Rest of the week

Thursday was my first "recovery" run rather than opting for a complete rest. Decided to head down to LCNP to suss out a possible 3km TT course for tomorrow. A cruisy 2.5 km run down through Scribbly and then out along the Striders 10km course looking for the 7km marker. The aim was to run the last 3 km in reverse and avoid including Scribbly Gums. Found what seemed to be the 7km mark but was a little vague as to the 8/9km marks. Funny how you run past these all the time in a race but have no idea as to where they are when you're actually looking for them. Finished up with close to 11km at 5min/km pace.

Swapped some emails with Action re the marker placement and upon his recommednadtion decided to actually run the last 3km of the 10km course. Could be a fairly fast 3km as perception is it is all downhill....

So Friday rolls on and a warmup of 2.5 km down to the designated start. I noticed I was sweating considerably, given it was a warm up (about 6 min/km pace!). Did a quick stretch and tied up the laces again. Time to go so reset the watch and off I go. Splits were

1km 3:54 3:54
2km 4:02 7:55
3km 3:51 11:46

Seemed to struggle to get on pace and forgot all about that "hill" after the Scribbly turn off in km 2. I think I also hit the watch a little late at the end of km 2, which means it was actually pretty even splits.

Sad to say, but a little disappointing for me, hoping more for a 11:15 to 11:30 type time. Looks unlikely for a PB on Sunday but we'll wait and see. At least I have yet another benchmark to measure against.

Work has been pretty crazy as we head towards end of year and today had Stella's school xmas concert with a small gap and then the work xmas lunch. Shuffled off after lunch which was at Hunters Hill to the triple H (Hunters Hill Hotel!). Much to my surprise I found a large group of people that I know from my previous job at Clarence St/Trek. A lot of these guys are/were runners and triathletes and my customers. It was good to catch up with people I hadn't seen for over 10 years (they were having a 20 year training group reunion). Quite a few people who were Striders in the early days and some who still are, allbeit inactive.

A few too many wines/beers etc today so a rest tomorrow for sure and I'll contemplate what distance I race on Sunday, although leaning towards the 10km to try and at least post a 40:xx if not a dream of 39:59!

A look at the training log says this week (60km) is the most km since the week of Willy to Billy in mid Aug and then all the way back to April before Canberra taper for a higher week. So maybe that can be my excuse for the below planned 3km time....