Hill Reps 20x200m

Much better. No drunk race goers to get in my way. Conditions were still crap. 23 degrees and 76% humidity with the sun still out. Melting away again.

Up and down the hill with a 2 min turnaround per rep. About 45-50 seconds was up per rep.

Just to be boring

Around Centennial Park tonight for another 10ks. Pretty windy but much better than yesterdays hot temp. Only 21 degrees and a nice cool Southerly blowing. Legs felt pretty sore and took a few ks to warm up.
Total was 10.1ks in 46:59. Average pace of 4:39 per klm.

Running Puddle 27ks

Slept in this morning so missed the Quarry Rd trail run. Headed out about 4pm for a run. Temp was still 26 degrees, humidity was 64% and there was a 20k North Easter blowing. Felt very hot without the shade, so much that I was melting away. The puddles tended to form if I stopped for a drink.
Marathon training is hard and boring but it does tend to prevent a DNF.

Ran around Centennial Park, Moore Park, SFS, SCG and Fox Studios doing a few different loops to make the klms up.

Total was 27.04ks in 2:03.55. Average pace of 4:34 per klm.

Hill Reps 12x200m

24 degrees still with the humidity a high 80% even at 7:30 at night. Did the reps just near my house.
Stopped at 12 as the drunks from the Boxing Day horse races finally gave me the shits getting in the way all the time.
Reps going up were done between 45-51 seconds. Turnaround was 2 minutes for each rep with the recovery.

Christmas around the Bay Run 14ks

Met a bunch of Cool Runners at the ungodly hour of 5:30am this morning. A nice gentle run around the bay in our reindeer antlers and santa hats. One of us was wearing a Mrs Klaus dress without the boots.
Two laps of the bay for me. So 14ks in 1:15.22. Average pace of 5:23 per klm. Very chattable pace that.

Easy Tiger did do his hot lap with Liam Ridings. That was at sub 3:30 k pace.

Merry Christmas everyone.

MLR 15ks

Twas the night before.... That's enough Christmas for one post.

Felt stuffed today but still went out for a run. Ran around Centennial Park inside and out and around the SCG and SFS and back home.
Total was 15.2ks in 1:15.09. Average pace of 4:56 per klm.

Merry Christmas everyone. Run safe!

Raining Bats

It was raining, the cricket was on the SCG and the bats were landing in the fig trees. Enough explaining.
Ran around Centennial Park, the SCG, SFS and back home again.
Total was 10.7ks in 50:23. Average pace of 4:42 per klm.

Centennial Park 12ks

First run since Tuesday last week as I have had a cold since then. Really strong sea breeze blowing tonight. 30-40 knots I would guess.
Ran around Centennial Park and then up around the SFS and SCG and back home again.

All up 12.81 ks in 59:42. Average pace of 4:39 per klm.
It is getting easier to run at this pace.

Problem Child

My inner child refused to run fast tonight. Tried to wake it up but it wouldn't budge. Settled for a few laps around the inside and outside of Centennial Park. Heaps of people about, including the Sweat squad finishing training. CT was looking fit Tom.

Total was 15ks in 1:09.31. Average pace of 4:38 per klm. After writing the bit above it appears I was running faster than I thought.

What recovery run?

Who said recovery run? Apparently when you sleep your legs recover. So the theory goes anyway. Well mine certainly hurt when I started running tonight.
Ran up around the SCG, SFS, and Fox Studios and then back home. Plenty of sunlight still left with the daylight saving.

Total was 10.5ks in 49:04. Average pace of 4:40 per klm.

Striders Christmas Run 20.5ks

The Sydney Striders Christmas Brunch Run was on this morning. Ran with the 6:10am group as I thought the pace might be ok for me to keep up with.
The run starts at Lilyfield and then goes through Drumoyne, Chiswick, Abbotsford, Canada Bay, Five Dock and back to Lilyfield.
Course is an H1 with no bush at all. So mostly flat on the Striders hill scale.
Total was 20.5ks in 1:40.52. Average pace of 4:55 per klm. It was good to run in a group again.

Then we had brunch and awards at UTS Rowers at Haberfield just across the canal from the start.

MLR 11KS

Not really long enough to be called a long run. Didn't have enough time to run tonight, too busy at work.
Ran up Anzac Pde and around the SFS, SCG and back home. Total was 11ks in 50:36. Average pace of 4:36 per klm.

I would end up as 3:02 if I ran 4:18 ks Ewen. Three over 3 hrs is enough for me. I might get some pace back eventually Tom, thanks mate.

5K @ MP

Lovely misty rain was falling tonight while I ran. Well that was how it became after the heavy rain passed through. Legs were feeling great after the hill reps last night. Maybe I should have done another rep?

Did a 1k warmup and then did 5k in 20:22. Average pace of 4:04 per klm.
A bit quicker than I wanted to do. Was thinking more of 21 mins for the 5k.
Did a 1k cooldown after finishing.
I need some practice at my pacing.

Resembles a Run

Due to a few pressures at work since Thursday I have not been able to get out and run. Feet certainly didn't feel to flash at the start of this run.
Ran around a few streets in Randwick and then into Centennial Park and did a lap in there. Then ran out and ran up around the SFS and SCG and back home again.

Total was 14ks in 1:07:15. Average pace of 4:48 per klm.

Six Foot begins tomorrow.

Centennial Park 13ks

Supposed to be a windy southerly blowing keeping the temp down. It was 20 degrees but with 70% humidity in case you didn't feel the wind.
Did the same course as Tuesday with a couple of laps inside the park and then down to Fox Studios and back.

Total was 13.5ks in 61:55. Average pace of 4:35 per klm.

Hill Reps 20x200m

Lucky the Southerly arrived before I started these as I felt like I was going to melt away. Hey maybe I can melt my way back to fitness like the jockeys. Maybe not!

Up in about 50-55 seconds and recovery back down in a minute. They hurt.

Ewen Fox Studios is the old RAS showground area near the SCG.

Hot and Easy 13k

Still 30 degrees when I went out for a run tonight. Thankfully half way through the Southerly arrived to cool things down a bit. Dropped to 20 degrees in the hour I was out.
Did a couple of laps inside the park then ran up to Fox Studios and back.

All up 13.5ks in 62:26. Average pace of 4:37 per klm. Have not been able to run since wednesday due to being too busy at work.

Easy 11k

Ran up to Fox Studios and back with a few loops and around different streets enroute to make up the klms. Still pretty windy at the moment but not cold.

Total was 11.15ks in 50:56. Average pace of 4:34 per klm. Felt pretty easy to me.

I thought that was you Gronk setting a blistering pace that the dog had trouble keeping up. Ewen I wear singlet and shorts in winter, body gets too hot. I think I was born to be a nudist.

Recovery Run 9ks

A nice run around Centennial Park on the grass. Plenty of people about enjoying the light and no rain.
Total 9ks in 46:56. Average pace of 5:12 per klm.

Centennial Park 20ks

Generally feeling really tired this morning so waited until later in the day when I was motivated to run.
I started out about 5pm and was greeted with showers, a cold wind and beautiful women running around Centennial Park. Just what I like about running on my own.

Total was 20.8ks in 1:37.39. Average pace of 4:41 per klm.

MLR 12ks

A lovely run around Centennial Park in the wind and humidity. The lights of the SCG were blazing for miles around. Made it easy to see in the dark.

Total was 12.7ks in 1:01.46. Average pace of 4:51 per klm.

Easy 8k

A nice lap of Centennial Park tonight. All on the grass. Getting a bit dark when I ran so some tree root hopping was needed to avoid a fall.
Total was 8ks in 41:00. Average pace of 5:07 per klm.

Worlds shortest long run 15ks

Jammed between work in the morning and early parents dinner I didn't have much time for a run. Managed to avoid any showers that were floating around the Eastern Suburbs. Very windy though with the Southerly blowing.

Ran around Centennial Park, Moore Park, SFS, SCG and Fox Studios and back home again. Managed to avoid flag waving Aussies and Fijians heading to the SFS for the RLWC Semi.

Total was 15ks in 1:09.37. Average pace of 4:38 per klm. Must have been a tail wind all the way. Yeah sure!

MLR 15ks

Ran up to watch the JP Morgan Challenge Run around Centennial Park tonight. Saw it with about 2ks to go of the 5.6k. Can't recall who was leading, bit hard to tell as I'm used to seeing club singlets but they run in corporate. Did see Tom31 leading Kanser at that stage though.

After watching for about 20 minutes I went off for a run around the outside of Centennial Park, Moore Park, the SFS, SCG and Fox. And then back home.
Really windy and humid tonight.

Total was 15.5ks in 1:13.46. Average pace of 4:45 per klm.

State 3000m Titles=PW

Fronted up at at the Homebush warmup track which has a good atmosphere as the crowd is close to the track.
My race was to be 6:50pm. Found out I was in the E race at 8pm with an F race before me.
I found out too late to change myself back to the F race. They took my PB which I am not inform to run at the moment.

Settled well at the back and ran around the track for 7 and half laps. Was this a race? Went through the 1st k in 3:45 and I thought I was trying to run slower. Managed to hold off the front runners until my 2.2ks and then get lapped. But only once and not by everyone.

Missed the 2k split. And finished in 11:43. A PW. Yeehah!

Stayed to watch the other races which just get faster and faster. Awesome to watch. Met a friend of Ewen's as well. Said Ewen ran 12:43 in Canberra tonight. I thought you were running faster?

P.S An apparently out of form TOM31 ran 8:51.06 doing a 2 sec PB. Well done mate.

Easy 8ks

Still a warm 25 degrees as I headed out for a run. In light of the 3000m on Saturday night I just went for an easy run around Centennial Park.
Total was 8ks in 37:24. Average pace of 4:40 per klm.

Timbrell Park 8x400m reps

A bit windy down at the bay with a strong South Westerly blowing. Ran these reps from the CR6 mark back to the 1k mark in the park.
Ran into Horrie during my first rep. He was checking out the flat bay before he has to run up and down hills at GNW on the weekend. Good luck mate.

Reps were 75, 81, 81, 83, 82, 82, 80, 81. Did a 2min Jog recovery between each rep.
Always a dodgy first rep, and I was trying to be consistent.

Easy Monday

Nice and windy with the southerly starting to blow through tonight. Made for a lot better running than being humid.
Ran around Centennial Park and the SCG, SFS, FOX and back home again.

Ran 15ks in 1:11.22. Average pace of 4:45 per klm.

Narrabeen Track 1500m

After missing the Striders race this morning I headed up to the Academy of Sport at Narrabeen to run the 1500m they had on there. The track is surrounded by bushland and was quite springy to run on. Not as good as Homebush or Blacktown though.

This was a test to see how slow I could run since I haven't done a lot of training at all really lately. We had 20 males in our race raning from U17 to 35+. I think 9 of us were 40 and over.

I didn't take any splits at all. When you run this slow I don't really care what split I've done. Was 2nd last for most of the race. And shame of shames I was lapped by 3 runners in a 1500m race. I now have to run faster or just retire.

I managed to pass one runner during the last lap to finish in a PW of 5:41.18. Since my history of 1500m races is a huge three, with one being a relay I don't have much to work with.
Still managed to run 3:47 per klm, so I guess that is one good thing out of the race. I did a 2k warmup before the race and a 2k cooldown after.

So that is my warmup for a shellacking next week at the 3000m at Homebush. I'll be lucky to break 12 mins I reckon.

MLR 13ks

Ewen, you just have to run faster!
Ran around Centennial Park, Moore Park, SFS,SCG,FOX and the horse yards and back home. Pretty humid after the rain and cloud lifted, and heaps of water on the ground.

Total was 13.5ks in 1:05.03. Average pace 4:49 per klm. I thought I ran slower yesterday.

Easy 10k

Windy and humid around Centennial Park tonight. Tried to avoid the bats coming into feed, plus one low flying Owl out early. It was huge.
Legs were really sore for some reason, maybe I need to run more.

Total was 10.2ks in 46:33. Average pace of 4:33 per klm.

Recovery 7ks

Just a nice lap around Centennial Park. 26 degrees and really windy.
Stayed on the grass for most of the run.

7.5ks in 42:35. Average pace of 5:40 per klm.

Who are you? I'm Batman

Saw Batman in full getup at a kids party in Centennial Park this morning. Had the cape and mask on, but no batmobile.

Did a run around Moore Park, Centennial Park, SFS, SCG and Fox Studios and then finished with two laps inside the park. Quite hot this morning. I started a bit later than I wanted as well.

Total was 20.7ks in 1:40.23. Average pace of 4:50 per klm.

I was feeling pretty stiff for the first 5ks inspite of doing a lot of stretching beforehand.

.Things have changed.

Apologies to Mr Zimmerman for pinching his song title. Inspired by Easy Tiger, Kanser and EJ running the 5k at ES Marks field this afternoon I decided to run a time trial in Centennial Park.
The Colin will be pleased.
Did a 2k warmup before I started. Legs were not feeling the best at the start and I had to contend with the sea breeze still blowing strong as well.

It felt good to run fast again. Total was 3.7ks in 14:11. Average pace of 3:50 per klm. Not sure where it came from, and I have no idea if it can be replicated next week at the 10k. Did a 2k cooldown after finishing.

P.S. Jeremey Roff ran the 5k and pulled out at 3k with an 8:08. He was paced for 2k by Jeff Hunt I think. Looks like he is in form for the 3000m state in a couple of weeks.

Coldest October day in 30 years

Ok that was actually yesterday when it snowed in the Blue Mountains and the Southern Highlands. Today wasn't that much better. Certainly was chilly going for a run tonight. But as per usual I wore shorts and a singlet. Cool!

Didn't have much time for a run as well as not being able to breathe out of my lungs either, so it was a short run up to Fox Studios and back.

Total was 7ks in 34:32. Average pace of it sucks. Who cares?

Must be Spring! Blue Dogs Mum is out of the asylum

An easy 11k around Centennial Park. Pretty windy and cool. Nice conditions to run in tonight.
I'll feel better if I can crack 30ks as a long run. Guess I will need to soon if I want to run Six Foot and Canberra next year.

Today total was 11.15ks in 51:42. Average pace of 4:38 per klm.

In the eye of the storm 19ks

Storms all around Randwick this afternoon but none fell on me at all. After being a slack bugger this morning and sleeping in I had to run late in the afternoon.
It was still 25 degrees and 50% humidity when I started at 5:30 and remained that way for the duration.

Ran around a few of streets in randwick and then ran around the outside of Centennial Park, plus SFS, SCG and Fox Studios. On the way back I did a lap around the inside running track of Centennial Park.

Total was 19ks in 1:32.24. Average pace of 4:51 per klm.

I thought 3:30ks were the new 4:00?

Not that I'm bothering the scorer at even running 4 min ks at the moment. Pretty humid tonight. I ran around Centennial Park, Moore Park, SFS, SCG and Fox Studios and back home.

Total was 11.8ks in 57:43. Average pace of 4:53 per k. Must have been a bit slack running tonight.

Short run

A bit busy at work today to go for a longer run. Nevertheless I ran up to Fox Studios and back avoiding angry bats and lots of Horse shit outside the park. Bring back the virus, it made for cleaner streets.
Total was 6ks in 28:18. Oh what the watch must be broken, I ran too fast. 4:43/ks.

Legs didn't like it

Legs were really upset I went for a run tonight. They were pretty sore during the day after not having run for a week until Sunday.
I was running in Centennial Park and stuck to the grass but it didn't seem to help much.

Total was 11.35ks in 1:02.26. Average pace of 5:30 per klm. Don't think I can call this a recovery run but it felt slow enough for one.

Ewen will be happy, he might have kept up with me tonight.

A run in the Sun

Woke up this morning fully intending to do the Striders Internal Half. But my stomach felt like it had been taking punches from Rocky Balboa, which was funny since I watched the DVD last night.
Went for a run late afternoon around Centennial Park and Moore Park. Pretty windy with the Nor Easter blowing on the coast.
Total was 14.75ks in 1:11.35. Average pace of 4:51 per klm.

Congrats to Puntermatt at the Melbourne Marathon for finally breaking 3 hrs. Probably would have run faster if not for the wind and heat.

.Bull Market is Over!

A Howling Southerly

Went out for a run late taking advantage of the new Daylight Saving Time to be met with a howling Southerly coming through.
Only 80k and hour winds in Centennial Park. Only 20 more ks and we get a category 1 cyclone I think?
Did a couple of laps of the running track in the wind. Heaps of dirt flying around, should have worn the sunglasses it was that hard to see.

Total was 8.15ks in 38:39. Average pace of 4:44 per klm.

And did I mention that Manly won!

Won for the Beaver!

Premiers! Go Manly! Go the Beaver! Awesome game. 3 tries for Robertson. And the Beaver gets a try in his last game for Manly. Legend.

Was a bit of a slob this morning and couldn't get up for a run like I wanted to. So went for a run after the Grand Final. Ran up to Fox Studios and around a couple of streets nearby and then back home, stuck a lot to the grass.
Ran 8ks in 38:26. Average pace of 4:48 per klm.

Go Manly!

A lap of the park 7ks

Very hot and muggy tonight. It was 28 degrees when I started out. Just did a lap of Centennial Park, nothing serious.
7.2ks in 34:40. Average pace of 4:48 per klm.

It's 26 degrees, dark and I go running

Hard to believe it was 26 degrees at 7:30pm when I went out for a run. Lets just say I was hanging out for water when I passed Fox Studios so had to stop in half way through.

So a run around part of Centennial Park, Moore Park, Fox, SFS and SCG and back home.

Total was 11.2ks in 54:09. Average pace of 4:50 per klm.
It was fun while it lasted Ewen.

Go the Beaver! Go Manly!

All Tom's Fault

And that aint Cruise!
Quite hard to run fast when your lungs won't let you breathe. Has been a hard winter on the lung capacity this year, with nothing seeming to clear my lungs out. Possibly I am over it but who knows.

Anyway it was after 8pm before I got out for a run. Was almost collected by low flying batfink near Fox Studios. Managed to get up there and back while still breathing well.

Total was 9.75ks in 46:55. Average pace of 4:48 per klm. Lucky it was mostly flat otherwise I couldn't drag this overweight carcass up the hills.

A shark in the Storm

A lap of Centennial Park tonight around on the grass. Heard the death of the Sharks in the finals as I ran near the SFS. One punter was set to win $250k if it was a Cronulla-Manly Grand Final.

Total was 7.2ks in 38:10. Average pace of 5:18 per klm.

Go Beaver! Go the Eagles for tomorrow night!

Around the Grounds 13ks

What Grounds? SCG,SFS,and the old show ground now Fox Studios. Actually at the moment Cirque Du Soleil has the big top on the old show ground main arena.

Nice night for a run, cool and a bit windy and not humid. Just what was needed on Sunday morning at the races. I guess I did run at night though.

Total was 13.3ks in a leisurely 1:11.36. Average pace of 5:23. I think the clowns must have distracted me? Or maybe the Irish cousins of Kanser asking for directions to the Big top while I was out running? Maybe I'm just fat? Yes the last one.

.A day on the grun.

Waited till 5:30pm for the heat to go out of the air to no avail. It was still 28 degrees after peaking at 33 degrees today.
Ran around the grass track in Centennial Park trying to avoid being sighted by angry magpie parents up on Oxford St. And that isn't because Collingwood are out of the finals. It was the feathered variety.

Total was 7.95ks in 41:15. Average pace of 5:11 per klm.

Good luck to everyone running in Sydney tomorrow. I'll be out on the Marathon course around the Racecourse/Centennial area.
Look for subtle messages on the road!

Another Six

Not enough time for a run at all. Just ran up to Fox Studios and back. Nice and cool at the moment at night for running.
Total was 6.65ks in 34:50. Average pace of 5:14 per klm. Oh how slow!

Graduate School 13ks

Ran up to UNSW and met Greg who was doing a course at the Uni. Ran from there down to the Racecourse and around Centennial Park and up Anzac Pde to Moore Park and went past the SFS, SCG, Fox Studios and the horse yards as well and then back to the Uni.
A bit short for Greg unfortunately. Sorry about that.

Had a funny moment in front of Fox Studios when 3 girls went "ooh boys" as we ran past. Lucky it was dark and they couldn't see our very svelte bodies as we flew past. Yeah right!
Good to have someone to talk to for once. First time since I did the 7am Striders host in May that I have run with anyone. Thanks Greg for the run.

Total for me was 13.7ks in 1:15.22. Average pace of 5:30 per klm.

Heel does still give me pain sometimes Jen. But I'm managing it.

Moore Park 8ks

Felt a lot better running tonight with it cooler than yesterday. No problem with the breathing tonight thank you very much. A few people out running.

Ran up to Anzac Pde and around the SFS and SCG and back home again.

8.5ks in 45:23. Average pace of 5:20 per klm. Well at least I could breath.

Full Moon 6ks

A nice warm night for a run. A bit windy and the temp is set to drop tonight when a cold front comes through. I'm still waiting.

Ran up to Fox Studios and back. Some people run a 100 miles on the weekend and I wheeze my way up to the horse yards to catch some Horse Flu. Bloody marvelous.

Total was 6.65ks in 33:54. Average pace of 5:05 per klm.

Centennial Park 6ks

Had to squeeze in the run between voting in the local council elections and the Manly, Collingwood and Wallabies games.
Still 24 degrees when went out at 6:30 after a high of 31 today. Spring has sprung!

Ran up to Fox Studios and back. Total was 6.67ks in 35:09. Average pace of 5:16 per klm.
Not fast as I felt like crap today.

Centennial 6ks

After my life of skiing and golfing I arrived back home having added another kg to my running frame. 82kgs.
Must go for a run. Ok a lot of runs and keep running.

Ran from home up to the Horse entrance of the park and back. Great night for a run as the temp was a warm 16 degrees. Legs felt a bit sore after not having and running practice recently.

Total was 6.55ks in 33:49. Average pace of 5:09. And no problem with my breathing anymore. Must have left that virus on the Ashburton Glacier in NZ while heli-skiing.

Thinking of my sister today as she left Manhattan on the train to go to her job in Masachusetts a few hours before the first plane hit. Lucky she is alive today on 9\11\08.

.Steep and Deep

To borrow a title from my favourite ski movie from Warren Miller. It was steep and deep the heli skiing. Snow was 50cm deep while I wasn't moving. As soon as I moved through it the snow was up to my waist. So falling over was a challenge to get out again.

It is what skiers dreams are made of. Sunshine, no wind and deep powder snow.

No running to report here

No running on this holiday. Heaps of eating and drinking.
Have played a few rounds of golf this week. Scored a birdie today for the first time in ages. Snowed on us while we were playing golf. Was a bit cold on the hands.

A couple of days of ski-ing with Thursday being a half a foot powder ski-ing day. Sensational.

Tomorrow I'm off heli-skiing. Apparently they have had over half a metre in the mountains we are going to in the past 2 days, with no other flights in the area due to the low cloud.

Tomorrow should be awesome!

Altitude Training Camp

It's a hard life but somebody has to Snow Ski and play Golf. I'm off to training camp tomorrow morning. I might run, I might not. See you all.

Moore of the Park 10ks

Around Moore Park and Centennial Park. Quite warm, is Spring really coming?

Feeling slow and unfit. What's new!

Total was 10.5ks in 55:48. Average pace of 5:18 per klm.

The 3000m is a great night of racing. 100 males and 40 females last year.

Centennial Park 15ks

Well the Olympics are over. Commiserations to Troopy for his race. Enough said!

Ran after the Marathon had finished, which meant about 12:30pm. Nice and cool in Centennial Park in the shaded areas. A fair bit of dodging today due to every kid in town having a birthday party on the grass it seemed.

Still don't feel like running at the moment. Maybe a week on altitude training camp will help me.

Total today was 15.2ks in 1:16.35. Average pace of 5:02 per klm.

Goal for the end of the year is to get myself fit enough to run fast at the State 3000m in November I think.

No time, no time

That was no time to run tonight. Too much work to do. And the conditions were great to run in as well.
Only had time to run down to Fox Studios and back. Not long enough for my liking.

Run was 5.6ks in 27:25. Average pace of 4:53 per klm. By Christmas 2009 I might get near 4 min ks.

Centennial Park 10ks

Ran around Centennial Park mostly on the grass. Pretty cold and windy tonight. At least I didn't have a thunderstorm to contend with like last night in the Eastern Suburbs.

Ran down to Fox Studios and back going via Queens Park direction and Oxford St.

Total was 10.2ks in 51:12. Average pace of 5:01 per klm.

An hour of power

Wokeup, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head. Looking at the mirror I saw I was tired thought it best just to retire. After watching Lightning Bolt last night I decided I needed more sleep so stayed in until the Marathon started. Consequently watched the Marathon and Swimming and then went out for a run.

Ran around Centennial Park, Moore Park, SFS, the SCG and Fox Studios and then back home.
Total was 12.4ks in 64:00. Average pace of 5:09. I'll get it faster eventually.

Apologies to Lennon/McCartney for using their line that didn't make the song.

I can breathe again

I was able to get to a chemist and get myself an asthma puffer tonight. So finally cleared the lungs up a bit so I had a good run.
I ran up to the Footy Stadium and back. Very cold and windy tonight. But I was soft and wore a long sleeve top.

Amazing what happens when your lungs can breathe properly. Total was 6.54ks in 32:05. Average pace of 4:54 per klm.
Now let's get serious!

Half an hour is all I'm worth

The mind is willing but the lungs have an aversion to exercise.
All I had time for was half an hour tonight. Well actually I couldn't breath so I stopped when I could see the beetroot reflection of my face in the passing car windows.
I was waiting for someone to call an ambo when I stopped to cough up a lung half way.

I was running around Centennial Park on the grass if you must read. Managed to make it to 30 minutes, just.

Total was 5.5ks in 30:09. Average pace of 5:28 per klm.

Did we run faster on Sunday?

City 2 Surf stats:
2006- 55mins=455th, 2007- 55mins=363rd, 2008- 55mins=440th.
2006- Top 100=50:03, 2007- Top 100=50:23, 2008- Top 100=49:36.
2006- Top 500=55:33, 2007- Top 500=56:52, 2008- Top 500=55:41.

Are we all faster than last year?
Was it the cooler conditions?
Was it the Olympics?

I know I was slower, but hey I was busy chasing girls. You can't run fast while doing that.

City 2 Surf 2008

It was long it was tough and the conditions were brutally cold. Oh that was the 2hr wait for the start. Won't bore you with details. So wake up. There was Tesso,tuttle, blue dog, horrie, spud, miners and gogirl,etc, etc.... And some hack Cool Runners on the other side of the Berlin Wall pretending they can run fast. Apparently they could going on the stories I heard at the finish. Maybe they had drunk a six pack each by the time I waddled across the finish line. Tell him he's dreaming.

Well, cold and plantar and me raced the City 2 Surf on Sunday. It was fun for all 3 of us. My foot just loved the concrete, and the lungs loved that fresh voltaren gel and vaso air they were taking in, and I was there just for the hell of it.

Some would say. You fool you can't run. Since Lardy is leaving the country I've taken up the mantle. Racing 7 kgs overweight is not a good look. Why were all the good looking girls running faster than me during the race. Damn those chocy tim tams.

Yes there was a race in all of this. The trick was to convince the lungs that the effort I put in was reasonable so don't clog up so I can still breath. A bit quick up the Highway to hell leading to the Cross tunnel and I was coughing up a lung while helping the drought as soon as I saw daylight on the otherside. Maintained a steady pace of lardy proportions. When I arrived at the Sheaf the band played 'enter Sandman'. I felt like knocking back a schewie of New and continuing. Damn no money.

At the bottom of next in line for heartbreak hill. Surely a song on Tesso's 5 million song ipod. I spyed a young female so entranced by my tim tam gut she broke 2 min ks to be with me from the back of the pack group. Tis love I tell ya. Bloody queue jumpers.
The dodgy 7/7.2k was met in 40:10(5:44/k). A cause for celebration as I was only twice as slow as Monners record.

At last my favourite part of the race. Oh not quite. Still more of heartbreak to finish and then turn at the dead centre of Dover Heights to run home. I perked up, the lungs were talking to me, go faster Paulie. So I did. I reached 11k in 62:30. A quick 5:35 per klm. What a speed increase? Ha! A whole 9 secs per k faster. Motorised zimmer frames move quicker. And I think I saw one pass me. Either that or the non watered down gatorade had given me sugar overload.

The 11k was upon me and in my new lofty weight proportion. That means fat, I rolled downhill taking out dogs and small children as I barrelled past the golf course and shops of North Bondi. A hasty high five from the cheer squad and I sprinted for home. Damn I forgot 1k left. I ground to a fast jog at the Campbell Parade lights as the beer queue for the Bondi hotel was getting my attention. I turned the corner and spied 75. Wholly crap run flake run.

I bounced across the line. Well parts of me were. I think my lungs were thankful I stopped.
A huge 18mins worse than last year. Finished in 75:49. Did the last 3 k in 13:39. And the last 7k in 35:39. Go the negative split.

I had fun! It was ugly, it was slow, I was wheezing for air for half the race. But I got through my first race in four months. So I'm happy. Thanks to the Striders for the post race drinks and fruit. Superb. Sorry I couldn't stay for beers. But after 14ks of concrete my feet were really hurting.

Moore Park 6ks

Felt quite chilly tonight. Doesn't help the asthma either. Hopefully my cold will clear up by Sunday morning so I can run down William St without being run over by a flood of super heroes.

Ran down to Fox Studios and back. Went too fast at the start so consequently had to cough up a lung half way there. Not a good feeling.

Total was 5.85ks in 30:20. Average pace of 5:11 per klm.

Good luck for everyone running or shuffling C2S on Sunday. See you at the start, during the race, in the cheer squad, at the finish, and drunk at the pub. Go hard and have fun!

Centennial Park 12ks

Went out late this morning for a run in the park. Regretted that as I was dodging all run the walkers, dogs, kids on bikes, scooters and skateboards.
At least I had a run when the sun was out compared to my night time runs at present.

Total was 12ks in 1:04.20. Average pace of 5:21 per klm.

I seemed to have worked out my pace without going lactic which is good. Means I can keep breathing while I run, and slowly get faster.

Should make a reasonably crappy run at C2S next week.

Windy and Cold 6ks

Since I had a long day at work today I really did not feel like running at all tonight.
Ran a bit around Centennial Park.

Total was 6.62ks in 34:51. Average pace of 5:15 per klm.

Still effected by my cold. It isn't helping my breathing at the moment.

Positively Balmy 8ks

Eleven degrees! A heatwave compared to the last two nights in Sydney on the coast. Although tomorrow morning is supposed to be 6 degrees.
Ran around a few of the local streets and then down to Fox Studios and back.
Nothing too flash, but I did feel speedier tonight.

Total was 8.75ks in 47:23. Average pace of 5:24 per klm.

Cold and Wet 10k

It was cold, it was dark and it was wet. Gawd I love it. Ran around the outside fence of Centennial Park tonight. The grass was slippery and wet. And the dirt was mud. Oh heaven!

Finally cracked the 10k mark. The lungs seem to get better the further I run. Although I feel my lungs run out of oxygen after about 2ks. I'll be lucky to make it out of the Kings Cross tunnel without being trampled at C2S.

Total was 10.5ks in 58:40. Average pace of oh hell that is slow. 5:35 per klm.

Half an Hour

No time for anything longer tonight. Not that my lungs can handle it anyway.

Ran around the outside of the park on the grass again. Heaps of water around tonight. It was good.
Ran 5.7ks in 30:02. Pathetic!

A lap of the Park 7ks

Couldn't get out for any runs earlier in the week due to work.
Did a lap around the outside of Centennial Park tonight on the grass.

Total was 7.1ks in 40:05.

Still slow, but I'm not worried.

A Holy 7ks

After having Sunday Mass with the Pope. They were across the road how could I not see it and hear it? I was the only one of the 400,000 who did take off for a run though.
I did manage to see the Pope in the flesh, Ok behind bullet proof glass in the popemobile.

Did a lap of Centennial Park around the outside of it on the grass. Had a few tough spots around the Fox Studios and Racecourse sides due to the barricades up.

Total was 7.15ks in 41:07.

At least I'm running!

I'm off the flakes, just don't mention the Cherry Ripes

It is almost fortress Randwick as we await the arrival of his Holiness Pope Benny. The choirs were across the road practicing tonight. You think they could turn the speaker volume down until there is a crowd to hear it?
Ran from my place up to Fox Studios and back trying to avoid a few flag waving Korean pilgrims.

Ran 5ks in a slovenly 29:30. Lungs still hurt and so does the foot.

Had a hard day at work getting Root Canal Therapy. In layman's terms that is an audit. 9am to 7pm, and most of the time spent on my feet. So foot was sore when I left work.

.Fat boy slim runs 4k

Well it doesn't get any easier. Actually tonight I felt worse than sunday and I only ran 4ks.
Ran along the grass around Centennial Park up to Fox Studios and back.

Total was 4.2ks in 24:34. Average pace of 5:50 per klm. I said it felt worse than sunday.

Is Blue Dog's Mum out of the asylum already? I thought they gave her 3 months of shock therapy.

Fat boy running 2ks

A very wheezy 2k along the busway of Alison Rd. I did stick to the grass all the way as I felt that would be easier on the foot. I didn't feel any pain at all while I was running.

Maybe because the running shoes are soft and I was running on grass. Who knows?

As for walking around in other shoes the heel does hurt. Work that out.

Now I need a new lung as I have discovered I have the lung capacity of a pea at the moment. I guess a cold doesn't help either.

My weight has finally peaked at 80kgs. After being 74kgs after pulling out of Canberra Marathon half way. Too much good food, chocolate and alcohol, plus not running.

Scary photo! Oh, it was 2ks in 10:57. A very pedestrian 5:28.5 per klm.

Happy Birthday to me!

Out at the stadium watching the Swans vs Collingwood match with my brother and sister in law. Beers and junk food. It's all good!

C2S Number has arrived

Now I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not? Red start group number arrived today.

Training on track? Zero, zip, zilch. Perfect to run then. I better go buy some flakes!

I am now walking without a limp which is a vast improvement from Tuesday last week when I picked the orthotics up. So the only way is up.

I'm up to 5hrs

That is wearing the orthotics each day. Supposed to add an hour a day until I run out of daylight I guess and wear them all day.
Can't really tell if they are working as yet. The pain seems a bit less sometimes, but then I get a shot of pain through the heal to remind me I have PF.

It's a long road.................

Orthotics are in

Had a phone call this morning to pickup the orthotics.
Had my 1 hr in them this morning and then have to do another hour tonight.
Apparently so your knee joints get used to the weird angle of your feet while you wear them.

I'll see what happens. Hopefully they work reasonably quickly, but I'm quite happy if they don't work fast. Anything has to be better than walking with a bad limp.

Wouldn't miss C2S again. Thanks for all the comments.

Injury update

Contrary to popular opinion. That would be Blue Dog's Mum. I am still around. Turning to fat though from too much chocolate eating and alcohol. Must be a good thing I reckon.
Except my neck gets fatter and the work shirts have trouble fitting, and now I have to loosen the belt.

Finally went to see a Podiatrist about my heal pain/plantar fasciitis. He had me run on a treadmill which I have never done before. Damn things are hard to run on without practice. Safe to say I looked like a complete git on the video.

He did workout that I pronate slightly but my neutral shoes I always use would be fine.
After that he made a mould of my foot to fit me with an orthotic to fix the pain in my foot. As I am anti-orthotics he said once the pain is gone I shouldn't ever need to use it again. Good!

He did reckon that I should give up the Asics racing flats and use the trainers instead as they had a bit more cushioning for my feet. I love the lightness of the flats but if it will help running in the trainers instead I'm all for it.

Have to go back to have them fitted in 7-10 days when they are ready. Hopefully I'll be right to run C2S. I'm entered anyway.

I'm Out of SMH Half

After running last night I have been limping around badly today at work.
I have decided not to the half on Sunday.

The foot just hurts too much to consider running on Sunday, even at a slow pace I would probably do some damage to my hip as I am not running with my natural gait.

Good luck everyone on Sunday.
I will be down there taking photos, so you better all look good at whatever speed you are running at.

The race isn't worth the long term damage!

10x400m Reps

Ok they were supposed to be 400m but somehow I stopped at the wrong spot on the first one so did them all short. I think they were about 360m.
Used the path next to the bus lane in Alison Rd to run these. Pretty humid tonight, I guess the cold weather is coming at some stage before Sunday.

The reps were 66, 69, 72, 72, 74, 73, 71, 72, 74, 71. All done with a 90 second walk recovery. Too much red cordial on that first rep. Did a 2k warmup and a 2k cool down.

And I thought I would have lost any resemblance of speed since Canberra.

Easy 10k

I had already entered SMH Half back in March so I'm justifying running with an injury by that. Does that work? Probably not. The foot is no better and no worse since Canberra so I might as well run rather slowly round the course. Although I might be tempted to run faster depending on how I feel on the day.

Tonight was a rather slow run of Centennial Park, Moore Park, the SFS and SCG and then back home.

Total was 10.3ks in a pedestrian 53:46. Average pace of 5:13 per klm.
No problems at all running that. Maybe it was just a jog. The only thing hurting was the heel and that is best left alone.

Church Point Challenge STaR 12ks

As the 7am host of this morning's Striders Run I get to run a very short course at a very slow pace. Arrived at North Narra carpark, the home break of World Champion Surfer Damien Hardman as the sun was rising over the ocean. Ahh.

Ran with about a dozen Striders and a soon to be new Strider from South Africa. Must have been convinced by my story of the first President of Striders being South African. And I did mention the Comrades King Bruce Fordyce is speaking at the Striders dinner but only if you are a member.

The run went from North Narrabeen up around a few headlands past Turimetta and Warriewood beaches before arriving at Mona Vale and heading inland. Then we ran through Warriewood and came back to the start again. Very leisurely pace as well. 1:10.13 for 12ks. Glad I'm taper for SMH Half next week.

And Tesso the foot does still hurt badly. So I could be joining the keystone cops running 2 hrs.

Palm Beach Sand Hills

After getting a tip from Blue Dog's Mum yesterday about running on sand I headed to my surf club this morning for some exercise.
It was a beautiful morning on the coast.
Ran from my surf club up to the only sand hill the beach has. It is nothing like Wanda. The Sandhill is used by the Kings School's football and rowing sides for punishment.
Plus the surrounding dunes did feature in a playboy spread of World Surfing Champ Wendy Botha in the 80's. And Home and Away is filmed on the beach. Enough crap!

The run up was 2 and a half k's I think and then I did half a dozen reps of the 100m sandhill. Who said running on sand was easy?
Then ran back to my surf club.
I don't know if running on soft sand was any easier than running on the road in shoes. Doesn't matter. It was good to get out for a run.

He's Back from Hospital

Thanks for everyone's thoughts and wishes.
My father was let out of hospital yesterday. It wasn't as bad as I thought as they didn't cut him open, just made him a pin cushion for a week. I think that did involve a few tubes in some weird places, but much better than last time.

So it was straight to the golf course yesterday for him.

Now if only his son could run!

Battle with the evil empire part 2

Some of you may remember my father had part of his lung cut out from cancer two years ago. Tonight he has had to go back to hospital as he has a really bad infection in the same lung. Where did he get the infection from? Most likely cause is the hospital two years ago. Just takes that long to come back.

He is not expecting this time to be as bad as the last time. Should be home in a week fingers crossed. Damn Cancer!

Love you Dad.

p.s He is the good looking bloke in the middle of the back row.

Canberra Marathon DNF

I knew the day would turn out bad when I couldn't get my car out of the hotel car park at 6am and had to get a lift to the start with another runner.
I have had ongoing problems since December with Plantar Fasciitis which moved into one spot in my heel at the start of March.
Inspite of this I still tried to keep all the training up for the race hoping that I could run 'at pace' for the full distance.

I started off standing near Tucks and Springer although not running near their pace. Was just trying to get a decent start. Ran most of the race in a nice pack that was just around half a dozen runners on 2:55-3hr pace. Included Blue Dog, Sub50 and Brick.
I had a split calculator on my arm for 2:56 and stayed almost on those splits for the first 17ks. At about the 15k mark the Dog said he was pulling out. But from the 17k we head down hill and my heel was getting increasingly more painful from the downhill pressure on it.

From the Black Mtn turnaround my pace started to slow as the pain became to much to handle for me. From there the voices in my head were screaming at me to stop/run/stop/run. Oh come on make up your mind you idiot.
When I saw my family at the 25k mark going back to the bowen turnaround I had made up my mind that I would run back to see them and let them know. They had been standing in the rain cheering for myself and all the "Go Striders" or is that Ghost Writers? I laugh at that one.

That was it, no amount of CR's or Striders imploring me to keep running as they went past was going to make me continue. I was an emotional wreck standing there talking to my parents.

It was a slow hobble back to the finish to watch all the other runners come in. Got to see Mark Tucker power on for the win as I was still walking back. And it was great to see Uncle Dave and Tucks up close as they both still looked strong running sub 2:30.

Thanks to all who have encouraged me to run sub 3hr for the marathon this time. I'm sorry that I couldn't keep my end of the bargain. I shouldn't have run the race at all with my foot like it was. I'm now paying for it as I had the physio this morning put me on crutches to relieve some of the pain so I can walk properly. No running for at least a month for me.

Sorry for such a long post. My first race DNF. Probably very lucky.

Marathon's through the years.

Marathon's through the years.
Top to Bottom.


Canberra 2005
Canberra 2007
Sydney 2007

Easy 40 minutes

Ran up to the SFS and back. Took the run very easy avoiding all the pot holes.
Total was 8.6ks in 40:01. Average pace of 4:39 per klm.

Yes Heel still hurts Tesso. Just trying not to think about it.

5k @ Marathon Pace

A nice very wet run in the rain tonight. Ok it was bucketing for part of the run, lucky I had a few trees to run under so didn't get the full force of it.
Did a 2k warmup before starting. How much can you do when it is already raining?

5k in 20:10. Must have been the extra water in the clothes slowed me down.

Did a 2k cool down after finishing. Mud everywhere how cool.

I'll see what I can do on Sunday with this heel. Could be interesting.

Last run in the park 15ks

Is this really a long run? Not really only 15ks this afternoon after I slept in this morning.
Did a few laps inside Centennial Park late in the day.

Ran 15.8ks in 71:27. Average pace of 4:31 per klm. Felt very easy running that pace.

Lifestyles of the rich and famous, when your daughters private school has their own Equestrian team. Yes it is true. Spotted a horse rider in Centennial Park with a Rugby top on saying that.

Easy 10k + 6 Strides

Did a couple of laps of the running track in Centennial Park late this afternoon plus a bit outside as well.
Ran 10.02ks in 46:05. Average pace of 4:35 per klm.

Then did half a dozen 100m strides on the grass along Alison Rd.

Mona Fartlek

Ran a flat course around to Fox Studios and back. Legs not feeling that good, especially the heel.

Total was 5.2ks in 20 mins. Average pace of 3:50 per klm.

One Hour

Ran around Moore Park, Centennial Park, SCG, SFS and Fox Studios and back home again.

All up 13.1ks in 60:02. Average pace of 4:34 per klm.

Time Trial

Did a 2k warmup before starting tonight. It was getting pretty dark in Centennial Park when I started doing my run.
The time was 13:42 for the 3.7ks. Average pace of 3:42 per klm. And I'm supposed to be getting faster when I taper. I thought I would be faster, but the sore heel is not helping me.

Did a cooldown with Mohammad inside the park. Good luck at London Marathon mate. Also saw CT and JT running a lap after training.

Edit: I did run a 14:09 last year before Canberra around the park. So I guess I am faster.

Vaucluse Variation STaR 27ks

Off to a close Striders training run this morning. Starts at Vaucluse and goes through Rose Bay, Double Bay, Edgecliff, Woollahra, Bondi, Waverley, Bronte, Tamarama, Nth Bondi, Dover Heights, The Gap, Watsons Bay and back to Vaucluse.
The run is very hilly and has a lot of stairs from the 15k mark onwards. So, not real good for training actually. But great views of the ocean from Bronte to Watsons Bay and then up the harbour towards the Bridge.
Cut the run a little bit short at the end and did 27.5ks in 2:19:05. Average pace of 5:05 per klm.

Good to catch up with a few post Six Foot Striders and I saw Amjan and Fats' new baby.

RB Harriers 4k X-C

Headed down to Pagewood mid afternoon for a run with the Randwick Botany Harriers. A 2k grass course with a couple of steep hills around Mutch park.
Caught up with Fossil, Grandpa and a couple of other Striders before the start.

Took off too quick at the start and lost my breath, which meant basically feeling like crap for 4ks.

Got around the course in one piece with my dodgy heel getting some relief from the soft grass surface.
Finished with 16:52 for the 4k. My program had me doing 10k easy today but a short race will do me.

3x2.5k @ marathon pace

Did a 2k warmup before starting. Ran a flat course down to Fox Studios and back.

Reps were: 9:57, 9:51, 10:01. All done at Marathon pace.

All done with a 3 min jog recovery in between.

Felt easier tonight to hold that pace without breathing too hard to do it. Something must be working.
Did a 2k cool dow after finishing.

MLR 16ks

Felt really warm when I started out but was only 22 degrees at 7:30pm. Maybe it was all in the head. Ran around the SCG, SFS and Fox Studios plus a few of the local hills in Randwick.

Ran 16ks in 1:15.47. Average pace of 4:44 per klm. Felt very easy even with my sore heel effecting my gait.

4x1k Reps + 6x200m Reps

A bit windy, a bit humid and a bit wet. A nice track session at Kensington tonight. Ok it was really hard due to the conditions.
Did a 2k warmup to start with and then half a dozen strides.

Reps were: 3:29, 3:26, 3:28, 3:28. All done with a 100 second walk recovery.

Then did 33.2, 33.0, 33.7, 33.5, 33.1, 34.2. All done with a 200m Jog recovery.

Did a 2k cool down to finish. Plenty of water on the track tonight.

Easter Egg Run 40ks

Couldn't find the Easter Bunny this morning but there were a few honey bunnies in the park. I love a run around Centennial park in the morning.
Did basically the same 10k loop three times to see how my pacing was doing. It turned out almost the same each lap I did. In the end I did an out and back 5ks and then tried to run the last 5ks at race pace. I was close to it but it was very tough.
The weather was nice and cool for once. Got a go Striders from someone this morning, no idea who it was.

Finished with 40.4ks in 3:06.14. Average pace of 4:36 per klm. Now that is more like the pace I need for a training run. I'm happy. Now for some taper.

Happy Easter everyone. I'm loaded up with a 3 hour easter lunch. Very good!

An Eye on the Green 10ks

Ran around the outside fence of Centennial Park on the grass down to Fox Studios and back.

Ran 10.2ks in 50:02. Average pace of 4:54 per klm.

Nice conditions in the park with no humidity and a cold southerly blowing. A bit of water in places might slow up the race on Monday in the park.

Mona Fartlek in the wind

Sounds dirty. Pretty windy tonight as the Southerly was coming through. A week possibly of showers, can't wait.
Ran down to Fox Studios and back. Legs felt pretty heavy and the wind wasn't helping either.

Ran 5.3ks in the 20 minutes. Average pace of 3:46 per klm.

MLR 19ks

A mostly flat run around Centennial Park, Moore Park, SFS and SCG. Really humid again. Can't wait for the Southerly to come through tomorrow with some rain and hopefully cooler weather.

Total was 19ks in 1:27.07. Average pace of 4:35 per klm.

Tempo 5ks + Hills

Did a 2k warmup before starting. Ran around to Fox Studios which is pretty flat. Ran 5ks in 19:55. Still getting hard to keep this pace up, especially with the humidity and wind tonight. I felt like I had to push it hard to do it rather than have the pace feel easy.

After that did 10 x 200m hill reps. Up in about 50-55 secs and down in around a minute.

Did a 2k cool down after finishing.

Easy 12ks

Ran around Centennial Park down to Anzac Pde and back. Stayed mostly on the grass.
Ran 12.2ks in 1:02.07. Average pace of 5:05 per klm.

Just did some searching appears Young Action has been living off a 20 year old runners glory from the 1992 race also called Stephen Jackson. Obviously the Striders stats guru does not know about it.
Apologies to Blue Dog's Mum. Your son smashed Action. Excellent.
I did see Action DNF'd in 1991 at Six Foot and then didn't run until 2001.

Sunday in the Park 39ks

Due to some work issues yet again I couldn't get out to SMC to run the 30k or to do the Striders STaR at Putney.
Went out late morning for part of my run today. Due to my heel still hurting I ran around mostly on the grass in Centennial Park. Stayed under the tree cover as it was pretty warm as well.
Ran 16ks in 1:15.55. Average pace of 4:44 per klm. Not bad on the grass and sand in the park.
Had to have lunch with the parents so couldn't do what I wanted so will have to run later.

2nd part of the day. Not as warm in the sun as earlier with the sun going down. The sea breeze was pretty strong though. 30ks an hour apparently. Did a few different loops around Centennial Park on the grass. Total was 23.2 ks in 1:52.08. Average pace of 4:50 per klm.
Seems a lot harder to run fast on the grass and sand. But it sure helps on keeping the sore heal a bit happier.
Total for the day was 39.2ks in 3:08.3. Average pace of 4:47 per klm. Seems I'm getting slower in my long runs the closer I get to Canberra which is a worry for me.

Blacktown Track 3000m

My first visit to the track out at Blacktown. Forgot I needed my passport to get there from the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. Maybe I should have stayed home.

10:54.2. 3:28, 3:43, 3:40. A bit out of whack due to me taking the lap times and not the officials. It was 29 degrees when the race started and finished and I was dry in the mouth from the first 2 laps. Most people ran slower than normal.
My heel reminded me it was sore every 2nd step. I was considering stepping off the track it was so painful, but kept on going.
Glad the track season is over. Doing laps doesn't appeal to me that much.

ES Marks 10x400m Reps

22 degrees and 79% humidity. Ran on the track at Kensington tonight, plenty of people around enjoying the warmth. Did a 2k warmup and then did half a dozen strides before starting.

Reps were: 77, 75, 75, 75, 75, 76, 77, 76. All done with a 70 sec. walk recovery. I know the recovery is a bit too long.

Did a 2k cool down after finishing.

Yep I admit my mum rang little bluey but he was out of range so she left a message saying he should have run faster like her son flake would have to beat Action's PB. Maybe next year Dog you'll get out of the kennel earlier in the morning.

MLR 18ks

Ran around Centennial Park on the grass tonight as my heel was hurting a fair bit. So run was slower than I wanted. Still 23 degrees and 74% humidity as well.

Ran 18.74ks in 1:34.19. Average pace of 5:02 per klm.

I think I'll be faster than that in the 1st K Ewen. Depends on the other runners and the heat I guess. The race is at 4:30pm at Blacktown so somewhere in the 30's could be the temp.
Thanks Steve, just couldn't do the training for six foot this year.

Attn Blue Dog's Mum: Your son phoned me from the finish line of Six Foot gloating about his great finishing time. He told me he ran with a broken leg, a sprained bum, a fractured skull and malnutrition. But he said he could have run faster just wasn't his year.

ES Marks 6x1k Reps

Couldn't quite match the HuRT squad for intensity or for talent. So I took my hack of talent around to the track at Kensington.
22 degrees and 74% humidity with the sea breeze still blowing pretty strong.
Did a 2k warmup and half a dozen strides before starting.

Reps were 3:27, 3:23, 3:26, 3:28, 3:25, 3:26. All done with a 100 second walk recovery.

Did a 2k cool down after finishing.

Easy 12k

Had a run around the outside of Centennial Park down to Fox Studios, along Anzac Pde and back. Almost all on grass. Legs felt good.

12ks in 59:02. Average pace of 4:55 per klm.
Yes, I was missing doing Six Foot yesterday. I loved the race last year it was good fun.

Canberra 50k is ultra enough for me.

Centennial Park 37ks

Couldn't run in the morning due to work, so it was out late this afternoon in the not nice humidity and the afternoon sun. Felt very drained running today.

Ran around Randwick, then up and around the SFS, SCG and Fox Studios. Did that three times and then did a lap of Centennial Park. I was intending to do more klms today but didn't feel too good, so stopped.

Ran 37.6ks in 2:54.50. Average pace of 4:38 per klm. A few more hills in this run compared to last week. I'll be glad to get back running a Striders STaR early morning next week, heaps cooler.

Centennial Park 10ks

Went for a run a run late in the afternoon around Centennial Park. Just ran over to Fox Studios and back via Oxford St. Nearly all on grass.
Bumped into Don Juan and Gronk while I was running.

Total was 10.3ks in 48:08. Average pace of 4:40 per klm.

Managed to avoid all of the mugs at the festival on at the racecourse today.

Tempo + Hills + Tempo

Did a 2k warmup in the windy Southerly blowing. It was getting pretty humid and the sky wasn't looking too flash either.

Ran 2.5k in 9:55. Average pace of 3:58 per klm. Well that was the easy part.

Jogged over to hill nearby which isn't that steep. The rise is about 10m from top to bottom. It does go up for 300m though so was good for the purpose. Did 6 reps of the hill and had the rain start to come during the middle of the reps.

Ran the 2.5k back home again in 10:03. Average pace of 4:01 per klm. The rain started to bucket as I was running back home.
Did a 2k cool down after the session.
Probably couldn't do those reps if I did the recovery shorter Tom. The 3000m is next weekend at Blacktown Ewen. SMC have a 5k the next morning. Not sure I'll be up for the 5k though.

Long Reps 4x2.5k

Still pretty warm when I went out running. Fairly flat course around Centennial and Moore Parks. Was really pushed to do these any faster.

Reps were 9:05(3:38/k), 8:58(3:35/k), 9:04(3:37/k), 9:10(3:40/k). All done with a 5 min walk recovery.

MLR 15ks

Still 21 degrees at 8pm tonight when I went for a run. Ran around Centennial Park, Moore Park, SFS and the SCG again. I threw a few more hills in around the Queens Park start of the run just for fun which made it a bit slower.

Did 15.25ks in 1:13.25. Average pace of 4:48 per klm.

Recovery Run 7ks

A run around Centennial Park late tonight. Just stuck to the grass around the outside fence.

Ran 7.1ks in 39:22. Average pace of 5:32 per klm.

Centennial Park 36ks

I awoke this morning with pain in my heel while intending to do the Striders Balmain Bungle STaR. While walking around the house it didn't get any better, so I headed for ice therapy and then went back to bed. Must have trod on a rock or something during the race yesterday. Although I do remember slamming into the last speed hump pretty hard with my heal when I was heading for the finish.

Finally headed out about 5pm for a run around Centennial Park. Did a few different loops around the park. It was nice and cool with the breeze. Great to run in.

Total was 35.7ks in 2:41.12. Average pace of 4:30 per klm. I guess it helps to run fast when you do it on a predominantly flat course.

Thanks Ewen. I know I have the speed over 3ks. Might have a run at SMC this month. Running with Easy Tiger might get me to run faster.

Striders 10k North Head = PB

Great conditions for the race this morning. Nice and cool at 15 degrees with a bit of wind getting up in the 2nd 5k for me.
Was shocked off the start at how many people running fast there were ahead of me. In the end I was beaten by 61 people and I ran 37:43. Seems the sharp end has caught word of the quickness of this course.
Set off from the start relatively easy, doing 3:45 for the 1st k. Was having a few battles with the female Truscott in-laws during most of the race. Ended up JT beat me and I beat Greta.

Came through the 5k in 18:49. Close to the pace I wanted, but feeling mentally like I wouldn't be able to keep it up. Surprised myself to keep pushing back out to the turnaround loop at 7.5k.
Had a few runners pass me back up the hill and then tried to take them back on the 1500m run back to the finish. Wasn't successful at all, but at least no one else passed me.
Ran 18:54 for the 2nd 5k, so pretty close to even splitting the course.

The washup was:

A new PB of 37:43. A PB by 23 seconds. My old PB was 38:06. Striders have a 38:10 for me from a different race in June last year.
My first 10k PB since June last year at the West Met 10k at Silverwater.
A course PB of 1:05 from the September race pre Sydney Marathon last year.

Glad to finally knock off that PB. Now I feel I can run faster.
Thanks for everyones comments.

Mona Fartlek

Pretty wet and wild out there tonight. Did a 2k warmup before starting. Pretty flat course around Centennial Park.

Managed 5.4ks in the 20 minutes. Average pace of 3:42 per klm. Killed me in the wind.

Did a 2k cool down after finishing.

MLR 13ks

Couldn't get out for anything longer tonight as I was stuck at work till 7:30pm. Cracker of a thunderstorm just before I went out was really good. Cleared everyone off the streets.

Ran around the local streets and then around Centennial Park, Moore Park, SFS, SCG and Fox.

Total was 13.6ks in 1:04.44. Average pace of 4:45 per klm. The length was a bit short but the pace was good.

Hill Reps 16x200m

Nice thunderstorm tonight. A bit wet the hill I was running on. Made sure I didn't step on any metal grates while I was going up and down.
Reps were between 50-55 seconds with about the same recovery back down again. Too tired to make it to twenty reps. Legs were not liking it.

Recovery Run 7ks

A lap of Centennial Park on the grass. Legs feeling beaten up from the Equaliser race yesterday.

Total was 7.1ks in 38:34. Average pace of 5:25 per klm.

A lazy 20k

After watching the Aussies bat in the cricket and waiting for the day to get a bit cooler I finally went for a run about 6pm.
Did a few loops around the hills of Randwick and then through Centennial Park as well.

Ran 20.1k in 1:38.29. Average pace of 4:53 per klm.

Now I'm sleepy.

Striders Equaliser 14ks

An undulating bush and road from Belrose down a few hills and through a creek. Up a few hills to St Ives and then back along the road to some more bush and back down the hills to the creek. And then back up some more hills to the finish. Tough on the legs when you are not doing any training for Six Foot hills.
I was slower than last year. Oh well. Took off at the start really quick on the flat road section panicking Blue Dog and Action to run hard after me. Well they weren't really chasing me, but I did go hard at the start and then back off as the course is pretty rough in some places.
It was good fun and I needed a sleep after the race. I think I had that during the AGM. Did I miss anything?
I did a 2k warmup before the start and a few strides as well. And then not really much of a cool down afterwards.
Time was 1:09.11. About a min slower than last year.

Easy 11ks

Blue Dog's Mum should stay off the goons of cheap sherry.

Ran around Centennial Park, SFS, SCG and Fox again. Taking it easy while running parts of it on grass.
Total was 11.4 ks in 53:21. Average pace of 4:40 per k.

There is a 3000m race at Blacktown on March 15th Ewen which will be my last one on the track. One week before I start to taper for Canberra.

ES Marks 6x1k Reps

22 degrees, 77% humidity and a 20k southerly blowing, and then it rained on me as well. But I had fun!
Have not done a speed session for over 3 weeks so the legs were a bit rusty running quick.

Reps went 3:27, 3:26, 3:26, 3:24, 3:25, 3:28. All done with a 100 second walk recovery between each rep.

Did a 2k warmup and a 2k cool down after finishing. They will be faster before I hit Canberra.

MLR 17ks

A warm night again with a huge white full moon. Ran around Centennial park, Moore park, SFS, SCG and Fox Studios.
Ran 17.55ks in 1:22.18. Average pace of 4:41 per klm.

C'mon Tesso you can run quicker than that. I expect a 3:25 with all the training you have been doing.

I've got nothing. BDM cracks me up!

Tempo + Hills

A 2k warmup before starting by the light of the now full moon.

Ran 5k in 19:58. Then ran over to the nearest hill and did 5 x 200m reps in about 50 seconds per rep. With about the same recovery back down.

Did a 2k cool down after finishing.

Wisdom says I can't run 2:48 at Canberra. What I am trying to do is force my body to except that 4 min/k pace is normal, it just needs to be convinced that 42 k is the normal distance for it. That is the challenge!

Recovery Run 7ks

Around Centennial Park on the grass tonight. Nice warm night with the almost full moon.
Ran 7.2ks in 38:15. Average pace of 5:18 per klm.

What was the reason for the sub 4 min ks?

Since I ran 3:03 twice last year I figured doing 4 mins faster for a sub 3 hr didn't hold much appeal for me. So why not.

Thanks for everyones comments. I see all your points about not going after the 2:48.
But I do like these for motivation.

"Find a purpose in life so big it will challenge every capacity to be at your best".

"We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face ... we must do that which we think we cannot."

Opera in the Park 35ks

Missed the Striders STaR this morning so had to run late in the afternoon around home. A table I was on won a trivia quiz last night, mostly on music and movie questions. A bottle of wine and a book was the prize. Anyway back to the running.

Ran from home down to the Opera House and back and then did a few loops inside Centennial Park. You realise when running towards the Opera House that you run uphill all the way back to Taylor Square. Not fun. Lots of people and traffic to dodge today, so it was a bit stop/start. I guess I got a rest at the lights but it doesn't help the rythym.

Run was 35.6 in 2:49:58. Average pace of 4:46 per klm. I must have been fast going downhill!

26miles Apologies, I thought you meant no easy runs. Dumb! I forgot Vat kept running when he was already injured. Trust me a quick 10k is in my sights at North Head if the wind is kind that day. A bit windy when you run on the top of a cliff.

I'm learning too Tesso. Lucky people read my blog. Although I do know a few people that read it and don't comment. No problem. I'm surprised anyone reads my crap!

Easy 11ks

Ran around Centennial and Moore Parks tonight. Ran 11.36ks in 54:19. Average pace of 4:46 per klm.

Thanks for the comments. Would a faster speed race at a shorter distance(5/10k) outway doing Marathon Pace runs at the speed I want?
The marathon pace runs are meant to get your body to adapt to that pace. If I'm fast at a short distance I know it is supposed to eventually flow through to the longer distance race. But how long will that take? Years of training?

If I feel I'm pushing too hard during the race to maintain the pace the trick will be when to realise that and slow down before losing all my energy and blowing up. No harm in trying something different.

I don't agree with with not running easy runs. Running every session fast will eventually snap something as Vat painly found out the last year and a half he has been off.

Marathon Pace 11.1ks

Pain, pain and more pain. I did three laps of the running track in Centennial Park tonight. The last one was not pretty, maybe I pushed it too hard. The breathing was out of control.

The three laps were 14:52, 14:49 and 14:34 to finish. So total was 44:15 for 11.1ks. Average pace of 3:59 per klm.
I'm not sure how much further I can go at 4 min pace as I'm really hurting doing this at the moment. Since I have not run a half marathon at 4 min/k pace it would be pretty out there to suggest I can do that in training. But I am proposing to run 42.2k at that pace in Canberra.
Mcmillan says no way, no how. Anyone else have any thoughts on the matter? Or where the blowup might occur?
I must be nuts!!!!!!

MLR 15ks

Around Centennial Park and Moore Park tonight. Felt a bit slow but turned out faster than I thought.
Ran 15.1ks in 73:12. Average pace of 4:50 per klm.

Marathon Pace 7.5ks

21 Degrees. 82% humidity and a 20k wind. That was hard work.

Ran up to Fox Studios and back and then back again. Course is 2.5ks so there.

Ran 7.5ks in 29:40. Average pace of 3:57 per klm. Damn hard work tonight. I'm just too tired!

Recovery Run 7ks

A late run around the park tonight. Stuck to the grass mostly. Legs feeling a bit sore from the weekends activity.
Ran 7.2ks in 37:41. Average pace of 5:14 per klm.

Airport Adventure STaR 30ks + PM 10ks

AM:
Started in Kogarah in what is pretty much a flat course running along the Cooks River and then down along Botany Bay running through Kyeemagh, Brighton, Monterey, Ramsgate, Dolls Point, Sandringham, Sans Souci and crossing Captain Cook Bridge to Sylvania Waters, Sylvania Heights where all the hills are on this run.

Then we crossed Tom Uglys Bridge to run through Carss Park, Kogarah Bay, Beverley Park and Ramsgate again to get back to the Bicentennial Park.

We had the company of Fats, DB, CT, and Serg for the first 30 mins before we stopped for a drink and they kept going. I think they should have started at 6:30am they were too fast for us. The pace was way to hot until that point.
Eventually the pace was all sorted out as it does on these training runs. Temp was a cool 15 degrees, but I didn't notice the humidity even though it was 80%. No rain at all but some of the parks near the finish were pretty soggy.

Finished with 30ks in 2:13.49. Average pace of 4:27 per klm. Some others had the run as 29 ks, but it does say 30k on our map. If 29ks then pace was 4:36.
Still fast anyway. Now I need a sleep.

PM:
Ran around Centennial Park, Moore Park, SFS, SCG and back home. Still nice an cool this afternoon. Legs felt pretty stiff at the start and took a while to warmup.
Ran 10.1ks in 49:04. Average pace of 4:51 per klm.
Tesso the goal is to run even splits for the full 50k. No chance of me stopping at 42.195ks, unless they stick a drip in my arm.

Marathon Pace 10k

Great weather for ducks. 20k wind, heavy rain and 85% humidity. Ran around Centennial Park along the busway to Fox Studios and back. Actually did it twice so I could do the 10ks.

Very hard work in the wind. It is 2.5k out and back. So splits were 9:49, 19:35, 29:33, 39:48.

So all up 10ks in 39:48. Average pace of 3:59 per klm.

I wasn't sure I could do the MP pace for this distance. I'm guessing getting to 20k at MP is going to be just a bit tougher.

It was me gnscon on Dangar st. Used it out and back.

MLR 13ks

Ran around Centennial Park during the thunderstorm tonight. The rain was pretty heavy at the start but soon backed off to be just spitting level.
Heaps of water out on all the paths.

Ran 13.5ks in 1:06.03. Average pace of 4:53 per klm.

Marathon Pace 5k

Pretty windy tonight and really humid. 92% at 20 degrees. No rain which was one good thing. Ran with my Mothers home cooked Dinner in my stomach. Lucky it was only a short run otherwise there might have been trouble.

Ran around the outside of Centennial Park along the busway to Fox Studios and back. Mostly a flat course.

Ran 5ks in 19:45. Average pace of 3:57 per klm. Felt I had to work hard to do this pace. Did a 2k warmup and a 2k cool down after finishing.

Western Wanderer STaR 35ks

A run with the Striders 6:20am group this morning. A few showers heavy and light fell during the run. Saw Tucks at one stage around the waterfront in Abbotsford having a run.

Started at Drumoyne and ran through Five Dock, Chiswick, Abbotsford, Wareema, Cabarita, Concord, Canada Bay, Rodd Point, Rozelle and back to Drumoyne.

Total was 35.2 ks in 2:52.47. Average pace of 4:54 per klm. Felt very tired towards the end.

State 5000m Titles

Abysmal race. No heart, no lungs, no legs, no hope! It was 25 degrees at Homebush but felt hotter on the track.

3:34, 3:42, 3:46, 3:51, 3:43. Final time was 18:38.

No excuses! Next race on the track(3000M) won't be till mid March as I am not doing the track 10k next Friday.

Time to sort myself out for Canberra 50k.

Easy 30 minutes

Well at least I'll be really rested for the race. Only doing the 5000m late tomorrow afternoon Ewen so don't worry.
Too pace or not to pace? That is the question?
Saw one of the RBH runners tonight. She's looking for sub 18 mins as well.

Did the same as Wednesday just running easy for 30 minutes. Must have been a bit more fired up as I ran 6.1 ks in the time.

State 5k Postponed

Normal Sydney summer thunderstorm comes over about 6:50pm at Homebush. Drops half an inch of water in three minutes, multiple lightning strikes, blacks out the scoreboard at 6:51pm, floods the infield and knocks out the track lights.
And they call it off! Wimps!

Could be back on this Saturday. So now I won't be running the Striders 10k on Saturday Morning. Hope this race is Saturday night and not afternoon.

So no running today. The lightning strikes were very impressive.

Easy 30 minutes

Pretty windy tonight and really humid as well. Ran around part of Centennial Park on the outside.
Ran 5.8ks in 30:01. Average pace of 5:10 per klm.

Saved the legs for the race tomorrow night at Homebush.

13 X 30 Seconds On, 30 Seconds Off

Lucky I was home in time to run in Centennial Park with some light still hanging around. Very humid(80%) and still 24 degrees at 7:30pm. Not perfect conditions but we all have to put up with them so be it.
Did a 2k warmup before starting. Not that my body needed warming up, but maybe my legs did.

Ran 13:40 for the 3.7k circuit. Average pace of 3:41 per klm. I ran 14:07 doing this session two weeks before Sydney Marathon. Does that mean I'm faster now?

Did a 2k cool down after finishing. I definitely needed that one.

Recovery run 7ks

Since it is a public holiday I went out for a run about 5 o'clock. Ran around the grass in Centennial Park. The smell of BBQ's burning was making it very tempting to stop for a quick snag. Managed to keep my mind on the job.
Fairly warm in the park inspite of the shade cover from the trees.

Ran 7.2ks in 40:41. Average of 5:33 per klm. Yes I am tired.

Probably just some 30/30's tomorrow Ewen and then an easy run on Wednesday.
The forecast doesn't look good for Thursday for the State 5k with thunderstorms on the horizon.

Then I have the Striders 10k on Saturday morning. Lets see if any of my track speed over summer has rubbed off into the 10k. Hope so.

Running Ugly 31ks

Not the best time to be out doing a long run. But work commitments in the morning forced me to run at 5pm. So I had a 25 degree temp, 25k wind and 66% humidity. No wonder I was feeling like crap from the start.
Did a few different loops around Centennial Park to make up the k's I had to do.

Total was 31.8ks in 2:43.16. Average pace of 5:08 per klm. Too slow.

That was damn hard work. At least next Sunday I can finally do a Striders STaR in the morning!

Marathon Pace 7.4k

Still 23 degrees and 75% humidity with a 22k Nor' Easter blowing when I started at 7:15pm. Not easy to run in. Heaps of people still to dodge in Centennial Park on the running track as well.

Did 2 laps of the track 7.4ks in 29:02. Average pace of 3:55 per klm.
The laps were 14:41 for the first one and 14:21 for the second one. Not sure how I was quicker on the 2nd one. Felt a lot slower.

Lets see how I go when I get up to the 10k mark.

Easy One Hour

A bit late out running tonight. Plenty of bats eating fruit above my head as I ran around Centennial Park and along Anzac Pde.
Ran past the SFS with the Soccer fans singing their songs before the game started, and then back home again.

Ran 12.6ks in 1:00.00. Average pace of 4:45 per klm. Felt very easy.

ES Marks 4x1k Reps

Used the track at Kensington tonight to do these. A bit windy and still pretty humid as well.
Did a 2k warmup before starting and half a dozen strides as well.

Reps were 3:24, 3:26, 3:26, 3:27. All done with a 3 min walk recovery.

Did a 2k cool down after finishing.

The foot doesn't hurt at all when I run which is good. No broomstick exercise Tesso. And it was volume 3 of R4YL the one with Andrew Letherby on the front.

MLR 14K's

Medium Long Run around Centennial Park, Moore Park, SCG,SFS and back home again.
Ran past NSW beating WA in the one day cricket at the SCG.

Total was 14.1 ks in 68:32. Average pace of 4:51 per klm.

I know Ewen it does say don't sprint or do hills to fix it. Well I hope to last a couple of weeks and then I guess I can survive to Canberra on MP runs and long runs.

Hill Reps 20x200m

After being weighed down by Dinner with the parents I figured I wouldn't run too fast as I usually run before eating dinner.
So I decided some hill reps would be easier to handle.
Used the hill near my house to do these. About 50-55 seconds each rep with the recovery about the same back down again.

Actually Ewen it is PF I feel on my left foot. I'm hoping it will go when I stop the track running after the State 10k in early Feb.
I've been doing the exercises on it that I found in the R4YL magazine.

Recovery Run 7ks

Cold and windy was how it felt. Since it is summer it really isn't cold. 19 degrees maybe, but definitely windy. I did have one shower fall on me while I did a lap of Centennial Park.

Stuck mostly to the grass while I ran. Legs didn't feel too bad actually.

Total was 7.2ks in 39:18. Average pace of 5:27 per klm.

Ewen I did wear spikes on the track on Saturday. Probably why my heel felt sore on Sunday as I seem to have a different style when I use them.

Centennial Park 31ks

Started out about 5pm with the sun still hot in the park. After a couple of laps a thunderstorm soon appeared and it bucketed down for about 20mins and got rid of all the people from the park. I was left to run through many huge puddles of water and the rivers that were running across some of the paths.

Total was 31.1ks in 2:34.20. Average pace of 4:57 per klm. Very hard work tonight. Left heel was pretty sore during the run.

Jack Carter Cup

One of my surf clubs marathon events. Entered as a team again with me doing the run. Plus we have a swimmer, ski paddler and board paddler.

We had a 5 min handicap as a team so the solo competitors wouldn't be embarrased being beaten by us. The swim is first, then the ski paddle and then I ran about 2ks on the sand to pass to the board paddler.

The team came first which is 3 years in a row for myself and the board paddler. No fluffy toys this time but a pair of dodgy sun glasses. All good fun. I passed three of the solo competitors during the run which was good. Got a bit burnt waiting for the ski paddler to finish.

The time for the 1st place solo was 1:17 which was the same time that our team did after the 5 min handicap was taken off. So a short half marathon in time.

Homebush Track 5000m

Oh the pain. A good first k and then all down hill or maybe it was uphill as I felt like I was running uphill for 12 and a half laps.

Official time was 18:31.13. Off my PB and off the time I wanted. Nearly everyone at the track had the same problem. Very hard work tonight. 20 degrees and 96% humidity while we had showers as well. The track was very wet.
Splits don't add up but they were- 3:35.9, 3:38.2, 3:50.1, 3:49.8, 3:35.8.
Looking at those splits I have mostly fixed the first 2ks and the last k. Now for k 3 and 4 before the State 5k in 12 days.

They split the race in two so we old and young slow hacks ran with the women.
The highlight of the first race was watching Strider Tim Rowe mixing it with Westcott and St Lawrence for most of the race. And he ran 14:19 which is his debut I believe. Should guarantee an A race spot at State. Plus Glenn Guzzo as well ran 14:37. Ben St Lawrence won in 13:57. Since Westcott will be in Japan for the State 5k I guess the Saint is a good chance for it.

Ewen I didn't see Anthony but I did notice it was Anthony Haber running 14:16.

Easy 12k

Ran over to centennial park tonight and ran the Twilight 10k race at an easy pace.
Did the 1st 5ks with Horrie but he was a bit quick for the pace I wanted so I let him go.
Eventually came back around the course to run 52 mins for the 10k.

All up 1k over 10k race and 1k back home again. Nice rain falling throughout the run. It was fantastic.
I could have some added weight for the race tomorrow night if the rain keeps up. 86 second laps tomorrow night shouldn't be a problem. Just have to stop that 1st k from being too quick and then not back off the middle 3 which I tend to do in a 5k.

3x1k Reps

Did these reps on the track at Kensington. Not many left when I started doing my session.
Really windy with the Southerly blowing, and the stand doesn't block too much when the wind comes from the South East which it was tonight.

Did a 2k warmup and then half a dozen strides before starting.

Reps were 3:21, 3:25, 3:26. All done with a 4 min walk recovery between each rep. Not very fast but the wind was really knocking me around.

Did a 2k cool down after finishing.

MLR 13ks

Ran around Centennial Park, Moore Park, SCG, SFS, Fox Studios and back home.
Very windy with the Southerly having come through after the thunderstorm this afternoon.

Ran 13.35ks in 1:08.12. Average pace of 5:06 per klm. I thought I ran faster than that tonight.

I have a 5000m race at Homebush on Saturday night so I ran a bit shorter than I should have done. Aiming for 3:35/km pace this time. Or 17:55 if you add it up.

Recap of 2007

I won a race! Enough said!
Ok I did a bit more than that, but I won a race!

Yes the highlight of my year was winning the 5k race at Sydney Marathon Clinic at Smithfield in May.
Other highlights and lowlights in 2007 were:

Lowered my 5k time from 18:54 to 18:19. And I won a race! Keeps slipping out.
Lowered my 10k time from 39:11 to 38:06. Now the hard part is to keep running faster.
City to Surf PB. But still no sub 55. Just stuffed up this year.
Half Marathon. Only ran two for the year and didn't improve my time except for a 3min course PB at SMH.
Marathon. Ran Canberra and Sydney and lowered my time from 3:16.32 to 3:03.23 with both races as PB's which was good.
Raced Six Foot for the first time in 5:02. Didn't go hard so I have room for improvement when I do it again.
50K Road Debut. Ran the 50k at Canberra after posting my Marathon and then continuing on for the extra 8ks. Did 3:51.08. Definitely have a faster one in me. We will see in April.

Only one injury that caused concern. That being a badly sprained ankle in late January. Only a week off. And then the two bouts of flu in June and July knocked me about for the Sydney Marathon shot at sub 3hr.

Thanks everyone for commenting during the year. Hopefully 2008 is a much faster year on the running front.

Recovery Run 7ks

A rainy Centennial Park greeted me tonight. It was fantastic with a nice Southerly blowing, rain falling and No Humidity.
Stayed mostly on the grass and ran slow enough for small children to keep up.

Ran 7.2ks in 45:12. Average pace of 6:16 per klm. The legs were really stiff from yesterdays run and my right hip wasn't feeling great either. Enough whingeing!

Centennial Park 31ks

Didn't get out to run until late afternoon after not getting to bed till 3am Sunday morning due to some work issues.
Set off at 5:30pm amid a thunderstorm. At the start it was 25 degrees and 79% humidity, by the end it was 24 degrees and 88%. Suffice to say it was really hard work to run in. At least the thundery showers helped to keep me a bit cool.

Did a few different loops of Centennial Park again.
Total was 30.85ks in 2:38.37. Average pace of 5:08 per klm. I wanted to stop many times as I kept running near my house. Managed to finally trudge my way around and get another long run done for Canberra.

Marathon Pace 5k

Very late run as the sun was going down. Really humid(80%) and windy(20k breeze) with the Nor Easter still blowing hard on the coast.

Ran on an almost flat course from my place to Fox Studios and back.

Ran 5k in 19:42. Average pace of 3:56 per klm. A bit quicker than the 4 min/k pace I wanted.

One Hour

A run around Centennial Park late tonight as the sun was going down. Very windy and humid during the run.

Ran 11.93ks in 1:00.7. Average pace of 5:02 per klm.

Bit of a struggle in the wind but otherwise fine.

Short Hill Reps 20x200m

No time tonight to do anything longer in the hills department.
Used the hill just near my place to do these. Legs felt ok.

Reps were mainly between 50-55 seconds without about the same recovery back down the hill again.

MLR 16KS

A lap of the inside park circuit then I ran down to Anzac Pde and up to Moore Park Rd. Around the SCG,SFS and Fox.
Really humid tonight. 23 degrees and 80% humidity. Have to run in it because the competition may not be!

Ran 16.3 ks in 1:24.13. Average pace of 5:10 per klm. That was hard work.

Bought a DVD off ebay on the 31st of December and received it today. It was from one of those sellers that flogs their gear cheap using ebay. The DVD is called 'Showdown'. Five Elite Distance Runners, One dream.
The runners are all USA. Abdi Abdirahman, Alan Culpepper, Meb Keflezighi, Dathan Ritzenhein and Jorge Torres. Should be interesting.

ES Marks 8x300m Reps

Only 22 degrees but 74% humidity is not helpful to run in. Around the track at Kensington for this session.
Did a 2k warmup before starting and half a dozen strides as well.

The reps went 50.5, 51.4, 52.9, 52.9, 53.3, 53.3, 53.9, 52.6. All done with a 60 second walk recovery between each rep. Fading form is not a good thing.

Did a 2k cool down after finishing. Looks like I won't be running the track this weekend as they only have an 800m race on that I can run and that doesn't interest me at the moment. Might wait a week as there is a 5000m race at Homebush on the 19th. Just a warmup before the State 5k on the 31st.

Centennial Park 31ks

Missed waking up this morning a few times. By the time I thought about running it was 4 o'clock. Not ideal with the temp bordering the high 30's and not much cloud cover to protect from global warming or is that the hole in the ozone layer. Who knows? It was hot, you get the picture!
When I finally started running I thought someone had tied a couple of bags of cement to my legs. I just had no energy to run with today. Maybe I should have retired after black stump.

Did three different loops around Centennial Park, the SCG, SFS and Fox Studios. Running on concrete, tar, dirt, sand, grass, plus a few tree roots in the park.

Finished with 31ks in 2:37.35. Average pace of 5:05 per klm. Very hard work today. I'm stuffed.

Time Trial

Centennial Park running track 7:15pm.
temp: 22 degrees
Humidity : 88%
Weather: Spitting rain
Wind: 13kph SSE

Did a 2k warmup before starting. The track is 3.7ks and is tar.

Time was 13:08. Average pace of 3:32 per klm. I'll get the 5k at this pace eventually!

Did a 2k cool down after the session.

Uusally I run this track in a 3 rep session or a 30sec on/30sec off. So I guess this becomes my starting time for the course. It was really hard work with the high humidity.

Not sure Ewen. I have sub 3hr at Canberra to think about with pushing the legs hard.

Easy 10k take 2

Same as yesterday's run. Up around the SFS, SCG, Fox Studios and back home again.
A bit quicker though.

10.3ks in 51:23. Average pace of 4:59 per klm.

I don't know if I'm up for a 4:20 Six Foot just yet Ewen. Maybe next time.

Easy 10k

Ran around the SCG, SFS and Moore Park. Managed to avoid most of the cricket crowd coming out as I started a bit late.
Total was 10.3ks in 52:35. Average of 5:06 per klm.

Ewen if I run 5hrs 12 at Six Foot it would be slower than last year. I wasn't going hard at Black Stump after having a couple of falls going down to the ferry the first time. Self preservation with the race 2 months away.

Recovery Run 7ks

A very windy run around Centennial Park. Stuck to the grass most of the way. The legs were very stiff after the fatass yesterday.

Ran 7.2ks in 45:11. Average pace of 6:16 per klm. How's that for slow?

Black Stump Fatass 33ks

A tough way to start a New Year. Got breath tested on the way to the race. Arrived at Berowra community hall early and waited for the CR masses to arrive. Race was to start at 7am and after a few words from KT we were off. You run about a k around the streets of Berowra before heading into the bush. The hills started early even on the black top before we went into the bush.

The bush down to the ferry varied from wide open bush trails to single file climb down rocks type stuff which was pretty dangerous in parts. Had two falls in this section before the ferry. Added to the scar collection when I fell on an open section without any rocks around. Lucky.

Arrived at the ferry and waited for the crossing of Berowra creek. A very long 5k hill climb on the tar up the other side. Ran this very well I thought and passed a lot of the runners who got off the ferry with me. I was about the last off.

Into the bush eventually and we headed for the castle. Good open bush track at the start and then into very steep and rough rock climbing expeditions down to the castle. Touched the castle and already felt like I wanted to stop. Back out again and we had to climb up about 4ks before we got to run some trail again.
Grabbed a drink up the top of the trail before getting back onto the road. Headed down to the ferry really quick and managed to catch all the runners who had passed me going to the castle. Bad luck for them as I had a rest across the water.

Then the fun started as I worked out the hill back up was a goat track of single file, stairs of timber and cuts into the rock. Brutal on the legs which had 25ks in them. I was so glad that the hills in the bush finally ended and I had another drink before hitting the road for the 3k run back to the start.

Finally finished in 3:49.32. Average pace of 6:57 per klm. This includes the ferry rides and the rock climbing exploits needed for the run. Maybe I'll run back along the road next year after getting off the ferry. Beers were good at the finish as well.
At least I have another long run for Six Foot and Canberra.