Tempo Run 10ks

A mainly flat run around Centennial Park, Moore Park, Aussie Stadium and the SCG.
I did a 2k warmup before starting the session.

Ran 10.11ks in 42:32. Average pace of 4:12 per klm.

Did a 2k cool down after the session.

Legs felt pretty sluggish tonight.
Realised that on Saturday the Lane Cove course PB streak is still going strong. 46:21(Jun04), 42:30(Jul04), 39:54(Feb05), 39:48(Jun05), 39:20(Nov06), 38:27(Jun07). Helped by injury and work to keep the streak going. Next Lane Cove race is August before City 2 Surf with no holding back on that one.

Recovery Run 12.3ks

A light run around Centennial Park tonight. It felt cold out running in a singlet and shorts. I think it was around about 15 degrees. Not really cold I guess.
Just stayed on the grass mostly for the duration of the run.

Ran 12.3ks in 1:08:46. Average pace of 5:35 per klm.

Striders Open Male B team of Fats, Craig Dunn, Blue Dog and myself were third in the relays on Saturday. Helped by Sydney Uni DQ for doubling up runners in the same team. You can do one leg as an open and then one as a 35+, but not the same age group. Striders women got DQ last year at the Road Relays for the same thing.

Anyway we take the third. Not sure if we get sent medals or not.

Cutler Dam Fun Run 8k

A win! An age group win. Yeehah! My first age group win in anything. First in the 40-49 age group, 5th male and 6th overall.

Cutler Dam 8k which included 2 loops of the Manly Dam Reserve Rd plus some local streets as well. The start was at the top of the hill at a school so we ran downhill to start doing the two loops.

I passed the 4k mark in 14:15, but we had a 500m uphill to the finish at the end of the 2nd loop. The hill was a killer.

Finished in 30:40 for the 8k.

Striders Tim Ashby and Jenny Wickham won the 8k respectively.

State Cross Country Relays 4x4k

Gave Sportsman a lift from my office down to Miranda for our run around the park in the State Relays. 4x4k's for us males.
My team, the Open B team was Fats, Blue Dog, myself and Craig D. In that order.

Fats ran 13:29, Blue Dog 15:02, me 14:54, Craig 13:35. Pretty good times considering a grass course with a few up and down hills on it.

Guzzo ran 12:05 on the 1st leg to run 5th. The A team was 5th overall. No mention if the B team came anywhere during the afternoon.

Happy with that run after the 10k race this morning.

Overall for the day 14ks in 53:21. Blue Dog was 53:23. I take the win!
Cutler Dam Fun Run tomorrow.

Striders Lane Cove 10k

A bit chilly this morning before the start necessitated me actually doing a wamup. So I ran a couple of k's on the course which didn't really get me any warmer.
The finish of the course had been changed due to some work being done on the weir.

I had decided before the start to take it easy as I have the Cross Country Relays this afternoon.
I was pretty steady off the start with the 1st k coming up in 3:40. Just kept running it easy in my opinion and we had to run up Scribbly's further than usual due to the weir works. Came up to the 5k in 19:28. My fastest at Lane Cove for the 5k.

Blue Dog said before the start he was doing a steady under 39mins which was what I was trying as well.
Ran back to the finish dicing up and down the hills with a few runners. Just playing games actually. Let them pass me then take them on the next uphill or downhill. Just felt like I was cruising on the way back.
The finish came up and I did the return split in 18:58 for a finish of 38:26.

A course PB by 54 seconds and my 2nd fastest 10k ever.
Seriously I wasn't pushing really hard. I know you don't believe me. But I had plenty in the tank at the finish. Now I'm off to the relays.

8x500m Reps

Did a 2k warmup before starting the session. Still a bit windy and I wasn't cold at all.

Ran these reps along the flat busway along Alison Rd.
The reps were 1:37, 1:38, 1:43, 1:39, 1:41, 1:40, 1:43, 1:39. All done with a 60 second jog recovery between each rep.

Did a 2k cool down after the session.

Heartbreak Hill & Back 19ks

Aren't you cold? No
You must be joking running in this.
You're nuts.

Three people that I ran past while I was out running tonight. I only answered the first one as I wasn't actually moving at the time.
It wasn't that cold. 14 degrees and a 20k Southerly blowing. You only notice it if you stop. So I just tried not to stop.

Ran to Rose Bay via Bondi Junction and up Heartbreak Hill and back home again.

19ks in 1:31:42. Average pace of 4:49 per klm.

5x1.2k Reps

Very humid tonight and windy as well. I feel a change is coming. Really there is one coming overnight with rain.
Ran along part of the busway and bike path along Alison Rd. Pretty flat course.

Decided to do some 1200m reps just for fun. Or maybe torture.
Anyway the reps were 4:10(3:28/k), 4:12(3:30/k), 4:15(3:32/k), 4:12(3:30/k), 4:12(3:30/k). All done with a 2 minute walk recovery between each rep. Did a 1k warmup and a 2k cool down after the session.

And Ewen the Striders race is Saturday morning and the 4x4k Cross Country Relays are in the afternoon. State Longcourse at Nowra is late June.

Recovery Run 7ks

A gentle lap around the local park tonight, that is Centennial Park. Felt pretty warm out running tonight.
Ran 7.2ks in 39:46. Average pace of 5:31 per klm.

Thanks for everyone's comments about the race win. Nice to get a win.

Botany Bolt 4k

No, wasn't finished with the days racing. Headed back to Pagewood for the Randwick Botany Harriers organised 4k fun run. Two tough hills on a 2k course.
Wasn't much fun for the legs after the race a few hours earlier.
It was all on grass but hard work up and down the hills.
Time was 16:51 off my watch. Just beaten into fourth place by about 1 second for an age group(40+) medal. And it really was a medal.

A good fun morning's racing. Next week gets worse with possibly two races Saturday and two on Sunday.

The Fun Run King

A nice foggy morning out at Smithfield. Hands were cold for about the 1st k of the run. I ran the 5k today for the first time after many trips out to SMC over 4 years.
The start was pretty quick across the wet grass and I settle into third place behind what it turned out were two 10k runners. I had Garry Womsley for company on my shoulder for most of the trip out to the turnaround.
As I turned the two 10k runners Matt Thomas(CR Ben-hur) and Peter Truscott continued up the hill back into the fog. I heard a couple of shouts from some 25ker CR's as I turned as well but didn't see who.
Garry had a go to try and drop me just after the turnaround but that didn't work as I had decided I wasn't getting beaten today. Ran off up the hill and past the bus way to drop him and then had that lovely long 1k back home.
I was waiting for someone else to come but luckily I held firm for my first ever win.

Ran a 2 second PB to finish in 18:26. Getting that number 1 handed to me at the finish was sensational. Yeehah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to the Runners who kept yelling at me from the 2.5k back to the finish. Kept me pushing hard.

Easy 10ks

A slow run around the outside of the park today with a diversion down past Aussie Stadium and the SCG as well.
Great afternoon for a run. Fantastic!

It was 10.05 ks in 48:51. Average pace of 4:51 per klm. Nothing too hard about that.

Flake Fartlek

Pretty cool tonight. Needed a 2k warmup just to start the session. Well I felt like I needed it anyway.
My version of the fartlek is 2x120secs, 2x90secs, 4x60secs, 4x30secs, 4x15secs. With equal floats between the efforts.

Ran 7.1ks in the 28 minutes. Average pace of 3:56 per klm. Love it. Broke the 4 min ks with this session. Did a 2k cool down after the session.

Nothing secret about the heartbreak hill run Tesso. Have been doing that one since 2005 at various stages of injury mostly.

Heartbreak Hill & Back 19ks

Ran the usual route from home up to Bondi Junction, then down to Rose Bay up Heartbreak Hill and back through Dover Heights and Bondi Junction to home.

Pretty cool out tonight. It was great conditions to run in.

Ran 19ks in 1:32:09. Average pace of 4:51 per klm.

Hill Reps 16x200m

A short walk from my place to the hill I use for some short hill reps. After Sunday's race I figured I could do with some work on the hills.
So 16 reps up the 200m hill. Average rep was between 50-55 seconds with about the same recovery back down the hill again.

Did a 1k warmup and a 1k cooldown after the session.

I think Blue Dog's mum has escaped from the nursing home again. Better send the nut house truck with the cattle prod to keep her in line.

Recovery Run 12ks

Legs were feeling good tonight. Although one of my glute muscles feels sore. I don't remember how I came to hurt it?
Anyway, did a slow recovery around Centennial Park's outside fence and down to Anzac Pde and back home again. Tried to keep most of it on the grass to save the legs.

Ran 12.15ks in 1:09:55. Average pace of 5:45 per klm.

Next big race is the State Long Course Cross Country 12k run down at Nowra in about a month. With Woodford to Glenbrook 25k the day after.

SMH Half Marathon

A great morning for a race. Nice and cool during the race and only a little wind blamed mainly on running the city canyons.
Lined up next to Mohammad, 26 miles and Springer at the start. The pace was a little too hot at the start with me going through 2ks in 7:35. From there I felt progressively worse and had no energy in the legs at all. Tried to increase my pace and was 19:56 at the 5k and eventually back around to the 11k in 45 flat.
Seemed to get a bit better in the second half after I got through Hunter St. Passed a fair few people along Mrs Macquaries Chair. And then running back up out of the Pt I passed a few more and basically had my best part of the race as I flew down Hunter St.
Argyle Cut hurt for the 2nd time and I slowed to a crawl, questioning what the hell I was doing running so badly. I made up a few more places near the finish as I went racing line and the pack mentality of other runners lead them to stay to the right as they approached the finish. Why? The quickest line is the racing line.

Finished in 86:47. I guess at least it is a 3min course PB from the 2005 race. That's about the only thing good about the race.

The Striders post run White's house was superb as always and then the beers and war stories at the Palisades were special!
No PB today but hey I did a 10k PB last week so you can't do it all the time.

Edit: Fell asleep on the bus on the way home and ended up at Coogee, only about 4ks past my stop. I guess the 4am start and a few beers in the sun did me in. Lucky my phone dropped on the floor to wake me up.

Easy 20 minutes

Just a lap of the running track around Centennial Park this afternoon. Great weather for it. Clear skies and a slight breeze. Perfect.

Total was 4ks which included the run to the track and back. So 5min/k pace if you can work that out.

Picked up the number as well this afternoon. Is it wider than last year? I've done a bit of trimming to make it smaller anyhow, without hurting the sponsors names.

I'll be leaving a special message in the Argyle Cut for all CR's to read.

Time for the West Met 1ok has now been given as 38:06. Lost 1 second. That's off the www.utsnorthsath.com.au website.

Easy 40 Minutes

A very easy run down to Aussie Stadium and back along the bike path. Nothing to strenuous about it.

Ran 7.85ks in 40 minutes. Average pace of 5:05 per klm. Pretty windy out tonight. From reports the wind is supposed to die down by Sunday's Half.

Goal is sub 4 min k's in case anyone missed it.

20 x 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off

Pretty humid tonight, supposed to have been raining but nothing around at all. Just the cloud hanging in making the humidity stay high.
Ran from home up to Fox Studios and back. Dead flat course.

Ran 5.1ks in the 20 minutes. Average pace of 3:55 per klm.

Did a 1k warmup and a 2k cool down after the session.

Tempo Run 9ks

Felt very humid tonight. Maybe it wasn't and it was just the effort involved in doing this session.

Ran around Centennial Park up through Moore Park and then past Aussie Stadium, the SCG and Fox Studios. And then ran back.

All up 9.2ks in 38:27. Average pace of 4:10 per klm. Right on what I wanted for the run.
Felt very easy, which hopefully will translate into a good race on Sunday Morning.

Recovery Run 11ks

A recovery run around Centennial Park to Anzac Pde and back again. Mostly on grass. The bats were very restless with about half a dozen nearly taking me out when I ran under their tree.
I think I just scared them to go off and dump on Gronk's car. He seems to like that.

A quite humid night after the early morning pea souper fog. Ran 11.8ks in 1:07:03. Average pace of 5:40 per klm. Nice and slow like the recovery run should be.

Vaucluse Variation STaR 18.5ks

Up to Vaucluse this morning for this run. But a short run as I was a 7am host which means we run around a shorter course taking new members or potential members on a short run of the same STaR. Plus I'm doing SMH Half so didn't need a 30k run.

Very leisurely pace down Heartbreak Hill and along Rose Bay and then across to Nth Bondi and then back up to Watsons Bay and back through Vaucluse to the finish in Nielsen Park. Probably the most scenic STaR run as we go along the coastal path near South Head lighthouse. Great views with the sun coming up over the ocean.

Mohammad after completing his run convinced me to do another 4ks with him so I ended with the 18.5ks in total. Time was 1:47:00. Average pace of 5:47 per klm.
Nice finish to the STaR standing on the harbour eating fruit and chocolate and having a drink.

Chatted with Blue Dog about his up coming 2nd wedding. I thought Elvis in a jumpsuit would be a scream.
Happy Mother's Day all the Mums.

West Met Series 10k= PB

Headed out to Silverwater for this 10k race set by a few clubs in the West of Sydney. The run goes along the bike path from Silverwater and back to Homebush. Saw Dave and KT with Dawn and kids in tow. Dave(O Runner) ran the 10k. The course was 2.5k out and back twice.

Low key rego, paid my $2 for a 10k and the 81 year old starter Merv said go and we raced off down the bike path. Went a bit too quick in the 1st 2.5k running 9:17 into the headwind. Slowed up a bit too much on the way back with a tail wind. And reached the 5k in 19:01, for a 9:44 split. Not looking or feeling good at this point. Thought the shot of a PB on a dead flat course was gone.

Out again into the headwind and it killed me running 9:54 for this split and a race total of 28:55. I did take a couple of ruuners just before the 7.5k turnaround. Managed to keep them at bay as my last split was quick.
Heading back and I thankfully had the tailwind now. Pushed hard to keep the two runners out of my hair. Chased the first female for the next 2.5ks as she had about 200m on me at the turnaround and only about 50m behind at the end. Ran this split in 9:10. My quickest for the race. And I was hanging out for the finish, as we had no water during the race.

Finished in 38:05 for a 25 second PB. I just found my new favourite course until I beat my PB. Dave measured it as 9.99ks so right on the money. No short course talk here.

So splits were 9:17, 9:44, 9:54, 9:10. Just have to fix that slacking off period in the middle and I might run fast one day.
I'm happy!

Edit: Time has now been confirmed as 38:06.

Easy 8ks

Funny how I can run around the outside of Centennial Park which is not that big and feel warm on one side and cold on the other. Global warming on the North side and the Ice Age on the South side. Lucky I live sort of on the East side of the park. So what do I get mild temperatures?

A slow run around the outside of the park with a diversion around Aussie Stadium and the SCG. Parts of the run were on grass as I was taking it easy for the race tomorrow.

The run was 8.2ks in 44:52. Average pace of 5:28 per klm.

Finished off watching Manly beat Parramatta and we are still on top of the NRL table. Yeehah!

And Tesso I find it great to race in the morning as all through the year I run in higher temps and humidity than in the morning, so I feel it is easier during a morning race to go faster.

3K Time Trial

Down around the Bay Run to do this tonight. A bit humid and a southerly blowing as well.
As the Southerly was blowing I decided to run from the CR3K marker back to the start.

So I did a 3k warmup down to the CR3K marker. The goal was anything under 11 minutes for the 3ks. As per usual it felt like I was running into the wind and not with it. I hate that.

I missed the first split, but the 2nd k was reached in 7:24 and I finished in 11:04. Average pace of 3:41 per klm. Not as good as I wanted but fair enough considering my lack of speed since Canberra.
Maybe the last k being a bit uphill didn't help. Did a 2k cool down after the session.

Saw CR 26miles out running tonight. Hi Steve.

To the Bay and Back 15ks

That's Rose Bay and Double Bay you lot. Ran via Waverley and Bondi Junction and then down to Rose Bay. From there back up past Pt Piper and into Double Bay and back up the hill to Edgecliff. Then up to Centennial Park and home again.
Plenty of hills during the run and only one shower the whole run. Just got lucky.

Ran 15ks in 1:13:37. Average pace of 4:52 per klm.

Tempo Run 9ks

Really humid tonight and a bit windy as well. The sweat was pouring off as soon as I started running. Very soggy. Are we sure this is May in Sydney?
Ran along a flat course around Centennial Park and down to Anzac Pde and then up to Moore Park and down past the SFS, SCG and Fox Studios. And then ran back.
A good pretty flat out and back course.

Ran 9.1ks in 37:25. Average pace of 4:06 per klm.

A tempo run to judge my pace for the SMH Half next week. Obviously not race pace that I ran tonight but the intended pace was 10-15 secs over what I want next week. A bit quick as I wanted 4:10-4:15 pace.

Did a 1k warmup and a 1k cooldown after the session.

One Hour Easy 11ks

Just an easy run around Centennial Park tonight. Heaps of bats out annoying me as I ran under their fig trees. Some huge ones too.

Ran 11.1k's in the hour. Average pace of 5:24 per klm.

Heart of the Lake Fun Run 10k

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday I felt like I was running with a huge backpack. 24 hours later I felt a lot faster.
The course was run around the bike paths of Lake Gillawarna in Georges Hall. A nice mostly shady spot to do a run. Pretty fast the 1st 3k's where I had myself at 11:20. Then we copped about 4ks of up and down hills as we went further away from the start and then started back again. At the 5k I still managed to hold some of the pace with a 19:19 inspite of the hills.
Further along and I was sitting at 27:12 for 7k as the hills finally finished and we were on the run back to the start.

I was hoping to crank up some speed to get in under 39 mins. So was pleased with an 8k of 31:05 but not so pleased when I was still 35:02 for 9k. Well chasing Nando who was a long way ahead and the runner in front who I passed within 10 metres of the finish I clocked off with a 38:49. So a nice 19:19 for 5k out and 19:30 on the way back. Good pacing.
I didn't record the distance but Nando said it was short, but possibly due to the amount of trees it didn't record properly.
The club, Western District Joggers and Harriers say no it definitely is 10k as they run their club races along the paths all the time. And it has been measured heaps of times, plus by a bike again for todays race. So I'll take what they say.

Anyway I was very happy to do a time 2 minutes quicker than yesterday. Nando ran a 38:16 to take 3rd place in the age group. I was 4th.
Strider Paul Jack was 2nd in the age group with Jose Carvalho 1st.

I don't know any of the runners who won the 10k male or female. Or even the 3k held at the same time. Very nice morning for the run. Great marshalls and the cakes and fruit afterwards was superb. They had Chernobyl lamingtons. Huge!

Have been given some insights into my training before the SMH Half which I will try to focus on for now. Next week is RBH cross country on the Saturday and then I have to STaR 7am host at Vaucluse on the Sunday. Which means a short 10-15k training run for me.

I definitely felt I was running a lot faster than yesterday. Nando's Garmin actually beeped just behind me at the 1k pt and I had 3:32 on my watch. So some speed is hiding somewhere, just have to find it.

State Road 10k Champs

A sudden move from the relatively flat Holsworthy course to a 3 lap course down at Appin lead me to question whether I was in PB form to warrant running North Head Striders or competing for the club.
My decision to run was based on me wanting to beat the other clubs in every race rather than running against your friends in a Striders race. Both good but the Road 10k won out.

Picked up my numbers from Guzzo before the start and worked out we would be very light on for runners. I think last year it was about 30 runners from the Striders. This year less than 10.

The course was pot holed without much sun protection and had a few hills with the finish up a hill. Due to my foot injury I didn't think I would run fast today.

Well the splits proved that during the three laps.
1st 12:50, 2nd 14:00, 3rd 14:05. I actually recorded 40:50 but was given 40:55 as a time. I did manage to be passed and repassed Nando a couple of times during the last lap. Did get him by the finish.
It was 25 degrees down there and not much shade protection. Plus windy as well.
Wish I had better news but the foot is stopping me from pushing off in my stride so is not good.

I ran like crap, what more can I say. I just don't know when it will turnaround. Maybe the coach needs a kick up the clacker.

Centennial Park 7ks

Just did a slow run around the outside of Centennial Park in the dark tonight. Nothing special as I have the State Road 10k Champs tomorrow.

Ran 7.2ks in 37:12. Average pace of 5:10 per klm. Mix of dirt, sand, grass,tar and concrete. Is there any thing else left to run on?

Course looks good with hardly any hills. Something like a 30m rise over 500m is nothing. But apparently a few pot holes. Must remember to not get my sight blocked by other runners.

5x1k Reps

A warm night tonight with pretty high humid left me sweating like a pig. It can't be May really.
The north East seabreeze was also blowing fairly well.

Ran the reps along the bike that runs next to the busway in Randwick. It gets a bit dark to see at one end, but the other is well lit.

The reps were pretty slow as I feel I don't have the pace back after the Canberra 50k. Hope it will come back soon.
The reps were 3:35, 3:31, 3:35, 3:37, 3:34. All done with a 2 minute walk recovery inbetween.
I had a 1k warmup and a 1k cooldown after the session.

Heartbreak Hill & Back 19ks

A full moon and high humidity tonight. Feels like summer again rather than early May. What's going on now?
Ran from home up to Waverley and then through Bondi Junction down to Rose Bay and then up Heartbreak Hill. Then from there it was through Dover Heights and Bondi Junction and back to home again.
Very hilly and great for the legs to get some work.
It was 19ks in 1:34:54. Average pace of 4:59 per klm. Actually thought I ran it faster.

2P just doing all the races in the lead up to Sydney Marathon. Any race I feel like running is on my agenda from 'the coach'.

Hill Reps 20x200m

Since I don't have to go too far to do hill reps and had no time tonight I did some hill reps close to home. The hill is 200m in length.
The reps were between 45-50 seconds per rep up and about 50-60 seconds recovery back down again. Nothing too serious.

Heartbreak Hill & Back 19ks

A little late out today, what with the Cricket World Cup victory and a still sore ankle from yesterday. I wasn't that keen on running.
I finally headed out at midday, only 21 degrees so not too hot. Headed out on a hilly run up to Dover Heights and back via Heartbreak Hill.
The ankle kept letting me know it was sore with every second step. So the pace was a fair bit slower than I really wanted.

Total was 19ks in 1:34:53. Average pace of 4:59 per klm.

I was even spotted by CR Becky O in Waverley while I was out.

My parents took the photo today.

Hope the army truck is moved off the Striders North Head 10k course by next Saturday. It isn't exactly on the course, maybe 50m short of the start line. And no I did not run from South Head to North Head. Although that would make a great run. Watsons Bay to the City, cross the bridge and then run to Manly. Catch the ferry back to the Quay.

Edit: A couple more photo's of the carnage.

Athletics NSW Novice 10k

Novice meaning I have not won an open medal in an athletics comp which is not a relay. Never going to happen so I can race the Novice for ever.
Huge mental let down today after feeling great mentally after the 50k. I really didn't feel like I was racing for some reason. Maybe because the course is 10k so I just figured I couldn't PB on a grass course. Who knows? Scarborough Park at Ramsgate was the course, grass and sandy soil.

We had about a dozen Striders running the Novice 10k today. They have no k markers at all so you just have to run hard and try and hold your form. Well I did that but it was just 4min/k pace.
Twisted my ankle a couple of times around the back end of the course but that really didn't hurt me I just ran like crap. I was running near Blue Dog and Nando for awhile and Blue Dog raced off after about 4k and nearly equalled his PB. Super Run. Nando just finished ahead of me. Horrie said he was chasing me and I did see him once.

Finished with 39:42. Pretty crap but a course PB by over 5 minutes. Ok I had just started running again last year. Road 10k and Striders 10k next week. Hope I can pull something decent out.

30 x 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off

Nice and cool to run in tonight. Southerly still blowing a bit strong and no rain.

Ran on a pretty flat course from Centennial Park down to Anzac Pde, up to Aussie Stadium and back again. A pretty flat course.

Ran 7.6ks in the 30 minutes. Average pace of 3:56 per klm. Pretty happy with the efforts, the floats could have been faster I guess.

Did a 1k warmup and a 1k cooldown after the session.

Heartbreak Hill & Back 18ks

After watching the Pies finally knock over the Bombers at the 'G, I headed out for a run.
Pretty windy and had a few showers fall on me during the run.

Ran from home up to Bondi Junction and then down to Rose Bay and up Heartbreak Hill and back again past the cemetery on Military Rd and Old South Head Rd. A very hilly run which I used to do once a week before the stress fractures came to haunt me.

18.6ks in 1:29:31. Average pace of 4:48 per klm. Felt nice and easy running at that pace with the hills on the run.

Flake Fartlek

Greeted with a strong southerly wind and a few showers tonight. Nothing too heavy in the rain department, more like drizzle actually.

The flake fartlek was back on the menu this week. The hip/whatever it is wasn't hurting at all so I went out for a run. Started near my house outside Centennial Park and ran down to Anzac Pde and up to Aussie Stadium and back.

Tried to run the floats faster than my usual slack efforts.

Ran 6.97ks in the 28 mins. Average pace of 4:01 per klm. Almost cracked the 7ks for the session. Did a 1k warmup and a 2k cooldown after the session.

Park Run 17ks

I was out a bit late this morning. 8am after watching the nail biting dead rubber between The Windies and England.
Did a lap of Centennial Park around the grass trail and then started on a second lap including Queens Park and Moore Park in the process. Pretty slow on the sand and dirt today. Doesn't make for speedy running. Helps the feet though.
All up it came to 17.5ks in 1:31.41. Average pace of 5:14 per klm.

I think the pain I have is actually from the sacro-iliac joint. Feels like this due to my body collapsing to one side in pain sometimes according to the net. Rest and Relaxation sounds like a good plan for it. But I'm an amateur, what would I know.

Bought a couple of running books today while picking up my finally fixed camera. Six weeks, damn warranty.
The books were: Alberto Salazar's guide to road racing, and a biography of Percy Cerutty called Why Die? Should be interesting reading.

Rose Bay Roughup 14ks

A hilly run tonight. Headed up through Waverley toward Bondi Junction and then down to Bondi and over to Rose Bay. Then along the harbour front past Point Piper and into Double Bay and then up the hill to Edgecliff and back home again via Centennial Park.
Plenty of hills in the run and part of the run on grass as well.

It was 14.3ks in 1:17.59. Average pace of 5:27 per klm.
Hip still hurting a fair bit. Don't know how I hurt it. Maybe as the action got more tired during the 50k I put more pressure on it.

Tesso I will be doing Sydney Marathon finally, after doing the half twice and missing 2005 with injury.

Back into Business 12ks

I was feeling too sore earlier in the week to go for a run. Tonight the legs felt ok, I was just running a bit slow. My right hip didn't exactly like going for a run. I don't remember hurting it at all.
I ran around the outside of Centennial Park and down to Fox Studios and back. Mostly on grass to keep the legs happy.

Ran 12.1ks in 1:10:00. Average pace of 5:47 per klm.

Thanks for everyone's comments about Canberra. Yes I guess in my head I should have wiped out the thought of the 50k and gone harder for the sub 3hr. But I will say that from the start I was off the pace and just excepted that and ran at the best pace I could without blowing up. I really wanted to get through my first marathon in 2 years so I suppose was too scared to push it in case I did have a crap race. I should just have listened to Nike. 'just do it'.
I won't be running the Gold Coast Marathon as it will hurt all my plans for winter too much. I may do the half up there as I can recover pretty quick from one of them.

Canberra Marathon 50k

Up early at 4:30am to do my usual preparation for a race. A good breakfast etc and then it was down to the Striders tent near the start line by 6:30am. Met up with a few CR's and Striders and was feeling very nervous on the startline.

Stood near Eagle and the Sloth at the start and saw the 3hr balloon take off and I remained behind the pace all day.

Took the early 10k very easy and actually missed the marker but I was behind my split of 42mins by about 30 seconds. I was feeling good but I just couldn't get onto the 4:12k pace that I wanted to run. Nothing I could do about without sending me out for a blowup.

The 3hr pacer remained in front of me as I got to the half marathon in 89:35. Which was now 1min behind my pace. The 3hr pacer was about 30seconds ahead of me at this stage.

Back across the bridge and heading back to Telopea Park for the turnaround I was amazed yet again that runners stay near the 25k drinks table on the right and don't cross straight to the left as that is the racing line. The 3hr group stayed right.

I started catching splinters from the 3hr group after I passed the half marathon point and finally caught Shaun Creighton and his mate at the 26k without balloon by then.

Felt good all the way out to Black Mountain and I was pushing myself to keep the pace solid. Good endurance runs for Six Foot probably helped me in this regard I thought.

From the half marathon I can't recall too many people running past me at so I must have been running ok in the back half.

Finally made it back to the finish and have been given 3:03.28 as my time. A 13 minute PB, so I'm very happy. No sub 3hr but I'll get that some other time.

After the finish I slowly walked up the hill to the drink station and grabbed a waterbag and kept on running out for the rest of the 50k. The extra was damn hard work on the legs as half the run is on concrete which was really hurting me. Met Ewen about the 47k mark and he gave me another gel. Thanks mate. But where's my capuccino?

The end of the bike path came into view and I headed up the long finishing stretch to the finish trying to look good for the cameras.

Finished the 50k in 3:51.07, according to the photo from my parents. Edit: official time 3:51.08.

The most uplifting part of the day besides the cheering on the course was that when we did the extra klms for the ultra nearly every runner acknowledged the other and said keep going or looking good mate. Very special.

Thanks for everyone's support for this race.You have all been fantastic. It's been a long time between Marathons(2 years) but the pain today was worth it for how good you feel when you finish.

And from this race I qualify to run Boston Marathon in 2008. I can't wait.

Some photo's. Take note I let the two girls beat me to the finish. Such a snag!

Memories

Heading down to Canberra soon. Thoughts of 2005 come back to me. And I have pictures.

Here's hoping for good weather tomorrow morning for the race. Pity Vat_Man won't be running this year. But he'll be back soon hopefully.

Thanks for everyone's comments regarding the race. Feeling very nervous this morning actually, I don't think my nerves will settle until I start the race.

Easy 30 Minutes

An easy run down to Fox Studios and back. Nothing too hard.
Total covered was 5.45k's in the 30 minutes. Average of 5:30 per klm.

First day of the carbo loading. I'm using the schedule from the AIS. Now any parents reading this go and try and find a breakfast cereal low in fibre. As everyone knows high fibre cereals are all the go. Finally found some rice bubbles which have only 1.1g per 100g.
Ate the first yoghurt in my life today due to the schedule. I guess muffins are another thing I don't usually eat. And I'm not usually into having breakfast,lunch,dinner and three snacks during the day as well.
I think I'm up a kilo already from this morning, is that normal? I'll be a heifer by race day.

Easy 40 Minutes

It was supposed to be an easy run tonight and felt like it. Maybe felt a bit too easy actually so I ran a bit quicker than I wanted to.

Time was 40 minutes and it was 8.2ks in that time. Average of 4:52 per klm.

Thanks for everyone's comments about the race. I'm feeling the weight of my own expectations let alone anyone else's.
But really I can't wait for it to start already.

5k @ MP

Ran in a flat area around the outside of Centennial Park and up to Fox Studios and back.

The goal was to do 5k's at Marathon Race Pace. That would be 4:12 per klm, or 21:00 for the 5k's. Going out it was 10:20 for the 2.5k's and 10:24 on the way back.

Total 5ks in 20:44. Average pace of 4:09 per klm. A bit under the goal, but it did feel pretty easy running it. Just have to do a few more of those on Sunday morning.

No warmup as per my usual trick, but did do a 1k cooldown after the session. Ran in most of the gear I will be using on sunday bar the sunglasses and hat.

Four Park Frolic 19ks

I was watching the golf this morning so went out about 8am for a run. No rain at all but windy with heaps of water on the streets.
Just did a run around a few parks in the area. Starting with Queens Park and then Centennial Park. Then down to Hyde Park and back through Moore Park and Centennial Park again to finish.

Ran 19.1ks in 1:34.08. Average pace of 4:55 per klm. A few hills in the run around Queens Park and then up to Oxford St and then the hill up William St to Hyde Park.

Saw Naomi and Damien Tancred at the end as I ran around Centennial Park.

Now for Canberra.

Striders Domain 10k Race-PB

First time I have run this course as I was marshalling last year and in Melbourne in 2005. Three loops of 3.3k and a final 100m to finish.
The start is along the flat of Farm Cove but then you have to turn up a hill and along Mrs Macquaries Rd towards the Art Gallery, and then through the Domain and back down the other side past the Boy Charlton pool. And Repeat. So the hill hammers you three times.

Got caught at the start behind Luke Skyrunner and the pram plus a group of about 6 people along the footpath, with no room to get past them until near the 1k mark. I reached that in 4:01 according to Sportsman who was running near me at the time and I was blocked from seeing the marker. The splits didn't get much better as from memory I was around 8/12/16 for the 2/3/4k markers. I wasn't liking what was happening. Struggled to the 5k in 19:42 and it was looking ugly. I figured at that stage 39:30 if I was lucky, awaiting the 2nd half fade.

Missed the 6k split but the 7k was reached in 26:47. Now how did I run 2k in 7:05. Now I think that 7k marker must have been in the wrong spot as I wasn't going that quick even if most of it is downhill. Anyway the 5k and the finish is correct so I don't care.
After thinking I was running heaps quicker I just tried to catch some runners ahead of me and not lose any spots. Got past three before the finish with one taking me back around Mrs Macs Chair.
A final sprint down along Farm Cove which is about 500m and I finished in 38:30. A 1 second PB but I'll take it anyway. Thanks very much. 5k-19:42, 5k-18:48. 10k-38:30. Love that 2nd 5k!
Conditions were shocking during the race with a 15 knot Southerly blowing, water on the course and we run part of it across grass making it a bit slow. Plus a few showers during the race as well.
I did have a battle with Blue Dog for awhile during the race as we were near each other during the 1st k, but after that I just heard him getting further and further behind me as he seemed to have a bad cold and was trying to cough up a lung every 5 metres.

Thanks for everyone's support. No sub 38 today but I'll blame the bad conditions and my tendency to start back from the line and getting blocked. But I'll take another PB.
See some of you in Canberra for the big show.

He's not the messiah, he's just a very naughty boy

Monty Python's Life of Brian.
People: "What should we do?"
Brian: "Don't do anything. Just stop following me."
People:"Follow the gourde, follow the shoe". As they split into two groups and ran off.
Not sure if those were the exact words, but you get the picture. And the title was Brians mother shouting out of the window to the people. No offence to Jesus who was crucified by the Romans today.

Early afternoon I had a run around the Cross country track in Centennial Park. All grass and sand and pretty damp from the showers this morning on the coast.

Total was 8ks in 44:55. Average pace of 5:36. Pretty easy running today as I have the 10k tomorrow morning.

Easy 7ks

Just ran around the outside of Centennial Park tonight. Kept to the grass mostly without stressing myself too much.

Pretty windy as the Southerly had come through earlier today without any rain.

It was 7.4ks in 38:04. Average pace of 5:08 per klm. Nothing too hard about that.

Three Parks & a Bowlo 13ks

Around Centennial Park, Moore Park, Queens Park and back past Randwick Bowling Club. A couple of hills around Queens Park but nothing too hard.
Pretty windy tonight and humid as well.

Ran 13:25 ks in 1:00.21. Average pace of 4:33 per klm. The pace felt very good tonight.

6x1k Reps

Around the bay run with a very humid night and a good breeze blowing as well. Not very pleasant conditions to run in.
Anyway the session had to be done just so I can look good at Canberra next week.

The reps were 3:23, 3:25, 3:27, 3:28, 3:28, 3:30. All done with a 2 minute walk recovery between each rep. Had a 1k warmup and a 1k cool down after the session. Pretty weak effort to keep getting worse. Just couldn't pull any energy to make myself go faster.

Oh, BTW the first rep is the fastest I have ever run 1k. Excellent!

Recovery Run 7ks

A nice cool run around Centennial Park tonight. All on the grass and dirt. Very easy.

Ran 7.4ks in 41:17. Average pace of 5:34 per klm.

Davidson Recreation STaR-26ks

A Striders STaR starting over in East Lindfield. Very hilly and a fair bit of bush as well.
The run goes through Lindfield, Killara, Roseville and Castle Cove.
I was running with a group that including Sportsman, 26 Miles and Silverfox.

I opted to cut the run short but still had about 2ks of bush track to run on. Came back up off the track and back via the road. Caught up with Horrie and Grandpa now with crutches after the run.

All up 26.2ks in 2:10.11. Average pace of 4:58 per klm. Great cool running conditions this morning. The pace was good considering the run is rated H4 out of 5 for hills. That's high.

CR 5K Challenge = PB

Parked at Lilyfield Rd this morning so did a 3k warmup over to the start.
The 19 min brigade had about ten people in it. Is this the new 20mins?

Lucky I decided to start off 18mins with Kanser and his mate. Started out too quick as per the norm and ran through 1k in 3:31 with Kanser ahead at about 3:25.
The wind started to kick in on the 2nd k as part of it heads west which was where the breeze was blowing from. Split was just ok with me reaching 2k in 7:17 which gave me a 3:46 for that one.
The third is nearly 90% straight west so found it a real battle to push into the wind. Seeing me labouring in to the 3k point with 11:10 on the clock and a bad 3:53 split.
Started the 4th k with a tail wind which made it a lot better. Uncle Dave and then Tom31 came past before I reached the 4k mark. Which I did in 14:50, a 3:40 split.
Now the turn for home and the k I hate the most as the track winds it way between tennis courts, toilet blocks and playgrounds. Spotted Luke SkyRunner in the distance and tried to catch him but just missed. Hr started off 19.

Finished with 18:28 a 10second PB. And 3:38 for the last k.
Now I'm on the slippery slope towards 18 which is good. Splits of 3:31,3:46,3:53,3:40,3:38. Pretty crap that 2nd and 3rd k but managed to salvage the finish.Jogged backed to my car which was only a k away with Horrie and Professor, who both had great runs.I think there was about 40 of us in total. Can't wait for the next one it was great running conditions this morning.

The 5k time gives me a prospective 38:22 for 10k. I'll see if I can do that next week at the Domain.

Easy 10ks

An easy run around Centennial Park. A bit windy but it was fantastically cool while I was out there. The run was mostly on the grass. Legs and feet feeling good.
Ran 10.2ks in 49:53. Average pace of 4:53 per klm. Didn't push it too hard.

CR5K tomorrow morning around the Bay Run. Should be quick.

Flake Fartlek

Just a quick post as I have to go off to CR drinks and I think I'm a bit late.

Ran down to Anzac Pde and up past the SCG and Aussie Stadium and back.

Managed 6.92ks in the 28 mins. Average pace of 4:02 per klm. Nice and humid conditions to run in tonight as we had some showers today.

Medium Long Run 16ks

Nice weather for it tonight. Close to a full moon and a bit of a breeze meant no humdity during the run.
Did a lap of Centennial Park, Fox Studios, Aussie Stadium and the SCG. With a an extra loop around Fox, SCG and Aussie Stadium to make the distance. Some hills in the run but nothing too serious.

Ran 16ks in 1:20.09. Average pace of 5:00 per klm. Gee paced it well.

Tesso it will be short stuff sort of after Canberra. Just SMH Half in May, Woodford 2 Glenbrook 25k in June and Kembla Joggers Half in July. All the rest will be Cross Country and 10k races until Sydney Marathon in September.

6x1k Reps

First lot of 1k Reps since Late October. That Six Foot training has a lot to answer for, and I guess short track races over Summer didn't help the cause.

Headed down to the Bay Run to do these tonight. Not as humid as last week and not too much wind blowing, so was confident of them being quite decent in speed. Thought I went too fast doing the first one and was waiting for a nice blowup.

Reps were: 3:29, 3:28, 3:27, 3:29, 3:33, 3:31. All done with a 2 minute walk recovery between each. Did a 1k warmup and a 1k cool down after the session.
I like being consistent!

Recovery Run 7ks

An easy recovery run around Centennial Park. The humidity seems to have gone for the moment after the Southerly came through on Saturday night. Still a nice cool breeze blowing while I was out running.

Legs felt a bit heavy in the calf area but they soon warmed up enough to trot around the park.

Ran 7.4ks in 44:57. Average pace of 6:04 per klm. Very cool.

Centennial Park 37ks

Location: Centennial Park running track which is a distance of 3.7ks for each lap. Basically flat with a rise and fall of about 20metres around the circuit. Shaded from the sun for nearly all of it although not needed this morning.

Conditions: A stiff southerly blew in late yesterday leaving it cool and windy. Breeze between 12-17 knots with gusts up to 27 knots, and the temp ranging from 17 to 19 degrees. And a couple of showers as well during the run.

Goals: 4 laps x 17:15(4:39/k) per lap, 4 laps x 15:30(4:11/k) per lap, and then 2 laps x 14:30(3:55/k) per lap. Or run like a Kenyan. The fast finishing long run.

Outcome: 14.8ks in 69:00. Average pace of 4:39 per klm.
14.8ks in 64:04. Average pace of 4:19 per klm.
7.4ks in 30:20. Average pace of 4:05 per klm.
Total 37ks in 2:43.24. Average pace of 4:24 per klm.

Washup: The first 4 laps was easy as I usually do my long runs at around that pace without a problem. It became harder and harder doing the 2nd lot of four laps to maintain the pace I was after which was 4:11/ks. The wind was certainly one factor but I would say that the energy levels are just not there yet to run that quick at that stage of a long run. Or I'm just slow anyway, and shouldn't have tried this concept.
The last two laps were run with the head back and me gasping for air as the legs kept saying you have got to be kidding. Apparently I was!

Did see Kit, Royworlds, Ben-Hur and I think Jen_Runs tooted at me as I ran around and around and around the park this morning. Now for the taper.

Easy 10ks

Did an easy lap of Centennial and Moore Parks on the grass. Pretty easy on the legs but really humid once again.

Total was 10.8ks in 58:12. Average pace of 5:23 per klm.

Gronk the Mona Fartlek is 2x90secs, 4x60secs, 4x30secs, 4x15secs. All of those run hard, and then all with an equal time float after the hard part. The float is run quicker than an actual recovery run. The total is 20 mins.
I just add 2x120sec on the front with equal float to make it 28mins.The "flake fartlek". You try and do the session as an out an back, trying to get back to the start position after you turn around at 10 mins or 14mins, etc.

Flake Fartlek

Back by popular demand! Ok, Six Foot is over so I brought it back myself.
Ran into Centennial Park and did my 28 minute Version of the Mona Fartlek around the running track.
Very windy and really humid as well. Not easy conditions to do a speed session in.

Ran 6.9ks in the 28 minutes. Average pace of 4:03 per klm. Not bad considering the floats were pretty slow because I was buggered. That run yesterday took a fair bit of energy out of me.

Did a 1k warmup before the session and then a 2k cool down afterwards. I'll be happy when I can get this session back under the 4 min/k pace.

Medium Long Run 20ks

A couple of laps of the Centennial Park tarred running track then out up to Aussie Stadium and back home again. A pretty flat run but does have some hills in it near the Stadium.
Very humid, the singlet was really soaked after a few k's. Really annoying as I had to keep pulling it forward again. Shouldn't have worn the Six Foot one, as it is a bit heavy.

Ran 20.4ks in 1:33.01. Average pace of 4:33 per klm. Felt pretty good running at that pace.

3x3.7k Reps

Ran three laps of the running track in Centennial Park. The light was fading as a storm moved across from the west. The last lap being done in pretty much no light. Very humid and a few drops of rain fell on me during the session.

Reps 14:09(3:49/k), 14:12(3:50/k), 14:19(3:52/k). I had a 5 min walk recovery between each rep. Did a 1k warmup before the session and a 2k cool down after.

Pretty happy with my first speed session since January. Felt really good to run fast again without having to do a heap of endurance work.

BTW: We went to a german restaurant last night. But Mum is a great chef.

Recovery Run 7ks

A late run tonight after having dinner with the parents. So tonight's run was powered by a Schnitzel and a cherry Strudel. It was a nice dinner.

Did a lap around the outside of Centennial Park just after the showers had finished. It was really humid during the run. I would have been drier running in the rain.

Ran 7.5ks in 40:25. Average pace of 5:23 per klm. Slightly faster than I thought it would be after yesterdays hard run on the concrete.

Clovelly Canter 32ks

Woke up a bit late and missed the start of the 6:20am group. I would have run to the start as it isn't that far from my house, about 1.5ks away at Queens Park. The group only left about 20seconds before I got there so I had a bit of an early sprint in the dark to catch them.

A half lap of Centennial Park and then out back nearly past the start again so I ran off to grab my map and then had to chase them for a couple of k's and caught them at a drink stop. We then basically pass through Bronte, Waverley Cemetery, Clovelly, Coogee, Maroubra, Malabar, Matraville, Hillsdale, Eastgardens, Pagewood, Kensington and then back around the outside of Centennial Park to the finish. We had a bit of extra k's added in Malabar as we missed a turn while we were chatting on the run. Of course we did run an extra hill because of it. Lots of stairs running from Bronte to Maroubra slowed us up a fair bit.

The group was small but included Chris Truscott, Paul Mackay, Jono Worswick, Timinerko, Grandpa and Virtual as well for awhile.

Ran a total of 32.5ks after the Malabar mix up. Time was 2:37.41. Average pace of 4:51 per klm.
Next week I'll do a long run at Marathon Pace as it will be 3 weeks to go for Canberra.
Legs felt very slow from about the 20k mark of the run today. Hope to get some freshness in them when I start the taper.

Goals 2007

I've just realised that I never posted my goals for the year. How slack, it's now March.
Not really in any order at all. I'm putting the PB's that I had at the start of the year.

1. Sub 3 hour Marathon.(PB-3:16.32)
2. Sub 80 min Half Marathon. (PB-84:40)
3. Sub 37 min 10k. (PB-39:11) Current 38:31
4. Sub 17 min 5k. (PB-18:54) Current 18:38
5. Sub 5hr Six Foot Track. Done almost 5:02.05
6. Sub 55min City 2 Surf
7. Canberra 50k

Along the road I'll be running for the Striders during Winter as a registered Athlete again plus next summer on the track as well.
If I break my marathon PB it will qualify me to run Boston Marathon next year. Fingers crossed.

Centennial Cross Country 14ks

A couple of laps around the cross country course in Centennial Park. Pretty humid tonight and windy. Plenty of people about enjoying the weather.
Legs felt pretty dead actually. Must have been that race on the weekend. I'm joking I'm just tired anyway from work this week.

Today it was 14.1ks in 1:17.08. Average pace of 5:28 per klm.

Running ok Tesso because I treated Six Foot as a training run and ate and drank from start to finish at every aid station. No chance of being dehydrated during the race.

Medium Long Run 16ks

Did a lap of the running track in Centennial Park and then out around the outside of the park and down to Anzac Pde. Then along past Aussie Stadium and the SCG and back home.
Pretty humid tonight and the sun was going down as I ran with the bats returning home to eat in the trees above my head.

Ran 16.1ks in 1:21.15. Average pace of 5:02 per klm. Wore the Pegasus T/C shoes again. Which are feeling great doing these runs. Still thinking of using them in Canberra for the Marathon.

Probably do the run/off/run for this week to help the recovery from Six Foot.

Stop lazing around already

The quads still feeling sore and the bruises are coming out nicely with the scars from the Six Foot race fall on Saturday.
I had a day off on Sunday so that was enough.

Trotted out into Centennial Park running around the outside fence. All on grass mostly and was met with a few very refreshing passing showers from the Southerly. Lovely stuff.

Ran 11.5ks in 74:00.00. Average pace of 6:26 per klm. Not pushing hard at all to do that pace. More of a shuffle as the quads didn't like anything resmbling downhill. They will be right pretty soon for some punishment.

Ran in my new Six Foot 2007 singlet. Show off!

The report on Six Foot is here sixfoottrack.blogspot.com

Centennial Cross Country 14ks

A run around the cross country course in Centennial Park. Gave the new trail shoes a workout again. During the run did some downhill reps as well, but that's on the other blog.

Felt good during the run, not puffed at all actually. Legs feeling good and no niggles at all.

The run was mostly on the grass and dirt trail. It was 14.5ks in 74:10. Average pace of 5:06 per klm.

Why was the run so long today. Because I'm still training for Canberra a month later, remember.

Easy 10ks

A very late run last night. 10:30pm around Centennial Park. Batfink took off and nearly ripped my head off as I just happened to see him out of the corner of my eye and ducked my head in time. Mongrel.

Just ran around the outside of the park down to Fox Studios and back.
All up 10.2 ks in 50:12. Average pace of 4:55 per klm.

The Kahana shoes don't seem to be too much heavier than the Nike Pegasus I wear on the road.
I needed some new shoes anyway Don Juan as the two pairs of pegasus were worn out on the soles.
The Trail shoes do keep out the dirt more as the mesh is not open on the side, so they may be a bit hotter on my feet.

Recovery Run 7ks

Tested out my new pair of trail shoes tonight. Well as much as running through sand, mud, grass and puddles can test a pair of trail shoes. No slippery Pluvio rocks, or Cox's river crossings in Centennial Park to try them on.

They are Asics Kahana in a pre dirty colour of grey. Hides the dirt real well. No dirt got into the shoe as the mesh is not open to the air like a normal road shoe. Should do well in the Mountains on Saturday.

Tonight was a run in the light rain and very windy Southerly. Ran 7.5ks in 44:18. Average pace of 5:54 per klm. Nice!

Legs feeling good.

Balmain Bungle STaR-20ks

A shortened version of the Striders STaR today with conditions just as bad as yesterday morning. High humidity 86% and 23 degrees at the start and no wind whatsover.
A run mostly around Balmain and Leichhardt and then a finish back around the bay run.
Had Springer and Silver Fox for company for part of the run and then Grandpa on the short version as he is doing Six Foot next week as well.

Ended up as 20ks exactly in 1:40:48. Average pace of 5:02 per klm. Pretty slow for the 6:20am pace group. We usually run quicker. But that's ok I wasn't keen on it being fast today.

Later in the morning I headed to my surf club for some races. The swim was pretty tough as there were strong rips running and heaps of seaweed to deal with. The washing machine would be good to describe the choppy conditions. The run handicap was chopped a bit for me so I took advantage in the last round of the comp to take my first win for the year.
Had to buy beers for the BBQ. Excellent. No more surf club races for me till next season.

Legs feeling good for Six Foot. But the Sydney weather forecast is a worry. 19-29 degrees. I think I'll dip myself in a vat of suntan cream Saturday morning.

Striders Homebush 10k race- PB Yeehah!

Gave Will a lift out to Homebush this morning. 93% humidity according to MPH. Very sticky it turned out to be. We arrived at about 6:20 and there would have already been about 100 cars in the carpark. Turns out we had 350 finishers for the race today. Huge!

I wasn't expecting any PB's with my last, what I call speed session in mid January. But as MPH pointed out I have been doing fast downhill rep sessions which need high leg turnover. I guess he has a point.

Just tried to start off slow keeping the speed in me for the whole 10k and not the 1st k. A 3:43 1st k was ok. Kept going at that pace with 7:32 for 2k, 11:15 for 3k, 15:05 for 4k and going through the 5k in 19:01. Drenched in sweat at this stage and I wasn't feeling good about doing another 5k at that pace.
Next 2k went by in a slack 8minutes with me at 27:01 on the 7k marker. There are a few hairpin turns and a hill between the 5-7k but I think the foot came off the pedal too much. And panic set in as I thought the PB was sliding away at this point.
Finally did some work and was at 8k in 30:56 and then the sand pit 9k mark in 34:53. The foot was back on the gas and I belted the last k passing about 4 people along the flat section and then a female in the sprint across the bridge after the corkscrew. She was ahead the whole race so don't panic I'm not posting on 'that CR thread'.

Finished in 38:31. A 40 second PB. A course PB as well since it was at Homebush in July 2005 when I ran the last PB. Very happy to have finally knocked off that old PB.
Now I can get some work done for Six Foot Track and Canberra. Thanks to everyone for encouraging me for the last 2 years. And as the saying goes, The best is yet to come!

Edit: Blue Dog was beaten!

Easy 30 Minutes

A very easy run tonight as I have the 10k tomorrow at Homebush.
I'm expecting to smash Blue Dog as that is what his mum wants me to do. I just have to do what mum wants. Haha.

Ran 5.5ks in 33:05. Average pace of 6:00 per k. How was that for pacing it easy?

3x3.7k Reps

Headed into Centennial Park to do some reps of the running track. Jumped into a new pair of shoes that I bought last week. A pair of Nike Air Pegasus T/C. Looking at using them for Canberra Marathon as they weigh less than the standard Air Pegasus.

The park was getting a bit dark due to the dark clouds and the sun going down so the bright white shoes stood out a bit strangely. Very humid tonight, it was incredibly sticky.

The reps were 14:28(3:54/k), 14:23(3:53/k), 14:31(3:55/k). These were done with a 6 minute walk recovery between reps. Did a 2k cool down after the session.

Looks like I still have some pace but probably not enough to run the 10k this weekend for a PB.

Cool Recovery Run 10ks

Went out for a recovery run about ten past 7 and was back about an hour later.
In the hour the city had 10mm of rain. I swear it all fell around Centennial Park. The storm water outlets around the park were going flat out filling up the lakes in there.
It was fantastic although at times a little painful with the stinging rain and I was absolutely soaked. At least the shoes had a good mud bath.

Ran 10ks in 58:20. Average pace of 5:50 per klm. Nice for a wet recovery run. It was raining when I started, so no chance I was piking on this run. If it rains at Six Foot you have to put up with it. So might as well have the practice at least on grass/dirt in the rain.

Mosman Reversed STaR-29ks

A big crowd running the 6:20am group this morning, about 20 of us. Very hilly STaR with a Striders rating of H5. Probably not as bad as that but it certainly had plenty of good hills. Had Grandpa, Aimhigh,Timinerko,26miles,Silverfox and MPH after he dropped back from the 6:10 group running today.
Very windy with a few showers around and lots of bush on our journey around the Spit Bridge and then from Neutral Bay back through Cremorne and Mosman.
Certainly very scenic if you had a chance to look at the harbour. Definitely one of my favourites as I used to live in Mosman and ran past two of my parents old houses in the process.

Had a hard time keeping up with the main group through the Zoo area as the front runners would take off before everyone finished at a drink stop. Group run?

The run was great but I was certainly feeling it as we had 10ks through the bush in total with plenty of rocks and tree roots to dodge. Good practice again for Six Foot, and so were the hills.
Arrived back on my own as others cut the run short near the end to do more bush and I came down the road.

Ended up with 29.5 ks in 2:35.35. Average pace of 5:16 per klm. Supposed to be 31ks.
Chatted to Amjan and MPH after the run. Both commenting that my legs were really skinny. Very funny my mother always worries about that too.

Centennial Park XC 7ks

It had it all. Thunder, Lightning, Rain, Grass, Dirt, Sand and tree roots to jump over.
Just a quick hit out around the Centennial Park outside fence late this afternoon.

Ran 7.01ks in 37:17. Average pace of 5:19 per klm. Just getting that unstable ground practice for Six Foot. Just missing the Pluvio rocks.

Didn't get too wet as I was back in before the heavy rain came.

Two park shaker- 13ks

Yes a play on words for a late rap artist taken out at the same time with Notorious B.I.G aka Biggie Smalls. And that would be Tupac Shakur if you didn't get it.

Enough about them. It was a lap of Queens Park and Centennial Park tonight with my very shortened version of a medium long run.
Very windy and really humid. A few hills around the Queens Park side. Tough to run in and a fair bit of traffic and fruit bats around.

The run was 13.12ks in 1:00.34. Average pace of 4:36 per klm.

Harbour Queens

Well QE2 and QM2 were both in the harbour today. First time since the 2nd World War when their counterparts crossed at the heads as troop ships.

A bit late starting tonight as I had to have dinner with a work colleague from Melbourne.

The quads were still hurting so I took it slow at the start watching the fireworks through the trees in Centennial Park. Decided to do a slow tempo run when the legs started to feel better.
The session became:

3ks @ 6:00/ks = 18:00.
3ks @ 5:30/ks = 16:30.
3ks @ 5:00/ks = 15:00.
1.35ks @ 4:30/ks = 6:05.

Total 10.35ks in 55:35. Average pace of 5:22 per klm.

Recovery Run 12ks

A run around Centennial Park tonight on the grass. The Quads were killing me. Must have been those rotten stairs down Nellies Glen.

It was 12.1ks in 1:17.35. Average pace of 6:24 per klm.

Couldn't move any faster.

Centennial Park 7ks

A bit late out tonight as I was out watching the Swans Vs Pies practice match at North Sydney Oval.
Just did a lap of the outside fence of the park, mostly on grass.

Did 7.2ks in 33:12. Average pace of 4:36 per klm. Quite average, not fast or slow. Very humid tonight.

Centennial Park 22ks

With quads still hurting from last night I headed into the park for a midweek long run.
Dodging picnic blankets and dodgy engagement rings I did three laps of the tar circuit and then headed out around the park for a lap down to Anzac Pde and back home.
Damn hard work and I really just wanted to stop as the quads were killing me for the 1st half of the run.

Ran 22.02ks in 1:42.09. Average pace of 4:38 per klm.

Running like the tin man

Legs were a bit stiff tonight. Headed into Centennial Park with a fresh Southerly blowing and a bit of rain falling. Excellent conditions for a run.

Ran 12.1 ks in 1:14.07. Average pace of 6:07 per klm. Nice for a recovery run.

My race position for the Equaliser was released and turns out the dog was actually the next runner ahead of me by 40 seconds. Catch him next race!

Centennial Park 28ks

What you thought doing the Equaliser this morning was it for the day? Soft!

Did a race at my surf club this morning after the Equaliser. Just a swim and a run. The swim was very rough, bad rips, dirty water, blue bottles and seaweed. The run was mediocre after the race this morning.

After talking to Horrie from Blackheath who had just finished some Six Foot training along the Black Range I headed out for a run about 4pm
Did two loops of Centennial Park inside and then out around the outside fence including Aussie Stadium and the SCG as well.
All up totalled 28.31 ks in 2:28.14. Average pace of 5:14 per klm. Felt like crap for most of the run as it was so humid and I was showered on a few times as well. It's done 42ks for the day all training for Six Foot and Canberra.

Striders Equaliser 14ks

A lot of rain fell this morning between Belrose and St Ives which is basically where the race went.
Start on Road, then bush, back on the road, then bush, and finish on the road. Easy.

Bad start due to one of my number's pins coming off, so I stopped to fix it and then had to go hard for the first couple of ks to make up the positions I had lost.
Flat at the start on the road and then into a narrow bush track which eventually widens after a couple of ks to a very steep downhill. And right at the bottom were two creeks flowing really hard which we had to plow through. Back up the other side to St Ives and I was feeling like crap being passed by a few runners here.
The road section for a k saw me open up a bit and pass a few back. Then it was back into the bush and the steep downhill to the creek again being passed by about 5 runners in the process.
Across a different section of the fast flowing creek and then up the hill the other side with the same runners still out of my reach.
The bush finally flattened out and I passed two in the bush and then another couple including Mohammad on the road to the finish.
Steady rain fell for the first 20mins of the race and there was heaps of water on the course, so very muddy. Saw a runner being walked out after he fell and badly sprained his ankle. I touched wood when I saw that. Also one runner fell in the first creek crossing.

Finished the 14ks in 1:07:48. Quite good as the goal I had was to run between 65-70 mins.
Ankle had no problems during the run although probably missing some pace due to it being a bit tender to step on. Certainly a great cross country course which has everything. Hills, flats, bush, water on course, creeks to cross, and road running. And today rain as well. Love it.

A Run, Yes a Run

The ankle is looking pretty bruised as it should when it starts to come out. The swelling has almost all gone but it is still pretty sore to touch.
I put one of those ankle compression bandages on it to keep it stable if I did trip over and headed into Centennial Park.
Did a lap of the cross country track around the outside fence realising how damn humid it was tonight.

Ran 7.13ks in 40:55. Average pace of 5:44 per klm. Very easy pace. Ankle feels as good as it did before I left on the run as I ran very carefully hoping not to trip over.
My ankles have been twisted or sprained in differing degrees over the years, so many times I am surprised I have not broken them.

Ankle still swollen

Ankle is still swollen but the bruise is now coming out, Should be nice when it fully appears.
Just taking it one day at a time and trying to hold myself back from being stupid and running on it when it is swollen. Rice, Rice........

I'm still doing the Striders Equaliser this Sunday morning so I won't be missing that.

Recovery Run 12ks

The usual run into Centennial Park around the trail down to Anzac Pde and back again.
Nice running in the park tonight.

Everything was going well, legs felt great after the run at Six Foot yesterday. Until I tripped and sprained my ankle. Blew up like a balloon as soon as I took my shoe off when I got back.

Now icing the ankle so it can go down. Bugger. Sprained it many times and continued to run, so no problems here.

Ran 12.13ks in 1:14.41. Average pace of 6:09 per klm. Wow faster than I ran Six Foot yesterday. Nice slow recovery.

A lap of Centennial Park-10ks

After returning from watching Glenn Guzzo tear around the track at Homebush breaking 30 mins in the process for 10k I headed out for a late run.
Ran around the outside of Centennial Park down to Fox Studios and back.

All up 10.12ks in 44:20. Average pace of 4:22 per klm.

Probably a grey run as it isn't fast and it isn't a recovery run. Oh well.

Recovery Run 12ks

How embarassing! So many comments about my run on Sunday. Thank you all.

Today I just trotted into Centennial Park and ran around on the grass feeling really good in the legs. Unbelieveable that they feel this good after Sunday's run. Must be getting fitter.

Ran 12.01ks in 1:11.00. Average pace of 5:54 per klm. A nice pace for the recovery.

Middle Harbour Picnic STaR-41ks

Woke up when the night clubs were emptying out the party people at 3:30 am this morning. Not much sleep at all. Try 4 hours if I was lucky.
A drive over to Roseville early as I wanted to run some extra distance before the Striders 6:20 group left. Managed to get in 9.35ks in 48:07 by running along Eastern Valley towards Castlecrag and back. Arrived back just before the 6:00 group left. Very humid so changed singlets before the group left.

Did the full STaR which meant going up a very long hill at the start for about 2ks as we crossed Roseville bridge. Then running through Forestville and into the bush for about a 2k stint down Wakehurst Parkway. Fantastic in there.
We then through Seaforth and down to the Spit Bridge and up the other side which of course is the other long hill on this STaR even going around Parriwi Rd instead of Spit Rd. Then down to Balmoral Beach with a view out of Sydney Heads with the sun rising. Just beautiful. Along the Esplanade where SilverFox said all the beautiful people run. We said we are indeed.

Then up another hill out out from the beach passing the 6:10 along the way through Mosman and Cremorne with a few short steep hills to contend with. Then it was across and through Cammeray and the old stone bridge and the suburb of Northbridge. Through Willoughby with more hills and back to the finish.
Finishing off with Horrie who started at 6:10, he said he had more time he needed to run so I ran a few more klms for the morning up another hill close to the park and back again to finish.
Jo Cowan and Langswd commented that I looked shattered at the finish and was shaking. I'm not surprised. I was having trouble standing straight and the fluid wasn't helping fast enough.
I finished the STaR doing 32.5ks in 2:37:23. Pace of 4:50 per klm.

All up for the morning was 41.85ks in 3:25.30. Average pace of 4:54 per klm. A nice effort on a Striders STaR hill rating of H4 which was the same as Pymble 2 weeks ago but these hills are longer. My longest training run in distance. Somebody get me a beer!

Surf Club Swim, Board Paddle and Run

A long swim this morning but the water felt sensational. Back up to about 18 degrees. Flat as a tack so had to swim most of the way as there were no waves breaking to catch back in.
Went in the board paddle as well as it was an easy out and in but bloody long. I thought I saw NZ when I turned at the buoy.
The run went ok and I managed to come in fifth which should get me some extra points.

And then on Australia Day, in fact after all of our races as you know. It was a BBQ and beers. I love it. Now I'm burnt and tired.

Slippery Dip Track 6ks

Went to find a little trail to run down which I had measured as about 5ks one way with the gmap-pedometer. It was a little different when I got into the bush to find a series of dead ends leading to me having to turn around after a few attempts at bush bashing.
The only problem was the start was uphill which meant I ran downhill for 3ks and then turned around to run back uphill.

The bush trail was great this morning after the overnight rain. Very noisy with all the birds and cicadas in there. Now if I could find the track properly next time it might be a good spot for a short fatass. Because I'm sure there must be other tracks in the National park not marked. Might have to buy one of the topo maps from the govt to see if that shows more.

Total was 6.12ks in 40:00. No time this morning as I had to go off to my Surf Club for their races. Ran with the camelbak, but being that short I could have done it just holding a water bottle.

A thrashing in Centennial Park 22ks

Medium Long Run.
Four laps of the Centennial Park running track and then out down Anzac Pde and around the SFS and SCG and back home.
Very humid with no rain at all. Stayed in the park until it was too hard to see as there are no street lights in there.

All up 22.60ks in 1:41:40. Average pace of 4:29 per klm.

Now that was hard work. Felt like stopping plenty of times tonight. Some races in the future somehow forced me to keep going.