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.