Recovery Run

No run Monday. But felt pretty good. No doms or niggles
On Tue ran 11k easy to Lapa and back. Felt good on pleasant evening but immediately fell asleep when I got home.

Sydney Marathon Sep 23 2013

Pleasant day. Ran with Ben as 3.15 pacers. No problem with the pace but I was tired at the end and sore. We had some good performances this year and about 6 runners stuck with the group to the end. Came in at 3,14.30.

Lead up to Sydney Marathon

Have fitted in runs where I can. But I have been feeling fit and strong. I entered Boston this week and the Bogong to Hotham. I also volunteered at the Centennial Park Ultra which was fun. This weekend I am pacing the 3.15 group in the marathon. That should be fun.

Coast Run Sun 8/9/13

Very weary after a 36 hour emergency repair but dragged myself out and plodded off toward the Bondi stack. After Maroubra the legs felt a little less dead and I started moving well especially up all the stairs. Fell in with one guy sprinting at Bondi and we ran to the top of the hill together. I think I almost killed him.
Then ran back down to Bondi and got a Frosty Fruit and party mix lollies.
Went up Bondi Rd to the Junction down to Centennial with another guy who I fell in with who had good speed on. Then around the park and down to Doncaster. At Kingsford I really started suffering as fatigue set in and I fought the urge to lay down and sleep.
Walked for a while and then plodded to Perry St and up to Malabar.
About 35k all up. Well stuffed and now having long bath.

Balmain Bungle Star Sun 1 Sept

Perfect weather for the first day of spring. Large but slow 6.20 group. I left the them behind on the first hill. Then I ran with a guy called Mike to the 20k mark where I slowed for a chat with Mike K. Left Mike after a k and ran alone from Cooks River to the finish. It was a challenge to keep the pace going as I had occasional bouts of diarrhoea. Yuk.
Ran strongly to the finish but pleased to finish. Total time 2.25 for about 30k.
Then met Janet at the breakfast and walked round the Bay run with her.
Got home and serena cooked me scrambled eggs for Fathers Day.

Rocks Push Star Aug 25th 2013

Perfect running weather. For once I was up on time and feeling fresh. I even arrived early.
Lots of banter amongst the six or seven of us in the group. Comfortable pace and we all stayed together till Woollomoloo when we broke up as we passed the 6.00 group.
I ran with another guy who set a brisk pace as we came back along Farm Cove round the Opera House and across the Bridge for a loop of Kirribilli. I felt the pinch coming back up from Neutral Bay but perked up again across the bridge. Completed the 31k in 2.20.
After a quick snack I ran across the bridge again to Neutral Bay and back.
About 37k all up.

Hard Week

I had a good recovery from C2S but I had many tough jobs at work this week to do more than a few desultory runs. I did have one great run from home to office via Cape Bank, Lapa, Botany Cemetery and then went diving with Neil and Greg on HMAS Adelaide.

City2Surf 2013

Jogged to the start with David on a relatively warm morning with light westerly wind. Started about 10 rows back and felt OK from the start. Went along at 3.52 pace to the Hill then 4.26m/k to the top and 4.06 for the final 6k. Finished in 56.41 which is 9 seconds slower than last year but 23 places better.
I enjoyed it and ran comfortably all the way. Especially along Campbell Parade I was able to hold a quick pace.
After a few chats with other Striders I jogged back along the coast to Malabar. Just a bit tired at the end. About 30k all up.
No ankle pain which was a bonus.

Sri Chimnoy Half Sun 9th June

Glorious day at Centennial Park. I enjoyed the run. It was all cross country. Finished in about 88mins. Had a low spell on lap 2 but finished running OK. Plenty of room for improvement. Still no achilles pain.

Parkrun Sat 8th June

Enjoyable run in 19.08. That's 29 seconds over my best and with my achilles feeling so much better I am sure I can get under that. Stuffed at the finish but recovered and ran the course again.

Mixed bag Wed 5th June

The last week has been a mixed bag with some excellent fast runs to Lapa with H and some lacklustre runs on the weekend.
Today was a record 41 mins for the 10.6k which included a drink stop and a couple of double backs
The remarkable thing that I realised last week is that my achilles soreness has gone. It has taken one year.
Possibly running in Nike Free's instead of the high heel Gel Nimbus has helped.
Whatever the cause it is much more enjoyable running now.

Harbourside Hike Star Sunday 26/5/13

Late again. Didn't get to start until about 6.35. So ran solo until the 22k mark when I met up with Dave and we soldiered on to the end. Hard but enjoyable on a crisp calm autumn morning.

SMH Half May 19th 2013

Entered at last minute when the organisers a sent me an email offering discount and preferred start.
Perfect conditions. Cool, still, sunny. Had a goal of running 4 min k's. Ran 10k in 39.30, and 14k in 56, 18k in 72 and then lost 2 minutes in the last 3 k to come in at 86.30.
I realised afterwards that I had been led astray by the positioning of some of the distance flags. No big deal.
I felt good afterwards. But some doms after the next few days.
On Tue night I had a late meeting at North Ryde. So I bought some cheap shorts and shirt at Mac Centre and jogged down the Striders Lane Cove course and back in the moonlight.
No run Wed/Thu and Fri a killer run to Lapa and back with H who is coming back to her best

San Diego - Cowles Mountain

After Boston I flew down to San Diego and stayed in the Best Western on El Cajun Boulevard. This was next to my old friend Adrienne and Amit's home. Together we had a fabulous weekend. The highlights were visiting old town and a great visit to Helen and Glen house and there beautiful kids in Pt Loma. On Sunday we were joined by Cindy and later we all went to see Paul Kelly at the House of Blues. it was a great time.
I managed one run up to Cowles Mountain but unfortunately the trasil to the top was closed for maintenance so it was strictly a road run only of about 15km. Pretty slow as my legs were dead.
I also had a great visit to Balboa Park with Adrienne and Kalyan.

Boston Marathon 2013

Stayed at the Indigo Wellesley overnight and  was  picked up by the Heart Break Hill Striders from the Woodland T Station at 6.45. It was a perfect still cool. clear day.
Three other Striders joined us. They were Phil, Louise and Peter. We headed to a big house in Hopkinton which is owned by a HH strider. About 40 Striders came in and she made us very welcome. Then she left for work. How generous.
I got about half an hours sleep and then stated to get my gear organised. There was a great camaraderie between all the runners in the house. Lots of chat about tactics and PR's. At 9am we got back on the Striders bus and went to a transfer area to board a school bus for the short trip to the start line.
I soon found my Corral number 3 and after the preliminaries such as the stirring national anthem and presentations to servicemen the race started.
It begins with a steep downhill and continues downhill or level to kilometre 16. My strategy was to get to 10 k in 42 mins.. I got there in 41.16 doing my best to slow down. I felt fine. Running conditions were as good as they could be.
The next 20k went past in regulation fashion. Right on 21mins a k. After 10k the distance signs were only in miles except for every 5k.
The crowds were huge and the cheering was loud to the point of painful.
The Wellesley College girls were out in force with lots of amusing signs and cheers.
The four Newton Hills were hard but I had been fortunate enough to drive the course with Frank the day before. That really helped me in budgeting my energy here. The hills are not steep and are separated by small descents but they are continuous, one after another right after  25kms of downhill. On the descent after the four hills at 35k I knew that I was starting to struggle.One of the features of this race is that because everyone in your corral has qualified with a similar time, as soon as you fall off your qualifying pace the field starts moving past you. Thats what happened from here to the end.
Along the final 7k of flat ground to the finish I knew that I just needed to maintain 4 min 30sec pace to go under 3 hours. But I was suffering. This is the spot where I stopped dead in 2007 with cold and exhaustion. Waves of runners started going past as I slowed. It seemed like it was such a long way to go.
In the distance I could see the CITGO sign which I knew was at about 40km.
The times so far were:
30k - 2.05.47-pace  4.11
35k - 2.28.36 - pace 4.33
40k. - 2.51.46  - pace  4.38
So that left 2.2km to cover in at 3m 42s to go under 3 hours, which was not possible. I gritted my teeth.
My time would have been slower except for the extraordinary cheering of the huge crowd. I heard "Go Alan" called out by Geoffrey and Frank and someone else called "Go Strider" and "way to go Sydney".
Finally I came in at 3.02.17 which was a pace of just 4m40s over the last 2.2kms.
The suffering level was right up there and I could barely walk after finishing.
The post race organisation was superbly done. There was lots of water, Gatorade, power bars, bananas and even a lunch bag provided.
Numerous helpers placed space blankets around me and offered me wheel chairs.I managed to resist but it was tempting.
I staggered  down Boylston St towards the Union Gym. Suddenly I was overcome with emotion when Geoffrey appeared at the side barrier I gave him a big hug. I couldn't help having a sob.
We staggered on together for about a kilometre to the gym where the HH Striders provided snacks, hot showers and massages.What a great group they are.
The shower was heavenly. I emerged fully refreshed and had a good chat to the other Sydney Striders who had all finished well.
Frank had also made it through the crowds to the gym and he guided us back to South Station where we relaxed and chatted to other runners in the food court until our train arrived. Several Bostonians approached us while we were waiting to ask about my race. There is huge local support for the event in a town which may be the greatest sports fans in the world..
The goodwill and enthusiasm of the Bostonians made what happened next all the more distressing and poignant..
After boarding the train, we made the first stop at the Back Bay subway directly under the finish line. Policeman with sniffer dogs passed through the carriage, which Frank said was unusual, and then  people started streaming in to the train and talking about an incident. Frank received a call from his sister Kathleen checking if we were OK because she heard that there had been an explosion at the finish line.
Several people near us on the train had seen the blasts but no one was sure what they were.
The ghastly details emerged as the train made its way back to our stop at Mansfield.
We witnessed were moving scenes at the stations as relieved families met their loved ones getting off the trains.
Once we were home Frank, Geoffrey and I watched the news feeds together in silence. We realised that the second blast had been in the exact location that they had been cheering one hour previously.  I realised that many of the people who I had heard cheering me along the finish straight may now maimed or dead.
I don't have the eloquence to put in words my feelings that evening but  lot of tears were shed that day by me and probably all Bostonians and decent people everywhere.

Training in Boston

Arrived late Mon 8th. Tue did a 12k return to Mansfield for supplies. Thu did a stiff  10k ret to Foxboro. Fri no run. Sat an easy 14k around the F.Gilbert State Park. It was freezing. Must get gloves for marathon. Feeling well.  Ready to go.

Back in Boston

Arrived late on Monday 8th with Geoffrey. Picked up by. Frank and Susan at the airport. Staying at there beautiful house in Foxboro. The flight was a brutal 20 hours.
Lovely weather. Cool and sunny. After breakfast with Frank and some shopping, I fitted in a brisk 12k. Felt ok.

Kim Jung-Un is ruining my marathon preparation

I didn't really care about the Korean marshmallow imitating Austen Powers ever before...but when he disrupts my training then I am gonna get angry.
Suddenly at GI there is a big flap about mobilising ships right now which has meant lots of overtime and weekend work, and no spare staff to do our routine work which has fallen to me.
So today I had to miss the Lane Cove 10k and settle for a 5k sprint to the office.
Then spent the day diving off Cape Bailey where conditions were exceptional. The current was 1/2 knot behind us, vis 15m and water 23 deg. 4ea dead calm. It doesn't get better so that's some consolation.
But in the words of Kim Jong Un "we know what you are up to, you western dog, and we will stop your evil marathon plans using our very secret wobbly legs laser."

Thu 4th April Sprint to Lapa

Started work at 2am on a rainy day in Sydney. So at 7pm when I was free to run I was feeling flat. But as soon as the legs started moving I felt better. Increased speed through the run and ran all the hills well. Had one full speed sprint along Matto High. Finished off with stretches and push ups. Feel pretty good. Achilles 8/10. 12k total.

Wed 3rd April MLR

Up at 5am to run before work but a thunderstorm suddenly bucketed down, Tried again at 7pm. Ran down the road to Lapa then back to Fitzgerald and up Malabar Rd. About 15k all up at a slow pace overall. Took a couple of walk breaks when the rain stopped and had some mental and physical quiet time. Knees and achilles are feeling good.