Thursday
Another early start for work and packed schedule so no run (lets call it a rest day!)
Friday
Missed the morning but got out in the afternoon for a jaunt down to the weir and back. Despite it being quite warm I felt good and went out a bit faster than usual. Got to the turnaround in a decent time and kept it going coming home.
Stats
Distance : 11km
Time : 48:59
Avg Pace : 4:25
Avg HR : 166
My fastest time for this run and I was still not going 100%!
Sunday
Planned for a flatter, faster and slightly shorter run than normal for some sort of taper. Another good group for 6:10 and we weaved through the back streets of Birchgrove and Balmain before moving through Leichhardt towards Enmore/Stanmore. I departed from the bunch shortly after leaving them to do 30km. After here I decided to up the pace a little and sat on sub 5:00 min/km pace all the way back.
Another pleasing run, still some tightness in the LH hammie though.
Stats
Distance : 23.3km
Time : 1:55:50
Avg Pace : 4:58 min/km
Avg HR : 157
As I joked today I am now tapering from my taper (middle of Feb was a shocker!)
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Summer Series - Rydalmere
Back in Sydney and Wednesday means Summer Series! This week the lovely surrounds of Rydalmere.
First immediate issue upon arriving is the sign out the front of the car park stating that the gates might be closed after 5pm, and this was at 4:30 when I had to prep and then run at least for 45 minutes. So a while later I parked in a side street and went to review the map.
Quite obvious it was going to be impossible to get anywhere near the lot so I mapped out in my mind a hopeful course with run home short cut options when it would get close to 45 minutes.
Off to 10 & 17, across the creek to 1 and then along and back across the creek for 29 on an in and out with access to 22 on a similar approach through very heavy bush. Pick up 7 on the way for another in/out to 16 and then some fast street running through 5, 8, 27 and 13. Back along a track on the creek for 30 and then up hill for 4. More street runnning and another in/out for 23 then more uphill for 20 before heading down to another creek for 26. Here it was obvious my short cut options would be required not heading further uphill for 15, 18 & 12. Instead staying closer to home for 6 then 19 (along the creek which in hindsight was longer than a street option), in and out for 9 then homeward bound for 25 and 3.
Only 20 seconds late so 10 point penalty with a score of 400 so net was 390. Upon relfection maybe a bit of the eastern side of the map with less in and oit for 10 pointers would have been better. Anyway a pretty good run and also good nav. The hammie niggled at the start but had gone away by the end...
Stats
Distance : 8.9km
Time : 45:20
Avg Pace : 5:06
Avg HR : 174
Two good hit outs back to back!
To answer Tesso's question, running through the suburbs is always interesting and the reaction of the locals is from total ignorance to bemusement to trying to stop you and ask what you are doing!
First immediate issue upon arriving is the sign out the front of the car park stating that the gates might be closed after 5pm, and this was at 4:30 when I had to prep and then run at least for 45 minutes. So a while later I parked in a side street and went to review the map.
Quite obvious it was going to be impossible to get anywhere near the lot so I mapped out in my mind a hopeful course with run home short cut options when it would get close to 45 minutes.
Off to 10 & 17, across the creek to 1 and then along and back across the creek for 29 on an in and out with access to 22 on a similar approach through very heavy bush. Pick up 7 on the way for another in/out to 16 and then some fast street running through 5, 8, 27 and 13. Back along a track on the creek for 30 and then up hill for 4. More street runnning and another in/out for 23 then more uphill for 20 before heading down to another creek for 26. Here it was obvious my short cut options would be required not heading further uphill for 15, 18 & 12. Instead staying closer to home for 6 then 19 (along the creek which in hindsight was longer than a street option), in and out for 9 then homeward bound for 25 and 3.
Only 20 seconds late so 10 point penalty with a score of 400 so net was 390. Upon relfection maybe a bit of the eastern side of the map with less in and oit for 10 pointers would have been better. Anyway a pretty good run and also good nav. The hammie niggled at the start but had gone away by the end...
Stats
Distance : 8.9km
Time : 45:20
Avg Pace : 5:06
Avg HR : 174
Two good hit outs back to back!
To answer Tesso's question, running through the suburbs is always interesting and the reaction of the locals is from total ignorance to bemusement to trying to stop you and ask what you are doing!
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Bleak running?
Yep, back in the bleak city (aka Melbourne) but I decided to pull the finger out and run tonight, opting for some street O given my recent poor nav efforts on Wednesday nights. A real scramble to get there on time failed and I ended up starting a few minutes after the actual start. For those Syndey Summer Series runners, the Melbourne Street O is a little different with a mass start and only getting to view the map after the start. There are 4 grades available to choose from and 20 controls on offer. A grade have to visit 19 of the 20 controls which are orienteering punches mounted on a metal plate and padlocked to the control, typically a power pole. So I headed off, trying to tuck my money away, pick a route, warm up, stretch etc etc....
I soon got into the swing of things and had a good workout, route is below.
Stats
Distance : 9.8km
Time : 48:05
Avg pace : 4:55
Avg HR : 168.
Felt pretty good striding out, a little residual stiffness still in LH glute/hammie.
I soon got into the swing of things and had a good workout, route is below.
Stats
Distance : 9.8km
Time : 48:05
Avg pace : 4:55
Avg HR : 168.
Felt pretty good striding out, a little residual stiffness still in LH glute/hammie.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Still struggling.....
Firstly thanks to all for the thoughts on el presidente! I hope I can live up to the expectations....
Back to the running (or lack thereof).
After the Equaliser I did again head down to Melbourne and another busy schedule conspired against any interstate running. Back to Sydney in time to run Summer Series at Gladesville. Quite a deal of careful plotting of different route options I headed out westward bound and then seeing how much time was in the bank for route options coming home from the east. Everything went to plan until the 40 minute mark where in a brain fade I ran pretty much straight past a 30 pointer, then spent a minute fumbling at a control on a path near a wharf and then stumbled on the waterfront at the final control :(. So going from a score of 560 to 510 in the blink of a few eyes grrrrr.
More work stuff, including a visit to chunderboltville (hey Ben!) to welcome our newest Strider saw no running in the rest of the week. No idea why but motivation to get out of bed and run early at an all time low and actually feeling quite fatigued through the day as well.
Sunday rolls around and I had pumped myself up enough to have a last long hilly hitout and what better place than Quarry Rd. Got to Stewart Ave at 6am and there were a few others there just heading out. I sorted myself out and started downhill. Only a few 100m and I saw a fugure emerge from the mist (radio said it was 98% humidity!) and it was none other than Spud! He had started at the Dural end and so I ran back up the hill with him and we headed off.
Felt really good for the first lap and we ran 36 minute out and back splits for a 1:12 lap. Second outward felt ok, but my lh hammie was starting to complain, we caught up to another runner who we had seen a few times. At the turn around I tried some stretches to loosen up the lower back. Comng back as soon as we hit the downhill it became obvious I was going to be limited by this niggle so I eased up a little and let the others go ahead. By the time I got back to the Stewart Ave end I was obviosuly running with a altered gait favouring the LH hammie and so the RH hip flexors were starting to complain.
I decided enough was enough and pulled the pin, 2 laps, 1:12 and 1:16 for 2:28 all up. Pulled up a bit tight so some sretching to do this week as I head into a taper from a taper......
Back in Melbourne again today but hope to head out tomorrow morning for a loosener!
Back to the running (or lack thereof).
After the Equaliser I did again head down to Melbourne and another busy schedule conspired against any interstate running. Back to Sydney in time to run Summer Series at Gladesville. Quite a deal of careful plotting of different route options I headed out westward bound and then seeing how much time was in the bank for route options coming home from the east. Everything went to plan until the 40 minute mark where in a brain fade I ran pretty much straight past a 30 pointer, then spent a minute fumbling at a control on a path near a wharf and then stumbled on the waterfront at the final control :(. So going from a score of 560 to 510 in the blink of a few eyes grrrrr.
More work stuff, including a visit to chunderboltville (hey Ben!) to welcome our newest Strider saw no running in the rest of the week. No idea why but motivation to get out of bed and run early at an all time low and actually feeling quite fatigued through the day as well.
Sunday rolls around and I had pumped myself up enough to have a last long hilly hitout and what better place than Quarry Rd. Got to Stewart Ave at 6am and there were a few others there just heading out. I sorted myself out and started downhill. Only a few 100m and I saw a fugure emerge from the mist (radio said it was 98% humidity!) and it was none other than Spud! He had started at the Dural end and so I ran back up the hill with him and we headed off.
Felt really good for the first lap and we ran 36 minute out and back splits for a 1:12 lap. Second outward felt ok, but my lh hammie was starting to complain, we caught up to another runner who we had seen a few times. At the turn around I tried some stretches to loosen up the lower back. Comng back as soon as we hit the downhill it became obvious I was going to be limited by this niggle so I eased up a little and let the others go ahead. By the time I got back to the Stewart Ave end I was obviosuly running with a altered gait favouring the LH hammie and so the RH hip flexors were starting to complain.
I decided enough was enough and pulled the pin, 2 laps, 1:12 and 1:16 for 2:28 all up. Pulled up a bit tight so some sretching to do this week as I head into a taper from a taper......
Back in Melbourne again today but hope to head out tomorrow morning for a loosener!
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Equaliser Race + more
The Equaliser is the first event in the Striders Super Series and a cross country run from Belrose to St Ives and then looping back again. It consists of a downhill to a creek, up to St Ives, some street running to another trail which heads back downhill and meets up to the outward course for the run home uphill.
A pretty good turnout and we charged along the slight downhill around a power substation and communications tower and then the downhill rush, I settled in near Jenny T and KT as we crossed the creek. The plan for the uphills was a steady pace and I pretty much held my own, with Suzanne and another female going past but that was pretty much it. A quick drink and then along the St Ives streets. There was a good line of runners in front but a few corners later and they had moved form view and it was just myself and another as we hit the next bit of trail.
This was the area I did not get a chance to mark yesterday but I thought from memory the course was fairly obvious. Not so with a few junctions that could have been misleading. However there were branches etc blocking the wrong way and I assumed someone in front was doing this. Pretty soon it was clear who that was as Action loomed up heading back in the other direction. One or 2 junctions later and there was a very obvious group of branches across one option so the guy ahead and I followed the clear option. About 100m later I realised this was wrong and called him back. When we got to the intersection a group had just arrived, including Spud and MikeF. They headed down the "right" option while I moved the branches to stop other runners going the wrong way.
Back into the groove on the downhill and thankfully we eventually saw Silver Fox who was manning the second river crossing point. Once again I aimed for a steady tempo and to my surprise I was hauling in a few of the group who had caught us. About halfway up I had caught spud and went past, a big change from last year. By the time I got to the top there was only 1 guy left with me. Picking up the pace we ran it out back to the road but he was just a little too strong.
Ended up with 1:08:49 which I thought was a good improvement over last year but it seems only a 2 second improvement. However by looking at sportstracks I lost about a minute and a half in my "excursion" so actually an improvement over last year. I certainly felt stronger on the hills. Quite a few people who were in front of me at St Ives followed the wrong marker and drifted in a bit later :(
Stats
Distance 14.27km
Time 1:08:49
Avg Pace 4:49 min/km
Avg HR 174
After the race the Striders Annual General Meeting was conducted, as some Striders would know I was nominated for the role of president as Action was standing down. The news is that I was elected, not sure what I have let myself in for but hope that I can make a positive contribution to the ongoing success of the club. This is the other significant item that has been somewhat of a distraction recently, so now I have both work and my involvement with Striders confirmed I can get on with things.
This week hopefully will be better running wise, however another trip to Melbourne is already planned for work.....
A pretty good turnout and we charged along the slight downhill around a power substation and communications tower and then the downhill rush, I settled in near Jenny T and KT as we crossed the creek. The plan for the uphills was a steady pace and I pretty much held my own, with Suzanne and another female going past but that was pretty much it. A quick drink and then along the St Ives streets. There was a good line of runners in front but a few corners later and they had moved form view and it was just myself and another as we hit the next bit of trail.
This was the area I did not get a chance to mark yesterday but I thought from memory the course was fairly obvious. Not so with a few junctions that could have been misleading. However there were branches etc blocking the wrong way and I assumed someone in front was doing this. Pretty soon it was clear who that was as Action loomed up heading back in the other direction. One or 2 junctions later and there was a very obvious group of branches across one option so the guy ahead and I followed the clear option. About 100m later I realised this was wrong and called him back. When we got to the intersection a group had just arrived, including Spud and MikeF. They headed down the "right" option while I moved the branches to stop other runners going the wrong way.
Back into the groove on the downhill and thankfully we eventually saw Silver Fox who was manning the second river crossing point. Once again I aimed for a steady tempo and to my surprise I was hauling in a few of the group who had caught us. About halfway up I had caught spud and went past, a big change from last year. By the time I got to the top there was only 1 guy left with me. Picking up the pace we ran it out back to the road but he was just a little too strong.
Ended up with 1:08:49 which I thought was a good improvement over last year but it seems only a 2 second improvement. However by looking at sportstracks I lost about a minute and a half in my "excursion" so actually an improvement over last year. I certainly felt stronger on the hills. Quite a few people who were in front of me at St Ives followed the wrong marker and drifted in a bit later :(
Stats
Distance 14.27km
Time 1:08:49
Avg Pace 4:49 min/km
Avg HR 174
After the race the Striders Annual General Meeting was conducted, as some Striders would know I was nominated for the role of president as Action was standing down. The news is that I was elected, not sure what I have let myself in for but hope that I can make a positive contribution to the ongoing success of the club. This is the other significant item that has been somewhat of a distraction recently, so now I have both work and my involvement with Striders confirmed I can get on with things.
This week hopefully will be better running wise, however another trip to Melbourne is already planned for work.....
Resuming Regular Service!!
A while since my last post and both a lot and not much happening....
Thursday
A solid run to/from the weir in humid conditions, legs felt reasonable after the Summer Series bashing the night before.
Saturday - Striders 10km Lane Cove
No real expectations but again a humid morning, noticeable during my easy warm up where I immediately started sweating. A huge turnout of over 300 and we set off. I had decided to go out hard (as usual) and held around 4 min/km pace really until the hill. Pressed pretty hard going up to try and keep pace but when I turned for the downhill I think the lungs/cardio had hit their limits. A struggle to keep the faster pace coming home with semi stitches occuring. Right in the last km both Professor and seagull went past as the legs were willing but I just could not go faster!
10km time of 41:55 (avg HR of 181!!)
Splits
1km 3:59 3:59
2km 3:59 7:58
3km 4:00 11:58
4km 4:12 16:10
5km 4:31 20:41
6km 4:10 24:51
7km 4:17 29:08
8km 4:21 33:29
9km 4:22 37:51
10km 4:04 41:55
Legs felt quite fresh afterwards so after the longer races I think there is a good base for speedwork to sharpen.
Sunday - Bobbin Head STaR
With 6 ft and Canberra looming another huge group at both 6am and 6:10! I reckon there would have been 20+ people at 6:10. A nice steady pace through the streets of Wahroonga to St Ives with a couple of nasty little pinches as we headed towards North Turramurra. The group was very much intact at the top of Bobbin Head and a nice cruise down the hill, the 6:20 guys catching us just near the bottom.
A quick regroup and then it was on up the hill. I was pretty happy with my form/strength up the hill, another quick regroup at the top. We had slimmed down the group a bit now, being about 8 now and stepped up the pace! For the next few km we were going sub 5 min/km and even hit one or 2 km at 4:30 pace. A bit fast but after 20km already I think it is ok to open up the legs/lungs as required. As we entered the sole piece of bush near Asquith I started to feel the pinch a little and the group fragmented at around the same time. Ground out the last couple of km and ran back to the start with Tim Austin
Stats
Distance 30.8km
Time 2:25:31
Avg pace 5:03 min/km
Avg HR 162
A very pleasing run in hindsight, about 8 minutes faster than the same course in the middle of last year in much cooler conditions but only at the start of my Sydney prep.
Monday/Tuesday
Another real early trip to Melbourne and lots of meetings pretty much kyboshed any running plans.
Wednesday - Summer Series Riverview
Not a good run... Started off ok on a clearly obvious route to the west first. But came unstuck in a big way in the first bush section losing several minutes looking for one control and then quite a few more trying to make a short cut through a lantana patch (ouch!). Ran home strongly but the damage had been done. This sees seagull zoom past me in the overall points table, relegating me to third :(
Thursday/Friday
Really struggled at the back half of the week, feeling very tired and not at all motivated. Got up early Fruday morning intending to run but just did not feel like it and went back to bed. Not a good week at all.
Saturday
No run in the morning, still feeling very tired/fatigued. Got a call just after lunch, the organiser for Sunday's run (Equaliser) had apparently encountered some "problems" and was unable to mark the course and/or advise as to the status of who was doing what!
So I took the 2 girls out to the course to see what he had managed to do. I decided to check the eastern side of the course and it was a good thing as he had started, already made 1 mistake and there was a lot to do. The girls were great as I walked them all the way down to the creek, marking out the trail at various intersections. To their delight we saw up close a goanna poking it's head into an termite mound looking for ants to eat! Climbing back out was a bit tough and I alternated piggy backs for them but they were real troopers so I rewarded them with an icecream on the drive home.
Also then chased up various volunteers to make sure things were somewhat on track for the race.
Thursday
A solid run to/from the weir in humid conditions, legs felt reasonable after the Summer Series bashing the night before.
Saturday - Striders 10km Lane Cove
No real expectations but again a humid morning, noticeable during my easy warm up where I immediately started sweating. A huge turnout of over 300 and we set off. I had decided to go out hard (as usual) and held around 4 min/km pace really until the hill. Pressed pretty hard going up to try and keep pace but when I turned for the downhill I think the lungs/cardio had hit their limits. A struggle to keep the faster pace coming home with semi stitches occuring. Right in the last km both Professor and seagull went past as the legs were willing but I just could not go faster!
10km time of 41:55 (avg HR of 181!!)
Splits
1km 3:59 3:59
2km 3:59 7:58
3km 4:00 11:58
4km 4:12 16:10
5km 4:31 20:41
6km 4:10 24:51
7km 4:17 29:08
8km 4:21 33:29
9km 4:22 37:51
10km 4:04 41:55
Legs felt quite fresh afterwards so after the longer races I think there is a good base for speedwork to sharpen.
Sunday - Bobbin Head STaR
With 6 ft and Canberra looming another huge group at both 6am and 6:10! I reckon there would have been 20+ people at 6:10. A nice steady pace through the streets of Wahroonga to St Ives with a couple of nasty little pinches as we headed towards North Turramurra. The group was very much intact at the top of Bobbin Head and a nice cruise down the hill, the 6:20 guys catching us just near the bottom.
A quick regroup and then it was on up the hill. I was pretty happy with my form/strength up the hill, another quick regroup at the top. We had slimmed down the group a bit now, being about 8 now and stepped up the pace! For the next few km we were going sub 5 min/km and even hit one or 2 km at 4:30 pace. A bit fast but after 20km already I think it is ok to open up the legs/lungs as required. As we entered the sole piece of bush near Asquith I started to feel the pinch a little and the group fragmented at around the same time. Ground out the last couple of km and ran back to the start with Tim Austin
Stats
Distance 30.8km
Time 2:25:31
Avg pace 5:03 min/km
Avg HR 162
A very pleasing run in hindsight, about 8 minutes faster than the same course in the middle of last year in much cooler conditions but only at the start of my Sydney prep.
Monday/Tuesday
Another real early trip to Melbourne and lots of meetings pretty much kyboshed any running plans.
Wednesday - Summer Series Riverview
Not a good run... Started off ok on a clearly obvious route to the west first. But came unstuck in a big way in the first bush section losing several minutes looking for one control and then quite a few more trying to make a short cut through a lantana patch (ouch!). Ran home strongly but the damage had been done. This sees seagull zoom past me in the overall points table, relegating me to third :(
Thursday/Friday
Really struggled at the back half of the week, feeling very tired and not at all motivated. Got up early Fruday morning intending to run but just did not feel like it and went back to bed. Not a good week at all.
Saturday
No run in the morning, still feeling very tired/fatigued. Got a call just after lunch, the organiser for Sunday's run (Equaliser) had apparently encountered some "problems" and was unable to mark the course and/or advise as to the status of who was doing what!
So I took the 2 girls out to the course to see what he had managed to do. I decided to check the eastern side of the course and it was a good thing as he had started, already made 1 mistake and there was a lot to do. The girls were great as I walked them all the way down to the creek, marking out the trail at various intersections. To their delight we saw up close a goanna poking it's head into an termite mound looking for ants to eat! Climbing back out was a bit tough and I alternated piggy backs for them but they were real troopers so I rewarded them with an icecream on the drive home.
Also then chased up various volunteers to make sure things were somewhat on track for the race.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Return of Summer!
Summer Series - Blues Point
All of a sudden the heat (and humidity) is back, after some respite. Tonight was based at Blue Point and so I changed and ran down from work for a warm up. A little later than usual as well but it was still quite warm. A well set out map by Larry with some tricky route choice as we ran long the most scenic parts of Sydney Harbour.
Starting at Blues Point, a quick up and down for 30 and then around the bottom of the point for 17 then up and over to pick up 7. Now climbing up Blues Point for 23 & 5 down to 8 and then my big mistake. I did not look close enough at the placement of 14 and opted to leave it and get it on my return route.... So quickly picked up 24,9,18 running around the outside of Luna Park. Under the Harbour Bridge for 25 and then a climb up into Kiribilli for 15,26,27,6,16 and 28. Picking up 29 on the way to the shortcut back across towards Blues Point. Had already decided to bypass 19 and so picked up 10 then towards 14 which I suddenly realised was a long way down and so missed to 20 points :(. Uphill again for 20 then across towards Waverton for 1,11, chossing to get 12 even though time was running out. Detoured for13 on teh way to 2 then downnnn to 22 and along to 3. Reminicising on the way through this park as this is where we got married! Already a few minutes late so I chose to collect 4 despite the uphill slog and then downhill to the finish.
Stats : 9.8km
Time : 52:50
Avg Pace : 5:22
Avg HR : 172
Ended up with 450 points after lateness which really should have been 470 with 14. Andrew Hill posted 560 so it was a tough run. I think seagull pipped me by 10 points and so gains on my lead in the pointscore.
The legs felt ok after warming up, left hammie/glute is still a little tight though.
Thursday
Headed down to the weir, when I stopped at the turnaround for a drink I was sweating profusely and decided to head straight home rather than tack on a few extra km. By the time I got back I was soaked and took a good while of stretching and a shower before I stopped sweating, very humid morning. 11km in just over 54 minutes.
A gentle recovery run tomorrow and then Striders 10km on Saturday morning.
All of a sudden the heat (and humidity) is back, after some respite. Tonight was based at Blue Point and so I changed and ran down from work for a warm up. A little later than usual as well but it was still quite warm. A well set out map by Larry with some tricky route choice as we ran long the most scenic parts of Sydney Harbour.
Starting at Blues Point, a quick up and down for 30 and then around the bottom of the point for 17 then up and over to pick up 7. Now climbing up Blues Point for 23 & 5 down to 8 and then my big mistake. I did not look close enough at the placement of 14 and opted to leave it and get it on my return route.... So quickly picked up 24,9,18 running around the outside of Luna Park. Under the Harbour Bridge for 25 and then a climb up into Kiribilli for 15,26,27,6,16 and 28. Picking up 29 on the way to the shortcut back across towards Blues Point. Had already decided to bypass 19 and so picked up 10 then towards 14 which I suddenly realised was a long way down and so missed to 20 points :(. Uphill again for 20 then across towards Waverton for 1,11, chossing to get 12 even though time was running out. Detoured for13 on teh way to 2 then downnnn to 22 and along to 3. Reminicising on the way through this park as this is where we got married! Already a few minutes late so I chose to collect 4 despite the uphill slog and then downhill to the finish.
Stats : 9.8km
Time : 52:50
Avg Pace : 5:22
Avg HR : 172
Ended up with 450 points after lateness which really should have been 470 with 14. Andrew Hill posted 560 so it was a tough run. I think seagull pipped me by 10 points and so gains on my lead in the pointscore.
The legs felt ok after warming up, left hammie/glute is still a little tight though.
Thursday
Headed down to the weir, when I stopped at the turnaround for a drink I was sweating profusely and decided to head straight home rather than tack on a few extra km. By the time I got back I was soaked and took a good while of stretching and a shower before I stopped sweating, very humid morning. 11km in just over 54 minutes.
A gentle recovery run tomorrow and then Striders 10km on Saturday morning.
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