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