Thursday, June 29, 2006

6x1k Reps

Back over to my secret training spot. Definitely not spotted tonight.

Ran from the Rowers down to the 1k marker and ran down to the 4k marker and back again.

Reps were 3:46, 3:43, 3:46, 3:47, 3:51, 3:49. All done with a 2 minute walk recovery.

Had a 1k warmup and a 1k cooldown after the reps.

Only did the 6 reps as I have the 10k Striders race on Saturday Morning.

Legs felt ok during the reps.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

One Hour Easy 11ks

Ran into Centennial Park and woke up a few bats. Ran up to Oxford st and then down to Anzac Pde and then returned the same way. Mainly ran on the grass to protect the legs after running on the hard stuff last night.

Ran 11.21ks in 1:00:37. Average pace of 5:24 per klm. Very easy. Legs felt good.

Weather was a bit cool so ran in a long sleeve top and shorts.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Fatigue Session 8ks

The idea was to try and run faster while the legs were getting more fatigued.
Made up a session of a 3k, 2k, 1k. With half the effort as the recovery.

Reps were 3k in 11:50 with a 6 minute recovery.
Then 2k in 7:55 with a 4 minute recovery.
And to finish with 1k in 3:50.

I had a 1k warmup and a 1k cool down after the session.
Oh and I ran around the bay again.
Only saw Guzzo while I was running the 3k and then saw Silver Fox as I was just about to drive home. The Fox was moving pretty quick too.

Thanks to everyone for their comments on the KJ Half. Very happy with the run.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Kembla Joggers Half Marathon

Down to Dapto this morning for the Kembla Joggers Half Marathon. The PB of 87:16 was at this race last year. The plan today was to run under 90 minutes which would be great after the SMH 93mins.

The car beeped at 2 degrees as I drove past the Bulli turnoff but had gone back up to 7 degrees when I arrived at the start. My start was a bit too fast going through 2k in 8:10 which killed me later when we got to the first hill. I went through the 10k in 42:30. I managed to take about 3 runners on the run home from this point and finished in 88:48.

The time was a minute and a half outside the PB but relating it back to SMH Half last month I am 4 and a half minutes faster for the half on a course just as hard. So I'm very happy.

The male winner was Stephen Brown who ran 67:39. Breaking a 16 year old course record by 5 minutes. He is only 21 and is going to the World Mountain Running champs in August.

Friday, June 23, 2006

Rest Day

Legs are buggered. And I was up at 4 am having a bbq breakfast and a socceroo match!

And I would like to be fresh for the Half Marathon on Sunday.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Bay Run 8x1k Reps

Seriously I have not defected to the West. Checked out Timbrell Park and confirmed what 26Miles and Langswm said about it. That place has no lights up one side so was pitch black, and has it's own fog. Very weird.
So I ran from the CR3k mark down to the CR5k mark and back for these. And the ground is really wet up near the 5k finish.

Reps were 3:51, 3:50, 3:48, 3:47, 3:47, 3:51, 3:48, 3:48. All done with a 2 minute walk recovery. I should make the recovery shorter. But I really would like the reps faster. Legs felt great. Just kept talking to myself to keep the leg turnover up and not slack off.

Saw Guz cruising the bay again as I was parking my car. This time near Timbrell Park. Also saw 26 Miles and SilverFox doing a long lap of the bay from where they live.
Had a few spits of rain during the 3rd and 4th reps but otherwise nothing. As I left to go home and got to Anzac Bridge the heavens opened and it was raining buckets all the way back to Randwick. Hope the guys got home before that came in.

A really good runner said to me today: "Keep at it, Consistency will bring results." A lesson to be learned I feel.
Thanks for everyones comments lately, very much appreciated. Go the Socceroos!

A medal for me

The illustrious Striders 35+ age group team that was entered for the SMH Half won a Bronze medal. The medals are based on NSW Athletics registered athletes who run the race and then the Striders put the team names forward after that.
A weird system I know but it does work.

The Striders had 5 male teams with three Gold, one Silver and our Bronze the outcome.
The women had only one team and they won gold in the opens.

My first ever running medal!!! Yeehah
Must buy some wood this weekend to start on the trophy cabinet.
The team was O Runner, Blue Dog, Anthony Wong and myself.
I was the anchor.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Easy 50 minutes-9ks

Out very late on what I thought was a cool night so ran in a long sleeve top. Regretted that as soon as I started as I was too hot. No rain fell after showers on and off all day.

Ran an easy lap of the park up to Oxford St and back. Heaps of water on the trail tonight.
Hope the Sweat runners take their mud running shoes tomorrow.

Ran into Amjan on the way back home in Randwick running with someone who I didn't see.

Ran 9ks in the 50 minutes. So a pretty relaxed run in keeping with an easy week after the hard hills on Saturday and Sunday.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Long Reps 4x2ks. Total 10ks

Secret training around the bay run tonight. I think I saw Aunty K in ipod land running away from me at Drumoyne and Guzzo passed about the same time.

Did a 1k warmup down to the CR1K marker. Then did 4x2k reps down to the 5k marker and back to the 1k again. Then did a 1k cool down back to the car.

Reps were 7:51, 8:00, 8:02, 8:04. Have only ever done these long ones once so don't have the practice of holding the pace for that long. I had a 4 minute walk recovery between each rep.

It was a nice cool night around the bay, so ran in singlet and shorts. It get's a bit dark running along between the 4 and 5k markers but otherwise all was fine.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Mini-MosMarathon 10k

Wasn't sure how I would go considering this is a hilly course and I ran the Cross Country yesterday at Nowra. Oh well I love the feeling of racing and chasing people so it was worth it.

The start was mucked up by the designated starter with a very quiet, ready set go when we all thought she was going to talk about Camp Quality. I took up a spot in the front row. I guess the club singlet makes some people think you can run fast so they let you stand in front of them. They can't be reading my blog lately.

I didn't bother taking any splits so just have my finish time of 41:57 which is actually a race PB by 1 second over last year. I thought this new course was hillier than last year, and with my lack of recent speed it was a good time. Came 51st(47th last year) out of about 630. 17th in age group. One year I might do this race without anything on the day before.

Martin Dent won in 30:10 ahead of Scott Westcott and Dave Byrne. Womens was won by Anna Thompson ahead of Kerryn McCann and Liz Miller.
Mark Tucker won the men's 5k and I didn't hear the women's.
Met Barefoot after the race and also Jen Runs twice on the course when she was cheering for me. Next week is Kembla Joggers half at Dapto. Hope the conditions are better than last years heavy rain.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

NSW Longcourse Cross Country 12k

A trip down to the beautiful Shoalhaven for this race. The race takes place on a property just West of Nowra. Meaning we leave the Coast and drive towards the hills. Exactly what the course was rumoured to be like. I had heard of heart break hill 3 times was in the offing.
Actually the really hard one was about 150 metres long but straight up so much I could touch the ground with my face. Well almost.

The males do 3 laps of a 4k course so I had the goals of not being lapped and finishing under an hour. 14 male Striders were on hand on the day plus I think about 6 females.
My splits were 18:26, 19:29, 19:15. To finish with 57:10 and 91st place. I tried to take the first lap easy. I guess the run off at the start creates the faster 1st lap time. Not sure how I pulled out the last lap. Maybe trying to hold position? Chasing Blue Dog?

The wash up was that Guzzo came 2nd overall. Beaten by Russell Chin who won last year. Guzzo now needs to win next year to have the medal trifecta.
CR Grandpa won bronze in his age group 50-54.
The male open team came 2nd,including Vat, Fats, Easy Tiger, Guzzo. The 45+ team won gold.
Not sure how the women went, I know the team didn't get a medal but I guess Lucy C did as they announced the winners when the males were out on course.

It was good fun even though very hard work on the lungs and calves up the hills. Soft on the stressie due to the grass. Mini-Mosmarathon 10k tomorrow morning with more hills. Blah!

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

One Hour Easy 11ks

An easy run around Centennial Park tonight on the grass.
Didn't push it too hard as I have a couple of races this weekend.

Ran 11.35ks in the 60 minutes. Average pace of 5:17 per klm.

Ran only in singlet and shorts and had a sensational orange moon rising in the East while I was out. I could see the man.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

6x1k Reps

A lovely 13 degrees tonight. A heatwave, but it did feel colder in parts of the track I was using.

The plan was 1k Reps under the 4minute mark. The result:

3:55, 3:59, 4:00, 3:59, 3:59, 3:56. All done with a 2min walk recovery between each rep.

I wanted faster but after not much sleep last night from watching the soccer I felt really tired. So was probably lucky to get them this consistent.

Monday, June 12, 2006

Race Schedule

Since I'm resting today I was bored watching Collingwood get flogged by Melbourne, so I thought I would put up some races I'm doing next.
Can't be bothered making a table for them and this is easy.

June 17th: State Longcourse Cross Country 12k at Nowra.
June 18th: Mini Mos-Marathon 10ks at Mosman. Chasing the big prize money. Haha.
June 25th: Kembla Joggers Half Marathon at Dapto.
July 1st: Striders 10k at Homebush.
July 8th: East Met 6k Cross Country at Pagewood.
July 15th: State Short Course Cross Country 8k at Bankswtown.
July 23rd: Sutherland to Surf 11k or Hunter Valley Half Marathon at Pokolbin.

The only one of this I'm unsure of is Sutherland Surf like last year or getting a bottle of wine plus lucky draw prizes up at the Hunter.
And do I want a long race that weekend when I need the short speed for C2S three weeks later.
The Hunter half course doesn't appear to be fast as there is a fair bit of grass and gravel running.

I know do I want to race every weekend. Yes if I don't encounter pain in my leg while doing it. Three of these are on grass anyway so not too much damage to the leg.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Cockatoo Corner 23ks

I saw a flock of Yellow tailed Black Cockatoo's in Centennial Park this morning. Never seen them before only ever the white Major Mitchell's. They look like this http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/cockatoo.htm

I was in Centennial Park for a run as well. Ran around the very wet and muddy grass trail on the outside fence plus some loops around a park on Anzac Pde. The park certainly had more water lying around than Sydney Park had yesterday afternoon. Very muddy shoes after this session.

Distance was 23.3 ks in a time of 2:12:06. Slack average pace of 5:40 per klm.
Legs felt pretty sore today after the struggle in the mud race yesterday.

Spotted Long Arms and Royworlds in the park when I started and then Fake Plastic Trees up on Oxford St about 2 hrs later. Back running again after his 2nd stressie.

Next week I hav a low klm weekend as I have State Longcourse 12k XC on Saturday at Nowra and then am doing the Mini-Mosmarathon 10k on Sunday. Chasing prize money. Yeah right.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

East Met Cross Country 7.5k

A very wet and muddy track at Sydney Park this afternoon was what we had to look forward too. The rain held off during the race but the course was very slippery underfoot.

Went a bit too hard at the start even though I tried not too.
Splits were 10:20, 10:55, 11:00. For a total of 32:15 for the 7.5ks.

A cast of thousands of CR's and Striders today, with too many to name. I had Blue Dog trail me for 7.5ks with me not knowing he was there until the 2nd lap. The coughing and sputtering let me know where he was.
It was good to see Silver Fox back racing again today after a long lay off with his heel injury.

The time was a 1:16 faster than the same race last month and that was on a hard dry course.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

5x1k Reps

Back to my usual haunt of keeping the late workers amused as I tear along beside the busway on Alison Rd. The course is pretty dark with the tree cover for the first 200m and then is well lit the rest of the way. Just have to look out for a bit of mud from the rain, and some tree roots at the start.
It is pretty flat and I don't have any cars on it as it is a bike/foot path made of tar. So the dark bit is the first 200m and then the last 200m when I come back the other way. Enough explaining.

Reps were 3:56, 3:50, 3:56, 3:55, 3:56. With a 2 minute walk recovery between each rep.

Very hard work these ones tonight. I don't where I pulled that 3:50 from as that is basically uphill a bit when I run back.
I really don't feel that my speed is returning as I felt like I was running on the spot for these.

Coming up I have a short 7.5k Cross Country this Saturday and then State Long Course 12k at Nowra next week. Hills as big as City 2 Surf and the guys do 3 laps. Bugger!

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Centennial Park 15ks

I was breathing like Bill the steam shovel when I started. Creating a fog as I ran around the outside fence of the park tonight.
Two laps was all I was good for, but at a fast pace. The sky was clear and it was up to half a moon so visibility was good without the street lights.

Ran 15ks in 1:16:02. Average pace of 5:04 per klm.
Pretty happy with that time over a cross country course in the dark. A few runners out tonight but mostly everyone was inside.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

The Lakes are a flooding

Ran out in the gap between a few showers tonight and it lasted about 20 minutes before the rain came down and buried me.
And then the wind started to blow so I just decided bugger it. Cold and wet I'm going inside.
So I did one lap of Centennial Park trying to avoid a few of the large puddles that had formed on the grass trail without success and ran home.

The guy at the servo was very impressed when I made a puddle while standing still waiting in line to be served.
Any way it was 7.25ks in 37:45. Average pace of 5:12 per klm. Very slack in the rain.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Root Canal Therapy-20ks

No not the dental kind.
After a very late night at my Surf Clubs annual dinner I didn't get a chance to run this morning. After a visit to the parents to watch the Swans match I eventually headed out about 5 pm for a run.

A few laps around Centennial Park in and out of the park depending on the darkness falling. While on the last leg back home tripped on one tree root and landed on another one with my hip copping the brunt. I'm sure to have a good bruise on it tomorrow as it did bring up some blood.

Run was 20:02ks in a time of 1:45:16. Average pace of 5:15 per klm. Very happy with that pace. Got the heavy leg feeling near the finish of the run so I guess that is good.

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Aths NSW XC Relays


Shambles! Is that too harsh. I think not.
I had a call on Friday from Glenn Guzzo to say that the Speed Boat(Leftie) had sprung a leak(Achilles) and I was to fill in. And by the way you can lead off. Oh Hell.
So it was down to Scarborough Park at Ramsgate for the Cross Country Relays, which for the open male and female teams etc included 4 x 4ks of the park.
I didn't see any of the females running their races but I do know Kerryn McCann lead her team off and ran 13:14. Lucy Chapman running for the Striders open A team ran 14:02 I think running the 4th leg.

I was to be running with Bright Shoes, Easy Tiger, Royworlds and Guzzo in the other Striders male teams. Guaranteed for me to be the slowest first leg of that lot.

Over to the start which was about 60m up this park near a cricket oval with a game in progress in June?
The starter says: Run down the end of the park turn right across the little bridge across the canal which is about 5m. Turn right after crossing the bridge and do a little 60m loop and then go back down south away from the start and around the course. When you come back past the changeover area cross the bridge again and do the 60m loop again and then around the course to changeover with your 2nd runner. Easy right? Many people at the start queried the starter as apparently the females did not do this.
The start happened and the pack ran across the bridge only to see a marshall telling us to go left after the bridge. The guns, guzzo, paul arthur, sean williams etc all went right and so did I for a second before turning back and going the other way. It was half and half as to who went which way.
A bloody disgrace letting down all those good runners because of bad organisation.

As for my race I ran ok for the full 4ks and tried to keep it steady and not go too hard at the start. At one stage I was ahead of Guzzo. Thats never going to happen again. Tough wind conditions once we went around the aussie rules oval on the south end of the course. Managed to pick up a place right at the end spurred on Blue Dog and Bernie G yelling at me. I stopped the watch at 15:45 on but was given a time of 16:12. I badly tagged Vat and he was off like a shot. Sadly standing in the line to hand in my number all I eneded up seeing was half of our third ruuners lap(Tim Lindop) and both of O Runners laps. Guzzo was 2nd round the course after the bad start and his team finished 5th in the open A's.

I think our time ended up as 60:30. Not sure. I have no idea how my official time is 30 seconds out from my watch. Did they start the clock before the gun?
It was great to see the Striders all out racing. We had 5 male teams and 3 female teams.
And since I am posting this on Sunday and the results are out. The Striders 45+ male team won Gold. Two years in a row. The female open team won silver and the female 35+ won silver.
3 medals for 8 teams thats good.
Sorry long post. Had to paint the dodgy start which runners 2/3/4 didn't have to do.

Friday, June 02, 2006

A very wet friday night

After a team member pulled out of the illustrious Striders 35+ A team for the Aths NSW relays due to injury, I am now running.
To save too many changes in the team running order I get to go off first for the team.
I hope they have a bucket and spade so they can scrape me up when I'm done.

I get to chase Easy Tiger, Planet Sumo and Bright Shoes around a 4k grass and sandy course at Ramsgate. Those three CR's are the first runners in our other teams. Lucky it is only 4ks as I'm sure I would be lapped otherwise.

I take off then pass to Vat, who passes to Timinerko, who passes to O Runner to anchor us home. Should be fun with all the rain we have had this afternoon. Nice and muddy.

So now I won't be running the Striders 10k tomorrow, just helping.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Lets get Serious 4x1k Reps

Horrie did make a comment that he thought I might be serious about running again if I did some 1k reps. Well tonight's the night baby.

The reps were 4:00, 4:04, 4:06, 4:01. All done with a 2 minute walk recovery.
The leg felt ok running on the tar, a little hard with the racing flats on but otherwise ok. If I could have found a fur ball to cough up during the reps I would have. Breathing was not the best.

First reps since late January so I was expecting a lot slower times. Quite happy with how I went.
I am really not sure how I will go on Saturday at the Striders race at Lane Cove. Just play it by ear and try not to be beaten by Papa Liugi.