Striders Lane Cove 10k 31/7/10

Ran Hard. Hurt like hell. 38m 35s.

Sutherland to Surf 2010

Honor couldn't make this run due to tonsilitis so Caryn took her place. It was Caryn's first competitive run and she was a little nervous.
This was my first run in a week as the "week from hell" at work meant that I was committed from dawn till midnight everyday.
I was interested to see if I could hold the good form from last week. It turns out I could. Conditions were perfect, no wind and 12 degrees.
I got off to a quick start which is easy as the first 5k is all down hill. Went through 4k in 14.35. Then held a steady pace to the end. Was only overtaken by a couple of people and managed to pull most of them back on the run up to the surf club.
Time for the 11k 41.40. Av pace 3.48.
Caryn ran a lot faster than she thought she would in 63.47.

Surprising Improvement

Since the mini-mos I have continued running the planned training schedule with Honor and I have had some surprising results.
The programme calls for intervals on Tuesday and Thursday and a longer run Sunday. We have stuck to it. Prior to starting the intervals we begin with 2k warm up then 8x50m drills. The intervals total 5k, then a 2-3k run home.

We mix the intervals up 500m one day, and 900m the next around Pioneer Park. But we alternate with Howe St hill repeats (700m), and the Malabar circuit (5.3k) as a tempo run. Its working. I am going a lot faster. And so is she.

I have now broken 21mins for the Malabar circuit, 20.42! All the intervals times I have slashed. Not bad considering my doctor told me I had to stop running forever in January.

The remarkable thing is that my 10k time has just kept improving. The Striders 10k at Homebush I ran a PB of 38.59. And today I did the chip-timed 10k Cooks river run in 37.37! How could I suddenly take almost a minute and a half off? Strider Ben pushed me in the last 3k so that was a help.

Was the course too short? Well if it was I am not complaining about it.

But the best run I have done lately was running with Honor in the 10k Sri Chinmoy event at Dolls Point. This was her longest race run and I agreed to pace her the whole way. She struggled between 5 and 7 k but then came good and we ran over the line together in 60mins exactly. Here is a photo of Honor and I at the finish.(courtesy of Sri Chinmoy)

Yes I was a little bit proud. She really has stuck to her guns and I think she will make the distance in the C2S.

Mini-Mosmarathon 20/6/10 - PB

Felt really crappy before the start. Very upset tummy. But on the back of the PB on Thu I thought I should enter. Decided to start back in the field a bit to get the psycological benefit of overtaking. After 5k I was 30s up on sub 40 so I concentrated on holding that. The hills were a challenge but not being overtaken and passing others was a big lift. The final hill was just pain, but I still had enough for a sprint against another runner down the long finish straight. Final time 39.30. About 2 mins better than previously here.

Tempo Thu 17/6/10

Two circuits of Malabar 5.3k course. First lap with Honor. Then after being inspired by Honor's big effort, I ran another lap at maximum effort. Very surprised to do it in 20m 57s which is a personal best.

Hill Repeats Tue 15/6/10

Ran ten repeats of Howe St hill with Honor. It was surpriingly easy

Mountains Long Weekend

Took seven kids camping in the middle of winter to Dunphy's Camp Ground. Temp dropped to about -6C. But there wasn't one complaint. The kids were great. My brother in law Carl was really well prepared, so we had spares for everything. Played war games with the kids. What a perfect place for it. Their imaginations ran wild. It culminated in an ambush on Grandma when she arrived with Alison and Janet. She put up a good fight with her "six guns"
On Monday morning I went for a 15k run along the base of Narrowneck. Great road for running but bitterly cold. My fingers were burning and I wore a long sleeve thermal, a fleece vest and a beany, and I was still cold. It was a slow but pleasant run. Saw several lyre birds.

Last Night at the proms -11/6/2010

Enjoyable night out for Mum's birthday with Michel and Serena. The Poms have stirring anthems

Cold tired but plodding along

Mon - 5k arounf Malabar circuit with Honor
Tue - Intervals around Pioneer Top with Honor. Only did 4 because of strained right quad muscle and fatigue. Fastest 3:19.
Wed - No run. rest
Thu 10th. 10 intervals around Pioneer Bottom. Last one in 1.45. The leg was much better for the rest. Hon ran 2.25.

Great NOSH Slushfest 15k

Ran this on spur of the moment. Started in middle of the pack and followed a Conga line to Roseville bridge. Enjoyed chatting to Mike to the bridge. Happy to cruise along because the ground was treacherous after all the rain. Mud mud mud. Was able to sprint over the bridge but then had to work my way past dozens of runners on the single file track. Very worried I would trip or slip.
Once we crested the last hill and were on the fire trail I gave it everthing and really enjoyed it. Spent the last k running behind the second female who was making some spectacular jumps from rock to rock. She tired at the last corner but I refused to overtake because she had put in such a gutsy effort, so I gave her a gentle push in the back and said get going, and she did, sprinting to the line.
I ran back to find Mike and then Stef who came in looking a bit worse for wear after staying up all night watching the tennis.
Mike and I ran back to the car along the road at a leisurely pace.
My time was 80 minutes of thereabouts for the 15k.

The Missing Year

Before I lose track I thought I would put down the saga of my "running life" since the Mt WIlson to Bilpin event in August last year. The big gap in this blog from May 10th 2009 till April 2010 was created by staring work on the huge Desalination Project. I did manage to run the King of the Mountain 2.30, C2S 56.30, Willy to Billy 2.48.
It was at the Willy to Billy that I hit a big hurdle. Flying down the hill to the bridge I caught up with two guys running together. Suddenly one of them collapsed right in front of me. I jumped over him but I landed in a ditch an "crunched" my ankle. It hurt. I hobbled on to the finish but I knew it was bad.
That was the end of running for at least a month and therefore no Sydney marathon. In mid September I was riding my bike around Centennial park to train for the Gong ride. About half an hour after finishing I had terrible back pain, and for the next month I could only hobble around as I let it recover. Was it related to the ankle? I suspect so. Anyway, by late December I had started slow running again.
But then in early Jan I was holidaying with the family at Bendalong. Feeling fine I played touch footy with the kids on the beach. Something went crunch in my right knee and that was that. For the next two months the knee ached terribly and was very tender. I could barely walk on it. I went to a physio, she didn't know what the problem was, I went to the GP who arranged an X-ray and declared I have arthritis and must stop running, then I saw a knee specialist who said that I had bruised a fat pad behind the knee cap and that the best thing for it was slow running.
To keep my fitness up i began swimming each day and swam in the Warriewood Swim,Palm Bach to Whale Beach Swim, The Bondi Classic, and the Long Bay to Little Bay.
By coincidence my daughter Honor had begun the Couch to 5k, and so I started running with her at about 6.5min/km. Gradually we built up the number of k's until she could run 5k. Something I never thought i would see.
Anyway now 10 months after twisting my ankle I think I can call myself injury free and back to close to full fitness.
By the way, the desalination plant came up to full speed this week.

Striders 10k North Head

Perfect weather after a week of heavy rain and wind. Tried to just improve on last week. Had a few mental trials keeping up the pace on the the run from the roundabout to the crest, but overall ran comfortably for 39.27.

Hidden 10k 30/5/2010

The rain magically stopped for this run round Lake Gillawarna for the Western Districts 10k. Just aimed to stayed under 40 mins and did that OK in 39.57
Afterwards went for a slow run with Caryn and Honor twice round Centennial Park.

Intervals at Pioneer

Ran 10 intervals of 500m circuit road footy field. Slowly as legs are very stiff. Times 2.05 to 1.51.Then ran on to office. 10k all up.

Run Home

After two days of heavy rain, I ran home via nine ways and Maroubra beach. Beautiful evening. Strangely my knee didn't hurt at all.

SMH Half Marathon

Minimum training. Only two runs of 20k and some intervals. But still felt OK and ran 87.15. Some shooting pains in my knee. Oh well, its good to run again after eight months

Wow, its been a year!

So much has happened and its only in the last week that I have begun to emerge from the fog of the last year. So much pressure but I am still alive and some wonderful things have happened and the bad things by comparison are minor.

Now where to begin.. I know, I will wait for another post...