2.2 Houses? Go Rafa!

Friday
9km-40:30 (4:30kms) Solo Centennial + Strength

Saturday

AM
12km including 10x200(1min cycle) avg 35.2 Centennial with Megsy

PM
8km-39:49(4:59kms) Solo Barnwell Park + Strength

Sunday

AM
19.2km-90:00 (4:41kms) with Poo Face, Craig D and Megsy in Centennial

PM
6x200m Strides (3min) 40, 34, 33, 33, 31, 31 at Rothwell

(95km)

Excellent week, I had been protecting the plantars by avoiding using FHL, some simple exercises and I'm back running normally again.

Tennis players really are cuckoo crazy, so i'm not sure why I'd trust my hard earned on any of them, but it's done now. I've bet our house on Nadal@$2.20 to beat Djokovic, hope for the sake of the kids he wins.

6km Effort

Wednesday

Early AM
PT Sesh with Mad Mick who is a regular at my Sunday strength group and a 'BIG' fan of my blog. He is a massive man and took great delight in putting me through some max effort lifting as revenge for the circuit work I give him. I won't embarrass him with the specifics, I'll just say that Mick is my bitch until he can prove otherwise :-)

Mid AM
9km-43:11 (4:47kms) 155bpm. Solo at Wenty Park

PM
40min Bike

Thursday - Australia Day

AM
9km-43:39 (4:51kms) With Rilen, Carter and Nipper in Centennial

PM
12km including 6km-23:36 (3:56kms) 175bpm avg, 189bpm max. Solo on The Bay

Hid in the genteel surrounds of Centennial Park and Iron Cove so successfully managed to evade the flag waving rednecks, my first incident free Australia Day for years.

First Sub 60

Monday

AM
Row 10x250m(1) avg 51.85, fastest 48.20

PM
Strength + 40min bike

Tuesday

9km-39:00 (4:20kms) 154bpm avg. Solo at Barnwell Park

I wore a HRM for the first time in about 6 years out of curiosity after reading runningmasters blog. Sadly not sub 60 for 500m, 54 resting HR. I must be getting more efficient with age, it has been a while since my last smoke.

Lleyton Hewitt

Saturday

AM-Aborted an attempt to run after 30secs, not quite right, suspect when it's 100% it'll be something I never have to worry about again so I'm erring towards overly patient with this right heel.

PM-Strength + 40min bike

At the end of my tether with the monotonous torture of the exercise bike, pretty sure it isn't contributing anything anyway. Might try a run tomorrow before I get any heavier, 75.5kg's today.

Sunday

AM-9km 39:59 (4:26km's) Solo at Joeys

Immaculate grass 700m laps, very grateful for a little taste of how the other half live. I was conscious of the heel but it didn't deteriorate as the run progressed, pretty sore now though. I'll see how it feels in the morning before deciding on the next step.

PM-Strength + 30min bike including 10x40sec hard/20sec easy

Loving watching the Little Aussie Battler still fighting hard and celebrating like a big kid after winning a seemingly minor 3rd round match at the Aussie Open against a young Canadian. Lleyton has been on the tour for 15 years, 2x Grand Slams Titles, 80 weeks at number one, 3 operations in the last 2 years and he's still fighting tooth and nail for every point.

He appears to be approaching career best form, even getting some cheap points on his improved 1st serve but he is in big trouble tonight vs Djokavic. The amazing big bodied athleticism of Federer, Nadal, Djokavic, Murray, Tsonga and Monfils has taken the sport to a new level.

9km for the week.

Light Heavyweight?

Wed
AM-6km Row 22:58 + Strength
PM-Strength + 40min Stationary Bike

Thu
AM-Strength
PM-40min Stationary Bike including 10x75sec hard/45sec easy

Fri
AM-Strength
PM-40min Stationary Bike

Despite all this bike and rowing rubbish my weight has hit 75.0kg's, further proof that anything done sitting down is not exercise. 1.2kg's more and I move into the Light Heavyweight Division, I better get out for a run tomorrow.

What is the average persons 400m?

Mon

AM - Strength + Row 6km 23:48
PM - 40min Stationary Bike

Tue

AM - Strength + Row 10x500m(1), avg 1:52.5
PM - 40min Stationary Bike

Went to see Ben Liddy the fastest 800m physio in Sydney this afternoon. If anyone needs a good physio with an excellent understanding of running mechanics send me a message. Hard to be certain but he suspects some bruising on the heel, so hopefully it'll heal quite quickly with some rest. I'm back in the boot for a few more days, great chance to freshen up for one last hard block of training and racing before the season ends.

Some time ago a group of us on a long run were hypothesizing as to what the average person could run for 400m off no specific training. Our predictions ranged from 60sec to 80sec, I guessed 64ish but sub 60 if they were active. Last month we had a bit of a chance to test the theory with a mate who hadn't run a single step for 12 months and weighed in a whopping 90kg's of pure lard. He zipped around King George's Oval on an uncut grass goat track in 56.0sec, I guess the only thing we learned is that he isn't average.

Anyone care to give their opinion?

Tim Tams

Saturday

AM
10km-45:30 (4:33km's) Solo around The Bay

Was intended to be an easy 5km to prepare for a race in the afternoon, but haven't quite recovered from the injection, so I opted for another rest day.

PM
16km-72:32 (4:32km's) Solo The Bay

Sunday

AM
Warmed Up in Centennial Park with Jopey, Kate and Megsy planning to do 2x(8x200m) but still not ready...testing my patience.

Back on the Tim Tams :-)

105km's for the week.

Cortisone #5

Thursday

AM
16km-77:20 (4:50km's) Solo around The Bay

PM Strength

Saw Dr Healy for the 3rd injection in the Right Foot, he went medially this time, I'm hoping he worked some magic.

Friday

AM
10km easy 44:50 (4:29km's) Solo around The Bay

Iced Vo Vo

AM
4x500m (3) 89.5, 76.2, 88.1, 76.3. Solo at Wenty Park

Tried to accelerate on the 4th rep but just couldn't pick it up, looking forward to a miraculous cortisone from Dr Healey.

PM
9km-36:50 (4:06km's) Solo around The Bay.

Last 5km's quite solid.

After hitting 72kg's I decided to go on a diet last night. I had a packet of Iced VoVos instead of Tim Tams but still had to wake up for a 3am snack. Need something more substantial so I'm trying a pack of Monte Carlos tonight, if this doesn't work it's back to the Tim Tams.

Zzz Zzz

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

PM 10km-39:50 (3:59km's) Solo around The Bay

I've hit 72kg's, 7kg's heavier than I raced CC 1/2 about 6 weeks ago and 6kg's heavier than when I ran my 800m pb 12 months ago. On a positive my 400m pb was set at 74kg's, so I may only be a few packets of Tim Tams away from running fast :-)

Hi Ho Hi Ho

Mon

AM
9km-39:00 (4:20km's) Solo around The Bay

PM Strength

Took a rest day, even withdrew from tonight's hockey match, hoping the heel will settle so I can do a sesh tomorrow. I have a cortisone booked for Thursday, if it goes well I'll race an 800m on Sat night.

Glad to be back at work!

Frisbee Makes Me Happy

Sunday

AM
13km-66:04 (5:05km's) Coastal Run with Megsy

In pain, even tried some soft sand to see if that'd help...didn't. Finished with some frisbee at North Bondi, pretty busy with 1200 odd swimmers doing an Ocean Swim.

PM
10km-45:20 (4:32km's) Solo The Bay

Also did 35min on the Exercise Bike including 10x1min efforts with 30sec easy recovery.

134km's, not much quality though. Back to work tomorrow, I haven't slept more than 4hrs any night in the last 2 weeks, looking forward to getting back into a routine.

8x30sec

Fri

AM Strength

PM 16km-68:16 (4:16km's) Magenta Golf Course

Sat

AM
8x30sec (30sec rec) Terilbah Reserve

Tough session, pooped and sore!

PM
10km-47:30 (4:45km's) Solo The Bay

10x300 + 1x329

Wed

AM
9km-37:40 (4:11km's) Solo, 25mins on bike path, 12:40 hard sand.

PM
9km-37:03 (4:07km's) 1st and last 2km's on hard sand + strength.

Turned @4.5km 20:00 (4:27km's) and came back in 17:03 (3:47km's), really didn't want to miss much of Michael Clarke's Innings, absolutely brilliant batting!

Enjoyed the interview with Ricky's wife, such a supportive and knowledgeable partner. Like all true followers of the sport she wasn't in any doubt that Punter would find his way back into form.

Thu

AM
9km-35:24 (3:56km's) On the bike path.

PM
10x300 (2min cycle) Avg 44.84. On grass at Terilbah Reserve.

46.39, 45.19, 45.04, 45.07, 45.66, 45.10, 44.84, 45.50, 43.35, 42.23.

Quad ok at this effort, right heel is agony, different to the plantar.

Great innings by Michael Clarke 329no, being a good Western Suburbs boy he was too unselfish with the  declaration, should've kept the suckers out there another 2 hours.

Working Class Men

Monday

AM
9km - 35:01 (3:54km's) + Strength. Solo Coastal Run from North Bondi

In the mood for some reason.

PM
9km - 44:33 (4:57km's) + Plyos. Solo at The Entrance

Tuesday

AM
9km - 37:54 (4:13km's) Solo hard sand, headed north.

Not bad, camber was pretty steep and lots of people fishing which meant I was nearly decapitated a few times, not really much different to my early morning runs through spider webs back home.

PM
12km (3km-15:00, 9km-44:55)

3km warm up at Mingara. Did a few strides, but as soon as I hit sub 15sec/100m pace the quad blew, so went for another easy 9km. Getting better every day, shouldn't be long now. Pretty sure I could've done a 6km tempo, but don't think it's the priority nor conducive to helping the strain heal properly.

I'm loving watching the great champ Ricky Ponting battle his way out of his form slump for his team and for the sake of his own career. He is discovering and working within the parameters of his new limits, gone are the cover drives on the rise, I suspect they'll come back soon enough. Most of all i'm loving the silence from the critics who wanted the old timers out of the team, I think Hussey was our leading run scorer last year and Ponting certainly looks the most competitive so far this Summer. None of the new batsman used in recent years look ready for test cricket, let alone ready to replace our legends. To be fair Khawaja is close, but definitely not ready for 3 and Hughes is a star but needs to iron out his head issues.

Stay tuned 10:30am tomorrow, I predict True Blue Aussie battlers, Michael Clarke from Liverpool and Ricky Ponting from Mowbray will lead us to a 1st Innings lead. Go Boys!

2012 The Shart

AM
13km-60:48 (4:40km's) With Megsy in Centennial Park

Eerily quiet in the park, lots of the hardcore runners you'd expect to see when the masses are hiding from the heat or rain or unable to back up after excessive consumption are away at Falls Creek.

http://www.insideathletics.com.au/news/distance/3110-distance-runners-see-in-new-years-at-falls-creek

Sounds like Tim had an emotional night last night. I highly doubt that it's camaraderie or commitment to the group that got the athletes up for their long run, I suspect they just don't want any bastard getting an advantage over them or even worse, being the pussy that couldn't front for the session.

PM
21km-90:44 (4:19km's) With Copey on The Bay

At the 60min mark I was bragging to Copey about the thousands of farts i'd pushed out on the run without disaster, at 65min I was scurrying into the bushes - just made it in time. Tried a couple of different dishes at brekky after the morning run, the 2nd I think was called Egg Cow Eye. It was the culprit, cheese, runny eggs and crappy napolitana sauce, a recipe for disaster.

2011 The End

Saturday

Boys both crook, took the day off to help out at home, hopefully give the quad in particular time to repair. The calf is much better, but the quad is getting worse. Some injuries need rest, some need movement.

2011

Not much to report on the running front, snuck under my 800m PB in January 1:57.70, but that was about it for the year. Got through plenty of base work, which will set me up for some good performances late this track season. I've enough good signs in the last few weeks that the speed is still there, just need to be patient so my body can adapt to the harder work.

My motto for 2012 is:- Fast runners should train fast and slow runners should train slow. I've spent 6 years working on my weaknesses and my endurance still sucks, time to get back to my strengths.