Running on..

Thurs: Hill Session of sorts..
65 mins of running out to Balls Head and back into the city, I ran easy on the flats and pushed the hills, there were some short sharp hills and some long hills. Pretty shattered after the session
Fri: Easy
Easy 40 mins run from Shelley Street out along Hickson road and into the Domain. Beautiful day for running, crisp clear and a beautiful blue sky.
Sat: MLR with 5k hilly tempo
95 mins run out via the C2S course, pushed the pace for 5k from O'Sullivan to the 10k mark in the C2S and covered it in 18.20. All up 20 odd km.
Sun: Long Run
Out with Terence and Clyde for a long run. We ran around centennial and then left the park to run the C2s and out to Bronte and back to Centennial via Queen's Park. Terence is training for the Commonwealth Champs (100k) in the UK in Sept so he continued on. I finished up after 2hr 16 mins at 4.42 pace (29k)
Well done to all the boys who completed the 11k S2S, Serg (35.42), Timmy (37.46) & Conor in 43.59)

Mid week running....

Tues:
4k run into work
5 by 2k at lunch, the reps were pretty evenly paced (3.29, 3.26, 3.28, 3.25, 3.28). It was actually quite warm out there today. Running these sessions on your own can be quite difficult and you really need to concentrate. For rep 2 after about 600m of running, I was avg'ing 3.36 pace and immediately had to lift the pace.

Wed:
Out with Timmy nice and early for a MLR. Ran to the park (2k), then ran 15k with Timmy and ran home for 19k all up. Both of us were pretty tired on the run. The pace started out easy but we did move from 4.50 pace (loop 1) down to 4.36 pace (loop 2) and finally hit 4.24 for the final loop.
It will be interesting to see how Timmy & Serg go in the Sutherland to Surf this week as both are running very well at the moment.

Happy Mondays

I ran into work (4k). Missed catching up with the boys. Got out for an easy 55 min run on my own. Similar loop to a typical Monday run, this time running from Shelley St into the Domain and turning back after hitting the Art Gallery. Another glorious day for running..

Rambling on...

Sat: Out with Timmy and the Tank for a run on the C2S course. Jogged from Surry Hills and took off with the boys at the 5k marker in the C2S and pushed it until the 10k mark. Timmy and the Tank dropped me at the base of heartbreak Hill and I struggled to keep them in sight for the rest of the 5k. Timmy ended up covering the 5k 18.40, I caught Tank at the bottom of military rd and finish in 18.51 and the Tank finished in 19.08. I continue on with Timmy and ran back to centennial. All up 1hr 40 mins. No Garmin so not sure of the distance, probably around 22k.
Sun: Out for an easy 90 mins run on my own in centennial. 4.40 avg pace. It was a glorious day for running...

Pottering around

Easy 35 min run today and finished the day with a massage as I was very stiff this morning. Went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince last night. I must admit, I am a Harry Potter fan, I really enjoyed the last 3 books. The movies have struggled but I am glad to say that the 'half blood prince' is a very good movie that will be enjoyed by adults and the kids alike! The special effects are magical especially at the start of the movie when we follow the Death eaters through London. The more mature actors are great and the kids still have a lot to learn, there are some cringe worthy moments especially some of the romance scenes with Ron, Lavender and Hermione. To think these kids are millionaires as a result of the franchise. Anyhow, good movie 6.8/10.

HuRT squad (800s by 8 on Hickson Rd)

Quite a large crowd today, Mike Conway made a call to split squad into 3 groups. I ran with group 1 which included (English Andy, Tucks, Serg, Vlad, Andrew Wilson, Conway & Darren Moyle).
Serg led from the front for each rep and avg'ed approx 2.23-2.24 for session. For the 1st 3 reps I was a few metres behind the second grp which had Vlad, Tucks & Darren with Andrew popping up all over the place. I was avg'ing 2.28 for the reps. Vlad and Darren were tiring for each rep and I actually felt stronger the longer the session went thus running ahead of the guys for the remaining reps. I more or less ran with Tucks for last 3 avg'ing about 2.27 all up. Serg was pretty strong today and even has the ability to thrown in a few surges. Conway to my surprise was also impressive avg'ing 3.32 for the session. Andy is recovering well from the GC and even though he claims he didn't enjoy the race, he now wants to run the marathon in Sydney in Sept. Going to see Harry Potter tonight....so will have a review for you tomorrow.

MLR and a little more

Out with young ;) Timmy Lindop this morning, ran 2k to centennial and then stuck with Timmy for a progressive tempo
6k loop (avg 4.23) and powering up the 850m Wollahra Hill (WH)
6k loop (4.08) and sprinting up the WH, young Timmy who is in great shape was keen to drop me but I had a little kick towards the end to put a few metres in him.
3k loop (3.55) ( Timmy completed the full 6k loop but I hadn't got the time. Jogged back to Surry Hills for 18.5k all up.
Meeting cancelled so I decided to head out for a run in the arvo with Serg, Tom, Clyde, English Andy, Conway and Jon Binfield. Ran to centennial and back to the city via Surry Hills and down to Shelley Street for all up 71 mins. I didn't have a garmin but i reckon it was all up around 16k. Very tired at the end...

HuRT squad progressive tempo

4k run in this morning, then caught up with a relatively small group for a progressive tempo session with the HuRT boys. I ended up running with Tucks and Vlad for the first few reps (to be honest I was just interested to know why Vlad dropped out of the GC at 26k as I knew i wasn't in shape to keep with them). He mentioned that he was very comfortable running with Dave Criniti and Troopy until about 24k and then got stomach cramps which led him to pulling out. To be honest, I think he went out a little too hard and don't believe he was capable of running 2.24 on his current form. 2.30 is more realistic based on his current 1/2 and 10k times..
Progressive tempo started out a 4 m/k, 3.50, 3.40, 3.35, 3.38 for the last 5 mins. Tucks ran over the top of Vlad for the final 5 mins. Craddock is running well and rest of the boys ran very poorly..

Monday

Easy 60 min run with some of the Hurt Squad (Tom, Serg, Tucks, 6foot charlie, craddock and Matt). Great to see Tom back running again.
Easy 20 min run home after work.

Lazy Bones

With work committments and the man flu, I didn't get much running in last week. I got out with the HuRT squad on Thurs and stayed at the back of the pack for the 2k by 5. Serg was looking pretty fast and Timmy was flying and putting a good few seconds into Conway for each rep. On Friday, I went out for an easy 45 min run with Ben, Serg and Tucks. On Sat I opted for an easy 10k instead of running with Timmy, I did push the last 5k in managed to cover it in 18.30. I managed an 80 min easy run today but to be honest I am struggling at the moment. The motivation is just not there....i am trying to convince myself to focus on the Melbourne marathon but it's proving difficult. I will tick over for the next few weeks and see how I go.
Congrats to all the boys who ran up in the Gold Coast, lots of great performance and pbs from Timmy, Easy Tiger, Enda, Eoin, Tucks, Keith Bateman, Charlie and Uncle Dave in the marathon. Dave's performances continue to amazing me, his race report is worth reading.
Just for you Timmy, I caught 'W', Oliver Stone's depiction of George Bush's life to date. Quite an eventful one at that. He tended to focus on the big picture and let others focus on the detail to his detriment. Really he was more of a pawn than a dark knight. He comes across as a bit of a lost soul. Anyhow, not a bad flick 6.2/10

Thoughts turn to Gold Coast

Due to work commitments, didn't get a chance to run on Friday, it was probably a good thing as I had a sore throat. I ventured out today for a steady 10k in approx 38 mins. Not sure it was a good idea as I am feeling worse for wear now! Reckon I am coming down with the flu.
Anyhow to keep Timmy happy, I watched 'Pride and Glory' last night, the film follows a multi-generational police family in New York who become embroiled in corruption. Ed Norton is pretty good in it but Colin Farrell is very unconvincing as the corrupt brother-in-law. It starts well but is very predictable and is also slightly too long 5.5/10.
The boys are probably hitting the sack now as they prepare for tomorrow's race. In the marathon, all the best to Uncle Dave, English Andy, Eamo, Eoin and Rich Palmer. In the half all the best to Tucks, Charlie Low, Timmy, Easy Tiger & Enda. I will be up early checking the results. ..Just hope the likes of Timmy and Tom behave themselves at the after party.

HuRT squad (gate to gate by 8 approx 920m)

Due to work commitments (looks like this will be a common theme for the next few mths), I missed the first 4 reps. Serg was at the front looking very fast avg'ing 3m/k for each rep. Fats (on his comeback session) and Tucks was right behind him. I ran the first 2 rep in 3.25 avg and for the remaining 2 reps ran with Tucks (3.15 & 3.10). Longer cool down than normal as I missed the initial reps. Calf held up well, it's not 100% but it ain't too bad especially if i can run a rep in 3.10. Will focus on kms and a few tempos for the next 2 weeks before I embark on any real speed work...planning on watching some movies..so reviews will come in time.

Easy 10k

Pretty sore after the massage last night. Didn't get out for a run at lunch so went for an easy 10k after work. The massage seems to have done the trick, calf is much better today.