike training in Centennial was called, and I felt as though I needed to keep the NOTB in the game knowing Macca couldn't make it.  It involved a 4:50am alarm, motorbike to the city then ride from work to Centennial.  Kroney and Timmy had just finished a warm up lap and 30km was called comprising the 6.65km hilly loop we did last time followed by an easy lap x 3.  A beaut of a morning and a brief shot from Timmy before we were straight into it:

Good loop for me as we start with only 400m on the flat loop before we swing left up the hill.  I give this a bit of a nudge, see I've got a small gap on Kroney and a bigger gap on Timmy.  Head around the U and down the hill only to see it was actually Timmy just behind up the hill with BK nowhere in sight.  Some big fella comes past down the hill, I jump on his wheel and we are flying.  Work well with Timmy for the rest of the loop and we finish in 10:30 - much quicker than I expected.  Kroney just dips under 11mins having ridden solo.

Then a gentle lap to recover before we're straight into it again.  I jump out of the saddle up the hill but this time Kroney matches all the way and, seeing a gap between us and Timmy at the top we then work together all the way round.  Far out he's strong, taking big turns on the front into the wind.  Plainly he was just sizing us up on the first lap.  Legs go lactic as I push the false flat around Fox Studios Gates and we finish together in 10:22.

Another sort of recovery lap but we're all dreading the final interval.  It comes around too quickly and we're off again but this time Kroney really pushes the hill gapping me by about 5s at the top.  I look around to see Timmy about 10s behind and realise that I can:

(a)  put a huge effort in to catch Kroney knowing he'll drag me around ahead of Timmy; or

(b)  not do so and have Timmy catch me and work with him.

So (a) is obviously a much more attractive proposition so I do that.  Catch him around the U and again we work together well but at times I'm giving 90% effort just to stay on his wheel.  Finish in 10:23.

Stoked with that session.  Really fast times and a rock solid effort.  But always satisfying to do a great session early in the morning on a beautiful day.  Full cycling gear wanker coffees ensued:

Wednesday double

Cycle to work and had a clear run over the bridge and good pace at the bottom of Parriwi so gave it a bit of a dig. At least until the Ralpha road mural when I felt tired so sat down. Felt better after the bends so picked it up again and still managed 3:23. Reckon I could have gone sub3 if I wasn't being lazy.

Then out (late) at lunch for a run around the wharves. Met Andy and had a good chat with him in taper mode before Sydney Marathon on Sunday. 12km in 4:39's.  Achilles was a bit tender after flying to Melbourne and Monday night's effort so took some Voltaren last night. As a result it was great today.

Overheight vehicle

Saturday had Charlie doing his saxophone exam so no trip to Kogarah.  Managed to get out in the afternoon and just pedalled up to North Head for some laps including the snake each time - 30km on the bike.  Achilles was a bit sore after a bigger week so didn't run.

Sunday was my birthday so a lazy morning opening all of my presents (which comprised a can of Irn Bru and a pack of Rolos) before a solo ride around Akuna Bay taking it very easy.  Rode clockwise which is a lot easier - you can get up Akuna hill in the big chain ring in that direction which was the only section I put some effort into. Absolute beaut of a day.  55km.

Monday was spent watching Mags in the Regional athletics in the am.  She came 8th in the 1500m in 5:49 and was a bit disappointed. They go off crazy fast and she hung back on the first lap and just picked people off for the rest of the race. She then came 9th in her 800m heat but was knackered as she only had 75mins rest.  It was great watching all the races, some real talent. Interesting though that Under 10's both boys and girls is as competitive as Under 12's.  The winner of the U10 Boys 1500m ran 4:55 and the first 3 were all under 5mins.  That was the same winning time for the U12's and he won by 10s.  Mags time (slower than she ran in Zone) would have placed her 7th in the U12's so plenty more to come if she stays interested (which, judging by her current enthusiasm I'm sure she will).

Busy day at work so attempted a run to Mosman where I intended to catch a cab. Couldn't find one so ended up running all the way home - 14.5km in a pedestrian 4:59's.  Achilles good after the rest though.

For some reason I get really pissed off with overheight vehicles. Flying to Melbourne this am and the Harbour Tunnel is closed due to an overheight vehicle. Does the driver just think "what the fuck, I'll give it a shot and hope for the best". I got similarly annoyed when that truck knocked down the stone arch at North Head. That's my rant for the day.

Actually, I've got another. People who try to take too much carry-on luggage on planes. Check it in you pricks!

Maggie - pony tail flying, picking off the 4 in front with 500m to go.

touch footy

An easy 9km around Nolan's and Passmore watch Mags play touch footy. 4:42's. Achilles feeling good.

HuRTS!

Feeling more confident with the achilles I ventured over to Rushcutters for the Pyramid session.  Great to see a number of familiar faces there including Timmy, Enda, Kroney, Eoin, Scotty, Toby, Brendan and a number of new (and pretty fast) faces as well.

Basically I ran at the front of the second group trying to keep the pace under control. Didn't push too hard but not sure of the pace as I'd forgotten the Garmin. I'm guessing it was about 3:40's.  Ran the last lap a bit quicker. All in all, really happy as the achilles held up OK.

All the boys are flying out there with Scotty at a different level. Timmy and Enda were pushing well in the first group and the ego takes a bit of a hit being so far back but so long as I'm injury free I'm happy.

Timmy's TT!

Put the call out for some hot laps earlier in the week and Timmy's response was to suggest a 20km time trial as something to prepare us better for Nepean Triathlon in 7 weeks time.  So with a degree of nervousness I dragged myself to Centennial Park at lunchtime.  Passed the HuRTs crew along the way (Charlie, Hoey, Renee and many others) and wished I was with them rather than about to endure over 30mins of pain.

Met someone resembling Tony Martin at the CP cafe, full-on tri bike, fancy helmet, smooth Rapha gear and all.  Then Tony starts talking in a soft Melbourne/Stoke combo accent and I realise it's Timmy.  He sets the route which involves 3 laps of a figure of 8 around the Park and, importantly, includes a nasty 700m hill up to Woollahra Gates - basically the reverse of the hill you come down in the JPMorgan CC.

We start up at the Paddo gates in a special box that Timmy marks out for the occasion.  He says we need to keep the laps consistent and something under 12mins per lap would be good.  He says go, I jump off, he misses getting his shoe in the cleat and I've got a gap zooming down the hill.  It levels out and I get into a rhythm only to hear this "WHOOSH" as Timmy comes flying by.  I seriously spend 500m balls out trying to get back onto his wheel, I feel the legs going lactic and think, holy crap, he's gapped me already and we're less than 2km in!  But eventually I get back on, recover and take a turn at the front as we go past Champ and a Brother Branagan.

Continues like this for a bit until we hit the hill, I turn onto it and get out of the saddle and work it pretty hard knowing you can recover at the top.  Turn at the top to see I've gapped Timmy by about 10s.  Come around the U and finish the first lap in 10:40.  Second lap is all solo, just trying to get into a rhythm, deal with the wind (strong into the face heading up to Fox Gates) and give the hill another nudge again.  Turn at the top and see the gap is probably about 20s now and finish lap 2 in 11:15.  Same again for the third.  Push the hill a bit harder knowing I'm nearing the end and finish lap 3 in 11:17 for 33:12 all up.  Timmy comes past in 33:47.  Average pace was 35.7km/h which isn't bad given the wind and the fact it includes 2km of hills.

In truth, I reckon I got all the time gains on the hill and he was about the same, if not a bit quicker on the flatter sections.  So plenty to work on before the big dance at Nepean.  Easy ride back to the office and a great session to knock out over lunch.

In other news, I received a call from a very excited Maggie this afternoon to tell me she's also been picked for the 800m next week at Regionals in addition to the 1500m.  The girl who pipped her on the line for 2nd in Zone after she eased up (she won't be doing that again) has had to pull out.  I'm more stoked for the fact that she's so stoked.  I'd be crapping myself that I had to do two tough races in one day.

Tuesday bike/run

Up at Sparrow's Fart to meet a a cycling crew comprising Manly based mates Toby, Dave Chapel, Rich "Smitty", Charlie Ridout and another chap I missed the name of.  Met at Warringah Mall at 5.30am with me wearing my sunnies.  I have to wear them on longer rides as I get bloodshot eyes otherwise but it was pitch black at 5.30am and I think the other blokes thought I was mad.

They go quite hard up to Church Pt with a final sprint finish and then cruise back along the beaches stopping for coffee at Curl Curl which was great.  In truth, Toby and I did all the work up to Church Pt with Smitty coming by for a final sprint with 500m to go, Toby and I leaving him to suffer for 300m before Toby jumped away and me losing his wheel to finish 2nd.  After coffee I grabbed my back pack from home, rode to work pushing Parriwi Rd (3:25) and the infamous "Intermediate Hill Sprint" (21s) for 60km all up.

Headed out in the afternoon for a 10km run.  Heel felt a bit tight but stretched it out around Barangaroo which made a huge difference.  All the riding has made my legs like bamboo sticks.  But the run got better the further I went and finished averaging 4:25's.  Plenty of stretching in the evening and the achilles was much better this morning.  Feel like the tear in it has healed and now I'm dealing with the usual achilles issues I've had for years.  May even try some speedwork soon.

Monday Run/bike

Lunchtime meeting so had to get out for a run later.  Later turned out to be when I'd finished work for the day, so did 8km around Mrs Mac's feeling pretty lethargic and low on energy, then jumped straight onto the bike and road home, where I felt great.  Got home in just over 40mins despite hitting a few red lights and managed 4:43's for the run.

Countdown to Euro trip is starting.  Everyone seems to be hitting great form in the running (Darren, Macca, Andy and Big Sam over in London in particular).  Wish it was me.  I think my muscles have forgotten how to do it.

Maggsy 300's

Out in the arvo on Nolan's after a lazy Father's Day. Had bought Mags some new waffle shoes so wanted to run them in before her 1500m a week tomorrow. Did a 2km warm up then 5 x 300m with me running an even pace and she coming past me kicking with 100m to go. She did 62, 63, 61, 63, 62 and was rooted afterwards so mission accomplished. 

I finished with a jog for 9km. Achilles felt great doing the 300's but my groin is very sore tonight and even half a bottle of Pinot at Toby & Alex's down the road has not eased it.

Tentative positive signs

So I haven't posted in ages because the running was non-existent, I've been trying to sort out the problem and rehab.  In short:

(a) the surgeon said he'd have to detach my achilles so the recovery period would be 13 months;

(b) I'd be seeing slight improvements with a load of calf strenghthening exercises; and

(c) surgery would have had to wait until after my Europe trip in any case,

so I decided against it. I've continued to do a load on the bike and am now up to 8 consecutive weeks of long (2 hour) rides.  I started running again 2 weeks ago - just 8 to 10km every other day at the moment.  I've added heel wedges to the orthotics and have avoided the old heel pain but can still feel something lower down on my heel when I run. But not painful enough to stop me for now.

Yesterday was another 70km down in Kurnell on the bike averaging 34kmh followed by 8km (4:19 pace) around Nolan's in the late afternoon. I find I run ok immediately following a ride but struggle the next day so today will be slower.

It's all currently prep for Nepean Triathlon (1km, 30km, 10km) on 29 Oct which is turning out to be bigger than Ben Hur. Timmy's odds list looks like this:

 At some stage I'll have to don my swimmers.

Finally, Mags is going great at Athletics, finishing 2nd in Zone 1500m in 5:32 and now through to Regionals at Homebush (Mon 11th):

Getting there

Whole family has been sick and I've finally succumbed (a bit). One of the benefits of not training so hard is that you're not constantly on the verge of falling ill.  Feeling a bit run down and have very swollen glands.

Didn't stop a good crack at Parriwi Rd yesterday on the commute in. Hammered it all the way and was rewarded with another 20s off my time and climbing above the mighty Gus Boyd on the ladder:

Achilles continues to improve and will try and jog with the new heel raises when I'm over the lurgy.

So what's up?

Stopped running mid June with the achilles showing no sign of improvement and, in fact, deteriorating the longer is run. Started doing a lot of calf strengthening exercises and riding the bike. Within a week the achilles started feeling better and could walk without pain.

Saw the surgeon (Dr Wines) and he indicated that to fix it properly he would need to detach the achilles from the bone, smooth the heel bone, remove the bursar and clean up the tendon itself. It would be a 12 month recovery.  Given the improvements I'm seeing at the moment, I decided against it. Was great to have Gary there too who confirmed my opinion.

Since then I've been hammering the bike - commuting in and out to work, heading up to Centennial for some fast laps if I don't commute and doing one 2 hour ride on the weekend.  Starting to feel a bit stronger.  But holy crap Strava on a bike is very different to Strava running.  The 1km hill up Parriwi Rd near the Spit Brodge is a very popular segment.  On my first week of riding I decided to give it a crack to see how high I placed on the Strava leaderboard. Normally while running if I give a Segment a crack I'll be first or at least top 3.  So I pegged it up Parriwi. Legs were going lactic by half way, got to the top with a taste of blood in my mouth and sweat dripping down my skin tight Lycra.  Got to work and eagerly downloaded the ride to check out my placing.  2,044th. You have got to be kidding me!

Have since lowered Parriwi to 3:34 but that was off a standing start so there's a few more seconds there.  Can definitely feel a bit of strength coming through now.  Had a great session in Centennial with Timmy last week where we did 2 laps hard (5:37 and 5:50), 1 lap easy then 1 lap hard (5:49).  The speed endurance is what I need to work on though.  Did a good 65km around Kurnell (from Kogarah) yesterday solo in under 2 hours where it is flat as a tack - perfect prep for a potential go at Nepean Triathlon at the end of October.

The achilles continues to improve. I've bought 6mm heel wedges (which I used to wear from 2009 - 2013) so will try a jog in them in a week or so. Needs to be pain free though. Had enough of hobbling.

Top night in Manly last night with the crew for a curry. Even managed to persuade Macca to relive his former triathlon glory days and enter Nepean as well. And he generously offered me a 9min headstart.

Honkers

6km on the treadmill in the Four Seasons Hotel. 23:42.

Something new

Slow and long isn't working so am trying short and fast.  Two local loops in the early evening.  6.2km in 24:20 (3:54's).

Something's got to change

12.5km with Enda, Gidon and Jac.  Achilles sore the whole way and it's getting worse.  Got to change things up as it's not improving and I'm sick of it.

HuRTs Pyramid

Well, despite a hangover and only 5 hours sleep I managed to get out to the HuRTs session today. Something Darren said about "blocking the pain" last night was ringing in my head.

Solid crew to do the pyramid set on the fields next to Rushcutters. I plotted out a makeshift loop of about 450m and we were off.  Lewis, Andy, Branigan Jr and Jerome were up front with me and Tongey next.  Reps were consistent. Sweated out the booze. Felt harder than it should. But a first speed set done.

Longer cool down with LJ, Jerome and co for 14km all up.

Wed MLR

The C2S recon MLR with Timmy but with added females!  We had Jac, Elle, Renee and Jay Z Pringle along for the ride too.

Felt quite bouncy as a result of the rest day on Tuesday so took out the polka dot jersey on the Heartbreak Hill Fast section and the killer hill up to Ocean St on the return.

All up 18km in 4:46's.

Long run Monday

Hungover in the am, got out at 1pm with the Cap'n for an hour before he upped sticks so continued on for 30km up the path to Seaforth Oval and back via White St and the Fairlight path. Picked the pace up a bit conscious the achilles goes better and for the first time in a long time felt like I was moving properly today. 

4:39's.  

Then went to watch Wonder Woman with the family. 2 popcorns out of 5 for the film, 5 out of 5 for Wonder Woman herself.

Sunday abort

Plan was for 30km consisting of 5km easy then 5km tempo x 3.  Managed 12km before deciding achilles was getting worse. But finding that running quickly causes less damage than slowly.

Then onto Paddington for the end of season footy tipping drinks. Top night but drank too much.

Parkrun

4km warm up. Wasn't sure whether to run as achilles still felt a bit sore. Arrived and thought what the hell. Especially seeing Kirst and Mags were waiting. So set off with the plan to try to stick to Lewis, Benny and 'Darren', knowing they were all in sub17 shape.

1km in 3:16 and I'm holding on. 2km in 6:39 and I'm just holding on. I do a wide turn through a big puddle on the grass by the netball courts shortly after and start to lose touch. Lewis is pushing ahead, followed by Ben and then 'Darren' with me further back. Same up the Harbord Rd hill then over the top and I'm starting to close in on 'Darren'.  High five Mags who is just behind Elle, then go past Darren at 4km and turn to have a word only to discover it's not Darren - it's a chap called Jody Wall. I wouldn't have tried so hard if I'd known that. 

Hit the bridge at 15:04 and realise a sub17 is possible. Start pushing and suddenly I'm closing on Benny. This is an added bonus. Get past Benny just before the dog leg and home in 17:04.

Great to be back in it again but the achilles is very sore after.  Running hard early doors is not good.

10km all up.

Friday HuRTs

Pretty big Friday turnout by HuRTs standards, with Andy, Brendan W, Renaud and a host of others joining in. Despite that, still saw Barts, Scotty and Jerome off doom their own thing.  Too slow for those boys these days.

Kept on running today and ended up doing 17.25km with Andy doing the whole thing with me.  Achilles ok. Felt fine over the distance. Need to start stretching the legs a bit more.  Will start tomorrow with a Parkrun effort.

1 step forward, 2 steps back

Planned longer, only managed 8km around the City. Too sore after an early morning massage.  That said, was feeling better at the end after picking the pace up, so much so that I nearly headed out again.  But curbed my enthusiasm thinking of the long game. Nice to run with Barts and Scotty on their cool down for the middle part.

Maybe I'm just a bit grumpy but finding a number of identities very annoying at the moment. In no particular order:

1. Piers Morgan (self important short arsed twat)

2. Bloke from Mt Hotham on the Qantas safety briefing (annoyingly upbeat)

3. Trump (obvious)

4. Tom Piotrowski (what's with the beard, you're an analyst, not a model)

5. Hamish and Andy (you're not students anymore, grow up)

Better to get that off my chest.

Yarra Trail

Started using Jack's massage stick on the calves last night and it seemed to do a load of good. Woke up with the achilles not as bad as I expected. So went to Rebel and bought one for myself, as well as some small gel-like heel raises.

The result was 14.5km along the Yarra Trail with the achilles not too bad. Groin/glute another matter.  Finished with some hills, just because I feel my form is crap at the moment and hills normally sort me out.

Still not 100%.

Oh bejaysus

Tuesday (having missed Sunday and Monday). Can't catch a trick at the moment. Laid out again by this low level bug. Start to get a headache, aching and shivery as soon as I get tired.  So didn't until Tuesday.  Down in Melbourne and after a day of meetings I ran to Alec & Gill's from the Grand Hyatt.  Went a route that meant I wouldn't get lost - St Kilda Rd, Nepean Highway and North Rd which wasn't the most picturesque. But 14.5km done in 4:46's when I thought it would be another day off.

That said, achilles, knee and groin/gluten were sore.

Hill tempo

Too tired from the Perth trip to do Striders so headed out for my favourite loop of Manly Dam in the afternoon and decided to push the pace a bit.  That's all fine but unfortunately I'd had a cronut not more than an hour beforehand and it sat on my stomach uncomfortably for the first 5km up Allambie Hill.  

After that was fine.  Averaged just under 4min kms and a good tester, although achilles was sore after.  Too much red wine at Craig's house later with Macca and his family had me feeling very average all day Sunday so will run long tomorrow.

Check out “Hilly tempo” on Relive!

https://www.relive.cc/view/1018435886

Perth tempo

Swapped my planned Mona Fartlek to a long tempo, partly listening to the Tiger and partly listening to my body.  

Did a short warm up due to time constraints then straight out along the river to the end of the path at Dalkeith then returned. Came out at exactly 8km out and return.  Did tempo pace which I thought would be 3:50's but became 3:55's - just off the plane so perhaps that was the reason. But a beautiful day (much warmer than Sydney) and I love the path with no roads to cross and the river by your side the whole way.  Bit of wind on the way out but made the return easier.

Very even pacing around 3:55's.  Breathing fine at end but achilles and knee sore in the evening.  Many beers (they drink pints over here) with the sociable Perth lawyers made the body feel a lot better.

And awesome news!  Turns out we've hired a Grad lawyer over here called Kate Fitzsimons who represented Aus at the World Uni Games and runs 16:15 for 5000m.  Guess who's gonna be doing work experience in Sydney in November for JPMorgan!

106km for the week.

Timmy MLR

Met Timmy and Renaud for a different MLR. The former is keen on starting his C2S training so we headed out to Heartbreak Hill. Renaud turned after 5km, then Timmy started his traditional effort up the hill.  I held back but picked the pace up a bit, but coming past Kambala could see him up ahead to put an effort in to catch him before the top.  

Was sore (mainly knee, but achilles a bit too) before the run having neglected evening roll-outs of late, but actually felt better after the hill effort.  It's like teaching your legs how to move properly again.

Turned at 9km and retraced our steps for a healthy 18km.  Timmy talked shite the whole way.

HuRTs Continuous

Tried to do a 15min jog warm up but only managed about 8.  Joined a good crowd at the Stone Gates and barked out a few instructions.  Then off into the 20mins Fartlek, 5min jog and 20min tempo. I like this session.

Barts, Crossy, Lewis and Andy disappeared off ahead with me running with Jeet, Jerome, Mikey Lichtwark, Enda, Brendan and with Gus and Timmy just behind.  Reached just past the entrance to Barangaroo at 22.5mins, so just behind where I reached 2 weeks ago when doing 45min Fartlek. The difference was the return.  Chasing the J&J show, with Jeet in particular throwing in some 3:30's around Farm Cove, managed to get back in 44:29 - whereas 2 weeks ago it took me a minute longer.

Total was 11.8km in 3:46's.

3km warmdown with Barts and Andy for 16.5km all up.

Monday

Ran home from work. Had to go along Cahill EWay to avoid Vivid crowds. Slow and tired from Sunday.  5:00min kms.  14.5km.

Sunday laps again

Could only get out in the afternoon and Craig answered a call to arms.  He dropped Chelsea and Thomas off at ours to play with the kids while we ran loops of Nolans and Passmore - same as two weeks ago.

The kids were great, handing us bottles of water after every lap then picking them up as we chucked them on the ground.  14 laps and 30km done.  Same impact as last week - bloody tough on the glutes and hamstrings.  4:49's.

Back from the Brink

Saturday was ANSW XC relays in Miranda.  Was still feeling average in the morning so didn't intend to run, but was taking Maggie down after her morning ballet eisteddfod.  Got there, saw the awesome set up, saw the crowd and decided to give it a go.  But first Maggie's race.  She was fantastic, running 17:46 just 3 seconds behind (an admittedly very pregnant) Elle.  Here she is:

Then I was up first leg in the Open mens.  Well, I had only one aim.  Stay ahead of Enda.  Ran with him for the first 200m then pushed ahead a bit.  Could see I had about 5m after 1km and then got through the first lap in 6:50.  Then my legs started going dead.  Not sure whether it was lack of fitness, antibiotics or getting over the manflu, but every corner involved an increasingly desperate look over my shoulder to see where he was.  I told myself I owed this to poor Timmy who has been ostracised by Enda of late.  And so I got there.  14:10.  Better than I thought and something to work from.

Scotty had a great run in 13:11 mixing with the big boys.  Barts ran a great second leg in 13:26 but JFen was run of the day as he beat both CT and me to run 14:01.

Great turnout by Rejoov so here we are (at least the blokes and Mags):

Monday recovery

Good news is that the achilles is feeling better and better (despite a real test on Sunday) and I ran home Monday evening with the stated aim of going dead slow but just felt comfortable the whole way.  69:55 (4:53's).

Bad news is the bug I've been struggling with started to hit me again when I got home and I'm off work sick today with a temperature.  FFS.

Long run including SMH Half

Headed in with the in-form Benny, Erika and Tim and got to the office after a few City diversions which had Benny's heart rate up in the 160's before we'd even started running.  Met LJ and then into the office for a change before heading out for a few pre-race kms.  Only managed 3.2km at 5:00 pace around MMC before being the last person to join the race from the front.  Headed a few rows back and then we were off.

Plan was to run 4min kms all the way.  But after Saturday's effort I wasn't too confident, worrying whether this little bug would hit me in the legs later on.  So by some bizarre logic I decided I needed to run a bit quicker to get some time in the bank.  Met JFen on the detour up Grosvenor Street and we ran together for the rest of the way, generally chatting (except on the hills).  We averaged about 3:50's going through half way in 40:41.  More effort required in the second half up the hills and noticeable how people were coming back to us.  Finished in 82:11 with a confidence boost given it felt comfortably hard.

Some super performances out there today.  Hoey was the pick, knocking off my PB from 2015 by 9s to run 71:04 leaving Barts and Scotty in his wake.  A typical strong second half performance from him.  Bruce ran a strong 76 on a tough course and Benny likewise only 4s shy of his Canberra PB on a much more difficult course (78:55).  Jeet is returning to form with a low 79 and he needs to belt up about his injury now.

Another 5km cool down with car gang at 5:20 pace for 29km all up.

Benny, Erika, LJ and me.  Thumbs are the new Dab.

Saturday tempo abort

3 weeks since the previous 5km TT around the golf club so tried it again.  Fail.  Just felt crap.  Think I've had a low level bug for a week which explained Thursday but that could just be an excuse, I just can't seem to get firing.  3:24 then 3:30 then jogged out the rest.  12km.

Brisbane Friday

Felt very average on Thursday so took my kit to BrisVegas and snuck in 14km over lunchtime in 4:30's along the river.  Need to stop over striding. Found that when I relaxed and increased the cadence I ran quicker and more easily.

103km for the week.

Wednesday MLR

Well it was the usual Wednesday MLR route I've been doing for the past few weeks with Timmy but without Timmy.  Instead, Jeet, Jack the Lad and Irish Dave did the whole thing (actually I added a km at the end solo) while Jac, Elle, Renee and Bruce joined us to the top of Ocean St.

16km nice and easy.  4:52's.  296m of elevation.  Starting to feel as though I am moving properly again.

HuRTS Fartlek

1 km warm-up then into the 45mins fartlek (5 x 9mins of 3,2,1 each with a minute break).  Had ambitions of trying to stay with Bruce and Jerome but they fell apart coming around the Opera House.  From then on it was Gidon and Big Kev.  Turned at Barangaroo averaging 3:42's.  G and Big K didn't seem to turn very well so I was on my own on the way back.  Andy and JFen came flying by at CQ with Toby following shortly after.  Lots stopped at 30mins with SMH Half on this weekend and Toby kindly slowed to get me up the hills at the end.

Finished 39s over for 12.1km (3:46's).  Time not flash but at least feel as though I'm moving properly again.  3km cool down for 16km all up.

New of the day for a proud Dad was Maggie smashing all in her school XC win.  Charlie finished a credible 10th in his after falling at the start and someone standing on his ear.  Bec finished 12th in Zone.  God knows what the competition is like for that as she barely moves from her bedroom.

Monday recovery

Did 13km with the squad, running with BW, Bruce, JW, Eoin, Liam & Co.  Then finished with some hills (4) in the Bot Gardens.  To be honest, this is the first run I've done where I felt everything was moving properly and started to flow again.  Coincides with managing to do 8x single leg pivots in the shower this morning.  Also coincides with my starting on high strength turmeric tablets for their anti-inflammatory powers.  They seem to work!  Bursar on my heel hasn't been as shrunken in ages.  Make your farts smell though.

4:43's.