Newport Nightmare STaR 29ks

Have to love a star map that says "The Full Catastrophe!" on the instructions. That just means a really hard run.
Starts at Newport Beach and goes straight up to Bilgola Plateau via the inland route. That meant straight up for 2ks with John Binfield and Nigel streeting me up the hills. Finally get some down but then it is up and down through Clareville on the Pittwater side before we reach the flat of Careel Bay and Avalon.

Then it was up to Palm Beach along the Pittwater side, where we continued past the golf course and did a run on the sand up to the lighthouse. Too many stairs here.
Back down and the race for home was on via the Ocean side of Palm beach, Whale beach, Avalon, Bilgola to the finish.

Hasn't been run since 2009 apparently. Bit of a mystery on whether it is H4 or H5.
Total was 29.2ks in 2:33:31. Average pace of 5:15 per klm. Very slow so I'm going for H5.

Drove up to Palmy afterwards as it was a great day for a swim. water still warm at 20 degrees.

ES Marks 6 x 1k Reps

Taken a while but finally back under 3:30 for 1k. At ES Marks track again tonight.
Had a young kid being coached as a walker who was in Lane 1. Seriously that coach doesn't give a shit about the rest of us.

Reps were 3:34, 3:33, 3:35, 3:33, 3:29, 3:31. All done with a 200m walk recovery.

MLR 15ks

A bit shorter run tonight as I wanted to get home to watch the Queenslanders get pounded, which they did.

Up to Centennial Park and around the SCG and SFS and back to work. All up 15ks in 1:10:30. Average pace of 4:42 per klm.

ES Marks 6 x 1k Reps

Interesting discussion tonight between Spot Anderson and Pete Spehr over who should run in lane 1 on a crowded track during training.
Spot says piss off and Pete says get your 6 min k runners out of lane 1. Went on for about 30 mins while I was going round in lane 1 passing the 6 min k runners and being passed by other faster ones.

Pete Spehr has a point as the Can Too groups always tell their people to go wide around the track unless they are doing 4 min k laps which 95% are not.
Doesn't worry me as I'll chase anyone around the track to get faster.

Reps were 3:35, 3:37, 3:37, 3:35, 3:31, 3:32. All done with a 200m walk recovery,

Not the Striders Tourist Trot STaR 31ks

No Tourists, No Striders,
The weather report for Timmy as I know he has trouble sticking his head out the window to look.

12 degrees at midday. 31k winds with gusts in the 60's and it rained until 2PM. Two thirds done by then but at least the wind dried by clothes out except for the shoes and socks.

Ran up to Centennial Park and did the Striders STAR course minus Blues Point and Woolloomooloo,

Didn't feel good after running past the circular quay and a Turkish protest as well. Legs were hurting badly from the rain.

Total was 31ks in 2:31:23. Average pace of 4:53 per klm. A few stairs and the wind slowed me up a bit.

ES Marks 5 x 1k Reps

No timmy on the track tonight. But I somehow managed. Probably from trying to chase women around the track.

Reps were 3:36, 3:35, 3:37, 3:34, 3:35. All done with a 200m walk recovery.

2k warm up and 2k cool down.

Felt easier than Tuesday.

MLR 17ks

18 Degrees and 70% humidity and it is supposed to be winter on Saturday.
Usual run around Moore Park and Centennial Park. Not many cyclists out tonight. Mainly walkers.

Total was 17.2ks in 1:19:55. Average pace of 4:38 per klm. Getting faster.

ES Marks Track 5 x 1k Reps

Word had got around that the great Lindop was running at ES Marks tonight. A cast of thousands(actually about 50) showed up to watch the performance.
The great man was impressive doing lap after lap at 3 min k pace.
I was stunned by the show coming from a man with dodgier Achilles than John Bowe.

My reps were slower than Timmy thought they were. He kept looking at my final pace across the line thinking that was my k pace. No 3:12 ks from me Timmy. That was just the last 5m pace.

Reps were 3:36, 3:35, 3:39, 3:39, 3:39. All done with a 200m walk recovery. Did a 2k warmup and a 2k cool down.

My first two were faster as I tried to keep up with the Great Lindop to no avail.

MLR 16ks

Managed to get out tonight in between the showers around Sydney without getting wet at all. Bar the shoes on the wet roads.
Ran up and around Centennial Park, Moore Park, SFS, SCG and back to work.

Total was 16.4ks in 1:18:18. Average pace of 4:46 per klm.

ES Marks 5 x 1k Reps

Plenty of people getting in the way tonight. Mostly from BondiFit who insist on running in lane 1 doing 6 min ks. Get out in lane 2 or 3 so we don't have to overtake so much. Rant over!

Reps were 3:39, 3:38, 3:39, 3:37, 3:34. All done with a 200m walk recovery.
Did a 2k warmup and a 2k cool down.

SMH Half Marathon 1:28:42

10k Split 41:11 Position 481
20k Split 1:24:05 Position 456
Finish 1:28:42 Position 450

Managed to pass a few after the 10k. Finished in the top 5% which is always a good thing.

ES Marks Track 3 x 1k Reps, + 1 x 400m Rep

With the wind it felt a lot colder tonight. Took me a while to warmup too. All the CanToo people were doing their last run before SMH half were getting in the way as well.

Reps were 3:40, 3:37, 3:35. All done with a 200m walk recovery. Plus a 400m rep in 1:16.

Did a 2.5k warm up and cool down.

MLR 14ks

Brought back the weather report for Timmy. 16 degrees and 20k wind gusts. Not cold really at all.
Ran from work up and around Moore Park and Centennial Park.

All up 14ks in 1:06:34. Average pace of 4:45 per klm.

ES Marks Track 5 x 1k Reps

Plenty out running again. Mostly getting in the way as I had to run a fair bit in lane 2 of the track.

Reps were pretty decent this time. Still not fast but better than nothing.

3:45, 3:45, 3:44, 3:42, 3:42. All done with a 200m walk recovery.

2k warm up and cool down as well.

All good for SMH sunday.

Tourist Trot STaR 28ks

Nice fog this morning around the harbour for nearly all of the run. We could only see as Fats had some fluro green shoes on.
Started in centennial Park and basically ran down to the Rocks across the bridge, around past Luna Park and back over via the Opera House, Botanic Gardens, Woolloomooloo and the Cross to the finish.

Total was 28.7ks in 2:18:48. Average pace of 4:50 per klm. A few stairs in this run and a couple of not nice hills as well.

ES Marks Track 5 x 1k Reps

Plenty of people on the track again tonight. Heaps of running wide was needed to get round each lap.

Reps were still as unpleasant as Tuesday.

3:57, 3:54, 3:47, 3:52, 3:51. All done with a 200m walk recovery.

MLR 15ks

From work up and around Centennial Park, Moore Park, SCG and SFS and back to work. Very slow tonight, just didn't feel like I could run any quicker.

15.05ks in 1:10:39. Average pace of 4:41 per klm.

ES Marks Track 5 x 1k Reps

The track at ES Marks has finally re opened after getting re laid during the summer. It doesn't actually feel as bouncy as the one at Homebush which is weird.
Did a 2k warm up and a 2k cool down after finishing.

Reps were slow as I have not done much since Rotterdam.

4:00, 3:57, 3:51, 3:55, 3:53. All done with a 200m walk recovery.

Just finished before a shower came across the track.

North Ryde Ramble STaR 30ks

Evil star run H3 and Bush 9 with the last 4ks through the bush along a very rocky road.

The run starts at North Ryde and we run down into the Lane Cove National Park and back up out via Scribbly Gums hill, past the cemetery and through Macquarie Park and Uni. Back past the start. I don't like runs that do that as I tend it want to drop off.

The group dropped me at 10ks and I was left on my own with the hills and bush of Cheltenham, Beecroft, Thornleigh and Pennant Hills. With the rocky river bed back to walk along as there is no sand in there anymore.

Finished thank god in 2:42:12. Average pace of 5:17 per klm.

Bobbin Head STaR 28ks

Not a good run to do after a Marathon and no training for 2 weeks. H4 on the striders hill scale of 5 and 7ks of Bush.
This one starts at Wahroonga and goes through Warrawee, Turramurra and North Turramurra before heading down the bush track to Bobbin Head. The rest of the group left me here as I needed to have a rest stop in the bush.

Got down to the bottom and decided I wasn't keen on running up any stairs and bush so instead headed back up Bobbin Head Rd. Had to dodge the bikes going down at 70ks an hour. But I was keeping up with the bikes going up the hill slowly.

Finished the 28ks in a very slow 2:27:20. That really smashed the legs.

Rotterdam 5ks

Ran from my hotel near the start line up the Coolingsel and across the Erasmus Bridge and back again. Everyone was out wearing long tights, beanies and gloves like it was cold.
Was only 8 degrees and wasn't windy or raining. Bloody soft runners in Holland.

Total was 5ks in 24:10. Very easy run.

Brussels Local 19ks

Started from hotel near the Grand Place in the centre of Brussels and ran up the hill past the old palace of the King and through the EU area.
Did a lap around the Parc Leopold which is small and then a few laps around Parc du Cinquantenaire before going back.

On the way back ran around Parc de Bruxelles a few times. Pretty cold only 4 degrees so started out at 10am on the run.

Total was 19ks in 1:28:02. Average pace of 4:38 per klm. Stairs and lots of street lights.

Moore Park 3 x 2.2ks

With Iggy and the Stooges playing at the Hordern nearby there was a lot of black getting in my way along one part of the course. Anyway they worked out ok as the uphill part was aided by a Southerly and the Downhill part was back into it.

Reps 7:48, 7:43, 7:52. All done with a 4 min walk recovery back to the start again.

Actual distance was 2.17ks. Bit weird but I need to stop for the bus lane.

Thanks Ewen. Looking very cold ath the moment over there. But next week does look warmer. At least teens.

Western Wanderer STaR 26ks

New course which basically is the old course adding more waterfront and bloody stairs into the mix. But it is now shorter than the old 32.3ks it was down to 29.5ks.
Although today we ran a short cutoff at Cabarita to come back to Drummoyne.

Ran most of the run with JohnBo, Shaun A, Ray W, Tim A(map reading), and Chris Dwyer.

Total was 26.5ks in 2:07:00. Average pace of 4:47 per klm. Still apparently only H1 but the stairs do slow you down more.

Manly 14ks

Nice run along Manly beach this morning before the cloud came back in. Ran up to Queenscliff Lagoon and then around Manly Golf Club a couple of time before going back.

All up 14.05ks in 66:50. Average pace of 4:45 per klm.

Centennial Park 18ks

Ran from work up and around Centennial Park, Moore Park, SCG, SFS and back to work. Legs feeling good now. So over Six Foot tiredness.

Total was 18.1ks in 1:22:21. Average pace of 4:33 per klm.

Airport Adventure STaR 30ks

Only 5 of us this morning. Although Al and one of the Davids took off straight away and we let them go. The the other two including another David ran at a more decent pace until one went short after about 8ks and David stayed with me until we caught some 6:10 runners after 15ks. These two usually run 6:10 and were late so copped me fully recovered.

Run starts at Kogarah and we go through Brighton, Kyeemagh, Brighton, Monterey, Ramsgate beach, Dolls Point, Sandringham, Sylvania and Sylvania Waters, Penshurst, Carss Park, Beverley Park, Ramsgate before getting back to Kogarah.

Only hills really are in Sylvania plus the run up and down the bridges. H2 and no bush. Plus the air was cool which made for a good run.

Total was 30ks in 2:16:34. Average pace of 4:33 per klm. Legs felt fully recovered from Six Foot after 2 weeks which was great.

Centennial Park 12ks

Legs feeling a lot better now. Stayed on the inside of the park around the running track.

Total was 12ks in 52:00. Average pace of 4:20 per klm.

Centennial Park 20ks

Ran up to Centennial Park from work and did a few laps around the inside and outside of the park. Nothing special will legs getting better.

Total was 20ks in 1:34:20. Average pace of 4:43 per klm.

Centennial Park 12ks

Legs still felt sore from the STaR on the weekend plus Six Foot didn't help either.
Just did a few laps around the inside of Centennial Park getting passed by all and sundry.

Total was 12ks in 57:46. Average pace of 4:48 per klm.

Lap of the Lake STaR 31ks

Started at Dee Why surf club with Shaun A, John Bowe and Georgie Moore running. A great struggle to keep up from the outset.
I was effectively dropped at about 11ks and spent the rest of the time chasing 6 and 6:10 starters back to the finish.
We start at Dee Why and go through Cromer, Wheeler Heights bush, around part of Narrabeen Lake, then up through North Narrabeen, Warriewood, Warriewood Beach, North Narrabeen again.

Then back into the bush through Wheeler Heights and Cromer to the finish at Dee Why Surf Club.
Long course which I probably should have done as legs had all sorts of pains in different spots after Six Foot.

Total was 31.2ks in 2:37:00. Average pace of 5:01 per klm. H1 and Bush 5 on the Striders scale.

Six Foot Track 45ks - 5:18:55

Not enough training leading up to the race so didn't expect a lot from it. Tough up Mini Mini and Pluvio hills as per usual.
Black Range wasn't that much fun either as I didn't have the k's in the legs to go any faster.

Splits were:

1:29:50 to Cox's River. About the same as 2007. Funny. And 288th fastest.
1:34:18 for Cox's to Pluvio. 226th fastest.
3:04:09. Top of Pluvio which was faster than 2007. Weird.
2:14:46. Along Black Range was the killer. Did 1:55 in 2007.

Finish was 5:18:55. Final position was 314th.

Enjoyed the after race beers with the beer betters.

Centennial Park 11ks

Did a few laps around Centennial Park tonight. Pretty windy and lots of human traffic getting in the way as well.

Total was 11.1ks in 52:49. Average pace of 4:45 per klm.

Downhill Reps 4 x 420m

Down the grass hill in Centennial Park from the Paddington gates.

Reps were 1:20, 1:15, 1:16, 1:15.

All done with about double the recovery back up the grass hill. Did a 1k warmup and a 1k cool down.

Balmain Bungle STaR 20ks

Started in the rain this morning with John Bowe, Cam, Shaun and EJ at Drummoyne.
Then we cross the iron cove bridge and run around all of Balmain, Birchgrove and Rozelle, and then through Lilyfield and Leichhardt before with John, Shaun and I left we went short back to the Bay Run.

Around the Bay Run and back over Iron Cove bridge to the finish in Drummoyne.

All up 20ks in 1:44:30. Average pace of 5:13 per klm. Too many stairs and chatting going on. Plus it is taper for Six Foot anyway so no harm done.

Downhill Reps 6 x 420m

Down the grass hill in Centennial Park from the Paddington gates.

Reps were 1:19, 1:19, 1:18. 1:20, 1:15, 1:15.

All done with about double the recovery back up the grass hill. Did a 1k warmup and a 1k cool down.

Striders Equaliser 14k

Due to plenty of rain over the last few weeks the course was very wet from one end to the other.
The usual shin deep creek crossing was mid thigh deep and flowing hard on the way to Lindfield.
On the way back it was still just as deep and slippery as you come down a steep hill to it.

Apparently Tom took a swan dive in the 1st crossing chasing Fats. But managed to recover and finish 2nd to the Mountain goat.

Slow down to the creek as usual for me as it is pretty rocky downhill but I caught a few places back on the up hill and along the road which I managed to keep almost until the last hill before the power station when 2 went past me.

Finished in 26th spot in 1:11:20. But 1st in the 45-49 males. Woohoo!

Long Hill Reps 4 x 1.3k

Up and down Parriwi Rd in Mosman. 24 degrees and 65% humdity with 30k wind gusts. Had a few others going up and down the hill as well but didn't recognise them.

Reps were 6:47, 6:41, 6:45, 6:44. All done with about the same recovery back down the hill.

15k @ MP

25 Degrees. 65% humidity and up to 30k wind gusts. Felt more humid to me.

Ran around the tar track in Centennial Park having to dodge plenty of human traffic along the way.

Total was 15ks in 60:00. Average pace of 4 mins per klm. Still feels damn hard trying to hold it. God only knows what the other 27ks will be like?

Downhill Reps 8 x 420m

Down the grass hill in Centennial Park from the Paddington gates.

Reps were 1:18, 1:16, 1:16. 1:15, 1:16, 1:17, 1:18, 1:15.

All done with about double the recovery back up the grass hill. Did a 1k warmup and a 1k cool down.

Centennial Park 22ks

23 degrees and 70% humidity and 20k winds were not the best help today. Missed a long run yesterday due to a race I had to do at my surf club so it was out after work to do something. Ran a few different loops around Centennial Park, Moore Park, SFS and SCG.

Total was 22.5ks in 1:41:45. Average pace of 4:31 per klm. Must have been moving ok.

Jack Carter Cup - 8th win

My surf clubs marathon and solo team event was on this morning. You can do the swim, ski paddle, run and board paddle solo as most do.
They do have teams as well which I have done since 2006.

Team was Stu(swimmer), Gordon(ski paddler), me(run), Coz(board paddler).
Suffice to say I have the easiest leg. Very weak competition this year with only the swimmer having anyone close and that was about 5 mins behind. The swim, ski, run and board were all made longer this year. Especially the board which was about double.

I had a hard run due to no training and the very soft sand with a steep bank on the beach. Course was longer as we had to go up the big sand dune at the end of the beach to the rocks in the corner and then run back to the club. I did the 2.95ks in 13:38. Passed to the board paddler. I had at least a 15 min lead when I passed to him.who ripped around the course and we won by about 20 mins, for the board paddler and my 8th win in a row. Another pair of dodgey sunglasses was the prize. Seven wins each for the swimmer and the ski paddler.

Long Hill Reps 5 x 1.3k

23 degrees and 70% humdity. A bit better than usual.
Ran up Parriwi Rd in Mosman again for these. Doesn't seem to get any easier.

Reps were 6:36, 6:27, 6:39, 6:33, 6:47. All done with about the same recovery back down the hill.

MLR 20ks

22 degrees. 65% humidity. Felt more humid than that at times. Ran from work up through Kensington shops being passed by a guy wearing boxing gloves. Thought I was running faster than that.
Then ran around Moore Park, SCG, SFS, Fox Studios and a couple of laps inside Centannial Park and back to work.

Total was 20ks in 1:31:49. Average pace of 4:35 per klm.

Downhill Reps 10 x 420m

Down the grass hill in Centennial Park from the Paddington gates.

Reps were 1:22, 1:19, 1:18. 1:18, 1:16, 1:19, 1:15, 1:18, 1:20, 1:18.

All done with about double the recovery back up the grass hill. Did a 1k warmup and a 1k cool down.

Grass was pretty wet from the rain overnight so made it a bit slippery.

Mosman Reversed STaR 31ks

We had Guz, PT, Shaun and Mark F for awhile before they all went short. It was left to John Bowe, Paul Sholl and I to hold up the 6:20 name.
Conditions were hell this morning. 22 degrees was ok but 85% humidity which only decreased to 75% by the end of the run. Felt really drained of energy from the start. Almost weakened and use a Gel on a training run.

Starts at Balmoral Beach and we go through Chinamans Beach, across to Clontarf for a 2k loop and back across the Spit Bridge. Through the bush around Beauty Point, and then back on the road through Mosman and on to Primrose Park, Cremorne and Cammeray before we turn at North Sydney oval to head back.

Then it was through Neutral Bay, Cremorne Point, Mosman Bay, Sirius Cove, Taronga Zoo, Bradleys Head, Clifton Gardens, Georges Heights and back down to Balmoral for the finish. John and Paul dropped me in the bush along Bradleys Head but there were plenty out running today.

The 6:30 boys of CT, Fats, Andy and Barts tore past us near Mosman Wharf. They had all gone except CT when I got back.

Total was 31ks in 2:41:18. Average pace of 5:12 per klm. Striders H5 with 10ks of bush and plenty of stairs,and humidity didn't help the speed today.

MLR 20ks

24 degrees. 45k wind gusts, 60% humidity.
Ran from work up through Kensington meeting Kanser along Anzac Pde as I went. Then past the SCG, SFS, Fox Studios, Moore Park and Centennial Park and back to work.

Total was 20.1ks in 1:33:22. Average pace of 4:38 per klm.

Downhill Reps 10 x 420m

Down the grass hill in Centennial Park from the Paddington gates.

Reps were 1:18, 1:19, 1:16. 1:15, 1:19, 1:18, 1:17, 1:20, 1:18, 1:17.

All done with about double the recovery back up the grass hill. Did a 1k warmup and a 1k cool down.

Getting easier to do as the quads don't feel so smashed afterwards.

Manly to Warriewood 35ks

The race I was supposed to do at my Surf Club this morning was cancelled after all the competitors arrived. Bunch of idiots running that place. The surf was monstrous at sun down yesterday so how could it be flat today?

Due to that I drove back home and had to run on my own even though the Striders were at DY earlier. Frustrating.
Basically it was run up along Pittwater Rd to Warriewood and back. Hard work on the way back into a stiff southerly. 20 degrees and up to 40k wind gusts on the way back. A few hills but nothing like last week.

Total was 35ks in 2:48:17. Average pace of 4:48 per klm. Wasn't fun on the way back. Had trouble cracking 5 min ks.

Downhill Reps 10 x 420m

Very humid after all the rain over the weekend. Ground was a bit slippery in Centennial Park too. Plenty of people out running though.

Reps were 1:20, 1:18, 1:17. 1:17, 1:18, 1:17, 1:18, 1:19, 1:20, 1:17.

All done with about double the recovery back up the grass hill.

Manly, Curl Curl, Belrose hills 35ks

Slept through the alarm this morning as I intended to run the Striders Pymble STaR which is a hard hilly run with 8ks of bush. Lucky I did as I heard the front come through with 50k winds and heavy rain. Start was 21 degrees, 89% humidity and raining slightly.

Procrastinated about running in the rain and finally got out at 2PM for a run in the rain. Plan was to run from Fairy Bower up to Curl Curl along the coast. Few hills in there and a bit windy as well.
Then I saw the hill going into Dee Why and decided to run over to Warringah Rd and go up that to Beacon Hill instead. 2ks up the hill wasn't fun.

From there it was over to Oxford Falls and linking on to the Striders DY star run. Crossed Oxford Falls and had the 4 rolling hills up to Belrose to contend with. Plus the rain became heavier after Belrose. Not fun. Then down to Frenchs Forest and across Warringah Rd to the usual servo drink stop.

Then across Wakehurst Parkway to Warringah Aquatic Centre and the rolling hills up and down through Allambie heights before meeting Warringah Golf Club and some flat roads. Crossed Queenscliff Lagoon which due to the rain was only about 2ft from going over the road.
Then just ran back along Manly ocean front to home. Athe finish it was still 21 degrees, 90% humidity and raining heavier. Surf was massive on all beaches today. I give the course an H5 B0 rating.

All up 35.1ks in 2:51:25. Average pace of 4:53 per klm.

Long Hill Reps 5 x 1.3k

25 degrees and 75% humidity didn't make for a good session tonight. Legs felt smashed from last night.
Up and down Parriwi Rd in Mosman again. Lots of cars and bikes around.

Reps were 6:39, 6:46, 6:47, 6:49, 6:41. All done with about the same recovery back down the hill.

MLR 20ks

22 degrees. 74% humidity and up to 40k wind gusts. No wonder I felt like crap on the run today. Or maybe it was the downhills from yesterday?

Did a couple of laps inside and outside of Centenial Park. All up 20.25ks in 1:34:07. Average pace of 4:38 per klm.

Just for Six Foot Ewen. Six weeks of them anyway.

Downhill Reps 10 x 420m

25 degrees and 75% humidity and a storm trying to drop a few spots of rain as well.
Used the grass hill in Centennial Park from the Paddington gates down towards the cafe. Lots of people in the way tonight as there was a band playing.

Reps were 1:16, 1:12, 1:14, 1:14, 1:14, 1:15, 1:14, 1:14, 1:15, 1:16.

All done with about double the recovery back up the hill. Did a 2k warmup and a 2k cool down.

Manly 21ks

A late afternoon flight meant not much time for a run today at all. Ran along Manly beach up to Freshwater and back through Balgowlah and North Head to home.
Lots of people along the beach wandering like sheep.

Total was 21.3ks in 1:38:25. Average pace of 4:37 per klm.

Melbourne 12ks

Down in Melbourne for work on the weekend. Ran from the CBD where I was staying and did a couple of laps of the Tan in the afternoon.

Quite hard with lots of people around the city getting in the way.

Total was 12ks in 55:05. Average pace of 4:35 per klm.

Long Hill Reps 5 x 1.3k

25 degrees. 75% humidity and 30k wind gusts.
Ran up Parriwi Rd in Mosman for these. Ran out of time so didn't manage 6 like last week.

Reps were 6:41, 6:35, 6:40, 6:36, 6:38. All done with about equal recovery back down the hill.

MLR 22ks

24 degrees and 70% humidity was not nice to run in tonight.
Ran from work via Kensington and up Anzac Pde around the SFS, SCG, Fox Studios, Moore Park and a couple of laps inside Centennial Park as well.
Absolutely buggered, and one achilles is really hurting.

Total was 22ks in 1:41:44. Average pace of 4:37 per klm.

One minute on, One minute off

23 degrees and 30k wind gusts tonight in Centennial Park. Basically a couple of laps of the park.

30 mins for 7.35ks. Ok in the wind. Average pace of 4:04 per klm.

15k @ MP

20 degrees, 35k wind gusts, and at least better humidity of only 60%.
Ran laps around Centennial Park. Hard work in the wind with lots of people getting in the way as well.

Total was 15ks in 59:59. Not sure I can keep that up for another 27ks.

Yarra River 10k

Had to go down to Melbourne for work on Friday night so had a run along the Yarra late Saturday.

Total was 10.2ks in 43:32. Average pace of 4:16 per klm.

Legs didn't feel much like it after the hills on Thursday and the packing up of equipment on Saturday morning.

Only 20 degrees at 5 in the afternoon Timmy which was great.

Long Hill Reps 6 x 1.3k

Parriwi Rd in Mosman. From the Spit up to Spit Rd. 23 degrees. 61% humidity and 30k wind gusts. Lot of vehicle traffic today too.

Reps were 6:38. 6:38, 6:51, 6:41, 6:48, 6:45. All done with equal recovery back down the hill.

Achilles was real sore tonight.

MLR 20ks

From work up to Kensington and on to Moore Park. Had to battle the crowds around the SCG and Anzac Pde. So consequently stayed in Centennial Park for a couple of laps before heading back.

All up 20.51ks in 1:33:29. Average pace of 4:33 per klm.

Felt easy even with the 30k wind gusts tonight.

Homebush Hustle STaR 30ks

19 degree start and 93% humidity, finishing in 25 degrees. Just myself and Chris Dwyer to start with then we picked up Cam Arnold just up the road plus another runner Brendan who was late at about the 8k mark. Also had Ray Wareham join us at one stage as he had started early thinking no-one would do 6:20 start.
Start was Concord West, through Olympic Park, Newington, and down to the river. Up and over Silerwater Rd bridge and then along through Meadow Bank and back across to Rhodes, Mortlake, Breakfast Point, Cabarita and back to Concord.

Finished on my own as Chris ran some ks earlier and stopped at Cabarita to get his car. All up 30.1ks in 2:21:30. Average pace of 4:42 per klm.

Centennial Park 12ks

24 degrees. 66% humidity and 50k wind gusts tonight. Did a few laps around Centennial Park on the running track. Not many people out which was good.

Total was 12ks in 50:57. Average pace of 4:14 per klm. Not too bad in the wind.

Surf Club- Swim, Board and Run

After Black Stump I went up to my surf club for their events. Since I have not been in the water since March the swim and board paddle were pretty painful. And the run was a real short 400m with sore legs it didn't help.

BBQ and a keg of beer helped soothe the body later.

Beyond the Black Stump Fatass 24k

Humid start at 6am with about 20 others. 93% and 19 degrees. But no fog in the valley like normal.
Ran hard to the ferry but still wasn't beaten by one other by about 6 mins. We waited for another 2 mins for the ferry to leave but to no avail as 5 others caught up with us. All good fun.

Ran hard up the hill to Berrilee and was 2nd up behind the same guy that beat me to the ferry. Only ran out to the gate before the Castle and turned there to go back.
Ran down the hill hard doing 4 min ks at one stage. But the ferry was sitting on the opposite side waiting as there were no cars. Meant a 5 min wait before I got on.

Ran back up the road as I hate the bush track back, to the finish. Total was 24.5ks in 2:29:23. Faster than last year by 10 mins. But I was a bit unfit at the start of last year.
Couple of good hills on the course which whould help.

Mosman Reversed STaR 30ks

18 degrees and 80% humidity for most of the run wasn't fun. Plenty of water stops luckily today. Actually without the Striders as it was self supported this morning. And when I arrived there was only one other guy there so off we went.

Starts at Balmoral Beach and we go through Chinamans Beach, across to Clontarf for a 2k loop and back across the Spit Bridge. Through the bush around Beauty Point, and then back on the road through Mosman and on to Primrose Park, Cremorne and Cammeray before we turn at North Sydney oval to head back.

Then it was through Neutral Bay, Cremorne Point, Mosman Bay, Sirius Cove, Taronga Zoo, Bradleys Head, Clifton Gardens, Georges Heights and back down to Balmoral for the finish.

A few Striders were found who started earlier than us. Plenty of stairs in the run. Plus the hills make it an H4 run and 10ks of bush.
Total was 30.15ks in 2:45:59. Average pace of 5:30 per klm. Hard run.

Manly 10ks

Legs felt really dead after doing Quarry Rd yesterday morning so I decided to take it easy instead.
Ran along Manly ocean front up to Manly Golf Club and back.

Total was 10.2ks in 48:00. Average pace of 4:42 per klm.

Don't think I'll be going that hard at Six Foot Ewen. Maybe 4 hrs 30.

Quarry Rd 25ks

17 degrees and 82% humidity at the start with a good 20k southerly blowing as well.

Up to Hornsby this morning to do Horrie's Quarry Rd Christmas Bash.  About 30 of us out from both ends of the track. The trail was nice and soft with the almost 2 inches of rain we had in the last 2 days.

Don't do much trail running other than any Striders STaR that has bush in it. It is only a road after all and not a rocky trail.

Laps were 69:36, which is a PB for a lap for me. But 72:21 for the 2nd as the legs were shot on the uphill from the bridge which is 1.8ks. Ran with Tucks for about 1k on the 2nd lap before he was gone off in the distance.

Total was 25.42ks in 2:21:57. Average pace of 5:35 per klm. PB for the 2 laps was 2:20 in 2006, so just missed it.

Christmas Day around the Bay Run 7ks

Small crowd this morning at 5:30AM in our Santa hats of only, Bernie G, Mick, Action, Lorna, Linda and Rach. Plus super dog Zimmy the border collie running with Bernie.
Lap of the bay at the usual pace to prepare for the christmas lunch later on.

6.85ks in 39:14.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Rocks Push STaR 30ks

Start was 21 degrees and 91% humidity. Finish was 27 degrees and 65% humidity. So a pretty tough run.
Only 3 of us this morning including Tim A and Jo Cowan. We started under the south pylon of the bridge and ran along Hickson Rd pretending we were the HURT squad for awhile. Then through Darling Harbour, Pyrmont, Ultimo, Central Station, Hyde Park, Woolloomooloo, Kings Cross and down to Rushcutters Bay.

Then up through Elizabeth Bay, Potts Point, Mrs Macqauries Chair where Jo dropped off leaving Tim and I to go on. Then it was around Farm Cove, the Opera House, Circular Quay(with a big cruise ship in), passed the Passenger terminal and up across the bridge.

Then it was out to Kurraba Point and back through Kirribilli and across the bridge to the finish under the bridge.
Total was 29.7ks in 2:36:05. Average pace 5:15 per klm. Bit slow for the 1st 15ks running with Jo and the stairs and hills.

Long Hill Reps 5 x 1.3k

21 degrees, 65% humidity, 50k wind gusts. And I choose to run into the wind up a hill. Hmmmm.

Reps were 6:33, 6:40, 6:41, 6:40, 6:45. All done with about the same time recovery back down the hill.
Used Parriwi Rd in Mosman for these. Running from the Spit up to Spit Rd via Parriwi Rd. At least one side has a full footpath.

MLR 20ks

24 degrees. 76% humidity. 35k wind gusts.
Wasn't fun tonight. Just felt absolutely buggered in the legs from the start. Ran from work up to Kensington where I ran past Kanser the other way on Anzac Pde.
From there I ran around Centennial Park, Moore Park, Fox Studios, SCG and SFS and back to work.

All up 20 ks in 1:33:00. Average pace of 4:39 per klm.

Looking like 35 degrees tomorrow before a late Southerly comes through.

Centennial Park 7x1k Reps

23 degrees and 73% humidity. Couldn't manage 8. Just not as tough as young Timmy at present.

Did a 2k warmup and a 2k cool down afterwards.

Reps were 3:42, 3:34, 3:32, 3:41, 3:37, 3:33, 3:34. All done with a 90 sec walk recovery.

Think Christmas day around the bay run is on at 5:30AM again. Nice leisurely run before the arguments start at Christmas lunch.

Christmas STaR and Brunch 20ks

21 degrees and 63% humidity this morning and up to 25 degrees by the finish. Felt hotter at the finish as the sun was out.
Started at Lilyfield this year and ran along the bay run and over the new Iron Cove Bridge to Drummoyne, then through to Russell Lea, Chiswick, Abbotsford and out to Canada Bay before going back through Five Dock and Rodd Point to the finish.
Small group. Only Fats, Action, Shaun, Frank Z, EJ and one other.

Fats and Action dropped us at Abbotsford as they took off doing 4 min ks to the finish.

Total was 20.1ks in 1:33:43. Average pace of 4:39 per klm.

Manly 8ks

24 Degrees. 68% humidity and a few spots of rain which didn't seem to wet the ground.
Ran along Manly ocean front up past Queenscliff Lagoon and back.

Total was 8ks in 34:30. Average pace of 4:18 per klm.

Centennial Park 7x1k Reps

23 Degrees. 60% Humidity and 35k wind gusts. Felt hotter than that.
Legs didn't feel too good from the start. Think I smashed them too hard last night.

Reps were 3:45, 3:35, 3:37, 3:42, 3:39, 3:32, 3:35. All done with a 90 sec walk recovery.

Did a 2k warmup and a 2k cool down.

MLR 20ks

23 degrees. 60% humidity and 25k wind gusts. Felt hotter than 23 tonight as the sun was still up when I started.

Ran from work through Kensington shops and around the SFS, SCG, Fox Studios, Moore Park and Centennial Park and back to work.
Legs didn't feel so good but they went ok.

Total was 20.1ks in 1:30:49. Average pace of 4:31 per klm.

11ks @ MP

19 Degrees. 80% humidity and 35k wind gusts wasn't fun.
Tried to get the trees in Centennial Park to give me some protection but they wer not budging.

Did 3 laps of the running circuit. So 11ks in 43:50. Marathon Pace for Rotterdam. I'm hoping to get that up to 25ks but will have to see how I go. It is a start with not much endurance behind me yet.

Probably looking at the Half Marathon in Orange in mid February to see how my form is.

Clovelly Canter STaR 26ks

Not a nice start to the run this morning 21 degrees and 86% humidity made all the hills in the first 15k feel worse.
Small group including Shaun A, Tim A, Alan and the other 3 I don't know.

Started at Queens Park and we did half a lap of Centennial Park including the only hill of course. Then out and past the start at Queens Park to go up a nice hill to Bronte, then it was a tour of the glamour beaches. Including Tamarama, Clovelly, Gordons Bay, Coogee and Maroubra before Shaun and I decided we had enough of the rotten stairs. Must be about 400 up and down in this run.

From there we ran across to east gardens, and back through Pagewood, Daceyville and Kensington to the finish at Queens Park. Shaun was moving a bit slow after doing two laps of Quarry Rd yesterday. But I was just slow.

After we finished with the temp by now 27 degrees the southerly comes through about 9:15. Bloody typical. Total was 25.9ks in 2:12:00. Average pace of 5:05 per klm. Should be faster next week with the pretty short and flat Christmas STaR at Lilyfield.

MLR 19ks

19 degrees and only 50% humidity tonight. A bit windy though but at least no humidity.
Ran from work up to Anzac Pde and around Moore Park, Centennial Park, SCG, SFS and Fox Studios and back to work again.

Total was 18.8ks in 1:25:07. Average pace of 4:31 per klm.

Centennial Park 6x1k Reps

A bit windy in Centennial Park tonight. With one of the reps on each lap straight into the wind.

Reps were 3:46, 3:29, 3:28, 3:40, 3:32, 3:32. All done with a 90 sec walk recovery.

Did a 2k warmup and 2k cool down.

Willoughby Winder STaR 22ks

20 degrees start and 80% humidity with a few drops of rain as well. Only a small group including Shaun, Tom, Mark F, EJ, John Bo and apparently Bartles who is a local?

We started in North Willoughby and ran through Castle Cove, Middle Cove, Sugarloaf Point and Northbridge before Mark and I decided our legs had done too many hills and headed for home.

I did the first 10k in 57 mins which shows how slow I was. The group waited a couple of times for me.The run had 5ks of bush and plenty of hills in the first 10. H4 on the Striders scale.

Total was 22.2k in 2:00:00. Ran around the oval at the end to make up the time. Average pace of 5:24 per klm. I guess it does help some how.

Centennial Park 6x1k Reps

23 degrees. 77% humidity. 30k wind gusts.
Tried to hide from the wind with the trees in Centennial Park. Worked in some parts but in others I was running straight into the wind.

Reps were 3:31, 3:29, 3:36, 3:37, 3:30, 3:38. All done with a 90 sec walk recovery.

Did a 2k warmup and 2k cool down.

MLR 19ks

21 Degrees and 80% humidity. Definitely late Spring in Sydney. Wasn't nice to run in and felt very tired.
Ran from work up to and around Anzac Pde, SFS, SCG, Fox Studios and Centennial Park and then back to work.
Not a lot of bikes out tonight which is unusual.

Total was 19.5ks in 1:30:32. Average pace of 4:38 per klm.

Maybe only track races until March Ewen. Good luck to everyone trying to get there guaranteed spot for Six Foot tomorrow.

Central Coast Half Marathon

Since Action had certified the course a few years ago I had been wanting to run this one again as it is flat along concrete bike paths.
Thought it would be a good idea this year but then the hot weather decided to come over the weekend along with the humidity which didn't help.
Plus the 4am wakeup left me pretty tired at the start line. Are you getting the picture?

Marty Dent won in 65:50. We all thought he had retired for the year after winning the Fernleigh 15 a couple of weeks ago.

I was out ok going through 3k in 11:30 but after that I was just fading along and hoping the turnaround(out and back course) would hurry up.
Got to the 10.5k in 43:40 and to the finish in 1:31:22. Not good. With over 700 people in the half and 700 also in the 10k that started later the run back for passing wasn't too flash with only a single lane bike path.

Had to drink bucket loads of water at the finish just to get my body temp back down to a normal level so I would pass out in the car on the freeway.

It wasn't hot but 20 degrees at the start with 90% humidity during the race didn't help. Maybe I just suck this year at racing.

8x400m Reps

Ran along Manly beach front tonight. Very windy with the southerly blowing so times were all over the place.

84, 79, 82, 81, 83, 78, 80, 81. All done with a 200m walk recovery.

Did a 2k warmup and 2k cool down.

MLR 13ks

Shorter on tonight due to the race on Sunday. Did a few laps around the running track in Centennial Park. Was pretty windy with the 30k Northerly sea breeze blowing. Even with all the trees it didn't help much.

Total was 13ks in 56:48. Average pace of 4:22 per klm.

Martin Rd 5x1k Reps

Did a 2k warmup and a 2k cool down after finishing. Ran into Con in Centennial Park who suggested Blue Dog's Mum was a bit pyscho. I agreed.

Did the reps around Martin Rd and Robertson Rd outside Centennial Park. Having to dodge the cars leaving from netball and softball was not fun.

Reps were 3:29, 3:38, 3:29, 3:34, 3:33. All done with a 400m walk recovery.

Centennial Park 25ks

Couldn't get to the Striders STaR this morning due to work commitments so ran instead just after midday. Picked up a nice singlet tan with the lunchtime sun. Was only 23 degrees. Must have been the pasty white winter tan couldn't handle it.

Ran from work up and around SFS, SCG, Moore Park, Fox Studios and Centennial Park. It was very windy, upwards of 40k Northerly blowing made it hard to run.

Total was 25.3ks in 1:58:29. Average pace of 4:41 per klm.

Centennial Park 8k

A great run in the rain tonight with no-one around. The light was fading due to the cloud getting heavier and the sun going down as I did a couple of laps.
The rain did back off to drizzle by the end but was pretty heavy for most of the run.

Total was 8ks in 34:46. Average pace of 4:20 per k.

MLR 21ks

With JP Morgan race on in Centennial Park tonight I headed off from work early hoping to see a few runners that I know doing the lap.
Just missed the start up the hill at Oxford St so ran down in the reverse direction to the race to catch them coming past at Lang Rd horse entrance.
Saw plenty of Striders and other club runners, but mostly only stayed until the first few females had gone through and then took off.

Tucks was in 4th at about the 4.8k mark leaning on the shoulder of 3rd, with Tom coming about 10m behind in a pack of 4 chasing hard. Who won that battle? Could be Tucks by 8 secs as per Timmys blog?

Saw Moh and we did a couple of ks around Robertson Rd and the Oval before we went our seperate ways. Total was 21ks in 1:34:59. Average pace of 4:31 per klm.

City 2 Sea 14k - 56:30

I had to be in Melbourne for work on Monday and Tuesday so decided to forgo the State 3000m on Saturday night and run a fun run in Melbourne on sunday morning.
Did a late entry and was still able to get a preferred start. They only had about 50 with preferred and seeded starts. 11,000 entries but as per usual 9000 finishers which was probably starters as well as you don't usually have that many DNF's in a 14k run.

Lined up almost behind Olympian Michael Shelley. God he is skinny. Race didn't go according to what I wanted but that is probably because I want to run faster than my fitness allows. Pretty dumb really.

The course is basically flat so if I was fit my time would have been a lot faster. Splits off the mats were: 4.20k in 16:24, 10k in 40:11, finish in 56:30. Better speed than last weeks Run4fun over a longer distance.

I was faster after the 10k mark than I ran from the 4.2k to the 10k mark. Must have been a faster finish with the line in sight. Course was good and wide enough to get more numbers if Fairfax keep organising it.

Michael Shelley won in 41:02. With Tarli Bird 1st female in 50:51. I was ahead of the 1st two females for about 1k.

10x400m Reps

20 degrees and 80% humidity.
Ran along Federation Way outside Centennial Park for these. Only draw back was a few walkers, cyclists and bats coming in to feed. Plus a pending thunderstorm.

Reps were 81, 84, 84, 87, 79, 83, 82, 80, 81, 83. All done with a 60 second walk recovery.

Heavy rain caught me on the last rep as I was making a run for the car. Not doing Fishers Ghost Ewen. Have a different race on the agenda.

MLR 16ks

21 degrees. 80% humidty and wind gust up to 30ks. Not as windy as last night but the humidity was much worse. Thought I was in Brisbane.

Ran from work up to Anzac Pde via Kensington and then around the SFS, SCG and Fox Studios and then back to work.
Total was 16.1ks in 1:16:01. Average pace of 4:43 per klm.

One minute on, One minute off

21 degrees, 75% humidity and wind gusts up to 50ks an hour. Not fun to run in when I had a head wind.

Managed a couple of laps around Centennial Park doing one minute on, one minute off.

Basically the faster ones were about 3:45/k pace and the slow ones 4:15/k pace.

Total was 30 mins for 7.45ks. Average pace of 4:01 per klm. Happy with that.

Manly 11ks

21 degrees. 76% humidity and wind gusts up to 40ks an hour.
Ran along Manly Ocean front up to Manly golf club and back. Plenty of people still out with daylight saving.

Total was 11.5ks in 50:38. Average pace of 4:24 per klm.

Run 4 Fun 10k

Instead of last years heat it was a much cooler 17 degree start albeit with 84% humidity at Homebush. Wondered why I was sweating so much.
Race went ok until about the 4k mark when my left calf decided to cramp up again. Must be still a problem from the Melbourne Marathon.

Finished in 41:02 after having a preferred start. Just realised as well that this crap time is a race PB for me. Shows how bad I do the race each year.

MLR 12ks

I know Timmy loves a weather report. 29 degrees and 30k winds with gusts up to 50ks as the Southerly started to blow tonight.

Ran from work up to Centennial Park and did a lap of the running track and came back. One calf is still playing up and gets tight after about 5ks. Very annoying.

Total was 12ks in 56:16. Average pace of 4:41 per klm. Not sure it is long enough for an MLR?