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..!