Tourist Trot STaR 36ks

My intention this morning was to do the Striders Tourist Trot STaR as it starts near my house. So I ran a long way over to the start in Centennial Park adding a k and a half before the start. I then ran the course which goes for a loop around the park and then heads down to Edgecliff, Rushcutters Bay and up to the Cross. You then go through the city to Kent St and head towards the Bridge, over the bridge and around Blues Pt and Luna Park before arriving back at the bridge. Back over and then through Circular Quay and the Opera House.
When I got to the Botanic Gardens the gates had been locked so had to find another around to get to Woolloomooloo. Eventually got there via the Domain and then ran down to Garden Island and back up through the Cross and finally back to the start. I then did a loop of the park to do some extra kilometres for the morning.

All up I ran 36.2ks in 3:04:01. Average pace of 5:05 per klm.

Straight after that I headed up to my surf club for the races.
The swim was pretty short today as it was low tide. But the surf was really choppy and the waves were not breaking that well. The legs didn't want to kick too much after the morning long run. The run was a struggle as my legs were very dead and not responding to my badgering to run faster.
A few beers and a BBQ fixed everything.

Happy New Year!

Mona Fartlek

My version which includes the 2x2min reps at the start to make the total 28 minutes.
Ran it late this afternoon as I had a bit to do at work in the morning plus a BBQ lunch at the parents house.

Ran from my place up to the SFS and back. An all flat tar surface.

I ran 6.8ks in the 28mins. Average pace of 4:07 per klm. A bit slower than the last time I did this. But I'm not doing much speed work at the moment.

Centennial Cross Country 13ks

A quiet run in Centennial Park tonight around the grass trail. Not many people about, must have been the afternoon thunderstorm that scared them off. The dirt/sand was soft underfoot and the park smelt great after the rain. A fair bit of water around.

I ran 13.1ks in 1:09:48. Average pace of 5:19 per klm. Very easy!

Medium Long Run 22ks

I did a lap of the Centennial Park running track and then ran out down to the Racecourse and up and around the SCG and SFS and then repeated it.
A long loop to repeat but pretty flat and not too hard on the legs. Pretty windy with the North Easterly breeze still blowing.

I ran 22.77ks in 1:43:43. Average pace of 4:33 per klm. Hard work holding that pace. Hopefully it will get easier.

Yacht Club Classic 8ks

Later in the afternoon I had to go and get a bus off the crew of the Yacht Maximus that was sailing in the Sydney to Hobart today.
So I ran down to Rushcutters bay to get the bus and drive it back to work. I then ran home from work.
It was 4.8ks in 24:15 from home to the CYC. Average pace of 5:03 per klm.
And then 3.5ks in 17:19 to run from work to home. Average pace of 4:56 per klm.

Didn't really feel like having to run these after the BBQ and beers at lunch. Had to do it though.
Now I am very tired and burnt from all that I've done today. Time for an early night I think.

Surf Club Swim, Board Paddle and Run

After doing my run around Whale Beach I had my surf club events to go in. What started as a Westerly became a very stiff Easterly breeze during the middle of our races. And the water was cold.
The swim was a really long today in a 16 degree ocean. I went in the board paddle as it seemed like a good idea at the time. Until the wind came up and we had to paddle straight into the wind chop.
The run went much better than Sunday when I ended up coming second today.

And a BBQ and beers on the back lawn on Boxing Day after the races, how good is that.

Whale Beach Run 7ks

I was up at my Surf Club this morning so went for a run around one of the runs we used to do years ago when we were doing training. Pretty hilly and the cars get really close as there isn't much room. We basically run from Palm Beach down to the golf club and then back towards Avalon via the Pittwater side and go up over to Whale Beach via Surf Rd hill and then run back along the Surfside to the club.

All up 7.2ks in 30:23. Average pace of 4:13 per klm.

Christmas around the bay 7ks

Met Johnny Dark, Action, Vurt, Aunty K, Dazza K, Chonky, Sparkie, Bernie G, Razor and Kit for a lap of the bay this morning at 5:30am. No walkers around this morning.
A very casual lap with reindeer horns in attendance and JD in a Santa hat.
Forgot to restart my watch after getting a drink, but Bernie had it as 39:50 for the 7ks.
A nice pace for a recovery run.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Surf Club Swim and Run

After finishing at Quarry Rd it was a dash down to my Surf Club to do their races at 11am. Pretty flat surf meant a long swim and a mean shore dump which was full of seaweed. Should have stayed away. Nah!
The run was a struggle as the tide was up and we had no hard sand to run on. Oh well. Beers and a BBQ lunch followed which was excellent.

Now I'm stuffed after doing some Christmas shopping this afternoon during the thunderstorm.

Merry Christmas everyone. Hope you all drive safe and Santa brings you what you want, and the family remains well. Cheers.

Edit: I came fourth in the run after all that.

Quarry Rd 30ks

Up early to the Quarry Rd start at Hornsby. Met up with about a dozen runners at the start and we wondered where Horrie and Belinda were. Late, with Horrie sporting a limp and not running.

Headed off down the track in spitting rain which during the morning became progressively heavier but not torrential. I intended to do two laps of the course and ended up running a lap and a half with Sportsman. Had to walk a few of the hills, but not too many as I had to keep up with Sportsman.
After doing the two laps I headed back down the track to the first concreted hill past the bridge and then turned around.
My splits were 1st lap: 69:48, 2nd lap: 70:42. Which meant 2:20:30 after the two laps.
Adding on the extra bit I did, I ended up running 30ks in 2:47:06. Average pace of 5:34 per klm.
Good effort with the steep hills on the Road. Legs felt excellent, must be the recent long hill reps that are starting to kick in. Had to head off to my surf club for some races later in the morning.

Thanks to 2P and Horrie for organising. Those ants at the finish were a menace.

Centennial Cross Country 10ks

A lap of the outside fence of Centennial Park and then a lap around the grass near the horse track. Very windy over here with the afternoon sea breeze.
The run was all on grass and sand/dirt. Very easy.

I ran 10.61ks in 55:08. Average pace of 5:11 per klm.
The legs are starting to feel better the longer the week goes. I'll see how much I can smash them on Quarry Rd on Sunday in the rain.

Marathon Pace Run 15ks

Four laps of Centennial Park tonight on the tar running track plus a bit extra to make the 15ks.

Very windy but no showers fell during the run, which was good. Not many people about. Must have been the grey sky and strong wind made them all stay indoors.

Ran 15ks in 62:59. Average pace of 4:11 per klm. Didn't quite turn out as fast as I wanted. The wind was a killer to run in to.

Easy 10ks

Well the legs still feel a bit sore from the weekend, so I decided to not push a speed session with my history of stress fractures.
I ran into Centennial park with a light drizzle falling and a southerly blowing. I ran around the grass trail giving the legs a rest.

I ran 10.5ks in 57:13. Average pace of 5:26 per klm. Received the Canberra Marathon entry in the mail. So I better get cracking and do some more training.

Recovery Run 10.5ks

The Calves were both feeling very sore today and really didn't want to work. My right hip is also sore and has me getting up from my chair like an old man. Enough about the body.

A very windy North Easter blowing greeted me as I headed in to Centennial Park tonight for a run. Very slow considering the legs. Really did not feel like running and the wind made it worse.

Anyway it was 10.5ks in 1:01:39. Average pace of 5:52 per klm.

Surf Club Swim and Run

Straight after the Striders STaR I was off to my surf club for our races.
The water was fantastic. A bit foamy but great to swim in.

Got a fairly short swim out of the way and then had the run. Not great as the legs just didn't want to work after doing the STaR this morning.

Anyway a BBQ and beers for lunch followed. So I'm happy.

Tourist Trot STaR 29ks

A Striders training run so close to home, I couldn't miss it. Jogged the 1.5ks over to the start and went off with a very small 6:20 group of four of us which picked up 2 more late starters of Silver Fox and Jonathan Worswick(six ft veteran) while inside Centennial Park.
We start near Fox Studios and do a lap of the park and then head up and out of the Woollahra gates down Ocean St to Edgecliff. We then run up New South Head to the Cross and down along William St. You then run up past St Marys Cathedral and down King St all the way to Kent St.
From there it is down to the Rocks and up over the bridge, and then a loop around Blues Pt and Luna Park and back over the Bridge again. Then around the Quay, Opera House, Botanic Gardens, Boy Charlton Pool, Harrys, Garden Island and back up through the middle of the Cross. Then it is back to the start via Oxford st, Victoria Barracks, past the SFS and SCG to finish at the Lang Rd gates of Centennial Park.

All up I ran 28.7ks in 2:16:12. Average pace of 4:44 per klm. The pace was pretty quick for me from the start. But happy to get through it. Ran back through the park with Virtual who was going to a SWEAT BBQ Brunch.

Track 3000m-25 Second PB

Today was the NSW Club Championships out at Homebush. The Striders didn't have anyone running except Keith Bateman(CR Bright shoes) and myself.
I was to run the 800m with Guzzo being the A runner and myself the B runner. That was changed on Friday when Royworlds pulled out of the 3000m B race. So I jumped in. Guzzo ended up not doing the 800m. Keith ran the 3000m A race before mine and ran 9:11. Only 1 second off his National 50+ record. It was pretty windy but he was disappointed to miss it.

I was in the B race with Lachlan Chisholm next to me. He DNF'd after about 4 laps. Time trial maybe. Mohammad was in the stand and took splits for Keith and myself during our races.
The splits were for 200m and then each 400m.
37:66, 85, 87:62, 85:16, 87:86, 89:14, 86:75, 73:65.
Klm splits in 3:30(3:30), 7:08(3:38), 10:32(3:24).
The whole field raced off and I was left trailing alone in last place for most of the race until Chisholm lapped me about the 4th lap and I passed my first runner.
My first lap was in 77 seconds which was 4 seconds faster than the 1st lap last 3000m race. I felt fine though and was very happy to come round the 1k with a 3:30 on the clock. The 2nd k wasn't as good as I felt I had gone too quick in the 1st which showed when I did 3:38. Keith yelled out the whole race should hurt so I pulled my finger out after that and ran 89, 86 and a 73 to finish. The last k was done in 3:24 which is a klm PB by 3 seconds for me. Can I claim that?

The 73 second last lap is explained by me chasing the 3rd last runner who I had talked to before the race. I passed him with about 250m to go and thought I had him when I wound the clock up but with about 70m to go I heard him come back so had to go into a flat out sprint. He beat me by 1 100th of a second. Should have stuck the chest out better. The little bugger was 15.

Final time was 10:32:84. Average pace of 3:31 per klm. A 25 second PB. The old time was 10:57:90 from the State 3000m titles last month. And as you can see I didn't run the 800m. Now I think I'll have a better crack at the 5000m titles next month. Sydney Track Classic at Homebush Jan 13th. Should be a cracking night as it is an A series meet as well.
Thanks to everyone for your help and support.

14x 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off

Ran into Centennial Park and did a lap of the tar track. Ran into Mohammad half way through the session.
The circuit is 3.7ks and I did 14 of the 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off to complete the lap.

So basically 3.7ks in 14 mins. Average pace of 3:47 per klm. I do usually sprint the 30 seconds on which explains how I manage to do a pace that quick.

Pretty windy in the park tonight and very humid.

Just watched the highlights of the Port Macquarie Ironman and did see Queen B doing her bow at the end of her race. She had the CR tri top on.

McKay Oval 7x200m Reps

While running my first rep I was on the other side of the oval when someone picked up one of my running shoes that I left where I started. I was running in spikes so the left the other ones on the grass. By the time I ran over the would be thief decided to take off leaving my shoes behind. Maybe they weren't his size. Mongrel!

Anyway tonight was a few reps on grass in the spikes so I might not embarass the Striders and Guz too much in the 800m on Saturday.
Reps were 32.5, 32.1, 32.3, 32.3, 32.5, 32.8, 33.0. All done with a full walk recovery of about 230m. Strange oval.
Did a 1k warmup and a 1k cool down after the session.
Last time the reps were between 34.2-35.4. So basically 2 seconds quicker per 200m rep.

Timbrell Park Reps 10x500m

I found out yesterday that I was running in the Club Champs for the Striders this Saturday. I'm running an 800m as the B runner with Glenn Guzzo as the A for obvious reasons.

The legs really didn't feel like running fast tonight after doing 26ks on Sunday afternoon.

My reps were 1:42, 1:41, 1:41, 1:41, 1:39, 1:43, 1;39, 1:45, 1:41, 1:43. All done with a 60 second walk recovery. I had a 1.2k warmup before the session and a 1.2k cooldown after.

No rain at all just a bit of southerly wind blowing.

My guess for my 800m time is 2:50. I figure if I can run a 3:30 1k I could do a 2:50 800m. I guess if I'm chasing a heap of faster runners I might go faster.

What a Cracker

What a cracker of a thunderstorm tonight. Started off around the trail in Centennial Park and lasted about ten minutes before the rain came in.
It was brilliant, lightning, thunder, strong wind and pelting rain. Only lasted about 20 minutes but it was excellent to run in. I think I was the only nutter I saw out running. The shoes are now coated in mud.

It was in fact a recovery run. Legs felt great inspite of yesterdays 26ks.
I ran 7.05ks in 38:23. Average pace of 5:26 per klm.

And apparently the results for the Central Coast Half say that I only ran 84:40. So no sub 4min/half. I'll get it next time.

Hangover Horror 26ks

After eventually getting out of bed at midday with a dirty hangover I missed both the Striders STaR this morning and the club awards. A big afternoon and night on Saturday lead me to getting to bed at midnight and sleeping with the light on. Not a good look the face this morning.

Anyway I waited until 4pm before going out for a run. Mixed up the run with a lap of Centennial Park around the grass/dirt trail. I then headed from there up to Waverley and then on to Bondi Junction, Rose Bay and up Heartbreak Hill. Turned up there and ran back down Old South Head Rd until getting to Royal Sydney Golf Club where I met the same rd I came down from Bondi Junction. I then ran back up the hill and then back through Waverley to my house again.

All up 26.2ks in 2:11:57. Average pace of 5:02 per klm. Not bad considering the hills in this run plus the slow trail around Centennial Park. Plus the stomach wasn't too flash with the hangover.

Summer Twilight Series 5k

Down to the bay run for a 5k/10k organised by Colin.
I tracked Easy Tiger, Tux and Colin all the way around the bay, never managing to catch them. Tux ran back for the 10k.

My splits for the 5k were 3:37, 7:25, 11:17, 15:04, 19:01.
Equal to the track 5000m from 2 weeks ago, and only 7 seconds off the PB.
Pretty happy considering I have not done any short speed stuff in the last few weeks.

Finished up running back the 5k with Horrie to the start again. Then had a long chat mostly about Six Foot with Johnny Dark, Colin, Horrie and Tux.

Centennial Cross Country

A couple of laps of Centennial Park on the dirt track around the outside fence tonight. Lots of people out as the Moonlight Cinema started tonight I think.

Ran 14.5ks in 1:14:23. Average pace of 5:07 per klm. Pretty windy with the Sea breeze blowing hard.

Might try Colin's setup 5k or 10k around the Bay tomorrow night. Probably the 5k as the 10k is all uphill into the wind on the way back.

For anyone wondering I will be doing Six Foot easy as it is not my focus even though I do have a blog about it. I am considering doing the 50k at Canberra so Six Foot will be good for that training.

Marathon Pace Run 11ks

Ok I know its early to be doing this one, considering the next road one is at Canberra in April.
I did 3 laps of the running track in Centennial Park. Really windy tonight it was hard work when I had to run into it. A strong North-Easter blowing waiting for the Southerly to come through late tonight.

My splits were 14:46(3:57/k), 14:42(3:56/k), 15:10(4:03/k).
I knew after that last one blewout that I should stop. The total was 11.2ks in 44:38. Average pace of 3:59 per klm.

And yes I'll admit the Goal Marathon Pace for Canberra maybe 4 min ks. But don't get too excited, as I just want to get under 3 hours first.

Saw Guz and Knoxy running around the park. They were going faster than me while cruising around on the grass. What talent!

Recovery Run 7ks

Ran into Centennial Park a bit late tonight. Started at 7:30pm.
The bats were coming into feed on the fig trees and the full moon was rising.
A bit windy, but nothing like yesterday.

Ran 7.3ks in 40:30. Average pace of 5:32 per klm. Legs felt pretty sore after yesterday's race. Quite happy to be running on the grass again.

Central Coast Half Marathon

Sub 4 minute k's baby!
An early start, meaning up at 3:30am for the drive up to The Entrance. Arrived at 6am to a very short reg line. Which about 10 minutes later ballooned into a 20min line. The Organisers were a bit overwhelmed. So much that the race didn't start until 7:25 instead of 7am. We didn't exactly start in the correct spot, probably about 50metres ahead of the line. I guess you can call the course a bit short then. Showers and wind all during the race which didn't let up until just near the finish. How unusual.

Had a good start and got into the correct pace from the start. The lack of klm markers that you could see didn't help the pacing.They were spray painted on the grass next to the bike path. The 4.5k mark was when the 9k fun run turned around which came up in 16:53. Other splits that I recalled were 8k 31:43, 9k 35:43, 13k 51:45, 18k 72:12, 20k 80:00.
The course was basically dead flat but very wet from the rain which made it hard hurdling puddles or plowing straight through some. I was very happy to still keep my pacing even through the race without any noticeable bad k's at all.

The finish was a hard sprint into the wind for the last klm to finish in 84:12. Well if it is 50metres short I guess you could add on 10 seconds and I'm still under the 4min/k pace.
It was great to get all the support from CR's out on the course and before and after the race. I nearly ended up in the water at the end as the legs were pretty wobbly and the finish area is a bit narrow.

Thanks for everyone's support this year. It has been hard work trying to get back to the form I had last year before the 2 stressies. Now to work on my slack 10k and Marathon times.

P.S Can't tell you about the date just yet.

Midnight in the garden of Good and Evil-7ks

After a date on Wednesday night and then end of month stuff Thursday night I finally got to run tonight.
Actually went out for a run at 10pm and it was 30 degrees and humid. Man it was hard work.

Just ran very easy to turn the legs over. Felt like I was never going to get out to run before the race on Sunday.

Ran 7.5ks in 34:50. Average pace of 4:38 per klm. Just ran from home up to Oxford St via the Busway and back again.

3x2k Reps

A run around the Bay Run tonight. Still 27 degrees and 60% humidity.

As I have the half on Sunday I decided to do some 2k reps.
My aim was to run 7:30 per rep.

The reps were 7:24, 7:25, 7:34. All done with a 4 minute walk recovery. Very tough running tonight. Very humid. I did a 2k cool down after the session.
Lots of people out running and walking tonight.

Easy 13ks

Ran into Centennial Park tonight with the light still bright enough to run. A bit cloudy and humid with plenty of runners in the park.
Ran around the dirt trail for a lap and then down to Anzac Pde and back home again.

Ran 13ks in 1:09:34. Average pace of 5:21 per klm.

Goal for the Central Coast Half is to run at 4min/k pace or 84:24 to be precise. I don't like my chances but I'll have a go at the PB at least if that fails.

Chatswood Chase STaR 16ks

I volunteered a while back to help as the 7am host at a Striders STaR and this was the one I ended up with. I helped out the 6am host at the start and then basically run the short version of the STaR for the day. This involves taking around a few slower runners and any new ones that might want to join.
The first 4.5ks were on the Striders Lane Cove 10k course and then we ended up at Epping Rd, down along there until turning up Mowbray Rd and back up the long hill(2.4ks) to the Pacific Hway. We turn at the Great Northern Pub and head up to Chatswood and then run down Fullers Rd back to the start at the National Park. Pretty humid and cloudy conditions this morning.
A bit of helping out at the end with all the other 6am runners coming in after the 30ks etc.

I ended up running 16ks in 1:28:12. Average pace of 5:30 per klm. A very easy pace for me and ok for the half next weekend.

Track 5000m

A short walk to E.S Marks field at Kensington for a track race this afternoon.
Very warm and windy conditions on the track. There was shade for about 100m of the track but the rest was pretty hot.
I raced in racing flats instead of the spikes as I heard the track wasn't the springiest, like Homebush.
Lots of Striders running today. About 10 of us in a field of 35 male and female.
Some talent in this race with myself being lapped by Russell Chin at about the 1k mark.
I don't have all my splits as I forgot where I was up to after the 2k mark.
The 1k was 3:43 and the 2k 7:34. Bang on what I wanted but after that I lost a little each lap and finished in 19:01. Only 7 seconds outside the PB. Close but no cigar.

Next week is the Central Coast Half Marathon at The Entrance.

Edit: Correct Tesso it was 7:34. Not 8. Doh!

Flake Fartlek

Much easier conditions to run in tonight. The wind wasn't as strong but still noticeable.
Ran from home down along the bus way and then up Anzac Pde to Aussie Stadium and back again. Did my version of the Fartlek. That is 28 minutes because Monners was too short.

Ran 7:03 ks in the 28 minutes. Average pace of 3:59 per klm. Finally cracked the 7k mark for this session.

5000m track race on Saturday afternoon. Might finally have an official time for my 5k distance.
Just need a lap scorer.

Half Marathon Pace Run-11ks

Did 3 laps of the running track in Centennial Park just as the Southerly hit. Damn hard work in the 20knot wind that was blowing. Saw Guz at one stage stretching as I ran past.

My splits for the 3 laps were 14:59(4:01), 15:00(4:01), 15:09(4:03). It got too dark to do another lap in the park so stopped at three.
In total ran 11.19ks in 45:08. Average pace of 4:02 per klm. Well close to the pace I wanted but hard work with the wind blowing.

Bad news on my father as apparently they have found another black mark on the same lung he just had surgery on. How did they miss it last time? And I thought I was over the heartache of the last surgery. Here we go again.

Some Like it Hot

A cool 30 degrees when I started running tonight. The temp peaked at 35 near midday so it was cooler. The sun had gone behind the clouds in the west so I didn't have the direct heat on me.
I ran around the Bay Run and it was really hot. The mouth was dry after a couple of hundred metres and I was hanging out for a drink. A cold beer would have been good.

I did a 1k warmup down to the 1k marker and then ran 3k in 11:32. Average pace of 3:50 per klm.Had a 6minute walk recovery. I then ran 2k in 7:38. Average pace of 3:49 per klm. Had a 4 minute walk recovery. Then finished off with 1k in 3:47.
I then did a 2k cool down back to the car. Felt more like a warm up as it was still that warm.

Very dry heat today and expected to be even hotter tomorrow. Supposed to be 38 in the city. Probably a cracking 40 something out West.

Recovery Run 7ks

A short run tonight as I didn't run that much yesterday. The legs felt ok so I just did one lap of Centennial Park around the dirt trail.
Pretty windy tonight but still warm.
Ran 7.53ks in 37:58. Average pace of 5:02 per klm. Nothing too hard about that pace.

Sunday Long Run 19ks

After watching the golf the headed out for a run. Headed up to Bondi Junction and then down past Royal Sydney making mince meat of the traffic leaving the course. Then ran down to Rose Bay and up Heartbreak Hill to Christison Park.
Halfway up heartbreak there is now a sign where tree poisoners have been at work so someone could improve their view of the city skyline. The only problem is they chose three trees around the Oval at Kambala girls school. The school is over a 100 years old. Whoever did this is scum. Hope the sign is still up for next years City 2 Surf so everyone can see it.
Anyway from Christison Park I ran back down Old South Head to home again. Having to run up the hill from Royal Sydney up to Bondi Junction is a killer.

Finished with 19.2ks in 1:29:40. Average pace of 4:40 per klm. Hard work with these hills.

SMC 10K

An early morning out at Smitho with the effects of a cold still in my system. Walked over to the start with Papa Luigi and then caught up with Uncle Dave and Blue Dog on the start line. I pointed out Matthew Thomas to Uncle Dave who was 3rd at the Fishers Ghost 10k last week saying you might have some competition today. So it was with the pair of them battling the full distance. A funny sight was Uncle Dave tucked in behind the 6ft 4inch Matt to slip stream him on the way back. Classic!
As for me, I didn't feel in any rythym at all while I was running. It was all a struggle just to get through the 10k. I got to the 5k in 20:20 and finished with 40:53. Pathetic!
I seem to have had that problem this year. No consistency. One good race and then a bad one the next week. I had a good 3000m track race last week and now a bad road 10k this week. Hope 2007 can bring me better form.
It was great to see Tesso back taking on the Cockroaches and still chasing Johnny Dark in the half. And Mister G racing the half.
Couldn't stay to chat as I had to get into work for a short while. At least till midday anyway.

State Track Relays 4x1500m

Running at Homebush for the Striders in the state relays. We had two teams entered in the 160+ 4x1500m relays. That's combined age of the 4 runners to equal 160 yrs.
After Leftie pulled out of the A team we had the teams changed a bit, I was swapped with Ray Wareham so the club could chase the record.
My team became Stephen Laws, Grandpa, myself, and Glenn Guzzo as anchor.
Steve ran 4:55, Grandpa 4:47, myself 5:09, and Guz finished off with a 4:12 to take 2nd place in 19:03.80 with a Silver medal.

As for my race I have no idea of my lap splits but the cold I picked up this week didn't help with the feeling of the ground under my feet. Just tried to run consistent and not blow out the time. I managed to pass the 3rd place runner at about the 1k mark. And then of course we had Guz as the anchor with no one likely to catch him.

The Striders 'B' team of Sparkie, Tom31, Ray Wareham and Bright Shoes have the State 4x1500m 160+ record at 17:15.71. And the gold medal. The old record was 17:56 by UTS Norths in 1997. I'm sure Striders will be back next year to defend and attack the record.

P.S Ewen's prediction of 5:10 was spot on. Now I just have to find an engraver to do the medal.

Easy 10ks

A very windy and cold night for a run. Into Centennial Park and around the grass trail and then down to Fox Studios. I then ran up to Oxford St and down past the Footy Stadium and SCG and then back home.

Ran 10.1ks in 54:04. Average pace of 5:20 per klm.

Looking forward to the shorter track race on Saturday. Two Striders teams against the world in the 4x1500m relay. Global domination!

McKay Oval 6x200m Reps

Alone at last around Centennial Park's Mckay Oval. The 9000 screaming corporate hoardes wimped out of the Chase Corporate Challenge because it was too windy. I think it was because the beer tents were being blown over. Ok well then that is a valid excuse. They are back tomorrow.

It was 200m reps in the spikes around the grass oval. The surface is a bit rough but better than nothing.
Reps were 34.7, 34.5, 34.2, 34.9, 34.9, 35.4. All done with a full walk recovery back to the start which is 240m on this oval.
Reps were better than last week where they varied between 34.8-36.5. I don't know if we actually have a baton for the relay, maybe the old slap hands changeovers.

Timbrell Park Reps 10x500m

Another round of 500m reps at Timbrell Park. Very windy tonight which didn't help keeping the reps consistent in the wind.

Reps were 1:37, 1:42, 1:41, 1:42, 1:44, 1:43, 1:40, 1:44, 1:38, 1:42.
All done with a 1min walk recovery.

The Relay on Saturday is the Aths NSW club relays. Which means I am running for the Striders.
We have 2 teams entered in the 160+ male age group. Combined age of the four runners.

Bright Shoes, Sparkie, myself and Tom31 are one team in that order. It might be a shock to the others systems considering they all run around 33/34 for 10k and I run 39.

I have not worked out a goal yet for the race. I wouldn't mind breaking 5mins but I'll have to see how I feel on the day.

Easy One Hour

Legs didn't feel too flash tonight during the run. Ran around the grass track in Centennial Park.
Ran down to Anzac Pde and back home again. Pretty warm and windy as well.

Ran 11.5ks in 1:01:28. Average pace of 5:20 per klm.

A less heavy week again this week as I have the State Relays on this weekend at Olympic Park.
Running a 1500m this time. Should be fun.

Build a bigger trophy cabinet

The legs really didn't want to run this morning after last nights track race and standing at the U2 concert. So it was off to hot Campbelltown for the Fishers Ghost 10k Fun Run.
Very humid and a bit windy. My watch said 26 degrees at the start of 8:30 am. Some killer hills in the first lap of the 2 lap course. Funny I had to run the rotten things twice. Went through 5k in 20:40 and managed to finish in 42:12. Nothing to write home about, but I wasn't expecting much from the legs.
Met CR's Mango and Never Gives Up for the first time. Plus Lucky Legs again, who won her age group.

The best part of the day was snaring 3rd place in the 40-49 age group. Yeehah. First fun run trophy. Sarge beat me by about a minute to get 2nd.
Very hot down at Campbelltown, terrible flies. But great organisation and prizes.

That would be me with Lucky Legs, with our trophys in the photo.

State 3000m Track Titles

A very warm and slightly windy night for the race. I had to squeeze this race in before the U2 concert next door. The race was to start at 7:15 but was moved to 7:30 when they added an extra Women's race. I was starting in the C race. I put my estimated time with the officials as 11:30 to make sure they put me in the C race. My goal for the race was 11 minutes if I was good.

They managed to pack 31 of us into the C and B races on the track.
I managed to let most of the runners race off at the start as I wanted to even pace myself through the race. I was in fact last after about 50m. I worked into the race nicely with the spikes feeling ok I ran an 81sec first lap which was too quick for my pacing. I slowed it up eventually going through the 1k in 3:38. At this stage I started passing a few runners who took off too fast, managing to knock off five by the end. I missed the 2k split but did finished under the goal.

10:57.90. 87.73 secs per lap. 3:39 per klm. With the 1st lap being 3:38 the outcome at the end is quite pleasing.
I had both Grandpa and Luke Sky Runner in my race, with Sparkie, Bright Shoes and Ray Wareham in the B race. Vat, Colin, Ellie80 and Owly were cheering in the stands.
Now for the 1500m relays next week. Might need more tips on how to race that one.

U2 was awesome and didn't come on till 8:45 so I could have stayed to watch the other guys run.

Easy 5ks

Managed to get out tonight before a thunderstorm came through with a bit of rain. Ran a lap of Centennial Park around the tarred track. Pretty windy tonight.

Ran 5ks in 25:25. Average pace of 5:05 per klm. Very easy on the legs.

I guess a go flat out strategy could be in place for tomorrow nights track race. Just hope to keep out of the faster runners path's and not look like an idiot. Oh and don't embarrass the Striders. Argh!

Easy 8ks

Ran into Centennial Park and did a couple of laps of the running track.

Ran 8ks in 41:22. Average pace of 5:10 per klm.
Nice and easy tonight. Didn't want to push hard at all.

Ran into Easy Tiger in the park after training.

The goal for the race is to run my own race and not go too hard the first lap. I'm still unsure of what time I want to do, but I sort of have 90 sec laps for 400m as the goal. Which would get me about 11 mins.

McKay Oval 6x200m Reps

A short run tonight just to try out the new spikes.
Ran into Centennial Park and did a few reps around the grass oval. A bit bumpy the ground under foot but otherwise ok.
Felt a bit strange running with the spikes on, but I didn't really see much difference between them and the racing flats I usually wear.

Reps were 36.4, 36.5, 36.1, 35.0, 34.8, 35.8. Very consistent. As recovery I just walked slowly around to the start again, which on this oval is another 240m to give the legs a full recovery.
I had a 1.1k warmup and 1.1k cool down after the session.

Timbrell Park Reps 10x500m

Down to Timbrell Park to run these reps in the fading light and the southerly coming in with the wind and rain starting as I finished.

Ran around the park using Action's markers to do the reps. Did ten 500m reps.
Ran 1:42, 1:39, 1:40, 1:44, 1:42, 1:44, 1:40, 1:46, 1:43, 1:45.
All done with a 60 second walk recovery.

I'll probably try some 200m reps on the grass in Centennial Park in the spikes tomorrow night. Have to try the spikes before I race in them on Saturday night.

Laps of Centennial Park

Plenty of people out running before the sun went down tonight. Pretty strong southerly still blowing. Did a couple of laps of the tar running track in the park.
The circuit is 3.7ks each lap. So did 7.4ks for the session.

First lap 14:29. Average pace of 3:54 per klm.
Second lap 14:20. Average pace of 3:52 per klm.

Overall 7.4ks in 28:49. Average pace of 3:53 per klm. Nice to go faster on the second lap. I actually thought I was running slower. There was no rest in between laps, just the split and kept going.

Surf Club Swim, Board Paddle and Run

Surprisingly pretty flat surf this morning. Amazing considering the wind creating havoc off the coast. Didn't rain during our races at all.
Water was a bit cold during the swim. Expected due to the rain runoff. Nothing to right home about although I did crack a great wave in to the beach.
Went in the board paddle for some fun. Got hit by a few waves going out and couldn't get a wave coming back in. Just between sets, so had to paddle most of the way.
Run was back onto full handicap so I wasn't expecting much and it turned out that way. Pretty average run. But hey it's all fun anyway.

Of course BBQ and beers followed so I've done nothing else fitness wise today. Is this a rest day?

Flakes Track Follies

Next Saturday is my track debut at the State 3000m Championships at Homebush.
Probably be starting in the C race. Don't want to get in the way of anyone that actually can run fast.
Had to buy some spikes for the race. So here they are. Very go fast.

Apparently worn by Bekele during his many world records.

Striders Lane Cove 10k Race

The plan was this morning to beat my course PB of 39:48, which was set in June last year.

Arrived about 6:25 am to find the usual parking street already chockers. Might be a big crowd today. Turned out we had 280 runners doing a 10k on a morning that threatened rain and it did near the end of the race.

Started off a bit quick doing the 1sk in 3:35, 2nd in 7:20, 3rd in 11:20. Held it fairly steady through the hill up Scribbly gums and then the down and up past the old stone bridge going towards the Rangers Hut. Colin passed me about the 3k mark as we were going up Scribblys. Kept him insight and went through the 5k in 19:45 going up to the turnaround.
Belted past Colin on the way back down the hill. The long flat part back always amazes me as to why I don't run faster. Maybe I back off the pace a bit.

Colin and another Strider decided enough was enough and went past me about 9.5ks. The Strider kept going but Colin still left me something to chase which I managed to kick past him across the weir for a win by 2 seconds.
Finished in 39:16 on my watch and also the clock when I crossed, but have been given 39:20 as a time. Oh well.

The washup is:

Course PB by 28 seconds.
Beat my North Head time from September by 1 second, so fastest since July last year.
Second fastest 10k ever for me.
Have only run at Lane Cove 5 times and I have done a course PB every time.
46:21, 42:30, 39:54, 39:48, 39:20. Next race here is Feb next year.

15x 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off

Ran into Centennial Park tonight with dark clouds above and the rain threatening.
Did the circuit of the tarred running track.
The session was 30 seconds hard, 30 seconds float.

Ran 3.85ks in the 15 minutes. Average pace of 3:53 per klm. Better session than before the Sydney Half Marathon.

It was still 26 degrees when I started at 7pm. Sweated buckets running around the park.

Mona Fartlek

Ran on a flat course from Randwick up to Aussie Stadium and then back again. Did my longer version of the fartlek. 28 minutes in total. Ran 6.8ks in that time. Average pace of 4:07 per klm.

It was 20 degrees and 82% humidity when I started with a strong seabreeze blowing as well.

Legs felt sore still from the run on Sunday. They took some convincing that they needed to run a fast session tonight.

Recovery Run 10.5ks

Ran into Centennial Park with the light still present in the sky. I love daylight saving.
Stayed mostly on the grass as the legs were pretty sore from the Six Foot run yesterday.

Ran 10.51ks in 1:04:35. Average pace of 6:08 per klm. I think I was effected by the afternoon sea breeze. Haha.

CR 5K Challenge

I arrived at the bay early as I had to park my car near the finish so I could go off to work straight after. I was confronted by a very strong south-westerly wind with white caps on the bay. As we run the 1st 3k towards the South I decided I wouldn't bother with going hard today.
I did a 3k warmup around to the start to join the masses awaiting the Tiger Angel starting gun.

Started with the 19min group which included Colin and Nando but I had already decided to just cruise around the bay. So did just that being passed by the other groups near the 3k marker and promptly rolling to the finish with a 20:54. Saved myself for another day as I see it.

Ran the 1k back to the car to go to work for the day. Checked the weather while at work and we had wind speed today of 10-15knots with gusts 25-30 knots. Pretty windy.

6x1k Reps

Legs felt like a pair of bricks tonight. Was not looking forward to cranking them up to run fast.
Down around the bay again. A nice strong afternoon seabreeze didn't help the reps get any better. To add to that it was also pretty humid.

Reps were 3:32, 3:30, 3:39, 3:36, 3:36, 3:34. All done with a 2 minute walk recovery.
Did a 1k warmup and a 3k cool down after the session.

Anyone missing my mystery hill reps look here: http://sixfoottrack.blogspot.com/

It's in my profile!

Easy 10ks

Headed out around Centennial Park just as the Southerly hit about 8pm.
A bit showery and very windy during the run. Ran most of it on grass.
Legs felt pretty sore after the hill reps last night.

Ran 10.4ks in 54:55. Average pace of 5:16 per klm.

Recovery Run 8ks

Into Centennial and Moore Parks for this run. Stuck mainly to the grass to give the legs a rest.
Good conditions with a little bit of wind and about 17 degrees.

Ran 8.1ks in 42:38. Average pace of 5:15 per klm.

Straight to the Pool Room

First trophy in 19 years of being in my surf club. Christened with a beer what else.
Yeehah!

A lazy Sunday

Sydney Adventist Hospital Fun Run 10ks

Up to Wahroonga for an 8am start of this race. The suburb is noted for its hills and the race certainly didn't disappoint. The weather looked a little dicey before the start but we had no rain during the race. There was a 10k run, 5k run and a 5k walk going on.
The 10k was off at 8am and we were down around the grounds of the hospital which has hills in its grounds and then out onto the flat fox valley rd which was a narrow rd just waiting for an accident with all the traffic on it. Then it was down and around the local streets with many hills waiting. Saw Pod Runner with kids clapping as I ran around one corner. There were 3 drink stations during the 10k with the course being an out and back mostly so we saw most of the runners. It only became a bit chaotic when the 5k came back to the finish about the same time.
I finished in 41:16 on my watch, not bad considering the hills in Wahroonga. Saw Leftie at the race doing the 5k plus Dash Incredible doing the 10k and met Nite Time Runner as well.
It was well organised with heaps of marshalls and Matt Robbie won it and was absolutely flying. Had to race off to my surf club for another race.

Surf Club Swim and Run

No swimming since March so the race was always going to go well. Nice to be back out in the surf fighting around the buoys. Good waves to come back into the beach totally stuffed.
Skipped the board and ski race and then went in the run. It was all off scratch today so no handicaps until next round. Managed to come in 2nd so handicap should be suitably stuffed next week. The sand was nice and hard to run on.
Next up was a BBQ and beers on the back lawn of one of the clubs. Somehow managed to get burnt during the morning even though it was raining until 11am.
Found out I did actually get a pewter from winning the run last year. Christened with a beer of course.

Centennial Park 13ks

Finally home at 5pm so headed into the park for a couple of laps. Ran around the grass trail along the outside fence. Ran 13.5ks in 1:10:28. Average pace of 5:13 per klm.

Mona Fartlek

Ran the flake version of the Mona Fartlek. That means I did 2x2mins at the start with equal float before doing the standard Fartlek of 2x90sec, 4x60sec, 4x30sec,4x15sec.

It was pretty humid and windy tonight when I started. Ran a flat course from my place down to Anzac Pde and then up to Aussie Stadium and back.

Ran 6.9ks in the 28mins. Average pace of 4:03 per klm. Almost cracked the 4min k for it.

Recovery Run 15.3ks

Just had to call it that because I know Blue Dog's Mum loves the title. haha.

Did a couple of laps of Centennial Park with an extended bit on the 1st lap running down Moore Park Rd instead of around the fence down to the horse gates.
A fair bit of the run was on grass but plenty on the tar footpaths.

Ran 15.3ks in 73:26. Average pace of 4:47 per klm.

Felt quite good on the legs. Pretty windy and humid as well. I guess that is spring and summer.

7x1k Reps.

28 degrees and very windy when I started this session at 7:30pm.
Went over to the Bay Run at Drumoyne to do it.

Reps were 3:36, 3:33, 3:29, 3:35, 3:38, 3:35, 3:40. All done with a 2 minute walk recovery between each rep. Much slower than last week. Must have been the wind.
Nearly had a head on with a cyclist during the third rep as some walkers blocked the path and I went around only to look up when I saw the really dim light and the skid of the bike. The rider gave the walkers some lip and I ran off.

Well I have a 10k fun run this Sunday, and I reckon I'm running like the Darling River this past week. So you guess the time?
Actually with the hills in this one I would be lucky to break 42mins.

Faster Recovery Run 11ks

Legs still felt a bit sore from Sundays race. The front of my left shin felt really tight in the muscle all day. So decided to give up the speed session today and just stay on the grass.

Ran into Centennial Park on a very windy and humid night. 19 degrees and 80% humidity.

Ran 11.2ks in 55:04. Average pace of 4:55 per klm.

Recovery Run 10.5ks

Around Centennial Park with a nice cool breeze and a bit of a shower tonight. Hardly hitting the ground but nice anyway. Ran around on the grass with the bats going a bit nuts tonight for some reason. Maybe F-pos was being grumpy.

Ran 10.5ks in 56:25. Average pace of 5:22 per klm.

SMC Half Marathon

Tip: Do not run a race after a night on the beers and 4 hours sleep.

After getting an email during the week from some old school mates for dinner and drinks last night I just had to do it. I can race whenever I want but you don't get to catch up with old mates every day.

So there was the extent of how the race was going to be this morning. A belly full of beer and a bad hangover which I still had during the race. Stomach wanted to deposit contents everytime I coughed during the race which was not a good feeling.

Had a shocker of a race and ran 1:33:06. No splits couldn't be bothered. I'm not disappointed as I am fully reponsible for my crappy race. Seeing guys you haven't seen for 2 years was a great night. The conditions were not that good out at Smithfield with high humidity and pretty windy from the southerly blowing, I guess much better than Saturday's 36 degrees.

Lots of CR's running in all events. With Uncle Dave 2nd in the 10k and I think Springer 2nd in the Half. All conquering Aunty K was back from the GC Half IM.

Easy 10ks

Still 29 degrees when I went for a run at 7:30pm. How hot is that for October.

Ran around Centennial Park and down to Fox Studios and back again.

Ran 10ks in 45:24. Average pace of 4:32 per klm.

Had a rest day yesterday. Had to go and see the parents for dinner. My father is pretty crook at the moment due to the radiation treatment. He has no taste for food and can only taste water.
He has just finished the 2nd week so has three more to go.

Mid-Week Run 15ks

Ran this pretty hard on a flat area around Centennial Park, Moore Park and the Showgrounds.
Pretty much flat. Very windy as the north east sea breeze was blowing strong.

Ran 15ks in 63:18. Average pace of 4:13 per klm.

Heard the roars of the crowd from the soccer as I ran past Aussie Stadium tonight. Must have been the first goal I heard.

Couldn't get the correct print colour back on that last blog after making the time red so it ended up pretty dark for the rest of it. Sorry.

7x1k Reps. With a PB.

Around the bay again. No warmup so I was asking for trouble. Not happy with the pacing tonight as I was up and down in speed. Maybe the wind effected it?

Reps went 3:37, 3:27, 3:32, 3:36, 3:34, 3:37, 3:37. A 2 second PB for a 1k rep. Oh yeah.
All done with a 2minute walk recovery after a tip from Ewen about lactic acid. Legs felt better during the reps for it.

It helped during the 2nd rep that I had some guys run past pretty quick as I was in my recovery so had someone to chase. I'm pretty sure they sped up when I went past so I had to go a bit quicker to keep away from them. Certainly helped.

On the 3rd rep I was nearly shirt fronted into the bay by someone who decided to stay right while approaching me and I nearly ended in the water. %$*&#@. Keep left.

Feeling good for the half on Sunday.

Recovery Run 11ks

Into Centennial Park and around the grass track tonight, and then down via Oxford St to Fox Studios and back again.

Quite cool tonight but I still ran in singlet and shorts.

Ran 11.1ks in 57:43. Average pace of 5:11 per klm. Just right for a recovery run.

A bit of class A manure was used on the racetrack today leaving a lovely smell around the suburb.

Tourist Trot STaR-22ks

Not running with the Striders just on my own. Took one of the short options today plus added a bit extra to make the 22ks.

Started in Centennial Park and ran half of the park loop and then out through the Woollahra gates and down Ocean St to New South Head Rd at Edgecliff. Then I ran through into Rushcutters Bay and up the hill to the Cross and down William St. Then a turn up to St Marys Cathedral and across Macquarie St and down King St all the way to Kent. Then I ran up Kent until going down Napoleon St and along Hickson Rd around the Rocks. Back through Circular Quay, the Opera House, Royal Botanical Gardens and Garden Island. And then a run up the hill through the Cross and back past the SCG to Centennial Park and the finish to home.

Pretty cool conditions due to the trees and buildings for most of the run except for the bit along Circular Quay, the opera house and the gardens. Very hot there.

Ran 22ks in 1:46:31. Average pace of 4:50 per klm.

A day at the Races

Usually I'm not too bad at picking horses. But when I pick one of the favourites called Magnus and he doesn't come in the first three I know I'm in trouble. And then I pick Gallant Tess a favourite and it all goes to mud.

So if anyone spots my shirt around the Randwick area please let me know. I had a lot of fun anyway.

It was Epsom Day Races at Randwick Racecourse today.

Pyramid Scheme

Ran around Randwick and Moore Park tonight as I am not running at Homebush tomorrow.

Ran 3ks in 12:00. Average pace of 4:00 per klm. Then had a 5min standing recovery.
Ran 2ks in 7:34. Average pace of 3:47 per klm. Then had a 4 min standing recovery.
Ran 1k in 3:40.

I was actually trying to do 4/3:45/3:30. Oh well, worth a shot on tired legs for the last one.

20 x 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off

Ran this on a nice flat area near home. The Southerly had started to blow so it was pretty windy during the session. Had a 1.5k warmup before hand and a 2k afterwards.

Ran 4.9ks in the 20 minutes. Average pace of 4:04 per klm.

Bad news for sports fans. Looks like I won't be able to make the race at Homebush on Saturday due to work commitments. I'll have to work out what to do with my races from now on.
I may have to look at doing the 10k at Smithfield in 2 weeks instead of the half marathon.

Blue Dogs mum will be happy!

Easy Run-30 Minutes

Ran around the neighbourhood just for fun.

Took it easy today and ran it all on tar down to Fox Studios and back and around a few streets near there.
Ran 6.55ks in 31:16. Average pace of 4:46 per klm.
Pretty strong southerly breeze blowing tonight but nothing too hard.

Looking forward to the 10k on Saturday. Site of the PB from July last year and due for a flogging. Just have to see if Ultra Blue Dog is up to the challenge of being chased around the park at Homebush.

5k Time Trial = PB

Well it has been a long long time between 5k PB drinks for me. January 2005 to be exact.
Decided it was time to attack the old 5k PB.
This time headed down to the Bay Run to run a nice and flat course.

Splits were 3:46, 3:44(7:30), 3:45(11:15), 3:55(15:10), 3:44(18:54).
A bit of a headwind between the 3rd and 4th k. So that's a 9 second PB but I'll take it thanks.

Then did a 2k cool down in 10:20 back to the 3k marker.
Did 1k fast back to the 2k mark in 3:40. And then ran back to the start as a 2k cool down.

So happy I just had to have a red wine to celebrate. Love it.

Short Recovery Run-7ks

Into Centennial Park about 9am. The park was starting to heat up pretty well even with the light cloud cover. Plenty of people about running and cycling.

Ran a lap of the dirt trail around the outside fence. Did 7.02ks in 37:47. Average pace of 5:22 per klm. Legs were pretty stiff from yesterdays run after which I went straight to the NRL Grand Final. Great atmosphere with heaps of noise from both sets of fans.

STaR Mix-20ks

A mix of the Bondi Lifesaver, Vaucluse Variation and the Tourist Trot today. Lucky my place is near an area that allows me to run heaps of different places.

Started from home early afternoon as I had a very late night at work with end of month stuff.
Ran up to Bondi Junction and then through Bondi and Dover Heights and then back down Heartbreak Hill. Fantastic views of the harbour today with the strong North East sea breeze blowing the yachts along fast.
Down the hill through to Rose Bay and Double Bay and then back up the hill to Edgecliff, through Woollahra and into Centennial Park and back home.

All up 20:30 ks in 1:37:44. Average pace of 4:48 per klm. Pretty good with the strong breeze and the hills in this run.

Saw about a half a dozen of those Red City 2 Surf caps today. Hopefully they are all new runners getting healthy.

6x1k Reps

Down to the bay run to do my first 1k reps for three weeks.

Reps were 3:34, 3:39, 3:42, 3:42, 3:40, 3:42. All done with a 2min standing recovery.
Pretty humid around there and the Southerly was blowing quite hard as well.

I guess no running for a week took some speed off me. Either that or I just feel tired from all the work I've had to catch up on this week. Bloody holidays!

A lap of Centennial Park-7ks

No time to run tonight. Just did a quick lap of Centennial Park around the outside.
Ran on tar and grass with a bit of sand thrown in and one long hill.

Ran 7.6ks in 34:23. Average pace of 4:31 per klm.

Playing in the sandpit-13ks

A bit longer run tonight and a bit faster as well. Ran around the outside of Centennial Park sticking to as much grass as I could.
While running back home a rock that must have been buried by Blue Dog's Mum in one sandy section leapt out at me and knocked me over. At least I had a soft landing.

Ran 13.3ks in 1:05:02. Average pace of 4:53 per klm. A bit of a strong sea breeze blowing tonight but not too bad.

A short one hour

Ran around Centennial Park, how unsual for me. Stayed mostly on the grass.

Ran 10.6ks in 55:15. Average pace of 5:12 per klm.
Just easing back into after a week off. Reading an old running mag, ok only a few months old. Apparently you lose 10% of your fitness for each week you don't run when injured. Although not injured the only exercise I did last week was one day of hard snow ski-ing.

No rest for the wicked

Straight off the plane from training camp. No unpacking. Just grabbed the shoes and took off in the 30 degree heat at 5pm this afternoon.
Ran into Centennial Park and did a lap. Horrible conditions with that heat and wind. My eyes were cursing me after copping a lot of dirt in them around the park goat track.

Ran 7ks in 37:31. Average pace of 5:21 per klm. Hardly fast enough to burn off the beer, red wine and pizza from the training camp.

Training Camp Photo's

Unfortunately I have been let loose with a camera at the training camp. Many hills here to do some reps on.
One photo is the view from the golf course across the Rakaiia river to Mt Hutt in the background.
The road(in the dry) is going to a place east of Christchurch where an old glacier carved out this bay. Half the street and shop names were french. Very weird in the land of the maori. And how did they get here when the Maori's wouldn't even let the Poms in?
A view of the back country from the top ofMt Hutt. Went heli-skiing in there last year.
The last road is going back through the Alps that I crossed when I drove from the East Coast to the West Coast via Arthurs Pass. A very narrow country!

Training Camp

More photo's when I work out how to download from the new digital camera.

Missed out on a race I could have done on the 30th of September.

Ski 2ks, Mountain Bike 16ks and then run 10ks to a pub. Called the Peak to Pub race.

The Mountain Bike would be very interesting. 1000M vertical over 16ks on a dangerous gravel/shale road that I had trouble driving on. The finish in the pub would be excellent.

Now we could get MPH and FPT to add the Mountain Bike bit into the 20/20 pub crawl somewhere and it would make it interesting.

Ok I'm not actually running, just standing on the top of Mt Hutt.

My Dad's out of hospital

Happy days! My Dad got let out of hospital last night after the wound finally stopped leaking air(lung) on Friday.
I think his five weeks of radiation therapy starts on Monday. Here's hoping that goes well.

Have been given a half gun time of exactly the same as my watch 86:49. That timing clock did work.

Gale force winds at training camp so the ski resort was closed and golf was useless with that wind. Had to resort to a drive to the other side of the country instead. Helps when that is only 3 hrs away.

High Altitude Training Camp

I'm off for a holiday from tomorrow. No running this time just snow ski-ing and golf. It's a hard life!

Sydney Half Marathon

Woke early at 4am to make sure I was fully physically ready, body wise for the race. A long roundabout cab ride at 5:15am due to living on the course route lead to me getting to the start at 5:45am. Spoke to Ellie80, O Runner, Leftie, sfGnome and Team Dog before the start.
Joined the toilet line which took 30 mins leading me to make a very hasty sprint for the clothing truck and then the start line. A bit of a jam trying to get onto the road, eventually followed Leftie to get a good start position, about 10 rows back.
Justified my start position by basically being overtaken by only a handful of runners during the race. Good self seeding is what some race experience does for you.

I was off and running basically 10 seconds after the gun and was into clear space by the turn onto the bridge. Settled into a rythym pretty much straight away and just cruised the race trying to stay as relaxed as possible. I can't remember all my splits but here are a few: 1k-4:15, 2k-8:17, 5k-20:30, 12k-49:00, 13k-52:50. Forgot the rest.
I felt good most of the race but had a struggle coming up to the Glebe Island bridge and into Pyrmont when I felt like crap. Managed to pull myself together as I knew we had the long flat section after that through the Rocks.
Observatory Hill starting from Hickson Rd and the Arygle Cut steep bit nearly killed me. Almost walked at one stage but decided against it. I was given a lift again across the Cahill by the cheersquad to manage a downhill sprint finish in 86:49. 5 seconds off the PB from the flat Lake Macquarie. So I know I will run faster when I get a flat course again.

Great to see all the Cool Runners and Striders out in force in all the events on the day.
The Cheer Squad by the time I left at the Marathon 4hr stage wouldn't have been about 50 people. Awesome.

Some great marathon runs by Glenn Guzzo getting 3rd overall and 1st Aussie, Uncle Dave 5th,
26 Miles going sub 3hr and Blue Dog belting out a 3:09 after some 100 miler 2 weeks ago.

Thanks for everyones support on the course. The guys that I was running near for most of the race were amazed at how many people yelled out to me, including a mate from my Surf Club at that coffee shop in Prymont before you cross Darling Harbour.

I am still amazed at the pack mentality of runners who play follow the leader. I followed the racing blue line all the way and when it wasn't I ran gutter to gutter. Saved heaps of leg work.
Took a photo of the male winner and Jenny Wickham the lead female Strider(5th I think).

15x 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off

Found a relatively flat area to run this. Pretty heavily lit, so very easy to see the watch while running. About 1.2ks each loop with not too much traffic to contend with.

Goal was 30 seconds hard and then 30 seconds float. And do that 15 times for a total of 15 mins.
Ran 3.65ks in the 15 minutes. Average pace of 4:06 per klm.

Did a 1.5k warmup and then a 2.5 cool down after the session.
Legs feel very good after the session, as it wasn't too long.

One Hour Easy 10.5ks

A nice cool night for a run. Ran around Centennial Park down to Fox Studios and back again. Mostly ran on the grass to save the legs.
Ran into Gronk down near Queens Park having a run in the skins.

I ran 10.5ks in 57:30. Average pace of 5:28 per klm.
Took the run nice and easy and didn't try and push it.

It seems my Dad will be starting 5 weeks of radiation late September. Hopefully that will have him feeling well for Christmas.

Half Marathon Pace Run-7ks

Looking for a flat place to run this I headed down to the Bay again. Starting from Drumoyne Rowers and running down the 5k course until the end. And then turned and ran back up to the 3k marker. Broke a bit of rythym doing it that way. After finishing did a 3k cool down back to the car.

Ran 7ks in 27:46. Average pace of 3:58 per klm. I was aiming at 4 minute ks so a bit quick for the purpose of the session. But satisfying as it felt good to keep that pace on the flat.

Lets see how I go with the hills and crowd added in on Sunday morning. Feels good anyway.

My Half Marathon PB has now been fixed up by the race organisers from the Lake Macquarie Half. I've now been given 86:44 as the PB. So a 32 second PB for the race. Now I have a faster time to beat at Sydney Half.

A lap of the lake

An easy run tonight around Centennial Park. The run had that much water on the ground it felt like I should have had the flippers out. I was also showered on for a couple of minutes during the run plus that great Southerly wind is still blowing strong.

Ran 7.35ks in 37:11. Average pace of 5:03 per klm.

Talked to my Dad tonight and he said they had results back about the pieces they took out of his lung, artery and lymph gland. It was Cancer unfortunately.
Hopefully that will be the last of it. But he does now have to have radiation for it. Don't understand the last bit, but there you go.

Looks like he may be out by the weekend which is great. Might have to run fast for him on Sunday in the half. Go hard or go home for me!

Magpies R Us

A 7am start this morning as I ran into Centennial Park. A howling southerly was blowing as I made my way around the park. Getting up to the ovals up at Oxford St I was dive bombed by 3 magpies on the 2nd lap of the park. Not one when I ran the oval on the first lap around the park. They do nest in the pine trees next to the oval so I was asking for trouble.
Luckily I managed some pace as I ran down one side of the oval to escape them. I just saw Birds again on foxtel and was thinking of a Hitchcock moment for a while.

Plenty of water in the lakes which are over flowing at the moment so the big storm water drain on Alison Rd is flowing like the Snowy River should be.
I thought I would have a non CR day until right near the end I saw Kit, Razor, and Roses with two other ladies about to start their runs.

Run was 18ks in 1:34:03. Average pace of 5:13 per klm. Didn't push it too hard today. Really tired after watching the Swans match and then the Rugby debacle last night.

Full Moon Fever- a 1 hour program

Still very windy tonight and quite cold when I ran. Went into Centennial Park and around and down to Anzac Pde and back again. Just stayed on the grass mostly to save the legs.

Ran 11.5ks in 1:00:35. Average pace of 5:16 per klm. Just took the run easy and didn't push too hard.

Found out when the Doctor was in checking on my Dad's lung they found the growth had gone into his pulmonary artery so they took part of that out as well. Surely you could have seen that from the tests before opening him up.

The photo from a couple of posts ago was taken in Adelaide at my fathers first communion.

I'll wait and see how the weather is Sunday morning on whether I do the 10k at Putney or just do a run in Centennial Park.

A quick run

Not a lot of time to go for a run tonight. Very windy but with no rain at all. Did a lap of Centennial Park the same as last night. Hard work in the howling wind.
Ran 7.66ks in 35:06. Average pace of 4:34 per klm.

Went and saw my Dad tonight at the hospital. He has been taken out of intensive care already and to me looks like he did before going in for surgery. The Doctors are impressed at his recovery. He's already giving me a hard time about work, so that is good.
Says he has no pain now. He did forget to mention that he is hooked up to a morphine drip.
No mention yet of when he gets to go home. They did have him wearing the nana socks ala Paula Radcliffe except they have holes in the toe areas. Very funny.

Tears for Fears

I had no time tonight to do anything longer so just did a lap of Centennial Park the long way round. Including going down to Anzac Pde and back home.

Ran 7.6ks in 36:11. Average pace of 4:45 per klm. Felt really good running in the rain, although thinking about my Dad a bit too much doesn't help keep dry.

I had a phone call from my mother after the run and she said my Dad was in intensive care still and in a lot of pain. Kept asking the nurses to take the weight off his shoulder. That could be the drugs talking though. He is talking and breathing without oxygen which is fantastic.
The Doctor was very happy with how he responded to the surgery. They took a piece of one lung so hopefully he won't be too restricted when he gets out. Early days yet.

Thank you for everyone's kind thoughts, very much appreciated. I try to keep this blog running/injury related mostly but even though I have had a good run in the last 2 weeks with training my Dad has been on my mind since he first went into hospital on Tuesday last week.

Little boy goes to Hospital

The little boy is now 69 and is in the middle of the back row.

Right now he is in hospital about to have a tumour removed from one of his lungs.

Hope it goes well and he can still do everything he did before the surgery.

I spoke to him about 2 hours ago and asked him if he was nervous. He said he wasn't but he was scared but there was nothing he could do about it.

I'm scared too. More like I'm crying but not much I can do about it as he said.

Just try and keep the other wolves of my so called relations at bay if anything does happen.

Love you Dad.

6x1k Reps, with a PB thrown in

This is not a test. Yes it is true. After a crappy 10k I run a fast 1k rep. Go figure.
Egged on by Easy Tiger yesterday who said I should be able to run faster, I had a go.
The North East Se Breeze blowing tonight dictated how I decided to run the reps.
Basically no warmup and start from the 0 marker on the bay run and ran down to the 5k mark.
I then jogged back to the 4k mark and ran back to the 3k. Then did a 3k cool down back to the car.
The run goes into the wind during the 3-4k leg hence the slow time.

Reps were 3:29, 3:32, 3:31, 3:42, 3:35, 3:35. All done with a 2 minute walk recovery.
The 3:42 rep was into the wind for about 800metres. The first three reps were equal to or faster than the 3:32 PB from last week.
Now just have to keep some of this pace for the Half Marathon next week.

The trail beyond

After a massage from the Tiger this afternoon the legs felt pretty sore to me. Maybe I'm just soft, who knows?

Anyway I ran into Centennial Park along the grass trail avoiding tree roots and possum mating rituals.

Ran 10.61ks in 58:45. Average pace of 5:32 per klm.

Easy Tiger was baiting me to run a quick 1k rep this week. I thought I did that last week? There is always room for improvement. Might make it hard with the forecast showers from Wednesday. We'll see how it goes.

Centennial Park 31ks

The run was in two parts today due to Fathers Day commitments at the SCG watching the swans win. Love you Dad.
The morning part started about 6:30 am with a couple of laps and a bit extra making it 15ks in 1:18:22. Average pace of 5:13 per klm.It was 17 degrees when I started but started to get very humid by the time I finished. Then it was off to the footy.

Second part started about 4:30 pm after lunch and beers and the footy. Glorious warm day for a run, with it being 24 degrees at 6:30 pm after I finished.
The run was 16ks in 1:27:22. Average pace of 5:27 per klm. Too much lunch and beers I think.

Total was 31ks in 2:45:44. Average pace of 5:20 per klm. All run on the grass and dirt trail in Centennial Park.

Next weekend I might do the Bridge to Bridge 10k fun run at Putney. A nice hilly course to work my legs over for the half the week after.

Striders North Head 10k Race

Under promise and under deliver. Done on both fronts.

Arrived very early 6:20am and did a bit of a warmup with 26 miles up to the roundabout and back. It this stage I already wasn't feeling confident about the race.

Started out really well and was at the 2k mark in 7:30, so looking good.
Well after that it was all mud. Found it very hard to get any rythym and felt like I was struggling just to run in any decent form. I proceeded to then go through every k in 4minute pace and eventually get to the 9k mark at 35:40.

Managed to crank out a 3:41 last k. Well that one is downhill partially to finish in 39:21.

Good points. Yes I do have some, besides missing the PB by 10 seconds.

Fastest 10k in 14 months.
An improvement of 1:14 over 10k since Homebush in July.
A course PB by 1:36 from May last year.
2nd Fastest 10k ever for me.

I know I can run better than this, just not today.
Much to work on before the year is out. I am as keen as mustard to knock off the 5 and 10k PB's this year. Plus knock the Half PB down to sub 84.

Thanks for everyone's support in the last month, much appreciated.

6x1k Reps, with a PB thrown in

I guess I can still count a 1k rep as a PB. I did have 5 others with it and it wasn't a one off event.

Down to the Bay Run with a very humid air and a slight hint of a breeze.
Did a 1k warmup down to the CR1k marker, and then started.

Reps were 3:32, 3:35, 3:38, 3:37, 3:39, 3:37. All done with a 2 minute standing recovery.
Did a 1k cool down back to the car again.

The PB was the first rep. Old 1k PB of 3:35 was 5 weeks ago at the same place.
Ok I'm not feeling as crap in the body as I thought. Just my head.

Easy 55 Minutes

Legs needed an extra day to recover from the half on Sunday so just ran around on the grass in Centennial Park. Woke up a couple of possums and bats while doing so.

Had a bit of a shower late on the run. Not very heavy as the trees seemed to block the rain from hitting me.

Ran 10.5ks in 55:20. Average pace of 5:16 per klm.

Recovery Run 12.3ks

Into Centennial Park with it pretty windy tonight.
Legs feeling pretty sore after the half yesterday so stuck to the grass most of the way.

Ran 12.3ks in 67:37. Average pace of 5:29 per klm. Took it very easy tonight.

Bit of a pain having the time on my watch at the lake half which I started and stopped by the gun and the finish line read 86:43 and then get given officially 86:57.
I guess the wheel chair guy at the start meant they took time off. We were told it would be 1 min, but that obviously was wrong.

Oh well, must run faster at Sydney Half then.

And Tesso the Striders all time lists only use the race websites gun times as PB's.
All fair I think, just get up the front and push hard for the PB.

Ripped off

Well according to my watch which I started as the gun went and since I stood right at the front of the lake half marathon I assumed that would be close to my time.

How stupid can I be. I've just been ripped off 14 seconds from my PB in the official results.

So new PB is 86:57 apparently. Lucky I had a few seconds up my sleeve.

Lake Macquarie Half Marathon PB-86:43

Well 14 months of leg pain and head frustration over the same thing has finally come to fruition today as I knocked off my Half Marathon PB.
The old PB was set in June 2005 at the Kembla Joggers Half Marathon. For anyone that hasn't run that course it rates as hard for hills as the SMH Half.

The course up at Lake Macquarie on the NSW central coast was rumoured to be flat. Well it would be if it didn't have a couple of hills that go for a 1.5k's that you get to run 4 times as it is a 5k out and back course.

The start was pretty cool but soon heated up later with a bit of wind off the lake in the last 5ks coming back as well.
I started ok with the 1st k of 3:50 and then getting to 5k in 19:59, but from then on the bleeding of time per k started and I knew I was struggling to keep my goal of 4/min ks.
Ran through the 10k in 40:30 and then finished in 86:43 for a 33 second PB.

Met some new CR's up at the race including Louie de fly, the mule, poppy and kazads.
Plus saw Tuttle, Queen Bee, Luke Skyrunner, Mrs Skyrunner, Psychoma and Redback doing the races. There was about 400 doing the half with at least double that in the 10.5k race.

Two PB's in 2 weeks. Got to love that. Next up the 10k PB on Saturday at North Head.
Thanks for everyone's encouragement recently.

Easy Run-35 Minutes

A very wild night in the wind with a bit of rain falling, but hardly touching the ground.

Ran 6.6ks in the 35 minutes. Took it very easy.

Did a lap around Centennial Park on the grass for this run.

For Tesso: My car does have a TV and also a temp guage that gives the outside temp, hence the 18 degrees.

Timbrell Park Reps 10x500m

Down to Timbrell Park to do these reps. Ran along the section from the 1k marker back to the 500m point. Very well lit with the street lights.

Reps were 1:48, 1:48, 1:49, 1:47, 1:47, 1:45, 1:46, 1:47, 1:46, 1:45.
All done off a 60 second recovery. Reps felt really good. Had a 1k warmup and cool down.

The air was a bit humid and the car said 18 degrees when I started. Nice.

Hard 50 minutes

A pretty flat run with the only hill right at the start as I ran up towards the Uni of NSW, but then there is a long downhill after that towards Anzac Pde.
I then ran down Anzac Pde until getting to the Maroubra shops and turning around and coming back almost the same way except going up Anzac Pde further until getting to Moore Park and going down Alison Rd to home.

Lots of up and down footpaths and traffic lights to slow me down. Very hard to keep a rythym going on this run. But it is mostly flat which is why I ran this way.

Ran 11.6ks in the 50 mins. Average pace of 4:18 per klm. A warm 19 degrees when I started with a bit of a breeze blowing.

Feeling good for Sunday's half marathon.

Edit: Goal for the half is 84:25 exactly 4min ks or beat Blue Dogs PB of 85:37 if not. Flat course.

Faster Recovery Run 10ks

Into Centennial Park for this yet again. No bats were hurt in the process.

Ran 10ks in 49:07. Average pace of 4:54 per klm.

Legs still felt pretty stiff from Sundays long run so decided to take it easy again.

Recovery Run 12ks

A warm humid night as I ran into Centennial Park waking the bats up.
Ran around the grass trail up to Oxford St and then down to Anzac Pde and back again.

Just a slow recovery run doing 12.2ks in 1:08:02. Average pace of 5:34 per klm.

Legs felt pretty sore after the long run yesterday, hopefully they will get some action back into them for the half on Sunday.

Vaucluse Variation STaR 28.7ks

One of the four Striders STaR's that start in the Eastern Suburbs. The others being Clovelly Canter, Tourist Trot and Bondi Lifesaver.
Started in a park at Vaucluse with a very fresh breeze blowing at 6am when I arrived.
The run goes down Heartbreak Hill to Rose Bay, through Rose Bay to Double Bay up an over the hill at Edgecliff and half down to Rushcutters Bay but then we turn and run up through Bondi Junction and Waverley.
We then run down into Bronte and run along the cliff back through Glamourama and Bondi.
Then go up Military Rd and along to the coast to the Macquarie lighthouse and past the gap(thinking of jumping at this point as the legs were shot), and down past Doyles for some fish and chips at Watto Bay.
We then run back through the hoi polloi of Vaucluse and back to the park. Rated an H3 on the striders hill factor out of 5. The worst part is there are steps every where up and down. Kills the rythym and the legs.

Plenty of CR's about Fats, Amjan, Springer, Grandpa, Sportman, Leftie, Will, Roses, 26miles, Silverfox, Virtual and the out of retirement Don Juan.

Ran 28.7ks in 2hrs 35mins. Had a little deviation at Double Bay as I ran off for a toilet and had to catch up the group which took me half an hour.
Average pace of 5:24 per klm. Not too bad considering the hills and stairs and my lack of endurance fitness recently.
Lake Macquarie Half next Sunday. Hunting for sub 4min/ks.

6x1k Reps

A warm 21 degrees at 7:30pm when I started tonight.

My nancy boy legs were being used to good effect around the bay run tonight.

Reps were 3:37, 3:39, 3:41, 3:41, 3:39, 3:43. All done with a 2min standing recovery.

Pretty slow actually. I guess it doesn't help when I had a massage this afternoon.

Did a 1k warmup and a 1k cool down before and after the session.

A massage by Easy Tiger

Tiger said "you are the biggest nancy boy client I have, and you can put that in your blog"

So I did.

Hamstring seems to be getting better after the massage, a bit hard to tell until I start running.
Apparently I'm getting more loose during the massage. Must be the whale's mating music.

1k Reps later tonight.

A Quick One Hour

I was intending to run this as a Half Marathon Pace Run but upon starting I discovered a very nasty 20knot N/E seabreeze blowing. Well that certainly wasn't going to help when I had to run into it for about 2 and half ks of the loop I was doing.

Instead ran for an hour covering 14.1 ks in that time. Average pace of 4:15 per klm.

Legs felt pretty sore in the hamstring and hip areas. Massage tomorrow.

Mona Fartlek

Extended out to 28mins by me.
Down to the bay to do this one after the afternoon hail storm.

Ran 6.72ks in the 28 minutes. Average pace of 4:10 per klm. Not bad considering the race on Sunday.

Did a 1k warmup and a 1k cool down before and after the session. Hamstring hurt a bit, but what's unusual about that. Couldn't spot a Cool Runner tonight.

Just some C2S trivia:
My position in 2004(last race) was 1676th place with a time of 62:52.

Position for this year was 751st with a time of 58:05.

Geez the legs felt good tonight

Should have run harder yesterday at C2S, the legs feel great. I guess it was only 14ks and not a 30k long run so there is a bit of a difference.

Into Centennial Park with a warm breeze blowing, and only disturbed a couple of bats. I thought they would have been tired after doing C2S yesterday. I'm sure Batman would have run.

Any it was a run up to Oxford St and then down to Fox Studios and along Anzac Pde and back. Nearly all grass and dirt. Ran 12.2ks in 65:16. Average pace of 5:20 per klm.

City 2 Surf PB= 58:05

It's been a hard road back from missing last years race with one Stress fracture just before and then getting another one in February this year.
I'm so relieved to get this race out of the way. I know it is only a 14k race and who keeps tabs on a 14k PB? Really missed doing the race last year especially when I was in good form just before it.
Race day started early meeting Johnny Dark, Tesso, Blue Dog and Bernie G in a dark alley outside the Sydney Water building trying to send our bags to Bondi in the truck. Made our way to the start line by 7am for the long wait till the 9:30 start. The usual tricks were pulled by people as I was right on the rope I had people get out in front of me before the start to 'stretch' and then not go back.
The race start was very easy, lots of space to run in and I still managed to pass people on William St who clearly should not have been at the front of the A1 start. Saw Fats, Coaster and Don Juan going down the first hill.

Ran with Minersrun, Shell, Pod Runner, Spiderman and Strider Jo Cowan for different parts of the race. I was at the 5k in 20:25. Which seemed to be accurate. The 6k was 24:25 and the dodgy '7k' in 30:30. I don't think I was that slow up the hill.
Passed the 10k in 42:45 and then flew to the finish to run 58:05. With a 15:20 last 4ks.
Love the 'negative split' 7k 30:30/27:35. The 2004 'negative split' was 33:00/29:52.

A PB of 4:47 from 2004, and finally the chance to update the PB's on my blog.
A nice after race softies and chat at the Striders 'tent'. Thanks to the new striders for setting up.
Then it was off to the Bondi Hotel for the hard drinks and more catching up with CR's and Striders. Beat Blue Dog by 8 minutes.

Next race is Lake Macquarie Half in 2 weeks with a crack at the sub 4min ks.

.Weapon of Choice

Asics DS Racers.
Racing Red! Yeehah.

Easy Run-35 Minutes

A very easy run into Centennial Park tonight. Hamstring still hurting when I run.
Woke up Batfink. He was not happy.

Ran 6.8ks in the 35 minutes. Average pace of 5:08 per klm. Easy run, nothing too hard.

Looking forward to Sunday even if I don't run well. Just hated when I missed it last year.

Centennial Park Run 12ks

An easy run into Centennial Park as the legs were pretty sore.
Ran around the grass trail up to Oxford St and then down to Anzac Pde and back again.

Ran 12.6ks in the 65 minutes. Average pace of 5:09 per klm.

Right hamstring still feels sore. Right hip was a bit sore until I warmed up after a few k's and then the pain disappeared. I think there is a right hand side pattern emerging here.

5k Time Trial + 4x1k Reps

With the howling wind around the bay tonight it really wasn't a great time to try for any fast stuff. But it just has to be done today as Bondi awaits on Sunday.

Started at the CR0 marker where else to do the 5k.
Went through the 1st k in 3:50. Thats the downhill rep. 2nd k came up in 7:43. 3rd k in 11:35. 4th k in 15:25. To finish in 19:20. Close to the PB but no cigar. I'll probably have another shot when it is not as windy. Had a 10 minute recovery before starting the 1k reps.

Then did 4x1k Reps running back to the 1k marker and then did a 1k cooldown.
Reps were 3:48, 3:46, 3:41, 3:43. All done with a 2 minute standing recovery.

Now just some easy runs until the Park St brekkie.

The getting of Wisdom

Actually the loss of wisdom as the wisdom tooth was pulled this afternoon.
Had a little abcess below the tooth.
Better to take the pain now than later when it became too bad.

It really wasn't painful as they put three needles into your mouth first.
Then get a pair of pliers that my mechanic would love to own and pull the bugger out.

So today is a rest day as apparently an elevated heart rate from any exercise would make the hole in my gum bleed. So I'll do the 1k reps tomorrow night.

Anyone fainted yet?

And Miners I have an extra 4kgs of weight over last year at this time so why waste extra on shoes. So the racing flats will get their longest workout from me in a race. Previous was 11k at Sutherland to Surf a couple of weeks ago.

One Hour Around the Park

Feeling tired, crappy and with an old filling giving me the s&*ts.
I ran around the outside of Centennial Park staying on the grass mostly.

Ran 11.2ks in the hour.

Just noticed as well while inspecting my running shoes that I need to buy another pair of racing flats. Looks like the tread is wearing off on the bottom. Need to get them before Sunday.

Hamstring was still a bit sore tonight.

Centennial Park 15ks

After a night at the Rugby I slept in till midday. Luxury, pure luxury.

I finally got out for a run about 1:30 pm so headed into Centennial Park to do a few laps of the dirt trail around the outside of the park.
Ran 15.2ks in 1:20:38. Average pace of 5:18 per klm. Very slow today.
The hamstring was giving me grief all during the run. Hope it can hold together till 10:30am Sunday. That's after I have finished C2S.

Saw Amjan and Fats in the park doing some Cross Training.

Aths NSW Road Relays 4klms

Gave the CR demi-god of sex Don Juan a lift down to the gong for the Road Relays.
A pretty flat 2k course around the beach front of Wollongongs flagstaff point.
And doing 2 laps of that.
The Striders B team is coming 1st in the Winter teams comp at present.
So the the mad guz called on the guns of Vat, Blue Dog and Don Juan. Somehow that also included me.

No showers fell during our race but we had to put up with a pretty stiff 15knot breeze on the course with not much protection from it.
Vat went first and crossed in 14:07 and passed to me and much to my surprise I ran 15:20 according to official results.
I passed onto Blue Dog who ran 15:06 and then Don Juan finished it off. Not sure of his time.
The team was 5th B team.

Ver happy with my time of 15:20 for the 4ks. Basically held my 1k rep training pace for 4ks.
Excellent! The day was well organised by the Kembla Joggers. Be back next year to go faster.

6x1k Reps

With the hammie still refusing to play ball I ran around the bay run for these reps anyway.
There was a bit of rain about as the path was wet when I started and then I finished the cool down in a shower.
Did a 1k warmup and I stretched the legs pretty well before I started. The cool down was done a bit quick as I ran back to my car with the shower getting heavier.

Reps were 3:36, 3:39, 3:37, 3:39, 3:41, 3:43. All done with a 2min stumble recovery.

Felt the hamstring from the first step and it does stop me from stretching out in my stride properly. Hence I am probably changing my running style a fair bit to compensate the pain.

A massage by Easy Tiger

As my right hamstring has been giving me grief for a week I decided I should try and get a massage to sort it out.
Well apparently every muscle was tight, so the tiger says.

Lots of work on my calves, hamstrings, and back.

Have some exercises to do to try and fix the hamstring problem. Not serious, just very annoying.

I have been told that walking from the car to the start line of a race does not constitute a warmup. Bugger! Can't be slack anymore.

And I'm not running tonight as I need to rest the hammie a bit more.

Mona Fartlek + Hill Reps

Well back down to the Bay Run again, the scene of last Sunday's debacle.
I guess it is right what they say. Some days are like diamonds and some days are like coal.
Sunday was Coal and today was a Diamond.

With Hamstring still hurting I decided to tackle a flake modified version of the Mona Fartlek.
Mine is 28mins instead of the standard 20mins.
Started from the CR 4k marker and worked my way back around the bay to past the 1k marker and then turned at the 14minute point. Ran back to the start and managed to do 6.8ks in the 28mins. Average pace of 4:07 per klm. Best yet! Can't work that out.

Spotted Shell, Guz and Fats working out around various parts of the Bay tonight.

As I had parked at Lilyfield to do the Fartlek I decided to do some hill reps as well.
Did 10 reps of Lilyfield Rd hill, and then went home.

Manic Monday 7ks

Well a long long day at work. Try 14 and a half hours combined with end of month.
And I have some cattle shagger leaving dirty posts on my blog.

Got out for a run at 10pm. What the hell!
Just did one lap of Centennial Park in the dark around the outside fence. Mostly grass and dirt for this run. Ran 7.13ks in 39:45. Average pace of 5:34 per klm.

Still have a head cold and a very stiff right thigh muscle I think. I believe I hurt it last week when I did those hill reps. Well it seems to be from then anyway. Maybe I need a massage.

And Run 2 Become I am intending to run both Striders and the relays if I am needed. If you go hard at Lane Cove that may effect the relay.

Bay Run Race 7ks

Down to the Bay again with the start just below Leichhardt Oval on the bay run. Generally accepted as about 7ks depending on how you get up to the Iron Cove Bridge. This year we were told the length was 7.05ks. My Polar measured it as 7.03ks. So pretty spot on.

Met up with a few Striders before the race and we hastily put a team in. The team was Easy Tiger, Professor, Fake Plastic Trees and myself.
The start was pretty quick with a large start area then cramming into a small 5m wide space within 50m as we headed up and over Iron Cove Bridge and around the bays and back to the start again.
Just never got into a decent rythym at all and felt heavy in the legs with my breathing difficult due to the cold I picked up this week.

Finished in 28:46. Disappointing but entirely expected from me as I just have not had good rythym in my running since before Sutherland to Surf last week.

Aside from that the team entered as Sydney Striders came third, so we picked up a free Bay Run cap for our efforts.

A well organised community fun run for only $20 with a timing chip. They had 770 runners in total for both male and female. Their largest ever apparently.

Easy Run-35 Minutes

I ran into Centennial Park tonight to do this run. So ran on the grass/dirt trail mostly, doing a lap of the park and heading back home.
I was looking for Blue Dog as the park has plenty of off-leash areas but he was nowhere to be seen. He must do Friday nights at the Bay Run.

Ran 7.2ks in 35:25. Average pace of 4:55 per klm. Nice and relaxed.

6x1k Reps

Around the bay with 26 miles and Guzzo. Actually they ran past me at one stage while I was doing some reps. Guzzo was chasing 26miles.
It was 17 degrees when I started according to the car, and 15 when I finished.

I did a 1k warmup and a 1k cool down after the session.
Reps were 3:37, 3:36, 3:40, 3:42, 3:38, 3:43. All done with a 2 minute walk recovery.

Didn't feel good as I have a head cold at the moment. Hopefully it stays there, and doesn't move to my chest.

A letter to Mum

Dear Mum,
I have been thrashing Superflake in every race this year as I feel it is the only thing I know to do. I really wish he would beat me in a race, but I just can't let him win one.

I must beat him when he is down. He has shown no respect to me as his elder statesman by beating me in races last year. Enough is enough and I can't let it happen again.

Watch on Sunday the 13th Mum at City 2 Surf and you will see Superflake crawling on hands and knees as I run over his flailing broken body. It is the just thing to do.

I will toast my victory with a Pimms and Lemonade while you have your Shandy.

Cheers.
Your loving son, Blue Dog.

P.S This was a letter taken from Blue Dog's blog. lol

Mid-Week Run 14ks

Out very late for this run. Wore a long sleeve top as it was 15 degrees and knew straight away that it was too hot for that. Had to role up the sleeves.

Ran around Queens Park and Centennial Park which has a few hills in the run. Stayed a fair bit on the grass and dirt. Shoes were pretty muddy after the run due to the rain in the last week.

Ran 14.5ks in 1:15:22. Average pace of 5:11 per klm. Very slow tonight just didn't feel like running fast.

Hill Reps

A small start at getting me back to some sort of running form.

10 Reps of the Cowper St hill. Only 200metres up but better than nothing.
Each rep was between 50-55 seconds with recovery back down between 60-70 seconds.

Only 10 reps but they felt fine on the legs. Especially since the surface is a concrete footpath.

Rest Day

Blue Dog's mum has just worn me out! lol.

Wasn't intending to run as legs feel sore from the downhills yesterday, so in light of last years sorry state of affairs I'm not running today.

Just got the C2S number in the mail for the A1 start! Noticing that the numbers for this group start at 1501. I hope I don't have to run through 1500 to get past Blue Dog before Bondi. woof woof.

Sutherland to Surf 11k race

Drove to the finish early, 7am, and caught the bus back up to the start. Caught up with a lot of CR's at the start, including Nando who I hadn't seen since the same race last year.
Started off the race with Blue Dog chatting for the 1st 3ks about all the idiots that went off too fast. It was there that he eased away and I tracked him about 200m behind for the rest of the race.
The leg hurt a bit on the downhills so I needed to do short quick steps to stop any pain. Which in turn lead me to using heaps of energy on the flats to keep my place and pace. Was passed on nearly every uphill. No hill reps for a year is starting to hurt me.

Professor came past about the 4k mark I think and I was then in a bad hole till about the 9k mark where I seemed to find some energy to pass him back and then have the battle along the beach to the finish.
Finished in 43:30 over last years 41:48. Obviously slower but at least I broke the 4min ks for the first time in a year, at last years race actually. Blue Dog did 43:10 I think.

A great afternoon BBQ sponsored by Bernie G & Blue Dog at their tropical watering hole.

Secret Team GBH training camp

No Vego sausages on that barbie!
2/3rds of Team GBH pre-loading before a race.

Slow, so very slow 1k reps

Apparently I have speed to burn and Horrie and Blue Dog have no hope of beating me at Sutherland 2 Surf.
I'm telling you for the last time. I'm slow!!!!!!

Down to the bay again. Thought I might have been a chance for a run without rain. That lasted about 2ks before a thunderstorm came over and I leapt into the metal bus stop for cover.
Got through another k before another storm hit and I was standing underneath the road overpass for cover.
Managed to do the 3 reps back without more rain.

Reps were 3:38, 3:35, 3:36, 3:40, 3:43, 3:42. All done with a 2min walk recovery.

I had a 1k warmup and a 1k cooldown after the reps. Shoes were very wet from the water on the path and the rain of course.

Swim 50mins

Just kidding. Could have made some icy poles out of my fingers though.

Ran around Centennial Park making a great mess of my already muddy shoes that I haven't cleaned since the Bankstown mud pie race on Saturday.

I don't know what was colder, my face or my fingers. Got pretty wet during the run as the coastal showers kept passing over.

Ran 11.2ks in the 50 minutes. Mostly ran on the grass, mud etc.

Wet n Wild Mona Fartlek

I'm talking bay run with a flooded road and path. Howling wind and rain.
Where was everyone else?
Got absolutely soaked but loved the thrill of running in the rain/showers tonight. It was great fun.
Did a 1k warmup down to the 1k marker and then ran around towards the 4k marker and then back. Ran 6.5ks in the 28mins of my version. A little slower than last week. But it was a bit windy tonight, and I picked up a few kgs with the water in my shoes.
Did a 1k cooldown back to the car. Lucky I brought a towel.

Now I've got the heater on at home. Ahh!

Cherrybrook Chase Fun Run 12ks

Up to Cherrybrook for this fun run which Plu described the course as not being very hilly. @#!$%&*$. I'll forgive Plu for that. I know it would have a few hills as per the area.
They were running a 5k and a 12k this morning. With a heap of Striders/Cool Runners doing either one.

Start was fairly fast downhill with the usual dodging of kids as 5 of them decided the front line was a good idea. The race went fairly well with me going through the 3k in about 12:30 and the 5k in 21:30 I think. It was here that a female came up next to me and I said to her I think you are in 1st place, only to discover a bit later she was 2nd. It was Jenny Mckenna a Strider who joined early this year and did Foster Ironman last year. We basically stayed together up and down the hills all the way to the turnaround and back pushing each other to go faster. Passed Mike F at about the 6k mark and then we didn't pass anyone else or getg overtaken.

Ran most of the way back until about the last k when I tried to chase the 2 guys in front to no avail. Finished in 50:05 and 10th spot. Average pace of 4:10 per klm. Very happy with that time on those hills.
Matt Robbie won in 41:09 by about 4 and a half mins. Sparkie won the 5k in 18:14.

Met at the race Plu, Grandpa, Pipe, Mike F, Sailaway, Go girl, Dash_Incredible.
Plus 2b was 2nd overall in the 12k and go girl was 2nd female in the 5k.

Now my legs need a rest. Sutherland to Surf this Sunday. 11ks of quad thrashing downhills.