Friday 30 December 2011

Regeneration

2 rest days, want a quick sesh tomorrow.

Thu

AM
Warm up + Strength

PM
14km - 60:00 (4:17km's) With Rilen in Centennial Park

Fri

AM
10km-45:00 (4:30km's) Solo on The Bay

Wednesday 28 December 2011

1km TT

AM
Warm Up + Strength and Drills

PM
1km-2:29.0 Solo on The Bay

3ses faster than my previous best, not surprisingly, fairly unco. Slight strains to (L) Soleus and (R) RF. Good to be running fast, makes me feel alive again!

Tuesday 27 December 2011

Couch Potato

Boxing Day
10km - 47:03 (4:42km's). Solo around The Bay.

Didn't budge from the lounge all day except at lunch in the cricket to squeeze in the recovery run. My favourite day of the year.

Tuesday
16km Tempo 63:57 (4:00km's). With Tom H around The Bay.

Struggled through this run and was battling to sneak under 4:00's, watched helplessly as Tom disappeared into the distance at 3:47km's which was quite a good effort in the blustery conditions. That'll be enough aerobic base to get me through the track season, my body isn't enjoying trying to train so many different energy systems at once.

The focus now is overspeed, lactic tolerance and race specific sessions. Love this type of running, can't wait to give it a red hot go!

Monday 26 December 2011

Xmas Day

AM
23km-1:45.00. Bronte Beach Coastal Run with Craig D and Steve K.

Had a great brekky picnic with the family and a great group of friends, awesome way to start Xmas Day.



PM
13km-64:04. Faulconbridge Point with Benny St, Hamish Mc and Ricketts.

After a massive Flynn family feast in the mountains, it was off to meet Benny St and Hamish for our traditional Xmas arvo run out to Faulconbridge Point Lookout. This year we had a newcomer Dave Ricketts who is a fellow Blaxland High School boy. Our paths didn't quite cross at school, he was a one year old when I finished, nice to have some youth injected into the run.



166km's + a game of hockey and  heaps of quality for the week. Best week i've had since last Xmas, 2 more of these weeks and it'll be time to race.

Saturday 24 December 2011

Penrith

AM
4x500(3), Solo at The Bay. 89.84, 79.11, 88.96, 75.78

Plan was 90, 80, 90, 80, trying to increase the volume of quality running without aggravating the right foot. This session seemed to serve that purpose, although the 75 to finish was a bit unnecessary, I'll do at least 6 reps next time. Happy that it's all progressing well, got some bounce back in my stride and all of a sudden 90's feel like jogging.

PM
10km 46:55 (4:41km's) Solo around The Bay

Out at Penrith for the Howard Family Xmas, great to be back in the home town. I love this place and the people, wish I could live 10mins from the Big Smoke surrounded by Westies, it'd be my perfect world.

Friday 23 December 2011

Full Time Athlete

Thursday

AM
9km 37:24 (4:09km's) + Strength. Solo Wenty Park, included a 3.35 and 3.40, no idea why just felt like it.

PM
6x300(3) 44.83, 44.42, 44.89, 44.84, 44.87, 44.84. Solo at McKay.

Had a great chance to grab this sesh by the balls after the 2nd rep, but had a lapse in concentration and lost focus. Either way, twice as many reps as 2 weeks ago and all sub 45.

Friday

AM
10km 44:38 (4:28km's)

PM
6km threshold 21:31 (3:35km's) + Strength. Solo around The Bay.

Good enough to keep up the aerobic threshold fitness, but will only be effective if I can back up with a fast session tomorrow.

On holidays from now and no hockey for 2 weeks, looking forward to resting the feet and hands in between lots of hard training and playing with the boys. I've worked 7 days a week all year excluding Public Holidays and a couple of weekends off for Gold Coast and Central Coast. Even though I'm feeling great, I don't feel at all guilty about taking a break.

Wednesday 21 December 2011

Mr Shuffleupagus

AM
20km-1:37.35 (4:53km's) + Strength. Solo around The Bay. I'm hoping for a big day tomorrow so took it very easy.

PM
9km-44:22 (4:56km's). Queens/Centennial Parks. Bit sore and battered after 90mins in Molly's dental chair, glad to tick it off.

Tuesday 20 December 2011

Kawauchi

AM
8km - 39:53 (4:59km's) Solo around The Bay.

Bloody sore from hockey, first 2km's took 12mins, felt better as I progressed.

PM
2x500m (10) 78.69 headwind, 75.82 tailwind. Solo on The Bay.

Had planned 4x1km, 4x500, but nobody showed up for the session. I did my warm up and felt much better than expected so changed it to a hard session. Not fast, but not bad for concrete and much better than I expected to get out of today. I seem to be adapting to the hockey and recovering a bit better each week.

Yuki Kawauchi ran 2:11.56 at Hofu Yomiuri on the weekend only 2 weeks after a 2:09.57 at Fukuoka. If this guy was white and stopped for pizza during his training runs the Aussie running public would be going nuts!

http://japanrunningnews.blogspot.com/2011/12/bat-ochir-and-kawauchi-battle-to-end-of.html

Monday 19 December 2011

Jacko Gill

Monday

AM 10km - 39:20 (3:56km's) + strength. Solo Wenty Park. Not intentionally fast, just felt good.

PM  16km - 67:50 (4:14km's) with Copey on The Bay.

Played hockey in the evening, lost 6-4. I'm still struggling but seem to be improving, enjoying the speed work after a hard days training.

Check out Jacko Gill, 16 year old Shot Putter from NZ. He has smashed the World Youth Record and has also qualified for London 2012, freakish achievement for a boy in a power event. Just when you think you're training hard....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgRphH_Yuzc&feature=player_embedded

Sunday 18 December 2011

Fallopian Tubes

Sat
AM 10km easy, no watch, Solo The Bay.

PM 800m - 2nd 2:05.21. Very slow, 62/63. Was in striking distance of Michael Doggett at 600m, but he took off and I couldn't respond. Glad to get this one out of the way, quite strong, just no speed. Doggett is a champ, every time I think I've left him behind, he strikes back, my favourite rival.

Sun
AM 22.5km - 1:45. Centennial with Jopey, Megsy and Craig D. Quite relaxing, seemed to go quickly.

PM Strength + 9km 42:00 (4:40km's) Solo Rothwell Park + 4x200m barefoot strides 39, 36, 34, 31.

110km's for the week, ready for 3 hard weeks.

Thursday 15 December 2011

3x300 Hmmmm...

AM
9km 44:15 (4:55km's) + Strength. Solo The Bay.

PM
3x300 (5) 42.22, 41.40, 42.28 - avg 41.97. Solo @ McKay

The plan was to run controlled 42's on tired legs. I managed to hit the pace ok, but it was hard work on the last rep, just didn't recover from the 2nd rep. I never thought the day would come that 42's would send me lactic, hopefully it's just residual fatigue from yesterday's 600m. Not sure what to make of it all, at this stage I'm hoping it was just an ugly sesh that I needed to get out of the way.

Wednesday 14 December 2011

600m TT

Monday
AM - Strength, drills, plyos
PM - Hockey, 2nd match of the comeback. Was so pathetic last week that I decided to try it fresh without an arvo run. A little better, but still terrible. We won 3-1, I managed to sneak 2 goals, but missed 3 good chances.

Tuesday
AM - Strength
PM - 9km + drills/strides. Right foot very sore from hockey, starting to think it may be a bit much to ask while i'm still not 100%.

Wednesday
AM - Strength

PM - 600m TT Solo @ ES Marks 89.00

Back to the old faithful track which still hasn't been upgraded since 1991 when I set my still current 100/200m PB's. Had an awesome day at work, so was feeling quite optimistic. I wanted to test the feet and fitness before Xmas to get an idea of how far behind PB fitness I am, best is 83.7sec 2 years ago but that was paced by super talent James Matthews. All things considered it wasn't a bad hit out, went through 300m spot on 44.5, so dead even splits. Never got lactic, just have zero speed at the moment. Provided I get through a decent session tomorrow, I'll line up for an 800m on Saturday to hopefully give me a push along for some good hard training over the Xmas break.

Sunday 11 December 2011

Benny Saint

Saturday

AM
1km solid (5) 2x Paddington Hill (walk back) - 3:00, 1:41, 1:35 Solo Centennial Park.

Approx 475m from the intersection to the Paddo gates. I love the long hill efforts, first time since last August i've trusted my feet to handle hills, not surprised that the quickest was 10sec slower than my best.

PM
9km 35:56 (4:00km's) Solo The Bay

Sunday
3km easy, 16km hard 59:10 (3:42km's), 5min rest, 2x4x500 (3min cycle, 3min between sets) 1st set 1:40avg, 2nd 1:35avg, 3km easy. Solo The Bay.

Pretty warm and a nice tough sesh to finish a hard week. Very happy for Ben winning the 10,000m National title last night to go with his 'A' Qualifier, he's off to London. Doesn't say much for our chances though, he can't even beat me at table tennis and I'll probably smash him at Lawn Bowls this arvo :-)

152km's and a game of hockey for the week.

Friday 9 December 2011

6x200m

AM
9km 37:12 (4:08km's) + Strength. Solo The Bay

PM
6x200m (3) Rolling starts 28.54, 28.65, 28.08, 27.93, 27.93, 26.46 (27.93 avg). Solo at Rothwell Park.

Solid enough, I like this session when i'm tired. Good practise for holding form and pace for the 3rd and 4th 200m's of a race. I was tempted to go fast on the last rep; pleased that I kept it within the purpose of the session.

Thursday 8 December 2011

300m's

AM
6.4km Fartlek 23:19 (3:39km's) 1,2,3,4,3,2,2:19min efforts with 1min floats. Solo at Wenty Park.

2sec slower than last time, not bad.

PM
3x300 (3) 44.98, 45.46, 44.14 (44.88avg) Solo at McKay Oval

Controlled and fun, feel like I've made alot of progress the last 2 weeks.

Wednesday 7 December 2011

Lost Item Found

AM
9km 44:59 (5min km's) + Strength. Solo The Bay.

Did a quick upper body session, really need to crank it up if I want to be able to hold my ground on the hockey pitch. Managed to find my missing manhood with Bench sets of 15x60kg's and 10x67.5kg's (1kg above current bodyweight) which was pleasing as I struggled to get 60kg off the chest a few weeks ago and 10x body weight is one of my benchmark strength requisites of manhood.

PM
20km 93:20 (4:40km's) + Strength and Hockey Skills. With Copey and Daniel, Centennial/Moore/Queens Parks.

Pretty wet this arvo, followed it up with some functional leg strength and stick work drills.

Tuesday 6 December 2011

World's Sorest Human

Tuesday

AM 9km 45:00 (5min km's) + strength. Solo Barnwell Park Golf Course.

Took me about 10mins to crawl to the bathroom when I woke up, forced myself out the door for an easy run in the hope that it'd settle some of the damage from last night's hockey. It normally works a treat, but not this time, every muscle in my body feels like it's been through a shredder. Backed it up with a strength session, tried some heavy weights after I was thrown around like a rag doll by the bloke who I was supposed to be marking last night...it's not like a few more sore muscles was going to make me feel any worse :-)

PM 10x400 (1) avg 69.6, fastest 67.4. With Copey at Homebush.

We're normally perfectly matched for this session, me quicker, him stronger. I wasn't a very helpful training partner today though, couldn't get my legs to budge and watched disconsolately as he disappeared into the distance on every rep. Glad to tick this session off, quite consistent with most just under 70, not a bad starting point for the 1st track session of the season.

Monday 5 December 2011

Hockey = Ouch!

Friday
9km 39:57 The Bay (4:26km's) + Strength and Table Tennis World Champs vs The Saint, narrow 3-2 victory to me :-)

Saturday
24km 1:42.00 (4:15km's) The Bay

Sunday
Balmain 5km Fun Run 2nd 17:56. Hilly race, 40sec slower than last year and finished 12sec behind the winner.

130km for the week.

Monday
AM 9km 40:30 (4:30km's) The Bay + Strength
PM 16km 69:18 (4:19km's) with Copey The Bay

Then off to hockey for my first match in 8 years. Very low key affair, which we lost 3-2. I was awful and every muscle in my body is in agony. I haven't moved sideways for 8 years and boy am I feeling it, I suspect tomorrow will be hell.

Thursday 1 December 2011

Tow Truck

Thu

AM - 9km 44:26 (4:56km's) Solo The Bay, felt better for the easy run.

PM - 4x1km (5min cycle), 4x500 (3min cycle). 3:15, 3:16, 3:13, 3:10, 90, 89, 88, 86. (avg 3:14's, 88's) With Copey on The Bay.



Felt like I was towing a trailer and still very slow but 33secs quicker than last Tuesday, starting to think I can aim for an 800m in mid Jan.

Wednesday 30 November 2011

Hard Yakka

Mon
AM - Strength, drills/plyo's
PM - 16km 70:19 (4:23km's) The Bay with Copey and James


Tue
AM - 11km 46:40 (4:14km's) The Bay with Action and Mark Mc.

PM - 20x200 (1min cycle) avg 34.6, fastest 28.5. Centennial with Daniel.
Active recovery sesh, serves the dual purpose of turning the legs over without putting any added stress on the body after the 1/2 and is a step closer to 800m specific training. This is a staple Wed workout during track season, the equivalent of a long run when building up to an 800m race.


Wed
AM - 10km 46:03 (4:36km's) + Strength. Solo around The Bay.
PM - 20km 89:49 (4:30km's) The Bay with Copey.
Bit hot, got ugly towards the end, glad to tick off this run.

Sunday 27 November 2011

Central Coast 1/2

Fri - Complete Rest

Sat - Easy 15mins with Megsy and Sam in Long Jetty. Was supposed to be a full warm up but it was raining heavily and would've been counter productive to stay out any longer.

Sun - Race CC1/2 8th 80:53

Lined up fresh as a daisy and ready to hammer myself. Given my lack of quality training, the hot conditions and the historically slow course 3:40km's was a bit too ambitious, but it's better to die like a man than live like a pussy.

The only split I remember was 5km in 18:15. At 6km's Charlie Brooks and the lead chick Kirsten Molloy passed me and knocked me back to 9th. Charlie slowly disappeared into the distance, but I eventually got back in front of the chick at 11km's when she was taking a gel and that was about the end of any excitement, although 7th place occasionally came into view about 100m up the path.

The race was well organised and the course not as crowded as I expected. It's not a great course with minimal rhythm due to the constant winding of the bike path and tediously boring. Despite the slow time I feel like i'm aerobically fit and glad I got the chance to lay it on the line after a testing winter, I can't wait to build on that and get stuck into some hard work.

Thursday 24 November 2011

Cortisone #4

Wed - 9km 38:58 (4:20km's) Solo around The Bay, nice and easy, feeling very fresh.

Thu - 6x200 (1min cycle) avg 31.1, fastest 28.2. Felt good, nice to squeeze in some running after 10 months of plodding. Gives me confidence that as soon as I've recovered from the 1/2 that i'll be able to get stuck into some 400/800m work.

Had another cortisone to the left plantar this arvo, I'm confident it'll settle in time for the race on Sunday.

Tuesday 22 November 2011

Pat Cummins

Mon - 9km 41:20 (4:35km's) Very easy around The Bay with Copey and the prodigal son James Mathews.

Tue - 4x1km (5min cycle), 4x500 (3min cycle) 3:23, 3:21, 3:15, 3:14, 93, 93, 92, 89. Solo on The Bay, pissing down and blowing a gale.

Pat Cummins, Man of the Match in the test victory vs South Africa hails from my junior cricket club, Blaxland Redbacks in the Lower Blue Mountains. A little deflating to calculate that he wasn't even born when I finished my last season with the club.

Sunday 20 November 2011

Ho Hum

Saturday - 6km Tempo 21:47. With Craig D, Sam, Megan and Jopey in Centennial.

Doc thought i'd be ok for this one but it may have come a day too early. I went through 3km-10:07, very comfortable and no pain. After that it suddenly got ugly, limped the last 3km's probably should've pulled the pin.

Sunday - 22km 1:40.12 (4:33km's) Solo around The Bay

Still not good, so took the chance to do an easy run in the middle of the day. I hope it's stinking hot next Sunday, it's my only chance of a decent finishing position.

93km's for the week, at least i'm fresh.

Friday 18 November 2011

Cortisone #3

Wed - 20km 91:28 with Copey in Centennial. Very easy first 10km-48:00 whilst marking the 6km and hiding from the park rangers for Saturday's TT.

Thu - 2km 5:57, 10min rec, 5x400 (2min cycle) 66.6, 66.4, 65.4, 63.1, 57.7. Solo Wenty Park.

Wanted to test out the feet before getting the cortisone, only problem is that I thought the Doc was going to do both feet but he would only do the right. I'm back for the left next week, not ideal 3 days out from the 1/2 but big whoop I need to suck it up.

Fri - Complete Rest, not even strength. It feels a bit weird and lazy, but I'm enjoying it anyway.

Wednesday 16 November 2011

Another Tempo

Mon - 9km easy 40:30 (4:30km's) with Copey on The Bay

Tue - 16km Tempo 59:24 (3:43km's) on The Bay

Had Daniel Mellish with me for 7km, the 1st 4km's and 8-11km's. Went through 10km spot on 36:40 and feeling good, but couldn't keep up the pace into the headwind. Finished fast and felt strong, pretty happy with the progress given that it was hot and very windy. That's all the hard work done now, will try and squeeze in some speed now.

Sunday 13 November 2011

My Life as a Tree

Fri
AM 10km 45:12 (4:31km's) Solo around The Bay
PM 12km 59:54 (5:00km's) Solo around The Bay, loved this run, it felt like getting a massage.

Sat
AM 20km including 16km 65:01(4:04km's) around The Bay.
PM 10km 45:00 (4:30km's) Solo Centennial/Queens

Sun 21km including 4x2km (9min cycle) 2x7min efforts, 7:00, 6:55. Bum Bandit Park.

First 2 reps were 7min efforts, I put my sunnies on the ground while I did some strides, they were missing when I was starting my reps. I realised that a couple that jogged past must have picked them up, nobody else was in the area. So the mad chase begun, I eventually caught them at McKay Oval, they thought the sunnies would suit their son and had put them in their car but seemed genuinely pleased to return them to the rightful owner.

Joined Craig D, Jopey and Megan for an easy 10km's.

Good week 174km's, that'll do, want to be fresh for one final 16km before CC 1/2.

With all the fuss over the purple haze covering Sydney this time of year, I wondered what a purple tree can see. I climbed up this huge Jacaranda in Callan Park overlooking The Bay, apparently all the tree can see is the same purple haze.

Wake Up Trees

Ghostly branches on skeletal trees
Spring rain quenches caged buds

BLOOM! a purple explosion dancing in the breeze
Bored housewives cream their duds

Thursday 10 November 2011

Flip Flop

AM
6.4km Fartlek 23:17 (3:38km's) 1,2,3,4,3,2,2:17min efforts with 1min floats. Solo at Wenty Park.
I suck at fartlek, so happy to run the same pace as Saturday's race, pleased that the race had it's desired effect of pushing my training forward.

PM
20km Easy 95:08 (4:45km's) Solo around The Bay.

Tried to massage in my thongs today, only lasted 1hour feet were in agony. I will not be satisfied until I can work in flip flops all day.

Wednesday 9 November 2011

Sculptures and Culture

21.5km 1:29.45 (4:10km's) + 6x100m strides @ Bronte.

Corporate race had taken over Centennial so moved The Coast Run, with the added advantage of the coastal breeze providing relief from the 32' heat. Only problem was the huge crowds, the beautiful weather combined with the Sculptures by the Sea meant alot of evasive work required, copped a few umbrellas and pointing arms in the face. For some reason I was pretty pumped and went for it, way too hard for an easy run, normally 4:30km's in mild conditions without the crowds is a solid effort. The artwork was all lost on me, just looks like piles of rubbish pulled out of my Nanna's garage stuck together with super glue.


Was tempted to stay for the corporate race, it's a good atmosphere and enjoyable watching everyone smashing themselves to impress their work colleagues. Don't know exactly who's racing, but assume Crokes will show them a clean pair of heals.

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Armageddon

16km - 59:54 (3:45km's) + 10x100 (1) rolling start with strong tailwind, fastest 12.8s.

Solo around The Bay. Was planning 4x2km but it was very hot, 28 degrees and quite windy, so I thought I better take the opportunity to simulate potential race conditions for CC 1/2. Went out faster than last Thursday, 6km-21:57, then died a slow death finishing with the exact same time as last week.
By the time I got back in the car it was the end of the world, electrical storm, dark and blowing a gale. Starting to feel like a respectable time at Central Coast may be possible.

(23.5km's)

Monday 7 November 2011

Pissed on a Tree

Sun - 24km 1:44.01 (4:20km's). First Aid course all day, so out very early for a long solo run including 3 laps of The Bay.

158km for the week, got 3 decent sessions out, happy with the progress.

Mon
AM - 9.5km's 42:16 (4:27km's) Solo Wenty Park
PM - 16km 68:20 (4:16km's) With Copey at The Bay, last 7km's all sub 4mins.

Akira did his first piss standing up against a tree today, left hand on his hip too, couldn't be prouder :-)

Saturday 5 November 2011

Recession

10km Striders Lane Cove - 11th 36:28? (16km's)

I lined up not sure what to expect, same race last year albeit with a much weaker field than today I was 3rd in 34:58. I knew that would be unlikely but turned up full of hope and was greeted with perfect conditions.

I took off hard and felt a million bucks, but dropped 6 places on the 1st hill at about 3km? Went through in 18:28, so came home 28sec quicker gaining one position on the way back sneaking past Paul McClarnon in the home straight. Was keen to renew the battle with Thien, Timmy and Andy, but just a bit too sluggish and not enough quality work yet.

Very pleased with the aerobic fitness though, possibly the best it's ever been, knocking out the slow km's whilst sorting through the injury has served me well. Not really sure but feel like i'm pretty close to top fitness, much closer than I expected but I could be kidding myself. Will head up to Central Coast for the 1/2 in 3 weeks, hopefully 2 more hard weeks will make the world of difference.

Well done to Jo winning the girl's race on the comeback after years of chronic injury and Tom pipping CT for 3rd.

Happy enough, glad I got through 'The bad race I had to have' with the gusto of Paul Keating. It's been a big week and my right foot (supposedly the better one) is in a world of pain from the uphills, but suspect it's onward and upward from here.

Friday 4 November 2011

Samurai

AM - 10km 44:30 (4:27km's) Solo very early around The Bay
PM - 7km 30:00 (4:14km's) Solo around The Bay, hoping to shake the legs out so I can run a decent 10km tomorrow. Beautiful day, feeling pretty good. No idea how fast I'll go, it's been a very long time so i'm pretty keen to empty the balls.

Off for an early dinner with the family at Samurai tonight, ebi gyoza, agedashi tofu and miso ramen just for a change.

Thursday 3 November 2011

Bread and Butter

AM - 9km 44:20 (4:56km's) Just a dawdle to make sure the legs were ready to go for the afternoon sesh.
PM - 22km including 16km tempo - 59:54 (3:45km's). Happy enough with the progress, I reckon I would've struggled to do this sesh in an easy week a few weeks ago let alone in a full week.

When I first stepped up to 800m's one of the first things I was told is that a half miler should be able to comfortably knock out a sub 60min 16km any time of the year. It wasn't comfortable, but it wasn't as hard as I expected.

Here is the year to date top ten world rankings, 10th is 1.42sec quicker than my pb. I would love to have a crack at an 800m before Xmas, but I think the top guy is safe for now :-) I like these rankings as they are purely age based rather than requiring membership of a Masters Association.


800 meter Run - Men - M 35 - 39



Mark
Athlete
Nation
Venue
Date
1:44.03 Khadevis Robinson USA Monaco 22.07.2011



1:44.45
Khadevis Robinson

Lignano

1:49.29 Anthony Whiteman GBR Stretford
1:49.59 Sebastien Schletterer NED Kessel-lo
1:50.26 Willy Rotich KEN Lapinlahti
1:50.88 Elias Koech KEN Ponce
1:54.67 Ruben Dario Arboleda COL Bogota
1:54.92 Randy Wasinger USA New York
1:55.54 i Baba Tindogo GBR Gent
1:55.78 Christophe Chevaux FRA Dijon
1:56.28 Sebastien Marc FRA Firminy





Wednesday 2 November 2011

Tiger's Toddler AFL Draft Camp

AM-10km 44:15 (4:25km's). Solo around The Bay at Sparrow's Fart.
PM-20km 88:00. Centennial, had planned 24km but a bit sore, so thought i'd save it for tomorrow.




Tuesday 1 November 2011

Giddy Up

Mon- 16km 69:45 (4:21km's) Around The Bay with Copey, we had Jo and Olivia with us for the 1st 10km's. Solid last 6km's all between 3:55 and 4:05km's.

Tue- 24km including 6x500 (3min cycle) 86, 87, 86, 86, 84, 81, plus 16km easy 71:56 (4:30km's). Inspired by Cup Day I decided to crank it up a little. The last rep was quicker than 1500m pace and felt comfy, nothing special but progress nonetheless. Feet improving, breaking up the scar tissue is a long and exhausting process.

Did my arse on the Cup, but enjoyed Akira's enthusiastic cheering and Koji showing a keen interest watching his 1st Cup.

Sunday 30 October 2011

Play Date

Sun
AM-25km's @ 4:35km's + 4x200 strides (1) 34, 33, 31, 31. In Centennial, last 13km's with Megsy and Sam, feet felt pretty good. Stayed for brekky, Megan's baked beans looked like the aftermath of a big night. Sean, Cindy and Matilda came for a play date with the family, I was dead keen for some footy training but Akira and Matilda were way more interested in the bubbler...as usual.

PM-10km 44:30 (4:27km's). The Bay, pretty hot, bumped into Daniel Mellish and joined him for about 3km's.

150km's, but a fairly slow week, feeling refreshed and aiming for 2 hard weeks now.

Saturday 29 October 2011

Poppy Howard's 60th

Fri
AM 10km-45:12 (4:31km's) Solo The Bay
PM 9km-43:36  (4:51km's) Solo Centennial/Queens Pk's, slightly traumatised after a long stint in Emma's dental chair. Finished with some hockey skills training, feet move very slow, but pleasantly surprised that the touch was better than expected.

Sat-14km including 6km-22:31 (3:45km's), 10min break, 2km-6:32 (3:16, 3:16).

Taking the afternoon off, not because I'm Mr Sensible, but off to Dad's 60th Birthday lunch then a Man Date with Akira. Dad was 22 when I came along, no wonder he looks tired.

Thursday 27 October 2011

Mr Sensible

Carrying on with my plan of an easy week with a touch of quality, somehow I've managed to be disciplined despite feeling fresh and have so far resisted the temptation to unleash.

Tue - 15km including 10x300 (1) avg 44.4's, all between 44-45. 5min rec then 20min threshold @ 3:45's. Solo @ Barnwell Park.

Wed - 21.4km 90:00 (4:12km's), last 20min solid. Solo @ Centennial Park.

Thu -
AM 9km easy 40:33 (4:28km's)
PM 12km including 10x500 (3min cycle), odd reps slightly up, even slightly down hill. 90.5, 90.1, 90.6, 90.0, 90.4,  89.9, 90.2, 89.5, 84.3, 83.0.  Solo in Bum Bandit Park, geez they were out in force today, it was like Pitt St heading in and out of the bushes.

Monday 24 October 2011

Cabernet Sauvignon

Mon
AM 9km-40:05 (4:27km's) Solo, Wenty Park.
PM 16km-67:30 (4:13km's) Solo, The Bay

Thankfully the Rugby World Cup and the endless ad's for cabernet sauvignon has finally ended, that ought to keep the toffs happy for 4 years now that they've briefly feigned sporting interest. The highlight without a doubt is all the giant boofheads lining up and doing synchronised dancing before the match, bet they were regretting spending so much time practising dancing rather than goal kicking when the French drew close. Glad the Kiwis won though, impossible to respect a team that throw a match against the Tongans but turn superhuman all of a sudden for the final, absolutely no respect for their sport, opposition, country or themselves. Roll on cricket season and the VB ad's.

Sunday 23 October 2011

Discretion

24km - 1:54 (4:45km's). Centennial Park, easy but painful. Skipped the optimistic plan to finish hard and the arvo run.

143km's. Now I'll take an easy week, it's the new me.

Saturday 22 October 2011

Speed Bump

Fri - 10km easy 45:21, Solo The Bay, needed a rest day. Happy that i'm getting through some work, but would like some solid running this weekend before I get stagnant in mediocre land. If not, i'll have to drop the volume next week and take a quality week.

Sat - 20km including 16km@4:05km's. With Megan around The Bay, she seemed to be comfortable and finished with a pair of sub 4min km's. It felt very comfy at the time but I pulled up quite sore, was hobbling at work on my right foot (the better one) and canned my afternoon session. Frustrating as I'm feeling fresh and keen for something fast.

Thursday 20 October 2011

Korean BBQ and arse hairs

Thu
AM - 10km including 22min fartlek 3:52km's, solo at Wenty Park. I think the garmin was going cuckoo, 1st km was 4:08 and a few other strange km's, doesn't matter it felt like an effective workout.

PM - 9km 38:50 (4:19km's) Solo Centennial/Queens Pk. Had an old guy using me as a pacer for his sprints, sadly for me he ran in front and the only thing between me and his wrinkly, saggy, hairy old arse was a very well worn pair of speedos.

Note: Must trim my arse hairs when I get older.

Went out for Akira's first Korean BBQ, absolutely delicious, my batteries are well and truly charged for the next few days work and training. Just love the aroma of all the Korean Restaurants in Strathfield.

Still sticking to the diet plan, substituted the Chocolate bar for a Brownie from CBD. Tossing up whether to reduce my 2nd coffee to a small or even a decaf, a bit worried that i'm losing weight too quickly and will get the crap belted out of me when I start hockey training again. Spoke to the club coach, I need to be able to run for 30mins without stopping by late January. Hopefully they'll be so impressed that the world's oldest comeback player can run for 30mins that they won't notice I haven't picked up a stick for 8 years.

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Boo Hoo, no Tim Tams

Mon - 20km 86:35 (4:20km's) Solo around The Bay.

Tue - 19km, 3km easy, 20min threshold (3:40km's), 5min easy, 5x3min hard 1min rec, 15min easy. Solo in Centennial and Queens Parks.

Wed -
AM 9km - 36:51 (4:06km's) Solo Wenty Park, much quicker than I planned but felt good.
PM 22km - 90min (4:05km's) Centennial Park.

For the last 4 days i've cut out the post dinner packet of Tim Tams and tub of Ben and Jerry's, hate to admit it, but i'm feeling pretty bloody good. The plan is no chocolate or coffee after midday until I run a pb. Well that's the plan anyway, any good plan needs to be flexible.

Well done to the All Blacks for comprehensively smashing us in the World Cup Semi, I actually thought we were a chance, woops! Pretty ridiculous, 2 semi finals only 2 tries scored and one by a losing team. Seriously what a shit sport, 3points for field and penalty goals, WOW - what amazing skill! If you can't go through 'em or around 'em it doesn't matter you get 3 points for taking the pussy option. Makes the decision of Robbie Deans, who seems to be the media darling, not to play Berrick Barnes at #10 in a sport which is all about territory completely ludicrous.

Sunday 16 October 2011

World Cup Final

Sat
AM - 4x2km (9min cycle) avg 7:14's - 7:01, 7:06, 7:30, 7:18, With Megan in Bum Bandit Park, she improved again 2sec quicker than last time, avg 7:45's with 1min less recovery on heavy ground. Pissed down through the sesh, by the 3rd rep we were running in a bog.

PM - 10km 43:12 Solo around The Bay.

Sun
AM - 24km-2hrs Narrowneck, lack of fitness really exposed with the thinner air and hills. Struggled to hang on to Caleb and Benny Saint even though they were doing it easy, got dropped up a hill at 17km's and crawled home from there.

PM - 14km-62:03 Around The Bay with Rilen and Belinda, I was after a Sunday stroll but the girls were pretty fresh and moving at a good clip.

Ran without strapping tape, Sat PM and both Sun runs, I actually feel pretty good - will try a speed sesh sans tape on Tuesday, hope it works it'll save me a fortune.

155km's for the week, battled a bit, but still moving forward.

Looking forward to the Rugby Semi which is really the final. The World Cup has been a great event despite the lack of depth in the sport, a bit unlucky that the Rugby League test was on this afternoon, makes Union look pedestrian. I placed a bet on a Wales vs Australia Final, that'll teach me to bet on a sport that punishes good play and encourages conservatism. The Welsh skipper smashed the French winger who had no right to be running the ball straight through the ruck. Reward for being a superior athlete, sent off, what a joke! Regardless of that incident the Welsh were easily the better athletes and better structured team but completely blew it, lacking composure when it mattered and missing some gift attempts at goal.

Friday 14 October 2011

Flip Flops

Mon - 9km 38:55 (4:19km's), Solo Wenty Park felt good.

Tue -  14km including 30min fartlek (1,2,3,4,7,3,2,1) - 7.84km (3:50km's) Solo Centennial, bit slow but didn't get out for the morning run so took a long time to get moving.

Wed - 20km 89:57 (4:30km's) Solo Coastal Run, feeling fresh so pushed quite hard, some hills and stairs kept the avg down.

Thu -
AM 12km including hard 6km - 21:31 (3:35km's) Solo at Wenty Park, planned to sneak under 22min with a quicker finish which is how it went 3:38, 3:38, 3:38, 3:38, 3:34, 3:24. Quite slow but happy enough with the progress.
PM 16km - 68:26 (4:16km's) Solo around The Bay

Fri
AM 10km easy - 45:40 (4:34km's) Solo around The Bay
PM 12km easy - 55:24 (4:37km's) Solo around The Bay

The worst thing about the torn plantars is being forced to wear shoes all the time, my goal is to spend at least one day this summer working in my thongs.

Sunday 9 October 2011

Something Decent

Sat - 22km's. 6km with Rach doing a TT - 29:57, straight into 6km hard 21:58 (3:39's), 4km threshold 14:58 (3:44's), 3km hard 10:39 (3:33's), 3km easy 13:30

Sun - 27km's-1:53.10 (4:12km's) Around The Bay with Steve K and Megsy. Steve was impressive, a touch quicker than his New York marathon target pace. Megsy keeps improving, 16km's @ 4:11's, 10sec per km quicker than the Sydney Half a few weeks back.

Big week 189km's, pleased to squeeze in some quality on the weekend.

Friday 7 October 2011

No Footy :-(

Wed
AM 9km-39:35 Solo Wenty Park
PM 20.5km - 83:30 Centennial Park with Molly for 4km's, last 16.5km's were quite fast, the last 8km's met up with some speedsters, Anthony Craig, Harry Summers, Hugh Williams and Frank Torok.

Thu
AM 12km including 22min fartlek (3:46km's) solo Wenty Park
PM 16km - 67:54 Surprisingly solid, solo around The Bay

Fri
AM 14km - 59:40 Solo around the city bright and early
PM 7km - 31:58 Solo around The Bay

Tough time of year for me with the footy finished and waiting for the cricket to start. Will of course support the Wallabies, but it's such a shit sport especially after watching the great AFL finals series and the exciting play of the NZ Warriors.

Tuesday 4 October 2011

Start again

After the 2nd Cortisone I was instructed by the Doc to rest 2 days then back to training. I don't feel like it did anything, but I wasn't expecting much. Decided to stop worrying about getting treatment anymore, there is a fine line, as long as I keep the intensity/speed at about 1/2 marathon effort it seems tolerable. Just need to stop taking short cuts with my rehab, I must keep my feet strapped 24/7 and ice after every run.

I decided to start hockey again next season so training starts tomorrow night, i'm ok with my fitness levels, just need to get my touch back, which I suspect will take the full 5 months I have left before the season kick's off.

Sunday - 22km's easy (4:48km's) with Megsy in Centennial Park. Straight from the school reunion, for the second consecutive week, my commitment was rewarded with driving rain slapping hard against my aching head.
Monday -
AM 11km easy (4:58km's) with Caleb, Rilen, Lucy S and Ben Saint in Centennial.
PM 16km (4:15km's) with Copey and Jopey around The Bay.
Tuesday -
AM 10km easy (4:42km's) solo around The Bay
PM 19km's - 15min easy, 20min threshold (3:50km's), 3min easy, 4x5min with 1min jog rec' (3:45km's), 15min easy. Pretty slow, but it's not where I am, it's where i'm going that matters.

Tuesday 27 September 2011

Last Hurrah

Monday - 2km TT 5:58 (3:00/2:58). On the footpath around Wenty Park, felt ok considering the last few hard days, happy enough with that for now. I wanted to do something fast to tide me over until I can start running again, also gives the cortisone some real damage to repair.

Just had the cortisone in the left foot, the right one is in 2 days, then 5-14 days off depending on how it feels. I picked a good time for a rest, it's the best week of the year. AFL Grand Final Week - added bonus of recovering from the Blaxland H/S Reunion, resting for the Jamison H/S Reunion on Saturday night, a 1st Birthday Party on Sunday then the NRL Grand Final, then a day off on Monday.

I'm hoping for a Cats/Warriors double but suspect the Sea Eagles will smash the Warriors.

Sunday 25 September 2011

The morning after

Quite a big night, just snuck in the door before the sun came up.

32km - 2:27.12, massive struggle, but ticked off nonetheless.

160km's for the week, surprised at the volume considering I only doubled twice. A bit of a forced break now, hopefully the cortisone injections will do the trick.

Saturday 24 September 2011

20 Year Reunion

Thursday -
AM 9km easy, up and out the door at 4am. Akira has been waking up with the birds at 5am, so i'm making sure my run is finished so we can have a play. Loving our man time together.

PM 10x500m 98, 97, 92, 92, 92, 92, 91, 87, 78.4 (tailwind), 81.2 (headwind). On the Bay, was supposed to avg 97's, but felt ok so went with it.

Friday - 22.1km's 90min, pretty hot. Then a big contrast as the change came in, cold and windy in the gardens for the strength session with Megan.

Saturday - 28km's including 16km tempo - 59:58 (3:45km's). Quite even paced except for a 3:25 to start and a couple of slow uphill km's. Effort wasn't even though, I was pretty shattered in the last 4km's, a bit of fatigue from yesterday's run in the heat.

Off to my 20 year High School reunion tonight, anything could happen.

Wednesday 21 September 2011

Cruising

Just enjoying the footy finals and biding my time until the cortisone injections, which have now been delayed until Tuesday and Thursday next week.

Friday - 12km easy
Saturday - 28km easy + strength
Sunday - 30km while watching the Sydney Half.
Monday - 12km easy + strength
Tuesday - 16km including 10km-37:20
Wednesday - AM 9km easy, PM Strength then 10km-39:25

Thursday 15 September 2011

10km PB

Sunday - Joined Steve and Megan for their 6km TT's as they prepare for the half this Sunday. Steve went out like a maniac, 1st km 3:35 and I couldn't keep up with him, he died in the last 2km's but still managed a pb 23:17, hopefully he can crack 85min on Sunday. Megan continues to improve out of sight and took a big leap forward with 23:38 including a 3:43 final km, giving herself a good shot at sub 90min on debut despite a short prep.

Monday and Tuesday just did some strength sessions, Wednesday was an easy 16km-67:50 in Centennial Park with Emma Rilen, with a guest stint from Jeremy Roff.

Today I had to race from work to a Dr's appointment then off to the specialist, pretty hungry so chomped down 2x foot long meatball subs thinking I wouldn't get a chance to run. Zipped through the appointments with the plan now to cortisone the left plantar next Thursday and the right on the following Tuesday.

Millie, Akira and Koji were stuck in traffic coming back from the Blue Mountains, so despite my very full stomach decided to head out for a 10km around The Bay. Managed 43:10 which i'm pretty sure is my fastest 10km less than 1 hour after 2x Foot Longs. Dumped and puked about 5kg's straight after the run, feeling better now.

Have a 2 hour appointment with Emma the dentist tomorrow, then off to dribble beers out of the side of my mouth at the pub watching the footy feast.

Saturday 10 September 2011

Coastal Classic

3:17.01 87th, victory in the award for most positions lost special victims category.

Tough start, straight up a steep hill aggravated the plantars, by 2km I was in agony. Was with a good group almost to Gaerie Beach and was having fun taking leaps of faith with Jamie Stewart on some pretty hairy trails. Looks like the group finished between 4th Terrence Bell to about 15th. Pretty sure I would've dropped off that group regardless, they were going pretty well.

After that it was ugly, I couldn't even walk without cramping, so had a long sit down while I tried to get some fluids into me. The last 4km's from the final aid station included a couple of blistering 13min km's but somehow I managed to make it to the finish, to a heap of deserved sledging from the boys.

I always knew it was stupid to race given my feet and fitness levels, but i'm bloody glad I did it and got to the finish. Despite the slow time I couldn't have managed to finish one second quicker and fought hard for every step. It is an excellent event and I'll definitely be back for redemption next year.

Brilliant running by Tucks to smash the record by 17mins and win by 4mins. I didn't get to see him in action after the 2nd km, but he obviously has a talent for the trail runs and i'm declaring him hot favourite to win 6ft track next year.



Will take a rest week to see if the feet settle and reassess from there. Hopefully they're ok as I seem to have been getting some decent training done lately as long as I stay just below max effort...and apparently away from hills.


In the mean time, I love September, best weather of the year and footy finals plus Rugby World Cup.

Thursday 8 September 2011

Rrrunning

Reduced the volume this week with The Coastal Classic 29km trail race coming up on Saturday, last years winning time was 2:32 so unless I want to be stuck out there all day I'll need to be fairly fresh.

Using the easy week to add some quality, nothing special, but happy that it is all heading in the right direction:-

Monday - 10x500 (3min Cycle), averaged 94's. Slow as expected, but a step in the right direction.
Tuesday- Easy 12km's.
Wednesday - 22min fartlek at Wenty Park 6.13km @ 3:35km's
Thursday - Hard 2km, 6:24 (3:12, 3:12), quicker and easier than expected.

Feeling good, no excuses, looking forward to racing.

Saturday 3 September 2011

On The Road Again

Back into it, feet continue to improve whilst increasing the volume and intensity. Managed 6km-22mins (3min), 4km (2km@4:10's, 2km@3:30km's) this morning in Centennial with Megan and Steve K, still over 2mins off top form but 1min better than 2 weeks ago. The other guys ran well. Megan did a 10km tempo in 42:10, looking good for her debut half. Steve did 2x3km, 1x4km (2km @ 1/2 pace, 2km hard), building nicely for NY Marathon.

Definitely going to race Coastal Classic on Saturday, i'm fascinated to see what it's all about. Have managed 3x consecutive 130km + weeks, whilst it's all been rubbish, i'm confident I can run it quite hard without doing any damage.

Apparently a cracker jack field of trail runners is assembling for this race. A pro from NZ is being shipped over by the sponsors InnoV8, Tucks after demolishing the Willy 2 Billy field, Brendan Davies 2nd place at this years 6ft track and soon to head over to Wales with the Australian Ultra Marathon team,  Scott Milson former Bush Capital 60km champ fit as a fiddle after a few months training in Europe, Fats former 6ft champ and record holder, defending champ Damon Goerke winner of multiple international stage ultras, John Mergler age group record holder for bike leg at Hawaii Ironman and Poor Mans Comrades Record Holder.

Who knows who else will turn up, I'm looking forward to seeing these guys in action, for the record i'll tip Tucks. Not sure why, but i'm actually excited about this race. Probably because I've been in cotton wool for so long and looking forward to a world of pain.

Well done Tom Highnam on his win and PB at Striders this morning, held off a quality field, Chris Truscott, Thamal Cooray and Jeremy Horne.










Tuesday 23 August 2011

Koji Oliver

Not much happening on the running front, just a bit of jogging with the feet strapped. Feels like i'm improving, but anything remotely resembling running aggravates the feet. Still considering running The Coastal Classic in 2 1/2 weeks for a bit of fun, uneven and slow seems to be ok.

We had the arrival of our second boy Koji Oliver 11 days ago so the timing is perfect to be having a break. Akira is loving his big brother role and gave up his treasured footy so Koji could get some practise so we can all have a kick together soon.






Sunday 17 July 2011

Tick Tock

Not much happening, have an MRI Thursday week to check that the tears are healing. I'm pretty sure they have, just waiting on the original problem Plantar Fasciitis to settle down. Otherwise been on the rower and bike and doing extra massages to try clear the cancellation list and put some funds away before baby Number 2 pops out next month. Dunno if this video works I suck with technology. This is what happens when The World's Skinniest Sprinter attempts push ups with the World's Heaviest Nearly 2 Year Old on board.

Sunday 26 June 2011

Robo Tiger

Just a quick update, with some self portraits. I have tears in both plantars, 13mm x 5mm in left and 3mm x 3mm in right. I've been in a boot for 1 week, will get an MRI 6 weeks after my last run, late July, to make sure the tears have healed before resuming running.


So the focus for now is working on functional strength under the direction of fellow 800m athlete and physio Ben Liddy, to ensure the muscles are good to go when it is time to resume running. Minimising wastage to the left calf, keeping both ankles mobile, retaining glute and hip flexor strength and range of movement and protecting my back from standing lopsided all day are the main concerns. I am able to cross train on the bike and rowing machine, but they bore me senseless, although I forced myself through 90min on the stationary bike this morning. One of the major concerns with runners returning from injury, is that they can be too fit from cross training, this won't be a problem for me :-)

This contraption is designed to mobilise the talo crural (ankle) joint.




Anyway, good luck to all doing Gold Coast i'm expecting some big performances and at this stage i'm still planning to head up and support my little squad. I'll try and get hold of a bike so I can get around on the course, hope to see you all up there.

Tuesday 14 June 2011

Joke is over

I did a warm up and a few strides, very sore doing anything faster than jogging so time to pull the pin. Happy enough that I did everything possible to run a decent time. I knew I was playing with fire with a rushed prep and wouldn't do anything differently given the short build up time available. Will rest for the next few weeks and still head up to the Gold Coast and jog the marathon, hopefully all these long runs under the belt will come in handy if I ever decide to try another one.

On a positive, it gave me some extra time to head to McDonalds for my standard 6x Cheeseburgers. Seriously how good is Macca's? I was watching Masterchef and some fancy pants chef had the contestants preparing a burger and chips. Seriously mate, Macca's Cheeseburgers are perfection, give up.

As soon as I parked the car I could smell Lamb Shanks and the awesome aroma was coming from Millie's kitchen, woohoo. I can't wait to get stuck in, and i'm told she's also got sticky date pudding with cookies and cream ice cream for dessert. I'll be 80kg's by the time Gold Coast comes around.

Monday 13 June 2011

Pay Day

27km-2:06.07. Very easy in Centennial and just the one run today and one run tomorrow, want to be fresh for a long tempo tomorrow arvo. I'll try one last roll of the dice, 16km's at 3:45km's in the heavy shoes and orthotics.

Got my first multi bet collect for this footy season after losing four times on the final leg - grrrr. Quite a nice pay day courtesy of Sea Eagles 13+, West Coast Eagles and Swans by <24.5. You can lose your money, but never lose your confidence :-)

Sunday 12 June 2011

Boring as Bat Shit

37km-2:42.00. Started in Centennial with Molly, ran through the city and back to Centennial for last 15km's. Very slow to start, freezing, windy and bucketing down but last 17km's all sub 4min's.

176km's for the week, good volume but mainly junk again, unless next week is better i'll just head up to the Gold Coast aiming to 'enjoy' the run and scrap any time goals.

Saturday 11 June 2011

Deja Vu, Call the Whambulance

AM
Out on The Bay for a 6km Tempo 7:00am kick off with Fats. Last week I planned the same session but couldn't get going. Today I got up at 4:30am to get the body moving, lots of walking soaking my feet in hot water and a long warm up. I'd also run very early 3x this week to try and condition my body for the 7:10am start at Gold Coast.

From the first step of the tempo I was in trouble again but did a deal with myself to get to 2km's and reassess, went through 500m in 1:45 but in agony, jogged through to 2km-7:18. I had to pull the pin, it wasn't as painful as it has been but felt like I was about to do some serious damage. Fats ran well 21ish without company, improving quite a bit on our last tempo.

All up about 10km's of rubbish again.

PM
Like last week, I started to feel good as the day progressed, so I headed to Centennial after work for take two. Managed 21:58 for the 6km tempo, faster than last week but felt comfortable with the pace. Even though i'm running slowly I feel like i'm very close to good fitness, i'll keep bashing my head against the brick wall and hopefully it'll all come together in time.

After the session went for another massage with Jean-Louis, he had the knife handle for a weapon again. Apart from the blistering skin from the burning frictions it was much less brutal than last time.

22km's for the day, feeling ridiculously fresh.

Friday 10 June 2011

You can't catch me

AM
10km - 49:55. Very early around The Bay. Needed a rest day, pulled up lame after yesterday's effort. Aiming for a good 6km tempo with Fats tomorrow, followed by another sesh with Jean-Louis.

Had a great day at work today, started with a bag of gingerbread men baked by Mrs Fats. Akira absolutely loves gingerbread men, do you think I could save him at least one? Of course not, they were too good and gone by the time I finished massaging Fats's calves, for today's massage we will be using paw paw balm and chewed biscuit crumbs.

Decided to put on our coats and head to Trovatino's for afternoon tea, I was planning to get Akira a gingerbread man but somehow forgot and got myself a jam and cream donut. The gang at the cafe are pretty good mates with the little guy and thought I was a little cruel, first Anniko gave him a spoon of strawberry ice cream, then Karen another spoon of strawberry, then boss man and ice cream maker Joe gave him a spoon of raspberry and mascarpone. It was pretty funny watching Millie trying to feed him dinner, 'he doesn't seem very hungry tonight, what did YOU feed him at the cafe?'. 'Nothing sweety, eat up mate'.

Thursday 9 June 2011

Ice Bath

AM
9km-42:55. Quite early around The Bay, great atmosphere with heaps of hardy runners about regardless of the cold temperature, just too dark to identify any of them apart from Action, Cam, Mark and the old lady with the massive fake cans.

Sitting in my ice bath writing this rubbish to try and distract me from the pain. This is the 4th time 'ice' has appeared in my blog title in the last 7 days, ice has been a prominent yet unwelcome part of my life for the last few months.

Planning 3x2km (10min cycle), 2x1km (5min cycle), 2x500m (3min cycle) this arvo.

PM
16km's in Centennial. Ended up doing 4x2km (10min cycles), too sore to try anything quicker. I couldn't warm the feet up, even did a 5km warm up and extra drills and strides but nothing good was going to happen in these conditions. Took it easy 7:15, 7:05, 7:00, 6:54.

Wednesday 8 June 2011

Thin Ice

AM
9km-40:52, Wenty Park.

PM
22km-1:45.00, Centennial nice and easy with Molly and The Saint, briefly joined by Copey and Crazy. Feeling fresh and hopeful of a better session tomorrow.

Millie is on thin ice, she got a bit cocky after the success of her impossible pie and has come home with Adora Cream Wafers. Granted, there is no such thing as a manly biscuit, nor quiche for that matter, but nothing screams feminine like Adora Cream Wafers. Watch yourself Millie, this is getting serious!

Edit: I have to apologise to the Current World's Best Wife, Tim Tams were already in the cupboard.

Tuesday 7 June 2011

Roll the dice

AM
10km-50:10. Out at 5am with Molly in the city. Good test, I haven't attempted to run early for a while. Very tough going at the start with a few 6min km's, but not too bad after that. Saw plenty of runners out and about, awesome way to start the day.

PM
12km's including 22min fartlek (5.83km's, avg 3:47km's). Around The Bay, had Copey on his easy 16km for company, somehow he spent most of his easy run in front of me during the fartlek. Took a punt and ran in the racing flats  - Adidas Adios, without orthotics. 450m and 18sec per km quicker than last Tuesday, happy with the progress. I tend to struggle with fartlek, 3:35km's is normally as good as I get, it'd be good to improve another 10sec or more before Gold Coast. Decided to stick with the racing flats without orthotics until and including the race for all sessions.

Monday 6 June 2011

Nutshell

AM
9km - 42:02. Wenty Park.

PM
20km - 88:20. Around The Bay with Copey and Daniel, started slow but finished strong.

Looking back at the weekend, Emma and my respective tempo's sum up our Gold Coast preps in a nutshell. Emma with a very patient and well planned prep has been going since November and hasn't missed a single run, let alone a key session. I've rushed a 14 week prep and have only completed 2 key sessions and missed a heap of running. On Saturday I killed myself to run my initial target marathon pace for 6km's whereas on Sunday Emma managed a controlled 24km's 21sec per km faster than her initial target marathon pace. There are no shortcuts to success, but I'm pretty sure we already knew this.

Sunday 5 June 2011

Molly's Long Tempo

30km including 24km-1:45.31 avg 4:24km's.

Around The Bay for Emma (Molly's) Long Tempo. Her PB is 3:29 with her most recent being 3:34 in Melbourne 2008, she has been managing our 35km's on grass in 4:45ish km's so no doubt she is in 3:15 or better shape. I took the watch off her and told her we'd be running 4:35km's as relaxed as possible. My intention was to run 4:30km's and to push 4:25km's for the last 8km.

The plan went out the window when Molly ran the first 2km's in 4:19km's, I tried to get in front and slow the pace but she just kept going past and cranking it back up again so I just went along for the ride. She ran controlled the whole way and the only slow km was a 4:35 whilst she took her gel. Really impressed, depending on how well she recovers from and absorbs this effort I suspect a 20min PB might be on the cards.

144km's for the week, promising but still terribly slow.

Saturday 4 June 2011

Progress

AM
9km-43:40. The things I know that aggravate my foot are:- running in the morning, running on hard surfaces, running in light shoes and running fast. With that in mind, I headed out the door at 6am to run on the bike path around The Bay in my racing flats for a 6km tempo.

At 3km when I was supposed to start the tempo it was pretty obvious nothing good would happen if I stuck with the plan, so I carried on with an easy jog with the plan to leave the tempo for after work.

PM
14km's including 6km-22:34 3:46km's. Mix of grass and bike path in Centennial in the heavy shoes, a big improvement since Tuesday's fartlek.

Some great running this morning at The Sydney 10km, nearly all clients ran pb's with the rest getting very close. The depth in Sydney running has improved alot this winter.

Friday 3 June 2011

Light Ice Cream

Wasn't going to bother posting today but Millie insisted that I report that her Impossible Pie was a winner last night, bloody delicious! The only fault was the ice cream and that was my fault. Stupidly I inadvertently bought 'light' ice cream which I didn't even know existed and is truly vile. Are you bloody kidding me? Surely nobody eating ice cream gives a crap about the fat content, if they did they'd be eating fruit or some other healthy rubbish. This is an abomination, get this watery puke-worthy crap off the shelves now.

Last thing I wanted after 2 months of resting was a rest day, but felt it was my best chance of doing something decent tomorrow and backing up for Emma's long tempo on Sunday.

6km Row 25:07, 1km further but 4 sec per km quicker than the last time.

Thursday 2 June 2011

Bum Bandit 500's

AM-Rest. Millie and Akira came to town for a check up and visit. All is well at 30 weeks and it's looking like a big baby.

PM-13km with 10x500(3min cycle). 97, 95, 93, 90, 89, 88, 88, 87, 86, 82.

Had originally planned to avoid all Vo2 sessions, but the interrupted prep means I need a hurry along to  get the threshold work back on track quick smart. I chose a session that I felt I could run fairly quick but controlled without putting too much pressure on the feet. Ran in the Adidas Adios with orthotics. Reps were in a straight line and I set the garmin to 510m so imagine it's fairly accurate, either way who cares, the session served it's purpose. Regardless, the last rep made me feel like a man, good to be moving again.

Did the reps at the back of Lachlan Reserve, the best quality running in the park, but also where the queer blokes meet to satisfy each other in the bushes. Under the threat of any poor step leading to an uninvited visitor at my back door I managed to improve with each rep.

Millie is walking a fine line, apparently it's Impossible Pie and Vanilla Ice Cream tonight. I'll see how it goes, but no way it could be better than Tim Tams.

Wednesday 1 June 2011

Chugging along

AM
9km-40:03. Wenty Park. After some advice from Caleb I decided to try my Adidas Bostons with orthotics which are lighter than the Adidas Glides. It felt great, it was difficult not to crank up the pace but I miraculously held back.

PM
19km-90:00. Centennial Park. Back in the heavy shoes, ran with Emma, Daniel, Rabbits, Carter and The Saint. I will try another session tomorrow, hoping for some improvement, might try the Adidas Adios with the orthotics to give myself a chance of something decent.

Thanks to everyone who informed Millie that the luxurious lifestyle to which she has become accustomed was in extreme danger, 1 packet of original tim tams in the fridge tonight.

Tuesday 31 May 2011

Almost Fartlek

AM
10km-42.01. Wenty Park. Included 22min fartlek (1,2,3,4,3,2,1min efforts with 1min float, jog recovery more apt though). Very slow, 4:05km's for 5.38km. Almost walking on the 'floats', it was bucketing down, the ground was bogged and I had the heavy shoes on. Nevertheless it's a starting point, onward and upward.

PM
20km-97:20. Centennial Park, I wanted to see how I respond to a double before I get stuck into some long overdue training.

Might experiment with lighter shoes with orthotics or heavy shoes without orthotics. Hamburglar, the man on the hot PB streak said I look fit today, I think it's cos Millie replaced my Tim Tams with Royals which are mostly marshmallow. Today she is forcing me to eat Farmbake Choc Chip Fudge Cookies, how hard can it be to stock at least one full packet of tim tams in my fridge at all times? She'll be out on the street if this shoddy treatment continues.

Monday 30 May 2011

Millie Stew

PM
20km-90:00. The Bay, absolutely pissing down and for the first time ever I had the whole place to myself, didn't encounter another human. It was pitch black by 5:00pm, but I could see a light at the end of the tunnel.

I'll have a big serve of Millie's stew tonight and of course a packet of tim tams to fuel me up for something quicker tomorrow.

Sunday 29 May 2011

2 thumbs up

35km's - 2hr45min. In Centennial with Emma, happy to get through the run, made me confident that at worst i'll get to the finish line. The pace was very easy, but pleased to get it done.

Emma couldn't even drop me for a change, anyone care to predict what time she will run at Gold Coast based on 35km's on grass at 4:43km's? She does about 80km's p/w including 1x speed session as well as solid paced runs on Wednesday and Sunday.

I was talking to a client on Thursday who is a physio and a very fast runner. I said i'm happy with the progress but it just feels like I need an almighty hammering to finish it off. He then said, 'i've got a guy I see for last ditched help, you need to see...' I knew exactly what was coming next, we simultaneously said 'Jean-Louis'. I can't believe I didn't think of him 9 months ago when this all started. He is results driven, has amazing strength and fitness, his skills were perfect for this injury.

I went to see him yesterday morning, I came armed with my ice bucket, which I reckon saved me a few days recovery from the treatment. He got stuck into my heel with the end of a knife handle, apart from my skin burning I could really feel the scar tissue and the bone spurs (4 each foot) breaking up with his rapid fire and powerful frictions. Hard to tell how much they've improved, but I suspect it's significant. I'll know better once all the blistered skin heals and the inflammation from the battering settle down. I attempted to make another booking for this Friday, but he laughed because 'it's going to take alot longer than a week before my feet will be ready for his massage again', funny guy. Super impressed with his skills and grateful for the good result as well as learning a new technique. I'll aim to go and see him more often for experiential learning rather than waiting for emergencies.

2 thumbs up for the Jean-Louis and Caleb weekend combo treatment. I might take another rest day tomorrow to give the skin and fluid a chance to settle, but I'll decide based on how I feel. The last thing I feel like doing is resting, i'm so fresh from the minimal training that i've only been sleeping a few hours per night, during summer when training hard I need close to 8hrs avg to survive.

Anyway it's time to stop bitching about the feet, so you won't read about it again. It's time to start thinking positively, I don't want to line up with a crutch or security blanket excuse.

90 very slow km's for the week.

Friday 27 May 2011

Duck Off!

14km - 59:40 Centennial, included 3x2km efforts - 7:24, 7:25, 7:19. Very slow but that is par for the course at the moment. Suspected i'd lost alot of fitness, but didn't expect to be that slow. I ran 20km's at 3:45km's last month, if I can lose fitness that quickly I think I can regain it just as fast.

Had a crazy duck feeding lady set up in the middle of my 2km loop so had to detour onto the road for part of each rep, amazing how many ducks she had gathered around her.

Went and saw Caleb, he has reinforced the orthotics and added a met dome on the left. Still alot of inflammation but he doesn't think either are torn. Definitely too sore to run tomorrow, so i'll focus on getting the inflammation down and aim to get through a long run on Sunday.

Thursday 26 May 2011

Oink Oink

5km on the rowing machine 21:14 in the morning. I gave the PT a token Pat Rafter 'sorry mate' to keep the peace. Followed in the arvo by a good strength sesh.

Took the day off from running, hoping to get something decent done tomorrow. Off to see Caleb the Podiatrist as well, suspect this marathon will be run in the heavies with orthotics.

Wednesday 25 May 2011

Anger Management

PM
1hr45min - 23.2km's In Centennial, pissing down sideways.

The biggest crowd we've had for a long time, Copey, Emma and Daniel were all way too fast for me today I spent the majority of the run ducking in and out of the shitter and out the back of the pack kicking stones. Great that Emma has come back so well after her holiday and Copey and Daniel are finding top form again.

Watching them disappear into the distance felt similar to the time I took the baton at state relays to anchor the 4x100m just before all the other teams crossed the finish line. I received a humiliating sympathy clap the length of the straight, felt like kicking the shit out of everyone in the crowd that day, Cantona style.

Cranked it up on the rowing machine this morning, did 6x1km (2min) in 3:57's, thanks to some tips from my new rowing coach Jamie Stewart :-) The resident PT told me I was hogging the machine, good observation mate thanks for sharing your concern.

Tuesday 24 May 2011

James Tomkins

AM
9km - 40:02 Wenty Park. Too sore for an arvo run.

Got some very painful treatment today, apparently the inflammation has caused calcification on the heels, hence the pain. On the positive i'm spending so much time lifting and on the rower that it's possible I may line up at the Gold Coast actually looking like a man. It won't help my race, but it'll make the photos look better.

James Tomkins what a legend, 3 Gold Medals from 5 Olympic Games and never laid down.

Monday 23 May 2011

Rule 3

AM
9km - 39.04 Wenty Park. Pulled up sore, so that'll have to do for today.

There is no rule 3.

Sunday 22 May 2011

Rule 2

AM
26.2km - 2hrs. Centennial Park with Emma, the last 13km's actually resembled running.

PM
10km - 42:40. Around The Bay. Wanted to test the feet with a double, feeling good.

Rule 2 - Get to the finish line in front of as many people as possible.

107km's for the week, no quality but much better than I expected. Have been hammering the plantar fascia daily with self massage and constant icing whenever possible, feels heaps better, wish I did it months ago instead of trying to manage the pain. It's been a great lesson though, and will help with my treatment of clients as well as myself.

Saturday 21 May 2011

Rule 1

Friday - 15km including 6km build up in Centennial, nothing special but finished with 3:50, 3:46, 3:45km's. Finished with some frisbee with The Saint, good to feel like a human again.

Saturday - 12km 58:30 Barnwell Park Golf Course. A bit sore, but hopeful of getting a longish run out tomorrow. Emma is back from South America, looking forward to hearing all about her adventures.

Rule 1 - Get to the start line.

Uncle Ben gave us our first gift for the baby in mummy's tummy. Not long now, Akira is excitedly holding foetus's socks.

Thursday 19 May 2011

Zzzz Zzzz

Wednesday - 12km Centennial 53:40, 6km's with Copey.
Thursday - 16km Centennial 75:24

Tuesday 17 May 2011

Plodding

I've managed 3 consecutive days of 'running', 6km, 9km and 7km all at about 4:30km avg. Still painful during and after running, but feeling better in the mornings and at work so I think i'm on the way up.

I'll keep up all the treatment (icing, massage, icing, orthotics, icing, electro accupuncture, icing, strapping, icing, strength, icing) which seems to be helping and keep running as much as possible but definitely no speed work. It's been time consuming and expensive, I've put in 2 PB massage weeks at work to raise funds.

Went and watched the SMH half on Sunday. Apart from Marty's victory only a few weeks after returning to running, my highlight was the guy that started his race at 17km's in 13th just ahead of the ever vigilant Chris Truscott who did a good job pointing out the cheating prick to the marshalls. I can't see him in the results so hopefully he has been dq'd. Super snapper Jane Miles took a great pic of him and he can be seen at the 20km mark in Andy Cross and Sam Walker's videos.

Congrats to all who ran, almost everybody ran a pb or at least an SMH pb. Watching is much harder than racing.

Sunday 8 May 2011

Mother's Day

Rested most of the week with a few easy runs. The feet are feeling much better, I decided to try a solid effort at the Mother's Day Classic 4km as most of my family were participating in various events at The Domain. Came 5th in a pedestrian 14:00 with Harry Summers 1st, then Josh Johnson, Saxon Mosely and Lara Tamsett all well ahead - at least I can say 3 of the runners in front are World XC reps. We had a couple of cheats cut the course, I caught one of them, but the other just got pipped by Saxon and secured himself a hard earned 4th place.

The pace was comfortable but the pain set in from about 1km, but at that stage I was in 3rd so didn't want to pull the pin. I couldn't handle four solid km's without setting myself back, so i'll have to skip the SMH Half his Sunday. It's a pity as this is my favourite road race and tends to get my winter season heading in the right direction.


Akira is in trouble because he forgot to buy Millie a card, naughty boy, i'll cover his arse by making dinner -  steak sangers and chips, i'm off now to whip it up at the corner take away shop.

All the best to everyone racing the half.

Monday 2 May 2011

Ben St Lawrence

0km's - Not kidding.

Knocked over a strawberry and ricotta muffin a client delivered, struggled through 6x Cheeseburgers from Macca's (can't believe this used to be my lunch everyday not long ago), a block of cadbury dairy milk, a tin of biscuits that a client dropped off and 1/2 chicken and chips with gravy for arvo tea. Hopefully that's it for the crap food today, I think it's out of my system for a while. 


Pumped after Benny Saint's great performance at Stanford, 27:24.95 to set a new Australian Record. In late 2006 I was lap scoring for Knoxy - 31:14 winning a 10000m race at Illawong. A chubby bloke, who we now know as The Saint - 31:25, was in his comeback to track racing and stormed home with a strong finish to claim 2nd place ahead of Caleb 31:32. Millie, Akira and I caught up with Knoxy and his family yesterday and were chatting about how recent it felt and how well he has handled his success.


I will aim to go the whole of tomorrow without eating any chocolate, I will dig deep and call on Benny's performance to guide me through the inevitable trying times. I know he will probably dedicate his record breaking performance to the inspiration contained within this blog, but i'd like him to know inspiration goes both ways my friend, I will face tomorrow's challenging goal with Saint like determination.

Sunday 1 May 2011

Pioneer

AM
24.3km - 1:46.50.

Went on an adventure this morning, and successfully made the trip across the bridge to the Northern Beaches. Enjoyed the company of Tom and his Merry Manly Men, Richard, Hamburglar, Tim, Quentin, Sam and Jamie. It was nice to have Richard and Hamburglar (big PB coming his way) setting a solid pace. All the boys seem to be running well and set for a big Winter of racing.

Don't ever quote me on this, but the Northern Beaches is a beautiful part of the world.

Was limp/jogging down Pittwater Rd heading back to Tom's house, when a kind Spanish cab driver, who is a 2:28 marathoner took pity on me and urged me to take a ride with him. He then gave me a lecture about plantar fasciitis and carb loading for the next ten minutes.

Hard to decide the highlight of the morning. Tom's girly dance through the first puddle of the morning was going to be hard to beat, still not sure how he convinced Kirsten to marry him, although he did regain some of his manhood status by smashing young Billy on the trampoline which left him with a fat lip. I enjoyed seeing Bec's brilliant swimming in the icy cold water, but was a little disappointed that Charlie had grown up and no longer plows through tubs of butter. Maggie took the prize though with her excellent hosting skills, after she dutifully introduced me to Fernando the babysitter.

135km's for the week. I'm taking a break until i'm injury free, could do with a freshen up anyway.

Saturday 30 April 2011

Ichiro Suzuki

AM
9km - 44:30. Around The Bay. Was meant to be 26km's including a 20km tempo, but never got my feet off the ground. Feet felt better than they have for months when I took the first few tentative steps out of bed which must be a good sign, but awful when I tried to run. Had another go in the arvo, which is normally better, but still no good. Will have a crack at a long run in Manly with Tom H and his merry men tomorrow, if I bomb again i'll rest until i'm pain free. Shuffling around at grandma pace is boring and pointless.

Thankfully normal viewing has resumed and before I headed to work, Akira and I got to see a couple of innings of the Mariners vs Red Sox at Fenway. Ichiro Suzuki had two hits, which takes him to 37 for the season and American League leader. In his 10 seasons in Major League Baseball his worst season was 206 hits which placed him #2 in the league.

Pete Rose, the all time Major League leader in hits 4256 from 3562 games at 1.19 hits per game. Ty Cobb, 4191 hits from 3035 games at 1.38 hits per game. Ichiro Suzuki 2281 hits from 1615 games  at 1.41 hits per game. At 37 years Ichiro will run out of time to catch Pete Rose. If Japan winning both World Baseball Classics hasn't been enough, his success in The Major League has certainly proven the doubters of Japanese Baseball horribly wrong.

Friday 29 April 2011

Royal Pain in the Arse

AM
12km - 52:40. Early around The Bay.

My attempt at a new Beef Brisket Pie pb fell short, thanks to a shortage of supply at the Central Baking Depot. I was starving and dead keen for five but they only had four in the warmer. They suggested a chicken pie, which once upon a time would've been tempting, but not any more. The once noble and tasty chicken has evolved into a piss-weak, steroid-pumped, cage-dwelling, non-flight bird, surely such a pathetic existence couldn't satisfy this hungry man's appetite. I settled for four but, badly stung by the cost of tomato sauce sachets, I'll carry my own bottle with me next time.

Our neighbour asked if we were interested in joining her for a Royal Wedding Party, but immediately retracted the invitation when Millie pointed out that I was straight. Can't believe my Friday night footy feast will be delayed for a wedding on the other side of the planet.

12km's

Thursday 28 April 2011

Wedding Eve

PM
6x1km (5min cycle) - 3:23, 3:20, 3:19, 3:21, 3:18, 3:17.

On The Bay with Copey (3:04's), good to finally have some company for a session even though he was a long way up the path. Only my 2nd VO2 session since NSW 3000m back in November, so happy just to tick it off regardless of the slow pace. Feet were a bit better today, the rest yesterday and the hours of icing seemed to help.

Excited that this wedding is nearly over. Nothing against the couple, they seem nice enough, but i'd rather eat broken glass than watch their nuptials.

14km's

Wednesday 27 April 2011

Call the Whambulance

AM
9km - 41:20. Wenty Park in the rain.

PM
8km - 35:50. Centennial Park with Copey. Had to cut it short, feet were killing. Hopefully still get through the tempo tomorrow, otherwise it may be time for a rest.

17km's

Tuesday 26 April 2011

Kayoko Fukushi

29km - 2:02. 15min easy, 22min fartlek (1,2,3,4,3,2,1min efforts with 1min floats), 5min easy, 20min threshold, 60min. On The Bay in the rain again.

Talking about tough athletes, check out Kayoko Fukushi. This is at the 16km mark of the 2008 Osaka Marathon, way in front of a world class field.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we1fwTAn_l4&


This is the finish, she is now dead last in 19th place and the rest of the field have finished. She has had a disastrous race, is the 5x Japanese 5000m Champ and World 15km Record Holder. She has nothing to prove but forces herself to finish, true champion!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joLh4HxBggs&feature=player_embedded
 
She is racing at Stanford this weekend, same meet as Benny Saint. Check out the deep fields:-
http://www.rtspt.com/events/stanford/pjc11/accepted_entries.htm
 
29km's

Monday 25 April 2011

Chris 'Louie' Mortimer

30km - 2:14.00. Golf courses and The Bay. Progressively quicker as I was going, but chalk it up as another rubbish run. Impossible to get out for arvo runs whilst i'm not working and gorging myself on junk food, yes even more junk than normal.

I mentioned Michael Shelley as 'the world's toughest human' a few posts back. The legendary defensive centre, Chris 'Louie' Mortimer is equally tough. Along with Peter Kelly, front row forward and Clive Churchill Medalist, they were recruited to the Panthers to teach the promising young team what it takes to win.

And show them they did, in 1989, Chris Mortimer broke his hand. The Panthers made it to a play off match, Louie removed the cast and took the pins out himself with a drill, and played one of the most courageous games ever. But most importantly, that day set the benchmark for the young talented Panthers including Greg Alexander, Brad Izzard, John Cartwright, Mark Geyer, Brad Fittler, now they knew what it took to win.

The following season the Panthers made the Grand Final in Kelly and Mortimer's final season. The example had been set and their work was done, the Panthers went on to beat the Green Machine, the original salary cap cheats who made the Broncos and Storm look like Mother Theresa, in the 1991 Grand Final.

30km's

Sunday 24 April 2011

Narrowneck

40km - 3:13.34. Beautiful morning in Katoomba, ran from Leura to Narrowneck and return with some added extras. Pretty crowded, there was a christian conference and extra numbers training for the North Face 100km. I wasn't sure if I could handle the distance with the hills and altitude so I ran with a backpack, felt like a hippy. I hate carrying anything when I run, suspect the backpack will never be used again.

210km's for the week, my body and the quality of my long runs in particular are suffering due to not laying a proper base. On a positive, the sessions are good enough and i'm getting through the km's. Suspect i'll come good after absorbing the effort of SMH Half.

Saturday 23 April 2011

Defence

20km tempo - 74:48 (3:45km's). On The Bay quite early, in the rain. Happy to get through this tempo, more money in the bank.

I was thinking about Col Van der Voort and Col Bentley during the boring parts of this run, well the whole run was boring to be honest. Van der Voort and Bentley were unheralded tackling machines in the star studded Panthers '91 premiership winning team. Defence is all about attitude, tempo runs are all about defence. The more long tempos I can get through the better defence I'll have against a weak finish.

26km's

Friday 22 April 2011

Very Good Friday

12km - 57:40, on the local golf courses. Took another rest day, it would've been nice to get an easy day between the long tempo and Sunday's long run, but it was pointless to attempt a session today. Had a great day with Millie and the little fella, typically beautiful Sydney day.

12km's

Thursday 21 April 2011

Uncle Rico

AM
20km - 89:54, early run around The Bay.

PM
9km - 41:07, Wenty Park

'Back in '82 I used to be able to throw a pigskin a quarter mile'.

Nice freshen up after yesterday's unnecessarily tough day. I'm looking forward to a much needed long tempo, either tomorrow or Saturday depending on how I'm feeling. Have a five day break from work now, so hopefully some of the aches and pains will abate.

29km's

Wednesday 20 April 2011

Woopsy Daisy

AM
Early Morning, 10km - 46:50, around The Bay

Mid Morning, 9km - 40:58, Wenty Park. Out of habit, I got changed when my break started and set off, I got to Wenty Park before I realised I'd already run - woops!

PM
24.4km - 1:55.08, Centennial Park, including 14km's with Daniel Mellish who is on the comeback trail.

43km's

Tuesday 19 April 2011

Walt Kowalski

AM
14.2km - 3km easy, 30min fartlek (1,2,3,4,7,3,2,1min efforts with 1min floats), 3km easy at Wenty Park.

PM
16km - 71:50 at Centennial Park.

30km's

Monday 18 April 2011

Wacko Jacko

AM
10km - 46:20. Very early lap around The Bay from home.

PM
20km - 88:50. Around The Bay, last 16km's with Copey.

Yesterday Emmanuel Mutai 2:04.40 set a new course record in the London Marathon. He blew away one of the best fields ever assembled which included Lel, Kebede, Gharib, Makau, Dos Santos and Rothlin. Mutai blasted a 14:15 5km between 30-35km and ended up obliterating the crack field by 1min5sec, must be a contender for best non championship performance ever.

Another awesome performance by Michael Shelley, the world's toughest human. 2:11.38 running through the field for 10th place, even splitting after going through in 65:51.

Also, a super effort by Steve Jackson, who toed the line with a grade two hammy tear after a tumble down the stairs in the week before the race. Was on track for 2:48 at half way, but looks like the hammy packed up not long after. A valiant attempt from a guy who had a perfectly planned and executed build up, hope there isn't any long term damage and he can put a time on the board as reward for the effort.

30km's

Sunday 17 April 2011

Leech on The Bay

AM
35.1km - 2:45. Ran with Emma from The Bay to The Foreshore trail via Barnwell and Massey Park Golf Courses, then Putney, Gladesville, Drummoyne then another lap and a bit of The Bay.

The long runs are definitely getting easier each time, as soon as I can shake the niggles from track season i'll aim to push the pace a bit.

We had a visitor jump on board at 28km's after we overtook him. His ipod and ironman tattoo made him easily identifiable as a prime leech candidate. I wonder if the sheer dedication and determination I have to make my way through a packet of tim tams everyday should be rewarded with an Arnotts tattoo on my arse. I grumbled something derogatory to him which had no effect, but Emma hates parasites more than me and dropped a 4min km. The blood sucker was last seen, bent over and clutching at his pea sized heart in front of Le Montage.

177km's for the week, that'll have to do, too busy to get out again this arvo.

Saturday 16 April 2011

Smashed by Hill God

AM
19.5km - 86:40. 3km easy, 6x1km hills (fastest 3:59.2, slowest 4:00.5) with 820ish metres jog back, 6km easy mostly barefoot.

Callan Park hills with Fats (7sec faster 3:52-54's), couldn't stick with him, he seems effortless up the hills.

PM
6.3km - 30:00 Centennial.

Both runs in the rain, another hectic day - tick, tick.

25km's

Friday 15 April 2011

Dancing in the dark

12km - 56:18. Very busy today, so big lap of The Bay at 4:30am again, not as many runners out early on a Friday as there was last Monday.

Thursday 14 April 2011

Dad! I dug another hole

AM
10.6km - 42min. Wenty Park. 10min easy, 22min fartlek (1,2,3,4,3,2,1min efforts with 1min floats) 3:45km's, 10min easy.

PM
17.6km - 80:15. Centennial Park, last 11km with Copey.

28km's

Wednesday 13 April 2011

Easter Bunnies

AM
9km - 41:20. Wenty Park.

PM
16km - 71:50. Centennial Park

Not counting massage and strength sessions as training anymore, they're just part of normal life.

Listening to the Souths supporters moaning about Wayne Bennett coaching the Knights next season has been like watching a car crash. Souths have one of the most talented forward packs ever assembled, but their fans have already conceded defeat for 2012, it isn't even Easter in the 2011 season. This squad should be in this premiership up to their eyeballs, but at some stage this once great club has developed a loser mentality that even Wayne 'The Messiah' Bennett couldn't repair.

25km's

Tuesday 12 April 2011

Life Be In It

AM
9km - 40:50. Wenty Park

PM
3x4km (4) - 14:39. 14:38, 14:39. The Bay, spot on target.

Impressed with Emma's 6km TT this morning, 24:01. Close to a one minute pb, off 18 weeks aerobic base work. Somehow triggered Norm's wife from the Life Be In It campaign, 'it's aerobics Norm'. It'll be worth remembering this run and the importance of a good base, especially if I bomb after the rushed prep and Emma nails the marathon with her patient build up.

27km's

Monday 11 April 2011

Gary Ablett Jr

AM
9km-39:19. Wenty Park.

PM
16km-69:12. Centennial Park. Pretty uneventful apart from seeing Tim Lindop in the first km and having a crackhead chasing me through Moore Park at about 5km's.

Gary Ablett Jr, 34 possessions VS Bulldogs playing in a weak team, what a champ!

25km's

Sunday 10 April 2011

Platypuses

AM
25km - 2hrs. Ran with Emma from Bronte, great to have some company for the first time this week. Comfortable run for us after last week's 35km, but running the stairs, hills and dodging fellow pedestrians made it challenging, but an effective active recovery nonetheless. Decided against pushing hard at the end as the 15 bread rolls, not kidding, from last night's wedding were knocking at the back door.

No time to get out in the arvo as we were at Liam's for a bbq. He was an outstanding young host, but to be accurate, his brother seemed to be doing all the work. Either way we enjoyed ourselves and for some reason Akira's energy levels are through the roof, couldn't have had anything to do with the chocolate cake.

Learnt a new fact, I always believed the plural of platypus was 'platypi', nope, it is 'platypuses'. I feel smarterer and more complete, thank you Macca.

171km's for the week.
Approx 90km road and 81km grass, avg pace 4:30per/km. A bit quicker and more grass km's than last week. After the last three days i'm feeling fresh as a daisy and looking to stick with the plan of a bit less volume but more quality next week.

I'm considering taking note of the average km's, disregarding warm ups and cool downs next week. A few successful marathoners I respect, suggest I need to be consistently running 4:15km's to run sub 2:40, I suspect i'm not close yet, but could get there over the next few weeks. Always wary of paralysis by analysis, the main thing is to keep knocking out the km's.