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

Cruising along...

Fri: Easy 8k
Sat: Out with Durante for a hilly session. Jogged from Surry Hills to Rushcutters and ran the rest of the C2S. From the 5k marker, increased the pace and worked the hills - got to 10k with a 5k split of 19.30. Took it easy down to Bondi Beach and then worked the hill from the beach to the Junction. All up 23k.
Sun: After a lovely dinner at Sophie's and Jame's, I got out the door early and ran for about 25 mins on my own before I met Steve Thurston. I was cruising at 4.45 avg pace but that soon dropped down to 4.35. Shortly after 7am, we met up with Durante, Mike and Andy and we ran the outside loop of the park. Andy gave me the low-down on his 10 London marathons and his marathon pb is quite impressive 2.36. I worked the hills with Steve and it seemed to give me an energy bolt. For the first time since Berlin, I wasn't tired at the end of the long run.
All up 31.7k in 2.25 with an avg pace of 4.35. Got home in time to watch Haille take out the Great Australian Run. He is a machine.

800s * 8 (90 sec recovery)

Got caught in a meeting at lunch so I didn't catch-up with the HuRT squad and ended up going out on my own. Inital aim was to hit 2.40, the first rep was 2.37 and it felt pretty comfortable. I hit the next 6 at 2.37 and banged out the last one in 2.32. The session felt pretty easy, might have something to do with the afternoon heat.

MLR 19K

Out early with Steve Thurston, Durante and Eamo. Shattered again this morning so much so I struggled to keep with the boys on the wollarha hill. I even took a short-cut at the Oxford Street gates. All up 19k with the avg pace 4.34. No rest for the wicked as I am trying to build up my endurance..

Slow train coming

With lots of different priorities I've decided to hold off running a marathon until I can put a good 16 weeks of training together. Realistically that means I won’t run another until late next year. In the meantime I will continue to train and at the moment I will focus on building my endurance.
Met up with the HuRT squad for a 45 min fartlek session (1 min fast, 30 sec slow). From the start I felt flat struggled to maintain the pace in the latter half of the session. I ran side by side with Richard High and probably should have backed off. The return leg was tough, got to 10km around 35.20, took a short cut back with Durante to avoid the Opera Hse loop. From 9k onwards I struggled and my avg pace for the fast and recovery reps kept getting slower and slower. I think the legs are a little tired after the weekend’s effort and I failed to give them sufficient rest on Monday. Richard High is going well and I expect him to go very well in the sixfoot. Congrats to Richard Palmer on his fantastic achievement in the Mark Webber challenge - First corporate team!

Recovery Day

Caught up with the boys (Clarky, Tom, Muz, Serg, Steve, Mike, Andy) on a recovery run. Serg, Clarky and Steve split the group after 10 mins running close to sub 4 min/k. I ran with the boys all up 14k at 4.15m/k pace which is a tad too fast for a pure recovery run. For my V02 max based on Daniel's running formula, I should be running around 4.25-4.30 pace for my recovery runs. With 4.15m/k pace I am in no man's land. So I am not getting any real benefit. It's actually getting close to my Cruise tempo pace which is 3.58 (the pace I ran the 1/2 marathon on Sunday). Good to catch-up with the boys again. Need to convince Tom that he will take Truscott out.,...

Rambling on...

Fri: 8k easy domain
Sat: 2k run to the centennial, 6 short hill reps, 5 min rest, 5k tempo (in 17.34), 4k cool down.
Sun: 2k warm up, 1/2 marathon race Sri Chinmoy in Centennial Park in 83.40. The plan was to run at 4.20 and then increase the pace towards the end but went through the 1st km in 3.55, backed off a little and just maintained 4m/k for the majority the race. The garmin came in handy as the the terrain was pretty uneven and it was difficult to maintain an even pace. Chris Truscott joined me for a few km's, he's getting ready for the state 5k in Jan, he reckons he will crush Tom and is willing to bet a case of beer on it....

400s by 10

Didn't get a chance to get out for a decent run on Wednesday so only managed to run into work in the morning and ran home late last night.
Pretty tired today so the plan was to take it easy but got through the first rep in 72 and more or less continued that for the remaining 9. Tom and Killer were in front and Steve Thurston was miles ahead averaging 64 seconds. Shattered after the session, I need to catch-up on sleep this weekend.

HuRTS 4 x (3k)

Another decent crowd but it was noticeable that a few of the front runners were missing (Muz, Serg and Durante). Still and all, Charlie and Clarky went to the front for the first rep, I latched on to them and we ended up 80m short of the stone gates. Well they finished approx 10m ahead of me. Tom was taking it easy for the first few reps running with MC, Enda, Richard High, Killer and English Andy. I ran the second rep in 9.31. I ran comfortably hard for the 3rd rep as Killer, Clarky and Charlie pushed the pace from the start and got to the stone gates well within the 10 min marker. I was again 60-70m short with Tom right behind my back. I felt pretty tired on the way back for the last rep which took 9.55. The wind was pretty strong on the return leg. Happy with the session overall. Tom seems to think I want to include some extra awards for the HuRT squad's annual awards night. Not true...but I think we should have best overseas performance of the year as an outright category ;)

Recovery Monday

Easy 12k with boys. Left the domain and went out to Hickson road and I opted for the shorter route on the way back by heading up Macquarie Street. Big crowd for a Monday - Serg, Clarky, Steve, Durante, Conway, Ray (who disappeared before I had a chance to chat to him) and a few other guys I didn't even know.

On the road again...

Can't stay away from the road. Out for an easy 8k run on Sat and out again Sunday morning with Steve Thursten and Eamo for a nice long run. Eamo is looking strong for Kepler in NZ in Dec. He was out with Fats and Terence for an easy 35k run on Sat and backed up well on Sunday. We chatted about the important races next year and whether we should use a coach to help us...All up 28k in 2.02. Legs were tired for the last 2k but good to test the knee out. Need to drop my new coach an email ;)

Sayonara, Auf Wiedersehen, Arrivederci, Au Revoir, Adeus

You got to be honest with yourself in this sport. 19.03 was not the time I was looking for in JP Morgan. I actually thought I'd run close to 18.30. Fortunately I had Dave Clark and Michael Killacoat in the team to ensure we took out the men's team comp. I obviously had knee issues going into the race but I wasn't in the right head space from the start which by the way I nearly missed. I had to sprint 300m from the Kiosk to actually make the start. I continue to repeat the same mistakes, I am not sure why I took 2 Berocca before the start of the race as I've never taken them before any other race. Anyhow, my stomach was in knots from the start.
I'll quit the whinging, great runs by my Macquarie colleagues, it's really hard to believe how Dave Clark could compete in a half ironman on the Sunday (6th place as well) and run a sub 18 min in the JP Morgan. Run of the day goes to Tom, it gives us all hope to see him get better and better. He's put in the hard yards and deserves all the plaudits he received last night. Poor Durante...that's all I can say mate...Timmy was right...you looked pale before the race. Enda had a great run of 18.45 and his streak over me continues. Kate Coburn ran very well 3rd place overall for the girls. Well what about the winner...Steve Thurston! Super front running. It was great to tell people in the office that I run with the guy most days.
Got the knee checked out and it's all good news, well there is no structural damage (ligaments and tendons are fine), just have Patella femoral Pain Syndrome which was caused by a direct blow to the knee (you really don't want to know how it happened). A bit of strength work in the quads will sort me out.
That's it for me now for while, it's been a great year of running. After a injury plagued 2007, I got the opportunity to run 2 big city marathons. I ran a 10k and C2S PB. Looking forward to 2009 already, I will be targeting PBs in the half and the marathon. Looks like I need to hit the Gold Coast to settle a score....

Time for a few prayers..

Pulled up sore after a run on Thursday. I have some swelling at the back of my knee. The physio recommend I rest for 10 days. Not really an option with JP Morgan next week. Since the physio appointment the pain has radiated from the back of the knee to the hamstring. Not good...time for a few prayers.
I was suppose to run a 3k time trial with Durante, Serg and Muz. Durante went through 3km in 8.58 dropping both Serg and Muz..the kid is flying. He's looking good for JP. Best of luck to Steve T and Tom tomorrow in the state 3k.

400s off 2 mins...

Out with Robbie, Killacoat, Chris Graham and Tom was a little late. I lead from the from the front for the first 5 reps with Killer just sitting on my shoulders. Robbie was a second or two back. On the 6th rep, Killer upped the tempo and Robbie followed him for a few reps but Killer was pretty comfortable running 66s and finished off with a 62. I'm so glad he's part of the Macquarie JP Morgan team. Can't believe Dave Clarke has decided to enter the Port Macquarie Half at the weekend...in saying that he will probably run very well at JP Morgan. Tom was a little out of sorts this morning, he really doesn't like running on his own.

72, 71, 71, 70, 71, 69, 70, 71, 70, 69

Went for a 30 min run at lunch with a good friend Bron, I spotted Terence running over the top of Enda in a gate to gate session. He's getting strong....

Happy Mondays - yeah, yeah yeah

Had a lovely brunch on Sunday arvo and went to bed early on Sunday evening so felt well rest waking up Monday morning. Ran to work early and stopped off in the gym for some core work.
Out for a run with the boys at lunch (Serg, Tom, Durante, Enda, Steve, Muz & Aus)for a quick 14k run in 27c. Serg is struggling, his heart rate hit 175! So it was more like a tempo run for him...

Going long...

Out with Steve and Durante for a long run in Centennial. Durante still recovering from his cold ran for 80 mins, Steve ran for 90 mins and I continued on and ran just over 2 hours averaging 4.22 km/m. I was pretty tired at the start of the run but felt more comfortable as the run progressed. Will decide later in the week if it is worth racing the 3000m on the track next week so close to JP Morgan.
It will be interesting to see how Radcliffe goes in New York later today, i suspect Wami and Catherine the great will give her a run for her money. Kara Goucher might surprise a few in her debut. Tergat at 39 will find the going tough against the Morrocan Goumri.

Running on empty.....

I had an interesting run in Lane Cove today, to be honest I had nothing in the legs from the start. After a week of decent speedwork, I expected to run a lot better. Ended up with something like 35.40. From the start the legs felt heavy and I couldn't get into a decent rhythm. Back to the drawing board as I need to pick up a bit of speed for JP Morgan. After today's effort, I don't think I have the physical or mental strength to contemplate running Dubai or Hobart.
Durante was sick so we didn't get a chance to witness the duel with Tom. Tom had also a below par performance with 33.4* odd. Steve Thurston also struggled running low 32s to finish in 3rd place. The only decent run from the HuRT squad came from Muz with a 33.02. Muz is looking very good for the JP Morgan race mid-Nov. Well done to Kate Coburn with her podium finish. Uncle Dave took out the striders series comfortably beating Chris Truscott. Not sure where Dave gets it from but he rarely has a poor race. Fair play to him!