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!

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.....

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.

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.

January Recap

Monday - designated rest day

Tuesday - still quite fatigued and tight after Sunday, opted from running in the morning hoping to run in the afternoon but no dice.

Monthly summary for January

Distance : 323km
Avg pace : 5:39 min/km
Total climb : 3,803m

An increase of close to 100km against January 2005 which is a good sign. Some good sessions in the month but still lacking some consistency.

Highlights - All time 2nd fastest half time, hard hit outs at Black Stump and 6 ft

Lowlights - Still some inconsistency, struggling with Summer Series somewhat, more hill work required

In a non running related area it looks like I have sorted out some work related stuff which has been weighing very heavily on the mind for the last 2 months! (thank goodness)

Tesso's question - I used a diluted Endura raspberry mix (about half of the recommended mixture), but had no "plain " water available other than at the car, or the water tank at Coxs River.

Also for gnscon (or is that Fake Plastic Trees?) - Yes I am sure I have seen some discussion somewhere that talks about the idea that gu/powerbars are not a good idea with an electrolyte solution, I'll have a dig and see if I can find the link.

[Edit] - found what I was looking for here time to re-read it.....

[Edit #2] just realised this was my second all time biggest month in terms of distance yeehaa!

The next 28 days are key for Six Foot lets see how it goes :)

Six foot post run ponderings

Thanks to all that commented some answers to the various questions.

Horrie - very unlikely I'll do the rogaine given it is only 2 weeks out from the big show, likewise for Blue Dog's proposed Orchard run. Colin and I had along talk about tapering etc and I think such long runs/efforts 2 weeks out will do more harm than good.

Electrolytes - About 30 min before I started I drank and Endura Opti and actually I had an Endura electrolyte replacement in the camelbak, slightly diluted. I think this made a big difference against when I raced as yesterday I did not even get a twinge of a cramp where as in the race I started cramping up Mini Mini and then all the way to the finish. Thinking about it more I think the powerbar I had at the river caused some of the problem, I should have washed it down with more water from the tank while we were stopped. Potentially this caused part of the digestion of fluid problems.

Condition of track - Spud, given this was only my second time through here and the first time I was pretty smashed by the top of Pluvi I did not notice much. Colin did not that he felt the track was rockier and his feet/toes are a bit beat up today. I was very happy with my shoes etc, no blisters whatsoever and that is with running right through all teh creek crossings.

I have pulled up pretty well, plenty of fluids and a massage today. Interesting to note, after all the rehydration and dinner last night I lost more weight (73.8kg this morning and 74.2kg when I got home yesterday). Seems the body was buring energy/fat while I slept!

Plan for a steady medium distance run tomorrow before Summer Series Wednesday, probably back to hill reps Thursday with a recovery run on Friday as taper for the first Striders 10km at Lane Cove Saturday morning.

Six Foot Track Dry Run

As planned up early for the drive up to the Blue Mountains. Pretty uneventful with little traffic, swapped calls with Colin a couple of times as he was parking at Megalong Rd with the goal of meeting up at the river and running back to my car, then me dropping him back at his car. Managed to miss the turnoff to Black Range but eventually realised this and turned back, but this meant I was running a little late.

Loaded the gear up, using the 3L Camelbak but also included the mobile, a camera and first aid kit (just in case!) along with a few powerbars. The descent along Black Range was great, no one else around and only a few kangaroos to keep me company. Just as I arrived at Pluviometer I got the phone out to check how Colin was going, just as I got found it, it started ringing! So he was just leaving Megalong Rd while I was just about to begin my descent. Early on in the run down I started seeing hikers coming up and out, which was a little intriguing as it was still pretty early, much too early for anyone walking the whole way. By the time I got to the bottom it was warming up and I enjoyed the cool water of the number of creek crossings, opting to just charge across.

As I neared the start of the Mini Mini climb I saw where all the hikers were coming from as a fairly large tent was being pulled down, along with several support vehicles. I decided to take it pretty easy up to Mini Mini saddle with the large climbs back home very clear in my mind. Downwards again, spotting another runner heading up near the cattleyards and looking strong!

About 500m from the river I saw Colin coming up the hill, so we joined up and returned to the river for some water, a quick clean of the feet/shoes in the river while munching a power bar and then ready to climb!

My aim was to walk the steep sections and run when possible which seemed to be going ok. During one of these steep sections the runner I saw previously was returning obviously knew Colin so we stopped for a quick chat. It turns out it was fellow Cool Runner Chonky also out for some "sekret" training! The ascent continued, with the real steep pinches requiring a bit of effort as the sun was blazing now, with continuous sweat pouring from me. As a result the camelbak was getting a good workout. Through here we also saw a few motorbikes. A nice refreshing run down the other side of the saddle and past the now empty camping area.

At the first major creek crossing Colin stopped to clean out his shoes and I was very happy just to stand in the middle of the water enjoying the cool water. Finally we got going again and started the Pluvi climb. About halfway up I started to struggle a little and was feeling a little nauseous. Closer to the top I told Colin to go on faster if he wanted and regroup at the top. A real struggle to get there and I sat down with Colin to top up the supplies, still feeling a bit crook. He gave me a few gummi bears but when I tried to stand up I felt quite dizzy. My HR was a little high for having rested and also was getting some pins & needles in my hands.

Eventually after standing up and sitting down a few times with no change I decided we should get going again and see how I reacted. Amazingly after about 500m the sensations had gone and Colin and I ran on although a little slower. After a few km I was starting to struggle again on the uphill bits and so again I told Colin to go on as we were only about 4km from the car. Clearly I was dehydrated but it seemed the body was struggling to process the liquid I was trying to replace fast enough, thus the nausea feeling.

A bit of a shuffle with run/walk combo and eventually I hit the slight downhill to get back to the car. I immediately focussed on trying to rehydrate now that the stomach would not have to absorb and run at the same time. Fairly quickly downed about 1.5 litres, comprised of a solo, along with some remaining camelbak fluid and some cool water from the large water bottle I had packed. I also took a powerade to drink on the drive back to Colin's car. By the time we got to the highway the powerade was empty and I was getting very dry in the mouth.

Once we got back to Colins car we had a quick dip in the creek to cool down before heading home. I packed more fluid to drink on the drive home and doned the sportskins as well, also eventually stopping to get a bite to eat as I was ravenous!

By my calculation I drank about 5 litres before/during/after the run but obviously still not enough as I was till about 1.5kg under my current trend weight when I got home. I will need to think about this as while I was drinking regularly it was not enough to replace what I was sweating, but too much for the stomach to deal with. Hopefully it will not be as warm on the race day!

Important stats
Distance : 38.13km
Running time : 4:31:24
Total time : 5:22
Avg running pace : 7:07 min/km
Avg HR : 151
Climb : 1252m




Comparison to race data this year
Cox's to Pluvio - Race 1:46:02, today 1:34:33

Summary - again a lesson learned never under estimate Six Foot, I was feeling decidedly dodgy at the top of Pluviometer. I did run more of Black Range on tired legs but still need further improvement. Current thinking is to ease up a little further on the run to the river and up Mini Mini which should see me at the top of Pluviometer a bit healthier for the run home to the line. Of course not lugging a 3-4kg camelbak, a proper taper and more focussed training hill also help! Well worth the effort in retrospect and will help in making sure race day will be successful.

Despite the extra driving involved I also think this might be the best way to train on 6ft in trying to replicate race conditions. The descent to the river is a good replica of the run from the start and then all you have left is the run from deviation to the finish which is (mostly) downhill....

Weekly recap

Monday - a scheduled rest day and made so by work with an early flight to Melbourne, followed by a late flight home

Tuesday - My wife's birthday and so with personal health and safety in mind I did not run :) Pressies in the morning and the now traditional chinese meal at the RSL around the corner.

Wednesday - Summer Series time, this week at West Lindfield, based at Fiddens Wharf Oval. The course layout gave no option other than to run one side of the track along Lane Cove River with the skill being in how much time there was to collect extra points running back through the streets before the rest of the track in returning.

I immediately stuffed up at the first control (24) running past the minor track that it was located. Then it was slow and steady along the river for 10,21,17,25 and 14 before dropping down to 22. I was considerably behind the planned schedule so picked up 1, bypassed 12 and then faster street running with 15,29,7,30,8,23 and 13. Now for some downhill with 3 and then another slip up going too low for 19, then having to bash up through the bush. Quickly to 16 and 27 then more lost time locating 11. By now I had already hit 45 minutes and the time penalty was ticking. Ran straight past 28, never seeing it and realised when I hit the small creek a little further on. By now I was frustrated and so just kept going getting 20 and then 2 to finish just under 6 minutes late.

Net score of 400 and with Andrew Hill posting 560 this is not going to count in my best 12 scores of the year. I am now in overall second spot but only have a slender 8 point lead over seagull who for a change in recent times I beat this week!

8.3km in 50:56 (avg HR of 171)

Thursday
Decided to do a longer run in preference to a recovery and knocked out 14.5km from one of my standard routes. I really attacked the hills and did not have much left in the tank by the time I got home.

14.5km in 1:9:39 (2nd fastest ever over this route) gives an average of 4:48 min/km and an average HR of 165. Quite pleasing after a hard run last night.

Friday
Missed the chance to get out in the morning so fitted in a quick run down to the weir and back in the afternoon heat which knocked me around a bit.
11km in 54:02 for avg of 4:55 (HR of 163)

Saturday
I wanted to get another run in and got out early before the girls head off to Little A's. Same run as yesterday in pretty much the same time but lower avg HR of 156.

Summary
82km for the week
Avg pace of 5:14
Climb of 597m

A big day tomorrow with a punishing hit out planned over the toughest bits of 6 foot track. Starting at deviation and running back along the course towards the start, down the 2 big climbs to Cox's river. Then climbing back up and running Black Range Rd on tired legs.

Chatswood Chase STaR & extras

7 weeks to go to Six Foot
After the somewhat disappointing week last week I decided to start this week with a bang. This Sunday's STaR was the Chatswood Chase and I have done portions of this run several times, given it pretty much goes past my front door and also starts at the LCNP weir, where most of my runs take me!

Today I decided to try and get some extra time on the legs and opted to run to the start than driving, this was a nice downhill warmup of 3.5km. Another massive 6am group headed off and as 6:10 rolled around some familiar (Action, Redback, MikeF, Gefjam, Professor, Blue Dog) and new faces (sfGnome) headed out up the 10km course. At the top of the hill we meandered back through North Ryde, past home and then across Lane Cove River, climbing Mowbray Rd to Chatswood. Followed some of the sub arterial roads to eventually end up running next to the railway line headed north. The roller coaster hills from Lindfield to Gordon really sapped the legs as they appeared with monotonous regularity. Finally a break as we cruised down a pleasant downhill bush track all the way to Lady Game Drive, a final climb and another nice descent back to Lane Cove National Park.

A bit of a top up on drinks and some jelly beans, a quick chat with a few people and then I headed off to run home, now remembering that the pleasant 3.5km downhill warmup was now a 3.5km uphill slog in the intensifying sun! Finally home and I did some stretches etc on the verandah, absolutely dripping sweat for at least 20 minutes. Hopped on the scales and was 73.2kg, certainly dehydrated. A cold shower finally fixed the sweat and heat as I then drove the family up to the Central Coast for a combined birthday lunch (excellent Nasi Goreng!) and then over to Wamberal for a great refreshing swim before heading home.

Somewhat perplexing to me is the fact that the various niggles I had been experiencing while evident at the start of the run have now gone away! I have had this happen a few times now and cannot provide a good reason as to why it happens....

Stats
Distance : 37km
Time : 3:21:21
Avg Pace : 5:26 min/km
Avg HR : 164

A very pleasing "time on the legs" run and already more climb in this one run than all of last week. Also in other news the Six Foot entry form has been submitted and I have also booked the accommodation. I'm really looking forward to this, more so know as my dad is joining me for the entire weekend to spectate etc etc.

Weekly wrap

Again missed running on Saturday which capped off a disappointing week. Several distractions this week have kept me occupied. Still concerned about the rise in niggles all of a sudden. As such cracked the ice and also nurofen gel and wore the sportsskins to bed on Friday night. Maybe the half last Sunday took a little more out of me than first thought....

Stats
Distance : 62.2km
Avg Pace : 4:58 min/km
Climb : 203m
Parrot Marathon Predictor time : 3:15:40

Shuffling the schedule

Thursday

Nothing in the morning so got the guilts and headed out after work, originally scheduled as a recovery run I decided to extend it a little :)

Down to the Lane Cove Weir and back, but at a pretty good clip, upping the tempo a couple of times in the park to catch other runners ahead. When I got back close to home I decided to do some strides on the oval opposite our house and knocked out 6 x 100m on slightly tired legs.

Stats
Distance : 12.6km
Time : 1:00:31
Avg Pace : 4:48 min/km
Avg HR : 158

Friday
Originally scheduled for 2 laps of Quarry Rd but other committments meant that I had to run from home so I went out for a hilly tempo/fartlek session. Initially felt quite tight, especially in LH hammie/glut but eventually warmed up. The run was one of my stock runs down to the weir, then along the Striders 10km course taking the bike path under Lane Cove Rd. Weaving through to Macquarie Centre and then up along the Shrimptons Creek bike path to Quarry Rd, downhill back to East Ryde and then tacking on a trip down to Pittwater Rd so I can *enjoy* the 1km climb back home.

I really seemed to struggle a little, even after the glute eased up I also had a niggle in the usual rh top of ankle. Probably also as a result of last nights effort. Anyway I finished hard up the hill and did extra stretches etc.

Stats
Distance : 20.9km
Time : 1:44:46
Avg Pace : 5:00 min/km :)
Avg HR : 157

I was really soaked when I finished (from sweat) so it must have been humid. Also I did a post run weigh in and I was 73.9kg, about 1.5kg below my current median weight so some fluid loss for sure!

Summer Series Vineyard Creek

Flying back into Sydney it seemed nothing had changed with again pretty consistent rain, great for the dams and water supply but a little challenging while trying to run with a paper map and control card. Today's map included a greater percentage of bush and trails than most of the prior events.

I decided to head south-east first and clear the bottom of the map and leave the faster street running to take short cuts depending on how the bush sections went. So down along the creek, following a bit of a conga line through 5,26,6,18 and 8 with some street running to 29 and then sweeping through 19,9,20,10,30 and 28 with a lucky break shortcut across the creek.

Now for the more technical section with 17 after again crossing the creek a little hard to find in a network of tracks. Up towards 7 and 27 but got a little offput by Mel who was clearly looking a bit early for 27, but still made me recheck my position. 14,24,16 and 4 were all pretty easy to locate from the track and then back out for some open running to 21 (leaving out 11). With time running short I picked up the pace getting 12,2 and 22 (bypassing 13). A slight route choice error here going to 23 via 3 and then back again and then with the penalty clock already clicking a nav error running past 15 before going back and then clearing 25 on the run home.




A tougher run than expected, no doubt due to slippery underfooting in the bush (read lots of mud) and more technical running and controls in the green stuff. Legs felt very fresh, a good thing since they had 2 days off!

Stats
Distance : 7.6km
Time : 50:45

Off topic short interlude

Some pretty heavy work committments saw a late night Sunday, followed by an early start on Monday and another full day so pretty much impossible to get out for a run. Tuesday was not much better with the sound of heavy rain easing the guilt somewhat as I drove to the airport to fly to Melbourne.

The good news is I got a gig to go to the Australian Open Tennis, which involved drinks and dinner in a corporate marquee, a behind the scenes tour of Rod Laver arena and then prime seats at the night session. We got to watch Martina Hingis pretty effectively demolish a russian girl. I was a little taken aback as Hingis was a lot smaller than I had imagined from TV shots.

From there it was Phillippousis vs Grosjean and again I was amazed at how big Scud was, he towered over the frenchman. Unfortunately scud's game was very eratic, some absolute booming serves but very inconsistent and lots of unforced errors. Anyway lots of fun, but not much running on my behalf!

Race Report SMC Half

Back out to Smithfield for a benchmark test over a good testing half course. My parents joined me today, after staying overnight and thy went for a walk on the course while we raced.

Another good turnout, and while still humid, it was overcast and thankfully not much wind. Out at a decent pace, taking advantage of the water bags to keep hydrated in a controlled fashion. I started to haul a few people in from in front, one was fellow Strider, running incognito (and also less his former flowing hair) David Martin. I caught him near the 5km mark and we then tussled for the next 10km. As I caught him he put in a surge like a startled rabbit and then I had another grind of a km or so before the same happened again.

Going up through "the loop hill" just after 10km Barry caught me (as per our usual race form) but this time I held with him, dropping David and catching and dropping another in the process. Near the final turnaround for the final time Barry had slowly stretched away to about a 20m gap but we had caught another runner by here as well.

On the way back up the hill I noticed that my right shoe suddenly became loose (shoelace undone!). Persevering for about 100m I decided I had to stop as it was becoming very loose and I did not want to self inflict an injury! The previously passed runner went by as I quickly tightened and tied the offending lace and set off in pursuit of the 2 guys in front.

Despite giving my all, I was not able to haul them back in but made good inroads finishing strongly and semi sprinting across teh line.

Distance : 21.1km (of course!)
Time : 1:32:48
Avg Pace : 4:25
Avg HR : 168

This was a 35 second improvement over similar conditions in December and probably another 10 seconds lost in the shoe lace debacle. A pleasing run after a one day taper :) and now my second all time best half time. It seemed that I held the pace better in the back half, not as far as negative splitting but less of a decline and the stats below confirm this.

Splits against last month
5km 21:48 21:37 (a little slower!)
10km 22:14 21:21 (slower still!)
15km 22:17 22:49 (thats better)
20km 22:32 22:56 (and that includes the lace retie)

End of week

Despite best intentions I did not get out for that run on Saturday. So that ended the week.

Total Distance : 69km
Avg Pace : 5:23
Avg HR : 161
Vertical Climb : 717m (a nice feature from Sportstracks)

Little disappointed that the distance was not a little more, but very few junk miles in this lot!

The plan for this week
Sunday - SMC Half Marathon
Monday - Recovery
Tuesday - Hill reps
Wednesday - Summer Series Telopea (a little flatter!)
Thursday - Recovery
Friday - Long Hills (Quarry Rd)
Saturday - Recovery

Smashed

A common school of thought is if you want to get better then train with better runners. I kept on repeating that to myself today as I joined MPHaz and Fats for a hilly tempo run. There were supposed to be a couple of others there a little more my speed but they withdrew and so here I am heading out with 2 sub 3 hr marathoners on a hilly tempo run with already semi dead legs!

Quite an overcast morning and seemingly high humidity as a light drizzle accompanied us. MPHaz has a nice route laid out from his place with a bit of everything as we wheeled around West Lindfield, crossing Lady Game Drive and getting in some trail running on the Eastern Side of Lane Cove National Park. The guys were cruising while I was making an effort to keep the pace and so they were chatting away madly while all I could do was heavy breathing!

Then we turned back from the park and ran up an absolute bugger of a hill, which stretched on for about a km all the way from Lady Game Drive up to the Pacific Highway. I don't know about these faster guys, they seemed to want to rest at the top while I just pressed on!

Then after a more gentle continuing climb a nice downhill stretch to open the lungs before a couple of nasty pinches, the final one being very demoralising as you actually run past where you started and keep on going up the hill and around the corner!

End stats
Distance : 13km
Time : 1:06:50
Avg pace : 5:07
Avg HR : 172 (yes it was a tough run!)

Looking back through the log for this week I'm close to 70km and other than the recovery run yesterday it has been all pretty hard stuff (with lots of hills). I'm sitting at work trying to complete a big document but am pretty knackered, the glutes are certainly not used to this sort of punishment. Well I hope the old saying about what doesn't kill you makes you stronger is true.

So a "recovery" run tomorrow to round out the week, I doubt that I will include any strides now and then the half out at SMC before another big week.

Oh and just in case anyone did not read between the lines, the reason why they wanted to rest at the top of the big hill was because I was dragging the chain. Pretty hard going though, they get some respite/recovery but then start running as soon as I catch up :)

Summer Series & Recovery

Wednesday morning at the moment I have off given the hard run I will be doing that night. The body certainly was still feeling the effects of yesterdays hill rep session with again the glutes and lower back both exhibiting signs of DOM's which is actually probably a good sign!

To answer Kit's question from yesterday I would say that Cox's Rd hill is certainly steeper than Lilyfield Rd, it is also a more even grade. In terms of length it is a bit longer as well, about 10-20m longer but I am going to ask Action if I can borrow his measuring wheel to get a more exact length.

Anyway onto Summer Series which was at East Lindfield this week. A well set out course (more even control distribution than last week) with some good route options. I decided not to head down onto the bush track, given the climb back out and number of available points down there. Instead sticking to more of the streetscape and cherry picking some controls at the edge of the bush when possible.

Not having my map with me the run route is better viewed below, with the running in a counter clockwise direstion.



Notice the overlapping tracks up near the right hand area, where despite knowing this area would be a challenge I still came unstuck going on a wrong track and having to climb back up to the right one, I lost more than 2 minutes here (this was control 18). Then I fell into trap of losing concentration and proceeded to run straight past the planned entry point to a 30 pointer, so in the space of 3 minutes I cost myself at least 50 points!!

A sharp run back which included some more lung/leg busting climbs and I really started to feel the effects of the hill reps in the legs finally getting back just under 2 minutes late. End score was about 430 I think with the top being 500. But Seagull had my measure again with a great run posting 480, he is on fire at the moment!!

Stats:
Distance : 8.42km
Time : 46:45
Avg pace : 5:33
Avg HR : 171

Thursday
Back to my gentle recovery run of 2 laps of North Ryde common, shins feel a bit beat up but once I got going felt sort of ok. 6.7km in 35 minutes and avg HR of 149 so just right for a recovery run.

Tomorrow I am planning to head over to MPHaz's place for a hard hill based fartlek style run trying to keep up with him and Fats should be loads of fun (read pain!). Saturday another recovery run, probably with a few strides thrown in for good measure and then out to scenic Smithfield on Sunday for the SMC series and a hit out over the half marathon, for another benchmark measurement.

Back to the hills

A little surprising that it has been a month since my last lot of hill reps, very slack! To recap, this last session saw 17 reps of Cox's Rd Hill (which I think is around 310 metres) at an average rep time of 1:42 and average recovery of 1:53. Today consciously I wanted to run each rep hopefully under 1:40. Added to that I was going to focus more on form as suggested by Fats in a post to Cool Running.

Have to call the session a success, knocking out the standard 17 reps but at a new average of 1:39, although the average recovery drifted a little as well to 1:57.

A good indicator that things seem to be going in the right direction as there was no real blowout on any rep. A rest tomorrow moring and them some faster running with Summer Series at East Lindfield.

Ten Bridges STaR

What a difference a week makes, last week there were 12 of us in total at the STaR at Mona Vale, this week the number was close to 100!

A huge 6:00 headed off, just as I arrived at the start and the 6:10 group would have been around 15 as well. Great to see quite a few fellow Cool Runners stepping up into the 6:10 group with a roll call of FakePlasticTrees, Johnny Dark, Professor, Seagull, Gefjam and Action lurking in the pack. A pretty steady pace until Lavender Bay where we caught the MTG, that always seems to spur our pack on a little and after a quick drink at the steps up to teh harbour bridge things went silly for a little while. At the next drink stop Rob (FPT) had a bit of a dig and then things got a little more civilised. After the Anzac Bridge most of the "faster" guys peeled off on the shortcut and things settled down a little as we cruised through the back of Glebe.

Climbing up the back of Leichhardt the 6:20 group caught us and Rob disappeared to get a drink at a shop, the pace was now a bit quicker again as we kept the 6:20'ers in sight for a while. After Iron Cove Bridge the group splintered a little and once we were over the Gladesville bridge climb there were 5 of us left. Taking the little diversion through Hunters Hill and I was now consciously having to increase my effort to stay with the others. The back end of this run is pretty punishing and as usual the steep climb near Riverview was a good test. From there downhill back to the water and some nice bushtrack running before another nasty little hill right at the end.

I stuffed up the Garmin on this, forgetting to restart after waiting at a traffic light but after looking back through my notes from previous runs on this route I think I ran more consistently today without having a massive fade at the end. Last time was back in July where I struggled home, short cutting Hunters Hill and in much cooler weather for 27.3km @ 5:24 pace. This time it was around 29.1km (after fiddling with the Garmin for a while) in about 2:35 which equates to about 5:20 pace. Also pleasing not to have the fade despite not having a gu, following the philosophy a few others have been adopting to run the energy stores completely dry and get the body used to doing this so when a race comes along the boost from a gu is more pronounced.

Seems like things are on track but the next 6 weeks should be pretty brutal as they will be key to getting to the start line at Six Foot in the right shape.

Oh and to answer Tesso's question, my "extra exercises" are a set that I have put together of core muscle stretching and strengthening exercises and seem to be making a big difference to my previous problems in this area.

Wet run

Thursday - rolled over and ignored the alarm, the sound of rain extinguishing any motivation to get out the door *bad*

Friday - A lateish night but stumbled out of bed and then the door. Seemed to be very humid and for some reason I really struggled to get into a good rhythm. The lower shins seemed a little tender, even after a day off, but I ground my way down to the weir, which was flowing for a change, thus giving my shoes a quick bath.

Back up through the 10km course and near the rangers hut was awarded with my second boof sighting of the morning as he cruised down the hill. I picked the pace up a little on the downhill towards home but today was not an attractive run in terms of form. It is funny how on Wednesday I felt very smooth after a day off backing up from 3 hard days, today, even though the pace was ok everything seemed to be a lot harder.....

Stats
Distance : 14.5km
Time : 1:10:59
Avg Pace : 4:54
Avg HR : 156

Maybe it was the humidity? I was absolutely saturated in sweat at the end of the run and it took some time to stop sweating after my usual "extra" exercises.

Summer Series Dee Why

Thankfully another slightly cooler evening after trekking up the penninsula to Dee Why. This map is always interesting with the lagoon to the north and some killer hills to the south and a hard to navigate trail east along the cliff faces on the coast. To also make life interesting the setter had followed recent trends with clusters of controls which meant challenging route selection to minimise some of the gaps between these clusters.

It's always a good measure as to how difficult the course has been set by the time it takes to try and determine optimum routes. I discarded the controls to the north as there was no easy loop. Headed off westwards picking up 2 and 22 and then quite a long cruise uphill to the cluster of 9, 17, 18, 30 and 7. Back down hill to the other lagoon for 10 and 27. Bypassing 26 and straight to 16, then a tough climb up through the bush and straight back down again for 25, back up for 14 and then along the bush track to pop back out on the streets, a slight downhill for 28 and then in and out to 29. I had decided not to run the tricky trail along the coast, prefering the faster street running and hoping to make up more points at the other end.

Down into Dee Why for 15 and 5, then along the beachfront for some tough sand running. Time was running out but I opted for 4 and 20 to then return via 1 to thr finish. Believe it or not but the only control I stumbled on was 1.... cost me about 30 seconds which hurt as I was tripped over into just over 4 minutes late.




Stats
Distance : 9km
Time : 48:04
Avg Pace : 5:20
Avg HR : 171

Fairly happy with route selection and the way that I ran. The legs have pulled up well with the rest day after the three tough days in a row.

Beyond The Black Stump

After the horrendous heat of New Years Day it was very gratifying to wake up to the sound of rain and much cooler temperatures. Bolted down some breakfast and then drove up to Berowra, drinking an Endura Opti to finalise the fuel tank top up. Quite a crowd assembled and after the usual group photo opportunity we were off. Running through the streets of Berowra was fun, on the way to the start of the bush. As we were climbing up a smallish hill I noticed fluid running down my legs, Jan who was running just behind me pointed out that my Camelbak (not the new one, but the older and bigger backpack) seemed to have sprung a major leak! I quickly pulled the pack off trying to determine what was wrong but by then it was obvious that most of the fluid was already gone. Up ahead was a concealed but easy to find hiding place so I got my keys, cash and Gu from the pack and then abandoned it. Now I was to rely upon the water stops, especially the ones that Kevin the organiser had put out in the bush.

Quickly recovered from that and settled into a steady pace on the downhill into the bush, catching up to Dawn and running with her and another guy (also called Dave?). Near the first up hill stretch another guy caught us and I let the three of them stretch away from me a little here. On the downhill I quickly caught Dawn again and went past but the 2 other guys were clear. Made a bit of a nav slip up which saw Dawn go back past and so I again caught and overtook her. Running along Berowra Creek now towards the ferry and I saw that we would not make it and so stopped to tie my lace that had just come undone and ran to the ferry load point with Dawn, stopping to have a good drink of water. It had taken 51 minutes to get to the ferry.

Twelve and a half minutes later we were on the other side of the creek, accompanied by Jim Cryer and Jan Herman who had caught us while waiting to board the ferry. Immediately our group stretched out on the 3km climb up towards Arcadia, with Dawn flying up the hill and myself just managing to keep her in sight. I caught her at the top of the hill, as she was not sure on the right turnoff, and we ran together to Kevin's first drink drop, which was very welcome now given the circumstances. On the downhill run to the castle ruins I pulled away from Dawn and we started to see the runners from the first ferry, returning up the hill on their journey back. I got to the ruins, had a quick look at the view, touched the wall and logged my time as 1:53, turning to climb back.

The climb was actually not too bad and saw the third ferry load of runners near the steepest section as they still heaeded out. Another refreshing stop at teh drinks station and then accelerated down the hill. I picked up the pace a little harder when I saw a wave of cars from the ferry which helped me to calculate that it would be a close thing for me arriving when the ferry was next back. A good thing too, as I rounded the corner it had just docked and was unloading cars. Dave, the guy I had run with quite a deal earlier was also waiting. As the ferry was just about to depart Dawn sprinted down the hill and just made it on. So this time it was only a five minute break as the ferry crossed back over, so I took the opportunity to have my Gu.

The others took off when we landed but I needed to drink some water to accompany the gu and so by the time I was running they were out of sight. This section of the run turned out to be the hardest of the lot. A very steep climb up from the creek, with some small ladders drilled into the sandstone and lots of steps. A bit of a shock for the legs after the downhill sprint I had just finished! It was also necessary to concentrate as the path was difficult to determine in places. Finally I got to the top, only to be rewarded with a descent down to a creek and then another climb! This one more brutal seemingly than the last. Through here I twice had to stop and relocate the path as it weaved it's way sometimes between rock faces and without that many markings.

Finally I made it to the top again and was rewarded with some flat terrain and shortly after the turnoff back to civilisation. Once again Kevin's drink drop was a very welcome sight and just as I was finishing another runner (from the next ferry) loomed into view so I headed off. The trail to the road was pretty good and then it was bitumen all the way back. A couple of small rises early on and the efforts of the previous climbs started to show and the guy that I saw at he drinks drop went past. Once on level ground it was time to grind it out to the finish, through the streets of Berowra and I eventually arrived back at the start in 3:53:07!

Had a good chat with the others already there as it started to drizzle with rain again. Got changed into some dry (and non smelly clothes) and drank another Endura Opti while cheering in some of the other runners. Eventually leaving to go and retrieve the leaing Camelbak. Upon examination there was no tear, the hose had simply become detached from the bladder, will have to see how to avoid that in the future. I clearly felt dehydrated and stopped at a servo for a couple of bottles of Powerade to drink during the drive home.



Stats
Total Distance : 32.8km
Running Distance : 32.1km (less ferry crossings)
Total Time : 3:57:07
Running Time : 3:35:23 (again less ferry waiting/crossing)
Average pace : 6:43 min/km

The last couple of days caught up with me and I crashed for an hour or 2 when I got home and even after all the drinking to rehydrate was about 1kg lighter than normal. Wore the skins through the rest of the day and overnight and the legs have pulled up pretty well, although today is now designated a rest day.

Summer Series tomorrow night at Dee Why, time to renew my duel with Seagull over what is usually a tough course with lots of route options.

New Years Day STaR

Despite evetually getting to bed at 2am I stumbled back out at 5am to drive up to Mona Vale for the STaR, appropriately named Barrenjoey Bash. Today was forecast to be very very hot and there was a bush fire alert which had closed the National Parks where the Fat Ass run was going to be held so it got postponed to Monday.

A very small contingent with around 12 of us and there was a magnificent sunrise that greeted us. The air was already quite warm as we set out, a nasty hill immediately on the agenda. Some great ups and downs as we followed the coast North. I had decided to turn around at Avalon to make around 15km with tomorrow in mind. Virtual Runner, up from Melbourne, joined me for the return trip as the others pressed on. The heat was really starting to take effect and to add to the fun we had an even nastier hill to climb on the way back. At least it rewarded us with some magnificent views. Finally got back to base, a slowish run time but a tough course in tough conditions, sets the tone nicely for 2006. Followed up with a great refreshing swim in the ocean, very tempted just to stay in the water for quite a while...

For the non Sydney based readers the temperature eventually ended up at around 44 degrees celcius.

2005 review and 2006 preview

Time to get retrospective and then look to the future!

2005 started off pretty well, on the build up after injury in late 2004. A great race in the Arizona Rock n Roll Half saw a nice new half PB, along with a few others picked up along the way as splits. From there the build up for Canberra continued with the intention of running Six Foot Track as a long "training run". Well things did not go to plan, entering Six Foot with no taper and the racing the first section, causing me to blow up pretty spectactularly on the climb up Pluviometer.

However the recovery from Six Foot seemed good and the build up for the Canberra Marathon seemed to have fallen into place. On ths day things did not go to plan, went out probably a little too fast for the conditions and then experienced tummy problems that then extended to cramps etc. Finally dragged myself home but it was very ugly :(

Then replicated my post Canberra slump from last year, still running, but much lower training which resulted in an appropriate performance in the SMH half. This time however I decided to renew focus on a build up for Sydney and commenced this by running the first 40km or so of the Poor Mans Comrades Ultra. The focus on Sydney resulted in some good lowering of times for the City to Surf and Willy to Billy. A more conservative plan for Sydney which was working until again the condiitons on the day made it difficult to stick to the original goal. Am still quite happy with my actual run on the day, even though it was not a PB.

Once again a post marathon slump before turning the corner late Nov on a schedule for the 2006 Six Foot Track.

So to summarise (the above looks a little too negative!)
Highlights - PB's for 5km, 10km, Half Marathon and also a number of individual races over different distances courses
Lowlights - Lack of success in longer races and the continuing slump on focus after these longer races

Total distance - 2660km, an increase of around 25% over 2004, impressive in itself even though I was hoping for 3000!

2006 is currently a bit of an enigma for me at the moment. The start of the year is in place with plans for Six Foot, Canberra and the the SMH Half. The middle of the year is undecided, a full Poor Mans Comrades or another Marathon at Gold Coast are options. From there I would say City to Surf, Willy to Billy and probably the Sydney Marathon will round out the year. Other events to think about are some of the Rogaines scheduled for this year, maybe an Ultra (or 2) and possibly some bush Orienteering. A goal this year is to try and break the post marathon slump I have had so far. One way to do this will be to try an break that 3000km total running in 2006.

Certainly there is also the prospect of non running related events (family/work etc) taking precedence over any plans. Bring on 2006, lets see what happens!

Final runs for 2005

Friday 30/12

As planned the usual recovery run around Ryde Common on the grass, 6.7km in 36 minutes

Saturday 31/12

Decided to end the year with a bang and race the Cool Running 5km challenge at the Bay Run. Numbers were smaller and I opted to start with the 20 minute group but still try and pace myself to a low 19 time. A couple of others also at 20 minutes with Professor, Running Wolf (after an absence) and Mr WT.

Missed the first km marker which has not been replaced since the work done in that area but the Garmin was saing I was sitting on 3:50 pace which was the goal. Despite Garmin the actual split when the 2km marker appeared was 7:45. I was leading through here but could still hear someone lurking just behind my shoulder. The 3km mark saw 3:57 as the heat seemed to start taking its toll. At 4km we had just about caught the remaining members of the 21 minute group and the split was 4:01 and I still had that person just lurking behind me.

I do really hate the last km of this run as it zig zags back and forth along a park. With about 250 metres to go the person who had been following me loomed up alongside and edged forward as I started to struggle. However in the last 100m I put in a big surge and went back past edging him by a second with 19:40! As it turns out he had decided to pace himself off me rather than doing his usual go out too fast. It worked as he posted a 4 second pb, a great effort on a very warm morning. I was happy with my time despite still being about 25 seconds off PB range.

Festivities Recovery/Recap

What a hectic couple of days!

Sunday (Xmas) - No way I was going to get a run in today with Santa calling in and 3 excited kids then hauling up to the in laws for a great seafood lunch and hoping in and out of the pool as required to combat the very warm day. This Christmas was designated by the wife as only 1 running related present allowed so I opted for a smaller Camelbak Altera to use for my longer training runs instead of a bottle bum bag that I have now. I did manage to score another running gift from my parents in the form of a Nike Electrolite (for when the days get shorter again...).

Monday (Boxing day) - Headed out for a medium/long style run early in the morning before my family arrived for Christmas II at our place. It was quite warm but a good hit out as well.

Stats 17.6km in 1:27:41 (avg pace 4:58)

Tuesday (#3 Birthday) - Again a day that it was going to be hard to get out for a run with our youngest's thirrd birthday. A early start followed by shopping/prep for afternoon tea that would stretch on into drinks etc, last guest leaving at around midnight. Had great fun playing Buzz and Singstar on the newish Playstation 2.

Wednesday - A little dusty after the night before and prefered the lounge for extended periods after the busy last few days rather than lacing up the shoes for a run.

Thursday - Decided on another longer run today. The course included my usual jaunt down to the Lane Cove National Park Weir, followed by meandering up the valley to Macquarie Centre and then across to Quarry Rd and then home, with the nice/nasty addition of a climb back up Pittwater Road for a km right at the end of the run. I was contemplating (as you do) this run and how the third 5km (ie 10-15km) always seems a grind. In analysing the Garmin data I now know why as it is a constant climb through this 5km section. Quite warm by the time I finished in a lather of sweat. The godd thing is I seem to have avoided any weight gain, despite overindulging a little in the last few days.
Stats - 21km in 1:44:08 (avg pace 4:58)

Plans for the rest of the week include a recovery run tomorrow with potentially a last 5km race of the year on Saturday for the Cool Running 5km challenge at the bay. On Sunday I'll see in the New Year with the Black Stump Bush Run, on what it sounds like will be another warm day....

Quarry Road Initiation

The Quarry Road trail which runs between Hornsby and Galston has a reputation as a good Six Foot Track training regime and given my focus on this event I decided to join in the organised group run for Christmas Eve. Knowing there is no water available on the trail but that Horrie was bringing some refreshments to leave at the trailhead. I thought about using the Camelbak but just opted for the bottle bumbag.

As I was driving up I started to already question the wisdom of not using the camelbak as the outside temperature indicator was reading 37 degrees! A whole heap of runners, with some familiar faces showed up and we set off. My usual fairly fast downhill style saw me tucked in behind Uncle Dave (about the only time that will ever happen!) until it levelled out a little where I let him go. After about 1.5km I crossed the bridge over Berowra Creek and started climbing. About halfway up Don Juan and Royworlds caught up to me and by the top Suzanne K had also latched on. From there it was still about 2km to the trailhead at the other end of the track where Spud had left some provisions to restock us.

Suzanne and I took off after a little break while the others stayed a little longer. On the longer downhill stretch I pulled clear for a while, only to be passed by DJ. Royworlds went past on the return uphill but I kept him in sight and actually went back past close to the top. I was also a little surprised that I stayed clear of Suzanne. A good gathering at the top where we topped up drinks and caught up with some others who had run earlier but it was still warming up...

Back down the hill, just lurking behind DJ and Suzanne, who turned around after the bridge. I now started to really feel the heat and was consuming quite a bit of water. By the time I got to the major trail junction I was starting to feel the strain and was also worried that Spud had left and so there may be no fluids at the far end. This coupled with starting to struggle and the heat in general left me with the decision to turn around, thus ensuring I would at least make it back to the start with some fluids.

A push back up the hill a second time and was very pleased to see plu minding the camp and immediately plonked myself down and downed a coke and water in quick succession which felt a lot better. Had a chat with plu before heading off to the mother in law's place for a swim to refresh before tacking the horror of food shopping on Christmas Eve.




Stats
Distance : 21.3Km
Time : 2:04:25 (first complete lap was 1:10)
Avg Pace : 5:50 min/km
Avg HR : 163

A fair run, probably too fast on the first lap, but hey a good learning experience! Will certainly aim to run this course a few times in the next couple of months.

Weekly Summary
Distance : 80km
A nice continuing increase in what really is only my third proper full week. Only 11 weeks to go until race day, yikes!! A rest day tomorrow though as the family fun of Christmas unfolds.

Finally I would like to pass on my best wishes to all (any?) that take the time to read this blog, have a great Christmas!

Recovery

Easier day today with a couple of laps around Ryde Common on the grass. Shins are a little tender which usually means the calves are a little hammered so did some extra stretching there. Well and truly on the wind down for Christmas now, a couple of drinks in the city this afternoon and then a couple of laps of the Quarry Road course near Hornsby to round out the week, followed by a hopefully refreshing swim at the mother in law's place.

The kids are all wound up now and all shoppign done other than food which I'll finish tomorrow, but will make the annual late night trek to the fish markets tonight to stock up big time for the next couple of days.

Summer Series @ Balmoral + more

Wednesday night and another Summer Series run, this time around the slopes of Balmoral and Chinamans Beach. This has gained some reputation as a tough run, with runners trying to minimise the up/downs, while maximising points. Another well planned map with a tantalising cluster of 90 points at the northernmost edge at Chinamans Beach, but some tricky control placement and route options enroute and then some points to chase at the other end of the map if time permitted.

I opted to run in a counter clockwise direction, giving me various shortcut options if required on the way home. Pretty smooth sailing early on, a slight stumble at 14 in the bush with some lung busters after that climbing up the slopes. My route as per Garmin and Google Earth is here. Time started running low at around 23 and I opted to avoid the drop/climb associated with 4 to 5 and so contoured around to 5. A major snafu then in somehow managing to miss 19 on the way to 22, then downhill towards the finish. I decided to shortcut through the bush, hoping I might spike 2 but missed it and finished 4 minutes late.

Stats
Distance : 8.3km
Time : 48:35
Points : 500 - 40 = 460
Avg pace : 5:50 min/km
Avg HR : 163

Somewhat disappointing, losing in hindsight focus at some key points. Seagull had a blinder with 540 but the real guns ended up with 590!!! Time to mentally refocus on Summer Series, the last couple of runs have come unhinged a little.

A pretty warm night, with bushfires a little further north at Allambie, had a quick post run swim in the hearbour which was great!

Thursday
Opted for a medium/long run today. Started off feeling a bit sluggish and beat up. Eventually warmed up a little, but it was obvious I was still dehydrated from last nights run and so included a few more pitstops to try and top up the fluids. Struggled home in the end, but a good run to have under the belt, trying to keep the normal pace on tired legs/body. Spent the rest of the day rehydrating, having lost 2.5kg in 2 days. Also a noticeable absence of runners/walkers in Lane Cove NP today, just some of the usual cyclists.

Stats
Distance : 14.5km
Time : 1:12:49
Avg Pace : 5:02 min/km
Avg HR : 158

A recovery run tomorrow and then some very hilly trail running on Saturday at some distance, given no time/ability to run on Christmas Day....

Bay run with a difference

The difference being that the aforementioned bay is actually Port Phillip Bay as I am in Melbourne for work. A while ago Wobbly Man suggested a nice flat run for a recovery run if I was in Melbourne. No time like the present so out this evening. The course follows a tram line to the bay, starting near the casino and finishing at the Tasmania Ferry terminal. It is indeed flat and on a bike path quite removed from traffic, only crossing about 3-4 streets.

The legs were very sluggish to get going, the shins in particular a bit tender after the bashing I gave them yesterday in the lighter racing shoes. Once warmed up however it was not too bad, a very cruisy 8km.

Stats
Distance : 8km
Time : 43:39
Avg pace : 5:27
Avg HR : 146

Good hit out

Ended up not doing a recovery run on Saturday but still managed 72km for the week. I had decided that I was going to do the 10km race, even to the point of setting up the virtual partner feature on the Garmin accordingly. However when I got out to the venue it was quite cool, for this time of the year. That coupled with chatting a few regulars and I signed up for the half before I changed my mind again.

Headed out a little cautiously, just a little slower than the target pace of 4:15. Colin joined me and just before the 5km turnaround we joined up with Barry and Peter from Striders. The 5km split was 21:37. I consciously decided to up the pace a little coming back and we went through 10km in 42:58 (5km split of 21:21). Then we hit the hill on the return loop and I slowly slid off the back of the other 3. Headed back down the hill I managed to regain some ground but ended up about 20m off.

The second lap was tougher as the wind had picked up and running uphill, into a head wind and trying to regain ground is bloody hard. As a result the 15km split was a little slower at 1:05:47 (22:49). Now it was a case of focus on form and pace and bring it home. I could still see Barry about 200m up the road and there was another guy between us so I set out to try and catch him. In the last 2km I was really reeling him in, but ran out of distance, but I ran it out hard all the way to the line.

Stats
Distance : The Garmin said 21.22 but again Sportstracks does better with a 21.11!
Time : I missed the official time and hit the stop on the Garmin after running through the line, roughly 1:33:18
Avg Pace : 4:25
Avg HR : 162

Very happy with this run, given very early in the 6ft prep and since Sydney the training has been maintenance only relatively speaking. Second best ever Half Marathon time and 3 minutes off my previous course PB. The legs have pulled up pretty well, so a great way to end the year of racing (ok, still one Summer Series event to go).

Had a post race seasonal celebratory brew with Colin as he will miss any catch up events looming in the remaining days left in the year.

Puddles

of sweat that is. Another humid morning today and I headed out for my "medium/long" run. Threaded through LCNP on my usual route to the weir and then back along the Striders 10km course, diverting near the rangers hut on the hill onto the cycleway under the bridge and then weaving through the streets to Macquarie Centre and the cycleway that runs all the way up to Quarry Road. This course is a good challenge as there is quite a bit of up and down but you are rewarded with a great view of the city at the top of Quarry Road and then a great dowhnill stretch. However there is a nasty little bugger of a hill about 1km out from home.

Finished up pretty well but had to do my stretches/exercises etc out on the verandah as the sweat was well and truly running.

Stats
Distance 19.2km
Time 1:36:11
Avg Pace 5:00 min/km :)
Avg HR 159

Missed the recovery run yesterday but might do one tomorrow and then aiming to race at the Sydney Marathon Clinic series on Sunday at scenic (not) Smithfield. Unsure whether to tackle the 10km or half but either way will go out hard and see if I can threaten the PB. Probably leaning towards the 10km though.

Pretty happy with the way the body has adapted to the somewhat sudden increase in training again, the race should be a good guide for reference again in January with another month under my belt.

ps Miners I can't tell what I was getting for someone else to give to me for christmas as it's supposed to be a surprise, but it is not cycling gear......

Summer Series Haberfield

Arrived a little later than usual after popping in to my old workplace at Clarence St Cyclery to get a christmas present for myself (to be given to me though!) and also to catch up with my old work mates.

Quite a crowd with a special guest appearance from Striders president Action, who lives around the corner. As I was getting ready to go also saw the Striders MTG doing the dog track loop on their usual Wednesday afternoon run. Checking the results already posted and noticed that Ben Rattray, a seriously good Orienteer, had got the lot and was back close to 2 minutes early!

The controls were pretty well laid out with 3 clusters to entice you to the 3 corners of the map. Had a quick chat/brief with Action, warning him about navigation within Callan Park hospital before going to get changed.

Finally headed off at a good pace, aiming for the controls along the bay run all the way to Iron Cove Bridge, a slight oops in route selection at one control but pretty fast running. The plan coming back was up and through the hospital grounds, sarting off pretty well but then, not heeding my own previously mentioned advice, the wheels fell off with a serious misnavigation and a couple of minutes lost before getting back on track (circled on map). Then to make things worse while I was charging off trying to regain some time I stuffed up again and added probably close to 500m through initially running up the wrong street, but then not continuing and turning right, but back tracking (second circle).



From here everything fell back into place, but the damage was done timewise and I had to rule out visting the southern cluster of points. A real fast hit out on the way back to the finish with the last 500m done at 3:35 min/km pace according to the garmin!!

End result was 520 points but 1:02 late (just not fast enough in that last 500m) to see 20 points deducted for a net score of 500.

Stats
Distance 9.48km
Time 46:02
Avg Pace 4:51 (even after the stuffing around)
Avg HR 174

All in all it was not a good run with the nav problems, but I was very happy with the way I actually ran, the legs felt fresh and recovered after the hills on Tuesday and generated some good speed at the end.

More Hill Work

Back to Cox's Road for another hill session.

Pretty much identical to last week, although I was a little dusty for the first couple. The good thing is that I did manage to hold a faster pace for the last few reps.

So 17 reps at an average of 1:42 with a average recovery of 1:53.

Certainly had a good burn going in the quads by the end. Also a CR spotting as I was heading out the door as Kanangra was coming in the other direction.

Tomorrow Summer Series at Haberfield which should include part of the Bay Run I am sure, looks like the start/finish will be near where the CR 5km challenge finishes.

Rocks Push STaR - Long

My first STaR for a while due to a variety of circumstances. This STaR is actually the first run I ever did with the Striders and also probably not far from 3 years ago as well. However I have not run this since (only did the 7am group back then).

A good sized 6:10 group which included CR's Action, Luke Skyrunner, Langswm (and Mrs Langswm), Mike F. The pace was actually quite reasonable, either because Action was with us or maybe the holiday season. Immediately the Garmin had major problems as we ran through the city canyons. Lots of fun as various groups of straggling revellers from partying the night before gave us encouragement. Looped through Darling Harbour where another group of substance influenced individuals were waiting, one trying to run with us for a little while, but his baggy trousers kept on falling down!

The weather was cooler, but still humid with some occasional drizzle. Still a nice steady pace according to the now happier Garmin as we weaved through Pyrmont and Ultimo to Central. More signal problems as we passed through the city on the way to Darlinghurst and Kings Cross. Some nasty sets of stairs here as well.

By the time we got to Rushcutters Bay to start looping back the pace had started to pick up a little. Another climb (and more stairs) back up to Elizabeth Bay and down to Wollomolloo on the way to Lady Macquaries Chair. Through here the 6:20 group caught us and we merged together after a drink stop for the dash around the Opera House and back to the Harbour Bridge. I was struggling a little with the pace here but then realised it was because we were running at 4:30 min/km all of a sudden.

Thankfully the group splintered as most shortcutted back to Observatory Hill while the remainder continued across the bridge to Neutral Bay. By now I was running by myself but still moving nicely. Caught up to Johnny Dark and Professor at Kurraba Point but then had to chase them down again as I stopped for a gu and water. Back through Kiribilli and over the Narbour Bridge to the finish.

Can't say this would be my favorite STaR, too many stairs and running in city streets, but certainly very scenic with all the prominent landmarks featured.

Given the signal problems for the Garmin I gave up looking at splits/pace etc and was quite surprised when I downloaded to Sportstracks that it managed to track my route pretty well despite all the signal problems. Even more surprising was the stats for the run

Distance - 31.6km
Time - 2:41:09
Avg pace - 5:06 min/km
Avg HR - 159

Given we did run for a while at 5:30 pace, the faster back half made a big difference. That is actually my goal for these longer runs, to run a steady pace but pick it up towards the end to try and simulate running at pace on tired legs.

Although they were getting noticeably tired the legs have pulled up pretty well, slight tenderness at the bottom of my right shin where the tendon runs across the ankle then the top of the foot, maybe the shoelace was done up a little tight.

Crazy week coming up with heavy work commitments as well as some of the usual christmas season catching up with clients and business parters at various do's. Will be a challenge to keep on track but we'll see!

Medium Long

The "schedule" had me down for 20km but given the amount of running I hve already done this week off a pretty low base I decided to tone that down to 15km and focus on an even pace.

The usual run down to Lane Cove Weir for a quick drink stop, it seemed humid again this morning. Coming back along the Striders 10km course and there were certainly a few more people out than you see in the middle of winter. Saw fellow CR Barney (or was it cherry, I get them mixed up) near the sandstone bridge.

Up the hill to the gate and then back through suburbia to make it around 14.5km. Felt a little tight to begin but loosened up as I went along. Back home for some stretching and strength exercises, including a bout with the foam roller as I sense my LH ITB is a little tight.

Stats 14.5km in 1:11:38, averages - pace 4:56, HR 158.

I have a recovery run scheduled for tomorrow, will wait and see if I opt to do it or given the sudden step up have a rest in prep for the Sunday STaR.

Weekly summary - 64km, weight 75.9km already down a few kg from a couple of weeks ago but also certainly some fluid replacement still needed after another sweaty run this morning

SUMMER Series

A bit of a drive out west last night to Northmead for the Summer Series event. Truly summer as the outside temperature sensor in the car was reading 41 degrees (celcius!) this also being accented by a strong warm westerly wind. This is a new map based around the upper reaches of the Parramatta River, Westmead Hospital and Parramatta Jail. Some residual stiffness in the glutes from the hill session yesterday morning in walking around but did not seem to restrict the running at all.

For those interested here is a copy of the map and my route marked out. A quick run through teh streets to 7, then down and across the creek to 11, skirting around the back of the jail to 14 in pretty quick time. Slowed the pace down a little in navigating through the buildings but then picked it up again to get to 21. Lost concentration here, being in the right place but forgetting what I was looking for as a security guard from Parramatta Leagues asked me what I was up to. Pretty plain sailing then through 27, 17 and 5 seeing Richard G, another (faster, ie 37 min 10km) Strider. Across the river for 22, already opting to drop 9 and 10 and some fast flat running to 29. From here I got a break with a series of runners popping out coming in the other direction which helped guide me onto a bush path to 30. Another oops at 3, again forgetting what I was looking for. By 16 I knew I was under a little time pressure and opted to miss 4 and go straight to 19 where I again saw Richard. From 25 I decided to go straight to 20 but the various fences meant there was not a good direct route and in hindsight I should have got 12 as well.

More weaving through fences and buildings to finally get clear running again to 28, across to 23 and then back along the river, getting the feet wet at the crossing to get back with 520 points but 3 minutes late to give me 490 net. The highest score was only 540 so a little disappointed that my various slip ups conspired to cost me probably 30 points.

Overall stats 8.6km in 47:16 (avg pace 5:31 and avg HR of 173). Bloody hot day, the second in not so many days so I am drinking water like crazy today.

This morning I did a light recovery run with 2 laps of North Ryde Common for 6.7km in 38:30 (avg 5:45, avg HR 148). I'm going to base my recovery runs around the common as I can pretty much run on grass the whole way, giving the legs a break. Today they felt pretty bashed up, hopefully will pull up ok for a medium long run tomorrow.

Hill reps

Flew back into Sydney on an overnight service, arriving Monday morning. I wore my skins during the flight and the legs felt very fresh yesterday, despite the hard run and then flying for 7 hours.

One obvious weak point in my running has been hills and I have to attack this head on so back around the corner this morning for hill reps up Cox's Road. For reference the distance is about 310m and it is a very even slope, a little bit steeper than Lilyfield Road for those that run there. In the past I have done these as a higher intensity session, usually with less than 10 reps and averaging 1:25 to 1:30 per rep with a standing recovery at the bottom.

Today the goal was to keep on going for an hour, at a slightly slower pace but lots more reps. I ended up with 17 reps done at an average of 1:42 and a run down recovery average of 1:49. Quite a hard session towards the end, hopefully this will build some hill endurance in the legs.

This gave me all up 11.6km (including warmup/down and recovery) in 1:05:53

Singapore Half Marathon

The Unofficial version.....

Despite a variety of different attempts to late enter the Singapore Half Marathon while I was up here on work I failed :(

So I resolved to run the same distance anyway but by myself as I explored the centre of the island. After a couple of late nights (work socialising) I struggled out of bed at 9am Singapore time and kitted up. I included the waterbottle bumbag as I was sure it would be warm/humid. A bit of stuffing around in trying to get the Garmin to realise this was not Kansas and then I was off. The plan was to run up into the hills in the middle of the island where there are some water reservoirs and it is a little bushier.

At about 7-8km finally I got to the point of not running near major roads and started running on a 2 lane road through the jungle. Wow what an experience. I would have seen about 100+ monkeys, all on the side of the road. Being a little nervous I just kept to my path and kept running, quite a few cars were stopped to take photos and feed them, despite the signs. Also I saw some fairly large lizards, one being the size of a small/medium goanna! The plan was to turn around when the Garmin said 10.5km to get close to a proper out and back half distance.

Coming back down the hill I was starting to wither in the heat and used up the contents of my water bottle just as I arrived near some petrol stations. After sculling a gatorade and then topping up the bottle I was off, but the pace was slowing a bit. At one intersection as I was approaching I saw a car also approaching but as I was distracted my lh foot hit some uneven ground and I stumbled heavily, propping myself up with my left hand/arm and bouncing across the intersection to the amazement of the driver.

I was very glad to get within sight of the hotel and did a little loop to ensure I did knock off the 21.1km. Funny thing is that with some of the early Garmin problems the Sportstracks program actually reckons I did 22.5km!

So I'll take the extra distance and did the run in 1:57:58 (avg pace of 5:14 and avg HR of 174!). It took about 15 minutes standing in the cold shower to stop sweating. I reckon that is the hottest/must humid run I have ever done. Spent the next half hour in the hotel pool and finally felt a little more human again.

A great experience but I must be stark raving mad to be out running in the middle of the day in the tropics! On the way home now, hopefully some consistency in training from this point forward.

Summer Series - Blackman Park

A tough run last year and after a quick look at the map it would be no different. Spent quite a while trying to work out a good route which in itself is a good indication of a well set map. Finally headed off and opted to climb straight up to the industrial area, pick up a few points and then down to the bush along Lane Cove River. The fast climb left me a little breathless but I soon settled down through the bush section with a number of other runners following a similar route. A climb back up to pick up some more points and then zig zagging through Lane Cove West all the way to Centennial Avenue and then along here towards River Road. Another quick section of bush and back just one minute late for 480 points. A real tough run and in hindsight I could have done better with my route selection Seagull pipped me by 10 points, well done, but not many others had bettered his score when I left.

Stats 7.9km in 45.34 (avg pace 5:46 and HR 174).

Thanks to all who commented, I think 5kg is realistic, especially since I have put one or two back on since Sydney. Clairie, I'm replacing the grog with low cal cordial, or water, hopefully that will still make a difference. I'm in the airport lounge waiting to board for Singapore, a few runs in the humidity will keep me honest!

Motivation

Tuesday - Another struggle to get up and so no run :(.

Through the day I swapped emails with a few likely suspects re 6 ft training and the suggestions of running 4:30 eeek! So after a business meeting in the afternoon I headed home, did some work from home until the family arrived, preped teh kids dinner and then laced up the shoes and headed out.

Did my usual down to Lane Cove Weir, where I ran into Jim and the Lane Cover River Runners (who I completely forgot about). Had a quick chat with Jim but opted out of runnign with them the fast guys would have been a bit too much given I was aiming for 15km and racing summer series Wednesday but Jim and his group would have been a bit too slow also. Really focused on pushing the effort on the hills and popped out on Lane Cove Road at the top of the hill and back home via Cox's Road, starting to tire but holding sub 5min/km pace.

Finished with 14.5km in 1:10 (4:50 avg pace and avg HR of 167), a pretty good workout and soon I'll add in another hill towards the end.

Summer Series tonight at Blackman PArk where I have run quite often so hopefully should be a good run/score.

From there on in it is December and the true start of my regime. For reference the new "accurate" scales I got say that I am 78.9kg at the moment. Already have made the conscious decision to dramatically reduce my alcohol intake, especially during the week. Usually I had a couple of glasses of wine most nights, now nothing at all unless I am out at dinner etc. Christmas/December will be a challenge, but even more the reason not to drink if I am at home. That coupled with healthier eating and intense training and it should be interesting to see how much comes off, I'm thinking at least 5kg!

The last few days...

Thursday - slacked off and did not go out in morning and then got home too late to run as the wife was going out

Friday - Did my stock Lane Cove National Park Weir run, bang on 5 min/km pace for the 11km

Saturday - CR 5km Challenge
A last minute decision to have a run and I lined up with the other 20 minute people. There was a large 21 minute pack and I think there may have not been a full minute between us?

Professor acted as the initial pacing rabbit and we hit 1km in 3:50. From here a few of us crept up and I was happy to let Nando and another (who I now know as Where Did My Shoe Go?) set the pace and I tucked in about 5 metres behind. Second km was also 3:50 and we then started overhauling the 21 minute stragglers. The 3km mark was a little slower with 3:57 and as I rounded the corner started to struggle to stick with the 2 leader. Along here, just before the UTS Rowers I caught up with team Criniti and edged past as we headed to the business end of the run. The 4km marker saw a 3:59 split, I still had the 2 leaders within 20 metres but really started to struggle as a nasty headwind revealed itself to couple with the usual torture of the winding last km.

Caught BennyR through here and Springer also cruised past, with about 500m to go I could hear Team Criniti coming back and I swear Uncle Dave was 5m behind me encouraging Papa Luigi on. I bashed my way to the line and I think Superflake got a photo as I am sure there were a few runners literally breathing down my neck as I hit the line, holding them off .

Last km of 4:01 to give a total of 19:41 and I was about 2 gags away from undigesting my breakfast so there was not much left in the bank. Even though about 25 seconds from my PB I was pretty happy with my run, given the recent running I have (or have not) been doing.

A good cruise back with plu before I had to head off quicker than I would have liked to let the foxtel man in to fix our service.

Well done to those with PB's, in particular FakePlasticTrees and Papa Luigi (who is on fire!). A good benchmark run for myself which also makes me feel quite good about my Wednesday night Summer Series runs so far (ie what can I do when I am running faster again......)

Sunday - Flew down to Geelong on Saturday night for a corporate golf day, was hoping to go for a 20km run but could not be bothered getting up at 5am.

Monday - Massive problems getting back from Melbourne on planes, spent about 3 hours at Melbourne airport and was knackered by the time I got home and into bed so slept in this morning. I do really need to up the motivation.

The plan for the week, a long run Tuesday with Summer Series at Lane Cove West on Wednesday night. Thursday probably a recovery run before I hop on a plane to Singapore. I was hoping to run the Singapore Half Marathon which is on while I am there but entries have closed. I will pack the race gear anyway and show up at registration on the Saturday begging.

Summer Series @ Lindfield

A new map, which always makes for a level playing field. As I suspected after a quick review of the map, quite a bit of up and down and also a bit of bush that I did not know existed.

Quickly realised the lot was not a possibility and ruled out a couple of groups of controls that would have sucked up a bit of time. Was interested to see how the legs would hold up, still some residual stiffness in the outer lower hammies, but much better than yesterday.

A quick loop through a few controls close to the start and then through teh bush section. Each of the controls here were not too bad. Then towards the UTS campus, but I did not venture all the way to where there were a couple of controls on the other side of the campus near the bush. Along and up towards the highway and another set of parks before zig zagging parallel to the highway all the way to behind Lindfield shops. Then back down the slope towards the finish. Actually got to a control not far from the finish right on 45 minutes but added another 50 points through a little loop and got back 4 minutes late so the loop was a good idea.

All up my score was 500 and for a while this was the best, a couple of faster guys came in in front towards the end though and I probably ended up around 4th. Highest score was 550 so I was pretty pleased.

Caught up with seagull (who I again managed to beat by around 20 points!), Hefty and I am sure I saw Running Nicho out there was well.

Very happy with the run, both route selection, navigation and how the legs actually went. Legs feel fresh today but will do a recovery run tonight.

Stats: 8.7km in 49:27, avg pace of 5:40 min/km and avg HR of 175.

Recovery

Monday - generally pulled up ok after a good sleep. Had a massage to try an loosen up the tight spots and went to a new guy in North Sydney who was very good. Combining Shiatsu and sports massage he gave me a very good work over.

Tuesday - was planning to do a short recovery run this morning but the back of the legs behind the knees are still extremely tight. Not sure if it is muscular (DOMs), tendonitis, or a combination of both. Have worked out that it is not only from a higher leg lift running in the bush but also thinking about it I twist/splay the legs outwards at the same time for better clearance. For sure I am activating some muscles in a different direction to normal.

Something to think about next time I am out there, not sure how I can train for this other than more bush running. Given my time in the immediate future will not be spent running through the bush but on roads or trails I think I'll leave it for now.

Summer Series tomorrow on a new map at Lindfield, around MPHaz's 'hood so I expect we'll be shuffling up and down the sloped between Lady Game Drive and the Pacific Highway.

Illawarra Socialgaine

My first longer distance hitout for some time and wow what a tough run. A socialgaine is essentially a Rogaine based in more of an urban setting with some fun stuff added in. There were four different options to also be able to acrue bonus points by selecting one of four categories. We of course went for the "extreme" option! My partner Warwick and I nutted out a rough plan of action, which involved climbing up the escarpment from the north Wollongong suburbs and then sweeping back through along the flatter coast.

Up the hill with a slight hiccup on the first control. We finally made it up and starting accumulating points well. A bit of a stuff up at the first bonus control but it was pretty tough going through some heavy scrub (and without leg protection which I thought would not be required. A few more good controls and then a massive stuff up which had us wandering around for quite a while in totally the wrong area...

Finally managed to relocate (with red faces) and try and recover. Picked up the next bonus control and then it was time to head back down the slopes. Another stuff up, missing a very discrete trail, but this time we were not alone with many other groups also having to back track. By now we were considerably off target and opted to miss a couple of controls in order to get down to the flatter sections. By now my legs were also starting to complain. Around here in talking with Warwick, discovered that he has finished 11 6ft tracks and has never run slower than 4:30 so I was doing quite a bit of brain picking!

The more flat running and the more the legs started to tighten up. We stopped for a coke to try and top up the sugar levels but with about 1:30 to go the inevitable cramps started to appear. We kept on pushing on but gradually slowed as my cramps spread to different muscles on different legs. We ended up getting back a few minutes late after pushing hard for some extra points.

Some analysis tonight and worked out that with the 2 major navigation slip ups we lost close to an hour, not to mention the energy expended on the tougher terrain. Tonight I am knackered, the legs have lots of cuts/grazes from all the scrub and I am getting still getting cramps (especially in the foot). Have doned the skins and also just stuffed my face with some chips to try and top up the salt levels. A good hit out but I will be sore tomorrow, a great way way to formally kick off my Six Foot campaign, 16 weeks to go!!!!

Family Vacation

Yes, this time the reason for my lack of blogging was because we were off imitating the Griswalds up on the Gold Coast. Given some other events recently I deliberately did not blog this (not wanting to broadcast to anyone who might read that the home would be empty!). Also apologies to any Bris Vegas readers, at one point I was going to try and catch up with them for a run but an extremely hectic week put a stopper on that idea. I did get a chance to go out one morning (just also happened to be probably the warmest while we were there. Ran from Surfers Paradise to Burleigh Heads and back. An interesting course, some very boring streets mixed in with some magnificent ocean/surf views. Really started to struggle towards the end but put this down to the combined heat/humidity.

Still alive!

Yes folks I am still here. Some major internet access problems and a few other committments have made blogging (and reading others blogs) a tough task.

I've been running (not heaps though) with Summer Series on Wednesday then the Striders 10km @ Lane Cove on Saturday followed by a long distance orienteering event on Sunday from Castle Hill to Parramatta along the various sections of bush (you'd be amazed how much bush is actually between Castle Hill and Parramatta!).

Another Summer Series tonight and a major stuff up at one (very technical, ie hard to find control).

I'm hoping to blog more regularly again but probably not for another week and a bit until I sort out the internet problems.

On a significant note from last Sunday there were 18 weeks until Six Foot Track!!!

I have formulated a program which should get me moving again on the training front and also drop a few kg's ;)