Saturday session - Threshold run 7.1km (am) + 8km recovery (pm)

First attempt at the new white fence threshold session at Centennial Park this morning. Used to doing these on the pristine dead flat and smooth 1km loop at Moore Park. So probably made the mistake of trying to hold the same pace that I would at Moore Park around the white fence, which is loose gravel, trial like with some mild undulations. So set out with 3 laps in mind (10.1km), holding 3:19 min/km pace. However, just after the start of the second lap it became apparent that the pace was too fast for this course if I was going to get 3 laps out. Instead of backing it off and going for 3, decided to hold the pace and finish strong for 2 laps. Got the last kilometre out in 3:15, so still had a small bit left in the tank. Finished averaging 3:19 min/km pace for the session. Was initially annoyed at myself for stopping short of the 10.1km, but upon reflection actually did quite well. 3:19 min/km is my definite 20 minute threshold pace (according to Jack Daniels), so not a bad effort on that course for just shy of 24 minutes. Got another 5km cooldown in, including another lap running next to Brad in about 3:45 pace. 15km all up.

Out for another 8km easy before lunch. 4:33's at 130 beats per minute.

Friday run - 10km easy

Another amazing sunrise again this morning. Out for an easy two laps this morning. Felt stiff and sore for most of the first lap, but then gradually loosened up as the run progressed. Interestingly, my splits were quite fast for a Friday morning easy run. It didn't feel as if I was running any harder than usual, just nice and relaxed. Clive hopped in with me for a few hundred metres (got to convince him to start joining me more often), followed by his fellow Palm Beach SLSC club mate Quentin around Marine Pde. 4:19's all up, averaging 127 beats per minute. Stoked to have gotten through my first week of proper training - the key aim this week was consistency, and I feel that was definitely achieved. Yesterday's run was nice unexpected surprise. Still debating whether or not to implement my planned changes or delay them a week, keeping Saturday week's last Striders race of the season in mind.

Thursday session - Quarters (am) + 8km recovery (pm)

Really surprised myself this morning! As always, was keen to continue sleeping when the alarm went off. Knowing that I had agreed to meet Sigrid at the stone arch for the session was probably the only thing that kept me going. Got up there and was joined by both Sigrid and her friend. Reluctantly got going after some chatting, with the primary goal of simply completing the session. Couldn't believe the time when I finished, crossing the line in a swift 15:24, only 10 seconds off my best time. Held an average 3:12-13 for the 4.8km. The other two continued on, but I think they stopped at the end of the 7th rep, giving them a solid 4km Fartlek session. A long 9.5km cooldown incorporating another lap of North Head followed by heading home. 17km all up. I will be mixing up my sessions a bit next week, so watch this space for some quite significant changes. I will continue to use both Mona Fartlek and Quarters, but not on a weekly basis. These two sessions have served myself so well this year, but it is time for a change to prevent myself going stale.

Another lunchtime run today - 8km nice and steady, averaging 4:37 min/km pace, heart rate around 127.

Wednesday medium long run (20km) + 5 x 100m strides

Out for four laps of the Queenscliff to Shelly Beach & return loop for my midweek medium long run of 20km. Nice conditions, up earlier than usual due to work & study. Saw Quentin early on, then again along with Tom & Macca. Was tempted to turn around and join in but was on a tight schedule. Averaged 4:22 min/km pace, hear rate monitor was playing up again! Finished off with some strides.

Tuesday session - Mona Fartlek (am) + 8km recovery (pm)

45 km/HR southerly winds and a miserable outlook weren't conducive to getting out of bed this morning. Convinced myself to simply get out there and get the session done. Glad I did in the end (as is always the case). Wasn't expecting much anyway, but the conditions gave me another excuse. Nevertheless, despite a rather ordinary 6km on the dot achieved in the 20 minutes, I am quite satisfied with the effort. Even more encouragingly, I got my heart rate up into the 180's - which has never been done before. Enjoyed a steady cool-down with a predominant tailwind back home for 17km all up.

8km easy this afternoon - actually, before lunch! Hungry now! 4:29 min/km pace, average heart rate of 126.

Monday run - 15km easy + 5 x 100m strides

Back into it today. Up earlier due to my new days of studying, the trade-off being a beautiful sunrise and less humidity. 15km along the beachfront of Manly, the highlight seeing Tom running south. Really sore hamstrings this morning following the long run yesterday. Probably ran it slightly too quick, holding 4:17 min/km pace with an average 131 heart rate. Finished off with some strides. Not expecting much for Mona Fartlek tomorrow, the goal will just be to complete it.

Sunday long run - 30km

First 30km long run in three weeks, and didn't I feel it. Pace-wise, I made a concerted effort to slow it down based on my post-Melbourne reflection that I had been doing these far too fast. Ended up averaging 3:55 min/km pace, finishing in 1 hour, 57 minutes and 30 seconds. Probably still slightly too fast, but I guess that it is a work in progress. 4 minute kilometre pace should be the fastest I complete my long run at. My hear rate was slightly higher than usual, averaging 151 beats per minute. Essentially just happy to get it done, and looking forward to the forthcoming week, simply just to get through the sessions - although not expecting much in terms of speed.

Saturday session - 3 x 2km on a 9:30 cycle, 1 x 1km (am) + 8km recovery (pm)

First session back this morning with the prime objective to simply run on feel. This was made easier by the fact that my GPS ran out of battery whilst warming up. Matt Hudson & Harry Summers had similar intentions, the former coming off his first (impressive) half, the latter off a sub-29 minute 10km race. Warren Williams stepped up and filled in for Sean, doing a great job as usual. The course itself was apparently long, with everyone else's charged GPS's reading well over 2km. Ended up running with Matt (when he wasn't pushing too fast) and Tom Middleton, who is getting faster each week. Times were fine with 6:30, 6:25, 6:36. Decided to call it quits after the third rep, as I had gone into the red zone at this point. Felt guilty, so ended up jumping in with Matt and Tom on the second lap of the fourth rep, running it I'm around 3:10. Cooled down for another lap of the white fence with Harry for around 17km all up. A bit of a shock to the system, but just what I needed. Will aim to get back into normal training this week, simply get the sessions done without too high expectations for specific paces for the workouts.

8km easy this afternoon. 4:22 min/km pace, 130 average heart rate. Faster than usual, but effort-wise it felt fine.

Thursday morning run - 15km easy

Sleep deprived and in a rush. Got out early for three easy laps of my traditional Queenscliff to Shelly Beach & return loop. The rain was meant to be torrential, but I saw complete sunshine! And humidity. Nice to be back running without any gadgets or distractions. Brunch with Michael & James and the though of Shenkin Kitchen's world famous Shakshuka with a side of labne (despite what Michael says, they make the best labne) kept me going!

Wednesday morning run - 10km easy

Was going to resume running again on Saturday, but got bored so returned early. 10km really easy around the streets of Murrumbeena in Melbourne. Dead flat, overcast and cool. Bland and boring compared to Manly, but other than that, Melbourne is an amazing city. Loved the food and cafe scene. Sydney could learn a thing or two, especially in regards to prices!

Melbourne Half Marathon

Didn't go to plan unfortunately. However, despite my apparent failure, I was surprisingly not too disappointed. Felt great warming up, but was still slightly apprehensive after feeling flat for the past two weeks. In hindsight, I stuffed up by running too aggressive on my long run two weeks ago the day after a hard Sydney Striders 10km race at Homebush. Holding 3:44 min/km pace in that heat following a hard 10km race was stupid. I stubbornly put the lingering fatigue and drop in performance down to the mini heatwave, but this all come to a head the following Thursday when I broke my 3 months of consistent training. Didn't get back to where I was in time for Melbourne.

Ran with Neil Pearson and two other Victorians for the initial 13-14km. Held onto 3:17 min/km for the first 7km or so, which was slightly too fast. Didn't want to run solo, so held on despite my body requesting otherwise. Got though the 10km mark in 33:20-something, but from here it was apparent that a sub-70 was not going to happen, as this pace was definitely not sustainable. Held with the three other, along with another Victorian who caught up, for another 4km, but at this stage we were averaging 3:22 min/km - each kilometre split starting to blow out further and further. Then that was it, I had had enough. Initially decided to catch a tram back before realising I didn't have my MyKi card with me. Decided to jog back until I found or came up with another method of getting back to the MCG. Found a toilet along the way, and decided to make a quick detour. Walked around the block only to find that all the doors were closed with a sign reading 'Out of Order.' I continued to jog back towards the MCG. I then heard a voice behind me yell out 'come on Lewis!' I turned around and to my surprise saw Ken Gibson. I swore he was in the pack in front of me, but it turns out that he has a body double who also runs in an ACT singlet with the same haircut (i.e. bald). Ran with Ken for a bit, telling him that I was cooked. His right knee was playing up, so he had to stop and stretch. Taking the opportunity for another quick break, I stopped and kept him company while he did so. He got back into it, deciding to run and leave me behind (I had totally lost any passion at this stage). Ended up jogging back to the finish in the end, crossing the line in 74:40 something. In hindsight, not actually a bad time at all considering that I only ran two-thirds of the race with my heart.

Do I regret this? Absolutely not! And that is why I think I wasn't too upset. I put it all on the line to give the sub-70 a shot. It didn't work, and I suffered the consequences. I would have been more disappointed running more conservatively and finishing in 71-72. As it turns out, the best time in our pack of four was a mid-71. Neil ended up going mid-72. Furthermore, looking at the final results, runners such as Neil Berry crossed the line in the high 69's, runners who are in a completely different league to me. So all in all, it appears that the elusive sub-70 would most definitely never had have happened today.

Great to see some big PB's by some of my great running friends. Great effort by Matt Hudson in his first ever half marathon, running 66:59 finishing sixth outright. Damien Simpson impressed with a 76 minute half, as did Rachel with a new PB of 1:46 despite insisting that she was not race fit at all! And who can forget the courageous Mo, his first race back since an almost career ending knee injury earlier this year. The guy is the embodiment of a true champion runner who never gives up.

An easy week is planned before returning back to business. I guess running is unique compared with other sports. People always ask 'why don't you have a break for a month or two?' To me, running isn't a chore or sport, it's a lifestyle - and it's my religion! Never let a bad race define who you are!

Friday morning run - 10km easy with 1 x 1000m, 2 x 500m pick-ups

Feeling a lot better this morning, thanks to a massive dinner last night (left overs from About Life Cafe and an eye fillet steak) and a massage from the one and only Phil White. Wanted to add an element of speed or race pace efforts this morning after a lacklustre two days of feeling flat, especially as I don't plan to run tomorrow. Ran from my grandma's at South Curly, headed to Shelly Beach with a 1000m effort from Queenscliff SLSC south. Held 3:04, quicker than what I wanted. Felt  solid, hard-ish, but relaxed and controlled. Continued running easy to Shelly Beach, turned around and as I passed Manly LSC, did the same as before but over 500m. Another 500m easy jog before repeating again - finishing at Queenscliff SLSC. Got back to grandma's at 9km, so ran another 500m easy before turning around and finishing at 10km on the dot (a bit OCD I know). Average pace was 4:16 min/km, 141 beats per minute - maxing out at 167 during the 1000m effort. The boss was kind to give me the day off work, time to head down to Melbourne. The weather forecast is looking great!

Thursday morning run - 10km easy

Almost didn't run this morning. Didn't feel great, and was unsure whether to actually pull the pin or not. Ended up convincing myself to get out there. Ran into Matty at the corso, so stuck with him and chatted for a few km's. Returned back and did another lap for 10km all up nice and easy - 4:28min/km pace at 123 beats per minute. Was going to do some strides, but felt a bit uneasy doing so - really need that massage this evening!

Wednesday morning run - 15km easy

Cut another 5km out of my traditional Wednesday medium long run. I don't know why, but I felt extremely flat this morning. Not too uncommon for me on a Wednesday, but considering that the past few days have been quite a bit easier in terms of both volume and intensity, I was quite surprised. Just never really 'warmed-up' this morning. Didn't even bother strides at the end. 15km in 4:21 min/km, averaging 129 beats per minute.

Tuesday session - 15km steady with 3 x 1500m pick-ups at HM pace

Went against the original plan today of doing a Mona Fartlek. Thought I would be better off avoiding it, as the session itself is absolutely brutal in terms of intensity and pain. Easing my mind by convincing myself to the session go, I was pleasantly surprised to see how good my legs felt as I got out there for what I had subsequently convinced myself would be an easy 10km run. Decided to mix it up, so on my return from Manly LSC to Queenscliff SLSC each lap, I attempted to run at goal half marathon pace (i.e. 3:19 min/km pace). Went beyond this each time with 3:16, 3:10, and 3:08 min/km pace on each attempt. Ran the recovery in between each effort at around 4:05-4:15 min/km pace. All up, a comfortable session with a bit of specific speed mixed in, but not enough duration to compromise my recovery leading into Melbourne this Sunday. Very happy I listened to my body, not my mind this morning.

Monday morning run - 15km easy + 5 x 100m strides

Out for 3 easy laps of the Queenscliff to Shelly Beach & return loop. Felt slightly harder effort-wise, then I realised I was probably running slightly too fast. First few kilometres were around 4:10 min/km pace, so made a concerted effort to hold back as the run progressed. Guess it was perhaps due to the fact that I didn't have a tired 30km in my legs from yesterday. Averaged 4:15 min/km pace at 130 beats per minute. Finished off with some strides.

Sunday (not so) long run - 24km

Instructions were 24km at 4:30 min/km pace. Got the first part right! Ended up holding 4:00 min/km pace in the end, feeling much more comfortable, easier and shorter than my traditional 30km Sunday long run. A nice little confidence boaster heading into Melbourne next Sunday. I will likely aim to keep the next two days of training as per normal (i.e. Monday 15km easy, Tuesday Mona Fartlek), before reducing the mileage on each of the following days, with a rest on Saturday. I used this method leading into both SMH and the Gold Coast half's, both to great effect! I guess the key for the forthcoming week is to do rest as much as I can, and do no harm. Kept the heart rate in check this morning, holding 142 beats per minute.

Saturday session - 20 minutes threshold (am) + 8km recovery (pm)

Felt great (although heavy - too much dinner last night, but it was so yum) after a rest day, first in three months. The plan for today was 7km at no faster than 3:20 min/km pace. In other words, strong but controlled - comfortably hard, but not strenuous. The location was the oval at Mt. Steele at Moore Park. I was joined by about 8 others, while the rest of the squad completed 20 hill repeats on a 2:00 cycle. Went out slightly hard, letting Matty Hudson go out and dominate. Got through the first kilometre in 3:15, followed by the next 5km in 3:20 pace. The issue was, I was really pushing hard to hold this pace. I was way above threshold pace! My mind started convincing me that I was not up for Melbourne, given that the goal is to hold this pace for 21.1km! Matt hit exactly 7km when he drew level with me (i.e. as soon as he came to lap me). I decided to stop at this point, as I was starting to suffer too much. My GPS read 6.15km to his 7km - albeit mine was a lap shy of his. Given that the loop is 450m, and the fact that everyone else got the same distance as Matt, I reckon that my GPS was under-reading the distance quite substantially (I certainly hope it was)! Therefore, my supposed 3:21 min/km pace was more likely 3:08 min/km pace - way too fast for a threshold effort!!! Effort-wise, it certainly felt like 3:08 pace. Anyway, who cares! Melbourne is next week, feeling good and fit, so let's see what happens! A lap of the white fence for a warm-up and cool-down for about 15.5km all up. Might get back out for another easy run this afternoon, followed by a slower and shorter long run tomorrow.

Out for an easy 8km recovery run this afternoon. Averaged 4:38 min/km pace at 123 beats per minute.

Thursday session - DNF, need a rest day

I knew when the alarm went off this morning that today was going to be a struggle. Convinced myself to get out of bed and run up to North Head. Feeling like this is not unusual before a hard session, but today in particular was quite different. My legs felt heavy and lethargic, and the actual effort of warming up felt harder. Started the first 400m, pace was slightly off, but when I started the float I knew I didn't have it in me today. Unconvinced, I walked back to the start and gave it another shot. Same thing, 400m hard then couldn't run the float properly. Walked back to the start, and jogged straight back home. I very much hate pulling the pin on training! I think a mistake in my recent week was running Sunday too fast in the heat, especially the day after racing 10km. Again, I didn't feel great on Tuesday, but I think the heat really masked any lingering fatigue from the weekend. Today it was obvious. Always get a bit paranoid due to my past of bouts of lingering fatigue, but hopefully I can nip this quite easily via no running or training for the rest of today and tomorrow. Plan is to run a threshold session at Centennial Park (instead of Mt. Steele hill repeats) with the others who are racing Melbourne in 10 days time.

Wednesday morning medium long run (20km) + 5 x 100m strides

Windy this morning, but still humid. Running south was torture, running north was a breeze (no pun intended). Felt surprisingly good this morning, which is usually not the case after a hard Tuesday. Must have been the ice baths yesterday (i.e. jumping into the ocean numerous times throughout the day). 4 boring laps of the Queenscliff to Shelly Beach & return loop. Averaged 4:22 min/km pace, heart rate sitting around 126 beats per minute. Finished of as per usual with some strides. Three downwind, two into the headwind.

Tuesday session - Mona Fartlek (am) + 8km recovery (pm)

Today was simply about survival. Given the heat wave Sydney had been exposed to the last few days, 'world record conditions' were way off the cards. Already 21 degrees when I left home, getting the warm-up done was slightly more taxing than usual. The one advantage of North Head is the shade that time of day. Nevertheless, it really wasn't enough. I was actually thirsty before I started the session. Matty chose the right day to pull the pin, leaving me solo! Psyched myself up and got going. It felt harder than usual right from the get go. After the second 90 second effort, I really had a psychological battle with myself to simply continue going. Got to the half way mark in surprisingly good time, but it was all down hill from then on in. The last 15 second repetitions I simply had nothing left. Usually I can convince myself to dig deep and sprint home hard. Today, by comparison felt like I was just jogging the last minute or two - despite giving it all effort-wise. Finished with 6.08km, by no means a PB, but quite satisfied just to finish the session given the conditions and a very taxing weekend of racing and training (that Sunday run really drained me)! Cooled down (not really 'cooled') back home to North Steyne. The water awaits me!

Back out for a recovery run this afternoon. Still bloody hot! 4:45 min/km pace averaging 120 beats per minute.

Monday morning run - 15km easy + 5 x 100m strides

Mixed it up today, being a public holiday and all. Decided to meet mum and her swimming group for coffee up at Mona Vale, which ironically happens to be exactly 15km from my front door to Mona Vale SLSC. Only issue was that I locked both sets of my house keys inside my apartment. Luckily mum has a spare! So nice running a point-to-point route, especially along the coast. Still warm today, but that wind of yesterday was not there. Felt drained and tired, so took it exceptionally easy today. Not used to hills on a recovery day, so had a few slow kilometre splits, with some periods of heart rate elevation. All up, 4:37 min/km pace with an average heart rate of 127 beats per minute. Finished off with some strides at Apex Park, then a swim and coffee.

Sunday long run - 30km

Tough conditions today. Mild to moderate north-westerly (aka. 'Bushfire' winds) and a hot 26 degrees Celcius (when I got home anyway), coupled with the fact that I raced yesterday led to a recipe for pain. I went out quite quickly, hitting the first few kilometres in low 3:40's, high 3:30's before telling myself 'this is ridiculous, it's meant to be a long run - not a time trial!' From about 5km onwards I constantly made a conscious effort to reduce the pace, as every time I looked at my heart rate it was too high, sitting around 155-158 beats per minute. Effort-wise, it certainly didn't feel like this. Nevertheless, the last 4 or 5km were really tough, as I became extremely thirsty. My heart rate started sitting in the low 160's, and it was at this point when I decided against a fast last kilometre. To my surprise, despite the weather, tired legs, and general malaise, I got the run out in 1 hour, 52 minutes, and 4 seconds - about 40 seconds slower than last week. Average pace of 3:44 min/km, with the heart rate sitting at 155 beats per minute. All in all, happy with the pace (actually, more surprised than anything else). Absolutely saturated now, and I haven't even jumped in the water yet. Still annoyed that I lost 60 minutes of sleep last night!

Sydney Striders 10km Series - Race 9 Homebush (am) + 8km recovery (pm)

Everyone's least favourite of the three Sydney Striders' 10km courses. I don't know what it is, but the course itself is notorious for not being super quick, coupled with a somewhat bland scenery. Got up nice and early, picked Sigrid up and drove out to a glorious sunset. Thankfully the heat of the day hadn't set in (one of the advantages of an early start). Looked around at the start line and thought I might actually have a chance of taking line honours. Thankfully I spotted Matthew Cox, Chris Loader and Dave Criniti right before the gun went. I jumped in behind them, content to let them go (not they I had any choice, those guys are in a completely different league)! A voice said hello about 200m in, I turned around to see Quentin. I was stoked, as I knew that I could work with him - the past two Striders races I have been left solo, and was not keen to make it three in a row. Sat with Quentin for the first lap, crossing the halfway mark in a fairly comfortably hard but controlled 16:30. I was planning to make a move not long after, as I could hear Quentin starting to breathe harder and harder. But then flashed back to the same race in February when I thought the same with Tom and Hoey, only to hit the wall massively at the 8km mark. Took some turns back and front with Quentin, gradually winding in third placed Criniti at the same time. Got to the 9km mark, and actually really started to catch Criniti. Thought Quentin was dropped. Then got to my Achilles heel - that bloody bridge with 200m to go. For whatever reason, envy time I race here, I essentially come to a standstill at this point. Today was no different - looked around my left shoulder and couldn't see Quentin. Content, I ran to the finish line - only to see him blistering past me with 100m to go. I had nothing, so was happy (well, as 'happy' as I could be) to let him go. Crossed the line in 33:10, a massive course PB and second fastest time ever over 10km. Ecstatic with that. Went for a 3km easy cooldown with Quentin for around about 16km all up. Great start to the long weekend. Time to jump into the ocean once again!

Had to divert my easy run this afternoon due to the Manly Jazz Festival. Ended up running 8 x 1km loop from North Steyne SLSC to Queenscliff SLSC & return. Boring!!! 4:37 min/km pace averaging 119 beats per minute.

Friday run - 10km easy

Nice and easy this morning for two glorious laps of Queenscliff to Shelly & return. Amazingly beautiful morning, albeit quite warm. Kept the heart rate nice and low, averaging 124 beats per minute. Pace evened out at 4:29 min/km. Hopefully it won't be too warm tomorrow morning out at Homebush!

Thursday session - Deek's Quarters (am) + 8km recovery (pm)

Another new benchmark this morning, albeit only by a small margin. A balmy and humid October morning (the first of the year), a significant change from last week's torrential downpour and gale force winds. Matty joined me for the warm-up, but indicated early on that he would not be running the session following a solid 26km run out to West Head and return yesterday. This has been his biggest week this season, I think he is aiming for 150km. Sigrid met us at the stone arch entry into North Head, all keen and ready to go for her second session with us. After some procrastination, we went off. No matter how many times I do this session, it certainly doesn't get any easier! If anything, it hurts more and more. Unlike Mona Fartlek, I actually have no gauge into how I am fairing until the very end when I see the overall time. Ended up crossing the line in 15:14, pretty much collapsing as I did on Tuesday. So much so, that a local cyclist deviated off her path to check if I was okay! That's how much it hurt! Saw that Sigrid had decided to join Matty for a steady run at some stage through the 400's, which left me solo for a 9.2km cool-down back home to North Steyne. The sun is out, and I am heading to the ocean right now!

Out for an easy 8km recovery run between clients this afternoon. 4:42 min/km pace keeping the heart rate nice, low and controlled - averaging 119 beats per minute.