Tuesday, October 28, 2008

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 ;)

Sunday, October 26, 2008

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.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

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.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

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.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

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...

Sunday, October 19, 2008

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.

Monday, October 6, 2008

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