Heartbreak Hill & Back 19ks

Out very late this morning for this run. A 9am start time and it was starting to get a bit warm and windy for it.
Have not run this route for a few months. Plenty of hills in it.
From Randwick, up to Waverley, then to Bondi Junction, down to Rose Bay and up Heartbreak Hill to the turn around at Old South Head and New South Head Rd at Dover Heights. Then back home again.

Total was 19.2ks in 1:37.31. Average pace of 5:04 per klm. Very pedestrian. Legs felt like there was no pace in them at all. These Marathons knock your body around a bit.

Easy 40 Minutes

A beautiful late afternoon run around Centennial Park. Fantastic weather.
Just took it easy, not pushing too hard just yet.

Ran 8.1ks in 44:14. Average pace of 5:27 per klm.

Thanks Ewen. Yes I meant 9:xx for the 3000m. Only a 20k long run, good to hear.

Easy 30 Minutes

The legs were still heavy tonight and with the full moon weighing on my shoulders it was a bit hard to run. Also it was windy, warm and humid.
Ran up to the SFS and back going up the busway along Alison Rd and Anzac Pde in the process.

Total was 6.1ks in 32:03. Average pace of 5:15 per klm.

Well Ewen I can't see myself running any 400m races. But all the other ones are open slather this summer.
Six weeks till the State 3000m titles. PB is 10:33, and I would love a single figure on that PB.
Thoughts?

Full Moon Festival

According to my chinese workmates they eat Moon Cake at this time as part of a festival. Maybe the same time as the start of Autumn in China?

By the light of the full moon I went for a run around Centennial Park as the legs finally allowed me to do so after the Marathon on Sunday.
Ran 8ks in 46:33. Average pace of 5:45 per klm. A very leisurely pace tonight.

Thanks for everyone's comments about the race. So much pace to find till the next one. That will be Canberra.
Now for Track Season. Hope the coach has some fast ideas!

Sydney Marathon = PB

Edit: The time on my watch was 3:03.23. So a 5 second PB after checking the results which are in. Cutting it close. 88:23 first half. 94:56 2nd half. Doesn't add up but the 3:03.23 is it. I'll take it.

I couldn't have run this time without having run with the 3hr pacers Cam and Richard from the 15-30k mark. The pack running helped me stay on the pace till then. Before that I was ahead on purpose as I figured the course had that long hill out of Mrs Macquaries Chair to factor in. Thanks guys anyway even though I couldn't keep up when we started going up the City West Link.
Arrived at Nth Sydney station about 6am and used their toilets and then walked down to the start area seeing the half runners taking off. Took a heap of photos but unfortunately the runners were moving too quick and they are all blurred.
Had the usual chat in the cold under the bridge for the hour, with a few scoffing at my thoughts of a sub 3hr.
Anyway I felt good for most of the first 15k until I was caught by the 3hr group. From here until the 30k mark I was up and down in pace. Either in front or behind the group.
The small hill up to the Glebe Island Bridge had me drop behind by 20 metres and then I caught it back up going down the hill only to lose touch once we started going up the hill along City West Link and never getting it back.
I tried to push when we crested the hill near Balmain Rd before the Norton St turn. I moved a bit closer but the surging efforts were knocking me around. Going back to the Glebe Island Bridge I felt better and moved past a couple of runners only to have a couple of others pass me in Pyrmont. Not impressed! I hate being passed late in a race.

I couldn't wait for the 37k mark as this meant only 5ks of flat and downhill left. So I kept pushed harder, passing about half a dozen of the splintering 3hr group through to the finish.
Passed a crook Strider at the start of Hickson Rd yelling at the Drink station people to get him an ambo as I saw him throw up on the road and he was staggering all over. I did see the 41k medical golf cart go to his assistance. I asked when I ran by. Hope he is ok now?

The perceived heat and effort of the last 2ks had me just hanging on for the finish. So apologies to the cheersquad in the MCA park as I was smashed and couldn't even must a wave. Too much hurt happening then. Finally hit those cobblestones in front of the Opera House and crossed the line. Nearly brought up my breakfast after the line but after about 5 mins sucking in some air I finally managed a drink.

Eventually made my way up to the recovery area with 26 miles and picked up my great finishers medal and t shirt. Found my bag and headed for the Striders tent for some more fluids. From memory I drank 3 waterbags-600ml total. 3 gatorade cups-600ml. A bottle of my own gatorade 600ml. And 4 cans of 375ml coke-1.5l. So 3litres of fluid. Was I dehydrated at the finish, probably.
After that it was over to the Orient Hotel in the Rocks to meet up with a few of the other Cool Runners who did different events or just cheered.

Thanks for everyones support today. Much appreciated. Couldn't get you the sub 3hr but after an interrupted Winter of training I'm not surprised I failed. Just didn't have the long runs in me like I did at Canberra. 12 for Canberra and 4 for Sydney.
It is an old saying. Don't go into the Marathon underprepared as It will chew you up and spit you out. Came close to being chewed today. Maybe next time I'll get more training in. Apolgies for long soppy story.

Pre Race Jitters

Disappointed after Collingwood was beaten last night. Hope that Manly can win tonight to save the footy finals.

Picked up my number around lunchtime down at the Quay. Ran into Belinda Lockwood who is was doing a late entry for the Half Marathon.

Picked up a couple of singlets and socks as they were going cheap.

And in case you havn't seen them the race k markers look like this. Hard to miss!

Good luck everyone.

Marathon Pace Run 5ks

Got out for a late run about 9pm and it was windy, raining, 14 degrees and 90% humidity. No wonder I felt like crap.
Ran 5ks in 20:44. Average of 4:09. Just a bit faster than the pace for Sunday morning.

Did a 2k warmup and a 2k Cooldown after the session.

Hope you don't climb up to the Cahill Tom as we don't run across there mate. Straight up Hickson Rd ala SMH Half and around past the front of the MCA building,the wharves and then finish on the flat at the Opera House. But thanks anyway.

Thanks for the support everyone!

Easy 40 Minutes

It was actually a bit over 40 minutes but whose counting?
Ran around Moore Park, the SCG with the lights on and the SFS and then back home.

8.9ks in 43:22. Average pace of 4:52 per klm. Very easy in the wind.

Easy 7ks

Did a lap of the outside of Centennial Park down to Anzac Pde and back home. Nice an easy, nothing too stressful this week.

Did 7.4ks in 39:31. Average of 5:20 per klm.

Castle Hill Fun Run

The start was at Castle Hill Showground. Both were out and back courses with the 8k having the best run of the bush whereas the 4k stayed on a bike path and the showground roads out and back.
Jamie Harrison won the 4k and the 8k.
Felt ok in the 4k, hence the quick pace.
The 8k had more hills than the 4k and was a bit hard to run on the bush track with racing flats.
Legs felt ok during the races and body is slowly healing from the fall on Friday night.

4k race at 8am in 15:16. Overall place was 7th.
8k race at 9am in 32:43.

Well organised by Hills Athletics with plenty of flour to guide us and not too many marshalls needed. It was all good out in the hills.

Caught up with Gogirl, Spud,HillsAths1,Martin Dugdale,Bounder and John Dawlings.

Now to rest for the Mental battle on Sunday morning!

2 x 15 mins

The coach said run it firm, whatever that means? Maybe I ran too fast I'm not sure.
Ran around a few of the local streets in Randwick and then back along Alison Rd and down to Anzac Pde for the 1st 15mins. Did a 3 min jog recovery between the reps and ran back to the start. Almost made it only 50 metres short.

1st rep was 15:00 and covered 3.55ks. Average pace of 4:13 per klm.
2nd rep was 15:00 and covered 3.50ks. Average pace of 4:17 per klm.

Tripped over as I was finishing the 2nd rep on the concrete. Not a pretty sight, mashed both hands, ankle,elbow, hip, back and shoulder. Lots of claret. Gave the bloke in the servo a fright when I ran in with blood coming down my arm. Lucky I fell mostly on the grass, could have been worse. Should be a nice bruise on the hip tomorrow.

Easy 40 Minutes

Forgot to post it last night. Did an easy lap of Centennial Park sticking mostly to the grass where I could.
Ran 8ks in 40:50. Average pace of 5:06 per klm.

Marathon Pace Run 12ks

Felt humid again tonight. Easterly breeze. Is it summer or spring?
Relatively flat course around Centennial Park. I was running up Anzac Pde looking at the position of 'Actions' Blue Line I'll be following next Sunday. It is still mostly there going South from Oxford St. Not that I need help running racing line but nice to have.

The total tonight was 12.6ks in 52:38. Average pace of 4:10 per klm. Right on the pace. Good.

The goal is Sub 3hr for Sydney Marathon in case anyone missed it.

Long Reps 4x1.6k

Had a day off running yesterday, it is a taper after all. Actually I was home from work really late so I just left it at that.
Tonight was quite humid I thought to run in. Ran a flat course around Centennial Park.

The reps were 6:08(3:50/k), 6:16(3:55/k), 6:12(3:52/k), 6:15(3:54/k). I was trying to keep the reps on the 3:52/k pace for each rep. Was pretty hard trying to do that. I had a 3 minute walk recovery between each rep.

Did a 2k warmup and a 2k cool down after the session.

You can tell the Marathon is getting close as the signs are now up on the Centennial Park gates saying they are closed till 11 am on race day.

Centennial & Queens Park 11ks

Yep another run for the day. Doing 15k this morning in two races left me feeling a bit short of time and distance for the Marathon.
Headed out around Centennial and Queens Park for a late run. Feet felt a bit sore after doing 15ks in racing flats this morning.

Total was 11.2ks in 58:14. Average pace of 5:11 per klm. Hip felt very sore and the legs were not keen on co-operating either. 26k for the day is done.

Bridge to Bridge 10k Fun Run

After the SMC race I drove over to Putney for this 5/10k race. Very hilly, but a good hitout for Sydney Marathon.
A very fast start but with me not measuring the course and no k markers I was in the dark on my pace.
At one stage in the first 2ks I was ahead of Both Eliza Stewart and Jenny Wickham. Must have been too fast at the start. The race went ok and we had a couple of parks to cross and up and down a few stairs, plus even a bush track for about 50m. These fun runs think of everything.

At about the 6k mark the race turned ugly as myself and a couple of other runners following the arrows turned left even though the runners only 100m ahead went straight. We did our section and ended back on the same road again about 4mins later. One of the marshalls commented had there been a stuff up, apparently so.
We continued onto the finish and I ended with 40:19 for my 10k.

What happened was that the two fun run kings having a match race, Horne and Harrison turned left like we did. No problem.
Now as I believe I was back in about 20th-25th spot. Every runner between the two Kings and myself went straight ahead up the hill instead of turning left like the course says.

I told the officials at the finish about everyone running short. When the results came out messers Horne and Harrison were in 3rd and 4th spots which is impossible as they were leading by a mile.
So when you see the results add on about 3 mins. I finished around the 40 mark with the male and female close by, within 30 seconds of each other.

Basically anyone that came ahead of Horne and Harrison ran short and then anyone after them up until the male and female near me ran short. The people behind the three of us were ok as a marshall got to the spot to save the rest of the runners.

A nice hilly hitout can only help the legs for Sydney.
Just hope no-one ran a PB on that course.

SMC 5K

Out to soggy Smithfield for the first race in the series. No rain at all during the race which was good. The old mower must have clagged as the grass was a foot high in the start area.
I saw Easy Tiger before the start and tried to convince him he should do the 10k. No such luck.

Chased Easy Tiger and Bounder for the whole 5k's to no avail.
Still made the podium in 3rd place, running 18:54. No where close to the PB from May, but it was ok. Very tired in the legs.

14 x 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off

As I was working late yesterday I couldn't go for a run. Then I was back in this morning doing some more work. Finally went for a much needed run about 3pm.
Due to it being a public holiday I got to run in Centennial Park while the sun was up. A lot of water was on the track so it was a bit of a people and puddle dodging run.

I did a lap of the running circuit as a speed session.
Basically 3.7ks in 14:07. Average pace of 3:48 per klm. Must have been slacking on the floats.

Did a 2k warmup and then a 2k cooldown afterwards.

Marathon Pace Run 15ks

Hard work tonight in the wind. At least I missed the showers that seemed to be around late today.
Ran around Centennial Park and up to the SFS and SCG and back. Pretty flat course with not too much foot and bike traffic to dodge.

Ran 15.2ks in 1:02.30. Average pace of 4:06 per klm.

A bit quicker than I thought I was moving at. I was only looking to run around the 4:12/k mark.
That quick 30k on Sunday must have done something to my legs.

Recovery Run 11ks

Short and sweet around Centennial Park. A nice Southerly blowing to keep me cool while running on the grass.

Total was 11ks in 1:01.44. Average pace of 5:36 per klm. Legs and feet felt fantastic. Now not sore at all after Sundays hard hitout.

Homebush Hustle STaR 30ks

Out to Concord for this Striders training run. A locked toilet in the park at the start so Mark Fiore and I headed off early to get one in a park a few k's up the road and then caught up with the 6:20am group when they started.
The pace was hot even though we thought it wasn't. The group at one stage had Sportsman, Springer, Aim High and Tim Austin in it.
With only Springer, Aim High and Tim sort of staying close together to the finish. Well close, meaning within a k of each other.

The run went through Concord, Homebush, Newington, Silverwater, Meadowbank, Rhodes, Mortlake, Breakfast Point and Cabarita.

Finished with 30.2ks on the watch in 2:12.18. Average pace of 4:22 per klm. Quickest I have ever run a STaR at. Previous quickest I think was the Western Wanderer a couple of years ago doing 4:39 per k pace. The pace was quicker than my Canberra Marathon 30k split from 2 years ago. Seems I might have a good Sydney Marathon after all.
Caught up with Granpa, Tesso and Johnny Dark after the race.

Striders North Head 10k

What a crap run. No energy, over tired, pathetic useless piece of a race. And that was just from Blue Dog's Mum. Just kidding. But I feel like that.
Couldn't get going past the 3k mark which I reached in 11:15. After that there was nothing useful in the legs to get me to go any faster. Maybe I'm a good 3000m track runner, just waiting to be unleashed over summer?

Ended up at the 8k mark in about 31:15 and was able to push a bit faster from then to get back to 35:07 at the 9k and then the partially downhill last k home to finish with 38:48.
A course PB by 33 seconds but way outside my overall time. My worst 10k of the year.

Well bugger it, I'll just focus now on getting a good Marathon out of the way at Sydney.