Mid week rambling..

Tues: 400s by 10 off 60 secs recovery jog
I must admit 400s are my favourite session and I have done them in a while. So I was actually looking forward to a shorter sharper session.

With work commitents, I needed to get out very early on Tues and headed down to a damp and wet oval in Kensington. After a 15 min warm up, I got straight into it, the reps went as follows
75, 74, 74, 73, 72, 73, 71, 71, 71, 71. Not sure fast but I felt stronger as the session progressed. Finished off with an easy 10 min cool down.

Wed:
100 mins easy with Chalks. Not sure of the pace, it was around 4.35.

It felt a lot easier than last week. I've decided not race with Striders. May just go as a 40 mins pacer or run it at marathon pace!

Flat as a pancake

Mon: Easy running

Ran in from the childcare centre and it became very apparent that my legs were very heavy indeed. Went out for a 40 min easy run with Berger at lunch and they started to feel a little better towards the end of the run. In saying that, feel very tired. Hopefully the massage tomorrow will sort me out!

It must be the Irish in me...

Thurs: Not the rest day I planned

Really should have been a rest day but ended up putting the kids into childcare and running in from there [5k]. At lunch, I was just going to do some strength work but when I saw the rain I had to get amongst it...it must be the Irish in me. I love running in the rain. Ended up just running 6k putting some strides in the last km. Finished up work late last night and cylced home in the pouring rain.

Fri: 2.5k  by 3 off 4 mins
Out early in centennial well near the tennis courts. I think it's the same park Sean Williams uses for his sessions

rep 1: 3.30
rep 2: 3.25
rep 3: 3.27

Didn't push the session and felt fine throughout.

Sat: 50 mins with 12 by 100m strides
Out with Chalks for an easy run and finished up doing some 100m strides with Chalks

Sun: Long rep session (30 mins warm up, 12 by 9 mins at 3.45 pace, 1 very slow jog in between each rep, 20 min cool down).

I was hoping to have a bit of company but Timmy was still in the boozer at 3am and Fenton pulled the plug.

After an easy 30 min, I got straight into it. The first rep was completed averaging 3.52 pace, the 2nd rep in 3.53 and from then on I held between 3.52 - 3.57 pace for each rep. The 1 min recovery was between 6-7 m/k pace. I wore a heart monitor and my avg heart for the session was 163, there was a noticeable drop in the rate during the reps (down for 165 to 135, in saying that my heart rate crept into the 170 range for the last few reps. I was really hoping to hold 3.45 but I just couldn't get out of 2nd gear. After rep 2, I just focused on maintaining the pace and getting through the session. I ended up running 40km with an average of 4.07 pace.
A tad disappointed but I may still have the half still in the legs. 5 weeks left to Gold Coast...Tom made an interest comment on Friday night, something along the lines of never having run a decent marathon. Well let's hope the Gold Coast is a decent one..!

Now the real work begins

Mon: 40 mins easy, surprised how sore I am?. Cycled home from work

Tues: Ran into work and then met up with the HuRTs squad for 3 by 10 mins off 2 mins. Didn't push the pace (3.45 km/m 1st rep, 3.24km/m 2nd rep, 3.38 3rd rep)

Wed:  90 mins easy with Chalks, freezing this morning and guess who was in the park bright and early. Young Lindop! Cycled in this morning and will get a massage tonight.

Looking forward to putting the head down and getting ready for the Gold Coast. The next 3 weeks will be tough.....

On Track - Sydney Half in 76.14 - 36th overall

Glad to get that one out of the way! It was a tough auld second half of the race. We were well beaten by the English but I did manage to stay 1 min 45 secs ahead of auld Tim Lindop.
The plan was to run 75.40 well that's what I felt I would run going into the race. No watch as I forgot to recharge the garmin so I was running blind for the majority of the race apart from the clock at 10k which I hit at 35.10. So where did it all go wrong, at 5km someone in the group mentioned we went through 5k in 16.30 which put me off a little as I thought it was too quick and slowed as a result. [mistake number 1 - never slow down especially when you are feeling comfortable].
Anyhow I actually felt quite strong throughout the race with very few people passing me. I recall Clyde at about 9k, Fenton and Claire Geraghty at 13k and from there on in I was on my own. I don't necessarily think I struggled in the last 5k but it was difficult to maintain pace with the undulating nature of the course. I know Tom is a believer in not wearing a watch but to be honest, I reckon for a half and full it's essential as if you run a poor km you can push the next if you know what I mean. [mistake number 2 no watch].
All in all, I am not going to be too hard on myself as I think it's a relatively tough course and 4 weeks ago I worked pretty hard to grab a sub 80 min in Canberra. My training is going well and I feel I am on track for the Gold Coast. With 6 weeks left, I just need to put my head down and get the kms in...
Some great times today, I actually think Tom ran the race of the day with 72.38. Tim ran average :) only kidding, he ran very well to hold off Enda in 78.36. Laura ran very well to improve on her Canberra time.

65 mins

Out early with Chalks for an easy run through centennial park this morning. Ran into Lindop and POD at the end of the run. Tim of course was full of banter, he wanted me to hang around so he could get a photo of my new runners...!! Some man for one man!
I'm up in Brizzy on Thurs/Fri this week, so see if Master Sweeney is around for a coffee in the CBD..!

Getting ready for the big dance

Mon: Up in Brizzy for the day so didn't get out until close to 8pm, ended up jogging down to Kenso Oval for an easy 35 min run. Finished up with some easy strides.

Tues: Left the kids into work and jogged in from there (5k), got a massage from Easy Tiger and at lunch ventured out for an 8 by 2 min session with Laura and a guy from the HuRTs squad Paul.

I was planning on running the reps at between 10k and half pace but ended up running them closer to 5m/k (3.10 - 3.15) avging 3.14 pace.
The rest was a slow 90 secs jog between each rep. Legs are feeling good and Tiger has sorted my calf out so looking forward to the race on Sunday

Long Run - 7 weeks to go

I just didn't get a chance to get out on Saturday so ran over to to centennial on Sunday morning to meet Tim, Enda, Laura, Eoin & Mike Race.

1st loop 10k (pretty uneventful apart from Tim and Enda constantly slagging each other). The pace was about 4.32 km/m

2nd loop 10k (slightly quicker 4.27 km/m). It was just myself Mike Race and Laura left from there on in..!

3rd loop 8k (I picked up the pace and brought the average down to 4.11 km/m for the loop with Laura after a very big week dropping off after a few kms. I was surprised Mike Race just kept with me.

I took the run back home from the Kiosk (3.4k) relatively easy (about 4.30 pace). Descent hit out (34.7k) in 2hr 32. Felt pretty good during the run but shattered now. 7 weeks left to Gold Coast.

Building momentum

Sun 6th May: Sydney 10k 34.23
Well I had a descent taper going into Sydney 10k race and ended up running a reasonably good time of 34.23. The race panned out pretty much as I expected. I ran hard from the start until 3k, then consolidated, ran as hard as I could from 5k until 8k and then just hung on in. Pity Tom didnt get the opportunity. Some great runs from the boys in particular Timmy, Macer, Richy Palmer. I was expecting Scott and Barletts to go a little quicker.

8 weeks left to Gold Coast

Mon 7th May: Recovery Run
Easy 50 mins with the HuRTs @ 4.20 pace
Tues 8th May: 7 by 3 mins Hills
Tough auld session but I need to build strength for GC so these sessions are essentially. The session goes from the bottom of Hickson road up around the Tom’s favourite pub ‘the Hero’ and then up to Observatory Hill.

Wed 9th May: Long Run

1 hr 45 mins @ 4.30 pace...poor Chalks has come down with a virus infection so I was on my own

Massage with Easy Tiger, the dry needling definitely released my calf.
Thurs 9th May: Rest....

Fri 10th May: Pyramid 10k pace with POD and the Irish crew

5k with 4min rec

4k with 3min rec

3k with 2min rec

2k with 1min rec

1k

Tougher session and glad to get through it….just kept focused on keeping the pace at 3.26 all the way…once you get through the 3k it’s downhill from there

Putting the kms in..

Sat: 10k Novice, after a short warm up and enjoying the fact that I wasn't racing. Went through the 1st km at little quicker than I wanted (calf was tight after Friday's run so was planning on taking it easy) in 3.50 km/m pace. Pretty much kept the same pace for the rest of the run and finished up with a 37.43. Great to see Tom get a podium finish and Striders take out the team event.

Sun: 2hrs 30 mins with Chalks at 4.30 km/m pace. Chalks stayed with me for 2 hours of it (he's going pretty well at the moment and has committed to the marathon in the Gold Coast. Big week (125k approx) and my body is definitely struggling with the step up. Need to key an eye on my tight calf.
9 weeks to Gold Coast

Mon: 10k easy, joining up with the HuRTs near circular quay [10]

Tues: 6 by 3 mins Hills (from Hickson Road all the way up to Observatory Hill
Struggled a little on the hills, the body was just tired. Glad to get through the session unscathed as the calf is still giving me grief. [14]
Got a massage in the evening and definitely helped free up the calf. Still a tad tight but will be sorted by Sunday with a few rest days.

Wed: Long run with Chalks. A bit like Master Sweeney as we were up before dawn broke. Legs struggled to get going but in the last half hour I started to feel better as I was run 4.20 pace. All up just shy of 2 hours...25k

Will take it easy for the next few days and prepare for the 10k NSW road race on Sunday.