Hobart, Dubai or Beppu...or a combo

Wed: 8k easy, back was a little tight

Thurs: 800 session on my own, but pulled the plug after 2 reps as the my calf was tight. Ended up just running 10k easy

Fri: 5k easy with Eamo and a little bike work in the gym with lots of stretching

Sat: 10k in with a bit of tempo in the middle of it, warmed down with a lap of centennial with Steve Thurston.

Sun: 30k with Clyde at 4.18 pace. Clyde ran 22k with me; it’s amazing how easy it is when you’ve someone running with you. It was pretty hot at the start but cooled down towards the end of the run. Didn’t feel the calf or back. I will stay away from speed work for a week or so until the calf settles as speed seems to aggravate it.
Will need to ramp up my long runs to be a genuine chance for Hobart...already looking into contingencies...Dubai or Beppu may be options..!

Getting back on Track

Took a week off after JP Morgan (ticked over during the week by getting to the gym - cross training and also did some spinning on the bike)

Got plenty of massage and even ventured to see the Butcher from Bondi on Wednesday evening which to be honest I never find that bad. I know Enda and Tom find it extremely painful. Not sure what it is but I tend to sleep during my deep tissue massage and it’s no different with the Butcher. He did a great job at releasing my calf.

Wed 16th: 9k run with Eamo
Thurs 17th: Same as Wednesday but pushed it a little harder
Fri 18th: Ran from Shelley Street over to the Physio in Milson’s point and ran back.
Sat 19th: 45 mins in centennial
Sun 20th: Out on my own for a long run, didn’t get out until after 2pm, happy to get through the session. 28k in 2hrs 8 mins.
Mon: Easy 10k
Tues: PT session with Grant in the morning. Ran into work and got out for a 6k tempo (held 3.38 pace). 1km warm up & 1km cool down.

Still have a few niggles, my back feels very stiff so I will continue to stretch and ramp up slowly in the next few weeks.

JP Morgan - 19.11

Keeping this one short, not one of my best races. Felt good going into the race but 500m into the race after going out pretty hard my calf cramped up (felt like a cramp you get in the middle of the night). I thought my race was over but somehow I managed to run through it without completely pulling the calf. Going into the race we thought we would win the 'Male event' but Swim Australia turned up with Brett Cartwright & Bradley Croker and they effectively put a minute into us. On a positive front I was in front of Enda (19.21) and Timmy (19.4x). Tim who rarely runs a poor race faded pretty badily in the second half. Spent the rest of the evening icing the calf. Got a massage yesterday and went to the physio today who told me to take 10 days off running :(

Second Coming - 34.44

Well after over 2 years, I broke 35 mins for 10k!! What a relief to say the least. I reckon my forced taper helped. Went to the physio on Thurs evening and he gave me the go ahead to race. My left SI was very tight which was a concern given I'd had a stressie in my right back in 2009.
The weather Gods also were also hampering my chances with the forecast for 32c on Sunny. Rocked up to meet Timmy, Fenton, Tucks, High & Laura. Everyone was concerned about how hot it was but I just focused on running as hard as I could to break 35.
When the gun went off, I just ran hard from the start keeping High and Fenton in focus which was pretty easy as the straights were pretty long. Hit 3k in just over 10mins, soon after Fenton passed Richy High. I got on the back of Richy between 3k and 4.5k and when I felt he was slowing i passed him. Went by the lead girl and a few others and tried to keep Fenton in eyesight from there to the finish. Went by 5k in 17.05 feeling comfortable but from then on the heat had an impact. Struggled from 8k to 10k but knew i had sub 35 in the bag.
Happy with the finish time and more so as most of the guys ran 45 secs to a min slower (Tucks 34.09, Fenton 34.12, Rich H 35.22 and Laura in 38.40.)
Looking forward to JP Morgan on Wed, apparently Timmy is running. I am looking forward to the match-up. Bring it on :)

Results

easy wednesday

Ran into work and went out at lunch for an easy 10k. I was planning on a little longer but i seem to have a little niggle in my lower back. Doesn't bother me running but i can feel it when i sit down for long periods. I have massage booked for tomorrow evening so hopefully a bit of deep tissue will solve it..

400s

After a big night out on Sat, I decided to take Sunday off. It was my first day off in a long time and with Sunday's 10k run fast approaching, I am planning on reducing my volume significantly this week to give it a good crack. The forecast is not looking great with highs of 32c forecast and it's always a little bit warmer out in homebush.
On Monday I ran into work and went for a 10k run with Brad at lunch.

Tues:
am - PT session with Big Bear and Grant. Again lots of focus on core & gluts. I typically have this session on Thursdays but given I tend to be sore for a few days after it I decided to bring it forward a few days.

lunch (400s by 8 rolling off 2 mins). I decided to push this session from the start. I took off quick for each rep until Tucks pulled me back in the last 200m. On the majority of reps, he was second ahead of me. I was ahead of the rest of the HuRTs (Rich H, Timmy, TB etc) for all the reps until the final one where Rich H, his mate from ANZ and TB reined me in. The times went as follows

rep 1: 66
rep 2: 67
rep 3 68
rep 4 68
rep 5 69
rep 6 68
rep 7 69
rep 8 69

I pulled the plug on rep 8 as I felt i was going backwards and working far too hard, don't I think I could of ran sub 70 for 9 or 10. Still and all, i was happy with the session.