Hamburglar's Running

Wagga Wagga marathon - 5th in 3:23

2011-08-24T21:41:00.001+10:00

I had a great time down in Wagga Wagga. My family are just over an hour away in Culcairn, so I lined up a visit to coincide with the marathon.

Apart from a few hiccups, the organisation of the race was really good and it had a really friendly, low key atmosphere. The course has a bit of everything and was harder than I was expecting.

The family farm had quite a bit of rain in the lead up to the weekend and all the dams were overflowing which led me to think that the Murrumbidgee may be a little high - which it was. Some course alterations were required, however as I didn't know the course anyway, I didn't listen to the instructions and planned to follow the person in front of me. Bad move.

After 250m there was an arrow pointing left and 2m in front was an arrow pointing straight. The whole field went straight. I had a feeling that we may be going the wrong way however I thought we may be doing a short out and back to make up some distance due to the course changes. We kept going and going and I was increasingly doubting that we were going in the right direction (we were going anticlockwise around Wagga instead of clockwise). After a while a bike rider told us all to turn around. The end result was after 1.8k running, we had only covered 250m of the course - not a good start.

For the 1st 10k, the course goes beside the river and then heads through some urban areas. My pace here was good averaging around 4:20/km and I was having thoughts of a sub 3:10 run. I was by myself, with only 7 or 8 runners in front. I then turned a corner to find a pretty solid hill. With the next two splits being 5:24 and 4:59, I knew this wasn't going to be a fast course.

The next section to the half way point is mainly off road through bush and farming land. It was all quite interesting - going over a big Hill with a great views, behind houses, single track, fire trail, through grassy fields and even a couple of stiles to jump over. We even needed to bend over to scurry through a 4 foot high storm water drain at one point that lead under a road. It was really starting to feel like a journey and an adventure rather than racing a marathon. There was heaps of flour on the ground to help with navigation and it was definitely needed - I was constantly looking for the next marker to tell me where to go and was often relieved to see the arrows to confirm I was on the right track. I wasn't feeling all that fresh and things were beginning to become a little labored, but I was definitely enjoying it.

The next 10k after the half way point was really nice running in the bush around a loop of the golf course. It had a couple of solid climbs on fire trail and then some really nice weaving single track that the local mountain bikers would enjoy, that lead to the top. The final climb tops out with the reward of a really nice view of the town and 2 really fast downhill k's on the other side. The final 10k was tough as all marathons are, but the scenery was nice weaving in and around the river all the way back to the start. I was struggling through here and desperately wanted to slow down, however the challenge of beating the first female home kept me motivated. There was alos many stiles to climb over which were very hard on fatiguing legs.

The finish came surprisingly soon as the organizers must have made a change to the course to allow for the extra 1.5k we did at the start. I finished in 3:23, the 5th person home with 42.6k on the Garmin. Nice.

I have to say I really enjoyed the day, the event and the town. The organisation was really good. The course marking was great and must have taken a long time to do, the water bags as always were fantastic, the course had everything and was a real adventure, the volunteers were plentiful and friendly and the family loved the BBQ and playground at the end.

I have already penciled this one on for next year.

Gold Coast Marathon - missed again

2011-07-08T22:47:00.001+10:00

"Marathoning is like cutting yourself unexpectedly. You dip into the pain so gradually that the damage is done before you are aware of it. Unfortunately, when awareness comes, it is excruciating."
John Farrington, Australian marathoner

After missing out on a sub 3 hour marathon last July by 55 secs, returning for revenge this year was never far from my mind. My prep had been pretty good since building up for sixfoot in March. Whilst never doing huge k's, the weekly volume was a very consistent at around 70-80k. Adding 1 or 2 quick sessions per week saw some significant PB's from 5k to half marathon being achieved and indicated that something under 3 hours should be fairly achievable. A 36:43 10k 4 weeks out from the marathon made me consider chasing a quicker time of 2:55 - 2:57 however a minor case of man flu caused me to be conservative and target the 3 hours.

As I stood on the start line, I was confident and content that I had done enough in training to get the job done. I was well rested, fully tapered and ready to go. Marthon paced runs in the days leading up to the race were very comfortable. I had a race plan and was committed to it. 6 x 5k splits of 21 minutes (4:12's), going through half way in 88:37 and 30k in 2:06, and hold on from there. Roger was happy with the plan and decided to come along for the ride.

So off we went, knocking out 4:12's. Tick, tick, tick. It was quite humid early on, but when a slight wind picked up, it freshened up. 5k splits were knocked out in 20:56, 20:57 and 20:54 reaching 15k in 1:02:50. Race plan was going well however I did have some slight doubts as the legs seemed to be ever so slightly heavy. I brushed it off and kept on with the job with the next 2 splits being done in 21:02 and 21:00, going through halfway in 88:31.

The 26th and 27th k's told me that it was time to concentrate. The effort required to knock out 4:12's was now resulting in a 4:15 and 4:16 min k's. Nothing too alarming, but I needed to pay attention. I went through the 5k in 21:11 reaching 30k in 2:06:10. So the first part of the race strategy was executed to near perfection, now it was money time. 53:50 to cover 12.2k.

It was at this point where I caught Steve Moneghetti, the 3 hour pacer and navigated the 2 ever so slight rises of the course - the bridge over to Southport and the rise up to the race precinct. It was a busy area with lots of spectators and Steve was getting a lot of cheers. It was at this point last year that I started to struggle and the way I was suddenly feeling, it was like de je vu all over again. I was very frustrated and annoyed, but determined to battle on. I pulled ahead of the pacer group and tried to keep the pace up. The pace now was in the 4:20:25 range, with a 5k split to 35k of 21:47. Turning around at the top part of the course with 5k to go, I knew I needed to maintain sub 4:30 k's, however all I could manage were 4:31. 4:33 and 4:32 and I was feeling the sand slowly slipping through the fingers. I was in huge amounts of pain. Each k felt like 5. Time seemed to stand still. If only I could up the pace ever so slightly I was in with a shot in the last couple of k's. But alas, there was no pick up of speed and no sprint for the finish, just the overwhelming desire to stop running that would only be satisfied by the finish line.

So I missed the sub 3 ever so slightly for the second time. Disappointed? Obviously yes, but to my surprise, not dramatically so. In my habitual low mileage way, I prepared well, planned well, executed to 30k well and fought as hard as I could in the last 12k. I just wasn't good enough. I am going to have to face facts that in order for me to run a sub 3 marathon, I am going to have to pull my finger out and simply train harder. Longer runs and bigger mileage.
"You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming."
Frank Shorter

The plan was always to get the sub 3 marathon before dipping the toe into a 100k race later this year and for a few days I toyed with the idea of giving up on the marathon. But after some reflection I have recommitted myself to this bloody stupid arbitrary distance we call the marathon.

"No more ultras till the sub 3 is done".

5KM	0:20:56	0:21:03
10KM	0:20:57	0:42:01
15KM	0:20:54	1:02:56
20KM	0:21:02	1:23:59
25KM	0:21:00	1:44:59
30KM	0:21:11	2:06:11
35KM	0:21:47	2:27:58
40KM	0:22:39	2:50:37
Finish	0:10:32	3:01:09

Half Way	1:28:26	1:28:34
Finish	1:32:35	3:01:09

Back into it

2011-06-21T15:19:00.000+10:00

Mon: rest
Tue: 5 x 6k long run around Manly done @ 4:46, 3:53, 4:49, 3:59 and 4:49 pace. Very windy and a bit of rain. 2nd threshold rep was tough. Glad that is over. 30k in 2:13 @ 4:28
Wed: 10k easy in 4:51
Thu: 10k including 5k @ 3:51
Fri: 10k @ 4:32
Sat: 10k @ 4:26
Sun: Easy 30k in 2:34 @ 5:04 around Narrabeen Lakes

100k in 7:40 @ 4:41.

Glad to have got two long runs in this week. Gives me something to taper from ast least. Friday and Saturday runs felt very good.

Race day strategy will be to knock out 6 x 5k's of 21 mins getting me through halfway in 88:35 and 30k in 2:06. From there it is hang on! 54 mins should allow enough time for 12.2k.

10k PB 36:43, but a terrible fortnight

2011-06-13T00:03:00.002+10:00

Mon: Rest
Tue: Massage with Tiger and 10k @ 5:11 - feeling dead - was supposed to be threshold run but body not cooperating.
Wed: Feeling like sickness coming on so had a day off.
Thu: 10k @4:49. Not quite feeling 100%.
Fri: Rest
Sat: 10k PB in 36:43 (a 48 sec PB from last week) at the Sydney 10 at Homebush.

I had felt really lethargic like I had the flu all week and the warm up was terrible and felt laboured. I was disappointed as the plan was to go for sub 37 to make the most of the current fitness in the last race before GCM.

The first k which is a nice long slight downhill surprisingly didn't feel to bad and I was surprised to run it in 3:26. I went through 2k in 7:03 and was feeling OK. Amazing. It must have been the enforced rest during the week. The next 3k were all done in 3:40-3:41 pace which had me half way in 18:06 (27 secs faster than 5k PB of 6 weeks ago). The final 5k was pretty uneventful other than giving it everything and maintaining ~3:45 pace. Looking back at the splits, it was really an amazingly even split race and I don't think I could have gone any faster on the day.'

Sun: 0k. I was planning an out and back on the Nosh course - no racing - just wanted to take it easy and not overdo the hard racing. 6 races in the past 6 weeks and 6 PB's was enough. Unfortunately for my long run, I unexpectedly needed to look after my nephew on Sat evening and all day Sunday. Leaving 3 kids with Mrs Hamburglar was not really an option. No problem I told myself, I will just do my long run on Tuesday to catch up...

Total for the week: 33k

Mon: rest
Tue: 16k @ 5:10 - up to North Head. Felt awful and decided to cut it short.
Wed: 7k in 4:52 - yep definitely sick. Lungs full of crap. Turnaround and go home.
Thu: Another rest hoping to get the long run in on Fri.
Fri: rest. Lungs still crap. Made myself rest.
Sat: 5 days without Mrs Hamburglar (in Singapore) means 24 hours a day dad and virtually no running till next Tuesday. Snuck out for a stroller run 11k.
Sun: no run.

Total: 34k
Was planning two big weeks and got nothing. No long runs, no key sessions. And this was meant to be the crescendo of the training??? Ironically I had the run of my life right in the middle and was contemplating a revised marathon target. This week's lack of training has meant the end of that train of thought. Just focusing on sub 3 now. I will smash myself this week including a long run on Tuesday and Sunday and then have two weeks taper. Hopefully not too much harm done. *deep breath*

Nth Head 10k PB - 37:31

2011-06-01T09:31:00.001+10:00

Mon: Rest
Tue: 12k easy @ 4:41 - shelley beach
Wed: 10k including 5k at threshold i.e. 3:53
Thu: 19k medium long run up to North Head @ 5:02
Fri: Rest
Sat: Striders 10k at North Head - 37:31
Sun: 32k long run @ 4:49 - last 5k done at close to marathon pace i.e. 4:14

Total 85k @ average pace of 4:38

Good week of training, getting all the key sessions in. Wednesday's threshold run was good as the pace is getting faster and still feels reletavitley comfortably hard. Very happy with the PB and can't really believe that I am now a mid 37 runner. Was aiming for a PB (37:53), but with the hillier course of Nth Head, I was not confident. I aimed to maintain 3:45 min k's for as long as I could and got off to a good start being 10 secs in front of pace at the turnaround (3k). From here on, I couldn't get the splits to be below 3:45, although they weren't far away. I gave everything on the last k which is slighlty downhill. The legs and arms seemed to be going every direction and I was surprised to do a 3:31 last km for a 37:31.

Felt very lethargic on sunday's long run which was the STaR starting at Drummoyne. There were apx 15 of us in the 6:20 group travelling at a pretty good pace including Flakey and Johnbo. I ended up by myself with 7-8k to go and decided to see what marathin pace felt like on tired legs - answer was not too bad, so pretty happy.

A few more good weeks like that will see me in good shape come Gold Coast.

Manly to Palm Beach

2011-05-23T11:58:00.000+10:00

A different week of training this week. Only 3 runs, but 100k.

Tues: Was heading out for an easy shortish run however the legs were feeling surprisingly fresh after SMH, so I decided to go long. The training is obviously going pretty well however I am a little short on long runs. I thought it may be a good opportunity to sneak 2 long runs in this week with Manly to Palmy on Saturday. Headed up to North Head, back through Fairlight and then a loop of Manly Dam going clockwise. 28k in just over 2.5 hours @ 5:29 pace. A thoroughly enjoyable run on a magic autumn day.

Thu: 12k shelley run including 5k at threshold in 19:33 (3:55 pace).

Sat: Manly to Palm Beach - 60k in 5:50 (a 3 min PB)

After attending Striders awards dinner on Friday night (and listening to Bryce Courtney), I was a little tired upon waking Saturday morning. Seris was putting on a BBQ lunch on at Dee Why after the run, so I decided to start my 60k in Dee Why and run to the start in Manly. I was a little slow down to Manly as the first 5k split shows, before quickening the pace when joined by the rest of the guys. There were 7 other starters including Sailaway, Johnbo, Slug, couldhavebeen, StephenJ, Brian, ozsprouts and RunMikeyRun. Buzz and Sportsman slept in!

It was a magnificent day - warm and sunny - the perfect day for the run. Sailaway and I were slightly dropped at Queenscliff when we decided to walk the stairs and dropped again as we walked Dee Why hill. I let Sailaway go as I got some supplies at my car. So I was at the back of the pack all by myself with 50k to go! After 5k, I caught up to the pack and we ran together most of the way to Palm Beach which was great. Some of the guys didn't know the way so had to wait for me from time to time.

Johnbo had left his car in Narrabeen and so after a quick stop at Palm Beach cafe, we said goodbye to the others and headed South. Sailaway was struggling so he caught the bus back instead of running. The Manly to Palm Beach split was 2:48 which was a minute slower than last year.

Had a good chat to Johnbo along Whale Beach Rd. I was feeling pretty good, but there is a few hillier sections here that slow you down. Johnbo decided to call it a day at Avalon and caught the bus back to Narrabeen. So I was all alone. And pretty happy. I got the ipod out and enjoyed the perfect day. 18k to go. I got through the hillier sections of Newport, Bungan and Mona Vale which left me 10k of flat to finish. I must say that mentally this is easier than facing the hillier finish into Manly at 55k.

I was trotting out 5:30 min/k's and was struggling with general levels of discomfort and a stitch. With 5k to go, it all seemed to disappear and I flew home. Really satisfying to finish off a long run like this so strong with the fastest 5k split of the day. I felt like I was flying and I could run for ever.

5k splits were:

5k - 29:08
10k -27:14
15k - 27:22
20k - 26:25
25k - 28:35
30k - 29:59
35k - 29:49
40k - 33:14
45k - 31:09
50k - 34:13
55k - 27:43
60k - 25:06

A quick dip in the ocean before heading up to Seris' for lunch. Blue Dog cooked up some great burgers and we had a couple of beers. Seris's house is amazing. It was a pity I couldn't stay longer.

SMH PB - 83:08

2011-05-15T16:05:00.000+10:00

Mon: Rest
Tue: 12k including 5k @ 3:57 around Manly
Wed: 18k in 5:11 - down to Manly and around Manly Dam looking for Killian - didn't find him ;-(
Thu: 10k easy shelley run in 4:48
Fri: 10k easy shelley run in 5:29 - felt like the tin man
Sat: Rest
Sunday: Half marathon PB of 83:08.

3rd PB in three weeks. Sub50 picked me up at 5:30 and it was cold. We parked at the Domain. I had a Vinnies jacket and throw away gloves so no need for a drop bag. The preferred start was easy. The goal was sub 83. Unfortunately I had my garmin set on auto pause, and it paused under the corkscrew. I therefore thought I was going extremely fast early, when in fact I was behind pace. Realised the error at 5k when I was 20 or so secs behind pace. Never really picked up the time. I would get back on track and then fall behind when a hill would slow me down. Sub50 was with me until about 8k and then dropped off. The section from Hickson to Macquarie St was tough and I couldn't really lift the pace through the Art Gallery section. Just missed out on a sub 83, but it was a ~45 sec PB.

Splits were:

5k - 19:31
10k - 19:36
15k - 19:57
20k - 19:54

Total for the week - 73k in 5.5 hours @ 4:40

10k PB

2011-05-08T22:11:00.004+10:00

Mon - rest (shagged from Sunday)
Tue: 10k to shelley including 5k @ 3:57
Wed: Easy 12k around Manly @ 4:46
Thu: Was meant to be a medium long run, but got busy and ran out of time
Fri: 10k Shelley run very easy in preparation for Saturday.
Sat: 10k PB - 37:53. I was very interested to see what I could do after last weeks 5k PB. I wasn't expecting a PB, but would be doing what I could to break 38:10, the previous PB. Sub50 who isn't running heaps of k's at the moment indicated that he would be around 38 mins, so I stuck to him. I sat on his shoulder until 4k which was a real benefit, with Splits of 3:41, 3:44, 3:38 and 3:38 for 14:34. Realising that this was the same as my 4k split from last weeks 5k PB, I freaked out and let Sub50 drift away. Big mistake and the disadvantage of running with a watch. The next 3 k's were done in 3:47, 3:47 and 3:53, a little slower, but feeling like I could keep it up. Caught up to sub50 with 3k to go and tried to keep churning out the k's. The last 3k were done in 3:47, 3:47 and 3:50. Very happy with the PB and encouraged that there is some more time to gain with a further block of speed work and better race conditioning.
Sun: Felt awful all day after a very long and busy Saturday. Could not be bothered to even run, let alone a long run.

Total for the week was a measly 43k in 3:06 at average of 4:31 however nothing over 12k. Whoops! An encouraging PB, but a poor week of training. SMH Half next weekend and another opportunity to keep the PB train rolling on.

5k PB

2011-05-01T10:10:00.001+10:00

Mon: Rest
Tue: 12k including 2 x 3k at threshold (3:58 and 3:57 pace)
Wed: 10k easy to Shelley Beach at 4:44
Thu: 13k easy around Manly at 4:45
Fri: 10k very easy to Shelley Beach at 5:08 in preparation for 5k race on Saturday.
Sat: 12k including 5k CR challenge in a PB of 18:33. My previous PB of 18:51 was set 3 years ago, so the aim was to break it. A short warm up with Buzz and I was off. no one else went off at 7:16am, so I was by myself for the entire race. Splits were pretty even in 3:39, 3:42, 3:43, 3:44 and 3:43. Had nothing left at the end. Trundled back to the start with Buzz who also PB'd ~19:30.
Sun: 33k long run in 2:32 including 20k in 1:26 at marathon pace (4:18). I deceided to join Dickyboy, Tom31 and Easy Tiger for my long run to at least give me some company for part of the run. Turned out to be a hot group with Quentin, Tim, Sam and Jamie. I was only planning to run 8-10k with them as I was clearly out of my depth, however the pace wasn't as hot as I thought. In fact it was pefect marathon paced run, so I deceided to stick it out as long as I could. The splits of 4:10 -4:15 seemed releatively comfortable and gave me alot of confidence, suggesting the training id going well. We headed up Pittwater road and around the lake. Coming back through Dee Why, I got dropped. I must have lost concentration and I found myself 20m behind. I tried to catch up, but just as I was approaching, the boys took off up Dee Why hill and I was by myself. I pulled back the pace and made up a few k's by doing a lap up to Shelley and back. Good run, but totally exhausted for the rest of the day.

Weekly Total was 90k in 6:45 hours at average pace of 4:45. That is - an awesome weeks training.

Easter at the farm

2011-04-24T22:40:00.001+10:00

Mon: rest
Tue: 16k North Head loop including 5k at threshold in 19:48 (3:58)
Wed: 15k easy around Manly Dam and Keirle Park (5:19)
Thu: 24k around Manly Dam, Fairlight, Little Manly, Shelley Beach with Leigh (5:38)
Fri: 7k recovery run down the driveway and up the lane way at the farm (5:16)
Sat: Ran out of sunlight and missed the scheduled run - whoops
Sun: 12k to bridge over Billabong Creek including 4 x 1k intervals in 3:40, 3:39, 3:41 and 3:39

Total: 74k in 6:20 (5:19 average)

Pretty good week. Quite happy with the threshold and Intervals sessions which are feeling a little more bearable. The long run with Leigh was tough toward the end. Leigh bonked 5k from home and we needed to slow down however I was feeling it as well after 2 hard days. During the run, the Heart Rate went through the roof when I kicked a snake and he went rolling along the trail. He was only small, but it scared the hell out of me!

12 weeks to GCM

2011-04-19T12:02:00.002+10:00

After a good week of running at Port Stephens, I came down with the flu. Nothing too bad, but enough to keep me off the streets. It just wouldn't go away and in the end I didn't run for 8 days.

Felt much better this week and notched up 84k:

Mon: 10k easy to Shelley Beach (4:58)
Tue: 14k easy to North Head (5:11)
Wed: 25k long run around Narrabeen lakes in 2:03 (5:01).
Thu: 7k easy to corso (5:29)
Fri: Rest
Sat: 11k including 4 x 1k with 90 sec jog recoveries in 3:48, 3:41, 3:33 and 3:38. The first rep was into a strong wind and 3rd was with a strong wind.
Sun: 16k easy to North Head with Paul and Leigh (5:16)

7 hours of running in 5:04.

12 weeks to GCM doesn't seem very long however I feel I have a strong base already and am ready to start some harder/faster training in weeks ahead. Sub 3 hour marathon here I come!

Port Stephens

2011-04-07T15:29:00.005+10:00

Headed up to Port Stephens last week with the extended family which was great. A really big house with a great pool, close to the beach (One Mile) and surprisingly close to some good trails which I explored throughout the week.

I had been struggling with a sore throat and had a couple of days off including the Sunday and Monday that we were there. I headed out Tuesday to explore the Tomaree National Park. I had a quick look at the map and took off. I should have taken a better look at the mao as I got lost on numerous occasions. Great fire trail and then single track around the coast to Fingal Bay. I then ran along th ebike path for a few k's and then turned westward . This is where I got lost. I lost the trail and ended up bushbashing to the top of a big hill to see where I was. This was no help as all I could see was km's of bush in front of me. I was now out of water, no phone and no money. To back track would take hours so I perservered as to my great relief came across a firetrail that lead to Nelson Bay golf course. How did I get here? Anyway, I trudged home and was very happy to get a glass of water. 24k in 2:22.

We headed over to Dutchies beach on Wednesday which is on the Bay side. Gorgeous beach and gorgeous weather. Everyone headed back after lunch and I deceided to run home via Nelson Bay and Shoal Bay. I went back through the Tomaree National Park and found the track that I was planning to take the day before. I entered from Shoal Bay via Gowrie Rd and found a wide open flat dirt Road that went all the way back to One Mile beach. Great running, but very exposed and hot and I struggled after the previous days run. 13k in 1:15

Thursday, Rachel decided to join me and we went exploring. We drove to Shoal Bay and headed up the Tomaree headland lookout. We walked up in 14 mins. Awesome view. We then ran back down and followed the trail along the coast exploring Zenith, Wreck and Box beaches before returning back to Shoal Bay. Nice run along some good trailas and deserted beaches. Great place Port Stephens! 7k in 1:03. Friday saw Caty coming with me this time and we decided to explore Fingal Bay and Port Stephens lighthouse. To get to Port Stephens lighthouse you need to cross at low tide. We were a bit late and needed to wade through ankle deep water. I was hoping that it wouldn't rise too much by the time we returned. Once we crossed the spit, it is a couple of k to the lighthouse. The water on our return journey was about the same level. Our shoes were already wet and full of sand, so we ran along Fingal Bay beach and back via the bike path. A nice run. 9k in just over an hour.

I headed out for the last of my Port Stepen runs on Saturday. I left One Mile beach and headed for Samurai beach. Miners would appreciate that Samurai beach is a "clothing optional" beach. Not exactly my cup of tea, but I was keen to "have a look" so to speak, at the area. Interestingly enough, you can actually camp on Samurai Beach and I don;t know any other beach where this is allowed. Other than a few nood old blokes, there wasn't much to see. I headed up onto the trails, to agian explore some more of Tomaree National park. I was in the middle of nowhere when I spotted a couple walking their dogs. I found it interesting as the fire trail was a long way from any houses or access points. I was surprised to find that it was Robin Cameron and husband going for a long walk! Another good run in the bush. 15k in 1:25.

A great week holiday with 5 great runs and 68k. Loved it.

4 x 1k - blah

2011-03-22T12:45:00.003+11:00

After an easy week after sixfoot where I impersonated the tinman all week, it was back into it today. Focus is now on SMH Half and Gold Coast Marathon.

I haven't done speed work all year, so I was interested to see where I was at.

Reps were done in 3:43, 3:48, 3:48 and 3:54 (90 secs jog receovery).

A terrible session. It was hot and humid and I struggled. I still must be recovering from sixfoot as those splits aren't much faster than my 10k pace.

Ar well. It is a start.

Sixfoot 2011 - a blow out

2011-03-16T11:12:00.002+11:00

I worked out my splits for 4:30 two months ago. I poured over the data and convinced myself that 1:23 to the river was the number to hit. Last year I did 1:29 and ran 4:44, so it sounded about right. As time passed, I got to the start line with about 1:18 or 1:19 split in my head. How that happened I don’t exactly know. Brain washing by BMMC I think. “Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t...” said Rod. Well this time it didn’t.

My plan was to stick with Rod to Megalong Rd and let him go after that, however I really needed to be on the front row with him at the start. I was on the 2nd row and before I knew it 30 people were in front of me on the way down to Nellies. I knew Rod would be gone and to try and chase him would be silly, so I sat back and decided to do my own thing. I found myself behind Robcos and Scambullant at the top of the stairs. Scam rolled his ankle pretty bad, but seemed to be OK. There was some argy bargy and heated name calling behind us due to a slow descender not letting anyone past. I reached the Nellies sign in 10:23.

As we got onto the fire trail, I went past Scam and found that Robcos had taken off, but within a few k’s I caught up with him and we ran together. I remember Rob saying that there were a lot of people taking it out quick and would be paying for it later. Little did he realise that he would be describing us in a few hours. We caught up to Dave, who informed us that it was only Rod and Cedric in front. I let Rob go and stopped for a quick pee break just before Megalong Rd, which I reached in 39:10.

Just after Megalong Rd, I passed Cedric and could see Rob and Rod heading up toward Pinnacle Hill. I got a split of 60 secs on Rod as he went over Pinnacle Hill which I reached in 47:56. It was nice comfortable running down to cox’s by myself, with much of the track in the shade with a nice cool breeze. I crossed Cox’s in just under 1:19 and was feeling great. 10 mins faster than last year. This 4:30 was in the bag!

I walked up Mini with a few short running breaks. Jo0066 caught me just before the cattle yards and we walked for a while together. However he seemed pretty strong and soon left me on the steep section toward the top. I thought he might run well and I was pretty sure he would not be seen again.

Over Mini and down toward Alum where I passed Robcos who said the hornet was just up ahead. Unfortunately, I was starting to feel a little more fatigued than I was hoping along this flat section. It brought back memories of 2009 (a bad year) when I started to struggle at this point. As the track pointed up and I started to walk, my legs immediately gave me indications that they were not happy and I started to feel the race slipping away.

Slowmaniac then powered past me in an impressive display of hill walking/running. Soon JoJoB also went past showing me how to do it as well – very impressive stuff. Spud also caught me just as I reached the top of Pluvio which was in 2:45 (3 mins behind 4:30 pace).

Optimistically I was hoping that the legs would come to life on Black Range and I would run with Spud, however this proved to be simple fantasy and off he went. I was done. DJB, Tropic and Jo Be also came past. I was hardly moving, shuffling when I could and walking the rest. At one point Scam was just behind me, but it took him 3-4k to catch me – talk about the geriatric Olympics!

I got to Deviation and it didn’t get better, with the left knee/ITB starting to buckle and my guts were gone. vstaR passed here and GarthMc caught me just before Caves Rd looking strong. Go girl then caught me just before Binda Cabins before we caught Tropic Thunder who was staggering like a drunk. It was only 4k to go and I was dreading the final descent. My legs were mashed and was going to be painful. Bmac caught me just as we reached the top of the hill and she put 4 mins on me in the last 2k as I had to hobble down. TooKeen passed me just before the end and missed out of 5 hours by secs.

In the end it was a very disappointing 5:01. I was feeling very confident of a good race however it wasn’t to be. This race does my head in. Next year I will be smarter and prevail. Yeah right!

Manly Dam

2011-02-14T13:48:00.004+11:00

As I am home a little more, the Manly Dam loop is becoming a much more frequent part of my weekly routine. I ran it 4 times last week. It is a great loop with lots of variety i.e. good single trail, fire trail, up and down hills, views etc.

It is an 11.2k loop, which I used to struggle to break an hour on when running easily. I always get round in under an hour these days, with a PB of 57:45 set yesterday evening. I used to have a few walk breaks on the steeper hills, however I run the whole way now without a problem. Just for future reference, I will post the splits...

Section 1, includes the 1k bitumen section to the start of the loop at the Hydro lab and a couple of k's of uphill single trail, through the kids playground till the start of the fire trail (18:03 - 5.39 pace)

Section 2 winds downhill for a couple of k's to the creek - all on fire trail (27:25 - 4:47 pace)

Section 3 is a short (800m) section with 50m elevation (32:49 - 6:33 pace)

Section 4 is a 2k undulating single trail section parallel to Wakehurst parkway which is lots of fun. Lots of up and down/ left and right (44:05 - 5:28 pace)

Section 5 is the 3k downhill run to home including 1k on the road. Lots of fun (57:45 - 4.23 pace).

Knapsack 3 hours

2011-01-27T21:24:00.002+11:00

Running 3 hours in brand new Australia Days boardie from BigW - bad idea - the chaffing in the shower yesterday afternoon was unbearable.

Other than that, I had a great day. Not knowing the course, I had the rough idea that if I could do the 4.55k loops in 25:40, I could do 7 laps and sneak under the 3 hours in order to do one more. I had no idea how easy or hard the loop would be however it turned out to be a good goal, and kept me honest all day.

The splits were as follows:

1) 24:36
2) 25:30
3) 25:29
4) 25:24
5) 25:41
6) 25:57
7) 26:33
8) 29:00

Total of 8 laps (36.4k) in 3:28:10.

I was a minute up after the first lap, however I felt as if I was pushing too hard. I felt as if I was fading on the 2nd and 3rd laps and the pace would be unsustainable however the 4th lap was relatively easier and I was still a minute or so in front. The 5th and 6th laps went by OK and I started to pass a few people who were doing the 6 hour. The mental games were much easier after 4 laps as I could count down the laps till finishing. I had to run the 7th lap hard to get under the 3 hour mark, it was touch and go all the way and I was relieved to come through "the shoot" with 45 secs to spare.

I really loved the course, lots of cool single track which was mostly runnable (I just walked one section each lap around the 1.5k mark). The bonus was that it wasn't as hot as expected and it seemed as if 90% of the course was in the shade. The cold water at the aid stations was great and the food afterwards was a bonus.

Very happy with the run and shows the training is going in the right direction. Felt very strong towards the end, just as I did at the end of Bogong to Hotham.

Bogong to Hotham (Langford Gap) 2010

2011-01-15T21:43:00.002+11:00

Upon reflection, this years run was probably the most enjoyable days running I have ever had.

I decided to only go half way (i.e. to Langford Gap) this year. The last two years were tough and really knocked me around. This year the focus is sixfoot and so I thought a tough 35k would serve me well.

The mindset is totally different doing the shorter option. In 2009 I was completely terrified and stressed about equipment, nutrition and making the cut. In 2010, I was a little more relaxed realising that I could comfortably do the distance and make the cut however it was still a hard run and a big ask. This year I just totally enjoyed it. The nutrition and pacing was not so important, I knew what to expect - I could push a little harder and see what happened.

Mr G picked me up from Holbrook on Saturday afternoon and we only just made the race briefing. We were going to camp, however it was late and we decided to check in to a motel and have a relaxing meal and a couple of beers with Brick, Animal etc instead.
I considered starting at the later start, but decided on the earlier start as it would be good to see the leaders pass me and cheer on people at Langford after I finished. Whippet delayed the start till 5:30am in order that headlights were not required. I started at the front of the group and was surprised that only a handful of people were in front as we heade along the creek. I ran to the bottom of staircase spur with DJBleakman with only 4 people in front. And up we went. Spud was close behind as I could hear the tapping of his poles. It was the 4th time I have climbed staircase spur, however it still surprises me how long it goes for. Up and up we go. Dan dropped off and I passed a couple of people and a couple of people passed me. As the rest of the race would pan out, I was by myself with no one in range. I reached the top in 1:51 in 4th place however the time was a little slower than last year. All the fast people must have decided on the later wave.

The visibility was poor on top and a little chilly, just as it was in 2009. I could see no one in front and no one behind. If this was the first time I had been up there I would have been worried that I was on the right track however it was really awesome to be running along the ridge in an isolated environment all by myself. I was pushing the pace and was in a happy place.

Across the ridge, following the trail to Ropers, then Madison’s hut and over toward T-spur. Twisting and turning through the misty alpine environment following the single trail, over creeks, around trees, amongst the wildflowers and through the grass. It was so quiet and peaceful. A quick water stop and a wave at the campers. Did I say I was in a happy place? This is probably the best section of trail I have ever run and this year I was enjoying it so much more. Just after Ropers, I caught Dave Byrnes, the first runner I had contact with since half way up Bogong. I wouldn’t see anyone else for a while yet either.

This section of trail is just a prelude to the descent sown T-spur – wwwweeeeee, down we go! Down down down. I pushed hard down here and was aiming to reach the river in 3 hours which I just missed this by a minute, however I was feeling good and ready to face Duane Spur. In previous years Duane Spur broke me and it was close to breaking me this year as well. I had forgotten how long and steep the 2nd half was, however realising that I was only going to Langford Gap made it easier to accept. I looked behind me and saw the eventual winner Stu Gibson behind. He wasn’t running, but gee he was walking fast and breathing hard. Before I knew it, he was gone. He went on to win in sub 7 hours. Wow.
Just as I reached the top of Duane Spur, a runner from Canberra joined me and introduced herself – it was Bmac from the six-foot beer bet. We ended up running through Ropers hut together and walking/running to Warby corner. It was nice to have some company here as I was having a liitle bit of a low patch. I didn’t have much time to waste however as there wasn’t long to go.

The open section down to watch bed creek was misty and visibility was poor and we missed out on some splendid views of the mountains, however it was time to put the head down and head for home. Bmac and I had some steady running before I left her for the finish. I was now pushing the pace trying to break 5:30 – the old illusive cut-off time. It was going to be close and I needed to push hard. I turned off the fire trail and on to the single track. I was whacked but was pushing as hard as I could. This section is another piece of magic trail, twisting and turning towards the aqueduct. I felt like I was flying. In reality I wasn’t, but it felt good. Onto the flat section, and with a couple of k to go I looked at my watch and knew I would be home under 5:30. In the end I had a couple of minutes to spare. Surprisingly there was a crowd waiting at Langford and cheered me in, which was nice.

The next couple of hours was hanging around Langford, trying not to freeze to death, chewing the fat and watching the rest of the field come through and head for Hotham. After Mr G (the sweeper) came through, it was on to the bus and back to Mt Beauty. A quick swim in the river and it was back in the car and head for home.
I was back at the farm at Holbrook sitting on the porch drinking a beer just over 24 hours after leaving, smiling from ear to ear. The best race of the year.

Cramming

2010-09-12T22:25:00.003+10:00

Cramming madly this week in preparation for next weekend. I ran 6 days for 71k which is the biggest week in a while.

2 good sessions of note were 18k in 1:25 @ 4:42 on Wednesday morning with Dickyboy, Ben and Leigh. We had a little look around centennial park to see what we would be facing next weekend. Pace was pretty good - not totally comfortable though.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/48440515

Today's run was a great run as the sun was going down. 20k in 1:42 @ 5:10. A lap of Manly Dam in the light and a trip over to Shelley as well.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/48638889

A few shorter runs this week. Hope I don't embarrass myself.

Update

2010-09-05T22:31:00.002+10:00

Update since Gold Coast is that I haven't run much at all. Paced Cities marathon in 3.15, got sick for 2 weeks and generally not much running since then. I am pacing Sydney marathon (3:15 group again) and am very worried that I will be able to keep up. Luckily Ben (th eother 3.15 pacer) is very fit at the moment and will carry the group.

Ran 10k yesterday in terrible conditions at Nth head for 41:17 - a real wake up call as I am very unfit.

I hadn't done a long run since Cities. Got out today for 31k with Ben. See below. Nice run, averaged 5 min k's. It was a bit tough, but better than I thought it would be.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/47645771

Gold Coast Marathon - 3:00:55

2010-07-14T21:54:00.004+10:00

After another busy week at work I headed up to the gold coast on saturday morning with Rod, walshy and Craig. It had been another really busy week at work with many late nights. Not great preparation for a marathon however I was still confident of a sub 3.

I managed to snag Rod a late entry and so we were all running. A relaxing afternoon and an early night was nice.

Lined up at the front next to walshy and we were away. I was surprisingly very relaxed. The 1st 5k was very precise knocking out k splits of between 4:11 and 4:15 going through 5k in 21:16. I missed the 5k mat and had to turn around which cost me 5-10 secs. The running was nice. The weather was cool and the roads were in the shade of some of the unit blocks etc. The 3 hour pacing group was a bit annoying as they tended to surge and when there were 100 in the group passing you and then slowing doen it was a little frustrating.

The next 2 5k spilts down to the turnaround were done in just under 21 mins each. Walshy and I were feeling great, sharing drinks and having a chat - we were in a good place. We turned around and headed North again with the next 5k done in 21:03. The pacing was simply perfect reaching half way in 1:28:44 - 16 secs up on schedule. The 3 hour pacing group were long gone going through half way in 1:27:35 (crazy).

Walshy and I continued on to the 30k mark in splits of 21:10 and 21:15. This was under the 4:15 barrier and still putting time into the bank ever so slightly. I was over the moon and feeling great.

The course then came over 2 slight hills over the bridge and then just near the finish line. These hills seemed to knock me around a little and I started to struggle a little. This was a little startling however I was moving pretty well and had a minute or so in the bank. Waslhy looked like he was wanting to take off but held back until I insisted he move away from me. It was a little disappointing, but I was churning out 4:15 - 4:20 and I was not going any faster. The next 5k split was done in 21:28.

I was starting to really struggle and was doing a lot of self talk to keep me concentrating on maintaing the speed. I calculated that I could still average 4:25k's for the last 7k and just make it. The problem was that we turned around back into the wind. I was trying my guts out and I was moving right on 4:25's. The 5k split to 40k was done in 22:21. I could have broken 3 hours with a couple of 4:15 splits but it wasn't going to happen. I was doing everything I could to maintain 4:40 pace. The last k was extremely painful and a little disappointing knowing I had come so close.

5KM 0:21:16 0:21:24 (4:15)
10KM 0:20:50 0:42:14 (4:10)
15KM 0:20:57 1:03:12 (4:11)
20KM 0:21:03 1:24:16 (4:12)
25KM 0:21:10 1:45:27 (4:14)
30KM 0:21:15 2:06:43 (4:15)
35KM 0:21:28 2:28:11 (4:17)
40KM 0:22:21 2:50:33 (4:28)
Finish 0:10:30 3:01:03 (4:46)

Half Way 1:28:44 (4:12)
Finish 1:32:10 (4:22)

Interesting to look at the splits compared to walshy. In the end he beat me by 2 mins exactly - 16 secs from 30-35, 42 secs from 35-40 and 62 secs in the last 2.2. When I look at the pace graph in sportstracks however, it shows I was in trouble from 30k onwards - the graph shows the enevitable slowdown.

Very happy for walshy who really reaped the rewards for some consisntent hard training. Rod also had a PB of no training and qualified for Boston.

Lessons learnt: I was actually really happy with the way I approached the race. In retrospect the two things that let me down were 1) not enough k's - I tried to bluff my way through by only doing an average of 60k per week. I did enough long runs and speed work, just not enough volume 2) A really busy 3 weeks of work leading into the marathon - stressful, tiring etc. I think I have the approach right for next time. Just need to do 1-2 extra runs per week and make sure I get some rest before racing next time.

Until next time...

Week 11 of 12

2010-06-27T13:20:00.002+10:00

Mon - easy 10k
Tue - 13k run to work
Wed - corporate cup PB of 23:05 - woo hoo!
Thur - rest
Fri - 13k run to work
Sat - 15k around Manly
sun rest

Total - 59k for the week.

Worked late 4 of 5 nights this week so very tired. And another big week next week is expected. Not ideal build up to a marathon.

Very happy with the PB on Wednesday and another confidence booster for the sub 3. Nothing more to do now other than try and get some rest.

Week 10 of 12

2010-06-24T19:40:00.002+10:00

After a good week last week, this week was a shocker. The week started off with a gastro bug, then Uni exam and work was crazy. The up shot was only 2 runs - 9k easy on Friday and 25k on Saturday.

The 25k run was a good final long run with Ben. 5k easy (4:47), 5k at threshold (3:57), 5k easy (5:00), 5k threshold (3:57) and 5k easy (4:54). The 2nd rep was hard yet comfortable. I had a couple of gels, so no bonking and felt very good afterwards. Good confidence builder, even though it was only 34k for the week.

2 weeks to go.

Week 5,6,7,8 and 9 of 12

2010-06-16T21:17:00.002+10:00

Looks like I am a liitle behind. Things have been a bit busy and it has shown in the training. Very sporadic and not a whole lot of solid weeks. That being said I have had some good sessions and never to far from a run.

Week 5

56k including, corporate cup in 23:35 and SMH half in 83:53 - very happy. I had never been so tired. An absolute crazy 3 weeks before hand. I woke up and just wanted to go back to bed. I really thought I may desintergrate and not even break 90 mins. Started off at 4 min pace and just kept going. Was trying to keep Superflake in range but never saw him until the finish. Ran with IHS for the first 6 or 7k and Nando for the last 3 or 4. Love this race - might even be my favourite. Always seem to run well.

Week 6

Very busy week - only 43k total however included a 4 hour run, 28k run with Spud from St Ives to Mosman.

Week 7

Only two runs this week, but 69k total including 60k Manly to Palm Beach in 5:53. A 30 min PB. Was a terrible morning and another very busy week, so I was bit reluctant. I was planning to just run for a bit and turn around and go home, but the company was good in Sir Runalot and the rain eased, so I just kept going. really enjoyed the journey up and back. treally like this run. 5k splits were done in 26.34, 26.25, 26.27, 28.55, 29.43, 29.37, 33.34 (inc stop at half way 2:48), 29.24, 32.46, 26.59, 30.21 and 32.46. The last 5k was a lot tougher than the split shows. I was in a lot of trouble after finsihing - felt completely stuffed and was even a little sick in the evening. Good fun though.

Week 8

55k including a really hard 30k on Sunday. 7k @ 4:56, 5k @ 4:02, 7k @ 4:54, 5k @ 4:01, 6k @ 4:59. 30k in 2:19. Second hard 5k was hard but good. The last k was a big bonk as I had just water the whole run. Best run I have had in ages.

Week 9

A ggod week for once. Ran everyday including corporate cup in 23:35 (again) and an easy 30k on sarurday with Ben and Paul. 90k for the week.

3 weeks to go. Can I go sub 3? Don't know. The half was a big confidence booster, but the training just hasn't been there, however I have done some good sessions. Average weekly mileage for the 5 weeks has been 62k. Not heaps. Still a couple of weeks to cram.

Manly to Plam Beach

2010-06-12T19:59:00.003+10:00

Week 4 of 12

2010-05-09T23:04:00.003+10:00

Mon: 9k easy around the city
Tues: Threshold session with Walshy including 5k in 20:04 (3 secs slower than last week, but seemed to be easier)
Wed: 14k easy. As much as 14k with Dickboy can be called easy.
Thur: Interval session with Walshy including 12 x 90 secs @ ~3:40 with 60 secs jog recovery. We did this at Barangaroo and I used the Garmin for the first time for a session like this and worked well. Another good session under the belt.
Fri: Rest. Thanks for all for the birthday wishes ;-)
Sat: 24k around manly Dam/seaforth/ shelley beach and Allambie in 2:11. Was pretty tired again. I was planning 30k but didn't want to overdue it before next Sunday. Average pace was low at apx 5:30 pace but the route was quite hilly on the first 15k. Sat arvo was (another) 4th birthday party where I ran into Tom31 - small world.
Sun: Rest

Weekly Total: 68k. Again, not huge mileage, but feels right. A threshold session, an interval session and a long run. I can feel myself improving each day.

Week 3 of 12 and a 10k PB

2010-05-03T22:22:00.003+10:00

Mon: 10k stroller run to Shelley
Tues: Threshold session including 5k in 20:01
Wed:10k easy
Thur: 8k easy
Fri: Rest
Sat: 10k State 10k at Homebush. Was looking for a big PB and got it. Was aiming for 38:20 and got 38:13 for a 40 sec PB. 2nd 10k PN in two months. Yay!
Sun: Planning to do a long run but got caught up with life. I was tired anyway so wasn't too hard on myself. Need to get a long one in next weekend.

Weekly Total: 52k (Am I in marathon training?)

Week 2 of 12

2010-05-03T21:44:00.002+10:00

Mon: Schedule rest after SMC Half
Tues: Unscheduled rest - busy at work
Wed: Interval session with Walshy - hard but good. Lots of Intervals at 3:45 pace
Thur: 8k easy
Fri: 9k easy
sat: Rest
Sun: 30k North head STAR - got a bit of stick from Superflake and sportsman for running with the 6:10 group however did the pretty hilly 30k in 2:35 at a pace of 5:17. Fely VERY comforatble and very strong. First long run since sixfoot and a big confidence booster.

Total for the week: 59k

SMC Half Marathon 88:04

2010-04-19T20:37:00.002+10:00

Monday - 10k including 5k at threshold (20:09)
Tuesday - 10k easy
Wednesday - 8k including corporate cup in 24:25 which was a bit slower than I had hoped. Legs felt a liitle heavy and it was hot
Thursday - 8k easy - legs (and body) felt tired - not sleeping enough (der!)
Friday - 9k easy with Simon
saturday - 10k stroller loop to Shelley - beauitiful day
Sunday - SMC Half Marathon in 88:04 - was struggling the whole way actually, but very happy to finish up with this time. Went out a little easy with Rod and pushed forward at the 8k mark. Did the first 10k in 42:15, so did a sizeable negative split.

Weekly total 76k

At the same time/event last year I did 88:18, so a little faster and then I went on to do 85:11 at SMH. I had a realisation that GCM is 4 weeks earlier than Cities was last year. I am probably a little behind where I was last year and will need to put in some consistent training for Gold Coast (which is only 11 weeks away) if I am to have a realistic chance at sub 3.

Getting back into it

2010-04-12T22:56:00.002+10:00

I was aiming to get right back into training post sixfoot, but just didn't have it in me. I hardly ran for two weeks and had a good rest.

I ran a Striders 10k at Lane Cove last weekend. I didn't want to be there. It was cold and I was tired. The aim was to break 40 mins and have a piece of cake. I strted running and felt good coming home in sub 39 and a PB. Surprised to say the least.

A good way to start the build up to the next goal race - i.e. Gold Coast Marathon and an all out tilt at sub 3.

Last week was the first official week of GCM prep and included 5 runs - 9k, 14k, 14k, 9k and 10k for a total of 56k. Missed my long run because I was tired and disorganised. One of the sessions was 4 x 1k reps done in an average of 3:41 which was spot on.

Sixfoot 2010: 4:44:47

2010-04-01T20:21:00.002+11:00

I don't know how it happened. I was standing there talking to Spud, when he indicated that I should get down to the start line, we were just about to start. I hadn't got undressed or put my stuff in to get transported to the caves. I quickly did that and rushed down to the start with Will. We were a long way back so did what we could to get up toward the front. Will and my Garmin's were both playing up and we were both quickly trying to get them going before the gun went off… and then it did… and so did I.

I was quite a way back and was doing my best to weave around the slower runners to get a good run down the stairs. Where were all the beer betters I thought? I kept looking around for Will but he wasn't there. Just as I was approaching the stairs, I saw a training partner, Dickyboy and thought it strange that he would start in Wave 2. And then it hit me. I think I started in Wave 1!

After jogging on the spot for a while thinking, "Should I go back to the start, should I wait for Wave 2? etc" I decided to keep going. I couldn't believe it. Running down the stairs I started to think about what this meant. DQ'd from the race. DQ'd from the beer bet, no racing the beer betters, hearing about it for the next 12 months!

I was still kicking myself when the Nellies sign came past in 12:15. Way faster than I have ever done before. Now I felt even more guilty. I slowly started to talk myself around and forget about it.

Just before I got to the first aid station, Mick caught me. I told him what had happened (as I tried to for every beer better that passed me). I couldn't believe he caught me so quick. It wasn't long before Rod caught me as well. Rod was blowing pretty hard at this point and as he ran off, I thought it was entirely possible that I may see him again later in the race. To his credit though, he pulled of a gutsy race plan, battling cramps and only a slight slow down to post an awesome time (4:34) and smash me on our little side bet. Rod, my shout after GCM.

I went through Megalong a bit quicker than planned (0.44), but was running pretty comfortably. Soon after that Cedric overtook me and then a km later Terry and Tallgeoff went past on top of Pinnacle Hill. The two top finishers from last year looked like they were keeping an eye on each other and their game faces were on. Next person to pass me was Dave. A bit of a surprise to see him at this stage to be honest, but he was looking very fresh and comfortable.

Then down toward the river. I love this section of single track. Perhaps I was loving it too much as I seemed to take the foot of the accelerator. Milov passed me just after the swing bridge (1.22) and Johnbo just before the river which I crossed a couple of minutes slower than the plan in 1.29. I was a little concerned that I had such a good start and was now 2 mins behind schedule.

Just as I started to climb Mini, Dan approached from behind as Cedric fell back. Dan and I shuffled our way up together. I was surprised this year that I was able to run much more than previous years whilst keeping the HR in check. Milov slowly edged away until I saw him no more. I reached the Cattleyards in 1.55, Mini in 2.06 and Alum in 2.19.

At the base of the hill I caught Dave and TallGeoff. I feared that Dave had gone out too hard, and whilst I didn't see him again all day, he held on for a solid finish and a big 60 min PB. The climb was going OK and it heartened me to remember last year when I was going backwards at a rate of knots. EXE came past and gave me company for a while before powering away to the top. I reached the top in 2.53. Game on I told myself.

My aim was to run the whole Black Range, but looking back, that was never going to happen. I counted 8 times that I had to walk, mainly in the first half. Run2work came past early on and I tried to stay with him, but he slowly drifted away. EXE came into view and we ran together for a while before he fell back. Just before deviation (3:44) Walshy bounced along side of me, looking strong. We figured it was just over an hour to go, and if we held it together we would run good times. We ran together till caves rd (4.06) and then Walshy took off. I couldn't stay with him as he tried to chase run2work. I hit the top of the hill in 4.33 and was hoping that my legs would not completely fall as they have descending this section in the past 3 years. All the downhill training seemed to help, however when SlowManiac passed me, I realised that I still have a bit of work to do on the downhills.

Seeing that I had a chance to break 4:45 I pushed the zig zags and finished with only seconds to spare. Miss Z gave me my medal however I didn't seem to be able to string two words together. Totally stuffed.

A great day and a great afternoon as well drinking a few beers with the beer betters.

This race is great, with so many more dimensions than your average road marathon. The beer bet just adds that something extra as well. Hopefully we can do it all again next year!

Learning from your mistakes

2010-03-07T22:11:00.003+11:00

Last year's sixfoot was a shocker and I am trying to make sure I don't make the same mistakes...

Taper properly - i.e. keep active. Run most days - don't just sit around.
Stay hydrated and keep of the grog
Don't push it to Cox's
Practise walking up hills
Lose some weight
Get some core strength so I can run the last 2k without getting a stitch

I am mostly feeling good about the above. I have done 4-5 hill rep sessions (better than nothing), often in a long run. I am 3.5kg lighter than last year, I am having (mostly) an alcohol free fortnight in order to stay hydrated and I a focused on cruising down to cox's and not getting absorbed in the beer bet excitement.

I have done not core strength exercises since April last year and whilst I have done a fair amount of k's, they are not huge and I am lacking a few long runs. So.... I will struggle in the back half. This I must make sure I go out easy, easy, easy.

Proposed splits are:


Nellies Glen	0.14
Megalong Rd	0.45
Bridge	1.21
Cox's River	1.27
Cattle Yards	1.52
Top Mini Mini	2.03
Alum	2.15
Pluvio	2.52
2nd Aid station on right	3.32
Deviation	3.48
Caves Rd	4.10
Top of Hill	4.35
Finish	4.50

Sixfoot prep

2010-03-07T21:38:00.003+11:00

I was going to post each week of the prep but alas...

Week ending 14 Feb

Mon: 10k around the city
Tues: 10k around the city
Wed: 10k including corporate cup in 24:55. A bit slower than last fortnight - the legs were feeling heavy.
Thurs: 14k run to work in 75 mins
Fri: An easy 5k at lunch and 5k race at Shelley in the evening. I ran a 19:41 which wasn't to bad. Nice evening with some coolrunners.
Sat: felt very tired so decided to leave the long run till Sunday
Sun: Got out the door but felt really tired. Struggled at 6 min k's for 3k before turning around and walking home - blah!

Total: 62k

Week Ending 21st Feb

Mon: Sick
Tues: Sick
Wed: 9k around the city
Thurs: 14k run to work in just under 70 mins - working hard with the fast boys (Richard Green, Jonathan Worswick and Ben)
Fri: 12k around the city with Walshy
Sat: 21k around the trails of Terry Hills with the fast boys. Some hilly terrain and was pushing it for just on 2 hours. Was going to do another hour when I got home but was spent.
Sun: 16k including 4 x 1k reps of Beacon Hill done in 8:17, 8:16, 8:30, 8:23 - feel like I am getting stronger on the hills

Total: 72k

Week Ending 28 February

Mon: 7k run from Spit Junction to work
Tues: 8k around the city
Wed: 10k around the city
Thur: 11k including 5k at Threshold (20:01)
Fri: 14 run to work in 67:30 with the fast boys - keep getting quicker.
Sat: 23k including 4 x 1k Beacon Hill reps - all done in ~8:30. Down in around 4:05.
Sun: day off

Total 73k

Week Ending 7 March

Mon: 8k around the city
Tues: 8k around the city
Wed: Corporate Cup in 23:50 - big improvement fro last fortnight. still 40 secs away from PB.
Thurs: Hard 11k hilly session to Bellevue Hill with Moh and Walshy. I am not sure if it was because of my hard run the day before, but they absolutely spanked me.
Fri: Rest
Sat: 10k race at North Head in 39:22. I did the first 3k in 11:25 and just hung onto 4 min k's after hat. Sub 50 tried to help me to sub 39 but it wasn't to be.
Sun: Rest

Total: 45k

The last 6 weeks have been: 100, 81, 62, 72, 73, 45.

The 2010 goal and the if/then equation

2010-02-08T21:55:00.003+11:00

2010's goal is to run a 2:59.

IF I am to do the above THEN I will need to run 89:00 and 90:00 min splits.

IF I am to do the above THEN I will need to:

1) Do a little training at M pace (4:15),
2) A little bit more training at I pace (3:38)
3) Quite a bit of training at T pace (4:00)
4) Heaps of training at E pace (~4:50)

IF I am to do the above THEN I will have to earn the right to train at these paces by running

5k in ~18:30
10k in ~ 38:10
Half in ~ 84:30

IF I am to do the above, THEN I will need to do:

1) Some training at T pace (4:07)
2) Quite a bit of training at I pace (3:48)
3) Heaps of training at E pace (~5:00-5:10)

Simple.

My Mantra will be: SCG:

Speed - 1 and sometimes two faster sessions a week
Consistency - 70-90k per week and
Going Long - every weekend if possible. Very rarely over 2.5 hours

Wish me luck.

Humiduary has only 28 days

2010-02-08T21:41:00.002+11:00

...as Spud would say.

Mon: 10k around the city including 5k at T pace 20:10 (4:02). A little flattering as the first 1.5k was downhill.
Tues: 14k run to work in 1:19 (5:45)
Wed: 8k including corporate cup in 24:35 (4:08). A pleasant surprise, probably 30 secs faster than expected.
Thu: 7k run to work (caught the bus half way) in 37:36 (5:22)
Fri: 12k around the city in 57:55 (4:59)
Sat: 30k in 2:56 (5:49). Included a lap of Shelly, North Head and 4 x 1k reps of Beacon Hill. Up done in 9:24, 9:15, 8:43 & 8:25 (ran parts of the last two). Down splits were 4:27, 4:22, 4:31 & 4:28. Down was had on fatigued legs. Good session.
Sun: rest

81k for the week, with some quality thrown in.

Something to blog about...

2010-02-02T22:48:00.003+11:00

After 2 weeks of doing next to nothing post B2H, I realised there was only 7 weeks till sixfoot. Time to get my a$%# into gear.

Mon – 9 (loop of the city)

Tues – 20 (Shelly Beach Loop and then 3 x Beacon Hill climb)

Wed – 14 (run to work)

Thursday – 9 (loop of the city)

Fri – 10 (anzac bridge loop)

Sat – 31 (Manly Dam loop + Shelley Beach/North Head loop) - first part with Paul, 2nd part with Seris.

Sun – 7 (trundle down to Manly to reach the magic 3 figures)

Total - 100k

The Beacon Hill climb is great training for sixfoot. Exactly 1k long and 100m of elevation. 4 reps for Mini and 4 reps for Pluvio. The reps were done in about 9:20 up ad 4:15 down. Was stuffed afterwards and stiff the next few days. One of these sessions each week should be good training as I have never done any hills before sixfoot before.

Feeling pretty good an surprisingly fit.

Next 3 weeks is key. See if I can keep it up.

2009 Mileage

2010-01-01T22:13:00.003+11:00

My 5th year of running after a 2005 NY resolution. The yearly numbers are creepily consistent.

JAN - 118 (B:0, S:0)
FEB - 253 (B:0, S:0)
MAR - 221 (B:24, S:8)
APR - 325 (B:0, S:0)
MAY - 185 (B:0, S:0)
JUN - 301 (B:0, S:0)
JUL - 295 (B:0, S:0)
AUG - 15 (B:285, S:0)
SEP - 20 (B:245, S:0)
OCT - 72 (B:467, S:2)
NOV - 129 (B:420, 12)
DEC - 247 (B:0, S:0)

YTD - 2,181 (B:1,441, S:22)

2008 - 2,013 (B:1,665, S:11)

2007 - 2,088 (B:2,422, S:57)

2006 - 2148

2005 - apx 1,500

First half of the year was good resulting in some good PB's. 2nd half of the year was poor due to injury.

Nepean Triathlon 2009

2009-12-30T22:21:00.002+11:00

My 3rd Nepean triathlon in 3 years. It seems like it is the annual novelty event and something that keeps me movitated when in need of a rest from the grind of running.

This year it was an enforced rest with my foot injury. Months of missed running was somehow substituted with as much cycling as I could squeeze in. Right from the start I felt fit on the bike, obviously the good running fitness was passed onto the cycling. I mostly did my cycling as a 15k hilly comute to work with a few long rides squeezed in on the weekends.

The running was slowly coming back in November and I made a late charge with a few swims. The mileage in the 2 previous months for the last 3 years was:

2007 - S: 25k B: 817k R: 218k

Result: 21:53, 57:59 and 43:31 for 2:03:24

I was training for a half ironman, so was pretty serious. The swim was non wetsuit.

2008 - S:9k B: 400k R:227

Result: 22:18, 60:17 and 43:01 for 2:05:38

Lack of any good training showed - even the wetsuit aided swim was poor.

The training for 2009 was nothing flash, however the cycling k's were not too bad:

2009 S: 13k B: 857k and R:191

I was hoping for 23, 58 and 43 for 2:03. What I got was 23:09, 59:24 and 44:30 for 2:07:04.

The swim was good. I hadn't done much training, I am an aweful swimmer and there was no wetsuits. To get out of the water in 23:09 was fine. I took off on the bike and was flying. 36-37k/hr and feeling good. Along the back straight, it was carnage. There was a few of us coming up on some slower riders as well as the faster riders overtaking us. There was three riders wide in some stages and people everywhere. Out onto the road and a tehnical official road up to me and told me I was pinged for drafting. I couldn't believe it. I was completely deflated. My race was over just like that.

I pushed on and did what I could to grin and bear it until I stepped into the penalty box. One other young rider in his teens also came in who was riding around me at the time I got pinged. The technical official came past and laughed and pointed at the young guy. I think he was trying to teach the young guy a lesson. We both were't impressed and the 3 min wait felt like an hour. Gritting my teeth, I pushed on for the 2nd lap. I was fading, but made the finish in 59:24. A minute faster than last year with a 3min penalty. Stoked.

The running legs had been left on the M7 in July. I struggled the whole way and was glad to hold on for something respectable. At the finish I was totally exhausted. Triathlons are harder than any race I do each year.

Not the result I was looking for, but the bike split was good and that was enough for me. I drove home thinking that it would be good to do more cycling and swimming over the summer and give the sport a real crack, but a month later I have done nil cycling and nil swimming.....looks like I am a runner.

Next year I will train properly for two months and will break 2 hours. That is my new years resolution.

I'm back

2009-11-05T22:21:00.002+11:00

The longer you haven't blogged for, the harder it is to make a return.

Just after cities marathon I developed a sore point on the top of my right foot. Felt very much like a stress fracture. I had something very similar to this in 2008. After 3-4 weeks of little running the foot started to feel OK - and so I was hoping that this would be the same deal. It wasn't. I was desperately hoping to be a part of trailwalker team but alas I had to step down. Innes, then Terry took my place. The team did pretty well and came 20th out of apx 600.

I also missed the City to Surf. The injury was such that I could not feel it at all other than the afternoon and next morning after running.The ache would come after about 30 mins of running. I would have two weeks without running, cross my fingers and go for a short run to only find out that there had been only minimal improvement. Frustrated, I entered GNW 100k and crossed my fngers that all would be good by November. I visted the pysio on three occasions, with no real diagnosis. By the time I saw my GP and got a referral to get an X-ray, I started to see improvement. That was three weeks ago, and I can now say that I am over it and can only feel the ache ever so gently. So..... I'm back.

August to October saw montly running totals of 15k, 20k and 72k. This was after 6 months of averaging 263k per month - my best block of training ever. I was disappointed to miss trailwalker but to be honest I wasn't to worried and was enjoying some down time and and off season. I was basking in the joy of running the 3:03 at cities.

I enjoyed some down time, but also enjoyed cycling a bit more with monthly totals of 285, 245 and 467.

Focus now is 3 fold. Nepean triathlon, Bogong to Hotham and then an all out tilt at sixfoot.

Here we go!

P.S. Best wishes to Jen_Runs and Mango - all the best guys!

2009 Cities Marathon

2009-09-01T16:59:00.003+10:00

For the past three years I have been targeting this race. In 2007 I got sick in the taper and had a poor race finishing in 3:21. Last year I had a poor lead up due to sickness, so decided not to race. This year I had decided to again make it my target race with the aim of going sub 3:05.

As race day came closer, I toyed with the idea of trying for a sub 3. Training had been going really well and May's half in 85 mins and a 10k PB really gave me confidence. In the end I decided not to go for a sub 3 and it was definitely the right decision.

Being the 3rd time I have done Cities, I knew exactly where to go. I drove out to Blacktown and caught the bus to the start. I had a good chat to Horrie on the way out, but we ddn't arrive until about 6:40. Horrie and I were at the back of the bus and so everyone got to the check-in line ahead of me. No worries I said to myself, I will make use of the facilities. Oh no, another line! By the time I registered, I had about 5 mins to change, put my bib on as well as my timing chip. If it wasn't for Jen_Runs turning up to help out I would've missed the start. But the stress hadn't finished. Just as the gun had gone off, I realised that in my haste to put my bib on, I had done a poor job and it was flapping all over the place. So the first 200m was trying to run whilst redoing safety pins! Bah!

The plan was to run 4:20 pace (21:40/5k) which would give me a sub 3:03 time and I had the splits for this printed out around my wrist. I knew the first half was harder than the 2nd, so was trying for as close to even splits as possible. I was running with Rod (who was doing the half), and at about the 1k mark the 3 hour pacer came past, with Blue Dog right behind. Boy, I was glad I wasn't heading out at that pace I thought to myself. 5 secs per k is a big difference.

Rod and I soon found ourselves all alone and knocking out the 4:20's, running through 5k in 21:34. I was right on target, but there was a few more hills than I remember from previous years and things were not as comfortable as I was hoping.

Soon the big hill at 7k approached and Rod let me go. It wasn't so bad, I tried to keep the HR below 170 and keep a lid on the effort. I did this but lost a bit of time going through the next 5k in 22:11 and there was still some of the hill to climb. Watching the 3 hour pacer as well as Blue Dog disappear into the distance was disconcerting however I knew there was some good downhill running after the crest of the hill which rolled all the way to the half way point.

The 3rd split which was over the top of the hill and the start of some down was done in 21:52 and I was now 37 secs behind 4:20 pace. The course, whilst still rolling does generally go downhill from 15-20k and I was running at sub 4 min pace at times. 20k came around with a split of 21:13 which was pleasing and then through the halfway point in 91:37. This was 11 secs down on the plan, but I was feeling good.

The next 10k or thereabouts is relatively flat, although it seems that you are always going slightly up or slightly down. I was churning out consistent k's at around 4:20 pace. My fastest k from 20-30 was 4:07 and the slowest was 4:22, but lots around 4:20-4:21. The 5k splits were 21:26 and 21:44 for an elapsed 30k time of 2:10:00 which when I looked at my wrist band was EXACTLY what it said for 30k. I also had just passed Blue Dog, so all in all I was feeling good and ready for the all important 12k.

I was really enjoying myself at this point. I was right where I wanted to be, things were starting to feel uncomfortable, I was all by myself, it was just me and the marathon. I didn't know whether I was going to fall apart or stay strong till the finish. A challenge that I was relishing. From 30k there is a downhill section, before a couple of k's of flat before the turnaround which is a short sharp hill. I didn't really pick up any time on the downhill but lost 19 secs on the turnaround k with a 4:39 k. Another slow k going back up the hill meant a 5k split of 22:20. I was 40 secs behind and there wasn't anything to be done about it other than grit the teeth and finish it off.

The last 7k was simply digging as deep as I could to maintain the pace. As hard as I tried, I simply could not go faster than 4:20 to pick up the lost time. I was counting down the k's before finally enjoying the last k down to the stadium and around the track. The announcer called my name out as I ran the bend, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I crossed the line, totally spent in 3:03:46. The second half was done in 92:07, so a 30 sec negative split. A little behind the 4:20 pace of 3:02:52, but not too much.

A very pleasing run which was just on a 15 min PB from 3 years ago. I am glad I didn't chase the 3 hour time as I am sure that 3:03:46 was all I had. An almost perfect race. And running the sub 3 will give me something to chase next year.

Lots of catching up with CR's and lots of fatty food topped off a very satisfying morning.

Some interesting HR data showed my effort was pretty constant.

5) 21:34 (165)
10) 22:11 (168)
15) 21:52 (169)
20) 21:13 (166)
25) 21:26 (167)
30) 21:44 (167)
35) 22:20 (166)
40) 21:57 (167)

1st Half: 91:37 (167)
2nd Half: 92:07 (167)
Total: 3:03:46 (167)

2009 mileage and trailwalker

2009-09-01T16:24:00.002+10:00

2008 Mileage (2008/2007 in brackets)

JAN - 118 (292/251)
FEB - 253 (57/268)
MAR - 221 (239/165)
APR - 325 (96/181)
MAY - 185 (53/183)
JUN - 301 (176/259)
JUL - 295 (230/193)
AUG - 15 (222/117)
SEP - (106/127)
OCT - (132/108)
NOV - (169/135)
DEC - (241/101)

TOTAL - 1713 (2013/2088)

Looking back over the year, it seems that my mileage has been higher than I thought. Even with the terrible August, I should be well over my 2007 and 2998 totals within a couple of months.

285k on the bike as well in August, trying to maintain some fitness. I will head back out for a run this week to test the foot.

A bit of a bludgy week last week. Only a few rides for a total of 60k. I was actually pretty tired before trailwalker and even though I wasn't running the actual day took it out of me, getting up at 4am and getting to bed at 2am.

With me pulling out, Innes kindly stepped up only for his wife to fall into labour (3 weeks early) just after the team transfers and money had been paid which was pretty funny. Even funnier was the fact that Tim 2 delivered the baby.

After a quick search Terry was the fill in of the fill in. I picked all the boys up and headed out to Brooklyn for the 7m start. Dad decided to tag along which was nice. A bit of company and a bit of training for future crewing duties (I hope).

There was no access to crews at CP1, so we just watched all the teams go past. Chasing Brick was in about 15th place however there were a few groups who were already looking to struggle after 15k. We head down to Berowra ferry for a look and then up to cP2 at Berowra. The boys cruised in and didn't take too much time - all good so far. I was a little worried about Paul. He was running with some pretty experienced runners and he had never gone past 42k. He seemed chirpy enough which was good. Onto the next checkpoint.

The next checkpoint was apple tree bay near bobbin head. The boys were a little later than expected and I feared the worst for Paul. However when the boys arrived it was Brick who was struggling. The vomit bug had gripped him. The boys remarked how quickly he was walking and to be only 5 mins behind schedule lifted everyone's spirits.

No access to CP 4, so off Dad and I went to CP5 and St Ives showground. I got a call from Paul who said Brick was still vomiting and they were giving him some time to recover at CP4. The boys seemed really worried about him as it seemed quite serious. Brick pulled out at this stage and the boys who no longer had Brick to chase, eventually reached St Ives just before 5pm. With 60k gone and still 40k to go, Paul looked grumpy and tired. On with the head lamps and off into the night!

After the boys checked out, Dad and I headed back to drop Bricks gear off to him (his wife was going to pick him up) and then raced back to CP6 at Davidson. We just made it and the boys were in awe of Paul who had lead then out in good time - must have been the red bull!

Again we raced down to the Roseville bridge, but I had my splits wrong and thought it was a quick stage, but it wasn't and they seemed to take an age to get there. Paul was struggling now, but showed great resolve to keep arching along. The next check point was the last and we picked up a pizza for the boys. It was cold by the time they got there as they had waked most of the way. Paul looked rooted!

Again off they went, marching off to the finish. I took dad home and watched the guys cross the spit bridge. Nearly there. The boys eventually arrived to a subdued post midnight gathering and they were glad to have made it. Terry looked like he had run 10k.

The final result was 20th position in 17:24 and 1st in the financial service division( however not a full team). Raised $1,500 for Oxfam. Not a bad day out.

Taking Scott and Paul home, they were both resolute that they would never do that again. We'll see. Watching from the sidelines however has made me more keen for a 100k than ever. Just have to wait now till there is another one...

Trailwalker = DNS

2009-08-23T21:02:00.002+10:00

With much nerves, I laced up the runners after 2 weeks of no running to test the self diagnosed stress fracture of the foot. For the 1st 2k it was wonderful and then suddenly I felt a slight soreness that got a little worse. Optimistically I thought I would keep running and hope it would get no worse, but it did. On the postive side it has greatly improved and is not really that uncomfortable to run with, however, trying to run 100k on it will be asking for trouble.

So I am out. A quick ring round, got a replacemet in Innes which is great. The team should do really well. I will now take up crewing duties, which still should be a bit of fun.

I took my frustration out on the bike doing numerous short sessions for a total of 120k for the week + 8k running. On one hand, I am starting to think about some triathlon goals for the summer, but on the other hand I think it is a stupid, time sucking idea and that I should just stick to running.

I will follow the heart and see where that leads me.

Quick Update

2009-08-16T22:09:00.002+10:00

I haven't updated the blog since the marathon as I have been searching ofr time to fix my Garmin as it not allowing e to download to sportstracks. Therefore no stats etc.

A brief summary is that I ran a 3:03:46 and I was extremely pleased. In the end I decided not to go for a sub 3 and it was definitely the right decesion. 3:03 was definitely the quickest I could have gone on the day. Went through half way in 91:37 and came home in 92:07 which was very pleasing. The last 3-4's was tough. Very tough. But I managed to hold form and pace.

Next year I wil target the sub 3.

Bad news is that I thnk I have a stress fracture on thetop of the left foot. Exactkly the same as I had after Canberra marathon last year - except on the right. It cme good after 3-4 weeks of nearly no running - hopefully this one will take a week less (at least) as I have trailwalker booked in for Friday week. It is really tough as I don't want to let the team down.

I had 5 days off before trying it out last week, but as it was still sore I have had the past 11 days off running. Will give it another couple of days before crossing my fingers and trying once more time. I will then make a decesion whether to start looking for a replaement or not. Wish me luck!

It's money time

2009-07-23T21:41:00.002+10:00

3 days to go till the big dance and I am feeling great. A little nervous as well which is probably a good sign.

An update on the last three week (my garmin is not downloading properly so will fill in details later):

Week beginning 6th July...

Mon: 10k Cahill in 46:12 @ 4:46 (148)
Tues: 14k run to Work in 1:09:06 @ 5:05 (149)
Wed: Corporate cup in 23:45 @ 4:01 (173) - felt sluggish and heavy legs
Thurs: Rest
Fri: 7k very easy around city
Sat: 25k Threshold run around manly in 1:50:48 @ 4:26 (159). 5k splits were 22:50 @ 4:34 (148), 20:11 @ 4:02 (171), 23:21 @ 4:40 (157), 20:12 @ 4:03 (170) and 24:12 @ 4:51 (154). Very pleasing last long run and a big confidence builder.
Sun: Easy 10k with stroller.

Total of 74k

Week beginning 13th July...

Mon: 9k around city
Tues: 14k run to work in 1:06:26 @ 5:01 (154)
Wed: Rest
Thurs: 8k around city
Fri: 10k with 8k at marathon pace (~4:20)
Sat: Rest
Sun: Easy 12k

53k for the week. Was planning a bit more than this but was quite tired so figured the body needed some rest.

Week beginning 2oth July...

Mon: 10k cahill run
Tues: 7k to work from Spit Junction
Wed: Corp cup in 27:05 @ 4:35. Just took it easy pacing a friend
Thurs: Massage and 6k

I will rest tomorrow and 5k easy on Saturday.

Good time to review my mistakes/ lessons learnt from sixfoot and see how I have done better.

1) Sixfoot taper was stop running for a week - not good. This time I am trying a much more active taper than I have done before and it feels like it is working - rating 10/10.
2) Dehydration (i.e. too many beers and not enough water in the week of race. This time I am having an alcohol free week (except one small drink tonight) - rating 9/10.
3) Work on my core strength to prevent stitches. Had a great 6 weeks post 6 foot but have hardly done anything in last 5 weeks - rating 5/10.
4) Pacing - was too optimistic regarding fitness levels and the compounding effect of above meant disaster. I have been toying around with the idea of a sub 3 attempt for the last couple of weeks however have decided to be a little more conservative and not overestimate my abilities. Yes perhaps I could do it, but unlikely. I have printed off splits for 3:02:52 i.e. 4:20 pace. 3 hours is just a stupid round number anyway ;-). Rating = will find out.

Now all I have to do is stop watching the tour and get some sleep...

Some stats...

The last 6 weeks I have:

averaged 79k per week
done 5 long runs of 37, 30, 30, 30 & 25
1 long-long run, 2 x threshold runs and 1 marathon paced run
37 runs in 42 days
Lots of threshold running and a few races

All set it go... its money time.

PMC, SMC30k, SSHB10k & PB

2009-07-08T21:05:00.003+10:00

It has been a while since I updated the blog. 5 weeks in fact. Probably the best 5 weeks training I have ever done so funny that I haven't blogged. The good weeks mainly due to me being on holidays (well unemployed anyway). Just busy I guess. To summarise:

Weekly km's for past 5 weeks: 30, 67, 94, 88 & 98. Post SMH & finishing up at ING, I had 3 weeks of sickness where I did just 73k (inc the 30k week).

Easy Runs:

My easy running pace (at HR of 150-155) has increased. As a comparison, the pace of my easy running when running on flat terrain over the 5 weeks has been:

1) 4:48
2) 4:50, 4:45, 4:51
3) 4:55, 4:46, 4:44
4) 4:50, 4:39
5) 4:51, 4:35

This has been an improvement from 4:50-5:00 earlier this year. Feeling very fit at the moment.

Highlights:

Week 1 - saw a 10k race a Nth Head. Still a bit sick. Started fast and faded to a 39:27. Not far off from the PB.

Week 2 - was a long run with Spud from Mt Colah to Opera House for the PMC. Total of 37k in 3:48 @ 6:09 (144). A great run and just what I was looking for a longer than normal run at a low HR. We picked up the pace at the end and I was sore for a couple of days.

Week 3 - Tues - Threshold session including 5k in 20:00 @ 4:00 (180) - felt very strong. Sun - 30k at SMC. The plan was to run at marathon pace of 4:25 (3:06 pace). I started a little slower than this and worked my way into the run. Forgot how hilly it was. Finished in 2:14:48 and just under 4:30 pace. HR averaged 166, so was pretty comfortable. Very confident of keeping that up for another 12k for a 3:10. The question is just how fast can I go?

Week 4 - Corp cup in 23:25 (179). Was looking good to break 23 but faded badly.

Fri - 30k long run including two 5k sections at threshold pace in 2:22 (159). Very good session which gave me lots of confidence. Felt very strong. The session went like this:

7k in 34:46 @ 4:58 (151)
5k in 21:03 @ 4:13 (172) - ground was very muddy so slowed me down a little
9k in 45:22 @ 5:02 (154)
5k in 20:22 @ 4:04 (171) - first k was downhill so a little misleading
4k in 20:29 @ 5:08 (155)

Week 5 - Tues - Threshold session including 5k in 20:22 @ 4:04 (173). Sat - North Head striders in 39:02. A 21 sec PB. I thought I would go a little faster than that however was feeling a little fatigued from the build up of training. No time on Sun fr a long run, so did it on Sat night. A good slow run with Paul through many bush sections using our headlights. Good fun. 30k in 3:08 @ 6:19 (135). 40k for the day and very tired.

So this leaves me 3 weeks to cities. I am pushing on with the training this week and will only taper for 2 weeks. This is a bit of a change from past, but am trying something different. Still not sure what pace will go out on the day. Stretch goal is 3 hours but will probably be out of reach. Easier goal will be 3:05. Still not sure how much risk to take on the day. Looking forward to the challenge.

P.S. How god is the tour, go Lance!

P.S.S. After 5 weeks of unemployment, I started a new role at Computershare last week.

A couple of photos...

2009-06-04T12:28:00.002+10:00

I like this one - Cheeseburger chasing after me at the triathlon at Port in March...

Manly to Palm Beach

2009-06-04T11:59:00.002+10:00

Quick update, however not much has happened since SMH. I actually woke up the morning off SMH with a sore throat and pushing the body through a hard effort pushed it over into full blown cold (or maybe a man flu). I couldn't run at all that week. I was a bit disappointed as it meant that I couldn't do the Manly to Palmy 60k. It is a race that organise and it is the 2nd year in a row I haven't done the full monty. I was feeling mostly better on the Sat morning, so I decided to run to the start and see how I felt. If I felt OK I would run to Palm Beach and if I felt ordinary, I would just run home after getting everyone away.

Felt a bit coughy, but mostly pretty good, so I continued at an easy pace (mostly with my mate Paul). The weather stayed away mostly and we arrived at Palm Beach right on 3 hours. I caught the bus to Warringah Mall with Paul, Miss Z, Mr and Mrs Tall Geoff. I ran home from the mall for a total of 35k for the morning.

The run ended up being a mistake as I retreated back into sickness for the following week. Der!

So two weeks without running much at all. The progress has stalled and I can only blame myself. Even though I felt 99%, I pulled out of the Great Nosh to ensure I got rid of this stupid cold. Still managed to get up on the course for a few photos with Cheeseburger.

Back into it this week and looking to get the legs back in action for the Nth Head 10k on Sat.

A few photos from the Nosh...

TallGeoff

Sportsman

Sub50

SMH Half

2009-05-19T12:21:00.004+10:00

Mon - 10k cahill run in 47:13 (4:43)
Tues - 7k around the city in 33:16 (4:33)
Wed - corporate cup in 23:20. Actually realised after the fact that this was an equal PB. I thought I was going to break 23 mins at one stage but faded in the last k. A good confidence booster.
Thur - 8k around the city in 37:09 (4:48)
Fri - massage with tiger and last day at ING (i.e. drinks)
Sat - rest
Sun - 21.1k in 85:11 (4:02) - woo hoo.

Total - 55k

I decided earlier in the week to try for 86mins however a few big nights at work to celebrate leaving ING and what felt like the onset of a cold the previous day, made me far from confident. I had a couple of panadeine and tried to get my race head on. Took off and the crowds didn't hold me up to much. I like the new course and I think the down hill start suits me. I did the first k in 3:50 and after the argyle hill, 2k was done in 8:03. From here, I slotted into a 4 min k rhythm going through 5k in 19:37, 10k in 40:07 and 15k in 60:11. I was over the moon at keeping this pace up and set myself the challenge of doing a sub 4 min k half marathon. The last 5k got harder - especially the 2nd climb up Hunter where I lost 20 secs or so. Battled on and tried to make up time to no avail, going through 20k in 80:38. In the end I was over the moon with a 85:11 and a 2:47 PB.

Woohoo! I put this time into McMillan and it gives a 2:59:39 marathon. Now that's something to think about!!!!

SMH here I come!

2009-05-12T21:16:00.006+10:00

First week with Juniorburger couldn't have gone better. Baby happy, mum happy - means Hamburglar happy. Yet a bit tired.

Mon: 11k around Manly Dam in 63:05 (5:37)
Tues: 10k Shelly Beach in 44:52 (4:41)
Wed: 10k Shelley Beach including 5k threshold in 20:24 (4:05)
Thur: 26k in 2:09 (4:59). Ran from the city to the Bay, two laps and back through Glebe. Bit tired, but happy to keep under 5:00.
Fri: recover from dinner at Tetsuya's
Sat: 10k in pram with Cheeseburger down to Shelley.
Sun: Beers with mum

Total: 67k

I will take it easy this week leading up to SMH. Will start out at 86 min pace and see what happens.

Last week at ING this week which is a bit strange after 5 years. I am yet to find a replacement job, so the training might pick up from next week ;-)

More photos at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=115305&id=761993708&l=d24f439455

Welcome Juniorburger

2009-05-03T20:07:00.004+10:00

This week continued the long awaited arrival of Juniorburger. He finally arrived at 5:59pm on Thurday 30th April. The labour had its ups and downs but ended up with a great result. Mother and baby are doing really well. Just like many things in life, the 2nd time is much better as you seem to be even be able to enjoy the process.

Mon: 8k around the city in 37:20 @ 4:43
Tues: 8 x Argyle St Hill Reps with inhisshadow. Good to get some SMH specific training. the rep is from the bottom of the hill to the start of the bus turning circle which is 400m. Splits were:
1:33, 1:33, 1:35, 1:34, 1:33, 1:33, 1:35, 1:31 which is about 3:50-3:55 pace. Recoveries were betwen 2:10 and 2:30 - good session.
Wed: 10k to Shelley Beach in 45:47 @ 4:47
Thur: Birth of 2nd Child
Fri: A sluggish 10k in 47:00 @ 4:54. Understandably felt crap.
Sat: 10k race at Homebush with pram in 43:28 @ 4:16. I didn't really know how I would go in my first race with a pram. I was hoping for something around 47-48 mins so was very pleased. Hardest challenge was keeping Cheeseburger entertained which is difficult when running flat out.
Sun: Rest. Well maybe not rest, but no running. Exhausted.

Total: 47k with two faster sessions. No long run but hopefully will catch up on that in next couple of days. Let the madness begin!

Photo care of Ellie80 - thanks Ellie!

SMC Half Marathon

2009-04-27T20:52:00.004+10:00

No Juniorburger yet. Waiting, waiting...

Firstly to answer some questions... I am no longer recording HR data because my HR monitor has died. Need to get a new one. Having withdrawal systems from lack of data. Regarding upcoming races, I plan just to train and race when I can through winter. I have entered SMH, will hopefully run Cities if all goes to plan and I have entered trailwalker. Other than that, the plan is to just race when I can. I have got the feeling life is going to be a little hectic in the coming months with two burgers to look after.

Mon - Rest
Tues - 10k around Anzac loop in 46:56 @ 4:54
Wed - Funny session along Hickson Rd - 3 x 1.725k reps in 6:40 (3:52), 6:27 (3:44), 6:40 (3:52). Not quite an Interval session paced run and not a threshold run.
Thurs - 10k Cahill expressway run in 49:28 @ 4:57. Feeling a little weary.
Fri - 8k around the city in 37:30 @ 4:44
Sat - Rest
Sun - SMC Half Marathon in 88:18 @ 4:09

I have been meaning to go out to SMC for ages but it never seemed to happen. The delayed arrival of Juniorburger left the family with a free schedule, so we decided to head out to Smithfield and found that it wasn't that far.

I printed out some splits for 90 mins but was quietly hoping for something a little faster (athough I really had no idea). The first km and the uphill surprised me as I thought the course was completely flat (don't know why I thought this). I struggled a little until 10k when some encouragement from Silver Fox seemed to spur me on. Felt strong on the uphill to the far turnaround and was just in front of 90 min pace. The last 5k was great and I was really feeling good, knocking out some 4 min k's on the way home. I finished in 88:17 by my watch and very happy. Not too far away from the PB.

Whilst not overly picturesque, the undulations make for a great course. The organisation is first class and everything just seemed to run like clockwork - easy rego, km markers, water bags inc. Gatorade, timing system, volunteers etc. - and all for $14. I think I will be back again.

An easy 7k recovery down to Manly on Sunday arvo with Cheeseburger in the pram finished off an easier week. That is if you call starting and stopping for plays in each park, stopping at bottlo for couple of VB's, stopping at the hot chip shop a proper run? At one stage, I had a can in one hand, with a bunch of chips in the other pushing Cheeseburger on the swing. What a bogan!

All up 64k for the week.

P.S. A couple of photos - beautiful day at Manly.

You've got to want, you've got to need. But most of all, you've got to put in the hours.

2009-04-19T20:20:00.005+10:00

I liked this quote from Ewan. Its pretty cool. Anyway...

Mon: 14k in 1:19 (5:28) Home to Chatswood. Up through Manly Dam, Across Roseville Bridge. Some big hills and legs were tired.
Tues: 8k in 41:25 (5:23) Around the city. Just a recovery run. Legs tired.
Wed: Corporate Cup in 23:45 and a fast point! Very happy to get a fast point in hot conditions. Splits were: 3:47, 3:58 (7:45), 4:13 (11:59), 3:45 (15:44), 4:19 (20:03) and 3:43 (23:47). Went out at a good clip and faded in the last 2k, but had a go I guess. Last straight done in a slow 53 secs.
Thur: 10k in 48:24 (5:03) Anzac Bridge loop. Feeling good.
Fri: 14k in 1:08 (4:51) Wooloomooloo and back. Fastest I have ever done this one and comfortable as well.
Sat: 10k with a 5k Threshold in 21:41 (4:07) NB CR 5k Challenge. Really tired legs on the warm up, but they came good and was nearly right on the desired 4:08 pace which felt pretty good.
Sun: 29k in 2:23 (4:59) 3 laps to Shelley Beach and back as I didn't want to be too far away from Mrs Hamburglar who is due tomorrow. Warmed into this one. Legs were very tired and I didn't feel like going back for two more laps, but I felt better as the run went along. The 4.8k splits to Shelley were done in 24:33, 23:34, 24:04, 23:28, 24:13, 23:22. The outward journey was into a strong headwind which can be seen in the splits.

A total of 93k and another week of perfect training for me i.e. big k's with a speed session (race), threshold session and a long run. After a pretty big block post sixfoot, I am stuffed. The legs feel tired yet strong at the same time. A planned easier week this week which hopefully will see a brand new burger in the Hamburglar family. Fingers crossed.

Solid Week

2009-04-14T08:08:00.002+10:00

Mon - 10k cahill expressway run
Tues - 10k easy around Anzac Bridge Loop
Wed - 4 x 1k intervals in 3:35-3:40
Thur - 8k easy around Opera House
Fri - 26k long run around balgowlah, Manly to Spit, North Head. Ran into Flakey.
Sat - 10k with Adam in pram to Shelley Beach
Sun - Easy 5k in Bilpin and 10k in the evening to Shelley with 5k threshold in 20:50

87k for the week. Perfect week trainibng with an I (Interval) session, T (threshold) session and a long run. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get to do more exploring in the Bilpin area. The 5k run showed bush as far as the eye could see in all directions.

Feeling really strong. The cruising pace has increased to around 4:50 min/k.

After 2 weeks of trying to lose weight, the scales finally started to move reducing from 74.4 to 73.2 this week - target is < 72.0kg.

Finished off the long weekend with 14k, so 65k for the 4 days.

Sixfoot 2009

2009-04-05T22:22:00.003+10:00

Ok sports fans, my apologies for the delay in posting. Being only my 4th post for the year, I need to pull my sox up. Sixfoot this year was far from an impressive result, so I needed to make sure I analyzed my mistakes and learn my lessons.

The taper

A shorter than normal taper for me being only two weeks. It also had the complication of the option of racing in a local port macquarie triathlon (500/18/5) with Miners. As I hadn't swum or cycled at all since November, I did 1 600m swim (to ensure I wouldn't drown) and a short cycle to make sure the bike still worked. Other than this I only did 1 run.

The triathlon was an absolutely great morning. It was a handicap race whereby the slower guys got a head start on the faster guys. Unfortunately Miners didn't believe me that I had swam/cycled in 4 months and was given a tough handicap. The swim was in the canal. I knew I was in poor form and just took it easy, waving to the family as I swam by. Came out in 12:30. Bugger. thought I was going faster than that. Onto the cycle. The first two k's were great and I was flying. Then the lactic hit me and I started crawling. Good to have a blast on the nice flat roads in the tri bars. Was happy in the end to average 30k's/hour. Onto the run. The legs were like concrete blocks. Finished in apx 20:30 for the 5k, so was happy with that. The morning really showed me what a great sport triathlon could be. Really relaxed morning in a great community atmosphere. Everyone hung around for the presentation, lots of juniors etc. It is a shame it isn't quite like that in Sydney, but I will have a look at Warringah tri club next season.

The week before sixfoot was spent lazing around our rented holiday house in Lake Cathie. One evening, Mrs Hamburglar and I experienced the wonderful hospitality of miners and family - beautiful family and beautiful roast as well. I felt quite stiff for a few days, especially from the swim and being in the tri bars on the bike. Being in taper, I felt no compulsion to get out for a run and only went for one short run the whole week.

Looking back after a poor race, I am so annoyed at myself for such a laid back taper. Yeah I decided to do a triathlon, which was probably not ideal, however only running twice in two weeks, even when your tapering is stupid. Too many beers as well. I just don't know what I was thinking. You train so hard, just to be sloppy with the simple things.

The Race

Caty, Rachael and I headed straight from Port to Katoomba on Friday afternoon, got our race numbers and grabbed an early dinner. We hit the sack early and had a great night sleep.

Pre race at sixfoot always has a great atmosphere and I was surprised I wasn't nervous at all. The plan this year was to push it a little to the river, take it easy to Pluvio and bring it home. Headed down Nellies with Nando and Spud with the Gnome just ahead reaching the sign in 14 minutes. Took off down the road and let Nando and Spud go. Still had Gnome in sight. I knew he would run well, so tried to stick with him but off he went as well. I was feeling really good, however the HR was surprisingly high at over 170. I stupidly ignored this fact and kept pushing on crossed Megalong Rd in 0:44. I was also really thirsty. I took a cup at every aid station and always felt like I could have done with two.

I kept pushing the pace a little and enjoyed some free running down to the river. At times there was no one in front or behind me. I heard someone shout out down the valley only to find out it was brick bringing his guts up. Poor guy. Went past the swing bridge in 1:19 and crossed the cox's right on the target (well 2 secs slower) of 1:25. I grabbed a banana, and as I did The Author came by as did Tall Geoff. They both ran with me for a while before getting in front of me by running some of the easier sections. The plan was to take it easy up Mini however my heart rate was still high. Soon Terry caught up to me which was a big surprise. He just doing his own thing and building into the race. We ran through the cattleyards together in 1:52. It was interesting that the two winners in the beer bet were behind me till Mini. Amjan, who also did well in the beer bet, also came up from behind and surged ahead. She asked if I was taking it easy today? Feeling a little deflated, I replied that I was racing... As she also took off toward the summit, I had the first feeling that today was not going to be my day.

I hit the top of Mini Mini in 2:05 and started running to Alum. I was moving well here, but the legs were feeling a little tired. Not too bad, but worse than what I knew they should be feeling. Up Pluvio and people started passing me regularly and so it would remian for the rest of the day. Buzzlightyear roared past and then Miss Z. I still was hopeful that as I reached the summit, the tiring legs would come to life and I could bound down the black range.

I reached Pluvio in 2:56 which was >1:30 from Cox's and it wasn't like I was taking it easy. Anyway, I told myself to HTFU and lets go. But there was no go. Things went from bad to worse along black range and I did alot of walking and when I wasn't it was a trudge. I started to feel like I did in the back half of B2H. How could this be happening, I thought to myself. I tried gels, I tried coke but nothing was working. I reached deviation in just on 4:00 hours and drank and drank. I couldn't believe I was drinking so much in a race.

And on it went. I decided to not give up and do the best I could regardless. But it got worse. I got stitches, I got a sore ITB, just as I did in the final stages of B2H. I cursed myself as I remembered promising myself to do more core strength work.

The isn't really much else to say. I got to caves road in 4:28 and finished in 5:25. Really hard last hour. Going down the final hill was agony on the knee and quads. I was totally spent. I crossed the line and Tiger Angel gave me a hug. I think I nearly knocked her over as I leaned on her. I was spent. Completely empty, perplexed and very disappointed. I was not expecting that result at all.

Really enjoyed a few beers afterwards and hearing all the stories. Really happy for TallGeoff who had a great race. After a good 3-4 beers I realised that I hadn't gone to the loo since early that morning. I had consumed litres of gatorade and water as well as lots of beers. Me thinks I was a little dehydrated at he start line.

Caty had a tough race and finished in 6.5 hours, but it was just good to have her back after a couple of years out. Woo hoo.

The Spilts

Nellies - 0:14
Megalong - 0:44
Pinnacle Hill - 0:54
Swing bridge - 1:19
Cox's - 1:25
Cattle yards - 1:52
Mini Mini - 2:05
3rd Alum Creek crossing - 2:19
Little River turnoff - 2:40
Pluvio - 2:56
2nd Aid station (in 400m) on black range - 3:39
Deviation - 4:00
Caves Rd - 4:28
Binda Cabins - 4:50
Top of Hill - 5:05
Jenolan Caves - 5:24:58

The Post-Mortem

I was completely perplexed as to why I had gone so bad, when I was really confident of a good result. I mulled it over for a few days and I believe it was a number of small things contributing together.

Firstly, it was a terrible taper. Yes I decided to do a triathlon which wasn't the smartest thing to do. I also just completely bludged and did no running. Rather than tapering I just stopped.

Secondly, whilst I wouldn't say I was dehydrated, I was far from the opposite. Too many beers in the holiday lead up and not enough water.

Thirdly, I got cught up in the beer bet hype and chose a bad race plan. I completely forgot all the great advice I got two years ago. Cruise to the Cox's and take it easy to Pluvio. TallGeoff and Terry prove the fact. I stuck to my guns and kept pushing it even when the HR was high.

Fourthly, I am heavier than I have been since I started running. 74.5kg. Should be 72 and ideally sub 70 for PNG status. I have been slack with the food/beverage intake. Can't afford to carry a few extra kg on a 5 hour run!

And lastly the training, it was a good lead up, but not a great one. I struggled to recover from B2H and simply did not get enough k's in the legs. You can't bluff your way through the sixfoot track on mediocre training.

In the end, the above is all pretty simply stuff and I just simply thought that "she'll be right". Should have know better. Very frustrating and a little embarrassing.

So what now?

So the upshot of this is that I am more motivated than ever. Having a bad race does have some positives. After a few days rest, I got straight back into it and have done a total of 184 in the three weeks (38, 80 and 66) with a faster session or two each week. The form is pretty good. Corporate cup the other day was a sub 24 and todays long run (24k in 1:58) was a big confidence builder. I have my eyes on Cities marathon in late July, however we will se how the next month goes.

Taper time

2009-03-01T13:53:00.003+11:00

3 week block has been completed and now it is taper time.

Mon - Rest
Tues - 10k in 47:18 @ 4:57 (158) - Anzac Bridger loop
Wed - 13k in 64:00 (158) including 5k in 21:40 @ 4:20
Thur - 14k in 70:27 @ 5:02 (152) - Wooloomooloo
Fri - 4 x 1k intervals - 3:42 (169), 3:33 (172), 3:51 (174), 3:46 (174) - a bit inconsistent but better than I thought I was at this stage.
Sat - Rest
Sun - 28k in 2:55 @ 6:18 (142) - around Manly with Paul. Quite an easy pace today as Paul did 160k on the bike yesterday. My legs were surprisingly sore and in great need of a taper me thinks.

All up 74k for the week and 221k for the last three. Three week block of cramming has been completed and I now will focus on a short, sharp taper. Lots of races and faster stuff in the last three weeks. Probably one of the best three week blocks I have put together.

Still worried about the lack of long runs however I am pretty confident of a sub 5. 4:55 would be great and I would be over the moon with a 4:3x.

Easier week this week and then holidays in Port Macquarie for the lead in to the race. Miners is trying to get me to do a triathlon next Sunday, but I am not sure I can swim 500m and whether the bike will fit in the car. Will see how we go.

Catch up

2009-02-24T21:05:00.005+11:00

Life post B2H has been interesting. It probably took over a month to recover from the run which just goes to show that it takes a low mileage runner much longer to recover. This fact was most evident when returning from the cox's river in the Megalong Mega which was 3 weeks after B2H. The run was going great and I spent most of it with Will the Frenchman. All was OK until we headed for home and I struggled badly and the legs were dead. I have never felt as bad after a run. Was dizzy, nauseous and hot.

The mileage has started to increase over the last few weeks and I am in the middle of my usual "cram for a race" (ie. six foot) routine. The last 6 weeks mileage has been 0, 7, 46, 31, 55 & 92. The plan is to have another big week this week and then taper. I have only had 1 long run since B2H, so another one is desperately needed this weekend.

I am actually quite happy with where I am at. The cruising speed is less than 5 min pace and not far off my best. I have been doing two speed sessions a week and the speed is slowly coming back. Corporate Cup has been done in 26:00 and then 25:15 (long way from PB of 23:30). I also had a good run at the Striders 14k Equaliser run through the bush on Sunday running 70:29 which was a 10 min PB from 3 years ago!

For the record, last weeks training was:

Mon - 11k in 56:52 @ 5:04 (159)- Anzac Bridge with the Author
Tues AM - 14k in 80:18 @ 5:46 (149) - Run to work
Tues PM - 6k in 30:00 @ 5:00 (151) - Around the City with inhisshadow
Wed - 5.9k in 25:15 @ 4:14 (177) - Corporate Cup
Thur - 8k in 39:25 @ 5:19 (150) - Spit Junction to work
Fri - 10k in 45:00 @ 4:30 (170) - Cahill with Lachlan
Sat - 20k in 2:07:42 @ 6:30 (145) - Chatswood to Home via Middle Harbour
Sun - 14k in 70:29 @ 4:59 (173) - Equaliser

I have also lost my job recently which was a bit of a bugger and am madly looking around for a new one. Not a great situation but it has been good for my running!

Bogong to Hotham

2009-01-15T22:24:00.004+11:00

We arrived at the Mountain Creek hotel at about 3pm on Saturday. As I laid all my stuff out over the bed and got organised, the nerves that I had been feeling all day slowly slipped away. The logistics of the race in terms of gear, drop bags, nutrition etc. on top of the sheer challenge of running Bogong to Hotham had been weighing on my mind. What should I wear, what should I carry and what should I eat?

The beers prior to the race briefing helped as well. We relaxed and pondered what tomorrow would bring as we looked across the valley and up to Mt Bogong bathing in the afternoon sun on a beautiful summer's afternoon.

The briefing was pretty uneventful however I was glad we were only required to carry the light pack. We headed back to the hotel where final preparations were done. I chatted to Terry as the moon rose up over the mountains. As I told him about my lack of preparation, his face worried me. I had convinced myself that I had done just enough, but I was worried. The last 3 months mileage (132, 169 and 241) was not what I was hoping for. I had done 6 long runs (~30k) in the last 10 weeks (including a 50k) and 1 long cycle. However, there was nothing I could do about it, so I headed off for an early night.

Except I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned and then it began to rain. Sh&t! Finally fell asleep about 12:30 and before I knew it, the alarm clock was ringing – it was 4am.

As we arrived at Mountain Creek, the rain eased, but still was drizzling. After a roll call from spoonie and few words from Mike, we were off. My backpack needed some adjusting, so at the staircase turnoff I stopped for some alterations. When I was done, there was only a few people behind me. The aim was to get to take it easy and get to the top in 2:05, however my heart rate was high and I was losing ground to everyone – not good. I latched onto a couple of heels (old knees and Disco Dave) and did my best to stick with them to Bivouac Hut (1:18). The HR was high, but I had to keep pushing if I was gong to make the Langford cut. We passed brettsrun close to the tree line. He seemed to think we were on pace for a 1:55, but I wasn't so sure. I eventually made it to Mt Bogong in 2:05 which was the goal split, but my heart rate averaged 172 to get there!

It was cold, wet and without much visibility up on top. I considered putting on my jacket but was too cold to stop for long, so had a quick 'up and go' and headed off. I ran and walked my way to Cleve Cole hut and tried to bring the heart rate down a little. Blue Dog and Dave Byrne flew by and had already put 30 mins into me. I wasn't too worried as I arrived at Cleve Cole again right on the goal split (2:35).

From Cleve Cole, and down T-Spur, there was some good running and some magic views. My mind was on the job and I had to remind myself to try and enjoy the scenery. As we went down and down, the mountain in front got bigger and bigger. I arrived at Big River in 3:32. I must have passed 5 guys who were fluffing about trying to cross the creek. Then up I went - trudge, trudge, trudge up Duane Spur. Disco Dave (who I had got in front off) and Robin Cameron came flying past and I had my first bad patch. 4 hours into the race and there was probably 8 hours to go. I felt like I was losing time and just couldn't imagine finishing. But before I knew it, I caught Dave again and then he proclaimed that we had reached the top. I couldn't believe it, I was thinking we were only half way up. My lofty expectations and tales of other race reports served me well. We arrived at Roper's Hut in 4:44 which was 6 mins ahead of schedule. This really picked me up put a spring in my step.

On the way to Warby corner (5:14), Dave and I picked up Dave Waddington. Dave and I would end up running the rest of the way together, whilst we couldn't convince Dave to join us, instead he decided he would do the marathon.

After Warby corner, we picked the pace up and ran good portions of the way, pushing each other to Langford Gap. We arrived in 6:16 which was 9 mins ahead of schedule and 29 mins ahead of the cut. Dad was waiting for me. My main drop bag was at Omeo Road, so I grabbed as much food/drink as I could and headed off down the road. Damian was planning a longer stop, so I decided to just walk and try and get as much food into me before Omeo Rd.

The path to Omeo Rd is as flat as a pancake and I felt I was losing too much time walking, so I picked up the pace, reaching Omeo Rd in 7:08 which was 17 mins ahead of schedule and 37 mins ahead of the cut. I tried again to grab as much food/drink as I could. Damian arrived just as I was ready to go and we departed together off into the high plains. It felt strange. There was a silent satisfaction that I had made the cut fairly comfortably and I was heading off to Hotham. There was also some trepidation as I listened to my own words, "see you in 4-5 hours dad". Could there still be that far to go!

We headed out into the high plains and it started to rain and was bloody cold. There wasn't much talking between Damian and I over the next hour or two, but it was nice to have some company. I had another rough patch just before Pole 333. My guts had had enough and I just wanted to stop. I couldn't face any of the food I had picked up at Omeo Rd. We reached Pole 333 in 8:22 however and were still making good progress. A half a banana and some water seemed to settle the stomach and we ran well down to Pole 267.

The downhill to Dibben Hut hurt. My right ITB was screaming and my quads ached. Surprisingly, I was very happy to arrive at the bottom (9:16) and start heading up Swindler's Spur. It was slow and hard work and I stayed motivated by giving myself the challenge of not stopping, even for a second. Again I was expecting a long slog, some even saying that it is the hardest climb of the day, but it was over before I knew it. Running some of the flatter parts to Derrick hut was hard work. I was completely spent and was running on the smell of an oily rag.

We arrived at Derrick hut in 10:15 which was 45 mins ahead of my plan, but there was still a long way to go. Damian does a lot of skiing at Hotham and was doing a lot of talking about what we were seeing around the ski fields, which was nice to keep my mind of the slog. We could see the finish line, but it took so long to get there.

The finish line was cool - a bunch of crazies clapping you in for the last 20 metres. Mission accomplished in 11:12:50. Totally wrapped and very satisfied. It is great to set your mind to something and achieve it. It is a long way to go for a race, but I am already planning for next year.

Getting ready for Bogong

2008-12-31T12:09:00.004+11:00

Had some time in the last few days to start thinking a little more about Bogong.

I did my last long run on Boxing Day - about 28k in 2:45. The first 10k was done with Riz from CR. Looking at my mileage in the last 3 months (132, 169 and 241) doesn't fill me with great confidence for Bogong. On the up side, there was quite a bit of cycling and running in there as well. I have done 6 long runs (~30k) in the last 10 weeks (including the 50k) and 1 long cycle. I am feeling pretty fit and strong on the long runs, however I would have liked to do 1-2 more long runs around 50-60k.

My goal is to finish and I am quietly confident that I can, however if I don't make the cut, I won't be too disappointed. I considered pulling out due to lack of preparation, mainly because it is so far to go to DNF, however I am still going and will have fun regardless.

I have got a plan to make the cut. Whether this works is another matter. I will try and not go out too fast up Mt Bogong and try and keep the HR under control at least until the top of Duane Spur. Easier said than done and hopefully I can keep in contact with at least a couple of others. The proposed splits are below. If I can make the cut, I am sure I could get the last 23k done in 4.5 hours.

Mountain Creek	00:00	9k
Mt Bogong	2:05	9k	2:05
Cleve Cole Hut	2:35	4k	0:30
Roper Hut	4:50	10k	2:15
Warby Corner	5:20	3k	0:30
Langford Gap	6:25	9k	1:05
Omeo Rd	7:25	6k	1:00
Finish	12:00	23k	4:35

I still can't make up my mind what I am going to do with water. Initially I was going to take 2L in the camelbak and some gatorade in a handheld. This was before I realised how much water will be on the course and potentially quite a few aid stations. So, I don't know whether to flick the handheld and just go with water in camelbak and fill up when I can (I will need some kind of cup to scoop the water into camelbak) or take a small amount of water in camelbak and still take a handheld with Gatorade. I really want to make sure I get a lot of calories/electrolyte into me however it would be nice to carry as little as possible up Mt Bogong and ideally ditch the handheld. I will be eating gels and powerbars.

My spray jacket is annoying me too. It is a good one, but too bulky. To get a small lightweight one costs a bomb. I have been looking for a cheap crap one but I can't find one at all.

Even on my short journey to the top of Mt Bogong a few months ago, I noticed that the ground was really uneven and was starting to hurt my feet. I have been meaning to get some trail shoes but have just not had a chance. At Spud's suggestion, I bought some Asics Trabucco's. I tested them out yesterday around Manly Dam and now I know what all the fuss is about. I could run the downhills so much faster with much more confidence. Now all I need to do is keep running in them to minimise chance of blisters on race day.

I have bought an space blanket and a long sleeve thermal top, but still need to buy a whistle, elastic bandage, compass and some kind of tights. I don't really fancy forking out for $130 skins, but may have to.

Went out to Seven Hills yesterday and got a brand new Garmin for $120. I asked them to fix my old one/replace battery etc, however they came back in 5 mins with a brand new unit. Nothing like a brand new Garmin to brighten up your day!

I have asked my dad to come down for the ride. The plan is to stay with mother in law on Friday night (near Albury) and My Beauty on Sat night. We may stay back at mother in laws on Sunday night or just head home. Hopefully not with a DNF next to my name.

2008 Mileage

2008-12-31T12:08:00.000+11:00

2008 Mileage (2007 in brackets)

JAN - 292 (251)
FEB - 57 (268)
MAR - 239 (165)
APR - 96 (181)
MAY - 53 (183)
JUN - 176 (259)
JUL - 230 (193)
AUG - 222 (117)
SEP - 106 (127)
OCT - 132 (108)
NOV - 169 (135)
DEC - 241 (101)

TOTAL - 2013 (2088)

Not really the year I was looking for km wise. I had a bad start to the year due to sickness and injury. The running k's dropped last in the year as cycling and swimming increased.

Surprisingly, I managed PB's from 5k to Half marathon (inc C2S). My best run of the year was probably the 39:23 10k at Nth Head in September in really crap conditions (cold, wind & rain).

Bring on 2009

3 weeks to Bogong

2008-12-22T21:04:00.002+11:00

And I am s%$^ing myself.

Training has been far from ideal. Work has been C R A Z Y.

The week after Narrabeen 50k was out of control. Lots of late nights. It all caught up to me on my long run on the Sunday morning. Died at 5k and walked/jogged home - simply exhausted.

The following week wasn't much better, but I kept the legs turning over. More late nights at work. Finally I got away and headed down to Eden which is fast becoming a yearly excursion. I did 10k on the Thursday evening up through the first few k's of the C2K course through the bush (the only few k's I had not previously seen). Some of the biggest hills happen in that first few k's!

Saturday came and the throat started to get sore. Before long, it was really sore and I was sleeping in the back of sub50's Subaru. I was secretly planning to get a good 60-80k run in with Spud through the night/early morning, however it was raining and I did a lot of sleeping instead.

Spud was amazing as always and just keeps plodding along happily all day and night. A pleasure to crew for. Whilst the weather was completly crap, it was a little more interesting this year with a few more runners around. I don't think a sub 30 is out of the question if things go right for Spud in coming years.

The throat came good on Sunday morning urprisingly and I had a quick run around Jindy before a big cooked breakfast. Monday was a right off as I was falling asleep at my desk. Time to get going i said to myself, and I set the goal for 12 days running in a row. I had to cram for B2H if I am going to have any chance to make the cutoff.

Ran well last week - 80k. Legs feel like they are glowing. I was hoping I could get to the mountains for a long run with the hornet but coudn't get away.

I will continue to run each day and do 1 final long run on boxing day before pulling it back a little. At least I have something to taper from.

That will be 6 long runs in the last 6 weeks including a 50k. I have also ran 17 of the last 22 days. Not as much a I was hoping for, but I am crossing my finers that it will get me through.

I feel like I haven't thought about it to much. Logistics etc. Will have to get my act together over Xmas and do some planning.

Aaarrrrrhhhhh!

JP Morgan, Nepean and Narrabeen 50k

2008-11-30T15:20:00.003+11:00

It has been a while since the last post and a bit has happened...

JP Morgan Corporate Challenge 5.6k - 21:36 (3:51)

After doing 30k on the Sunday and limited speed training, I wasn't feeling confident of beating last years time (21:20). The first 2k were done quite fast: 3:45 and 3:40 but I was struggling. The 3rd k is a little down hill and all I could manage was a 3:55. Battled it out for the last 2.6k - really hurting and doing my best to have any form at all. Nearly saw my lunch again after the finish line. The ING teams both came 3rd which was a little disappointing. Still it was a good night with the BBQ and a few beers afterwards.

Nepean Triathlon - 1k Swim, 30k cycle and a 10k run - 2:05:38 (22:18, 60:17 & 43:01)

The 2008 nepean triathlon was my first triathlon and I was nervous. Mostly about the swim. Whilst this years event was only my 3rd triathlon I was much more relaxed and really looking forward to the day. I had two goals. one was to better every leg split from last year (21:53, 57:59 & 43:31 - 2:03:24) and the second was hopefully to break 2 hours. The day's events showed that I was totally deluded.

I turned up with Paul to the good news that it was a wetsuit swim. This made me feel even more comfortable as last year was a non-wetsuit swim. When it was my wave, I jumped into the middle of the pack. The plan was to try and keep with a bunch of swimmers and hopefully get into a slipstream. The plan went well for the first 200-300m however the pace was just too hot and I got dropped. The rest of the swim was done by myself. I was pushing hard a feeling good. I was totally surprised to look at the clock to see that I was slower than last year (and with a wetsuit)

I was completely stuffed in T1. I really pushed it on the swim and my breathing and HR was high. Onto the bike and within a km I knew it wasn't my day. I was pushing fairly hard and only holding about 32km/hr. Must be a head wind I thought. Turned around and realised that there was no headwind - bugger. Kept pushing pretty hard the whole way and it hurt and I didn't seem to be very comfortable on the tri bars.

Off the bike and onto the run and the legs were really heavy. I remember last year jumping off the bike and flying - not so this year. I didn't have the Garmin, but I knew I was going slow. It could even be called a shuffle. I seemed to gain a little momentum toward the ed of the 1st of two laps and then got sight of R's ratdog so tried to chase him down. At about 6-7 k mark I caught him and we surged ahead together. I had drastically picked up he pace. It was hurting, but I was excited to be moving at an acceptable speed again. Ratdog had a Garmin and said we were moving faster than 4min k's!

I was however glad to come around the final turn for the finish. I was a little disappointed to go more than two minutes slower than last year, however I was really happy with the 2nd half f the run. I was a bit melancholy until I compared last years log with this years. I thought I was doing enough training this year to match last year, but the km log tells a different story: In the 6 weeks before this years race I did 9.5k swimming, 400k cycling and 185k running. Last year it was 20.8k swimming, 717k cycling and 173k running. I was training for a half ironman.

Narrabeen training run - 50k in ~4:45

Not much training was done the week after nepean with the exception of a 32k run on the Sunday. This week saw a couple of easy runs and a couple of rides. Nothing too strenuous as I was thinking of Saturday night's run. I was planning to try to run 50k ad get some confidence for B2H.

I set out a little earlier than the others at 6pm. It is a 5k loop around the edge of Narrabeen lakes 10 laps sounded doable. For the first 3 laps, the skies were clear and running around the water's edge was picturesque as the sun started to go down. Other runners started to turn up (10 in total) and inhisshadow and Trailtrash joined me. Immediately, the rain (and hail) started. It rained in spurts the rest of the night. Just as we would start to dry, another storm would come through. The boys stopped after they did 30k leaving me alone to run the final 5k by myself. I was hurting but felt strong and the pace wasn't waining too badly.

The first lap was done at just over 5 min pace and the pace slowed throughout to about 5:40 pace which I am really happy about. Whilst I was tired, I felt as if I could have kept going if I had to. Very happy with that and gives me some much needed confidence for B2H.

Tree Trunks

2008-11-09T12:21:00.004+11:00

A good week of training this week. For most of it though, my legs felt like tree truncks due to the fast 85k cycle on Sunday.

Mon: 8k run around the city
Tues: 1k swim at Nth Sydney pool
Wed: 30k cycle commute
Thur: 8k run around the city and 1k swim at Manly pool
Fri: 30k cycle commute
Sat: 1.5k swim at Freshy rock pool
Sun: 29k run with inhisshadow around Narrabeen Lakes at apx 5:30 pace

Got back into the wetsuit yesterday and it still fits and makes swimming a lot more fun!

All up 46k run, 60 cycle and 3.5k swim for the week.

This week will be an easy week with JP Morgan on Wednesday Night and Nepean Triathlon on Sunday. Last year I did 2:03, so it will be nice to break 2 hours, however I can't see it happening.

Sydney to the Gong

2008-11-03T21:21:00.004+11:00

Mon: 8k in 40 degrees
Tues: 30k commuting to and from work
Wed: Rest - due to sore throat/run down
Thur: Rest - make sure I was 100% so I could train on the w/e
Fri: 1.2k swim - including 2 x 500m - so improving
Sat: Rest - still not feeling 100% and wanted to be right for Sunday
Sun Sydney to Gong - 85k in 3:10

Speaking to Sub50 during the week and he mentioned he was doing Sydney to Gong ride. I was planning a long ride, so I talked to Paul and some quick reorganising of the weekend and we were both in.

Paul picked me up at 6am, ready to drive to St Peters, register and meet sub50 at 7am. I was keen to see how riding fit sub50 was, I had a hunch he may be better than first expected.

We waited in line to start from 7:10-7:50 before we finally got moving. The frustration continued to mount as we got held up to a stop numerous times in the first 5k. Whether it was the frustration or not I am not sure, but once we got into some free space after Brighton, we took off. I jumped in behind the wheels of Paul and sub50 and thought to myself that I would not be able to keep up this pace.

We stopped after about 25k and had a muffin which was nice. We also bumped into Miss Z. The next section was flat and fast before getting caught up in another traffic jam before the national park decent. The decent was fun and before I knew it we were climbing. I thought it would be much steeper than it actually was. we were still pushing pretty hard and I got dropped on a few occasions only to catch up on the flatter sections.

Once reaching the top we were again stopped at the top of the hill. We eventually heard that this was because someone had an accident (and subsequently died). we spent about 20 mins hear. The finally 30k in Wollongong were fast and I continued to put in everything I had to try and cling to Paul and sub 50s wheels.

A couple of k's from the finish and sub50 found himself getting pushed from the left slowly into Paul's wheel. I saw it coming like slow motion. He had no where to go and nudged Paul's wheel and fell. It could have been a lot worse as he manged to put his foot out and take off some speed. A few grazes, but nothing too bad.

Then we were there. Only 85k which was a surprisingly a surprise of 5k. A quick coke and hot chips before heading back on the train. I was prett happy with how I went and was surprised that I hung on as long as I did.

Very impressed with sub50's riding ability off virtually no training. He did most of the work up front and looked really strong. I think he would smash a half ironman.

I am not sure I would do this again, it seemed like a lot of effort for a long ride. If I were to do it again, I would have a much different attitude - one that was much more relaxed and just simply out for a cruise.

Keep on moving

2008-10-27T20:46:00.003+11:00

This week I kept moving but no significant sessions. Swimming is a little better as I put together 500m in a row on Sunday.

Mon - 30k ride to work (Hills around Mosman) and 15k ride home
Tues - 1.5k swim at Nth Sydney Pool
Wed - Rest (Had a bit of a sore throat)
Thurs - 10k run with 20 mins of Tempo
Fri - 15k ride to work
Sat - In Brisbane for Wedding
Sun - 15k ride home from work and a 1k swim

Total - 2.5/45/10

3 weeks to go to Nepean.

A week worth blogging about...

2008-10-20T21:38:00.000+11:00

I had a reasonable 7 days the week before last and even better this week. After putting it off for a while I got in the pool twice. It wasn't pretty. The 1st time out I could really only hold 100m reps. The next time was a bit better with 5 x 200m with a rest in between. A little disheartening, but with 5 weeks till Nepean, I should be able to make the distance (1k). I had a nice run on Sunday morning around Narrabeen lakes considering the possibilities of Sportsman's ultra around the lake, mmm...

Mon - 8k around the city
Tues - cycle commute to and from work - 30k
Wed - Corp cup in 24:05
Thur - 10k Anzac Bridge Loop
Fri - 1k swim and 4k run
Sat - 5k run (with pram) at Northern Beaches 5k challenge and 1k swim
Sun - 25k in about 2:20 (apx 5:30)

Total - run 60k, bike 30k and swim 2k

A sneeky peek at Mt Bogong

2008-10-10T21:45:00.006+11:00

After Sydney Half I didn't do much running. I was tired mentally and physically from a tough period at work. I had one more week at work before a week of annual leave. I limped to the end of the week and I told myself that I would only train in he following week if I felt like it. Except for once or twice - I didn't feel like it. Instead I pottered around home and felt the weight of fatigue slowly being lifted from my shoulders - aaarrrrhhhhh.

We headed down to he family's farm near Albury for the long weekend. I took the opportunity to have a a look at the first part of the Bogong to Hotham course on Friday. I wanted to get a feel for the course and see if it was possible that I could do it. I was checking the ski resorts web cams all week and I figured that I would be able to make it to the top of Bogong without too much snow interfering.

Mt Beauty is about a 90 min drive to the farm. I slept in so didn't get to mountain creek camp ground till 10am. I applied some sunscreen, put on the camelbak and off I went. he first two k's of the trail are undulating but mostly flat, then you take a right hand turn and start climbing "The Staircase" a ridge that climbs all the way to Mt Bogong. I now know why they call it the staircase. Mt Bogong is a monster! It just goes up and up and up. The climb is 1400m over 6k, so over 20% gradient. I got to the top in 2:15 which shows I have a bit of work to do before January.

It was extremely hot and with the pack I sweated heaps. The views as I progressed up the hill just keeping getting better and better. As you rise above he tree line, you start to see the summit and some more magnificent views. There was quite a bit of snow on the top, but nothing to stop progress.

After stopping for a bite to eat, I continued along the ridge for 2-3k's. I turned to the west and saw some big dark clouds coming my way. It was quite chilly now and I didn't want to get caught in a storm, so I turned around and headed for home.

I filled my camelbak and handheld from the stream that had formed from the melting ice. The descent was long and my quads were glad to get the the bottom. It had been sprinkling most of the way down and it now began to rain. I was glad to be able to run at a good clip back to the camp ground and jump in the freezing creek. All up a very enjoyable 4.5 hours which gave me a feel for what to expect.

I headed into Mt Beauty for a look around and something to eat. I had a look at the Information centre which had a good model of the surrounding area. It was good to try and work out the route of the race.

The day left me both excited about January but also a little apprehensive. Looks like I need to step up the training if I am going to make the cut-off and get through to Hotham. The 64k will be long and hard but I can't wait.

I had a few more runs planned before I went back to work but my legs, hips, butt and stomach muscles were in a world of hurt for 3-4 days post the Mt Bogong visit.

From Mt Bogong with Staircase in background

Looking back to Mt Bogong from 2k along the ridge

A cross section view of Mt Bogong looking from Mt Beauty (doesn't LOOK too bad!)

The track on the way up

Bivouac Hut - designed for emergency refuge

Sydney Half Marathon

2008-09-23T20:25:00.003+10:00

At the start of August, I set myself some goals for the next 6 weeks. I didn't want 2008 to be a right off. I was running OK and thought that running PB's in all distances from 5k to Half marathon would be a tough yet achievable goal.

I came into last week needing only a half PB - 89:23 or better to match the C2S (10 Aug), 5k (30 Aug), corp cup (3 Sep) and 10k (6 Sep) PB's.

I was far from confident as I had hardly run at all in the past few weeks. In the last 6 weeks my weekly totals were 76k, 17k, 44k, 36k, 28k and 13k with only 1 run longer than 12k! The last 5 weeks of work had been a complete nightmare, working every weekend and I very tired. Funnily enough though I felt pretty fit and my easy runs were being done at a pretty good pace.

Caty and Rachael were both entered in the half and we shared a cab to the start. The plan was to go at exactly 4:10 pace which would give me an 87:55. A hope more than anything else. The first k is a tough one and gets the HR going. It was hot and muggy and I immediately began to sweat. It was only 6:30am, and I was glad I wasn't doing the marathon. I went through 4k in just under 16 mins and was 4o secs ahead of target and feeling good. I slowed down a little from there, especially going up to Norton St the first and second time. I went through 12k in exactly 50 mins and right on 4:10 pace.

I was on top of the hill, however I was starting to tire. The pace down the hill wasn't less than 4 min k's and I felt like everything was starting to slip. I reached the 17k marker 10 secs down on the plan and I was hurting. The section down Hickson road and under the Opera House was painful and hard to keep going, I felt like I was fading and close to falling apart. The coolrunning chearsquad perked me up and got me through the last k. I stopped the clock at 88:02 (later to be a net time of 87:58) - 3 secs behind the goal time.

I headed up to the ING tent and got stuck into a sausage sandwich. ING had over 600 people in the various events and it was fun just chilling out in the sun watching various people come in and share their story. Caty and Rachael both did really well. Rachael knocked 7 mins off her PB with a 1:44. I think she may be a convert.

So the PB's are in the bag and I am over the moon. I simply can't believe that I have got the results I have with such low k's in training. It is amazing what you can do when you have a period of 3 months where you don't get sick.

Sunday signified a closed chapter in my training/racing as a new one opens. I have learnt a few lessons this year and have learnt that you can't do everything. I need to set realistic goals while still challenging myself and having a bit of fun. So no half ironman this year. The next 3 months I will focus on Bogong to Hotham. I have been reading a lot about the run and am very excited. It scares the hell out of me and that is a good thing. I am approaching it in a pretty relaxed way. I will pick up the bike again and get in the pool just for some fun and to keep the fitness up, but I will make sure that I start to get some long runs in regularly. Hopefully I can get 7-8 long runs in before the end of the year and a couple over 50k. All training will be easy. It is base building time.

A couple of PB's

2008-09-07T20:20:00.004+10:00

Mon - 10k in 50:04 @ 5:00 (149) - Cahill run with IHS & Lachlan.

Wed - corp cup 23:20 and a 10 sec PB. Lost my Garmin at the gym, so no feedback today. Started off with IHS and Lachlan. HS took off in the first 100m and I lost touch. Went through 1k in 3:35 and then he took off again. I feel behind by about 50m. I wasn't too worried though as I was feeling pretty good. Slowly started reeling them back and caught back up at 3k. It was a pretty windy day so it was nice to tuck in behind Lachlan on the way home. Stopped the clock for a 10 sec PB. Noice one!

Thurs - 8k in 39:33 @ 5:20 (142). Very easy recovery run from Spit junction to city. All that was left to do was take it easy and cross my fingers for Sat.

Sat - woke up to an absolutely shocking day. Very disappointing when you try a peak for an event with the aim of getting a PB and the weather is crap. I was on course marking duties and when jumping out of the car to place the 4k marker (top of the course), I was nearly blown over.

I gave up hope of a really good time, but still had hopes for a sub 39 and a PB. After a quick warm up and a very cold wait for the gun, we were off. It took a couple of k's to warm up and the swirling wind never allowed any kind of rhythm. My shoelace came undone early on and the splits weren't looking as good as i had hoped, but I kept telling myself not to give up.

With a 3:38 final k I finished with a time of 39:22 and a 7 sec PB. Not the 38:xx I had hoped for but a PB none the less.

Splits were:

3:54
3:56
4:02
4:05
3:55
3:59
4:03
4:00
3:51
3:38

36k for the week. Two more weeks of this chapter of the blog finishing with Sydney half (and hopefully another PB) then on to something different.

P.S. Thought I would cut and paste a PM I sent to Rod regarding my training in the past 4-5 months...

"I didn't get the 38 today (39:23), but conditions were terrible. I was pretty confident of a sub 39 and i was even hoping for 38:30.

My training this year has been inconsistent at best with pretty low k's (average < 50k per week). I have done more speed work than I have ever done before though. Not heaps, but at least once every fortnight. I have been doing 4 x 1k reps in 3:40-3:45 and/or 5k tempo at 4:00-4:05 pace. All the other runs I do are easy.>

I am really happy with the results, especially considering the low mileage. The other benefit of the speed work is that my easy run speed has also seemed to have dropped below the 5:00 pace. This is encouraging again especially with the low mileage. So I think some speed work is valuable even for ultra guys"

2 week update

2008-08-31T15:46:00.002+10:00

Looking at my last post, I think I overdid it with that big week of traning as the week after I was extremely fatigued. I was planning a recovery week and I think my body took adbvantage of the fact. I was really busy at work as well as at home and just didn't get out on the road very much. This week has been a little better with lots of 8k runs, but I am still struggling to find time and energy as things are out of control at work and at home.

My training for the last 6 weeks has been geared up for 3 goals: 1) next week's 10k at northe head 2) the 5k challenge this week and 3) Sydney Half in 3 weeks time.I wanted to get 3 x PB's and then change the focus of my training for the rest of the year. I got the 5k PB this week (by 15 secs) so considering I could hardly get out of bed I was so tired it is a good sign that I can go sub 39 next week and sub 89 in three weeks.

Week 1

Wed - Spit Junction to work - 8k in 36:39 @ 4:40 (150)
Thurs - Gate to gate 1k reps done in 3:37 (168), 3:31 (178), 3:35 (179) & 3:40 (178)

Week 2

Mon - Spit Junction to work - 8k in 37:09 @ 5:05 (147)
Wed -Spit Junction to work - 8k in 36:45 @ 4:41 (150)
Thur - Around the City - 8k in 36:49 @ 4:45 (156)
Fri - Spit Junction to work - 8k in 35:13 @ 4:39 (155)
Sat - 5k CR Challange - 18:51 @ 3:46 (178) - 3:44, 3:47, 3:49, 3:45, 3:46 (nice even splits) with a 2k warm up and 5k cool down.

Monthly Mileage

JAN: 292 (251)
FEB: 57 (268)
MAR: 239 (165)
APR: 96 (181)
MAY: 53 (183)
JUN: 176 (259)
JUL: 230 (193)
AUG: 222 (117)

YTD: 1365 (1617)

A good week

2008-08-17T20:42:00.003+10:00

After and easier week last week, I was looking for a bigger week this week.

Mon: 8k recovery run form Spit Junction to work in 37:54 @ 4:58 (148)

Tues: 10k Anzac Bridge loop in 46:25 @ 4:51 (156)

Wed: Gate to gate 4 x 1k intervals. Done in 3:31 (166), 3:30 (180), 3:39 (179) & 3:37 (180). Best set of intervals I have done. Lost concentration on the 3rd rep. All up 9k.

Thur: 14k run to work in 64:14 @ 5:14 (150)

Fri: 10k cahill run with IHS and Lachlan in 47:46 @ 4:46 (154)

Sat: Ride with Paul to Church Point and back to Manly to meet the family for breakfast. Haven't ridden for a while and it showed as I struggled. Paul has a new hot bike which look awesome. All up 46k in 1:49 @ 25.6 (138)

Sun: 25k run around Manly loops - 5k easy, 5k tempo, 5k easy, 5k tempo and 5k easy. Although it was a tough run I enjoyed it as I had the 5k small targets and the time went really quickly. 5k Splits were:

23:00 @ 4:35 (148)
20:13 @ 4:02 (171)
24:40 @ 4:56 (157)
20:50 @ 4:10 (170)
23:19 @ 4:59 (156)

Total of 25k in 1:52 @ 4:32 (160)

I was really happy with the run. The second tempo session was tough but I was happy to keep all easy sections under 5 min pace.

Week total of 76k and 46k on the bike. With a couple of hard sessions in there, a week's training doesn't get better than that. Must be inspired by the Olympics.

City to Surf 2008

2008-08-14T20:53:00.003+10:00

59:08 and a 15 sec PB but quite disappointed.

The lead up to City to surf was pretty good this week with 4 x 8k runs fro Tuesday to Friday (inc. corp cup PB) and then a rest day on Saturday.

We celebrated Rachael's 30th on Saturday night and I tried to be good, but it was hard. I hit the sack after midnight with a few beers in the belly.

I woke up a bit dehydrated and tried to down a few waters to catch up. I headed to the start line and looked for the CR's. I barged through the crowd and found myself in the second row. Chatted with Horrie, Spud, Miners, Superflake, Vurt et. 1o mins before the gun, the waters I had in the morning had done their thing but it was to late to bolt to the toilet - damn!

As we were talking, the gun fired and we were off. I was quite close to the start and was not caught up at all. It took about 10 secs to cross the start mat. I was running well but knew I wouldn't make Bondi without a toilet stop, so stopped at the edgecliff toilets. Looking at sportstarcks, it took just on 30 secs. Not a good start to the race, however I pushed on. I was feeling really good and ticking off some good sub 4 min splits. I got to the 6k mark in 24:12, so with the 30 sec stop, I was going well.

The 7th k up Heartbreak hill took 5:06 and a few people were passing me but I was not worried. Hit halfway in 29:18 and I was stoked. Even with the loo stop I knew I could negative split and was looking at 57:xx.

As I got to the crest of the hill, I felt a slight stitch. It got worse and worse and really slowed me down quickly. The same thing happened at Woodford to Glenbrook and caused me to walk. I cursed myself as I was going to give the area a good massage the morning of the race at the advice of Easy Tiger.

I hoped it would go away but it didn't. It is such a hard thing to run with. It is just so uncomfortable that you just have to slow down. At one point I stopped for 10-20 secs to try and stretch, but it didn't do anything. I slowed right down and was doing 4:30-4:45 pace. My heart rate came right down but there was nothing I could do to push harder. People were passing me and I was very frustrated.

Things got a little better at the bottom of the hill near Bondi and I was able to push a little harder to ensure the PB, but it was a case of a missed opportunity. I was running with Nando for most of the first 7k and found out he ran 56:40, so I am sure I could have run low 57's. Oh well.

Mixed feelings, as I really enjoyed the first half and it shows that I am in good running form, but it is another 12 months to make amends and 2 races and 2 stitches is a real worry and I have no idea of the cause.

After a quick chat with a few guys including miners, Sub 50, Tall Geoff and Spud, I caught the bus back to the city.

Splits were (last year in brackets):

3:48 (4:07)
4:33 (3:52) loo stop
3:53 (4:09)
4:11 (4:19)
3:48 (4:02)
3:59 (4:15)
5:06 (5:18) heartbreak hill

Halfway in 29:18 (30:02)

4:19 (4:33)
4:01 (4:06)
4:44 (4:30)
4:47 (4:27)
4:07 (4:00)
4:02 (3:46)
3:50 (4:02)

59:08 (59:23)

Springwood run on google

2008-08-06T21:40:00.003+10:00

Firstly, after the feedback I received, I apologised on behalf of all runners to Mrs Hamburglar for departing for 3 hours on Sat arvo. She thought this was quite funny!

Secondly, a 15 sec corp cup PB today of 23:30 - yippee. Very satisfying to run this fast as I believed that I had been running pretty well lately. First k was hard and I was 3 secs behind the plan. Started to feel really good in th 4th k and was surprised to be 8 secs up after 5k as the legs were feeling very heavy. Splits were (vs plan):

1) 3:43 (+3)
2) 3:48 7:31 (+1)
3) 4:15 11:46 (+1)
4) 3:50 15:36 (-4)
5) 4:16 19:52 (-8)
6) 3:37 23:29 (-6)

Below is my run on Saturday. I filled in the gaps after my batteries ran out on Sportstracks - just shy of 20k. You can see where I had to turn back on the left.

This is the first time I have tried to do this. Anyone know how I crop/zoom it better? Jen, if you have a close look at Martin's lookout (almost the furthest southern point), you can see I went the long way around, but you can go the shorter way which is much steeper.

Sleeping in...

2008-08-03T21:55:00.005+10:00

Mon: Cahill run - 10k in 47:55 @ 4:45 (155)

Tues: Rest

Wed: Corp Cup - based on some of my running lately I was looking for a PB today but it didn't feel great from the 1st km. Pushed hard for a 24:10 @ 4:03 (182) Not too bad, but still disappointed.

Thur: 14k run to work in 73:28 @ 5:09 (151) which is a record for the run to work at a low HR. Really good run which really surprised me.

Fri: Massage with easy Tiger at lunch before being picked up by Mrs Hamburglar to head out to Springwood for a weekend away for our wedding anniversary. We arrived at about 3:30pm which allowed me to sneak a quick 9k in, checking out a couple of lookout's around the place. 9k in 48:30 @ 5:23 (151).

Sat: 13 hours of sleep, rising at noon - aaaaaaahhhhhh! After doing some research, I headed out on a bush run. The plan was to head down over Martin's lookout and follow the creek to Faulconbridge and then run home. The track was quite overgrown and hard to follow at times, so there was a fair bit of walking. It was a beautiful trail however I always felt a little nervous as I was by myself, there was no other walkers on the track, the track wasn't clear (and the marking weren't helpful) and I didn't know where I was going. At one point a clear track seemed to just come to a dead end and I needed to backtrack. It was around 4pm, getting cold and I was a long way from civilisation when I found the right track and away I went - phew! The 305 ran out of batteries, however I probably covered about 20k in 2:45. A tough run. My legs have scratches all over them. I was glad to get home, just as the sun was going down. A couple of bush running lessons were learnt.

Sun: another sleep in, this time till 9:30pm. I sneaked a Shelley Beach run late in the day after we got back in 47:05 @ 4:42 (155).

The running seems to be going really well lately and my cruising speed seems to have consistently stepped up to well below 5:00 pace which is really encouraging.

All up 71k for the week

July mileage:

JAN: 292 (251)
FEB: 57 (268)
MAR: 239 (165)
APR: 96 (181)
May: 53 (183)
June: 176 (259)
July: 230 (193)

YTD: 1143 (1500)

Martin's Lookout

Signs like this did not help!!!!!!!

Thunder and Lightning

2008-07-28T21:28:00.004+10:00

I ended up deciding that running cities wasn't worth it at the last possible minute. I needed to enter before 4pm on Friday and as the clock struck 4, I still hadn't entered.

Tuesday was an easy 5k in 25:01 @ 5:00 (142) and Thursday was 8k in 39:28 @ 5:05 (156). The stats of both runs indicated that I was moving pretty well however both runs were a struggle. I ran again at lunch on Friday as a last test to see if I was over the cold. The 10k in 46:52 @ 4:41 (No HRM) felt much better, but some wise words from inhisshadow helped me decide not to race. He commented that I have a pattern of racing after recovering from illness and the immune system takes 2 steps back resulting in further sickness.

As I dragged myself out of bed on Sunday, I knew I had made the right decision. I just needed an easy weekend at home.

I did get an interesting run in yesterday however. I headed up around Manly Dam. As I was half way round an enormous dark cloud enveloped me along with numerous strikes of lightning. I was in the middle of the bush and k's away from cover. The freezing rain poured down and the lightning struck around my head. I can safely say that I was petrified, one of the most scary 15 mins of my life. 16k in 1:25 @ 5:27 (154).

39k for the week.

I had a good think as I ran about the pattern of 2008, life, conflicting priorities and the running/triathlon goals that I have. It seems that the current level of thinking is not working and I may need to make some adjustments...

World Youth Day

2008-07-23T21:01:00.004+10:00

Getting a bit behind in the blog, which is an indication of my hectic life at the moment.

Thanks for the overwhelming support to run Cities. It caused all of the vacillating to stop and I have committed to Cities - project "PB without training".

I struggled last week with training. The Half marathon effort took it out of me. I also had a busy week of work, celebrations (wedding anniversary, two family birthday's and a work function) and late nights (including watching Tour and British Open). I justified the lack of training by telling myself that I was in a taper, but it was bollocks, I was just tired and lazy.

Monday: 8k recovery run in 44:45 @ 5:35 (143)
Tuesday: Planned rest day
Wednesday: 15k commute to and from work in 43:28 (134) and 45:45 (134) respectively.
Thursday: Unplanned rest day ;-)
Friday: Another unplanned rest day ;-)
Saturday: 10k around city (had to work) in 48:33 @ 4:51 (156)
Sunday: Alex from trannies 10k @ 65% HR challenge. Done in 53:14 @ 5:19 (145). Exactly a minute slower than a month go *shrugs*

I started to have a sore throat/head cold on Sunday night. I think I am one of the sickest people in Australia. Nothing serious, so I have been desperately trying to rest, eat and drink well etc to try and shake it. Still not 100%. I will wait till Friday arvo before entering. I am not going to run if I am not 100% - I have done sixfoot AND Canberra this year at less than 100%, so I am just not going to do it again. I am frustrated yet hopeful. We will see how we go.

BTW - I got in touch with my long lost friend Simon the other day (gotta love facebook). He was an English tourist who I befriended after he rode from Perth to Sydney. We trained for our first marathon together. I found out that he is planning to row from WA to Mauritius only 2 years after learning to row - crazy bugger. His website is: http://www.amantomauritius.co.uk/

Dolls Point Half Marathon and a PB

2008-07-15T17:30:00.001+10:00

I am still considering doing Cities marathon and trying for a PB <3:18. I thought if there was any chance of this I needed a big week and something to taper from.

Mon – 10k Cahill run with IHS and Rich H

Tues – 14k run to work

Wed – 25k cycle around Nth Head – 3 loops done in apx 10:00 each lap (Archway now fixed)

Thurs – 5 x 1k reps with Hurts done in 3:35-3:45 pace. The guys did 1.2k reps. I just did 1k reps and walked the last 200m to ensure at least a minute rest.

Fri – 14k run to work

Sat – 10k easy to Shelley Beach

Sun – I had planned to do a 20k marathon paced section in my long run today. I then remembered that there was a Sri Chinmoy half on, down near Botany Bay. I thought it would be easier to do a marathon paced session in the midst of a race, so decided to head on down there. On the way down, I thought it was stupid not to race, so gave it a go. I was interested to see what shape I was in and hopeful of a PB. Great race, paced myself really well the whole way and kept to the 4:15 splits. Whilst it was flat, there was a double crossing of a big bridge x 2. The last 4k was really tough knowing that I had to give it everything I could to get the PB. I was stoked to make it by 15 secs! 89:23 Woo hoo! First PB since August 2007 and done without a taper - a real confidence boost.

All up 80k for the week and a 25k cycle.

Still not sure if I will run Cities – I change my mind everyday. I am wondering if it is worth running it when my training has been ordinary. I have only done 3 x 25k runs since Canberra in April. However, my marathon PB is 2 years old and I need to do something about it and won’t have another chance for the rest of this year.

Sore legs - and no wonder

2008-07-05T17:55:00.004+10:00

I was really sore for all of this week post W2G. Just as much as any marathon I had done. I found it quite puzzling as it was on a trail and only 25k. Then I realised that other than the Great Nosh, it was the first hard long race I had done ALL YEAR! It was a surprising realisation. The only races where I have gone all out this year have been corporate cup (6k). I have done sixfoot and Canberra 50k but all done well within myself. Just goes to show what a good hard effort can do to your legs when they are not used to it - especially not doing any long runs.

Monday - planned a recovery run but just way too stiff - hobbled around all day.

Tuesday - 7k hobble around the city in 41:32 @ 5:56 (139)

Wednesday - Ride to (38:36) and from (40:59) work which is 15k each way. The cycling feels surprisingly good even though I have done next to nothing lately. The big month of May (570k) really had some good effect. The sore legs seemed to appreciate time on the bike as well.

Thursday - 4 x Gate to Gate (919m) with the HuRTS group done in 3:15 (177), 3:17 ( (176), 3:14 (176) and 3:21 (178) which is about 3:35 pace. With the warm and cool down it was 11k.

Friday - Easy run from Spit Junction to work. 7k in 37:55 @ 5:08 (149)

Sat - planned a ride but was really tired - 2 hour nanna nap in arvo.

Sun - 26k in 2:06 @ 4:54 (157) - 3 various loops around Manly/Shelley beach. Started off at 5 min k's for an hour and then did a 5k threshold section from 12-17k mark in 21:35 (4:19) and still maintained 5:00 min k's after that. Really good run.

51k for the week and 30k cycling. BTW Brick, I can safely say that there will be no 3:05 at Cities this year - but next year is another matter.

The first section of today's run was done running next to Mrs H and Cheeseburger on their bike. Cheeseburger fell asleep.

Woodford to Glenbrook

2008-06-30T21:16:00.005+10:00

Monday - 10k cahill run in with inhisshadow Rich H and Christian. Quicker pace but felt good - 10k in 47:20 @ 4:41 (156)

Tuesday - rest

Wednesday - corp cup and there was three goals: 1) a PB 2) a fast point for the team and 3) win a bet. IHS gave me 45 secs for a week's worth of coffee. He ran before me but didn't tell me what he ran, so I just had to do my best. I felt good most of the way and was really disappointed to just miss out on goals 1 & 2 by 5 secs. The last 500m was terrible - simply ran out of puff. The Splits (against 23:35 goal) were:

1) 3:41 (169) - 1 sec down
2) 3:54 (181) - 5 sec down
3) 4:15 (186) - 5 sec down
4) 3:52 (184) - 2 sec down
5) 4:26 (185) - 8 sec down
6) 3:40 (186) - 13 sec down

Total 23:48 (182). Oh and BTW - I one the bet with about 20ses to spare.

Thursday - rest

Friday - Wooloomooloo run with inhisshadow - 14k in 70:05 @ 5:00 (154). This run showed that I am pretty fit - I haven't done this run in 70 mins with such a low HR before.

Saturday - Wallabies vs France and no running

Sunday - Woodford to Glenbrook 25k

After a late night, the Hamburglar family pulled ourselves out of bed and headed for the mountains. It was great to have someone to drop me off and pick me up so I didn't have to worry about trains and buses.

Having not done this race before and having no idea how to pace myself, I congregated amongst Tim, Horrie, Rod and Brick at the start. I figured these guys are around my pace and I can let them show me how to pace the ups and downs.

The gun went off and Rod was out of sight in about 1 min followed by Horrie. I tried to stay with Brick and then Tim however the pace was too hot and the HR was too high. Settled in around the Author, TallGeoff and Miss Z playing leapfrog before they moved ahead. Before long Mango cruised past as well. I wasn't too worried as I felt comfortable and ready to push on in the last half.

I really enjoyed the 2nd half and picked up TallGeoff, then Mango and we ran together for a while. We leapfroged Miss Z as she fixed her shoelace. I then cruised by Horrie and Brick (who was struggling with injury). All was going well and I had my head down to catch Tim when about 4k from home I got hit by a huge stitch which almost stopped me dead. I needed to stop and walk a couple of times. Brick caught me and we shuffled like a couple of wounded soldiers for a while before my stitch disappeared and I picked up the pace again.

I loved the grassy finish and was happy to finish in 1:54:59. Great run by Spud (who ran up before the start) and I was glad that I kept in front of him - just.

The Hamburglar family had a great day. Mrs H and Cheeseburger did some bushwalking before meeting up for some lunch, coffee and a chat with some CR's - probably the best experience my non-running family have had. Great event and really well organised. Well done organisers (and Action). I'll be back next year for sure.

Splits were:

5k: 22:08 (171)
10k: 26:19 - 48:27 (171)
15k: 23:01 - 71:28 (169)
20k: 20:25 - 91:53 (171)
25k: 23:06 - 114:59 (169)

June mileage was:

JAN: 292 (251)
FEB: 57 (268)
MAR: 239 (165)
APR: 96 (181)
May: 53 (183)
June: 176 (259)

YTD: 913 (1307)

So a better month, but due to sickness (again) still not great. Cycling was also down with just two rides totaling 131k.

Cycling YTD : 1284 (532)
Swimming YTD: 1 (0)

Cheeseburger goes down

2008-06-22T20:52:00.002+10:00

Solid Week

2008-06-22T20:26:00.003+10:00

Monday - 10k tempo run with IHS, Rich H and Christian in 46:56 @ 4:41 (160)

Tuesday - run to work - 14k in 76:47 @ 5:26 (152)

Wednesday - 4 x 1k Intervals - gate to gate + extra 90m for even 1k. Splits were 3:37 (177), 3:42 (179), 3:45 (179) and 3:45 (180) - good session, very happy to keep all below 3:45.

Thursday - rest day - granny's funeral

Friday - Was tired from a big Thursday. Headed out the door to run to work and couldn't be bothered. Jumped onto a bus in my running gear which was a bit weird. By the time I got to Spit Junction, I was ready to go so jumped of the bus and started running - easy 7k in 41:43 @ 5:35 (140).

Saturday - 80k - West Head and return with Paul. We took it a little on the easy side which was nice. Got to West Head in 1:41 and home in 3:28 @ 23.2 (140)

Sunday - Alex from transitions 10k challenge - run 10k at 65% of max HR and see improvement over 2 months. My Max = 194, Resting = 54, so 65% = 145. I did my Shelley Beach run in 52:14 @ 5:13 (145). I will try and do this every week or so to see how I am travelling.

All up 50k of running with a couple of faster sessions and 80k on the bike. Happy with that.

Corporate Cup surprise

2008-06-14T13:21:00.002+10:00

The stomach bug stayed with me for another couple of days so no training at all over the long weekend, but I did feel better by Tuesday.

Headed up to the domain on Wednesday for the corp cup. I was happy with last fortnights 24:45 but the training since then had been pretty sporadic at best, so I was over the moon with a 23:50 and 5 secs shy of my PB and a "fast point". I really just can't believe this as my training has been terrible most of the year.

Comparison between my PB set on 15 Aug 2007 with Wednesday's run:

15/8/7

1) 3:41 (158)
2) 3:50 7:31 (178)
3) 4:13 11:44 (185)
4) 3:56 15:40 (183)
5) 4:25 20:05 (184)
6) 3:39 23:44 (185)

11/6/8

1) 3:44 (168)
2) 3:55 7:39 (180)
3) 4:15 11:54 (186)
4) 3:58 15:52 (185)
5) 4:21 20:13 (187)
6) 3:36 23:49 (191)

Goal splits are:

3:40, 3:50, 4:15, 3:55, 4:20, 3:35 (23:35)

The Great Nosh

2008-06-07T16:09:00.003+10:00

Headed out for a cycle with my brother last weekend. He has moved back home from Holland where they ride everyday so I thought he would be able to keep up. It was a little on the slow side (as the HR suggests) but I found it to be a really nice ride - beautiful weather, stopped for a coffee and to check out the Manly food and wine festival - even saw RaceMikeRace, Nick and Christian out there -noice. All up 60k in 2:54 @ 20.1 (124).

I wasn't planning to run the great nosh as I was on cheeseburger duties, however some last minute negotiation (bribing) got me to the start line. Caty and Rachael also showed some interest, so we all headed up to Linfield. I thought about running o the start line before the race, but decided I wanted to see how the fitness was a have a good hard run. I ran just over 79 minutes 2 years ago ( a week after cheeseburger was born), so a good result would be anything sub 80. Heaps of CR's at the start and before I knew it the gun went off.

Last time I ran too hard to the bridge and suffered on the second half, so this year with doubtful fitness, I placed myself a bit further back in the pack and ran a comfortable pace down to the bridge in a nice congo line. I was staying with Bill from work and after the bridge he seemed to lift the pace. I decided to stay with him and give it a rip. I was feeling surprisingly good. The grass hill behind the houses at Killarney didn't seem that bad this year and I ran the whole way. I was doing my best to stay with Bill and we made good time down into the valley before the steep hill. Yes there was walking but I was feeling OK. At the top, we hit the fire trail and I felt great and surprisingly dropped Bill. The next couple of K's I picked up quite a few people, my slower start obviously paying dividends. The flat bit at the top were tough but managed to keep at around 4:15 pace. I thought I was definitely going to break my PB, but just missed out with a 79:33.

I couldn't be happier with this result. And after the corporate cup run, it seems I am not as unfit as I thought. Still far from my best, but it seems the cycling has held things together.

This week hasn't been that great as I seemed to have picked up a stomach bug which has seen me miss a couple of days training and this morning's Striders 10k. I was on course marking duties and whilst I got dressed in the running gear, realistically I wasn't ever going to run. Highlight of the week was running to and from work on Tuesday for 28k for the day.

BTW - volume YTD (2007 in brackets)

JAN: 292 (251)
FEB: 57 (268)
MAR: 239 (165)
APR: 96 (181)
May: 53 (183)

YTD: 737 (1048)

Another bad month due to inury. Kept busy with 570k of cycling (which is a record).

Cycling YTD : 1153 (492)
Swimming YTD: 1 (0)

I do like running

2008-05-29T20:16:00.002+10:00

After the success of last week's run's, I was feeling pretty good about myself - getting back into running is exciting! I headed out for a run on Monday and told myself that I should be wise and build up over the next few weeks with some easy runs, but I just wanted to run fast. I picked up the pace for a threshold session of 15 mins - felt a bit sluggish but good. Total of 8k in 37:30 @ 4:41 (164).

Rode into work on Tuesday morning 30k in 1:20 @ 21.9 (147).

Corporate Cup yesterday and I was nervous! It is such a hard run and I knew I would suffer. The first 3k was ordinary and then I came good and started to feel quite strong. With all the cycling I have been doing I must be pretty fit, but just not running fit. Finished off in a pleasing 24:45. A lot faster than my March corp cup runs and only 1 min off the PB - couldn't be happier!

Rode home that evening - 15k in 41:16 @ 20.9 (155).

This morning I ran to work for the first time. Work is busier than ever and I have to be smart to fit some running into the schedule. I got a bit lost at a couple of points, but the k's kept ticking over. I think I was still asleep for most of the run. Finished up the 14k in 1:20 @ 5:32 (153). Really happy with the run and I will definitely be doing this more often.

As much as I like cycling, I do love running. Just feels so good to be back. I am one happy camper.

The foot is coming along

2008-05-25T21:11:00.002+10:00

After a massage last week, I thought I would give the running another whole week off to see if I could end this injury. Tiger did a lot of massage on my calf's. When I questioned him on this he showed me how the calf muscles wraps around the leg and onto the top of the foot.

Whether it was Tiger's magic fingers or the two weeks complete rest from running (or both), my foot came up OK after a short run earlier this week. I tried another run later on in the week and all seems to be OK I think. The runs were terrible and I am very unfit and was quite sore after each run - but I guess that is to be expected. With all the tri training and illness/injury this year, I really haven't had a good block of running training for the past 10 months. This is shown in the fact that I haven't run a PB since August last year.

So now I am in two minds. Keep going with tri training and have more months of mediocre running training, or focus more on a general fitness and tri's. It is a shame in the fact that I can't really do both. If I run 70-80k a week, I won't be able to fit in anything worthwhile on the bike or pool.

I am leaning toward writing this year off for running goals and updating every PB next year, but we will see how we go.

Manly to Palm Beach

2008-05-25T21:03:00.005+10:00

Whilst it is frustrating organising a run primarily for yourself and not even running, I still had a good time this morning. I turned up on my bike to help with course markings/directions etc - with the no.1 goal not to let PlodBod get lost.

I agreed to carry Milov's bag for him. He never gave it to me, so I assumed he was carrying it himself. That was until I saw him after about 5k without his bag. A quick trip back to Manly and I was glad to see the bag still there - phew!

Around Mona Vale, I lost PlodPod and spent the next half an hour dong an Interval session looking looking for her. After a call to inhisshadow, who gave me Gavin's mobile no I located them. All was OK in the end and all made it to Palm Beach mostly on the correct route.

I hung around for a while and then took off back to the start to cheer in the 60kers. I passed Paul and Milov in Dee Why and they were making good time and powering up the hill. Even on my training runs I find it a hard hill to run up, but after 55k, these guys were still looking fresh. I raced down to Manly to find TattieBinger had already finished in sub 5 hours. Not bad for his first Ultra! Look out PMC! All 4 guys finished under 5:30 which is pretty good I reckon as it is far from a flat run.

After the other 3 guys came in I headed for home. I went the long way to ensure I clocked up 100k for the morning. I will try and do this run by myself later on in the year to make up for my absence today. Going sub 6 will be tough, but I want to give it a crack.

I also note that Paul Every did a 1:33 for 25k this morning after 60k, so he was obviously in a bit of form coming in to the weekend.

Is cycling worth it? - Part 2

2008-05-25T20:54:00.002+10:00

The following question was put to a fellow blogger Jason M (http://gohard.blogspot.com/). He is an ambulance paramedic and a cyclist. I wanted to get his opinion on cycling & safety...

How do think being exposed with trauma/accidents at work effects your day to day life. Are you overly cautious regarding risks as you know what can happen? How do you deal with cycling on the roads? Does it worry you? I am thinking hard about whether I want to be a cyclist long term due to the risks associated with riding in traffic etc.

A quote from his answer...

"Gone are the days when I would squeeze through gaps which aren't really there, push through a red light and simply go just because I have right of way. Arguing over who was right or wrong is kind of a moot point when argued through a breathing tube. My approach now is I follow the road laws and refuse to ride with those who do not. I ride assertively, taking my rightful place on the road, making it clear my intentions and maximising my visibility. This is very different to aggressive riding, where you force your position on the road. Deliberately block cars because you are allowed to. The difference is courtesy. Last is I try to ride smart. Looking and planning ahead. Do the driver's thinking for them, and assuming they cannot see you.

Yes there are risks to cycling on the road, but there are risks walking down the street or even sitting on your couch. We make decisions every day, often without realising it. These are often based on risk versus benefit, or even risk versus pleasure. There is a level of comfort for everyone that is individual."

I thought it was a very interesting answer considering his profession.

I find that as I am becoming more confident on the bike (or in the traffic), that I am becoming safer. I take my rightful place on the road much more readily and indicate much more clearly my intentions. I am also very conscious to choose the most safe roads. This isn't always the back streets, but sometimes it is. As Jason says, it is about getting comfortable with the risk versus benefit. I will continue to consider these matters.

No pain no gain...

2008-05-17T20:45:00.005+10:00

...is an exercise motto that came into prominence after 1982 when actress Jane Fonda began to produce a series of Aerobics workout videos.

But anyway...

Lots of cycling this week. In fact my biggest week ever which included my longest ride ever!

Mon: 15k in 30:49 on windtrainer
Tues: 30k in 1:24 @ 21.2 (147) - to work with loops around Zoo etc.
Wed: 20k in 54:23 @ 22.2 (154) - home from work
Thurs: 15k in 40:22 @ 21.6 (146) - home to work
Fri: 18k in 50:44 @ 22.2 (153) - home from work
Sat: 103k in 4:18 @ 23.9 (149)

Total: 201k

Today's ride did not start well at all. I was really tired and the legs were really heavy. I gave up and stopped at Church Point for a coffee. I sat in front of the water and daydreamed for 15-20 mins - it was such a lovely morning. I decided to cut short the ride and head home. However, the coffee and sit down must have done me the world of good because I perked up and felt 100% in no time. Funnily enough, as the ride went on I felt better and better. I did the Akuna Bay loop and then headed up to Terry Hills. It was a pretty strong northerly so I flew home. I was feeling good so I did a lap of Nth Head to get the ride over 100k and the total for the week over 200k.

Is cycling worth it?

2008-05-08T21:29:00.005+10:00

The safety aspect of cycling is something I think about from time to time. With me getting out on the bike a bit more lately as well as this morning's cycling accident (see below link) has made me ponder this again.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/beijing2008/road-rage-driver-attacks-cycle-pack/2008/05/08/1210131112608.html

I really love cycling, but am very frustrated that there isn't many places to go that you don't need to share with cars going at 6ok/hr. Apparently you can go criss-cross Europe on purpose built 6 feet wide bike paths. No so here - west head is pretty good, but you still have to go 15k through traffic to get there. I have heard of so many cycling accidents and Caty still hasn't fully recovered from her accident nearly two years ago. Maybe I need to drive to some different part of Sydney like the Royal National Park down South, The M7 or Wiseman's ferry etc? Or maybe move to Canberra?

So is it worth it as a long term sport or should I just stick to running? An alternative is off road Mountain biking and whilst it would have it's benefits, I just don't think I would be a fan of the big up and downs that most trails have.

Cycle to West Head

2008-05-04T08:57:00.003+10:00

First time to West Head for a while, and my legs are feeling it today. The constant hills are murderous.

I was planning to head out with Paul, however he pulled out due to his wife being in labour. Bronte was born at 7:22am, just as I was setting out so probably good that he didn't join me ;-)

Absolutely beautiful day and I had a lot of fun out there. All up - 77k in 3:11 @ 24.1 (151). I am definitely not as fit as I was in November, but not too far off.

140k cycling for the week and 8k running.

A bit of cycling

2008-04-30T21:37:00.002+10:00

My foot was still quite sore the day after Monday's run. It felt pretty bad, so I deceided to give it a rest for a week. I got on the bike a couple of time including an enjoyable 60k (in 2:25 @ 24.6 - 149) on Saturday with Paul, but that's about it.

Work is really busy at the moment, and with the sore foot, my lofty Cities marathon training program is just not happening. I was frustrated. Not just my currnt situation, but the whole year so far. I decided to take the pressure/expectations off and tell myself just to chill out for a while. It isn't the end of the world. Sometimes it is good to get some perspective. Running is not everything.

Tried out the foot again this Monday - an easy 8k around the Opera House with inhisshadow. The actual run was great, the 8k done in 39:45 @4:58 (156) The foot was marginally better, but still pretty sore, especially toward the end of the run. It is funny, the pattern is that it hurts following the run and in bed that night. It hurts a little the next day and by the day after I can't feel a thing. The pain is pinpointed right on a particular spot on the top/inside part of the foot. I wouldn't have a clue, but I reckon it is a slight stress fracture. Who knows?

So have changed my focus back to the bike and have been out three times this week already. I am actually enjoying it and am pleasantly surprised that it seems I haven't lost much fitness at all in the last 4 months.

I did my normal 25k loop this afternoon including 3 laps of North Head. I did the 4.5k laps in 10:02 @ 27.1 (152), 8:56 @ 30.3 (165) and 9:02 @ 29.5 (166). I really pushed the last two laps which was over a minute faster than I had done before. I have decided that I am going to do a lot more faster sessions on the bike as well as in the pool this year. I now know I can make the distance - now it is about getting there fast! Will try the foot again later this week.

2008 Canberra Marathon

2008-04-21T21:10:00.003+10:00

After having more than a week off running due to illness, I got back into it on the Tuesday before Canberra. 7k in 41 mins @ 5:27 and the lungs/head were not happy. I gave it another couple of days before trying again with 8k in 43 mins - a little better but still far from 100%. I decided that I would still go down to Canberra and if I wasn't feeling any good I would just take on cheering duties. With no refund on entry fees, what did I have to lose? Even if I just did 15-20k and then pull out?

I had organised to share transport and accommodation with Rodthehornet, Spud, B+ and Aunty K. On the way out to Rod's my head was throbbing so I popped a couple of panadol - I had all but given away hope of getting through he run the next day. Maybe it was the company on the way down or the great food at the CR get together, but I started to perk up. I had a great sleep and woke up feeling great.

I lined up at the start line with the aim of going out at 5 min pace and see what it felt like. After 2k I knew I couldn't keep it up. I backed off a little and tried to get the HR back down - heaps of people passed me and things were not looking good. I was also really feeling the cold and my hands started to swell up. I was a little grumpy and even considered pulling the pin at the turnaround. Then things started to pick up. I think it was as I started to get warm. The HR settled right down and I was ticking off the k's at 5:10 pace. This continued and continued and continued. Nice. Really nice. I was starting to enjoying myself. It was great to see people coming in the opposite direction and cheer them on. I went through half way in 1:49 and soon after Rod and the 3:45 bus came past. This gave me a kick long and I picked the pace up (or so I thought). The last 10k was comfortably hard and I now started to set my mind on the 50k. Went through the marathon finish in 3:41:23 for a 1:49/1:52 breakdown.

After getting some good cheers in the final k or so of the marathon, it was weird to continue on the other side of the finish line where there was no one. It felt kind of good actually - I was feeling strong a ready to battle away for a bit longer. It was quite easy to break it down as it was only 4k out and 4k back. I was slowing, but I was determined not to slow down too much more than 5:30 pace. Eventually made it back in 4:24:26.

10k splits were:

51:38
52:04
51:35
52:23
54:43

Had a shower and caught up with some CR's and Striders. It was great to cheer in luckylegs and I finally even got to meet Wombatface! We then headed back to Sydney with the gang. By the time we got back to Rod's my legs were toast. I argued on the way down with Spud that trail and road runs effected me the same way, but I proved myself wrong. I was really sore for days and much more so than sixfoot.

I did a slow 4k on Tuesday, but my knee and top of my right foot were quite sore. I ran again on Thursday, but after 5k, both my knee and right foot were still really sore - I limped home and decided to have a rest for a few days.

As I couldn't run, I got my bike out of hibernation on Sat and went for a ride. Headed out to the West Head turn off and back for 50k in just less than 2 hours at 25.2 (152). It had been 3 months since I had ridden the bike and whilst I was quite surprised with my bike fitness, I was exhausted when I got home and needed a nanna nap.

Headed out tonight for an easy 10k. All was going well until the top of my right foot began to hurt again. Bit of a worry really.

Anyway, couldn't be happier with Canberra, especially because I really thought that I wouldn't even run or finish. A great weekend, with some great people.

No running I'm afraid

2008-04-07T11:53:00.005+10:00

I came down with another sickness last week. Nothing serious, just a head cold/sore throat, however I deided to not run at all to try and get rid of it. Felling better today, so hopefully I wll be OK for Canberra. It is a bit of a worry, but I am working really hard at work at the moment with some new responsibilities and pushing the boundaries of what by body can handle. No wonder it complains!

I have done some clean up work of the blog and updated the side bars - so Ewen you should be pleased ;-)

I also spent some time over the weekend finally doing the History of Hamburglar - so Jen should be pleased ;-) - I backdated it to be the frst ever post on my blog if you want to have a look. It was actually good putting some of that history down on paper.

This week

2008-03-30T14:42:00.002+11:00

I had a lot on this week and found it hard to find time for running. Most of the time I did but missed a session or two.

I actually was thinking all week that Striders 1ok was on this weekend - der. So instead, I did another interval session at Campbell Pde i.e. 4 x 1k (with 100 sec active recovery). Reps were done in:

3:44 (176)
3:46 (179)
3:41 (181) and
3:45 (183)

Good consistency again. The last one was tough.

This morning was Vauclause STAR. I ran with Paul, so therefore a little easy, however the run is pretty hilly. The legs were quite heavy from yesterday, but the HR was always low. Beautiful run with some gorgeous views. 28k in 2:57 @ 6:15 (137)

Mon - 9k intevals at Campbell Pde (see previous post)
Tues - Rest
Wed - 10k to Shelley Beach (no watch)
Thur - 8k in 39:17 @ 4:54 (156) - Opera House
Fri - Rest
Sat - 9k intervals - Campbell Pde
Sun - 28k in 2:57 @ 6:15 (137) - Vauclause STAR

Total for the week 64k

Easter at the farm

2008-03-24T21:55:00.003+11:00

Headed down to the farm on Thursday night. We travel at night these days so that Cheeseburger sleeps in the car. I did my best to stay away from the heavy work ad try to have a bit of down time which was nice. Got a run in each day which was a bonus, usually I am so tired I just don't bother. The highlight was the run back home from Holbrook after church on Sunday. My two sister-in-laws joined me for the 19k run and I was pleasantly surprised by the pace. It is a pretty straight road the whole way, so it was good to have some company. It hasn't rained in months, but woudn't you know it, we got drenched. Maybe our running was a rain dance.

The week's summary:

Mon - 10k in 53:15 @5:16 (154) - Anzac Bridge
Tues - Rest
Wed - 6k in 25:30 @ 4:13 - total 8k - Corporate cup
Thur - 8k in 40:47 @ 5:05 (157) - Opera House
Fri - 12k in 65:20 @ 5:18 (157) - Billabong creek
Sat - 7k in 41:55 @ 6:15 (134) - Up the lane
Sun - 19k in 1:47 @ 5:46 (140) - Home from Holbrook

Total of 64k and I am happy with that just a week after sixfoot.

Back at home today and I headed down the road to do some intervals. About 200m from my house is a park with a cycling track around it that measures about 660m. The session was 4 x 1k repeats with 100 second jogging recovery. After Wednesday, I knew that I should back off my pace a bit in order to get through the session. I wouldv'e been happy with anything < 4:00 for each rep. I was a little surprised with the results:

3:50 (171)
3:52 (174)
3:46 (176) and
3:47 (178)

Great session, felt great, all up 13 laps for 9k.

A reality check

2008-03-19T21:31:00.002+11:00

25:30 today at corp cup. Same as two weeks ago. Both times I busted my gut and this is all I had. Long way away from the PB (23:45) and a fast point.

I have a few excuses but nothing of substance. I thought I was in much better shape than this. O well, I can now stop deluding myself and get on with training hard - I heard this helps.

Off to the farm for Easter. Moooo.

Recovery week

2008-03-16T17:45:00.002+11:00

Felt surprisingly smashed this week. Quads, backside and core were very tender for most of the week. It made me realise that for a good sixfoot (and probably more generally) it is worth doing some core work. Had a good chat to Richard at work and he reckons it is really benificial for your running form late in an endurance race when fatigue is setting in. He reckons 2 x 20 min sessions is all I would need.

I am trying to be smart with the post sixfoot recovery and took it quite easy this week:

Tues: easy 8k with inhisshadow in 47:15 @ 5:41 (147)

Thurs: moderate 5k around pyrmont in 25:43 @ 4:59 (157)

Sat: 20k in 1:49 @ 5:20 (159). I ducked out when cheeseburger went to bed. It was the middle of the day and very hot. I did the Shelley Beach, Manly golf course loop x 2. After last weekend, it was good to stay on the flats. As can be seen from the 5k splits, sixfoot faigue and the heat hit me at about the 5k mark. Splits were done in 25:17 (152), 27:07 (159), 27:23 (159), 27:07 (160).

Today was a rest day. I went down to watch Caty in the freshwater 1.5k oceanswim. If I didn't have Adam I would have entered myself (but quite posibly would have drowned). Made me vow to keep up the swimming post HIM next summer and do a few more of these oceanswims - they seem so much more civilised than a long run in the middle of summer. Caty did realy well finishing in 22:xx.

Back into it this week.

Sixfoot track 2008 Video

2008-03-13T20:29:00.006+11:00

It is not often that someone does a photo/video package of your latest run.

Will (my running buddy) put this together of our shared sixfoot experience.

Cheers Will.

Sixfoot 2008

2008-03-10T22:12:00.004+11:00

I was driving up the mountains in the thick fog, rain and lightning on Friday night and I didn't care. I didn't care what the weather was like because I made the start line of sixfoot 2008. Woo hoo. Yes, I wasn't in good shape and yes there was going to be no PB's, but at least I was there.

Checked in to my luxury cottage with Sub 50's lovely family and crashed out. I was woken numerous time throughout the night with heavy rain.

Being at the back of Wave 2 was a real eye opener. It took a long time to get down nellies and Wave 3 started overtaking us not long after. I had paired up with Will who due to Ironman in 4 weeks, was not racing either.

It was fun running with Will. He took about 150 photos and a few videos along the way including:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U63M7oTz9oU (I will post link for photos when available).

We chatted, laughed and encouraged all those that were passing us from Waves 3 & 4. Sometimes I didn't think we would make the cut of as Dr Will kept offering medical advice and magic French potions to all those that were struggling. I also know the French enjoy their food, but the time he spent at each aid station was ridiculous - I thought he was going to sit down and ask for a menu!

We walked up part of Mini with Tim and ran with EveryReadyBunny (who did an awesome PB) for most of Black Range. We started to pick up the pace approaching Deviation as I think we were both keen to get home and have a rest. Rags became part of the group and we all pushed each other at a good pace to the finish (great to see you go sub 5:30 Rags!).

Ended up finishing in 5:43. Great to have a cool dip in the ice cold water of Jenolan Caves and catch up with everyone at the finish.

Lots of good runs out there, including PB's for Sub 50 and Spud, but special mention to: SfGnome, Redback, Portrunr, TheAuthor and Rags. All first-timers who had great first time results.

And don't you love sixfoot for the emotion at the finish line (relief, joy, sheer exhaustion). It is an awesome, but brutally hard race.

My splits were:

Megalong (56:17)
Cox's (1:49:12)
Mini Mini(2:31:33)
Pluvio (3:33:21)
Deviation (4:33:04)
Caves Rd (4:58:28)
Home (5:43:13)

Average HR was 158. Last year was 165.

I am actually quite happy with 2:10 from Pluvio to home, and 1:10 from deviation which wasn't too much slower than last year when doing 5:01.

I have already started plotting No.3 in 2009. It seems so long to wait!

Getting back into it

2008-03-02T20:39:00.005+11:00

Thursday saw the return of Hamburglar. A quite unglamourous one at that. It was raining so I piked and ran on the treadmill which was so boring. Did 5k in 27:30 @ 5:30 pace (150).

Saturday was the Striders 10k. Didn't race and just took it easy. Very easy run as I had a lot to look at and keep me occupied. Ran at just under 5:00 min pace mostly. I did 2 x 1k at 4:00 min pace just for fun (it was great to pass so many people!). Finished in 45:53 (170). Lot of PB's out there. A special mention to two blog readers Gnome and theAuthor -awesome runs. Bad luck for inhishadow who DNF'd with calf strain - hopefully things aren't too bad.

Another easy 10k today in 49:30 @ 5:09 (156). Very pleased with the average pace. A few more easy runs this week in prep for sixfoot.

I am actually a little nervous about sixfoot. It seems such a long way when you haven't been training. Especially after I have just looked in my running log. Only 57k in Feb and only 4 long runs since Aug 07 - I guess I should be nervous!

I am planning to do it "ultra style" - i.e. slow and steady. I have a sub 6 hour goal, only because it is better than 6:xx and I wanna finish before all the beers have been drunk. I will be keeping an eye on the HR early on. I am just out there for a bit of fun this year and won't at all be pushing it. (I am trying to remind myself). HR should be under 160 for the majority.

Nonetheless I have calculated some splits just for interest.

Megalong rd: 0:55 (0:08 behind last year)
Cox's: 1:45 (0:13)
Pluvio: 3:30 (0:28)
Deviation: 4:40 (0:42)
Finish: 6:00 (0:58)

Seems comfortably achievable - we'll soon find out!

It will be good to get out on the track. I can taste the damper and tea already - woo hoo!

Blood test results

2008-02-27T15:17:00.003+11:00

I was a little nervous when waiting in the doctor's surgery this morning. I guess I was thinking of all that could be wrong and the implications that would have. I needn't have worried, as the blood tests indicated that I am in really good shape which surprised both the doc and myself.

It did say that I am still getting over a virus (which we knew as I have still had a sore throat/tired etc.) however my imunity/white blood cells were OK, liver and kidney functions were perfect, colesterol, Iron, and blood sugar levels were A1. I think my doc was a bit surprised of how good the numbers were considering some of the lifestyle issues. Happy days!

It still begs the questions what has/is been wrong with me? It is probably one of two things 1) I was simply run down and was unlucky to pick up a few bugs one after another or 2) I have something else going on such as a disease (e.g. ross river fever etc) or other unlikley problems for someone my age (e.g. prostate). Let's cross our fingers for 1.

The good news is that he wants me to get back into full training to test whether the symptoms return. If I am OK, all should be fine and if I am not, further tests will need to be done.

I can't think of a better test than sixfoot ;-)

Some thoughts

2008-02-26T16:03:00.005+11:00

So what does the 3:05 plan look like? Well, I am in the midst of trying to put a program together, however here are some of my thoughts so far:

Balance:

The whole program will have the aim of keeping the work, family, health, social and training aspects of my life in alignment. Consistency will be the key. Weekly km targets will be achievable, rest days will be scheduled as well as regular easier weeks. Health and nutrition will not be taken for granted

Structure

The basis of my previous programs was lots of easy km's including 5-7 long runs of around 30k. Ad hoc races would cover the majority of any faster training requirements. My theory was that I would continue to improve using this method as my running base was not yet fully developed. For the most part this has been effective and has kept me off the injury list. But will this approach continue to give me the improved results that I have seen in the past few years – probably not.

So I am trying something new. I am developing a program based on Jack Daniel's running formula which I have been reading over the last 12 months and slowly beginning to understand the concepts. I will alter the example marathon program to fit my own individual needs, however I will follow the general themes and phases that he recommends.

The biggest change to any of my previous programs and what I think is the stand out attribute of the Daniels marathon program is the focus throughout the program on threshold running. Threshold running improves endurance and the speed at which can be run without accumulating lactate. As the marathon will be run at a speed just below the lactate threshold, it makes sense to train to improve the lactate threshold. The other significant change is the long run (see below).

My adjusted program will be broken down into 5 phases:

base building
intervals
2 x threshold phases
taper

Long runs

Another big adjustment this time around will be my long runs. Previously long runs for me consisted of easy running for about 2:45-3:00 hours. My long runs in the next 22 weeks will consist of a mixture of the following:

Shorter long runs – 2 to 2.5 hours is what I will be targeting, especially early on in the program. Daniels never has his athletes run further than 2.5 hours or 25% of their total mileage. The benefits of a shorter long run include reduced recovery and less time away from home on weekends
Longer long runs – somewhat of a paradox I know. I am planning every 1-2 months to run long (meaning 40+ k's). The reason behind this is to develop the endurance for future ultras and tri's. I realise that it will have some impact on the marathon plan, however I am prepared to pay the price for this and will endeavour to minimize the impacts
Threshold long runs – shorter threshold sessions will be seen regularly throughout the week (especially as the July becomes closer) however they will also form an important part of some longer running sessions as well in different forms.
Marathon paced long runs – this will allow the body to spend time running at a pace at which I hope to run. It is also an opportunity to practice race day nutrition and hydration

Cycling

It is my plan to incorporate 1-2 regular rides per week in the weekly schedule. This is for two reasons 1) in a similar way that I will be incorporating longer long runs into the program for future ultra running, I also plan to keep the cycling muscles alive in preparation for triathlon training later in the year. I don't expect to see much (if any) improvement, but will allow me to pick things up quickly post marathon. 2) cross training – it will give me some additional aerobic conditioning

So, a little bit more science in the program. Not necessarily rocket science though. In the end, putting together the plan isn't the hard bit, it is maintaining discipline to full fill it.

We'll see how we go.