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.
1 comment:
Would have liked to stick with you to Narrabeen, but it exposed my lack of base training. I didn't see the cliff coming at 37 km, just hit me.
Thoroughly enjoyed the run, but the coke mixed with the bus ride certainly played havoc with my system all the way back to Narabeen!
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