MLR and movie talk...

Ran home from work on Tuesday evening and ran couple of extra loops of the park and finished off with 6 strides (150m). All up 8k.
Struggled to get up this morning as I didn't get back from the flicks until close to 11pm. Stayed up close to 1am watching crap on the TV. I was expecting more from the new Brad Pitt movie - Benjamin Button. Suffice to say it's a little long and some of the key messages in the movie seemed out of place. I will be very surprised if it picks up any Oscars, possibly best adapted screenplay but I can't see Pitt win the best actor gong. I've heard Sean Penn is super in political drama Milk and the lead actors in Frost/Nixon are pretty good. Mickey Rourke is also getting rave reviews for the Wrestler. My favourite movie of the year is the Cohen Brothers 'Burn after reading'. Pure comic genius. The cameo role by J.K. Simmons, best known these days as Juno's dad, is hilarious as the CIA head. Near the film's end, "What did we learn?" The answer, gloriously, is absolutely nothing.
Really should of went to Woody Allen's new movie. He's had lots of hits and misses recently but I've heard 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' is on par with Match Point which is good enough for me.
Back to running, ran in again today and left work pretty early. I ran home and left the bag in the house and ran to centennial where I bumped into Killer and ran around the park with him. He mentioned he raced down in Adelaide over the Christmas and ran 4.23 for 1600m which is pretty impressive. All up 90 mins. Summer has definitely hit the city, it was a scorcher again today.....

800 by 10 (90 sec recovery)

Mon:
am:Easy run into work (20 mins)
pm: 50 mins easy on my own down to Hickson rd and cutting the run short just before the Opera house

Tues:
am:Easy run into work (20 mins)
pm: 800s session down in Rushcutters. Another hot day (30c) but I reckon I run interval sessions better in the heat. Rushcutters was in perfect condition for an interval session with the grass nice and soft.
Reps went as follows:

2.35, 2.33, 2.34, 2.34, 2.34, 2.31, 2.33, 2.32, 2.33, 2.21.

The garmin was measuring the 835m avg for the reps which is probably right as I was going through the 400 mark in 75 secs and I ran pretty consistent for the 2nd 400. So really I was probably avg'ing 2.28 for the first 9 reps. It's a few years now but I alway remember running from the gate to the first post with Rich Palmer and thinking that was 800. How accurate is the garmin...don't really know. Anyhow this session felt far too easy today which makes me think Yasso is a fool OR my running economy is shocking! If I was a betting man i would go for the latter option! I'm looking forward to the medium long run in the morning...

Running through Christmas...

Christmas Day 25th Dec Thurs
2 hrs and 15 mins easy down in Jervis Bay. Spent the first hour running through the national park on nice soft trials and then ran back via Jervis Bay road.

St Stephen's Day 26th Dec Fri
Really should of got out a little earlier as the temps were 31c leaving the house. Ran an nice easy 4k with Big Bear to the start of Boorderee National Park. Ran 8k at marathon pace (3.50) on the road out passed Scottish Rocks to Murrays beach. Took it realatively easy on the way back. All up 1 hr 40 mins
In the evening got out for a nice easy 35 mins over soft trails


Sat 27th Dec
1 hr 45 mins easy, dropped into the Highnam party on the way back from Jervis. There were kids everywhere, great to catch-up with Richard Palmer again. Good to see a good turnout from the HuRT squad.

Sun 28th Dec
It was obviously the Gin Fizz that Tom gave me as I struggled to get on the road until after 10am. Hit centennial park and it was a very hot 29c. The legs were a little tired and I settled into 4.30 pace and stuck to it. I opted for the 4 8k loops and with the 2k run to the park it was 34k all up.

MLR 22-23K

Ran into the city and met up with Tom and then looped back in centennial and hooked up with Durante, Steve, Gary Howard, Nick Cope, Liam and Kaitlyn. Ran for 1hr 45 mins all up in and around centennial. The pace was nice and easy and the legs felt better as the run progressed.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas!
Keep up the running!

Mona Fartlek

Out for a 30 min easy run in the morning and the legs were very heavy. At lunch got out a little earlier than usual, so got in a 25 min run before meeting up with a small HuRTs crew. With the legs feeling sore and heavy i opted to take the session relatively easy. Ran to the Art gallery and felt a little better on the way back. Nice cool down with Tom and Andy.

Bon Hiver

Fri: 4k run the morning, 8k at lunch
Sat: 12k
Sun: 10k race in Smithfield (35.19), I could not get out of 1st gear. Started out at 3.32 pace which felt comfortable and for the life of me could not go any quicker.
Read the papers and had a coffee and croissant and then headed out for a 30k run on my own. Ran to centennial and ran 4 by 6k loops and tagged a little bit on at the end until I hit 30k. Kept the pace pretty consistent for each loop. (4.25 - 4.30 average).
Mon:Caught up with Mike, Tom, Andy and Ben for a recovery run around the domain. Missed the guys at the start and ran into them at the Opera house. Ran an extra loop of the Opera hse. Not sure what pace but probably around 4.20 avg. All up around 19k in 80 mins.

400 by 12 off 2 mins

Met up with the HuRT squad and headed over to rushcutters for a 400 session. It was pretty hot out there today. Timmy Lindop was back after a spell on the sidelines. Killer went straight to the front and stayed ahead of myself and Durante for 10 reps but he did slow up for the 9th & 10 rep. Still and on Killer was averaging 67/68. I was pretty consistent, running 71 in the first rep and then 69/70 for the remaining. Durante was in better form today and with his speed is definitely suited to this session. English Andy is going pretty well as is Conway. Based on Timmy's form in the last rep, he will be back to his best by Feb '09.

MLR 18K

Ran home on very tired legs on Tuesday evening. Steve sent a text this morning saying that he would not make the MLR as he was suffering from gastro. I was half hoping Durante would also pull the plug. No such luck. Met up with Durante at 6am and both of us were knackered. Avoided the Wollarha hill and just ran the flat sections in centennial. All up 18k at 4.35 pace. Shattered….

14 by 3 mins (off 1 min)

It was pretty hot out there today, we started a little early as Tom was keen to get away early for a xmas lunch. Legs felt a little tired at the start of the session but as the session progressed they felt better.
Started out at 3.20 pace and averaged 3.18 approx for the first 9 reps. Tom, Clarky and Richard High and Muz were running slightly quicker on some reps. Richard is definitely getting stronger. With the boys keen to get water during the recovery, it was difficult to maintain the group.
I increased the pace sightly for the last 5 reps, 3.15, 3.15, 3.12, 3.08, 3.09. I struggled on the last rep. In saying that, this session is similar to an 800s session. I kept a close eye on my watch and I was comfortably running through 800s metres in around 2.36.
It's funny sometimes I think I take it too easy, I really should of latched onto Tom for the final two reps. Clarky murdered the last rep running a sub 3 min km.

Dropped on a recovery run

Out to Hickson road with Tom, Clarky, Serg, Steve, Richard High & Durante. We seemed to be cruising nicely along at around 4.20 pace and then we decided to catch Clarky. We caught Clarky just before the swimming pool (after a couple of 3.40m/k). Tom is likely to have the splits. When we got to the little rise just before the art gallery, my legs decided they had it. Ended up taking the short cut back with Durante. He's struggling big time. No point in mentioning Serg. Well maybe there is...he disappeared after about 9k. He stopped when he saw the ice-cream van. All up 14.3k. Back to the drawing board...

Hills and more hills...

Sat:
Out with Steve Thurston, Terence and Mike for a long run. Ran from centennial down to rushcutters and basically ran the C2S. When we hit the 5k mark in the C2S Steve and I pushed the pace up heartbreak hill until the 10k mark. Steve's split was approx 17.5x and I ran 18.37 (quickest 5k split for a training run). Ran into Bondi with the boys and from the beach pushed 2k hill up to the junction. Steve came with me and about 500m into hill he commented 'mate - it's a long way to the junction). We were pretty shattered when we got to the top, we finished off the session with Mike and Terence in centennial. All up 27.8k in just over 2 hours.
Sun:
Out with Terence and we decided we liked hills so much we decided to run the same course as Saturday. There were no tempos included in the session but we ran the hills pretty steady especially in the second half of the course. From Bondi the average pace for the session kept dropping. When we got into centennial we ran a lap of the inside track (3.6k) averaging 3.47k/m. Well Terence was slightly quicker as he dropped me with about 600m to go. I ran 1 hr 56 min with Terence with an average pace of 4.21. I covered 6.5k before i met Terence and ran a little more after centennial. Don't recall talking much for the last 10k. I was obviously tired. All up 2 hrs 37 mins. Had a little trouble with my garmin (may need to upgrade :)) Ran approx 35.5k. Another big week and quite possbily my biggest! Heading for a nap now...Well done to Enda on the half Ironman in very tough conditions in Canberra.

A change in the weather is known to be extreme; but what's the sense in changing horses in mid-stream?

Thurs:
4k easy morning
2k warm up, 15 mins at marathon pace (3.45), 15 mins at half marathon pace (3.32), 2k warm down. Changing pace mid-session without recovery is not as easy as it seems. Felt comfortable once I got the pace down 3.32.
4k easy run home

Fri:
17k at 4.22 pace with Steve and Durante. Steve was pretty tired from his tempo session the night before so the pace was nice and easy. Great morning for running, I love running in the rain.

Cruising....

Mon: Easy 10k, no garmin so no idea of pace but it was pretty slow

Tues: 5k easy in the morning. Out with the HuRT squad for 8 by 5 mins. No garmin again but reckon the pace averaged 3.25 for the first 6. Increased the tempo slightly for the last 2 reps with an average pace of 3.15 approx. Felt pretty good during the session and it seems the extra km’s is definitely making me stronger. Went for a massage in the evening and jogged home 3.5k.

Wed: Out early with Durante and Steve Thurston and let’s be honest Steve doesn’t like to run at 4.30 pace anymore. We ran around centennial and instead of running steady up Wollahra Hill (800m approx) we powered up it which on both occasions dropped our average pace significantly. Will definitely drop Durante next week on the hill, he was huffing and puffing plenty at the end of it ;)

Durante was pretty tired from the start (why! He’s been pretty lazy recently) and stayed with us for an hour. Ended up running 20.6k at an average pace of 4.15. Steve and I were pretty tired at the end.
Not sure what session to opt for tomorrow. Given I will be running a tempo on Saturday, I may join the HuRT squad….

Strength and Endurance Building

Thurs: 7k easy in the morning. Out with the HuRT squad for the Hickson road 1.2k reps off 2 mins. Good crowd even though Steve T, Durante and Tom were absent.
Reps: 3.46, 3.40, 3.39, 3.39, 3.33
Clarky and Killer were well out in front (avg 3.30s), I was next up and for different reps I had a little bit of company from Richard High, Serg and Andy.
Out with the HuRT squad for the awards night, Tucky got performance of the year for his sub 2.30 in Canberra or possibly the NSW 12K cross country. I can't recall. Steve T collected the 'most improved' award and Serg got the best 'Serg' award!! I wonder why! He's capable of running another 68 min half but to be honest I don't think he's up for it.
Some great performances during the year, Tom had a great runs at State 10k, C2S and JP Morgan. Tucks C2S, Charlie's Ironman, Durante's 33.01 10k in Lane Cove, Big Bear's Tokyo mararthon pb, Gillo's sub 4hr Gold Coast, Gerso's 5,10 and half pbs, Terence's 100k Glasshouse, Dave Criniti's marathon run in Canberra, Timmy's 2.47 in London, Clarky's half ironman in Port, Serg's 10k run in North Head (very impressed that he could run over the top of Tucks and some say he's not mentally strong), Steve's 5k track in 14.33, Muz's 5k coolrunning run 15.47...i know there's more....
Too many drinks consumed with the boys on Thurs which result in only an easy 7k run on Friday.
Sat: Went away on Friday arvo to Cottage Point via a Seaplane (thanks Dec for the recommendation) with Livo and flew back into Rose Bay about 12.30, I was hoping to meet up with Durante for a similar run to last week but he was a no show - very lazy! It was a brutally hot day 31C, I went for a 3k warm-up around Point Piper and then ran steady from the 5k marker in the C2S until the 10k marker (5k split in 18.52). Ran into Bondi Beach and pushed up the hill up to the junction. All up 20.5k.
Sun: A little tired from Sat, I was planning on 2hrs 30, so got out a little earlier and then hooked up with the boys at 7am. For the 40 mins or so I took it relatively easy on my own avg'ing 4.40 pace. Mike and Steve in particular were keen to increase the pace so much so that after an hour or so with the boys the average pace had dropped down to 4.24. This included the Wollarha hill where Steve and I pushed hard for each loop.
Steve needed to head off and Mike and I pushed on for another 16k. We continued to run steady as Mike was feeling pretty good. For the last 8k (4.18, 4.19, 4.15, 4.14, 4.18, 4.10, 4.05 and 3.53. All up 35.8k. Pleased with another big week of running, just need to keep it going over the xmas period.

Base building...

Mon(am): Went for an Exec Health check. Good news is that I am pretty healthy, I was keen to utilise the information provided to help with my running.
Some key points raised:
V02 MAX = 71, which is pity high and if you look at this stat in isolation i am not performing near my running potential. I also think I could of stayed on the treadmill longer but i was pretty tired after the weekend's efforts.
Blood Sugar = Slightly above average which is no surprise as i love the biscuits during the day and always need something sweet after dinner. I also like the odd beer ;).
Flexibility: Very poor - no surprise
Core Strength: Very poor - I really need to work on this and plan to address it
Nutrition: Pretty good apart from my sugar in-take. Kidney are in great shape and indicates that I drink only occasionally which is not true. After revealing my food in-take, they've developed a plan which i am keen to implement. I currently weigh 78kgs which is good for my height but I need to lose 3-4 to get down to racing weight.
In Summary:
Need to sort execute my nutrition plan and focus on my running economy (lactate threshold) in order to improve my running. Will start some core work to help prevent injuries. It's as simple as that.
Mon (pm): 13k easy
Tues (am): 7k easy
Tues (Lunch) Out with the HuRT squad for a 45 min progressive tempo, starting out at 4.20 and moving down to 3.30. Good session.
Wed (am): 19k MLR with Steve Thurston at 4.20 pace. Felt better this week as I struggled last week.
Wed (lunch) Out with Steve T for an easy 30 min session followed by stretching

Cruising along...

Fri: Easy 8k
Sat: Out with Durante for a hilly session. Jogged from Surry Hills to Rushcutters and ran the rest of the C2S. From the 5k marker, increased the pace and worked the hills - got to 10k with a 5k split of 19.30. Took it easy down to Bondi Beach and then worked the hill from the beach to the Junction. All up 23k.
Sun: After a lovely dinner at Sophie's and Jame's, I got out the door early and ran for about 25 mins on my own before I met Steve Thurston. I was cruising at 4.45 avg pace but that soon dropped down to 4.35. Shortly after 7am, we met up with Durante, Mike and Andy and we ran the outside loop of the park. Andy gave me the low-down on his 10 London marathons and his marathon pb is quite impressive 2.36. I worked the hills with Steve and it seemed to give me an energy bolt. For the first time since Berlin, I wasn't tired at the end of the long run.
All up 31.7k in 2.25 with an avg pace of 4.35. Got home in time to watch Haille take out the Great Australian Run. He is a machine.

800s * 8 (90 sec recovery)

Got caught in a meeting at lunch so I didn't catch-up with the HuRT squad and ended up going out on my own. Inital aim was to hit 2.40, the first rep was 2.37 and it felt pretty comfortable. I hit the next 6 at 2.37 and banged out the last one in 2.32. The session felt pretty easy, might have something to do with the afternoon heat.

MLR 19K

Out early with Steve Thurston, Durante and Eamo. Shattered again this morning so much so I struggled to keep with the boys on the wollarha hill. I even took a short-cut at the Oxford Street gates. All up 19k with the avg pace 4.34. No rest for the wicked as I am trying to build up my endurance..

Slow train coming

With lots of different priorities I've decided to hold off running a marathon until I can put a good 16 weeks of training together. Realistically that means I won’t run another until late next year. In the meantime I will continue to train and at the moment I will focus on building my endurance.
Met up with the HuRT squad for a 45 min fartlek session (1 min fast, 30 sec slow). From the start I felt flat struggled to maintain the pace in the latter half of the session. I ran side by side with Richard High and probably should have backed off. The return leg was tough, got to 10km around 35.20, took a short cut back with Durante to avoid the Opera Hse loop. From 9k onwards I struggled and my avg pace for the fast and recovery reps kept getting slower and slower. I think the legs are a little tired after the weekend’s effort and I failed to give them sufficient rest on Monday. Richard High is going well and I expect him to go very well in the sixfoot. Congrats to Richard Palmer on his fantastic achievement in the Mark Webber challenge - First corporate team!

Recovery Day

Caught up with the boys (Clarky, Tom, Muz, Serg, Steve, Mike, Andy) on a recovery run. Serg, Clarky and Steve split the group after 10 mins running close to sub 4 min/k. I ran with the boys all up 14k at 4.15m/k pace which is a tad too fast for a pure recovery run. For my V02 max based on Daniel's running formula, I should be running around 4.25-4.30 pace for my recovery runs. With 4.15m/k pace I am in no man's land. So I am not getting any real benefit. It's actually getting close to my Cruise tempo pace which is 3.58 (the pace I ran the 1/2 marathon on Sunday). Good to catch-up with the boys again. Need to convince Tom that he will take Truscott out.,...

Rambling on...

Fri: 8k easy domain
Sat: 2k run to the centennial, 6 short hill reps, 5 min rest, 5k tempo (in 17.34), 4k cool down.
Sun: 2k warm up, 1/2 marathon race Sri Chinmoy in Centennial Park in 83.40. The plan was to run at 4.20 and then increase the pace towards the end but went through the 1st km in 3.55, backed off a little and just maintained 4m/k for the majority the race. The garmin came in handy as the the terrain was pretty uneven and it was difficult to maintain an even pace. Chris Truscott joined me for a few km's, he's getting ready for the state 5k in Jan, he reckons he will crush Tom and is willing to bet a case of beer on it....

400s by 10

Didn't get a chance to get out for a decent run on Wednesday so only managed to run into work in the morning and ran home late last night.
Pretty tired today so the plan was to take it easy but got through the first rep in 72 and more or less continued that for the remaining 9. Tom and Killer were in front and Steve Thurston was miles ahead averaging 64 seconds. Shattered after the session, I need to catch-up on sleep this weekend.

HuRTS 4 x (3k)

Another decent crowd but it was noticeable that a few of the front runners were missing (Muz, Serg and Durante). Still and all, Charlie and Clarky went to the front for the first rep, I latched on to them and we ended up 80m short of the stone gates. Well they finished approx 10m ahead of me. Tom was taking it easy for the first few reps running with MC, Enda, Richard High, Killer and English Andy. I ran the second rep in 9.31. I ran comfortably hard for the 3rd rep as Killer, Clarky and Charlie pushed the pace from the start and got to the stone gates well within the 10 min marker. I was again 60-70m short with Tom right behind my back. I felt pretty tired on the way back for the last rep which took 9.55. The wind was pretty strong on the return leg. Happy with the session overall. Tom seems to think I want to include some extra awards for the HuRT squad's annual awards night. Not true...but I think we should have best overseas performance of the year as an outright category ;)

Recovery Monday

Easy 12k with boys. Left the domain and went out to Hickson road and I opted for the shorter route on the way back by heading up Macquarie Street. Big crowd for a Monday - Serg, Clarky, Steve, Durante, Conway, Ray (who disappeared before I had a chance to chat to him) and a few other guys I didn't even know.

On the road again...

Can't stay away from the road. Out for an easy 8k run on Sat and out again Sunday morning with Steve Thursten and Eamo for a nice long run. Eamo is looking strong for Kepler in NZ in Dec. He was out with Fats and Terence for an easy 35k run on Sat and backed up well on Sunday. We chatted about the important races next year and whether we should use a coach to help us...All up 28k in 2.02. Legs were tired for the last 2k but good to test the knee out. Need to drop my new coach an email ;)

Sayonara, Auf Wiedersehen, Arrivederci, Au Revoir, Adeus

You got to be honest with yourself in this sport. 19.03 was not the time I was looking for in JP Morgan. I actually thought I'd run close to 18.30. Fortunately I had Dave Clark and Michael Killacoat in the team to ensure we took out the men's team comp. I obviously had knee issues going into the race but I wasn't in the right head space from the start which by the way I nearly missed. I had to sprint 300m from the Kiosk to actually make the start. I continue to repeat the same mistakes, I am not sure why I took 2 Berocca before the start of the race as I've never taken them before any other race. Anyhow, my stomach was in knots from the start.
I'll quit the whinging, great runs by my Macquarie colleagues, it's really hard to believe how Dave Clark could compete in a half ironman on the Sunday (6th place as well) and run a sub 18 min in the JP Morgan. Run of the day goes to Tom, it gives us all hope to see him get better and better. He's put in the hard yards and deserves all the plaudits he received last night. Poor Durante...that's all I can say mate...Timmy was right...you looked pale before the race. Enda had a great run of 18.45 and his streak over me continues. Kate Coburn ran very well 3rd place overall for the girls. Well what about the winner...Steve Thurston! Super front running. It was great to tell people in the office that I run with the guy most days.
Got the knee checked out and it's all good news, well there is no structural damage (ligaments and tendons are fine), just have Patella femoral Pain Syndrome which was caused by a direct blow to the knee (you really don't want to know how it happened). A bit of strength work in the quads will sort me out.
That's it for me now for while, it's been a great year of running. After a injury plagued 2007, I got the opportunity to run 2 big city marathons. I ran a 10k and C2S PB. Looking forward to 2009 already, I will be targeting PBs in the half and the marathon. Looks like I need to hit the Gold Coast to settle a score....

Time for a few prayers..

Pulled up sore after a run on Thursday. I have some swelling at the back of my knee. The physio recommend I rest for 10 days. Not really an option with JP Morgan next week. Since the physio appointment the pain has radiated from the back of the knee to the hamstring. Not good...time for a few prayers.
I was suppose to run a 3k time trial with Durante, Serg and Muz. Durante went through 3km in 8.58 dropping both Serg and Muz..the kid is flying. He's looking good for JP. Best of luck to Steve T and Tom tomorrow in the state 3k.

400s off 2 mins...

Out with Robbie, Killacoat, Chris Graham and Tom was a little late. I lead from the from the front for the first 5 reps with Killer just sitting on my shoulders. Robbie was a second or two back. On the 6th rep, Killer upped the tempo and Robbie followed him for a few reps but Killer was pretty comfortable running 66s and finished off with a 62. I'm so glad he's part of the Macquarie JP Morgan team. Can't believe Dave Clarke has decided to enter the Port Macquarie Half at the weekend...in saying that he will probably run very well at JP Morgan. Tom was a little out of sorts this morning, he really doesn't like running on his own.

72, 71, 71, 70, 71, 69, 70, 71, 70, 69

Went for a 30 min run at lunch with a good friend Bron, I spotted Terence running over the top of Enda in a gate to gate session. He's getting strong....

Happy Mondays - yeah, yeah yeah

Had a lovely brunch on Sunday arvo and went to bed early on Sunday evening so felt well rest waking up Monday morning. Ran to work early and stopped off in the gym for some core work.
Out for a run with the boys at lunch (Serg, Tom, Durante, Enda, Steve, Muz & Aus)for a quick 14k run in 27c. Serg is struggling, his heart rate hit 175! So it was more like a tempo run for him...

Going long...

Out with Steve and Durante for a long run in Centennial. Durante still recovering from his cold ran for 80 mins, Steve ran for 90 mins and I continued on and ran just over 2 hours averaging 4.22 km/m. I was pretty tired at the start of the run but felt more comfortable as the run progressed. Will decide later in the week if it is worth racing the 3000m on the track next week so close to JP Morgan.
It will be interesting to see how Radcliffe goes in New York later today, i suspect Wami and Catherine the great will give her a run for her money. Kara Goucher might surprise a few in her debut. Tergat at 39 will find the going tough against the Morrocan Goumri.

Running on empty.....

I had an interesting run in Lane Cove today, to be honest I had nothing in the legs from the start. After a week of decent speedwork, I expected to run a lot better. Ended up with something like 35.40. From the start the legs felt heavy and I couldn't get into a decent rhythm. Back to the drawing board as I need to pick up a bit of speed for JP Morgan. After today's effort, I don't think I have the physical or mental strength to contemplate running Dubai or Hobart.
Durante was sick so we didn't get a chance to witness the duel with Tom. Tom had also a below par performance with 33.4* odd. Steve Thurston also struggled running low 32s to finish in 3rd place. The only decent run from the HuRT squad came from Muz with a 33.02. Muz is looking very good for the JP Morgan race mid-Nov. Well done to Kate Coburn with her podium finish. Uncle Dave took out the striders series comfortably beating Chris Truscott. Not sure where Dave gets it from but he rarely has a poor race. Fair play to him!

The time is nigh...

Monday

Went to a core session in the morning with www.rejoovfitness.com.au Keeping the core strong for endurance runners is very important. I always neglect this as part of my training so it was great to go to Greta’s class a fellow strider I might add. Ran 4k to the class and 4k back home.

At lunch caught up the boys (Tom, Serg, Durante, Steve T and Muz) for a 10k in very hot conditions. I was probably 30C….but I think I felt a tad better than most of the boys who seemed to be breathing very heavily.

In the evening I got a massage and ran home. The legs felt like magic after the massage.

Tuesday

Out with the HuRT squad for the Hickson Rd session (1.2k by 5 off 2 mins). Steve T took off from the start and I settled into the 2nd group with Tom, Muz and Dave Clarke. I kept with the boys for the 1st rep. I was a few secs back for the 2nd rep. I lost it a bit for the 3rd and 4th rep. I felt strong in the final rep and ran over the top of Dave Clarke but failed to catch Muz and Tom who finished a second or two ahead of me. Tom indicated on his blog yesterday that I was looking strong again. He’s not wrong ;)

Reps – 3.35, 3.33, 3.40, 3.40, 3.33

The showdown between Durante and Tom on Saturday should be very interesting. Back in early Feb I put a bet on with English Timmy Lindop that Durante (the Italian Aussie) would beat Tom this year in a 10k striders race. Most punters thought I was mad but the little Italian is getting stronger by the month. They avoided each other for most of the year but they can no longer play the Coe – Ovett game. anymore. They will race at the weekend and there will be one winner. Can’t wait for it now. Lots of battles this weekend. Chris Truscott will be keen to take out the Striders series but Uncle Dave won’t give him it to him on a plate that easily.

Lots of HuRT squad members racing this weekend. Steve T will come first but it will be interesting to see who places 2nd. Muz will push Durante/Tom all the way… !

Well done to Declan and Alan Kelly on super fast times in the Dublin Marathon. Likely to be the first of many marathons for both of them ;)

Getting back into the swing of it..

Fri:
Easy 8k run with Durante
Sat:
Met up with Durante at 4pm on Sat arvo for the 5k track race at ES Marks. Both of us were suffering a little after big nights out on Friday night. After a 15 min jog with Steve Thurston, we felt a lot better. It was pretty hot on the track about 24C and sunny, but once the gun went I just focus on getting into a decent rhythm. Steve took off like a rocket as he was keen to dip under 15 mins. I settled into a group in the back, went throu' 3k in 9.58 with Gary Howard. Happy to finish up with 16.34 and it seems like the residual tiredness from the marathon is leaving the legs. Durante ran well finishing up with 15.47 and Steve ran very well to win 14.32.
Sun:
Out with Steve and Durante for a 2 hour long run in centennial parklands. We chatted about the up and coming races...10k Lane Cove, 3k track race and the 5.6k JP Morgan race...should be an interesting 2-3 weeks.

12 by 400

Out for the HuRT session of 12 by 400s off 2 mins. It makes sense to run them as quick as possible as you get a little more recovery. We were missing the front runners from the squad (Tom, Serg, Muz, Steve T and Durante), they were hitting the track after work. With meetings running from 5pm to 7pm, i knew I would never get out to the track so hooked with a relatively small squad (approx 10 including Terence, Chris Graham, Andy and Mike Conway) at lunch.
We hit rushcutters oval, I went to the front for each rep with Terence and Andy a few seconds back. I was averaging 71-72 and Terence was probably averaging 73-74. On the 11 rep, Terence pushed me and I ended up running 68. For the final rep, Terence went straight to the front. I couldn't stay with him. He ended up running 67 and I finished up with 69. It's great to see Terence with a speed in his legs, with his endurance he travelling very well at the moment. I could see it at the weekend and on the farklek session on Tues. You can see the swagger...himself and Durante are peaking...
Delighted to hear the news, Tucks had a baby girl Nia, watch out Paula...with Tuck's genes...Nia will be fast.

15.6k easy

Easy 15.6k with Serg, Muz, Enda and Mike in wet and windy conditions. We covered the loop to centennial and back in approx 1hr 4 mins.

Speed Play

Mon:
8k easy
Tues:
(am) 8k easy
(pm) 45 min Farklek (1 min fast, 30 sec jog)
Out with the HuRT squad, Tom, Serg, Durante and Steve T went straight to the front. I settled in the second grp with Terence Bell and Richard High. After getting to the Opera Hse, I increased the pace and I was on my own for the remainder of the session. I kept picking people off on the way back apart from Terence. Went through 10k in 35.38 feeling comfortable. Paced it well but the wind was pretty strong from farm cove up to the stone gates. Steve T came by me near the pool in the domain and Tom and I finished up more or less together about 150m short of the stone gates. Tom is running very well but Durante is getting stronger and I expect him to take Tom out in Lane Cove.
The focus for me is JP Morgan in mid Nov, hopefully I've enough time to make it into the Macquarie Team. So lots of speed play until the race. After that I plan to have another crack at the marathon in Jan (Hobart or Dubai - haven't decided which one yet...

On the road again....

Back in Sydney after a nice long break away. Got out with the HuRT squad on Thurs for the Mona Fartlek session. Went out too hard and was approx 100m short of the stone gates. Found it very tough on the return leg but glad to get the a tough session under my belt. Easy 10k on Friday morning checking out the JP Morgan course.
Out for a long run today with Durante, Mike C, Steve Thurston, Keith, Terence, Chalks and Al. Nice hilly run around the eastern suburbs starting and finishing in N Bondi. Durante, Terence and Steve looked very strong today. Garmin battery was flat but the pace was around 4.30. All up 2 hours.

Lake Garda

Since the run in Berlin I've spent the last week in Lake Garda Italy. It's a beautiful part of the world, quite close to Milan and situated at the foot of the alps. There are loads of little towns dispersed throughout the lake and with no accommodation booked Liv and I just moved up the lake from town to town. We started in the old town of Sirmione. The food and wine is fantastic and I've had one too many gelato ,)
Started running again on Thurs with an easy 30 min run. On Fri and Sat out for easy 45 min runs. Today was a bit of an action packed day. We arrived in Riva which is at the north tip of the lake, it's a lovely little lake town surrounded by mountains. It's a bikers paradise, every second store sells mountain bike gear. Liv and I went on a great little trek through the mountains. It was a beautiful day and I was amazed at the amount of bikers on the mountain. Late in the afternoon, I went out for a 10k run with my garmin. I ran the 1st 5km in 20.30 (4.06 pace) and the turnaround increased the pace to 3.43 (18.38). With the amount of eating and drinking – I need to keep up the running.
Kept an eye on the race results this weekend, I notice Steve Thurston from the HuRT squad won the Striders 10k in 31.45. Well done mate great running. Not surprised at all, in recent sessions he's been running from the front and leaving the rest of us behind. With his pedigree I won't be surprised when he breaks 30 mins early next year.
Congrats has to go to Tom for his super 5.6k run in New York at the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge. I knew Serg was struggling after his long break but a I actually thought Muz would get the better of Tom. Tom came home in 17.53, Muz in 18 and Serg in 18.10. Charlie Low was first home from the HuRT squad in a very impressive (also first Australian ahead of J Horne) 17.14. He definitely has the speed lets hope he goes well in the Hawai Ironman. JP Morgan in Nov in Sydney will be interesting, I suspect Serg will be looking to reverse the pecking ordering.
I know I shouldn’t but I’ve already being thinking about which marathon to tackle next…will keep you posted when I make a decision.
JP Results

I expected something, something better than before, I expected something more...

The title is from a favorite band of mine - the national and it pretty much sums up how the Berlin marathon went for me today. Obviously the race didn't go as planned. My form leading into the race (CS2 and numerous 10ks) indicated that I was capable of 2.40. I even modified my training to incorporate longer runs, faster long run finishes, more tempo runs etc...so what went wrong!
Well I definitely got my nutrition wrong (I should of listened to Phil Dove). Just after half way I vomited and from 22k I had terrible stomach cramps so I ran/walked to the finish line. I initially thought I could get rid of the cramps but after 25k I knew I just couldn’t shake them.
At this stage every man and his dog started to pass me and i considered pulling out around 28k but given i've completed all the marathons that I've entered I struggled onto the finish line. And what a spectacular finish, with throngs of supporters cheering the runners to the finish line.
Won't go into the detail but I obviously have a problem with gels. I don't think the powerbar 45 mins before the start helped me either. After 2k I just didn't feel right. I possibly overloaded on carbs in the 3 days leading up to the race. I've taken endura optimiser and magnesium before but something upset the stomach. I didn't have any issues in Tokyo this yr but I do recall have issues in Auckland.
I also never felt comfortable during my 3 week taper, the easy runs felt a little harder than normal in saying that the intervals sessions felt easier. My last session (4 by 800s) on the Wed were run in 2.25 avg and it felt comfortable.
Anyhow, Tom texted me after the race and felt I deserved more than 2.54. True and this made me think of one of my favorite movies 'Unforgiven'. In the final scene, Will Munny (Eastwood) is about to blow Dagett's (Hackmans) head off. Dagett felt he didn't deserve to go out like this; he started to ramble on about being a good citizen etc. Munny retorted 'it's got nothing to do with deserving'. This holds true for the marathon. That is the beauty of the beast. You can prepare all you want but there are so many variables in play that can hinder your performance.
After the race i said 'never again' but as I write this I know I won't be content until I run 2.40. Lessons will be learnt and I plan to come back bigger, stronger and better than before.
Finally I would like to thank everyone for all the support in the days leading up to the race. Obviously, the HuRT Squad (Tom, Durante, Serg, MC, Tim, Terance, Enda, Eamo, Tucks, Steve T, Fats & Tim C). Fellow Sydney striders and coolrunners - Uncle Dave, Superflake and Amanda. Good friends Rich Palmer and Kate Coburn. Family support has been fantastic - Big Bear, Gillo and Gerso. Must mention Ger (father in law) and my younger bro Derek for coming and supporting me in Berlin. On the way back to the hotel Derek being totally honest commented 'i think i would of bet you today!' You gotta love him. Special thanks to my beautiful pregnant wife Livo who was watching the race from London. Can't wait now to meet up tomorrow for our 10 day break in Italy - promise no running talk.
Nearly forgot! (Jesus u swear i ran a pb the way I'm banging on) but you got praise the man himself 'Haile' for such a super run and world record. I was pretty close to him at the start, he was all smiles for the fans just before his assault at the world record.
See you on the road,

Kanser

Nearly there..

The glorious weather in Ireland has continued. Left Killarney via Tralee and got a ferry from Tarbert into Clare. From there we went to the majestic cliffs of Moher. We then drove via the Burren before settling in Salthill in Galway.
Went for a beautiful 8k run along the Salthill promenade and had a little difficulty maintaining 3.45 (marathon pace) for the last 2k of the run. Will put it down to a little bit of tiredness. On Wednesday out for another 8k run with 4 by 800 sandwiched in the middle of the session. With a 2 min recovery between each rep the session went very well. Apparently the Yasso 800s are a good indicator of marathon time...time will tell! I had a massage in the evening from a Polish lady, it's amazing the influx of Polish nationals in Ireland. Crazy when you think about it, I'd my breakfast served by a Polish, bought the paper off a Polish person and the barman who served me a pint of guinness was- Polish.
I've started to carbo load now and in the next few days will focus on getting my nutrition right so I can have a good crack running 2.40. The results of the marathon will be posted on the offical Berlin marathon site.

From Guinness to Black Pudding

Well in the last week I've been eating and drinking for Ireland and Australia. I can't go an evening without some beautiful creamy pints of Guinness and in the morning I aways start off with a continental breakfast and end up with a full Irish breakfast - you got to love buffets.
After an awful Irish summer, the weather has been great and it's been great catching up with family and friends. I really forgot how beautiful Ireland is especially the countryside. It was a glorious day for Mossie's wedding and you couldn't ask for a more beautiful location - Glandore in West Cork. From the Rebel County we left for the Kingdom of County Kerry and explored the Dingle Peninsula. It was great to watch the All Ireland final in a pub in Kerry. Kerry were going for 3 in row and got beaten by Tyrone in a very exciting game. Kerry supporters are very unforgiving and there was a famous incident a few years back when the Kerry manager told a reporter 'Kerry supporters are the worst kind of f*** supporters and you can print that'. Apparently he was giving a compliment of sorts...well they called for his head but hung on for another year to bring another All Ireland to the Kingdom.
I did manage to get a few runs in, early on saturday I went for run along Clonakilty Bay(Michael Collins hometown, the man who brought the British Empire to it's knees during the War of Independence in 1921 - a hero of mine). This morning I went for a run in Killarney National Park along the lake. Quite an awe inspiring run as I ran into a herd of red deer. Will head up along the West Coast for a few more days and then head back to Dublin and then onto Berlin.
I had a quick look at the Sydney marathon results and noticed the front runners had a difficult 2nd half. Obviously the weather was factor as I thought Chris Truscott was in better shape than 2.38. In saying that Darren Moyle (5th) and Greg Graves (6th) both ran 2.37 but both slowed up in the 2nd half as did strider veteran's Cam Arnold and Steve Jackson. Maybe the guys went out a little quick as Jo Blake and Chris Graham ran an even split. They say even splits are the way to go...really need to start focusing on Berlin again.
Gerso ran the half and as usual ran a 5 min pb (1.47) beating Big Bear who was 10 sec slower in the Dublin half (tougher course and hot conditions and the bear was suffering from jetlag). Dec Kelly who ran 1.44 in Dublin half is looking good for a 3.45 finish in Dublin at the end of October. The buffet is still open better get down there for my daily feed of black pudding ;)

Back in the Emerald Isle

Joined up with the HuRT Squad on Tuesday for a fartlek session. 1 min on 30 sec float. With the 800 session in the morning i was planning on running 25 mins hard with the squad, I joined up with the boys 8 mins into the session. Steve Thurston, Serg, Tom, Muz and a new guy Ryan were out in front. Stuck with the boys at the front and felt pretty comfortable. Steve and I got away from the front group along Hickson Road and I stayed with Steve until my 25 mins was up. Steve is really showing his form at the moment I hope Tom or one of the boys drag him out to the next Striders 10k race.
On Tues evening, I met up with some of the HuRT Squad (Tom, Enda, Terence, Chalks -soon to join the group, Charlie, Durante) for a few beers in the bavarian beer cafe). Of course we had more than a couple of beers and I really struggled to get up for work on Wednesday. Not sure who to blame but it always seems to be myself Tom and Durante propping up the bar at the end of the night.
I must be getting use to the long haul flight as it wasn't too bad. Went out for a 45min easy jog around my hometown this morning. Apparently the weather has been terrible recently but it was beautiful and sunny this morning.
Will take it easy from now until Berlin. Just a mix of easy 40-50 min sessions with the odd marathon pace thrown in.
I will head down to Glandore in Cork for Mossie's wedding on Saturday and then travel around Ireland for 5 days before heading off to the race.

The spring is back....

Out for an easy 8k at lunch on Monday, it was pretty hot. Definitely noticing the change in the weather. I had a massage after work and the legs felt a lot better after it.
Out this morning for what was suppose to be an 800 session this morning. The first rep was covered in 2.25 and I am not too sure how quick the other 7 reps went. Well my garmin battery went so I had no clue to be honest but they felt fast. Good to get the mojo back as I was getting worried.

That 'flat' feeling

Fri: Ran into work and at lunch went out for an easy 40 min with Gerso. Lower stomach muscle is very tight and given me a little grief. I will go for a massage on Monday and hopefully release it.

Sat: Out at around 11am and was surprised by the temps, it was around 26C. I ran from Surry Hills down to rushcutters and then ran the rest of the city to surf course. I pushed it on the hills and was surprised as the legs were feeling a little heavy. I was glad to get to beach for a quick dip. The water was freezing only 15c. Ended up going over to John Hill's shop and buying some High Five gels with caffeine as my current stock of leppin gels are out of date.

Sun: Out for a long run with Mike. Ran to centennial and we kept the pace at 4.33 for 20 odd kms. The plan was to push the last 5k at MP (3.45 k/m). I'd taken two gels (one at 8k and another at 16k) and 3km into MP pace run I got a stomach cramp. I couldn't run through it. Mike continued on and ran the last 5k in 18 mins which will give him plenty of confidence for the half next week. To be honest I never felt great on the run. I've been feeling quite lethargic of late which is a surprise as I'm in the middle of the taper.
Obviously I won't take high five gels and will revert back to leppins thanks to Enda who has some spare stock. The high five gels are made up of simple carbs which give you an instant lift and the leppin gels are made up of complex carbs with a slow release of energy. I'd no issue with the leppin gels in Tokyo so i will use them for Berlin.
Will cut back the kms again this week and hopefully get a spring back in my step.
Great to hear Terence Bell win the 100km Glasshouse run up in Queensland. Very impressive given he didn't train for the event. He just decided mid-week to head up and give it a crack.

Which runners to wear...

Mon: Cross training day that included some cardio (bike work & the ecliptr) and some lights weights and core work

Tues: Ran into work and at lunch met up with the HuRT Squad for a session of 5 mins by 6. Legs were a little tired from the weekend efforts but I ran with the front group who that included Charlie, Muz, Serg, Durante and fast improving Steve Thurston. The pace of each rep was relatively consistent (about 3.18 k/m). The last one was slightly faster in 3.11 k/m. Running another 2 reps was an option as I was feeling pretty strong but I need to stick to my taper plan.
After work met up with Gerso for a 9k easy around the domain.

Wed: Forced rest day - too busy to get out!

Thurs: The plan was for 800s but the council were resurfacing the oval at 6.45am. Changed the session to 400s in and around rushcutters. I ran 10 reps avg'ing 72 off 60 secs. I felt a little flat and was surprised given I had a day off on Wednesday.

At the moment I am struggling to make a decision of which runners to wear in Berlin. I am having difficulty in securing Nike Zoom Elite in Australia so it's looking increasing likely that I will wear Nike Peagaus TC (light weight version of peagaus) OR Adizero Breeze. I need to test the breeze tomorrow. In saying that Big Bear is in the US and will get Nike Zoom marathoner and Saucony Sinister. Decisions, Decisions...I'm sure I'll make the right one.

You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows

Sat 10k race North Head
I could think of plenty of Dylan quotes that could describe the weather on Saturday morning. The change in the weather was definitely extreme and with the 10k race in North Head there was no Shelter from the Storm.
The officials banged on about how bad the weather was and nobody should expect a PB, this basically let everyone off the hook. Uncle Dave asked me if I was planning on running it hard 'i'll give a crack but i'm pretty tired at the moment' Kanser now had two excuses tired legs and the severe weather.
Took off with the lead group and ducked in behind Charlie, I hit the 1k marker in 3.30 and didn't like pace so I had two options. Run it hard for 5k and then back track help Gerso for the last 5k OR be really selfish and just run it as marathon pace run. Opted for the latter, dropped off the pace from around 1.5k and stuck at around 3.43 avg pace until the last km and ran it hard to dip under 37 mins. I had a good look around and it was pretty obvious that the majority took the advice from the official and took the race relatively easy. Difficult to tell with Uncle Dave but I'm pretty sure he was put in the effort. There was talk at the start of forgetting about PBs but there is always one exception to the rule. Young Gerso (who's been working hard on her 3k's and 800s) banged out another consecutive pb. Tom commented afterwards that her pb in Lane Cove was obviously soft but no matter what race or how bad the conditions are Gerso runs a pb. Gerso first race was back in North Head in Sept 2007 and she ran it in 54.32, she now running 45.43 and I expected her to dip under 45 mins. Big Bear was back in action, he was suppose to pace Gerso but he's obviously been feeding on too much salmon. He struggled home a few seconds behind Gerso. Looking at the published results the majority ran about 60-90 secs slower...
Sun Long Run
None of the boys were keen to come out and run 36k with me but I got a call from Terence who was up for the challenge. I told him I wanted to run 28k at 4.30 pace and the last 8k just under 4 mins pace. Terence who is not blessed with natural speed but has the ability to run strong for long periods of time. He demonstrated his endurance capacity running 3.53 for the sixfoot and 2.47 in the Gold Coast.
I ran 2k to Centennial at 4.30 pace and continued on with Terence running the relatively flat 8k loops I tend to use for tempo sessions. I didn't feel tired when i woke up this morning so the 3hr afternoon nap on Saturday definitely helped. After 3.5 loops (28k), we upped the tempo and brought the pace down to 4m/k. The change in the pace was pretty comfortable and after 4k the pace was at 3.57, we then cut throu' the centre of the pack to finish off with 4 1k reps. The pace dropped to 3.55 and after 2.5 reps Terence fell off the pace slightly. My garmin battery died and I pushed the last 2 reps pretty hard (don't know the pace probably around 3.45). I ended up running home from centennial to bring the morning total to 40k in approx 2.55.
Good to get the last long run out of the way, pretty impressed with Terence's effort he was only 30 secs back at the end. He's looking to run some ultra's in the near future and I don't think he will have any difficult with stepping up. With 3 weeks left, I now enter the taper phase so I will gradually reduce volume but keep the intensity. I also need to get my nutrition right for the big day. In every marathon so far I tend to stop for a wee and lose 40-60 secs in the process - it's not happening in Berlin. People keep asking me how fast I'll run in Berlin. The answer my friend is blowing in the wind ;)

Easy Friday

Beautiful soft day for running. Out with Tom for an easy 40 mins run in and around the domain. Tom's back, he'll probably turn up and crush everyone tomorrow ;)

I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now

Mon: 10k recovery run. I was pretty tired and the calves were very tight after the race on Sunday.

Tues: Out with the HuRT Squad for 3 mins reps with 1 min standing recovery, I could only manage 10 as I needed to get back to work. The first 2 reps I ran on my own at 3.18 pace and I didn’t get a chance to recover for the 3rd rep so I just ran with Muz in 3.20. The rest of the reps were run a little quicker ranging from 3.08 – 3.12 pace. I was probably a few metres ahead of Muz for most of the reps but he looked to be running them very easy. I expect him to run very well in North Head on Sat (close to 33 min or maybe he will dip under it). Clarkey and Killacoat were running very strongly in front of me. Killacoat went out hard for each rep but Clarkey caught him on each rep.

PM: Out with Gerso for a 3k rep session. With an eye on Saturday’s race, Gerso opted for 2 reps and ran then at the first at 4.28 and the second one at 4.30 pace. Gerso is also hitting North Head and I’ve no doubt she will run another pb. All up 10k.

Wed: After missing out on a decent long run, I got out early on Wednesday, after a 9k warm-up (Rich Palmer joined me for most of it) the plan was for a 16k at marathon pace (3.50 pace for the 1st loop and 3.45 for the second loop). I wasn’t looking forward to the run as my legs felt very heavy during the warm-up. Tim Lindop joined myself and Rich for the 16k run. We seemed to be running into a headwind for most of the session. Rich wasn’t feeling great and dropped out at 5k. Tim took a break and joined again at 8k for 2k and at 13k for the last 3k effort. Great to have Tim there for the last 3k. Happy to keep the planned pace on very tired legs. All up 27k.

In the evening, headed out for a good few beers with Tom, Rich P and Phil Dove. Plenty of running talk and according to Phil I need to sort my nutrition big time for Berlin. Phil is heading back to London but I’m sure I’ll see him on the road again.

Thurs:
Out early with Gerso, Gillo & Big Bear (who is back running and looking bigger than ever). Gerso opted for 6 by 400s with the Bear and I decided to sprint the straights and jog the bends (8 laps in total). It was a relatively easy session and it finished up quite early which gave me plenty of time to get back to the gym and get some strength work in.
One more long run (36k) left before the taper. I will push the last 8k so I might get some of the boys out to help me..

I need direction..and 2nd place is not good enough!

Great tune from a the Scottish Band 'Teenage Fanclub' summed up my morning. I headed up to Cessnock on the Saturday so it wouldn't be much a drive to the Lake Macquarie Half. I left the guys at 6am (they decided to stay in Cessnock after staying up late playing poker and the weather was pretty average). Anyhow without going into too much detail I couldn't find Warner's Bay. I arrived shortly after the start of the half and planned to just use the course as a tempo. At the rego table I heard the 10.5 was starting in 40 secs, I filled out the form and dashed to the start about 10 secs after the gun. I worked my way throu' and was surprised to hit the 1k mark in 3.20 (but it was short -Richard Gardiner told me at the end he went throu' in 2.55 so it had to be short). The 2nd km marker was long and I start to reel in a few people. I was in 6th position at 3k and I hit 5k in 17.20 in 4th position. I caught the 2 guys in front of me at around 7k and I never caught sight of the front guy. The markers were more accurate as the 10k marker matched my garmin. Hit the 10k in 34.02. The last .5k felt pretty long and took me nearly 3 mins to finish. Finished up in 37.01 with a 2nd place finish. My garmin had 10.85 so the last 500m was definitely long. Richard Gardiner came home first in 36.20 and he mentioned that last year some guys comments on the course being about 300 to 400m long. Who cares, it wasn't the session I was looking forward. Ended up running back on the course and picking up Blue Dog for a 19k run in total.
I really wanted a long tempo hit out so i was pretty disappointed as time is running out for Berlin. I will re-work my plan this week and incorporate a long tempo. I need a good 10 days training before I enter taper mode.
Got back to Sydney and had no difficulty in finding the Cargo Bar where I met with Martin Harris 'mph' who is leaving Sydney for a new chapter in his life in the UK. I had the pleasure of running my first sub 3 hr marathon with Martin in Melbourne in 2005. You don't forget your first one...

800s * 8 (2 min standing recovery)

Down to rushcutters early and met up with Gerso. I was pretty tired, I hit 2.35 for every rep. Gerso ran 6 with an average of 3.30 and banged out the last rep in 3.19. I was pretty happy to run 2.35 for the last rep. I didn't have the energy to push it..

MLR

AM: Pretty tired this morning so when the alarm went at 5.30 I couldn't get up for my planned 90 min run. I headed to the gym for a cross training session (bike, eclitpir etc)
PM: Left work after 6pm and ran home and then went out to Moore park, legs were very heavy. I forgot my garmin and to be honest I was pretty glad as I didn't feel like pushing the pace. All up 88 mins.
Question for Superflake - What is the Lake Macquarie Half course like, I do recall you ran a pb up there a few years back. I'm heading up at the weekend. Anything I've read indicates the course is pretty flat but after Auckland in 2006 it's better getting a low down on the course from people who have ran it.

Out with the HuRT squad again

Mon: Easy 10k effort, legs were a little tired from the effort over the weekend.

Tues:
AM: Ran into work early and did some strength and stretching work.
Lunch: Out with the HuRT squad for a 4 by 3k session. I thought it was pretty hot there today so much so it was nice to run along the Art Gallery in the domain with the tree cover. Big crowd today, I decided I wanted to make it the Stone Gates today so stuck close to the front pack (Tom, Clarke, Charlie and Muz), the first rep felt fine until the last little climb out of the domain. Got to stone gates in 9.52 for the first rep.
Reps went as follows 9.52, 9.30, 10 mins (I was a few metres short on the 3rd rep), 9.40. Disappointed that I came up short by a few metres on the 3rd rep. Still and all, it was by far my best 4 by 3k session.
PM: After work went out for an easy 8k run with Ger, glad to get the legs moving again after the tough afternoon session.

Progressive run

After watching an awe inspiring men's Olympic marathon, I decided not to opt for a rest day and get a bit of training in. Went to the spare room and did some weights, worked on my ITB with the foam roller, ab work with the Bosu ball and plenty of stretching and strength exercises. Then hit Moore park for a progression run. The grass was nice and bouncy after the recent rainfall and I ran 8 continuous laps of the 1.2k loop. I used the garmin to monitor pace.
The pace of the laps were as follows:
4.25, 4.17, 4.10, 4.02, 3.58, 3.50, 3.43, 3.24. The legs felt pretty good and I finished off with 6 20 sec strides.
The hot weather (max of 27c) and humidity (55%) & smog never really materialised in the men's marathon which resulted in a group of 8 going throu' the 5km marker in sub 15 pace which is amazing for a championship marathon. I think a lot of the runners pre-conditioned themseleves for a 2.09 - 2.12 finish and were unable to respond when required.
Wanjiru deserved the win after pushing the pace from start. Monners (the expert from channel 7) felt the guys went too early but at half way they were never going to be caught. I thought Rothlin might reel in a few to claim bronze but the front runners kept the pace steady until the finish. The US runner Dan Ritzenhein ran very well to place in the top 10, he actually ran close to his pb. Baldini as usual worked his way up the field from 50th to finish 12th.

Who will win the Olympic marathon?

Can't remember the last time I went for a long run on my own. Anyhow, left the house after a nice lie-in and hit centennial just after 11am. The plan was to 9 laps of the inside track at 4.30 pace and then finish off with 2 1k's at 4 min/k pace. That's exactly how it panned out. Felt relatively comfortable until the last lap even though it was the fastest lap. Livo dropped by towards the end and promised coffee and croissants when i finished which gave me an added incentive to push the last 2k running - running sub 4m/k was pretty comfortable. It's weird, this running lark is very much a mental battle and the more I run the more I think Noakes is bang on the money with his central governor theory. Knee never gave me any trouble but was a little sore when i got home will ice for the rest of day. All up 36.2k in 2.41.
Interesting to watch the women's 5000m last night, obviously I was cheering for the beautiful Kara Goucher who ended up coming home in 9th with a pretty slow time of 15.49. I suppose the first km was ridiculously slow and the change in pace caught most people out. It fascinating to think some of the these girls went throu' 5000m last week in the 10000m final in 15.09 and the majority finished a lot slower last night in the 5000m.
Looking forward to the men's 5000m tonight and I can't see anyone stop Bekele unless the race is very slow which will give Lagat a chance. The men's marathon will also be an interesting race. There are about 10 runners who I think can win it. It's difficult to predict the winner as you don't really know how there training is going.
The Kenyans:
Martin Lel, Samuel Wanjiru
The Moroccans:
Jaouad Gharib, Abderrahim Goumri
The Americans:
Ryan Hall and possibly Brian Snell
The Ethiopians:
Deribe Merga, Tsegaye Tebede
The Eritrean: Yared Asmeron who ran very well last year in Oska and then ran a super 2.08 in Japan's Lake Biwa
Other Runners to watch: Atsushi Sato from Japan, Shami fro Qatar and from Europe Viktor Rothlin (Swiss) and Baldini (Italy).
It will be pretty hot so it won't be a super fast probably around 2.11. In saying that, it will be interesting to see if any of the countries work together. I could see the Kenyans and Ethiopians pushing hard from 5k to break up the field. Apparently Baldini is carrying an injury who is a great championship racer and also loves running in the heat. If he's injury free i expect him to get a medal. I also think Lel will also get a medal. Ryan Hall and Wanjiru will go close. Troopy should be happy with a top 10 finish but could surprise us. The Irish runner Martin Fagan who has been injured all year will be happy to run and finish the race. I have a feeling Rothlin from Swiss will take the race out. Can't wait for it now. Pity the world record holder Haile is not running but he is keen on taking me out in Berlin on the 28th Sept..35 days left..

Keeping on running...i can hear the tune in my head

Mon:Out for an easy recovery run with Ray and MC. 50 mins all up. Knee was a little sore during the run, obviously the extra long run on Sunday didn't help. I'm not a physio but it's definitely an ITB issue - so I attacked it with ice, anti-inflam's, foam roller and massage.
Tues:Out with the HuRT squad for a long progressive tempo, missed the start of the session and caught the guys in the domain about 5 mins in the session. Stuck with the front runners (Charlie, Dave Clarke, Muz and Tom) until the second loop). No idea of pace but it got progressive faster so much so Tom and I felt off the back of the lead grp..Knee was a little tender on the hill back to work.
Went for an 8k after work and the knee was troubling me. It seems to be more of an issue when I run on the hills or slower than 4.30 k/m pace.
Wed:MLR of 20k after work. Decided to run home and into Moore Park (approx 4k). Not wanting to run too slow, I ended up running 4k by 3 at 4m/k. Each 4k rep was followed by an easy 1k (4.30 pace). No issue with the knee so obviously the ice, foam roller, massage, stretching and strengthening is working.
Thurs:Up early and down to rushcutters for 800 sesion. First rep again was a little slow in 2.36. Legs were a little heavy from the night before but I could manage 7 more reps at 2.33 relatively comfortably. Gerso came down and ran 6 reps in 3.30 avg relatively comfortably. Both of us were pretty tired on the run back to the city.
Fri:Out for a marathon pace session in the domain, with the rain there was very few runners around (i did bump into Springer). 7k at marathon pace felt relatively comfortable but I did have to work a little harder on the way back out of the domain.
I seem to have the knee under control (well please say a prayer that i do). I've decided not to run the 35k Willy to Billy run because of the hill work involved. Instead I will opt for a 36k control run on the flat in centennial - a good session for Berlin.

Long Sunday run

Fri: Ran into work which is only 3.5k and then headed out at lunch for a 55 min run bumping into Mike and Tom on the way from Hickson road.

Sat: After a good few beers after work on Friday night, I didn't get out until 4pm. Hit centennial for Marathon pace effort. With the help of the garmin I hit 3.45 pace for 8k. It felt relatively comfortable but not as that easy. I was pretty tired on the cool down. All up 13k.

Sun: Took me a while to fall asleep after watching Bolt destroy the rest of the field in the 100m. I ran 4k to Queen's park to run the striders star. I arrived a 6.34am and the group had left, another guy arrived late (Ed from Israel) and we attempted to try to catch guys ahead. Instead of chasing them down we decided to cut them off as they left centennial. It was a big mistake and we didn't cut them off and ended up running a bit more than we intended. My stomach was feeling great and I was happy to stick to 4.50 pace. It was a beautiful run throu' all eastern suburb beaches - bronte, gordon's bay, clovelly and out to Maroubra. There were plenty of hills and stairs on the course. We got lost again around Botany Bay and at this stage I just wanted to get home. I realised at this stage I might miss the start of the women's marathon and end up running one myself. Finally got home after 3hrs 10 mins of running and covering approx 40k. Really enjoyed the women's marathon and it was inspiring to see a 38 year old win the race. 5 weeks left to Berlin...

Getting back into the groove...

It took me a little longer to shake the cold so I didn't really push myself in training from Mon to Wed.
Mon:
Out for a 50 min easy run with Ray, Muz, Mike C, Kilacoat and Dave Clark. We cut the run short to get back in time to watch the Aussies in the pool. Plenty of chat about the city to surf.
Tues
am: 30 min easy run
pm: 30 min easy run
Wed:
am: 30 min easy run with some cross training
pm: 40 min easy around the domain, bumped into Phil Dove who always seems to run at tempo pace so I tagged along for about 1.5k. He's heading back to the UK in Sept so I must organise a few drinks with the HuRT squad before he goes.
Thurs - Getting back into it....
am: 20 min easy into work and then got on the treadmill for 15 mins (I can't get use to running on the treadmill) So went for a bike session instead.
pm: Over to rushcutters with Gerso for an 800s session. The plan was 2.40 off 2 mins as I didn't want to push the first session back.
The first rep went 2.36 and felt too easy. The next six reps were run at 2.31 and they felt relatively comfortable. I decided to push it slightly for the last one and finished up 2.20. The rushcutters surface felt great and the few easy days probably put a little zip in the legs. Gerso ran 5 at 3.30 avg as she was pretty tired from Oztag the night before. The next 5 weeks will make or break Berlin....just need to stay focused!

Beautiful Day - C2S 47.48

A difficult week, work was very hectic and it didn't help coming down with the flu on Wednesday evening. On Wednesady morning, I had a decent 800s session but pulled up sore that evening - knot in my calf. Tapering for me is cutting back but the flu and calf injury put me on the sidelines for Thurs, Fri and Sat. I was very cranky as I really wanted to run the C2S. Gerso came over on Sat, and both of us were just miserable coughing and sneezing throu' the Olympic coverage on sat evening. I got up early after sleeping with the help of codral. I went out on the road and after a few strides decided to give the C2S a crack (well Livo thought I was fine running up and down the rd). Ran down with Gerso and tried to avoid as many people at the start but ran into Tim, Mike C, Rich P, Tim C, Truscott, G Howard, Fats, K Bateman etc.. well everyone. The plan was to give it a crack until 3k and continue to 5k if I felt good. I could always walk up O'Sullivan road if I wanted to pull out.
Started a lot slower than normal, and I didn't catch Tim L until 2k. Fats was just ahead and K Bateman (Fossil) was about 100m ahead. Dipped into double bay with Fats just ahead (Durante's tips on how to run down hill definitely helped). We went throu' 3k in just over 10 mins, ran comfortably with Fats who edged about 50m ahead of me. I hit 5k in 16.42 approx. I passed Matt Palmer and he drafted in right behind me. As we approach heartbreak hill, Matt pushed around me and powered up the hill. I ran it pretty steady and pulled in about 4-5 runners (including Fossil who was struggling up the hill) and sat behind fats about 3/4 way up the hill. Just kept it steady until the village and pushed by Fats. At that stage, I was feeling pretty good and ran strong around the lighthouse area down to military road. I climbed the double hills just before 10k and was half expecting Fats to come by me, but it didn't happen. I hit 10k in around 34.38 and passed Matt palmer at about 10.5k, I had a quick glance around and I saw Michael Kilacoat running strongly behind me. I used an Uncle Dave trick of focussing in on the next marker and strong to each one. 11k, 12k and 13k passed pretty quickly. I head Enda cheer me on a 13km, I just ran steady for the last km, I got a big cheer from my beautiful wife Livo at the roundabout and kicked home for a surprising 47.48 finish. A huge pb for me as 49.02 was my previous best and I really thought the calf strain and the cold would prevent me from running a decent time.
Some great runs out there, most notably my good friend Tom Highnam who ran a super 46.30 today. Tucks who is so strong it's not funny, Mike H and Charlie Low also ran very well. Must admit I was very happy to hold off Kilacoat, Fossil and Fats who were just behind me. Methinks the C2S is the toughest run out there, I was just happy to be run it today. I ended up having a great brunch in Sonja's and good few beers with Tim L, Enda and my good friend Rich P (who has another little angel on the way ;)Nearly forgot to mention Gerso (my sis in law) who came home in 68 mins which is a super run with the flu and all. The really thanks should got to Livo who convinced both of us to run today.....both of us were oh so cranky this morning..it ended up a beautiful day!

Recovery Monday

With a day off as a result of the NSW Bank Holiday, I got the opportunity to sleep in. Left Surry Hills with Gerso around 11am and ran down to rushcutters and met up with Durante and ran the C2S course. Another beautiful day for running. Got a chance to cool the legs in the water at the end of the run and Bondi was glorious with majority of the community at work.

Running Strong...

Fri: Easy 7k in the domain, bumped into Ray Wareham and Anthony Murrell. We chatted about the Striders race in Lane Cove. I told the boys I felt Durante would cruise to early 33s and maybe even dip under 33. The boys were surprised and I was disappointed that Tom decided to run the relays - so no showdown.

Sat: I had promised Mike Conway and Tim Lindop that I would pace them to a sub 35. Mike called me on Fri and told me that he was sick and would be unable to run. Tim had a slight calf issue but was keen to give it a go.
Durante called over early and told me he felt ready for a good run. In the 6 wks leading up to the race, he had pushed the hills in his long runs, he'd ran several longer tempo sessions and he also ran the 5k to 10k section of the C2S pretty hard on a number of occasions. This gave him the confidence to tackle the hilly Lane cove course.
Started out with Tim, as I pacer I went throu' the 1st km at little too quick (3.22), I slowed up and went throu' 2k in 6.52, we ran steady up Scribbly and as we came down I told Tim to push from 3k to 5k. I kept a few yards ahead of Tim and we were ran comfortable to 4k on schedule, at 4.5k I turned around on the hill and Tim was at least 50m back, he waved me on and pulled out with calf issues. I slowed up and ran with Ray and Pete Walker for the rest of the race. At the 5.3 turnaround, I took it relatively easy to the finish apart form a 3.16 last km.
I was delighted to hear Durante had run a stellar 33.01 to finish 4th overall. We ran back to get Gerso who ran a very quick km to come home in 46.23 a pb by over a minute. Gerso recent training is definitely paying off. Luc my friend from Holland ran a super 42.4x, he commented at the end of the race how well the event was organised. It was a beautiful day for running..

In the arvo, I went to the gym and ran for 35 mins on the treadmill and finished off with some light weights and stretching.

Sun: Out for a long run this morning with Terence. I ran for 35 min before meeting up with Terence in centennial, I'd been averaging 4.45 k/m and we continued that pace for another lap of centennial. We left the park and decided to run the C2S course so we left via wollahra gates down Ocean road and into Double Bay. Terence was keen to push the hills. The pace dropped to 4.35 average as we hit military road. We ran into Bondi and ran steady up Bondi rd. The avg pace dropped to 4.29 and I was happy to get back to surry hills. All up 2 hrs 32 with a avg pace of 4.29 and just short of 34k. Pretty tried at the end, I'm glad I've finished this endurance cycle of my marathon pgm. Hopefully with a bit of rest this week I will have a good crack at the C2S next Sunday.

400s

8 by 400s in the domain. I ran 4 avg'ing 72 sec for one direction and 74 for the other direction. I also ran 6 reps with Gerso avg'ing 94 secs which I suspect is a little too quick. With Lane Cove on Sat, I will take it relativley easy tomorrow.

Pacing instead of Racing

am: 8k easy

pm: 14k easy

Pretty tried at the moment, glad I'm pacing and not racing on Saturday. Still and all sub 35 pacing in Lane Cove will be no walk in the park.

Double Tuesday

Mon: Cross training session - 20 min power session on the bike, 20 mins ecliptr and some light weights.

Tues: With work commitments I knew I could not get out with the HuRT squad. So I picked a Fartlek session out of Sandrock's 'Running Tough'. The US Olympian Don Kardong used this session as a prep for the marathon.
15 min warm up
2 mins @ half marathon pace (HMP)
Float of 1.30 min @ marathon pace (MP)
1.30 @ HMP
1 min @ MP
30 sec @ HMP
30 sec @ MP
Repeat 5 or 6 sets.
After the warm-up, I completed 5 sets. The HMP varied from 3.30 to 3.35. The MP was varied from 3.50 to 4 min. The wind was a factor today. I would have liked to hit the HMP at 3.30 and the MP at 3.50. Enjoyed the session. Quads still feel a little tired from last weeks effort.

PM: Out with Gerso for 2 by 3k off 2 min with a 1k fast rep. Gerso went out pretty quick for the first rep and avg'd 4.26k/m for the 3k loop. The 2nd rep was a little slower with a 4.35 km/m. The last 1k rep from the stone gates in the domain down the hill was covered in 3.52. Another strong session by Gerso.

Tourist Trot

Out for a long run with the Sydney Striders after watching the Aussies smash the All Blacks in Homebush last night. The scheduled run was the the 28.5k Tourist Trot. Durante and I ran from my house in Surry Hills and we took off from Centennial Park with Tom, Fats, Steve Jackson, Cam Arnold, Chris, Peter & Gretta Truscott and Keith Bateman. The pace early on was 4.28 pace and didn't really vary as we left the park towards the harbour bridge via Edgecliff & Kings cross. I had some pain at the side of my stomach and was hoping the pit stop at the Siebel on Hickson Rd would alleviate it but I couldn't shake it. We crossed the bridge and ran up a few hills on the North Shore, I struggled up the hills which surprised me but I just tried to keep contact with the group. As we looped back around back onto the harbour bridge, the pace dropped with Tom leading from the front. As we cut through circular quay, I told Durante that the stomach pain was still there but I was determined to run through it as I am not going to stop in the middle of the Berlin marathon. The pace dropped again as we covered 1k loop from the Opera hse gates to farm cove in 3.40, this split the group with myself, Tom, Keith and Durante staying together as we entered Woolloomooloo. As we approach the hill on Wylde st (Potts pt), Truscott made a comment about pushing the hill, he dropped everyone as he powered up the hill, on the flat at the top Keith came by me and caught Tom and the three guys ran off into the distance. I looked at my garmin and the avg pace had dropped to 4.15 which was pretty quick for a long run especially when you factor in the hills. As I ran towards Moore park, Durante caught up with me and we ran back to the finsh. I grabbed some jellys and ran an additional 4k in centennial park as I needed to cover 34k. Pretty tired at the finish and disappointed that I was dropped but in saying that, I am coming off the back of two big weeks and today's long run is definitely good prep for Berlin. All up 34.8k. Looks like I have stiff competition in Berlin with Haile toeing the line me with me...

5k steady

I was planning on heading out to run the 5km coolrunning challenge. I woke early with a sore throat and decided to go back to bed. Headed up to centennial in the arvo and ran easy for 6k. 4k was with Bron who bumped into in the park. Then ran 5k steady at 3.28 pace. Finished up with a 2k cool down. All up 13k.
Best of luck to Tucks in the Cities marathon tomorrow. He is running well at the moment and I expect him to go very well.

Running High...

Thurs:
AM: Deek's tempo session with hill reps so I kicked off with a 15 min warm-up, 3.6k tempo around the outside track in centennial. Legs were tired but kept the pace honest at 3.36 k/m for the tempo run. 5 min easy jog and then 5 hill reps from the kiosk up to top of oxford st gates. The first 4 reps were 1 min 40 sec on the button. Last rep was completed in 1.34 with the help of Enda cycling with me to the top. I then ran 4 very short rep (50 sec avg). Tim Lindop ran the short reps with me and he was a lot stronger than me which bodes well for Tim in the C2S and next week's 10k in Lane Cove.
All up 16k
PM: Out with Gerso for a gate to gate session. The session was 6 reps off 2 mins. Gerso ran the first two reps pretty quickly avg'ing 4.06 pace. The remaining reps were ran steady avg'ing 4.11 pace. Another good session which will give Gerso plenty of confidence for the C2S.
All up 10k

Fri:
PM: Suppose to be a cross training day but after hectic day at work, I wanted to get out for a run and clear the head. I left the office around 6.15 for beautiful run in the domain in the rain. I seemed to have the domain to myself for 45 min run in the rain...legs were still tried but the run definitely cleared the head..

MLR 18.5k

AM: Out to centennial with Durante for my medium long run. It was pitch dark again, you can't see a thing for the first 40 mins. I did notice some of Sean's crew out there this morning. With the cool weather everyone had a extra layer on. I didn't want to but I couldn't help pushing the hills again ;) Of course Durante was up for it..

PM: Spin class and plenty of stretching, I like mixing the running up with a bit of spinning..i hope it makes me stronger...your full of laughs today Kanser.....yeah I know..

am: Ran into the city this morning for a session with Gerso. It was pretty cold but we got straight into it. The plan for for 2 by 3km off 2 mins with 1k at the end of the session. Gerso was very strong again today and ran 4.29 pace for rep 1 and 4.28 for rep 2 and off 2 mins ran the 1k in 3.57. All up 13k

pm: Out with the HuRT squad for a lactate threshold session of 4 by 3k. The plan was to run comfortably hard. Dave Clark, Michael K, Tom and Durante went straight to the front. I settled in behind them with Ray popping up now and again, he seemed to just appear out of the trees. The run from Opera house gates to the stone gates entrance in the domain was a lot tougher with the wind and hills.
Rep 1: 3.29 avg pace - about 120m short of the gates
Rep 2: 3.20 avg pace
Rep 3: 3.28 avg pace - a little closer to the gates
Rep 4: 3.18 pace
On the last rep, Dave Clark came by me and I ran with him stride by stride for around 300m but when we got Mrs Macq chair, he put in a surge and left me for dead. Basically he ran over the top me, something Deek used always do in the last 10k of the marathon. I was reading the article on Mona last night in RFYL and he was saying Deek was 'fierce' competitor that loved running over the top of people. Anyhow I was also impressed with Tom today who backed up very well after his long run yesterday. Still and all, I felt very strong today and looking forward to this session next month, will attempt to stay with Clark next time...

Recovery Monday

am: easy 35 mins run in and around Moore Park

pm: Spin class and some core conditioning work

A weekend of running...

Fri: Out with Tom, Ray, Springer, Mike Harrison and Tim C for an easy run on the North Shore. I didn't really know the area and was worried that I would not get to work in time for a meeting so I pushed the 2nd half of the run. Well pushed the hills and there seemed to plenty of hills on the way back Tom and Tim C kept with me for most of the way until Tom knocked over a poor unfortunate child by accident. It seems funny now but it wasn't funny at the time. All up around 13.5k.

Sat: Tim Lindop dropped over and we left from Surry Hills and ran down to Rushcutters to avoid the pilgrims. Nice easy jog until the 5k marker in the C2S. Pushed the pace from there and eased into heartbreak hill and once I got to the top near Vaucluse village, I started to push the pace to the 10k mark of the city to surf. Ended up running 18.52 which was quicker than last week. Tim was about 35 secs behind me. We ended up running down to bondi and went for a recovery session in icebergs. The combo of the pool/sauna definitely helped the legs. All up 14.2k. Tim L gave me a copy of the London marathon 2008 which I watched with great interest..

Sun: Out early with Steve Thursten and Tim Lindop, we weren't sure if we could run in centennial with The Pope and piligrims in town. The park was empty and we ran the 6k wollarha gates loop. There was no need to force the pace as the boys were keen to keep the pace honest (we went straight to 4.35 pace), I pushed the pace on wollarha hill and Steve T kept with me all the way. We left the park and made over way down to Coogee via Randwick. As we left Bronte, I told the guys I was planning on running steady up the long drag back to Queen's Park. Again Steve T kept me all the way. At this stage we'd been running 1 hr 40 mins and the avg pace was down to 4.25. Tim L called it a day as he needed to run a fair bit to get back to his car. Tim L is getting stronger every week and he will go v well in the C2S. Steve and I opted to run Wollarha gates again, I pushed it as hard as I could and I still couldn't shake him. We ran down to back to the Kiosk and ran throu' the middle of the park avg'ing 3.50 pace, Steve dropped off a little and ran throu' the Pilgrims to get back home. I ran for another 24 mins, all up just over 33k in 2.23. Good to get another long run under my belt...

The Pope is in town...

AM: Over to centennial for some more hill work. Opted for the longer reps up to Wollahra gates. Legs were a little heavy and completed 6 reps in 2.45 avg followed by 2 steep reps in 60 secs. I’ve put a lot kms in the legs in the last week and I could really feel at the top of each hill. On the way back, I had a little pain at the ball of my feet. Dropped into the pharmacy on the way to work and bought special ‘ball of foot cushions’ that seemed to help.

PM: With the Pope and pilgrims in town, we needed to avoid the Domain so Gerso and I headed out to Rushcutters for an 800 session. It was another glorious day for running. Gerso opted for 5 reps off 2 mins. The reps went as follows – 3.15, 3.16, 3.18, 3.20, 3.18. Good running and pretty consistent reps for Gerso. I finished up doing 4 by 150m strides. The legs felt much better.. ..

MLR

Out with Enda, Durante, Paul O'Doherty and JC in Centennial. It was a cool dark morning and we took it relatively easy apart from hill leading up to Wollahra gates. Durante and I pushed up the hill and the 2nd time around it felt pretty easy. All up 18k.

The Hills are alive...

AM: Out to centennial early for a session Deek used to do in Boulder. 20 min warm up, 2 mile steady tempo, 5 min easy jog, 8 by 8 hills (4x4 in 1 min, 4x4 in 40 sec). He ran the hills as hard as he could. He kept his hill reps short as he was keen to maintain pace/form for each hill rep. You also go lactic very early on in the hill if you push it. He incorporated long hills into his long runs and tempo sessions and ran the hill sections pretty hard.
Anyhow enough about Deek, the warm up was easy and I ran the outside track 3.6k at 3.42 pace which felt relatively comfortable. Instead of jogging for 5 mins, I chatted to Tim Lindop. 8 reps up to the Oxford gates (4 by 1 min 42 sec & 4 by 60 secs). Tough session, I was pretty tired running back home. I’ve pencilled this in for next week and I will run the 3.6k loop at 3.35 pace.

PM: Beautiful day in Sydney for running, I got out with Gerso for a 2 by 3k rep session. Gerso was keen to keep the pace at 4.50. I didn’t tell her the pace until we finished both reps. The avg pace for the first one was 4.38 and 4.49 for the 2nd one. Nice easy recovery run for 9.5k all up. Good to see Tim Lindop leading out the HuRT squad in the domain…

easy - steady

am - Easy 35 min run, kept the pace at 4.35

pm - Steady 14.2k run with Durante, Steve T, Mike Conway, Springer, Ray and Mike Harrison. Legs were a little heavy at the start, at the turnaround on Hickson we were averaging 4.32 pace and the way back I pushed it slightly averaging 4.10. Strange but a nice feeling running on tired legs..

Need to replace my blog photo but need to get a Berlin tee-shirt...any suggestions....

Modified my Berlin program based on the number of suggestions from Tucks.

Sat: Durante called over and we left from Surry Hills for a hilly tempo session. We ran down to Rushcutters and ran the rest of the C2S course. We wanted to push from the 5k to the 10k on the C2S course. We pushed up Heartbreak (4.10 pace), and then brought the avg pace down to 3.50 and kept it steady until we hit the 10k marker. We easied into Bondi and ran steady up the hill out of Bondi back to Surry Hills. All up just over 20k.

Sun: Out with Durante, Steve Thurston, Enda, Mike Kilacoat, Mike Conway and Terence. I've cover 4k before I met up with the guys, we then covered 2 by 6k loops in centennial. I was keen to push the hills and I was joined by Steve and Durante who were keen to keep up with me. Enda and Mike K opted out after an hour and we went in search of more hills. We left the park and went down to Bronte and came back via a long steep hill. I tucked in behind Steve as we pushed up long hill, Durante dropped off the pace as Steve and I pushed up another hill, just as we came to the top of it Durante who was at least 20 yards back closed the gap to finish level with us. Got back to Centennial and finished off with running 2 by 1k rep with Durante at 3.50 pace. All up 31.5k in 2.18.

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail...

Well, I've been struggling since Sunday (probably a combo of the half, jetlag and a tough two weeks on the road). I'm not that worried with the down time as the most important sessions this week are on Sat and Sun.
The plan for Berlin is broken into 3 phases - strength and endurance, lactate threshold and competition phase. The sessions have been pulled from many sources - Deek, Mona, Daniels, Rothlin, Pfitzinger and many other books/mags I've read over the last few years.
I've included 10 long runs (2hrs 30 or more), the strength phase will have plenty of hill work and some spin work on the bike. Lactate threshold/tempo sessions are a littered throughout the program and will vary in length from 8k to 16k. I've reduced the V02 max sessions and this will result in making very few appearances to the HuRT squad [don't understand the current HuRT schedule with 3 V02 max sessions in a row [Hickson, 14*3 and the MonaFartlek]. On the race front, I've only pencilled in the C2S but would like the option of a half hit-out on the 14th of Sept, it might end up being a time trial.
As mentioned, this week has been relatively easy, On Tues got out with the HuRT for 45 mins fartlek, took it easy as I was very tried. On Wed got out for 12k easy with Mike and on Thurs got out with Dan for hilly run around Darling Point and finished off with 8*100m strides. Today opted for 8k easy with Gerso and Kate (another pb 1.29 half up in the GC, there is a bit of a trend here as it seems all of Sean's crew ran quite well). I've spin tonight....

Sub 4hrs for Gillo

15 weeks ago, Gill (my sis in law) told me that she was heading to the Gold Coast to run a sub 4hr marathon. On Sunday Gillo came home in a time of 3.59. I had the pleasure of cycling along side Gillo for the last 12k of the marathon where she toughed it out. As most of you know running a marathon is very difficult but putting a time constraint on yourself makes it a hell of a lot tougher but Gill pushed through the pain barrier to ensure she achieved her goal. When I get time I will publish some photos on the blog. The majority of the HuRT squad performed poorly (Serg, Tom, Durante, Mike Conway, Tim L and myself). The only decent performance came from Terence Bell (2.47) and Rich Palmer (2.49) in the marathon.
With 12 weeks to Berlin, I am finalising a program that will get me over the line in 2.40...bring it on...

Running on empty

Sunday: Got out for an easy 70 min run. My calves were very sore so I kept the pace very easy. The Saucony Type A are a great pair of runners but I don't think they are suitable for 10ks. I also didn't wear my orthortics which obviously can't of helped.

Monday: Opted for a cross training session as they calves were still very sore. I'm hoping they will be better tomorrow.

I suppose I never really ran in Ireland before I left for Sydney but after reading the various race reports online, I am surprised by the number of races and the quality of the runners in each race. It compares very favourable to Australia.
The winner of the 10k in Dunshaughlin ran 29.45, the race report along with the results are attached. I actually came home a little quicker 33.34...! Pretty tried at the moment, hopefully the legs will start to feel better by the end of the week for the Gold Coast half.

10K PB 33.38 - Dunshaughlin 10km

Shocked and very surprised with my PB today at the Dunshaughlin 10k. I've had two huge nights on the beer and I wasn't feeling great all day. On Thursday night, I went out for beers with my Da and 3 Brothers (Big Phil, Derek and Christopher). After about 7 pints of guinness I told Phil for the next round I'll have a glass of beer. He was having none it (lines like no brother of mine is going to drink a glass, your embrassing the family etc..you'd have to know Phil to understand). Anyhow Friday was spent recovering and I went into the city to meet up with Jo and Ken for dinner and promised myself that I'd only have a few drinks. Kidding myself as we hit Brogans and Jo started to talk to the lead singer of the Frames Glen Hansard and recent oscar winner for the indie flick Once. We ended up talking until Brogans closed and Glen invited us back to a late bar. We finished up at 3am which meant Ken & Jo only had 2 hours sleep as they were due to catch a flight to the UK. They missed the flight - sorry guys and I was dying all day. So I figured I'd skip the 10k but Big Phil my Bro convinced me to head down and give it a shot.
Went throu' the first Km in 3.20 and 3k in 10 mins flat. I felt great I couldn't believe it, I kept an eye on my garmin and was keen to keep the pace at 3.20. Went throu' 5k in 16.42 and I knew there was a few hills in the 2nd half but I felt really strong pushing up the hills and caught quite a few people on the long drag up to 8k. I knew at this stage the pb was in the bag. There was a bit of a head wind but I just tucked in behind a guy and put a kick in with 300m left to cross the line in 33.38 - a massive pb. The course is offically IAAF measured so it will be nice to move further away from Durante on the striders list ;) Heading out for more beers now..