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.