Run Record

Well, what a difference from last Saturday morning. Woke to clear skies and sunshine and Bondi at 7am was just beautiful. Met up with Terrence, Kermit and Mark and headed off on the same route as last week. Had the race belt on a two bottles each of Gatorade and water to see how it felt and practice the marathon drinking plan. Hills all the way to Queens Park, then a flatter section to Oxford Street and the start of the C2S course. Heartbreak Hill not too bad this week and starting it with 17kms in the legs was a bit worrying but felt good on the way down into Watson's Bay. Going around Watson's Bay my right knee and lower leg became pretty tight and sore and I was a pretty concerned as we were just at the 23km mark and had the hill past the gap to climb. Took it easy up the hill - around 6.30min kms and knee/leg felt ok but pain came back as soon as I was on the flat. Leaned forward a bit more and ran more on the balls of my feet and that seemed to work better, so possibly just fatigue and style going out the window. Passed last week's pb of 25kms at the turning point for the C2S so knew we just a had a few more small hills to go before the long descent back into Bondi. Last 700 meters on the promenade at Bondi felt great - knew there was a finish in sight and a dip in the water. Run stats at http://connect.garmin.com/activity/102680332 and you can see the hills - so very happy with a 5.06 average pace for such an up and down course but know I still have a lot of work to do over the next two months and that this is the "normal" Saturday run distance for a while! So biggest run week ever with 67kms and loooking forward to a rest day tomorrow. Will try and get a few laps of Centennial Park done on bank holiday Monday and then Wed long run and Thursday speed set with Hurts.

Blow Up

A sad attempt by Adam and I too do the Hurts hill sprint session today! Aim was for 10 repeats and we got through 5 and were pretty much last after the first one. Set was 600m from Argyll St up to the top of Observatory Hill and rising approximately 20m in that distance. Adam had a reasonable excuse given he has run 4 days on the trot. Had very little in legs after the first two and still quite happy to be doing sub 4.30 pace for most of the set. Run stats are at http://connect.garmin.com/activity/102266433 and really looking forward to the rest day tomorrow.

Long Run

Stunning day for the long Wednesday run today and a bit of a disappointing turn out with only 7 of us there including Wildman, Mike Race, Adam and James. Group decided the route was Centennial Park today given the hill rep session on tomorrow. Quickly became evident that Adam, James and I were a bit out of our league and so resigned ourselves to a session on our own! As we were heading down into Elizabeth Bay we heard some heavy footsteps and hard breathing behind us and lo and behold Tom was bringing up the rear. Some friendly banter exchanged in relation to his hurtful blog comments on Monday and he disappeared off into the distance with a "I'm running 4m/kms to catch up". Sounded kind of impressive until James mentioned Tom wasn't even doing his marathon pace on the way past! Mike Race was waiting for us at the top of Ocean Street and we did a pretty decent pace on the lap round the park. Mike headed off for a second lap while the three of us turned for home. Adam decided to leave at the Oxford Street gates but was waiting for us at the top of Ocean Street. He gave up the ghost at Rushcutters due to a poor breakfast although credit for 3 days of running on the trot. Felt the last km and oushed it up the hill through the domain and happy with a 16.5km effort today. Run stats at http://connect.garmin.com/activity/102055652 and have done a quick calc on 5km splits which were around 24.40, 22.30 and 21.40 for 4.5kms. Hill sprints tomorrow should be fun.

Quick Monday Run

Hosting a 2pm meeting meant I couldn't do the full Hurts session today, so decided to do it a bit quicker than normal and aim to drop off at Circular Quay on the return. Headed up with Adam and a big turn out today - you can tell C2S is coming up. Laura had a great result at the Sutherland to Surf yesterday doing just over 38 minutes for 11kms and setting a 10km pb of 35.10 which is just sensational. The group split into 2 around the Boy Chartlon and Adam and stuck with the second half who were still averaging 4.30's for the starting pace. We pulled away a bit around Hickson Road and Barangaroo but were pretty much in no-man's land between the groups. Adam decided to push some little bursts coming back along Hickson and was quite happy to be able to keep up given the long run on Saturday. Managed to pick up the pace from the Sebel and Adam dropped back - something about not having his breakfast this morning (terrible excuse for a young guy getting beaten by a old fella) and di just around 4min kms for the last 2kms. Run stats are at
http://connect.garmin.com/dashboard?cid=2106035 and very happy that no pain or stiffness in the legs. This will be a big week if all is well, with a long run on Wed, hill sprints on Thurs and 30kms on Sat. Woohoo.

Long, long wet run

Well rain wasn't as heavy as it has been over the last couple of days, but it still wasn't very inspiring or motivating when I got to North Bondi Surf Club around 6.50. Mike, Rob and Kermit turned up bank on 7am and we headed off for the longest single distance run I have ever done. Took the coast along to Bronte where we headed up the cutting and McPherson street, down Queens Park into Centennial for half a lap before heading down Oxford Street into the City. It's a little bit weird when you are running past people just coming out of, and even some going in to, the clubs on Oxford Street. Picked up the start of the C2S course at Hyde Park and ran it all the way back to North Bondi Surf club for 25kms exactly. Kermit left us in Double Bay and I left Mike and Rob atthe top of Heartbreak Hill as they were off to do the Watson's Bay route before heading back to Bondi on the C2S course for a 31km run - that'll be my goal next week! Very happy with average of 5 min km pace and over all time of 2.05 given it was such a hilly course - hitting Heartbreak Hill with 18kms in the legs wasn't that much fun! Couple of notabel events today when Mike and Rob were threatened by a vicious looking Doberman at a water bubbler in Rose Bay closely followed by the three of us narrowly avoiding being run over by a boat as it was being rolled into the water, also in Rose Bay - maybe they don't like early  morning runners. So all up 54kms for the week in just 3 runs and legs feel ok. Run stats are at http://connect.garmin.com/activity/101005922.

Wednesday Corp Cup

Out with Adam for the last Corp Cup run of the series yesterday and thankfully a break in the torrential rain for the duration of the run which was most welcome. Struggled through a 25.30 and a full minute behind Adam - some serious headwind on the ED flyover which didn't help. Also knew I was going to add on another 6kms afterwards so maybe mentally I held back a bit but the closest I reckon I have come to walking in the CC. We had a few minutes after the end of the run and headed off for an easy 6kms back along the foreshore and down Hickson Road at 4.45 pace. Legs felt very dodgy by the time we finished but 13kms all up. Run stats are at http://connect.garmin.com/activity/100616488 and http://connect.garmin.com/activity/100616475
Looking forward to long run on Saturday- 25km target this week.

Long Monday Run

A stunning winter's day in Sydney and glad to get out for the Monday Hurts session. Not many people turned up - suspect they are taking a break while Mike is on holiday for 3 weeks. Laura, Brendan, James and Russell among the regulars and we headed off arond 4.45 pace. Within a couple of kms we had split into two groups with the first 5/6 folk heading off around 4.20 pace so back of the pack for me as the legs were feeling Saturday's effort. Was pretty happy with averaging 4.30 pace at the 8km turnaround but wasn't feeling like carrying on at Circular Quay but with only James and I left by that stage so decided to aim for the Farm Cove gates and come home via the Domain. So all up 16kms today and looking forward to a rest day tomorrow and last corp cup run of this series on Wednesday - might have to tack on another 6kms to keep the mileage up this week. Run stats for today at http://connect.garmin.com/activity/99977658