Thursday stamina set - 79 minutes continuous (15 easy, 22 effort, 5 easy, 22 fartlek, 15 easy) (am) + 30 minutes recovery (pm)

I was actually dreading this session. Last time I did this, I ran laps of the golf course solo in the dark and rain. Things were made tougher last night when Tom messaged saying that he had to skip the session due to work - I was hoping to share the work with him (it's still hard, it just makes the session psychologically easier). Nevertheless, there was still a good turnout. I met Erika, Darren, Jamie and Burkey at Queenscliff SLSC at 6am straight after the 15 minutes easy. We agreed to running in the walkers lane (not the cycling lane) between Queenscliff and Shelly Beach. I was slightly apprehensive as I know how crowded it can get, but was glad I listened in the end as it was really nice. I actually felt great today (must have been the lamb backstrap last night), probably partially due to myself actually respecting the session this time around. Remembering that you have another 22 minute fartlek after the initial 22 minute effort ensures that you pace it appropriately. Went out at just over 3:20 pace, but felt fine and bought it home strong finishing in 3:19's. This bought me to about a third of the way between Manly LSC and Shelly Beach. I turned around and regrouped with the others before starting the fartlek. I ensured that I didn't go too hard this time, and probably put greater emphasis on the floats, aiming to hold sub or low 4's. Ended up averaging 3:26's for this part of the session, so a significant improvement on last time (although it was on a different course).  Again, felt strong, comfortable and relaxed. A nice steady cool-down for the remaining 15 minutes for exactly 21.1km all up for the 79 minutes. 3:45's. Another beautiful, but dark morning. Only one to go (sleep in tomorrow) before daylight savings ends. Runner of the session would have to be Burkey - never seen him complete a session further than 400's. He looked strong as well!

An easy 30 minutes for almost two laps of the white fence at Centennial Park this afternoon in between teaching and treating. 4:25's at 124 beats per minute. 27.9km for the day!

75 minutes easy + hill strides

Had to be up even earlier than usual this morning, so got out a sneaky 30 minutes prior to meeting Darren, Erika and Tom at Pittwater Rd at 6:04am. We decided to avoid North Head this morning by running to Shelly, then to the start of the MSW track. 75 minutes ver easy, 4:38's at 121 beats per minute. Finished off with some Raglan St hill strides. Back well and truly before sunrise.

Fast Tuesday - 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 minute efforts (off 2 minutes) (am) + 40 minutes recovery (pm)

Short but hard this morning, after being deceived a few weeks earlier with a similar short session (on paper), I was much more apprehensive this time around. So glad to see the full squad back and running. A massive crew today including Tom, Erika, Darren, Jamie, Richard (who decided to leave after the first rep to go searching for umbrellas???) and a very warm welcome back for Emma! We agreed to complete the sessio along the beachfront in the bike lane - it was simply too dark for anywhere else. We met at Queenscliff SLSC where we were greeted by a nice southerly headwind. Tom declared that he was going to be 'rubbish' today - which I wasn't totally convinced (and I was right to be). Anyway, I fell for it, and went out quite hard (but not all out, repose ring the session) for the initial effort. I deviated right, while Tom turned left (I'm like Zoolander) as we approached Manly LSC. 3:05's is what we averaged for the initial rep, getting in 1.62km. Not bad for straight into a headwind. The two minutes rest felt progressively quicker with each rep. 3:03's for the four minute effort felt nicer - I ran next to Tom before shadowing him for the last part of the rep. Another headwind rep for number three - again, tucking right behind Tom for 3:07's. 3:02's for the two minute effort. This actually felt slow - I was starting to really feel it now. Simply changed the game plan to holding on and finishing the session - survival mode. The last rep was quick. 2:50's. I had a solid lead until about 15 seconds to go when Tom came flying past me. A real Mo Farah kick from Tom. And that was it. Another deceptively hard session! A nice easy 5km cooldown towards Manly Pool and Passmore Reserve. Just over 15km all up. And home really early as well! Got another easy 40 minutes planned for this afternoon - will attempt to get out there before lunch if all goes to plan.

5 laps around Randwick before lunch, just catching some light drizzle at the end. Felt nice and relaxed. 4:34's got me 8.75km, a very low 120 beats per minute. About 24km for the day.

75 minutes easy + hill strides

I got an insight as to what the end of daylight savings will look like next week. The good news - it's positive (the mornings are at least). No uni/work today, so had the luxury of sleeping in until 640am. Out for a solo lap of North Head - just missing Tim on the way out. Felt nice and relaxed, easily holding 4:27's. The heart rate appeared to average 126 - but I honestly think that the Garmin's ability to accurately read my heart is deteriorating by the day. Finished off with some hill strides. A nice day ahead of doing not too much (apart from drinking coffee, cooking, eating and sleeping). I am starting to get better at this whole 'relaxing' thing.

Two hours

Just Macca, Tom, Hamish and myself this morning for the Easter Sunday long run. We were all knackered this morning (except for Hamish) - old age finally catching up with us all. Hamish turned around early leaving three of us for the back half. Conversation was minimal, reflecting our lack of enthusiasm. Poor old Macca and Tom had 38km, so I really shouldn't be whinging about an easy two hours. Decided to pick the pace up a little from Dee Why onwards, getting in a few sub-4 kilometers to finish at a moderate pace. Ended up with 27.5km averaging 4:22's. Walked home solo, ready to enjoy and relax for the next few days. Looks like I might give Lane Cove a miss next Saturday due to the fact that Gary hasn't included it in the program; the fact that I am racing in Canberra the following weekend; and what is looking like a potentially weak lineup for a Lane Cove anyway (no Barts, no Criniti, likely no Tom, Hoey, Robin; not sure about CT or Neil). Don't want to upset the coach - he's been good to me so far! Two 140km weeks back-to-back! High mileage with quality. Another week before reducing both next Sunday onwards.

Saturday Bay Run - 16km Tempo

A nice little surprise by Gary this morning when I asked him what today's session was after warming up. His response - a '16km tempo.' Should have seen this coming, as he had not scheduled a second run for me today (always a sign, at least I now know for the future). But despite my whinging above, I secretly am a closet fan of long tempo runs - something about my physiology allows me to literally back off a second or two per kilometer and stupidly hold it twice as long. 16km equated to two-and-a-bit laps of the Bay. Gary's instructions were to hold 3:30's, and only push harder towards the end if I felt ok. He and Lucy were going 6km, and were going to attempt 3:30's, so he suggested I hold onto them for the initial 6km. As always with these sessions, it felt comfortably hard. Got through the first lap holding 3:28's and feeling fine. The second lap started to feel harder - but then again the pace was increasing without realising. Each kilometer my watch would display a time that was far too quick - one came out at 3:17! So kept telling myself to back it off somewhat. I felt I did this, but the times stayed slightly faster than usual (not necessarily a bad thing, I shouldn't be complaining). Ended up averaging 3:25 for the entire 16km. It was only myself, Gemma and Tom do Canto running the long tempo efforts. Tom is in great form at the moment, after a strong 6FT and Sun Run (winning both) and held a solid 3:16 average for the same run. That would be nice! A slow and easy 5km jog with Tom back to King George Park for 25km all up. Saw Hoey out there again this morning, looking very strong and pushing it! Feel bad as I am well and truly overdue a breakfast with him! It will happen, I promise!

Thursday torture - 3km (off 500m jog), 2km (off 500m jog), 1km (am) + 35 minutes recovery (pm)

Tired and unmotivated this morning. It's been a big few days at work and uni, and a lack of sleep is taking its toll. Coupled with the fact that I have essentially been running solo (Tom is away, Jamie doesn't respond to his phone anymore, Darren and Erika still have another week of recovery), it was effort simply getting my shoes on this morning. Decided to complete the session running anticlockwise laps of the golf course. It always reads short on my GPS running this direction (as opposed to over reading running clockwise), which is a good thing for me as it stops me from trying to break GPS speed records (or so I thought). Also, it's quite undulating - especially in comparison to the pancake flat beachfront. Ran the first effort in 3:14's, which I was extremely happy with. Notably too fast though, as I could probably take a few more seconds a kilometer off that as it reads short. A 500m shuffle ('jog' is an overstatement) then straight into the 2km effort. My legs were still dead from the initial 3km, so it was simply a matter of holding on. A net uphill during this effort made the average pace an unflattering 3:21. Again, another 500m shuffle before starting the last effort. I was gone before starting this one. Again, an even greater net uphill, with a slow 3:25. Again, I'm not reading too much into the average paces - I know that compared to previous anticlockwise loops that today's effort was quite good. I was shattered at the end, so the effort was definitely there (if not slightly too hard). A nice easy jog back along the beachfront where I was greeted by some nice looking surf. Just shy of 17km all up.

Out stupidly late for a night run. 8:50pm it was when I laced up and left home. Luckily it was a beautiful evening - people out celebrating the start of the long weekend, not a cloud in the sky, a full moon, and a mild northerly breeze. World record conditions. Took it super super super easy - 7.37km in 4:45's, a very low 117 beats per minute.

Easy 75 minutes + hill strides

An early start after a late night (unusual for me during the week), but was actually fine when the alarm went off at 520am. A big day at uni meant I had to get some kilometers done before meeting with the others at 6am. First kilometer was too quick at 4:26, so really embraced the recovery by backing off. Got a quick lap from Pittwater Rd to Shelly and return before meeting up with Macca and Erika. It's the first I had seen of Erika since her phenomenal race at 6FT, so was very interested to hear all about it. Macca was still struggling with calf and plantar fascia tightness after his massive tempo run on the weekend. It was just great running with others again after two days solo. 75 minutes got me 16.3km at 4:36's. The heart rate barely nudged over 120 the whole time. Finished off with some hill strides and a loaf of 100% pure rye bread from the Brezel Bar.

Big Tuesday - 8 x 800m (off 200m jog), 5 minutes rest, 10 minute effort (am) + 35 minutes recovery (pm)

No starters again this morning - other than a late message from Richard saying that he was going to start earlier. Given the weather, the darkness, and the fact that I didn't have to rush into uni today, I decided to get up at 5:50am (massive sleep in). Jogged to Graham Reserve (psychologically burnt out of running efforts along the beachfront), which wasn't too damp given the torrential rain over the last 36 hours. It was vaguely light when I started. Richard joined in, but he had already done 5 reps (jealous)! Decided to run the odds anticlockwise and the evens clockwise. The famous white line (not cocaine) was very faint today, so probably ran slightly long for each rep. Doesn't matter though, as I made each effort consistent (see, I am becoming less OCD). Didn't even look at my pace/splits until the end - running purely on feel. And, as I have discovered recently, doing so generally makes me consistent. Every rep was between 2:34-36. So no blow out at all. Not super fast, but given the conditions I am satisfied with that. It was certainly tough effort wise, especially knowing in the back of my mind that this was only part one of the session. After a 5 minute break, I ran the 10 minute effort on the footpath anticlockwise around the golf course. Again, consistency and feel were key. I thought running sub-3:20's on tired legs would be great. Ended up going just over 3km in 3:19's. Again, pushing about 95% - hard, but a tiny fraction of effort left in reserve. A nice cool-down along the beachfront witnessing a nice cool start to the day. Just under 22km all up. Got another easy run planned for this evening. Hopefully the rain will hold off.

An easy 35 minutes before dinner tonight. Managed to dodge the rain. 4:31's - probably slightly too fast, but felt fine.

75 minutes easy with hill strides

A last minute change of plans for Tom meant that I was solo this morning. Just ran up and did the North Head loop in the dark, cold and windy morning. Was pretty stoked as it looked like I was going to come back dry. These hopes were dashed right at the end, just before starting my hill strides at Raglan Sr. It bucketed down! Felt great nonetheless - perhaps cutting yesterday's long run short may have contributed. Comfortably held 4:29's at 121 beats per minute.

Two hours

I managed to gather a small group this morning. My fears of running solo were abolished. Joining today were myself, Tim, Richard and Scotty. I was under strict instructions from Gary to STOP at two hours. To be fair, he had always written two hours on the program for Sunday morning, but it was generally more convenient to run a full 30km in order to stay with the group and finish together at Queenscliff SLSC. But Scotty was happy to stop at the two hour mark, which bought us to Nolan's - so only about a 10 minute walk straight back to my place. 27.17km it got us. Averaged 4:25's. Felt more tired today than usual, and I have just worked out why. Yesterday's session was just as tough as the previous Saturday's - but I totally forgot that I had another 35 minute recovery run later in the day. That explains it. No jumping in the oceans today - the surf looks phenomenal (I wish I could surf), but way too cold!

Saturday stamina set - 3 laps of the white fence continuous (1 lap effort, 1 lap fartlek, 1 lap effort) + 4 x 150m hills (am) + 8km recovery (pm)

A massive session this morning. Was originally down for another tempo run with the Manly crew up at North Head, but given they were running 27km in the lead up to the London marathon, we agreed that I would be better off running more specific to my events at Centennial Park. The session was 3 laps of the white fence (3.6km) continuous. The first lap was an effort, then an easy jog of about 500m to the road. There we started a lap of 1 minute hard, 1 minute float. Another 500m jog followed by a final lap hard. I held 3:13's for the first lap, but would have to go back and get the calculator out to figure the rest out - as I didn't have the watch setup specifically for the session. What I do know is that I averaged a solid 3:24 for the entire 10.8km (including the jog recoveries), so very pleased with that. I had Matty Hudson drag me along for the first lap, before opening up a gradual gap on the second lap - then he disappeared into the distance on the final lap. Gary joked that we were off to do some hills after this. He was serious though! 4 x 150m hills with jog back recoveries. My legs were shot, so was happy to sit behind Matty and Hamish (not that I had much choice). Overall, a very solid session. Things appear to be heading in the right direction. A lap to warm-up and a lap to cool-down - about 21km all up. Beautiful conditions out there this morning - definitely a hint of Autumn in the air. A massive contrast to last week!

An easy 8km run along the beachfront just before a late lunch. Surprisingly not too crowded out there, so was able to run to Shelly Beach. 4:38's, felt better than expected after this morning's run!

Thursday speed - 4 x broken 4:30's (90 hard, 60 jog, 60 hard, 30 jog, 30 hard) off 2 minutes (am) + 35 minutes recovery (pm)

Another really early start this morning. I agreed to meet Jamie at Manly LSC at 6am ready to start the first rep. Was very tempting to sleep in and start later, given the relatively short length of the session. But considered the pros of training with Jamie outweighed the pros of sleeping in (only just though). So that meant out the door before 5:40am for a 20 minute warm-up. On paper the session reads simple - so much so that I had to double check with Gary that he hadn't done a typo on the program. How further from the truth could it be? It was absolutely brutal. There is no way in the world I would have been able to a fifth rep. In fact, the fourth rep felt like hell on earth! 90 seconds is a long time to be running 'all out' - especially four times. All up, every effort was around the low 2:50's pace - except, ironically, for the last 30 second rep of the final set, which was band on 3:00 pace. My legs felt like concrete at this stage. A nice and easy 5km cool-down solo, as Jamie had to go to work. About 15.6km all up. Short but sweet (and bloody hard)! I don't know how accurate it was, but my heart rate maxed out at 215, averaging 171 for the entire session (26 minutes). It certainly felt like it!

An extra five minutes for the recovery run this afternoon. Out along the beachfront at Manly. Haven't done that one in ages. Nice and easy - 4:37's at 122 beats per minute. Rest day tomorrow, much needed!

Wedensday - 75 easy with strides

Met up with Tom at 6:04am at the Pittwater Rd-lagoon intersection in the dark pouring rain. Both of us were super unkeen, especially on the back of yesterday's stamina set. Saw Jamie twice out there, looking like he was running hard. I suspect he missed yesterday's session and was out there this morning to do it. Quentin joined us for some of the run. Great hearing his stories after a successful weekend of racing - where he took out the open men's 2km beach run at State Champs the night before racing the Six Foot Track. We ran the North Head circuit, before finishing up with some strides in Pine Lane. 4:29's, 16.7km, 128 beats per minute. Looking forward to tomorrow's session - it looks very short and sharp; a massive contrast to the last few sessions.

Mammoth Tuesday - 79 minuous (15 easy, 22 effort, 5 easy, 22 fartlek, 15 easy) (am) + 30 minutes recovery (pm)

The day didn't start well when the alarm woke me up from the worlds deepest sleep. It was pitch black and raining. To make matters worse, I got a message from Tom saying that he needs more sleep. It would have been so much easier to do the same, but I don't know what time today I would have ended up getting out there. Decided to run laps around Manly Pool as everywhere else was dark.  Felt okay once I got going. Started the 22 minute effort just past Jamie's place, straight onto the incline. It was at this point I started to loose confidence in the GPS - it was all over the shop! A perfect excuse to run purely on feel. I wanted to go harder, but knowing what laid ahead prevented myself from unleashing. According to the GPS, I averaged 3:27 for the first effort. Then came the fartlek. I did actually do these more or less as intervals, holding back on the floats about a minute per kilometer slower. It was 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1 minute efforts with 1 minute float in between. All in all, just a bloody long session. 15 minutes easy at the end led myself back home along the beachfront. 3:56 average for the entire 79 minutes. Got home and uploaded the data, and it confirmed my thoughts - no satellite maps on Garmin Connect or Strava. So not sure how accurate the pace was, but effort wise it was solid enough. Just over 20km all up.

Out for a late run just before a late lunch. The sky has cleared. 6.48km at 4:38's, 121 beats. The Garmin likes Randwick much more than anticlockwise laps of Manly Pool. Thank God, that could have been expensive otherwise!

Monday - 75 minutes easy + hill strides

Out solo this morning for a lap around North Head. Checked the program last night and saw that 75 minutes (instead of the traditional 60 minutes) was penciled in for this morning. So up even earlier than usual. Once again, it was pitch black running along the beachfront. Felt fine again today, another positive sign. Ended up holding a very effortless 4:34 average, at 126 beats per minute. Finished near Raglan St, so did the hill strides there. Another humid morning, but it looks like we are in for some respite over the next few days. No time for a swim this morning (the water is too cold anyway)!

Sunday long run (30km)

Another early start, but another amazing sunrise. Still humid though. Quite a big turnout today; Barts, Craig, Macca, Tym, Scott & Hamish. I think Craig had 40km on the cards, Macca had 38km and Justin had 35km. Another reason to avoid marathon racing (at this point in time anyway). Despite feeling the effects of yesterday's session, I felt surprisingly springy and bouncy this morning. Generally felt comfortable the whole way. Barts had some session within the run planned where he went 3:20's for 15 minutes both halfway and at the end. I happily let him go (as did everyone else). It was great to see Scotty back, and he provided some good company for the final few kilometers. Did a subconscious semi-fast finish in the final 3km, with 3:39, 3:30, and 3:24. The first two were definitely unintentional; the last one was purely for my ego and Strava (and to get the average pace of the run down to a nice well rounded number of 4:20). A nice and low average heart rate of 134 beats confirms my subjective feelings. Good sign I guess. Time for a jump into the ocean and breakfast watching with the others (my homemade leaves both The Emporium and The Trobadour for dead, not that that is a hard thing to do).

Saturday - 6km tempo, 5 x 3 minutes (off 2 minutes)

I joined Run Crew this morning at King George's Park, Rozelle. Another mammoth session, and it was hot and humid. The one down side of the Bay Run is the lack of shade. Definitely felt this on the back half of the 6km tempo run. I must say that I have really learnt the 'art' of running these at the appropriate pace. The old tendency was to race/time trial these efforts, bought on no doubt by some inter-squad rivalry during the Sweat days. I couldn't care less now, and try to run these on feel - using pace as feedback at the end of the effort. Anything under 3:19's these days for a tempo effort is too fast. So my 3:17's this morning was slightly too quick, but it is getting better. Gary and Ben staggered the start, so we all ended up running solo. We regrouped before starting the second part of the session - 3 minute efforts running loops around some of the local ovals. We managed two reps on the first oval before getting told off by the local baseball team (apparently we were ruining their pitch by running on it). So we kindly (after they threatened us and throw a ball at Matt) moved to the next oval across the road to finish the rearming three reps. Can never trust the Garmin when running laps, as it changes dramatically depending on whether you run clockwise or anticlockwise. Nevertheless, I clocked 2:53's to 2:55's (not accurate) running the first three clockwise, and 3:13's for the final two running anticlockwise (not accurate either). Just tried not to let Matty & Keith get too far in front, which I managed somewhat successfully - so very satisfied. A nice 5km cooldown, the highlight of which involved bumping into Hoey and Molly. Very happy to finally meet the famous Molly, arguably the worlds fittest dog (she runs with Michael, who runs for a long time). Just shy of 21km all up including warm-up and cool-down. Thinking of all those brave souls out there in the Blue Mountains this morning racing the Six Foot Track!

Thursday - 60 minute tempo

Anither hot and humid morning, although not as bad as yesterday. Increased the length of my warm-up under strict instructions from Gary to 20 minutes (I was going too shirt prior to this). Met Tom & Justin (surprise guest) under the stone arch for a 6:15am kick-off. Justin had planned two laps of the North Head loop, so set off solo a minute or two before Tom & myself. We then set off for the predominantly uphill first kilometer. Got through the first marker quite quick, then it was simply just a matter of holding on. To be honest, this is the first time I think that I have ever run a tempo/threshold session at the ideal pace. In that it felt hard, but never out of control. And each kilometer was consistent, give or take the undulations. The goal was to go out at 3:35's, and finish at 3:32's. We pretty much held under this for the entire hour. In the end, we got out 17.26km, averaging 3:29's. We were both pretty knackered at the end, but I am sure that we could still have gone further and/or harder if our lives depended on it. An average heart rate of 175 seems spot on as well. A very slow and steady cooldown back home (Gary's strict instructions to keep it at no more than 5km); holding sub-5's downhill actually felt harder than holding 3:29's!!! Huge session, just under 27km all up! Needless to say, no need for another run this afternoon. Rest day tomorrow, bring it on!

Wednesday - 75 minutes easy + strides

It was so dark this morning. We still have just under a month of daylight savings, so it is only going to get worse over the next few weeks. Out with a big group this morning - Darren, Erika, Robbie, Emma, Justin and Tom. All were doing various durations, but I had the longest set on the program at 75 minutes. Nice casual jog along the beachfront, turning at Manly LSC and heading out along West Esplanade towards MSW. Turned around, ran to Shelly Beach, back to Pittwater Rd, then solo for a few laps around North Steyne to Queenscliff SLSC. 4:37's all up. Finished with some strides. Big session tomorrow, but looking forward to it.

Tuesday speed - 16 x 400m (2:15 cycle) (am) + 30 minutes recovery (pm)

After much deliberation and hassle yesterday, we all decided on meeting at Graham Reserve in Manly for this morning's session. Paranoid, I headed out for an installation lap around the oval as I had never been there before. After running a few sessions at Manly Oval last year only to realise that the course is short, I wanted to ensure that the same issue was not going to creep up again this morning. However, to my surprise, the oval was pristine. The grass was first class, and there was a white line perimeter that measured 400m to the tee! I was happy.

Another warm and humid morning, the mercury reading 24 degrees at 530am! Met Jamie, Erika, Darren and Burkey there at 6am to kick off the first rep. To make things interesting, we did six anti-clockwise, the next six clockwise, then the last six at three a piece. True to form, Burkey absolutely flew for the first two reps. I simply let him go - 16 is a lot of reps! Surely he faded massively after this, intermittently completing and resting throughout the rest of the session. Darren & Erika stopped at 10, both backing off due to the Six Foot Track this weekend. Jamie was strong, finishing all 16 with me. I was actually really happy and surprisingly consistent. Didn't look at my pace once throughout the entire session (was actually too dark anyway), but held an average of 71 seconds. The first two were the slowest at 74 and 73, then essentially every other rep was either 70 or 71 (with one or two 72's). Finished off strong with a 70. Ran a lap of the golf course with Jamie and Burkey before heading along the beachfront for the remainder of the cooldown. 17km all up. Really excited as I haven't done a really sharp speed session like that for years, and can definitely see some scope for improvement here!

Ducked out just before lunch for some laps around Randwick. Nice and warm out there. 4:44's for 30 minutes, 125 beats per minute.

Easy Monday (15km) with hill strides

Out for a solo run this morning. Was initially thinking of running three laps of the beachfront, but it was a shitfight even at 6am with the deconstruction of the infrastructure from the Australian Open of Surfing. So decided to run a loop around North Head. Got to the Fairfax Loop and ran one-and-a-half laps clockwise before ticking over at 7.5km. Turned on the spot and did another one-and-a-half laps anticlockwise before setting off home on the downhill return. Nice and comfortable, only looking at my watch to measure the distance and to report into here what the average pace was - 4:33's at 126 beats on the heart rate monitor. Got on the bike, rode down to Raglan St for some hill strides before heading across to the Brezel Bar for a loaf of pure rye bread (the best there is - 100% rye)! Another amazing day out there, will be touch and go whether I can jump into the ocean!

Long Sunday (30km)

I thought I had missed the train this morning, walking over to Manly Pool I saw the bunch heading south. So I quickly started the Garmin and started running cold at sub-4 minute pace to catch on. Luckily they turned around about 200m later for the restart. All good! Seven of us this morning - myself, Tom, Barts, Macca, Justin, Craig and Toby. All of us had raced yesterday, so the first part of the run centred around debriefings and excuses. Despite the sore legs, some wanted to push the pace (Barts). Another cracking day out there once again. A nice cold patch was welcomed around the lake, a well anticipated preview of what is likely around the corner in the coming weeks. Poor old Macca was feeling it in the back half - apparently he has been on antibiotics the past few days. As per usual, the final few kilometers after Mt. Dee Why saw the pace pick up to sub-4's (a net downhill always helps). Very glad to see the 30km flash on the Garmin. 4:18's at 135 beats per minute. I don't envy the others one bit who had to run another 8km - that's part of the deal if you want to race 42.2km I guess. A jump in the ocean is on the cards followed by meeting the rest of the guys at The Emporium. A solid first week with Gary & Ben - two solid sessions, a much better than anticipated 10km race yesterday, and 130km for the week. Feeling good again - watch out Mo and Galen!

Striders 10km - North Head

Wasn't keen and very reluctant to begin racing again this season today. But the words of Gary, especially 'go have fun' really bought home the reasons why I run! So went in to the race somewhat more relaxed. It was great to go out there and bury the mental demons that have hung around since pulling out of the Sun Run one month earlier. The prime goal today was to finish. Honestly, I didn't think a sub-34 was on the cards. Went out with the front pack of Tom, Barts, Robin, Neil and CT. Hung in there until the 6km mark, but that is when the wheels started to fall off. To be honest, I was somewhat surprised to hold on that long. By that stage, CT had already been dropped. He cam up to me at about 6.5km and requested that we work together. Would have loved to have, but didn't have anything to offer. He progressively pulled away from me after the 7km mark. The final 3km was simply about finishing - couldn't care less about time or pace at this stage. In fact, I don't even know if I really paid attention to the Garmin for the majority of the race. Hung in for the ride, finishing in a half respectable 33:31, 6th outright. In the whole scheme of things, I am actually stoked! While not a PB by any means, it was only 3 seconds off my course PB set last year. And much better than what I was thinking all week!!! So slightly further ahead than what I thought - happy days. Tom got the better of Barts, running an impressive 32:28. Robin, the man who has improved phenomenally - ran a PB of 32:59 to beat Neil for the final spot on the podium. Joined the five of them for a nice cool-down, before being left solo to run the final 3km home. 20km all up! Very satisfied all round! Just really looking forward to following Gary and Ben's program to see what is achievable. The first week has been extremely encouraging, and most importantly, I am really enjoying running again - something that I haven't had since the Gold Coast last year!

Thursday - 5 x 800m hills (jog recovery) (am) + 30 minutes easy (pm)

It was only Jamie and myself this morning for a 6am start (Erika and Darren started at 5:30am, but were doing an extra rep and a 30 minute tempo after, so couldn't justify getting up even earlier). The original plan was to run Collins Flat, but upon reaching Darley Rd we decided it was too dark for the former. Not a bad idea, as I think I may be mentally scarred from that place. Similar to Tuesday, I really ensured that I held back slightly - especially for the first few reps. Had forgotten how long an 800m hill rep actually is! The good side is that the recovery is more than sufficient, so you can almost complete each rep fresh. Further, Darley Rd progressively gets flatter - a nice psychological boast. Times were 3:12, 3:16, 3:16, 3:19 and 3:18. So fairly consistent for me, which I was happy with. Only really had to dig into the red zone on the back half of the final two reps - otherwise felt strong and controlled. The jog recovery's progressively got quicker as the session went on. Poor old Jamie wasn't feeling it this morning, pulling out after the third rep. Long cool-down for 17km all up. Will either do the Bay Run (first time ever) or Mrs. Macquarie's Chair later this afternoon for an easy 30 minutes. Complete rest day tomorrow, before a hit out on Saturday at my local Striders race. A shame it couldn't be postponed a week or three - not really in great form, but looking forward to a good session nonetheless.

Bay Run this afternoon in between clients. First time ever. 30 minutes took me just shy of a lap - 6.62km at 4:32's. 124 average heart rate. Nice and easy, but hot and windy. Enjoyable.

75 minutes easy + strides

A slight reduction in mileage for me for my Wednesday run. Gary had 75 minutes easy written down, so I followed this to the tee. Don't know whether this will be a regular Wednesday morning for me, or whether it is simply an easier week for me to gradually build back into training. Nevertheless, I felt fairly good this morning - especially in comparison to my past few Wednesday's (which is super encouraging)! Joined by Erika, Darren, Justin and Tim this morning. In fact, I had the longest run out of everyone - the others were capped at 60 minutes. Went against convention today by mixing up the route. We diverted North Head and went towards the start of the Manly to Spit Walk. Turned around, headed to Shelly, then back to Pittwater Rd where I ran the final 10 minutes solo. Finished off with 4 x 100m strides with a walk back recovery. Am loving these subtle changes, and actually am starting to feel some benefits. 4:38's at 129 beats per minute. 16.2km all up (not including an extra kilometer worth of strides). Fingers crossed I can continue on this upward trajectory (although I am quietly confident in the hands of Gary, Ben and the Manly Crew)!

Tuesday speed - 6 x 1km (5 minute cycle) (am) + 30 minute recovery run (pm)

My first session with Manly's Run Crew. Met at Nolan's for 6 times 1km reps. Haven't done a session on grass since the Centenial Park days with SWEAT. We ran the odds clockwise, the evens anti-clockwise around a very well marked (except for a random purple coloured cone) course set out by Tom. Also joining in were Jamie, Erika, Darren and Tim. My plan was to simply pace off Tom and not look at my watch throughout. As a result, I paced the efforts consistently - something that remains elusive when I train solo. Interesting how the GPS gives different readings on the same course depending on which direction you run. As it was, the clockwise loops were in general 10 seconds faster - or, the anti-clockwise loops were about 60m further. As such, the times were 3:07, 3:11, 3:01, 3:13, 2:59 and 3:09. Honestly, the first four I felt as if I was holding back - but about the halfway mark of the fifth I started to feel some burning in the legs. It wasn't until the last 300m or so in the final rep where Tom just pulled away from me a bit. Could have dug deep to hold on but I am still reluctant to over exert and send myself backwards another week or three. Nevertheless, a very solid session by all. Did a nice long cool-down with the group progressively getting thinner, the last 2km solo back along the beachfront. Another cracking day ahead - will definitely get in the water this morning!

Was a bit paranoid this afternoon, especially as I would traditionally run 8km for my second run. Gary had put down 30 minutes. No choice but to stick to this. Nice and easy three and a bit laps around Randwick before lunch. 6.45km in 4:39's, holding a nice and easy 124 heart rate.