Sun 22nd June- Rocks Push Star

31km around Sydney CBD, out to Rushcutters and then over the Harbour bridge to the Neutral Bay and finally back via the bridge to the start at the Observatory. Completed in 2.5 hours. A few hills and stairs. Ran strongly, never feeling very tired until the last few k's. A sharp pain developed in my left hip when we stopped for water but it was OK to run on.
Gold Coast Marathon in two weeks.
Spent the rest of the day reading a book. Luxury.

Sat 21st June - Honor's First Run

Honor is on a fitness drive so she agreed to come on a very slow run to the office and back which is 10k all up. I also ran over to Jellicoe to watch Geoffery play soccer.

Fri 20th June 10k Sprint

Ran 2.5 km to Heffron Pk then did six sprints around the 2040m track. The 1km splits were
4.25, 4.13, 4.15, 3.57, 4.06, 3.57, 4.07, 4.02, 4.09, 3.59. For total of 41.15. Didn't feel bad afterwards. 2.5 km jog home

Thu 19th June

5.3 k sprint around the Malabar circuit in 22mins. Too tired for any more.

Monday 16th June - Turning a corner

5k quick sprint to Gym then a 45 minute spin class during which I gave it everything. Half way through I went into a deep trance and seemed to be floating outside my body. I felt no pain and no exhaustion. Wonderful. Ran home feeling happy.

Tue 17 th June.
Another 5k sprint to the Gym. Had plenty of gas in the tank and made it there in about 17 minutes. Road hard intervals on the bike for 30 mins but I couldn't capture last nights form.

There is definitely a door that can be opened to the brain when you maintain a constant rhythm. A little bit of exhaustion seems to help open it.

I feel I have turned a corner in the last few weeks. I seem to have much more endurance.

Fluffers Mudgee Trip June 14/15

A bit tired this week after running from Mum's at Hunters Hill via Concord to the office on Monday evening.
Tuesday 2 * 5k to Gym and back with 1/2 hr spin class.
Wednesday no running.
Thursday 1 km sprints around Jellicoe Park.
Friday sprint from office to Airport to pick up a hire car. Then late evening drive to Mudgee.
Saturday 7am Mike K. and I ran 10 k through Mudgee and up to the top of one of the hills with a transmitter on it. I left him with three k to go and sprinted home.

Then joined the other Fluffers for an enjoyable bus tour of the wineries. I did my best to have as little to drink as possible. Interesting tour, I learned a lot about wine, which isn't surprising as I knew nothing to start with.

Enjoyed a great lunch at Oatley winery and then a dinner at the Old Mudgee Railway Station. Once again I stayed off the grog and resisted having the very delicious looking deserts.
I dragged myself out at 6.00am on Sunday. The thermometer was 1 deg and Apparent Temp was -3. Set off solo at 6.20am for 6 *5.4k laps of the town which included the steady climb up to the water reservoir. The cold was an issue and my hands and forearms became completely numb and paralysed. When I tried to unscrew the cap on my water bottle my hands were just a couple of claws.

There was a surprising number of runners and walkers out in the darkness and they were rugged up like Eskimos. I must have looked a sight in my shorts and T-shirt.

Still I was enjoying running, so much so I took a few longer diversions to see the sights. On lap two I ran for a few hundred metres with a mob of kangaroos bounding alongside me near the water reservoir

The sun rose weakly at 7am but it wasn't till after 8am that it started generating any heat, and my hands began aching as the feeling returned. I started the final lap at 8.36am and was on a bit of a high, with the sun giving me a lift. Picked up the pace to finish the last lap in 4 min k's just before 9am.

Then I feasted on great scrambled eggs with the other Fluffers at the Old Butchers Cafe before saying goodbye and heading back to Sydney.

Rennies Tunnel-Dixons Ladder Sun 8th June

Mike P was in town so we planned to go on an adventure. All the rain meant canyoning wasn't on, and as we got away to a late start (we arrived in Katoomba at 12.30) we needed a hike of about 4 hours. A quick google on my laptop from the car and I got some track notes on Rennies tunnel which I had always wanted to check out. So we parked on Cliff Road and hiked down Glenraphael Rd then the Golden Stairs and soon found the entrance about a kilometre north of the stairs.

An interesting tunnel for shale/coal cars in the 19th Century which goes right through Narrow Neck. Its only about 1.5 metres high and 4 metres across in places the roof has collapsed so its possible to stand up.

There is nothing much in there. Surprisingly no litter or grafitti. The rails have been removed and just a few of the sleepers remain. Some cute bent wing bats were huddled on the roof.
At the western end, the entrance is collapsed and only a small hole is open, just big enough to squeeze through. We had planned to hike out up Nellies Glen, but instead we hiked up the Water Board road and found a"Ladders Removed Sign". Hmmm. Onward and upward, and for once it work out.
We clambered up to the base of the old ladders which are called "Dixons Ladders" and found that someone had jury rigged a couple of saplings up to the steel ladder. Great.

Then half way up the ladders ended. Bugger. But a rope was hanging down. It was still raining and a good quantity of water was pouring down the gully so we rugged up and buttoned down the GoreTex and climbed up through the stream. Fortunately it turned out to be easy and we then quickly climbed up to the Glenraphael road and to the car.

Three hours round trip.

Striders North Head Star 30k Sun 8th June

A lot fresher today after rest on Saturday afternoon. Cold and raining. Small 6.20 group ran together the whole way. Finished in about 2.15. A few good hills and a variety of terrain. Lots of rain. Enjoyed it. Ran strongly.

Striders 10k North Head Sat 7th June

First time at fairly flat North Head course. Really tired from work. Ran 39.33 and lucky to do that Happy to have dragged myself out of bed and got it done.

Consistent Running

In the two weeks since the SMH I have had consistent running and still injury free and enthusiastic.

The first week I spent out of town at Batemans Bay for work. Still got in a good long run from BB to Malua Bay and back on Sunday 25th as well as some tempo and interval runs. Came back from BB having lost several kilos.

This week back in Sydney I did the same, but also ran the North Ryde Star, I ran strongly with the 6.20 group, but I did take it easy on the rock strewn track through the valley with was a great place to strain a ligament.

I must have improved this year because when I last ran with the 6.20 group in February I couldn't keep up and was absolutely done in at the end.

Five weeks to GCM

SMH Half Marathon Sun 18th May 2008

6500 entrants this year and I started about a third of the way down the pack. It took about kilometre to get past the slower runners and settled down to a pace of about 4.1 min/k. I wanted to beat my PB of 87.57 but not thrash myself.
I came through 10k at 41 mins and faded in the last couple of k's to come home in 87.03 net or 4.12mins/k. Fairly pleased with that as I had trained pretty hard during the week and work was a thrasher.
The weather was perfect. Greg L. unfortunately dropped out with a hamstring problem but Mike K. ran well in 99 mins.
Afterwards ran to Balmain to meet Alison at her cafe followed by a great family get together at her place. Very nice.

Church Point Challenge STAR

This starts off with a big, big hill, which I ran OK. That broke up the group leaving just three of us. After the hill I was able to fall into a steady rhythm and felt good plugging away at 4.2 to 4.5 min/k. The final hill up to Warriewood was a challenge but one at the top it was an easy run home to Narrabeen.

Flu

No running Mon to Thu due to flu. Felt crappy so I rested. On Friday went out for a slow ramble round Cape Banks then up to Maroubra, along the beach, back round Malabar headland and home.
No running Saturday due to work and Serena's confirmation.

Striders Homebush Star 30K - 4-5-08

Interesting 30K run around the mostly flat suburbs of Homebush, Newington, Ermington and Concord. It took 2h 20 including a few pit stops. Felt good, ran well.
Watched Rohan Castro's footy match afterwards.

Striders 10k Homebush

A perfect morning cool with no wind and a flat track. After being away all week I was feeling very lethargic and was happy to come home in 39.50.

Working at in Kangaroo Valley

Spent the week away working at Tallowa Dam Kangaroo Valley. Beautiful mountainous scenery. Ran the 21k's to work one day. Fog bound, freezing and silent. A giant tree suddenly fell beside me. It came down with a tremendous CRACK!! followed by a tearing, rushing cacophany, then silence.
A strange experience. Is it an omen?

Newport Nightmare Star 27/4/08

Good run from Newport Beach to Barrenjoey and back. Stopped at Avalon after 25km to go to church with Owen and Patti. Was running well. Beautiful morning.

Kanangra Walls to Katoomba 19-20 April 2008

At Coxs River

Ed and I hiked from Kanangra Walls to Katoomba on a Three Peaks scouting expedition. There was a lot of rain and Mt Cloudmaker lived up to its name. We made side trips to the Koonangaroo clearing hut and Mt Dingo. The total distance is only about 45km but it left nme far more tired than running the marathon last week. This was a big contrast to the walk in Feb 2007 which was in the drought. This time visibilty was only 100m and the track was boggy around Mobbs Swamp.

Ed walking in Cloud at Mt Dingo

We checked out the best camp cave ever at Mobbs swamp and also noted a good one at Taros Ladder.

Ed going up Taros Ladder

I would like to make a crack at the Three Peaks (Mt Cloudmaker, Mt Paralyser, and Mt Guouogang) with the full moon on September 13/14th.

Mt Guouogang

Canberra Marathon 2008

New PB of 3.06. Felt great all the way. Ran to plan with very steady splits. Light to moderate rain till the halfway mark, then a beautiful mild sunny day.

Malabar-Lapa-Maroubra circuit 28k - April 6th 2008

Final long run before Canberra. Daylight savings meant a nice lie in for an hour. Started at 7am. Two 14k circuits starting at Malabar then to Laperouse, through Chifley to Duffeys corner then down Broome st, up
Malabar road, back to Malabar and start again. Met a few people on the way and propably spent 10 minutes gasbagging. All up 2hr 30mins.