9.55 3k TT PB

Last Friday's session involved 4x 1k efforts, Pat grabbed this shot finishing up one of them. Tried to be consistent with 3.20s (my goal pace for the TT) & managed that pretty well. Helped by 1 min standing recoveries.

Before that I ran Tuesday's speed session pretty hard, my intention this month has been to set a PB for the TT & go sub-10 to boot. I haven't been running 'long runs', just focusing on speed & actually not doing that many runs (3 or 4 for the week). This weekend saw Cec & I down at Byron, had one run - a 10 minute jog along the beach after a swim.

Fronted up this morning with a bit of encouraging news - the course has been modified a bit - after the 2k mark we continue along the road & not the footpath. That footpath has always been a bit of a problem, narrow & hard to master... one particular walker likes to walk her poodle off-leash & there was an occasion when I had to leap over it...

The run unfolded close to perfection: held myself back in the first k going thru in 3.18. Enjoyed the new patch along the road & turned in 4.59 feeling good. I settled in behind Damian F & was pretty content with my position - he was going for sub 10 as well. He started to flag just before 2k & I had to overtake at that stage. Pat was at the 2k marker & called out the split: 6.35. I was too focused to look at my watch but it was probably within 2 secs of that time. Knew then that I just had to maintain that pace - my failing recently. But spurred on by trying to hold off Damian (who was getting a tirade of encouragement & cajoling by Pat) & also by the fact that Nick & Matty weren't putting any distance between me, I managed to shatter my PB by 10 secs. My first sub-10 after 2 years of trying & a podium finish as well (3rd).

And now for a well-earned rest.

13k 'long' run

Felt too tired on Sunday morning for a run - had wiped myself out a bit the day before moving furniture & cleaning up. Ended up going for a quick run on Sunday evening after 6pm. About 4.30 pace, dropped T off after 45 mins & kept going for another 15 or so.

On the Friday did the West End 4 min x 2 out, & the 2min & 30 sec return routine.

About 30k for the week.

Keep on ploddin'

Fronted up for this morning's PCRG session with a huge crowd, took a bit of effort to overtake everyone on the warm-up. A Gardens session involving 3 x 2 min efforts, 30 sec jogs; a 30 sec SR before repeat. Then Pat's add-ons : 2 min out & 2 back; followed by a quick 1 min up the hill to the cafe. No problems with my Achilles heel that has been feeling a bit over-used.

Last Friday's run consisted of some out & back stuff along the floating boardwalk followed with some steep hill reps.

Backed up on Sat with a 1 hr 12k easy with T. Did the same on Sunday late arvo after coming home from a shindig up at Caboolture.

Long Run 1hr 55

Determined to have a long run this last weekend & the weather helped, a bit cooler & overcast on Sunday. Slept in & hit the road about 7.50am. Left T behind but it was for his own benefit - now the days are getting muggy I'm worried he'll overheat but just keep running out of a sense of duty. (We went for a run on Sat morning, 11 ks that included 2 swims - for T that is).

I also need to practice running long distances on my own. Running with a dog does tend to destabilise you a bit holding onto the lead. Running free I felt my gait was a bit better & it was good to be unencumbered of the lead & having to stop for T whenever he needs a stop.

Headed down to the Green Bridge, about 3 ks away & then did the 18.4 'river loop', so about 24ks all up in 1 hour 55 mins. Got into a groove early on & it felt pretty effortless heading along Riverside Drive where I estimated I was on 4.15 k pace. Knew it was a bit fast but also figured I had a long way to go so I might as well chew up the ks.

Didn't see many runners & no one I knew. Did a spot check along the Regatta stretch where a k is marked out - 4.33. Hit the hills at St Lucia & predictably the wheels fell off, just started to do the bare minimum, conserving energy, back around the 5 to 5.15 pace. Only had 3 water fountain drinks & back home was pretty dehydrated. Plenty of stretching & today I feel surprisingly good.

Group member of the month award

Won jointly with Margaret & Damien. Didn't even realise I was in the running, but got it for "achieving a PB when the previous PB was at least 4 months ago". Next month I'm going for the "3 consecutive faster performances" gong. Report here:

I try not to miss the Thursday PCRG session after the time trial cos Pat gets the Ship Inn to put on breakfast. But this morning he postponed it due to the fun run last night. Lots of secretly disappointed folks methinks. Instead of the run out to New Farm we headed around the apartments on the other side of the Story Bridge, then over said bridge & back to the Gardens. Only took 34 mins so did a few laps before most people had regathered for the "no watch 1k". Pat asked me to do the timing cos he was watchless, so I hared off keeping in front of Damien clocking up 3.17 & then calling times until handing over to Pat.

3k TT PB

Only by 2 seconds, 10.05, which is a bit disappointing. Just felt a bit flat today. Still there's always next month & a tantalising 5 secs to lose.

Went out ok & was only a few seconds behind Matty at 1 k in around 3.15. Got to the half-way turn-around in 4.56 but by 2k I was down to 6.39 (2nd k 3.24) & last k was 3.26. So need to practice my endurance, something I've done little of since Melbourne, only running around 30k weeks at the mo'.

That's all I kneed...

Fronted up last Sunday but had a sore glute, shuffled along miserably then called it a day.

Tuesday's speed session was an 8x 500m & then 1x 1k under the Story Bridge. Felt pretty good. A group of 6 in front of me but after their initial burst I kept them at the same margin thru'out.

Thought I'd do a bit of sharpening up for next Tuesday's 3k TT so headed up to the school oval on Wednesday evening after a 15 min warm-up jog. Did 4 sets of 800m with a 2 min recovery walk between (covering 200m).The cricket oval has a 400m 'track' marked out on the 'grassy' surface, but it's very rough. Quite patchy from the lack of rain, little maintenance & weekend cricket matches. So I noticed on the bends I was a bit unsteady, poor light by this stage compounded things & ended up with a sore right knee (my previously injured one).The 800s BTW weren't that fast, just wanted to maintain a steady pace for both laps but invariably the 2nd one was a few seconds slower, around 2.48s.

Took Thurs & Fri off. Feeling better this morning headed out on a very easy 11-12k run at about 5.15 pace. Started too late, around 8 & it was quite warm on the way back, my shoulders getting a bit of sunburn. Tenzing's tongue practically on the concrete we went home via the boat ramp & I thought I saw steam come off him as he immersed himself into the grey-green greasy Limpopo river...

Recovery mode

Taking it pretty easy the last couple of weeks. Had 4 days off after the HM before fronting up to a PCRG Friday session where I ran pretty conservatively. Followed that with a 1 hour Sunday run with Tenz. He seemed ok on the run, had his 'reward' swim next to a waterski boat, but next day he pulled up a bit lame. Hard to tell whether it was a result of the run or an injury of his own making (he does tend to tear around the yard when school kids are leaving or returning for the day). A couple of days off for him & he's pulled up well.

This week I've only run at Pat's on Tuesday & again today, Friday. Pat is definitely developing a sadistic streak: the intense sessions are morphing into extreme. Today it was 4x 2mins with 30sec recoveries out; 30/30s all the way back. Ran pretty much with Damien on the way back which helped with maintaining an honest pace. Taking tomorrow off before a longer run on Sunday hopefully with Pete & Dave.

I feel my running base has reached a comfortable level now after 3 years that I can take the next step: marathon 2008, Gold Coast.



PS Received my Supersportimages.com Melb HM photos & have added them to my HM post. Interesting to chart my ordeal from comfortable to "please let it be over!" See below...

Melb HM 83.16 PB

Saturday 6th October , William Barrack Bridge - the calm before the storm

Hit the Fitzroy streets first thing Sunday morning - walking - to the MCG start. 4 hot air balloons descended in quick succession, seemingly from my angle straight into the G. Dropped my gear off & headed out into the chill. Fine but fortunately no breeze. Did some easy warm-up run thru's before lining up close to the start.

Start was delayed due to St Kilda road traffic issues, five to ten minutes that blew out to around 20. Finally the race was about to start when we had to observe the national anthem, haven't done that at a race before. Impatience was rewarded with a quick start downhill, not too many issues, no-one really slow getting in the way.



Crowd thinned out by the 2k mark. Got into a groove going down St Kilda Road, enough to have a conversation. Once the other fella realised my 'marathon' pace was half-marathon he accepted that he had to back off.

Around 7 k got into a bunch of guys running a similar pace. This was what I needed, I seem to run better when I push myself to keep up. Monitoring my kilometre splits I was doing 3.55s. When I ran a 4.00 realised I had to put on a bit of a spurt to keep my goal within sight.



So there was a bit of to-ing & fro-ing as we headed down Beaconsfield Parade alongside Port Philip Bay. I think the 11k split was 43.10. No issues with splitting off from the marathoners around the 13 k mark. No officials shouting at me to go the other way, so pleased I didn't have to explain myself.

With about 5ks to go my left shoe was getting loose, couldn't see any shoelaces flailing around but it got worse & I was determined not to stop & lose my momentum.

2ks to go & I could see the 10k runners joining us from their run around the gardens. Because of our delay there were more 10k runners out there than I was hoping for. William Barrack Bridge proved a real hurdle. Suddenly the change from level ground really seemed to slow me & I started to run into traffic.



There'd been no HM 1k markers since the 15k mark & I'd given up trying to estimate distance & time. Just gritting my teeth, but did finally look at my watch & was relieved to see 1hr 17 - leaving me with 6 mins to get to the finish. Spent my circuit of the MCG outer calling out to people to move to the left.

Finally the tunnel - can't remember it - & onto the hallowed turf (no track laid down) to complete a 3 quarter lap, fortunately separated from the 10k runners. Sped up here, as you do, rather than soaking up the atmosphere & finished thru' the chute on my own stopping my watch at 83.20. (Official time 83.16).



Rob DeCastella was on hand to present me with a HM medal which was a nice touch. Finished 76th overall & 6th in my age category. So a 1 minute PB from Gold Coast & achieved my goal...but, knew I could do better. The bridge & the congestion at the end slowed me a bit but it is my lack of long running to build endurance that is letting me down (just a bit). Always good to recognise potential improvement huh?

Taper is on

Had my last run before the race this morning. About 13 k all up. Consisted of the PCRG Thursday 'long run' after that month's 3k TT. Ran for 30 minutes heading over the Story Bridge & along the River Walk to New Farm then turned around & headed in to the Gardens along the Riverside side. Ran in a group of 4: Perky, Robbie & Pat.

At the gardens we headed off to the Goodwill Bridge on our 'no watch 1 k'. You nominate a race pace & attempt to come in as close as possible to that. I must be pretty fit, my 3.50 estimate came in at 3.37. Maybe I was just on a high after speeding past our power-walking PM...don't know what the reception was for our Premier, she of the running persuasion - I doubt he would've recognised her.

Anyway, fly down to Melb tomorrow at 5pm. Will take Saturday off as well & hopefully front up Sunday morning fighting fit with the other 16,000 competitors.

Speedy work

Ty, Dec & T

Spent the weekend with my nephews who were up from Melbourne with Friday arvo at the beach on Bribie: frisbee, soccer & swimming.



This after that morning's PCRG session of 2x 2km efforts at West End. Felt pretty controlled, first one in a perfect split: 3.24 / 6.48.

Saturday spent the day wandering around Seaworld. Came away with a sore neck from tensing up on the "Corkscrew" roller coaster. Even Ty went on it after measuring up to the 122cm height limit. That morning T & I met up with Luke to do a Yeronga/ UQ easy session, about 15ks in 74mins.

Last Tuesday's speed work consisted of a pretty torrid 8x 500m session. At least we had a generous 1 min recovery between them. Did my usual miscalculation: hit the 6th one hard thinking it was our last effort. Clung on for the last 2. Did manage one effort up "Gold Coast" hill with Glenda. Despite our leading no-one followed...

Followed that the next morning with a 12 k interval run in 58mins. Started off with a quick 4 mins (mainly to keep in front of another runner who turned up just behind us). Then down to 2 mins 'fast', 2 mins jog. The 'fast' became progressively slower as we both ran out of puff.

Yesterday I ran an easy 6k after taking Sunday off, the first day of my taper towards next Sunday's Melbourne HM.

This morning fronted up to the monthly PCRG 3k TT. My last solid hit-out before my race. Wanted to run a pretty measured 10.15. But headed out feeling surprisingly quick, thought I'd try & maintain that to half way. Turned around in 4.58, my first sub-5 min for that run, just a bit behind Matty. Started to slow up on the way back & paranoid about not straining the knee or doing the calf just tried to keep it together. Good to see Matty move away from me, take the lead from Mat C & cross first in a PB 9.48. He didn't appear to be that far in front of me but it took me a while to finally come in, 20 secs behind in 10.08. That was only 1 sec outside my PB so I'm obviously in good form. If I can keep this level of fitness together will try & have a crack at the 10.00 barrier next month...

10k tempo road race

Fronted up at the Brisbane Road Runners this morning at 6.30 for a 10k hit-out at race pace. I haven't run with this group before, they have a pretty straightforward 5k loop along Riverside Drive & Montague Street.

Tricky to gauge the right pace for these runs. Psychologically you think "ah, its only 10ks, no pressure" - & that can work against you as you don't have the big occasion to push yourself. So fell in at 3.50 pace pretty easily but the field quickly spread. Guys racing the 10k obviously well in front, but unfortunately no-one really around my pace. There was one guy that I started to gain on but he looked like he was going slow & it was frustrating as I realised I had dropped the pace & started hovering around the 4min k pace. I reckon it was my usual trick: you can almost be hypnotised by the runner in front so that you fall into their pace rather than running your own race. As soon as I did get past him (about the 6 k mark, I immediately got back to 3.50 pace) & felt better. Unusual that - running faster felt better - go figure. There was a long gap to the next guy who I was never going to catch so just maintained the same pace to finish in the high 38 min mark.

Here's a photo of me doing it easy at about the 2.5k mark: http://www.pbphotographics.com.au/BRRC/Pages/23_09_2007.html#4

Slowed to get a water & kept running but eased off to 4.30 pace to finish off with another 2 ks. As I was going past the finish I just managed to see the 5k race finish. Andy not that far in font of Matty who was finishing off like a freight train in front of the legendary Ron Peters in a big PB.

Last Friday ran a PCRG speed session from the Story Bridge along the river-walk out towards New Farm. 2x 3mins with 30SR between them; 6 mins back & finish off with 2 reps of the 'Gold Coast' hill (Ivory Street). Felt ok chasing Andy & Damien out, not too far behind them & managed a good run back holding them off from overtaking me.

Aiming for WORLD RECORD in Melbourne

Just realised my Melbourne race for October 7 will turn out to be a new world record for the men's marathon. I will be attracting alot of (unwanted) attention on the big day as I not only break the WR but actually SMASH it by around 40 minutes.

My race tactic is to go out fairly conservatively, clocking up 3.55 min k's & bring it home in, well, hopefully the same pace. Expecting the motorbike cam, helicopter & Pat Carroll "head cam" to start tracking my progress from the half way mark. As word gets out I imagine the rows of spectators will swell as ordinary people try to bask in my reflected glory & say that they too were there on that historic day. As I enter the MCG I can't imagine the roar that will go up from the crowd, even if it is just friends & family - not even Kerryn McCann would've experienced that level of adulation & well, incredulity.



And as I stroll over the line in around 83 minutes wearing my marathon number will the organisers cotton on that I'm actually a HM entrant who has started at the same time as the marathoners?

All strength to the Melb Marathon organisers who are starting the M & the HM at the same time & who refuse to re-issue a M entry with a HM one for contestants like me that have switched races... Roll on Oct 7, you rock!

Surveying his domain

Backed up from Friday night's run with another on Sat morning. 10ks thru' Toohey Forest from the Toohey Road carpark along the ridge track, past the Mt Gravatt campus & to Mt G summit & return. Took it pretty easy with a rest at the top - photo op for T who wasn't in the mood for posing (had to tie him to the railing). About 50 mins.
Sunday long run on the cards. The River Run was on but I decided not to race, would've lost momentum for the Melbourne HM by tapering & missing the long run. Also, I've run that race twice & ended up both times with injuries. Too many sharp turns for me perhaps.

Took T around the Yeronga circuit including obligatory swim, back home to drop him off after 45 mins. It was warm, even tho' I'd started the run at 8am, should've gone earlier. Then off to do the UQ 10k circuit, so probably about 20ks all up in 1hr 40.

Monday - rest. Tues at PCRG & the Premier turns up to run, good on her. (Disappointed to see the security detail but I s'pose that comes with the territory). West End for the predicted 4, 4 & 8. Turned into 1min, 30sec jog session x5 out; 30sec SR then 30/30s back. Good for a change, finished off with 2 quick sprints around the carpark. Bit disappointed with my run, felt a bit flat, just haven't done enough quick stuff recently.

Friday night running blues

Hit the pavement late Friday arvo, leaden sky, rain imminent. Through somnolent streets thick with the aroma of sizzling snags, end of week BBQs, beers with mates or with loved ones. Made me question my own actions - home early from work, not to catch up with my loved one but to pound the asphalt in a disciplined way, training for a greater goal - delayed satisfaction.

Nothing was holding us back, Tenzing leading like Buck from Call of the Wild, dragging me down Venner road. The roles reversed over the Green bridge as I glissaded across, T off the lead happy to fall in behind.

Around the UQ perimeter track, the warm spring air stirring mozzies & midges into action. Walkers & runners enjoying the twilight serenaded by the drone of crickets. Passed a lap dog sporting an Elizabethan collar, youngsters rolling down a grassy embankment, and women cricketers practicing in the nets.

Slowly back through fluro lit suburbs, unkempt nature strips awaiting a weekend blitzkrieg of mowing. Under the crescent moon white bauhinia flowers dimly lit and the slow whoosh of a fruit bat's wing-beats through the languid sausage air.

Double long runs

Saturday did the Yeronga river loop, drawn to the smoke spiralling high above a Sherwood warehouse fire. At one point I could see the flames & there were a multitude of small explosions - I thought for sure it was a fireworks factory on fire. Alot of residents on the street too. Decided to turn for home when ash started descending, just as well, the news said there was asbestos & other hazchem involved. T had a swim in the Brisbane River at the speed boat ramp, dropped him off after 45 mins. Went back out to run some hills. Frederick St has a nice steady 3 minute rise up to Yeronga park so did 3 or 4 reps, finishing up after 66 mins.

Sunday earmarked for my first long run since the Noosa half. T dragging the chain I brought him back after 45. Headed over to Greenslopes for a change & did a loop of the Norman Creek Catchment Group's 'Demonstration Catchment Site' on the Norman Creek adjacent to the hospital on one side & the Pacific motorway on the other. I've been involved with this creek restoration project for a few years now so its always great to see the vegetative growth when you've been away for a while. Looking particularly lush after the recent rain. Large unit development has finally been built & their drainage pipes poke thru' a retaining wall & feed directly onto our site: no remediation or bioretention ponds to cope with stormwater run-off...Ran back the other way following the channellised section of the Norman Creek down to Stones Corner. Back slowly to finish after 90 minutes, about 18 ks.

Tuesday at Pat's was hill reps in the Botanic gardens. Not much of a hill but plenty of reps & Pat using a whistle to indicate running hard whenever he chose. That bloody CD player of his performing at max decibels & minimum power - the batteries always seem to be shot. Always when Fat Boy Slim's "Right here, right now" is on, making it akin to Hal's sequence in 2001 when his power slowly fades away.

Back over the Goodwill Bridge & a cluster of TV crews waiting for Premier-elect Anna Bligh to make her appearance. Funny to see Anna & Milton put in the 10 second burst for the evening news spot on their return to the Ship Inn. So much of what we see with pollies is stage managed to the nth degree.

Shagged

Tenzing in recovery mode after a full day of running & swimming @ Straddie in May. He sported a similar expression on his face on Wednesday morning after our long run. Met up with Matty at 5.30am but only wanted to do around an hour. Headed out on the Riverside Drive for 30 mins, got as far as Caravansarai. Back to the Ship Inn but feeling not too bad decided to push on to the end of the Gardens before returning. It was about 72 mins, 14 or 15 ks.

Today's speed session involved 2 min, 1 min & 30 sec efforts with 30 sec jogs between. Pat's 'cone zone' in force again - you have to go hard even if you are in jog mode. It was good, 'sat' on Matty's shoulder most of the way, flagging towards the end. I really need to do more of this, quick stuff & intervals. Took T up to the school sport's oval to chase & catch the frisbee this evening. The 400m track is pretty muddy from the unseasonal rain, might try & tear it up a bit more in the coming days. The Glasshouse 100 is on this weekend, its sure to be a quagmire...

Pacing the 3k TT

Aching from the 'friendly' game of cricket on Sunday I fronted up this morning to pace Toasty to a sub-11 min TT (time trial). I had the 500m times written on my wrist but as usual missed the first 500m marker. Felt like we were going too fast & eased up a bit to go thru' 1k about 10 secs fast. That was fine, good to have a buffer. Toasty took the lead & we had about 8 secs up our sleeves at half-way. Interesting experience this - running within yourself & observing other runners, distances separating people & how people were struggling running at their max. About 800m to go Toasty started to drop off the pace so I had to start coaxing a big performance & he responded well. We came home in 10.59 even tho' Pat called out 11.

Feeling chuffed I went back out to bring Michelle home in under 13.33. She'd mentioned her "3 successive faster performances" goal in the warm-up. She was looking really wrecked with a minute to go but I was sure she could do it & true to her prediction - 13.25.

Back out of it

A cold hit me again but fortunately not too bad. Took Monday off as my usual rest day but Tues & Wed I rested up. Forced myself out late Thurs arvo & ran a very slow 9k. Felt better after & ran 10k yesterday & 11 today. No fast stuff but did roll my arm over in anticipation of tomorrow morning's game of cricket. Hopefully make Tues's PCRG time-trial but will probably just run a pace session - 11 or 12 minutes.

Slowly back into it

Amazing to think that the Noosa half course is currently underwater. Didn't feel too bad recovering from last week's effort, just felt like some time off. And the weather obliged, rainy & windy making the decision not to run an easy one. By Friday I was getting a bit itchy for a run so T & I finally hit the local streets - in the rain - for an easy 30 mins.

Saturday we did the 12 - 13k UQ loop speeding up to 4.40s in 59mins.

Today we did a Yeronga extension to the UQ run making it 1hr 19, maybe 16 or 17ks. Finally fine. Took T down to the boat ramp on the Corso so he could have a swim - no hesitation. The photo is taken once he got home.

Noosa HM: 84.30

(Mona from last year's Noosa HM)

Ran a pretty good race but the endurance factor let me down again. No issues with my calf, felt a bit strange but it didn't impede me at all thankfully.

Started out a little more conservatively, 4.05 1st k. As runners started to thin out I got my groove & ran with a group of 4 others. Running about 3.50s pretty comfortably. Conditions: overcast, a bit of wind swirling around, no rain. Ran past the 10 k turn-around (ok the 5k mark) for 600m or so along the river. Good to see the runners in front of me (often you're not sure who's in front & by how much).

Passed 10 k in 39.15 & started to lag behind the others in my group. Coming into the start/ finish area was good - had coach Pat giving me a good plug (helped that I was wearing PCRG clobber) & all the 10k runners lining up for their run were generous with their applause. Pat said we were on line for an 82 finish but I was aware that I was unlikely to maintain that pace.

About 13 ks I'd dropped off the pack & ran on my own for the rest. This was a problem because almost imperceptibly you start to slow - you don't have that group to keep you going. Running into the wind seemed more difficult & psychologically heading out for another lap was challenging. I tend to break these HMs into thirds (7 ks doesn't seem like much) & the 2nd lap is 10 ks, not 11.1 like the first one.

I noted that my 1k splits were lengthening, I think 15k was 59.40 & the next ks were all on 4 min pace - 64, 68, 72. Of course, the HM k markers were 100m short of the actual distance, so the 9k marker for the 10k race meant I had that longed-for last k. Went thru in 81 so needed a blistering 3 min k to get me under 84 - no way. The crowd on the bridge & near the finish were good, I had some great support & picked up the pace - just wish I'd had that earlier. Came home wheezing like a steam train, 20 secs outside my GC time. As per usual with these events, the distance was questioned - Keith S bristling with Garmins on each arm claimed it was 300m long. Oh well, I've had 2 short races, it was about time for the long one.

Recognised the race winner coming my way as I walked the long 2ks back to the campground. Sandile Lembetha, from South Africa, a 2.18 marathoner who pulled a hamstring at this year's GC marathon. I congratulated him & he told me he had a pretty slow 2nd lap but just managed to hold off Mona by 5 secs after having a huge gap (over 1 minute) at halfway. Winning time: 69 mins. His phone went off & he excused himself - probably the race organisers wondering where he was for the prize ceremony. These elite athletes - so small & light, no body fat.

Ok, I need to start running 5 days a week & increasing my mileage past the 40-50ks I'm currently doing... Next HM, Melbourne.

Got my B2B photo

Note the easy, fluid action, the relaxed face muscles & unclenched hands as I stroll thru' the finish at New Farm...

Noosa HM coming up on Sunday morning. Feeling a bit ordinary, my left calf has a knot that I can't get rid off. Had a few run thru's at Yeronga park this morning, 200m efforts, nothing flash. Took Thurs off because of my calf, only about 5k today & will take tomorrow off as well. Hopefully ready by Sunday.

Wed 15th An easy 12k effort to UQ in 59 mins.

Tues 14th PCRG Gardens session, 30 sec efforts (fast / jog) with a couple of 1 min fasts thrown in. And for added masochistic 'pleasure' a line of plastic cones placed on the unpaved path meant an obligatory fast...Inevitably just after a hard 1 min I timed it for the cone section straight after. A tough 15 min session, 3k WU & WD as well.

Sun 12th 12 k around Yeronga.

Sat 11th 10k

Fri 10th PCRG 3k WU to the Storey Bridge. Then 2 x 4mins heading out to New Farm, 30sec rest, 8 mins back. Pat usually has us doing this at West End, so was a nice change. Funny running hard on the floating boardwalk & dealing with the wake of a passing Citycat.

River Loop Run

Plotted this morning's run using the ' measure: path' tool on google earth. Came out around 18.4ks which we did in 88 mins (about 4.45ks). My first "Wednesday Long Run" as organised by Matty with a start at 5.30am at the Ship Inn. Also joining us was Beth who I recognised from the B2B 45min pace group. A whole heap of other PCRGers milling around, almost thought Pat was going to make an appearance, but they headed off on their own long run.

Tenz came along & was keen to make an impression. He can start to flag on the hills but I strategically placed him behind the others to give him a target to chase. It was cold enough that we only took 2 short stops for water at fountains.

Beth did the Everest trek in Nepal earlier this year & it reminded me of the origin of Tenzing's name. The first time I trekked up Kalar Patar on the Everest trek I was accompanied by a black & white dog who was keen to show me the way. I was reminded of that guy when I saw T & rather than go the traditional Scottish naming theme for a Border Collie thought we'd do the non-traditional Sherpa / Tibetan option.

B2B - 10k & 12k PB

(Shot taken last year).

Had taken the last 2 days off with the reprise of my cold. Didn't sleep too well, visions of the race unfolding; paranoia about sleeping in; anxiety about my 'elite' entry & whether I could make the grade...

Made sure I got to the start early after last year's late effort. 'My' street was closed this year but no matter, extra warm-up time. Carried a bag of warm stuff to put on at the other end but this wasn't necessary as it turned out. Managed to put the bag on the baggage truck that left last rather than the one that was up front. Discovered a road that loops underneath the Gateway Bridge & managed to run a good warm-up there. Met a few other PCRGers. Noted Dickson Marwa was back to defend his title. He had a great couple of weeks last year when he won B2B, C2S & the Noosa HM. Started his campaign well with a 34min winning time.

Very nice to have a 'blue' entry. About 50m had been reserved & no one was lining up, everyone skulking by the sidelines. Saw Felicity Abram was back to defend her win from last year. Instead of the 6.50am start they kept us back until 7am. Managed to be 3 rows back & was pleased to be running freely unlike last year when I was dodging traffic for a couple of ks.

Surprised to see the 45min pacers catch me going down the bridge. I'm a shocker for going out too fast but these guys were right there, balloons in my face. Equally surprised to be overtaking Claire Geraghty around this stage, I was either having a blinder or she was having a shocker. (I had heard the Qld champ was injured / or had the flu so she was probably just using it as a training run). Had to move out of the pacer's way & go past them at the 3k mark & stayed marginally in front of them until 7k.

I had the 1k split times written on the back of my hand, a goal of 45min meant 3min 45 sec ks. Pleased to be right on pace, legs were good, just had to try & relax my breathing. Chris Gale, one of the pacers, was great with his encouragement & calling out the splits. A group of probably only a dozen. I love it when the pacers are able to talk during the race & regularly call out "Good morning" or "G'day" to spectators & friends. The rest of us are quietly grimacing & unable to talk...

I wasn't too phased when the group overtook me, I managed to hook on & use the peleton to draft me along - yeah right. 4ks to go is a milestone, it doesn't seem too far away & generally you know if you're still traveling at a good pace you should be able to almost maintain it until the end. Also, I tend to factor in a last minute surge/ sprint if possible.

Its hilarious really, but I was so focussed on the end result that I didn't even realise I had run a PB for 10k - 37.15. I haven't run a 10k race since Good Friday & my PB stood at 38.00 set last year at the River Run. I ran the Doomben 10k in June but the course ended up being 8.8k after a marshal turned us around early by mistake. I ended up with a none too shabby 32.32 & estimated I would've come in in the high 36s. Must've been a bit delirious at that stage & was dropping off by 10m or so.

1k to go & the fella next to me offered some encouragement, we were by now the back markers of the 45min group. I did manage to pick it up a bit. Unsure of the actual finish cos they'd changed the route again. Finally saw the clock & it was in the 43s, couldn't believe it, stopped my watch at 44.05 meaning the last k was run in 3min 5, highly unlikely. That last k definitely seemed short & I heard it mentioned that a Garmin measured the course as 11.75ks. Anyway, a big PB of about 2 & a half minutes on last year. Unlike last year I didn't have to stop for the stitch with 500m to go. Managed to avoid this scenario by steering well clear of the drinks stations & by not eating anything first thing.

Spent the obligatory half hour queuing for my bag & stood up on the bus all the way back. Back to the harsh reality - off to work, but at least I'm smiling.

123 ...testing

Got my B2B number in the mail, hard to forget & it will be testing. An 'elite' entry looking for sub 45 but I'm still not fully over the flu. Applied for it online by providing a recent 'official' time to prove my elite - worthy status. Naturally I quoted my 'official' Doomben 10k race time, 32.32 - a huge PB, run in June. Those in the know realise that race turned into a bit of a debacle as we were turned early in the course by an over-zealous marshall. The actual distance was 8.8ks. Still, I was determined to get a better position at the pointy end of the B2B start after arriving a bit late last year & getting stuck behind 'traffic'.

Was a good hit-out at the 3k time trial on Tues. I was a bit paranoid about over-doing it but really wanted to run quick again after a lot of slow runs. The legs felt good but the lungs were hopeless. Ended up a pretty even paced run, 5.12 to the turn around & finished with 10.25 (18 secs off my PB).

Today T & I ran an easy 12k in 1 hr to UQ.

Last Saturday we ran an interval session: 2 mins fast, 2mins slow for 10ks. Haven't done that for a while. Sunday I ran 16ks @ 4.45k thru' Tarragindi up to Toohey Forest & out to GU (Griffith Uni). First time on that route & knew it was gonna be hilly - left T behind. He doesn't mind a few hills but that session was non-stop & I knew he'd be dragging the chain after a few ks.

Back into it

Tenz bounding across the Green Bridge heading back from UQ this morning.

Had 3 days off work trying to get over the flu & finally feeling better I've been out for an easy 5k on Tues; 6k on Thurs &; 10k this morning @ 5min k pace. Cool & foggy about 7am, a hot air balloon cruised overhead as we made our way thru' Fairfield & down to the Green Bridge (aka Eleanor Schonell Bridge; Go Betweens Bridge; UQ Bridge). Up the perimeter running path, T off the lead as usual, he maintained a couple of metres on me - even when I tried to speed up & snap his photo. Turn at the 5 k mark (as measured on Google Earth) & return, finishing in 49 mins.

Gold Coast Half Marathon Race Report

A number of folks from my running club, PCRG, were asking me last night at the annual PCRG dinner about my recent HM performance.

Came into the race feeling pretty good, had a lot of shorter, faster running under my belt & knew my endurance would be tested after 15 k. Managed to step into the front ranks at the start without any drama after a bit of a warm-up run, probably 2 ks & a few strides. Then had to keep warm for 25mins or so but a throw-away shirt came in handy as did body heat from the increasingly squeezy pack.

Went out quick but measured, didn't feel I was over doing it for 2x 3.30minute kilometres. So easily had a 1 min buffer up my sleeve & settled down into goal pace of 4min ks. Couldn't believe my consistent pace: the only time I looked at my watch was at the km marks & I was right on 4.00. Easy running, flat wide streets with slight rises over 5 canals.

Probably took on too much water - I had a sip or two at each station - a bit paranoid about dehydration after my only other HM at Brisbane in April 2006. But it wasn't needed, I don't normally drink that much in training & it started to show at 15k with a mild stitch developing. Uh-oh, I'd experienced that at last year's B2B & had to stop with 500m to go not able to breathe properly...Thankfully it didn't develop any further & I didn't drink after that.

Just as expected 15k blew out to 4.10 & I ran 4.15s or so for the rest of the race. I was pretty spent - haven't done enough long training runs. I'd been hearing shouts of encouragement from spectators every now & then "Go Jonesy" & finally the penny dropped as Jonesy (from PCRG) overtook me at 15k. I said G'day but there was no response - he was in the zone & ended up finishing about 20 seconds in front of me.

At about 19k I choked up a bit with emotion - knowing I was going to achieve my goal. Can't remember doing that before & had to settle my breathing down. No heroics in the last stretch, couldn't sprint if I'd wanted to, & no Buster waves to the crowd as I came in at 84.10. A 5 min PB.

Who'd believe this was only 2 months ago?

Sitting at home in the depths of winter suffering a cold, not running, had to console myself with this image: Straddie in May.

Tenzing...the early daze

We got Tenzing from a Border Collie breeder on the north side of Brisbane nearly 4 years ago. The first of 5 in the litter he was the smallest but had the best personality.

My first dog & I wanted one that could run with me. A working dog, B.C.s in the city need alot of exercise & this suited my plans to get back into running again after a long absence. I gave him about 6 months for proper bone development & then we hit the road.

These days he's a constant companion on my training runs but is frustrated that he can't compete. Cecile , my partner, occasionally brings him down to a race where he forlornly tracks my progress from the sidelines.